Author: SD

Film production remained buoyant in France in 2024 with a total of 309 films produced in the country, 3.7% more than in 2023, according to the annual report of the CNC, the country’s national film organisation. Total investment in French films reached €1.44bn, up 7.5% on 2023, the second best in history after 2008’s record €1.49bn. The total number of French films produced remained stable at 231, on par with 2023’s 236 films and the pre-pandemic average of 233 films per year.  The number of co-productions increased to 130 titles, 10 more than in 2023, driven by an increase in…

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning starring Tom Cruise will premiere out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie will be present at the film’s premiere on May 14 at the Grand Theatre Lumiere. It marks the third time Cruise has attended Cannes, following Ron Howard’s Far And Away in 1992 and the 2022 premiere of Top Gun: Maverick, also out of competition. Paramount is releasing the eighth, and potentially final, Mission: Impossible feature on May 23. Further cast includes Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Henry Czerny, Mariela Garriga and Angela…

UK-Ireland top five, Apr 4-6, 2025  Rank Film (origin) Distributor Apr 4-6 gross Total Week  1  A Minecraft Movie  (US)  Warner Bros  £15m  £15m  1  2   Six The Musical  (US)  Universal  £2.1m  £2.1m  1  3   Snow White  (US)  Disney  £667,761   £8m  3  4   Death Of A Unicorn  (US)  EFD  £458,031  £485,853  1  5  A Working Man  (US-UK)  Warner Bros  £330,209  £1.4m  2 GBP to USD conversion rate: 1.28 Warner Bros’ A Minecraft Movie has breathed new life into the UK-Ireland box office with an outstanding £15m opening weekend – the biggest…

Jason Statham and Jack Quaid go head-to-head in UK and Ireland cinemas this weekend as action titles A Working Man and Novocaine lead the new releases. Paramount’s Novocaine is in 549 cinemas. Quaid stars as an introverted bank employee who cannot feel physical pain and seeks revenge when his co-worker, and new love interest, is taken hostage. Quaid also starred in this year’s Companion which opened with £670,512 for Warner Bros and a £1.8m cume. Novocaine has already opened Stateside and has grossed $22m worldwide so far. Dan Berk and Robert Olsen directs the feature from a script by Lars Jacobsen.…

Worldwide box office: March 21-23 Rank Film (distributor)  3-day (world) Cume (world) 3-day (int’l) Cume (int’l) Territories 1. Snow White (Disney)  $87.3m  $87.3m  $44.3m  $44.3m 52 2.  Ne Zha 2 (various)  $15.4m  $2.10bn  $15.2m  $2.08bn 9 3.  Mickey 17 (Warner Bros)  $12m  $110.0m  $8.1m  $69.8m 70 4.  Black Bag (Universal)  $7.4m  $24.1m  $3.9m  $9.2m 43 5.  Captain America: Brave New World (Disney)  $7.2m  $400.8m  $3.1m  $208.7m 53 6.  Novocaine (Paramount)  $6.3m  $21.1m  $2.5m  $5.3m 53 7.  The Alto Knights (Warner Bros)  $5.1m  $5.1m  $1.9m  $1.9m 9 8.  Bridget…

Worldwide box office: March 14-16 RankFilm (distributor) 3-day (world)Cume (world)3-day (int’l)Cume (int’l)Territories 1. Ne Zha 2 (various)  $26.4m  $2.08bn  $26.1m  $2.05bn  8 2.  Mickey 17 (Warner Bros)  $23.1m  $90.5m  $15.6m  $57.2m 70 3.  Black Bag (Universal)  $11.8m  $11.8m  $4.3m  $4.3m 38 4.  Captain America: Brave New World (Disney)  $11.5m  $388.6m  $6m  $203.2m 53 5.  Novocaine (Paramount)  $10.5m  $10.5m  $1.8m  $1.8m 20 6.  Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy (various)  $5.7m  $120.7m  $5.7m  $120.7m 76 7.  Paddington In Peru (Sony)  $5.1m  $183.9m  $2.3m  $142.6m 55 8.  The Monkey (various)  $4.8m  $59.8m …

Sports drama The Match has ended the month-long reign of Bong Joon Ho’s Mickey 17 at the South Korean box office, taking nearly two-thirds of all tickets sold over the weekend. The Match took $3.53m from 544,529 admissions across the weekend (March 28-30), representing nearly 62% of total market share, according to Kobis, the Korean Film Council’s box office tracking service. The film stars Lee Byung-hun, known for Squid Game and Concrete Utopia, as legendary Go player Cho Hun-hyeon and his real-life rivalry with Lee Chang-ho. Yoo Ah-in – whose drug scandal delayed the film’s opening and who was released…

Disney’s Snow White is being ushered into 651 sites, the widest release at the UK-Ireland box office of the weekend. Marc Webb directs the live-action musical re-imagining of Disney’s 1937Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs animation, which stars Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot. The film has faced a series of controversies, including star Zegler’s criticism of the original film, debates regarding whether the portrayal of the dwarfs is appropriate for the modern day, a mixed critical reception, as well as Zegler and Gadot’s own politics. Although the press campaign has been muted, Disney hasn’t shied away from a wide roll-out. It…

UK-Ireland top five Mar 28-30, 2025 Rank  Film (origin)Distributor  Mar 28-30 gross Total Week  1  Snow White  (US)  Disney  £2m  £6.8m  2  2   L2: Empuraan (India)  RFT Films/2G Entertainments  £764,499  £1.4m  1  3   A Working Man (US-UK)  Warner Bros  £658,134  £1.2m  1  4   Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy   (UK-Fr-US)  Universal  £562,233  £544,000  7  5   Novocaine   (US)  Paramount  £441,777  £3.1m  1 Disney’s Snow White live-action remake topped the UK-Ireland box office for a second weekend, with A Working Man starring Jason Statham as the top new title. Directed by Marc Webb and…

Noel Clarke contacted “at least 10 people” in efforts to halt the publication of The Guardian’s report of allegations of sexual misconduct, the court in his libel trial against the publication has heard today. Paul Lewis, head of investigations at The Guardian, became the paper’s first staff member to take the stand in the trial, which began on March 7. UK actor-director-producer Clarke is suing The Guardian’s publisher Guardian News and Media (GNM) over seven articles and a podcast, including an article in April 2021 that said 20 women who knew him professionally had come forward with allegations of misconduct.…