'Weapons' battles to top of North American box office
"Weapons," a new horror film about the mysterious disappearance of a group of children from the same school class, opened atop the North American box office with $42.5 million in ticket sales, industry estimates showed Sunday.
"This is an outstanding opening for an original horror film," analyst David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research said of the Warner Bros. movie starring Julia Garner ("Ozark") and Josh Brolin ("Avengers: Infinity War").
Debuting in second place was Disney's "Freakier Friday" starring Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis, the much-anticipated sequel to the 2003 family film in which body-switching leads to amusing hijinks, at $29 million, Exhibitor Relations said.
"This is an excellent opening. The estimated weekend figure is well above average for a comedy follow-up sequel, and it's also well above the first film's opening 22 years ago," Gross said.
"The Fantastic Four: First Steps," Disney's debut of the rebooted Marvel Comics franchise, dropped to third place at $15.5 million. Its overall take in the United States and Canada stands at $230.4 million.
Actor-of-the-moment Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Emmy-winner Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Joseph Quinn star as the titular team of superheroes, who must save a retro-futuristic world from the evil Galactus.
Universal's family-friendly animation sequel "The Bad Guys 2," about a squad of goofy animal criminals actually doing good in their rebranded lives, dropped to fourth, earning $10.4 million.
Finishing out the top five was Paramount's reboot of "Naked Gun," a slapstick comedy starring Liam Neeson as Frank Drebin Jr, son of the bumbling police lieutenant from the original 1980s movie and related television series "Police Squad!"
The film, which co-stars Pamela Anderson, pulled in $8.4 million in its second weekend in theaters.
Rounding out the top 10 were:
"Superman" ($7.8 million)
"Jurassic World: Rebirth" ($4.7 million)
"F1: The Movie" ($2.8 million)
"Together" ($2.6 million)
"Sketch" ($2.5 million)
© 2025 AFP
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Japan Today
a day ago
- Japan Today
'Weapons' battles to top of North American box office
Julia Garner (L) and Josh Brolin attend the world premiere of Warner Bros film 'Weapons' in Los Angeles "Weapons," a new horror film about the mysterious disappearance of a group of children from the same school class, opened atop the North American box office with $42.5 million in ticket sales, industry estimates showed Sunday. "This is an outstanding opening for an original horror film," analyst David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research said of the Warner Bros. movie starring Julia Garner ("Ozark") and Josh Brolin ("Avengers: Infinity War"). Debuting in second place was Disney's "Freakier Friday" starring Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis, the much-anticipated sequel to the 2003 family film in which body-switching leads to amusing hijinks, at $29 million, Exhibitor Relations said. "This is an excellent opening. The estimated weekend figure is well above average for a comedy follow-up sequel, and it's also well above the first film's opening 22 years ago," Gross said. "The Fantastic Four: First Steps," Disney's debut of the rebooted Marvel Comics franchise, dropped to third place at $15.5 million. Its overall take in the United States and Canada stands at $230.4 million. Actor-of-the-moment Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Emmy-winner Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Joseph Quinn star as the titular team of superheroes, who must save a retro-futuristic world from the evil Galactus. Universal's family-friendly animation sequel "The Bad Guys 2," about a squad of goofy animal criminals actually doing good in their rebranded lives, dropped to fourth, earning $10.4 million. Finishing out the top five was Paramount's reboot of "Naked Gun," a slapstick comedy starring Liam Neeson as Frank Drebin Jr, son of the bumbling police lieutenant from the original 1980s movie and related television series "Police Squad!" The film, which co-stars Pamela Anderson, pulled in $8.4 million in its second weekend in theaters. Rounding out the top 10 were: "Superman" ($7.8 million) "Jurassic World: Rebirth" ($4.7 million) "F1: The Movie" ($2.8 million) "Together" ($2.6 million) "Sketch" ($2.5 million) © 2025 AFP
Japan Today
3 days ago
- Japan Today
There are now zero Japanese live-action films in the country's top 10 highest earning movies, but why?
By Casey Baseel, SoraNews24 You could be forgiven for not being sure just how big of a hit "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba–The Movie: Infinity Castle" was going to be. Yes, the last "Demon Slayer" theatrical anime, 2020's "Mugen Train," is the highest-grossing movie ever at Japanese theaters, but it owes part of its it status to the pop cultural phenomenon momentum it built up as it approached the record, and its mid-pandemic release meant it didn't have a lot of competition at the time, either in movies specifically or entertainment options in general. Also, while "Mugen Train" itself debuted a few months after the "Demon Slayer" manga finished, it's now been more than five years since the source material concluded, and in the meantime the hype around the series had quieted down a fair bit. But "Infinity Castle," which premiered in Japanese theaters on July 18, has turned out to be an undeniable smash hit. It's broken both Japan's all-time opening day and single-day box office records, and took only 8 days to surpass 10 billion yen, also a Japanese record. After just 17 days, it's total earnings reached approximately 17.64 billion yen, and "Infinity Castle" has now ascended into the top 10 highest-grossing movies ever in Japan. ▼ Preview video for "Infinity Castle" In reaching the top 10, "Infinity Castle" has pushed 2003's "Bayside Shakedown 2," part of the "Odoru Daisosasen" franchise, down to number 11 on the list. "Bayside Shakedown 2" is a police story, but more significantly, it's a live-action film, and it was the final Japanese live-action movie in the top 10 earners at Japanese theaters. With "Infinity Castle" now taking its place, the 10 highest-grossing movies at Japanese theaters are all either anime or foreign films. Since "Infinity Train" still sits atop the list, "Demon Slayer" now commands 1/5 of the top 10 list, Studio Ghibli accounts for another 30 percent, and the "One Piece" franchise and director Makoto Shinkai each one representative too. Disney also has a spot, and the remaining two movies, both non-Japanese productions, are "Titanic" and the first "Harry Potter." ● Highest-grossing films at Japanese box office "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train": 40.75 billion yen "Spirited Away": 31.68 billion yen "Titanic": 27.77 billion yen "Frozen": 25.5 billion yen "Your Name": 25.17 billion yen "One Piece Film: Red": 20.34 billion yen "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone": 20.3 billion yen "Princess Mononoke": 19.7 billion yen "Howl's Moving Castle": 19.6 billion yen "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba–The Movie: Infinity Castle": 17.64 billion yen Not only are there no longer any Japanese live-action movies in the top 10, there are only three in to the top 50: "Bayside Shakedown 2" at number 11, 1983's "Antarctica" at number 38, and the original "Bayside Shakedown" movie, from 1998, at number 47. Filtering out the non-Japanese films in the top 50 leaves 21 Japanese productions, with anime occupying all of the top 7 spots and 17 of the top 19, with the first "Bayside Shakedown" bringing up the rear. ▼ It's also worth noting that though "Antarctica" (titled Nankyoku Monogatari in Japanese) is live-action, in the eyes of many Japanese fans it's the dogs that are the real stars of the picture, not the humans. The lack of domestically made live-action works amongst the top 10 highest-grossing movies in Japan isn't necessarily a sign that Japan has no interest in the format, so much as a reflection of market and societal conditions that make it difficult for Japan to produce live-action blockbusters or epics. In the modern era, Japanese moviegoers have never had any widespread aversion to foreign films, and the difference in market sizes mean that Japan's live-action movie industry generally can't compete with Hollywood studios in terms of budgets and production values in crafting fantasy realms or sci-fi worlds for live-action movies. As for grounded movies set in the present day, Japan's low crime levels and generally peaceful, stable day-to-day life don't lend themselves to thrilling action and suspense. Pumping out big-screen spectacles, the sorts of movies that pull in record-setting-size crowds, is a tall order for Japanese live-action studios, and so creators and producers looking to make blockbusters generally turn to the anime format instead. In contrast, live-action studios more commonly focus on lower-key character-driven stories, which often bring in more modestly sized audiences. It's also interesting to note that of the top 10 highest earners at Japanese theaters, nine of them are fantasy movies, with "Titanic" the only outlier. Meanwhile, the top 10 list for theaters in the U.S. and Canada is dominated by the science-fiction genre (assuming we include superhero movies in the category), with four Marvel movies, two from the "Avatar" franchise, one each from "Star Wars" and "Jurassic Park," and the list rounded out by "Top Gun: Maverick" and "Titanic," the latter being the only movie on both the Japan and U.S./Canada lists. It remains to be seen if "Infinity Castle" will have the legs to pass "Mugen Train," but it's already selling tickets as a faster pace than the previous "Demon Slayer" did, and it just might end up becoming Japan's biggest movie ever. Source: Oricon News via Livedoor News via Jin Read more stories from SoraNews24. -- Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is 'jacking' everyone's seat at the movies in Japan -- Demon Slayer Mugen Train about to do something no Japanese movie has done in U.S. in over 20 years -- Demon Slayer breaks Spirited Away's record, becomes number-one movie of all time in Japan External Link © SoraNews24
Japan Today
3 days ago
- Japan Today
Disney settles Trump-supporting 'Star Wars' actor lawsuit
Gina Carano, who had a major role in the wildly popular Disney+ series 'The Mandalorian' until 2021, had claimed wrongful termination A "Star Wars" actor who sued Disney for firing her over inflammatory social media posts about the Holocaust, the pandemic and trans rights has reached a settlement with the Hollywood studio. Gina Carano, a prominent Donald Trump supporter who had a major role in the hit Disney+ series "The Mandalorian" until 2021, claimed wrongful termination in a lawsuit filed last year with the backing of billionaire Elon Musk. On Thursday, a spokesperson for Disney subsidiary Lucasfilm said the companies had "reached an agreement with Gina Carano to resolve the issues in her pending lawsuit." Disney "look forward to identifying opportunities to work together with Ms. Carano in the near future," said a statement sent to AFP. Carano, an outspoken former martial arts fighter-turned-actor, was fired by Disney in 2021 for what the company at the time dubbed "abhorrent and unacceptable" social media posts "denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities." One post shared by Carano appeared to compare being a conservative in the United States to being Jewish in Nazi Germany. "Nazi soldiers could easily round up thousands of Jews" because "the government first made their own neighbors hate them simply for being Jews," the post said. "How is that any different from hating someone for their political views?" it concluded, with a graphic photo of a Jewish woman being beaten in Nazi Germany. Another post appeared to mock a person for wearing multiple masks during the Covid-19 pandemic in California. Carano had earlier enraged members of the trans community for writing on her Twitter profile that her preferred pronouns were "boop/bop/beep." In her initial lawsuit, Carano said Disney had damaged her reputation and ability to find work in the future, after she had expressed personal political views that led to her being hounded by an "extreme progressive" online mob. The California lawsuit was funded by Musk's X, after Carano publicly replied to an open offer from the tech billionaire to help anyone fired after using his social media platform to exercise free speech. Carano previously claimed she lost a role on a planned "Mandalorian" spin-off called "Rangers of the New Republic" that would have been worth "$150,000 to $250,000 per episode." The Lucasfilm statement said Carano "was always well respected by her directors, co-stars, and staff, and she worked hard to perfect her craft while treating her colleagues with kindness and respect." Carano also supported Donald Trump's recent election campaign, speaking at a campaign rally in Las Vegas last year. Disney has become embroiled in the United States' so-called "culture wars" in recent years. In March, US regulators under the Trump administration announced an investigation into diversity efforts at the Walt Disney Company. Neither Disney nor Carano disclosed the terms of the agreement, but she appeared to allude to the lawsuit's settlement on her social media. "...and the truth shall set you free," Carano posted Thursday on X. © 2025 AFP
