It was a great weekend at the domestic box office with the overall marketplace coming in at around $146M. Not only is that the best result for the final weekend of April since the end of Covid, but it’s also the fourth best overall after Avengers weekends in 2019 ($402M) and 2018 ($313.9M) and in 2011 when Universal’s Fast Five drove the Friday-Sunday period to $158M.
Warner Bros execs were stopping by Los Angeles multiplexes throughout the weekend to observe the phenomenon that is Sinners, with its jam-packed auditoriums full of bewitched moviegoers. The Ryan Coogler-directed, Michael B. Jordan-starring movie piled up a massive $45M second weekend, off just 6%. That's a magnificent hold for a R-rated horror movie, up there with Heart Eyes (+19%) and Get Out (-15%).
Conservative forecasts had Sinners dropping 60% (to $19.2 million) in its second frame, with an optimistic school of thought that had the movie’s hold better than 50% ($24M).
The massive overperform on those projections is due to great word of mouth broadening the audience for the movie beyond its initial horror and male demos. >>>Imax 23% Of Weekend Revenue
Related:
‘Sinners’ Holdover Halo Takes It To $162M WW
DoP Autumn Durald Arkapaw On Her Tight Collaboration With Ryan Coogler, Shooting Large Formats & Drawing Inspiration From ‘There Will Be Blood’ |
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| Deadline Exclusives & Originals |
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Inside The WHCA Dinner - The relative lack of star power at this year's White House Correspondents' Association Dinner helped focus attention on the organization's newly-invigorated campaign for access and independent reporting on the U.S. president without fear or favor. “What we are not is the opposition,” WHCA President Eugene Daniels told the crowd in rebuke of Trump's characterization of the news media as the “enemy of the people.” >>> Standing Ovation
Casting Fraud Alert - On Friday, the Casting Society warned actors not to fall prey to offers that promise auditions in exchange for payment. CSA is also alerting its members to be on the lookout for anyone who tries to assume their online identities in an attempt to rip off actors. >>>Happening More Frequently
'It Ends With Us' P&L - Despite the headline-grabbing legal clash between It Ends With Us star and producer Blake Lively and its director, co-star and financier Justin Baldoni, from a business standpoint there’s a positive takeaway. Baldoni's Wayfarer made a shrewd move by recognizing the popularity of Colleen Hoover's novels and nabbing the rights. >>>$25M Production Cost
Seen & Heard At Coppola's AFI Tribute - At the AFI Life Achievement Award gala for Francis Ford Coppola over the weekend, Al Pacino perhaps best summed up why the legendary filmmaker has opted out of accepting many honors over the decades. Quoting Coppola himself, Pacino said, “The things you do when you’re young that you get fired for, are the same things that years later, they give you lifetime achievement awards for.” >>> Very Starry Crowd
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CBS’ Fire Country just delivered another suspenseful, emotional finale ending in a major cliffhanger. But its impact will go way beyond any previous season closers as Bode Leone (Max Thieriot) and Station 42 will be left reeling from the departures of two main characters next fall.
In an interview with Deadline, Fire Country co-creators/executive producers Joan Rater and Tony Phelan and executive producer/showrunner Tia Napolitano spoke about the exits. >>>Read The Interview
Related:
Stephanie Arcila On ‘Fire Country’ Departure & Gabriela’s Future After Season 3 Finale |
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Exclusive
Oscar nominee Jesse Plemons has been cast as Plutarch Heavensbee in Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, its adaptation of the bestselling book by Suzanne Collins. Plutarch Heavensbee was previously played by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Exclusive
Orlando Bloom (The Lord of the Rings) and Domhnall Gleeson (Ex Machina) have joined Kate and Rooney Mara in Werner Herzog’s Bucking Fastard, which wrapped filming in Europe this past weekend. The film marks the first time the Mara sisters have appeared on screen together.
Exclusive
Norman Reedus has joined Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Phoebe Dynevor in the horror movie Pendulum, which is now underway in New Mexico.
BAFTA winner Emma Mackey (Sex Education) is set to play the White Witch in Netflix's Narnia movie from filmmaker Greta Gerwig.
In Brief - Giancarlo Esposito, Tatiana Maslany & Steve Buscemi among additions to The Only Living Pickpocket In New York... Nicholas Duvernay joins Universal’s Reminders Of Him... Taye Diggs & Wayne Brady book limited summer run in Broadway's 'Moulin Rouge'
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BY THE NUMBERS
$87M - Pay package in 2024, including severance, for ex-Paramount CEO Bob Bakish |
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More News
🎸 The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has announced its 2025 class of inductees, and it includes seminal hip-hop duo OutKast, Cyndi Lauper and indie rock band The White Stripes.
📽 Alexander Payne has been set as jury president for the 82nd Venice Film Festival, running from August 27 to September 6. He follows in the footsteps of recent jury presidents Isabelle Huppert (2024), Damien Chazelle (2023), Julianne Moore (2022), Bong Joon-ho (2021) and Cate Blanchett (2020).
🎭 SAG-AFTRA’s National Board overwhelmingly approved 2025’s Commercials Contracts tentative agreements reached with the Joint Policy Committee April 12, meaning the agreements will now move on to the membership for ratification.
💷 Banijay, according to the FT, has entered early stage talks to buy UK network ITV. A deal would either be an outright takeover or just for lucrative production wing ITV Studios, which makes the likes of Love Island and Mr Bates Vs the Post Office.
📺 Web series Helluva Boss, which currently can be seen on YouTube, is heading to Prime Video with a two-season renewal for seasons 3 and 4. The pickup of the Hazbin Hotel spinoff comes as Vivienne Medrano, creator of both series, closes a first-look deal with the streamer. |
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Obituaries
🕯️ Bruce Logan, a respected director of photography and cinematographer who worked on classic films including Star Wars: A New Hope, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Tron, has died. He was 78. 🕯️ Virginia Giuffre, the woman who publicly accused Jeffrey Epstein and Prince Andrew of sexual abuse, has reportedly died by suicide. She was 41. 🕯️ RuPaul’s Drag Race star Jiggly Caliente has died aged 44, her family has announced. Caliente – real name Bianca Castro - had in recent days suffered a serious health setback, which included the loss of her right leg. 🕯️ 2025 Deaths Photo Gallery: Hollywood & Media Obituaries |
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On the Radar
Mon - Thunderbolts* premiere
Tue - Tina Fey on Seth Meyers
Wed - Meta earnings; Trump's 100th Day in Office
Thu - Apple, Amazon and Roku earnings
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Box Office Booster - A ticketholding Tom Cruise took to social media to congratulate Ryan Coogler, Michael B. Jordan and the entire cast and crew of Sinners. He also offered words of advice for prospective moviegoers: "Must see in a cinema and stay through the end credits!" |
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