box office

After the coronavirus shut down theaters, actor Eric Tabach contacted his friend, filmmaker Christian Nilsson, with a great idea — use the empty theaters to their advantage to launch a movie to the top of the box office. Nilsson explains how they pulled it off with a $0 budget.

Hollywood studios are shuffling more release dates as a result of the coronavirus, including sequels to “Doctor Strange,” “Spider-Man: Far From Home” and “Into the Spider-Verse.”

Ticket sales have plunged to their lowest levels in at least 20 years at North American movie theaters amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Elisabeth Moss-led thriller “The Invisible Man” rode a wave of good reviews to a very visible spot atop the box office this weekend. Universal Pictures on Sunday estimated that the film from writer-director Leigh Whannell earned $29 million from North American theaters. Internationally, the Blumhouse production picked up an additional $20.2 million.

“Birds of Prey,” the DC Comics’ Harley Quinn spinoff, made a tepid debut in theaters over the weekend, opening in No. 1 but below expectations with $33.3 million domestically, according to studio estimates Sunday. “Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn),” an R-rated Warner Bros. release, arrived in theaters while its star — Margot Robbie —…

Two “Bad Boys” were too good for one “Dolittle” at the box office. “Bad Boys for Life” starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence brought in $59 million in the U.S. and Canada to score a No. 1 debut entering the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. The action-packed, buddy comedy returned for the franchise’s third installment after a 17-year hiatus…

It took the Great War to finally take down “Star Wars.” Director Sam Mendes’ World War I story “1917″ brought in $36.5 million in its first weekend of wide release, easily topping the box office and ending the three-week reign of “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” which brought in $15 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. Universal’s expansion strategy…

The 2019 U.S. box office is headed toward the second-best annual haul in cinematic history. As of Sunday, the movies released this year garnered $11.26 billion domestically. Current estimates have the year’s final tally as high as $11.4 billion, but likely to fall between $11.36 billion and $11.39 billion, according to data from Comscore. In 2018, the U.S. box office…

“Star Wars” was still rising in the last weekend of the year, while “Little Women” broke big at the box office. “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” brought in $72 million over the weekend to remain the top-earning film in North America by light-years, according to studio estimates Sunday. In 10 days of release it has brought in $362.8 million…

Stand aside, boys. 2020 is the year of kick-ass women at the box office. From Amazon princesses and lethal assassins to crafty harlequins and alien warriors, next year will be dominated by female characters and female directors. Five of the top 10 most anticipated movies for 2020 are directed by women, according to a survey of more than 2,000 millennial…

The Force was a little less strong with “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.” J.J. Abrams’ Skywalker finale couldn’t match its recent predecessors on opening weekend, but it still amassed a $175.5 million debut that ranked as the third largest weekend of the year. “The Rise of Skywalker” came in with worse reviews than any “Star Wars” movie except...

“Jumanji: The Next Level” puts “Frozen 2” on second-place ice, while Clint Eastwood’s “Richard Jewell” opened with one of the worst box office debuts for the director. The Sony film starring Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart brought in $60.1 million in the U.S. and Canada to break a three-day record for a comedy in December for the production company. The…

“Frozen 2” blanketed multiplexes for the third straight weekend, continuing its reign at No. 1 with $34.7 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. The Walt Disney Co. animated sequel has already grossed $919.7 million worldwide. It will soon become the sixth Disney release this year to cross $1 billion, a record sure to grow to seven once…

“Avengers: Endgame” continued its global domination at the box office in a second week victory lap that saw the blockbuster cross the $2 billion mark in record time and unseat “Titanic” as the second highest-grossing film ever worldwide. Domestically, newcomers, including thrillers (“The Intruder”), well-reviewed comedies (“Long Shot”) or animated family fare (“Uglydolls”) were left in the dust to pick...

The universe belongs to Marvel. “Avengers: Endgame” shattered the record for biggest opening weekend with an estimated $350 million in ticket sales domestically and $1.2 billion globally, reaching a new pinnacle in the blockbuster era that the comic-book studio has come to dominate. The “Avengers” finale far exceeded even its own gargantuan expectations, according to studio estimates Sunday. The movie...

“Avengers: Endgame” has gotten off to a mighty start at the box office, earning a record $60 million from Thursday night preview showings in North America, according to the Walt Disney Co. The previous record holder was “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” which earned $57 million from Thursday previews in 2015, though “Avengers: Endgame” was shown in more theaters. Internationally,...

“Avengers: Endgame” is coming out on April 26, but that hasn’t stopped Disney’s Marvel Studios from hinting at what could be arriving after the grand finale of its most successful superhero franchise ever, a run at the box office for “Avengers,” which has so far racked up $4 billion. Next up: taking a step back in time. In an interview...

“Transformers: Age of Extinction,” the fourth installment in filmmaker Michael Bay’s morphing robots series, had the biggest box office debut weekend for a movie this year.