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We hope all our readers have a wonderful Thanksgiving Thursday and a busy holiday week at the movies.
Disney's much-anticipated Frozen 2 produced record-breaking results in its opening weekend, earning $127M in North American theaters and a whopping $350M worldwide. This performance represents the biggest opening weekend the history of Walt Disney Animation Studios, the biggest non-summer opening weekend for any animated film and the #3 opening for any animated film. Congratulations to the team at Disney Animation and to exhibitors everywhere. Disney/Fox's Ford v. Ferrari continued to race around the track, bringing in $16M in its second week. Sony's A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood starring Tom Hanks as Mr. Fred Rogers opened to a positive $13.5M.
Our Industry News Roundup begins with an article from the New York Times explaining the fundamental re-alignment in the industry resulting from the major studios and tech giants re-packaging themselves as streaming entertainment providers. We also point to two articles on the decision announced last week by the US Department of Justice to terminate the Paramount Consent Decrees. The Consent Decrees were a set of rules put in place in 1948 that restricted studios from certain practices when booking their films into theaters. The DOJ determined that the business and entertainment environment has changed so significantly that these rules no longer applied and that studios and exhibitors should be allowed the freedom to reset the terms of their relationships. Some in exhibition are expressing concern, especially in light of the consolidation among major studios.
Gower Street's Rolling 8-Week Forecast predicts a strong start to the new year, now only 6 weeks away. These results are based on continued draw from Christmas week films and new releases for January, notably the Sam Mendes WWI drama 1917. In The Hollywood Report, Martin Grove points out the compressed timeline Academy members will be laboring under to watch and vote on this year's nominated films. Votes are cast between January 2-7, a mere 6 days. If you factor in the vacation and travel that many Academy members take during the holiday season, that leaves precious little time to work through the piles of screeners they will receive for nominated films.
We conclude with our regular film data and tables: the Weekly Film Calendar covering releases over the next six weeks, recently announced Studio Release Changes, a list of Upcoming Industry Screenings, the latest MPAA film ratings and a list of important new trailers released last week.
Screendollars helps exhibitors stay informed about the Hollywood film release calendar, industry news and how to maximize earnings from in-theater advertising. We welcome exhibitors reaching out to us to learn more about our Screendollars on-screen pre-show and lobby programs.