Guilty pleasures
By NewsPress Now
Dwayne Johnson’s Christmas pic opens to $34.1 million
LOS ANGELES | Moviegoers were not exactly feeling the Christmas spirit this weekend, or at least not based on their attendance at “Red One” showings.
The big budget, star-driven action comedy with Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans sold $34.1 million in tickets in its first weekend in theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday. It easily topped a box office populated mostly by holdovers.
For traditional studios, a $34.1 million debut against a $200 million-plus production budget would be a clear indication of a flop. Some even peg the budget closer to $250 million. But “Red One” is an Amazon MGM Studios release with the luxury of playing the long game rather than relying solely on global box office where Johnson tentpoles often overperform. The film may have a life on Prime Video for years to come.
“Red One,” in which Johnson plays Santa’s bodyguard, was originally built to go straight-to-streaming. It was greenlit prior to Amazon’s acquisition of MGM. One interpretation of its lifecycle is that the theatrical earnings are not only just a bonus, but an additive gesture toward struggling theaters looking for a consistent stream of new films.
“Amazon has 250 million plus worldwide subscribers to the platform. It’s similar to the way Netflix, I think, looks at stuff for their platform,” said Kevin Wilson, head of distribution for Amazon MGM Studios. “There’s a there’s a massive value for a movie like this in terms of how many eyeballs you’re going to get.”
The first major studio holiday release since 2018, “Red One” opened on 4,032 screens, including IMAX and other large formats, on an otherwise quiet weekend for major releases.
“We’re really happy with the results,” Wilson said. “I think when you look at the theatrical marketplace that’s sometimes unforgiving, especially for original films, this is a good result for us.”
Since 2020, only seven films that weren’t sequels or based on another piece of intellectual property have opened over $30 million (including “Oppenheimer” and “Nope.”)
Warner Bros. is handling the overseas release, where it has made an estimated $50 million in two weekends from 75 territories and 14,783 screens.
Still, it’s certainly not a theatrical hit in North America. Even “Joker: Folie à Deux” made slightly more in its first weekend. “Red One,” directed by Jake Kasdan and produced by Johnson’s Seven Bucks, was roundly rejected by critics, with a dismal 33% Rotten Tomatoes score. Jake Coyle, in his review for The Associated Press, wrote that it “feels like an unwanted high-priced Christmas present.”
Audiences were kinder than they were to “Joker 2,” giving it an A- CinemaScore, suggesting, perhaps, that the idea of it becoming a perennial holiday favorite is not so off-base.
“Red One” is also overperforming in the middle of the country, Wilson said, and perhaps will have a nice holdover over Thanksgiving as a different option to the behemoths on the way.
Sony’s “Venom: The Last Dance” added $7.4 million this weekend’s box office to take second place, bringing its domestic total to $127.6 million. Globally, its total stands at $436.1 million.
Lionsgate’s “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” landed in third with $5.4 million. That much more modestly budgeted Christmas movie has already nearly doubled its $10 million production budget in two weeks. Fourth place went to A24’s Hugh Grant horror “Heretic,” with $5.2 million, bumping its total gross to $20.4 million.
Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s “The Wild Robot” rounded out the top five in its eighth weekend in theaters with an additional $4.3 million. The animated film surpassed $300 million worldwide.
This weekend is a bit of a stopover before the Thanksgiving tentpoles arrive. Next week, “Wicked” and “Gladiator II” face off in theaters with “Moana 2”, which also stars Johnson, sailing in the Wednesday before the holiday.
“Gladiator II” also got a bit of a head start internationally, where it opened in 63 markets this weekend to gross $87 million. That’s a record for filmmaker Ridley Scott and for an R-rated international release from Paramount. It opens in the U.S. and Canada on Nov. 22.
Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore, said that the “Red One” is helping set into motion a momentum leading into the Thanksgiving corridor.
The upcoming releases, he said, “will finally bring some excitement to what has been a somewhat quiet post-Labor Day moviegoing marketplace.”
Dergarabedian added that it could be “one of the biggest revenue generating Thanksgiving periods in box office history.”
A gold pocket
watch given to Titanic captain sells for a record price
LONDON | A gold pocket watch given to the ship captain who rescued 700 survivors from the Titanic sold at auction for nearly $2 million, setting a record for memorabilia from the ship wreck.
The 18-carat Tiffany & Co. watch was given by three women survivors to Capt. Arthur Rostron for diverting his passenger ship, the RMS Carpathia, to save them and others after the Titanic struck an iceberg and sank in the north Atlantic on its maiden voyage in 1912.
Auctioneers Henry Aldridge and Son, who sold the watch to a private collector in the United States on Saturday for 1.56 million British pounds, said it’s the most paid for a piece of Titanic memorabilia. The price includes taxes and fees paid by the buyer.
The watch was given to Rostron by the widow of John Jacob Astor, the richest man to die in the disaster, and the widows of two other wealthy businessmen who went down with the ship.
Astor’s pocket watch, which was on his body when it was recovered seven days after the ship sank, had previously set the record for the highest price paid for a Titanic keepsake, fetching nearly $1.5 million (1.17 million pounds) from the same auction house in April.
Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said the fact that Titanic memorabilia has set two records this year demonstrates the enduring fascination with the story and the value of the dwindling supply and high demand for ship artifacts.
“Every man, woman and child had a story to tell, and those stories are told over a century later through the memorabilia,” he said.
Rostron was hailed a hero for his actions the night the Titanic sank and his crew was recognized for their bravery.
The Carpathia was sailing from New York to the Mediterranean Sea when a radio operator heard a distress call from the Titanic in the early hours of April 15, 1912 and woke Rostron in his cabin. He turned his boat around and headed at full steam toward the doomed vessel, navigating through ice bergs to get there.
By the time the Carpathia arrived, the Titanic had sunk and 1,500 people perished. But the crew located 20 lifeboats and rescued more than 700 passengers and took them back to New York.
Rostron was awarded the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal by President William Howard Taft and was later knighted by King George V.
Madeleine Astor, who had been helped into a lifeboat by her husband, presented the watch to Rostron at a luncheon at her mansion on Fifth Avenue in New York.
The inscription says it was given “with the heartfelt gratitude and appreciation of three survivors.” It lists Mrs. John B. Thayer and Mrs. George D. Widener alongside Astor’s married name.
“It was presented principally in gratitude for Rostron’s bravery in saving those lives,” Aldridge said. “Without Mr. Rostron, those 700 people wouldn’t have made it.”
‘Inside the NBA’ will air on ESPN and ABC as part of settlement
“Inside the NBA” will appear on ESPN and ABC beginning next season as part of a settlement between Warner Bros. Discovery and the NBA.
Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of TNT Sports, sued the NBA in New York state court after the league did not accept the company’s matching offer for one of the packages in its new 11-year media rights deal, which will begin with the 2025-26 season.
The settlement is expected to be announced on Monday, three people with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press on Saturday night.
The people spoke on condition of anonymity because litigation remains ongoing. The deadline to have the lawsuit dismissed is Tuesday.
The settlement was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Even though “Inside the NBA” will be on ESPN and ABC beginning with the 2025-26 season, TNT Sports will continue to produce the popular studio show and it will air from Atlanta, except when the show goes on the road.
The quartet of Ernie Johnson Jr., Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal will remain with the show. Barkley signed an extension with WBD in August despite the company losing the NBA.
“Inside the NBA” is expected to air during key moments on the league’s calendar — opening night, Christmas Day, the playoffs and the NBA Finals. It is also likely it will be on during Saturday nights the second half of the season when ABC has a prime-time package of games.
The settlement gives TNT Sports, Bleacher Report and House of Highlights a global content license for NBA content with no rights fee for the next 11 years.
Warner Bros. Discovery will also continue its relationship with the league’s digital operations, including NBA.com, for five seasons.
Even though TNT Sports will not be airing games in the United States beginning next season, it does have rights to air a full package of games in select countries, including Latin America and Poland.
TNT Sports will also begin showing Big 12 football and men’s basketball games next season as part of a sublicense with ESPN. TNT will air two College Football Playoff games beginning this season also under a sublicense with ESPN.
Warner Bros. Discovery acquired rights to the French Open tennis tournament as well as Big East basketball earlier this year.
Turner Sports has had an NBA package since 1984 and games have been on TNT since the network launched in 1988. That will end after this season.
—From AP reports
