'Wonder Woman 1984' debuts with pandemic-best $16.7M
This image released by Warner Bros. Entertainment shows Gal Gadot in a scene from "Wonder Woman 1984." โWonder Woman 1984โ grossed an additional $19.4 million in international markets where it began playing a week earlier. But WarnerMedia is counting on โWonder Woman 1984โ to matter more to HBO Max, which wobbled in its initial rollout. Warner Bros. nevertheless seized on the returns for โWonder Woman 1984โ as the best as could be expected, given the circumstances. Streaming numbers weren't provided for โSoulโ or โWonder Woman 1984.โ WarnerMedia said nearly half of HBO Maxโs subscribers watched โWonder Woman 1984โ on its first day on the streaming platform, though it didn't say how long constituted a watch.
New this week: 'Soul,' a Tom Hanks film & 'Bridgerton' on TV
This image released by Disney-Pixar shows the character 22, voiced by Tina Fey, left, and Joe Gardner, voiced by Jamie Foxx, in a scene from the animated film "Soul." But with more than half of U.S. theaters closed, two of the biggest movies of the year โ โSoulโ and โWonder Woman 1984โ โ will be going straight to streaming. โ Also arriving Christmas Day is โWonder Woman 1984,โ Patty Jenkins' sequel to her barrier-breaking 2017 film. With Gal Gadot returning, โWonder Woman 1984โ fast-forwards from 1918 to the โgreed is goodโ decade. โ AP Entertainment Writer Mark Kennedy___Catch up on APโs entertainment coverage here: https://apnews.com/apf-entertainment.
Disney+ subscribers reach 86.8 million worldwide
Chapek said Disney+ subscribers worldwide have reached 86.8 million, up from 74 million last month. But Disney also kept its biggest films โ including Marvel's โBlack Widow," Pixar's โLuca,โ a โLion Kingโ prequel โ on course for theatrical release. Jenkins becomes the first woman to direct a โStar Warsโ film. Among the โStar Warsโ series are two spinoffs of โThe Mandalorian,โ set during the series' timeline: โRangers of the New Republicโ and โAhsoka,โ with Rosario Dawson. Seven Disney films topped $1 billion worldwide.
Pixar's 'Soul' bypasses theaters, will stream on Christmas
NEW YORK โ The Pixar film โSoulโ will skip theaters and instead premiere on Disney+ on Christmas, the Walt Disney Co. announced Thursday, sending one of the fall's last big movies straight to streaming. The successive delays of the film industry's would-be blockbusters has only made the dire circumstances of movie theaters more acute. Without aid, the organization said, 69% of small and mid-sized movie theater companies will close or go bankrupt. โThe stark reality is that many movie theaters will not be able to open again if they donโt receive government help,โ says Esther Baruh, director of government relations for the association. It recently announced that it would lay off 28,000 workers, most of them at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, and Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.