Who said April is the cruelest month? In its second week of release, Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog 2 received a major boost as it opened in the Domestic market with a massive $72.1 million, proving the suggestion audiences weren’t coming back to cinemas incorrect, they just needed the product. Sonic 2 opened 24 percent higher than the 2020 original, according to the British analytics firm Gower Street.
SMPTE, the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, will once again host a session on the future of cinema at the National Association of Broadcasters convention on Saturday April 23 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
CGR Cinemas, France’s second biggest multiplex chain behind Pathé, has been put on the market by its owners, Luc and Charles Raymond. The family-owned business has an estimated value of about $1.1 billion, according to Jocelyn Bouyssy, CGR’s long-time managing director who has been assigned to find a buyer for the group.
The Strong Entertainment Group subsidiary of Ballantyne Strong has filed for an initial public offering that will spin it out of its parent as a separate company. The filing does not price the stock nor say how many shares will be sold. That will be disclosed in later amendments. The new company is to be named Strong Global Entertainment and is intended to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SGE.
The British cinema advertising company Pearl & Dean has announced a formal collaboration with Dive, a start-up agency with a focus on experiential campaigns, productions, stunts, and events in film and cinema advertising.
Following celebrations at the Academy Awards and the BAFTA’s, the 60th Anniversary celebrations of 007 continue with UK and Irish cinema screenings of 25 Bond titles culminating in Global Bond Day on 5th October.
MetaMedia and the Broadcast Management Group have announced what the companies say is the first end-to-end solution for the production and distribution of live and interactive entertainment and marketing events to cinemas and other out-of-home venues.
There was so much happening at the global box office in 2021 it was, perhaps, easy to overlook one of the most significant pieces of news: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia overtook Italy in annual box office in terms US dollars, according to a new report from the London-based analytics firm Gower Street. This put Saudi Arabia into the top six markets in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region, the report said. It marked the first time on modern record that one of the so-called big six European markets (UK/Ireland, France, Germany, Russia, Italy, and Spain) had been supplanted.
Showcase Cinemas has introduced the Movie Party package, which enables customers to renta private auditorium for a screening of one the latest cinematic releases for up to 20 guests, giving children the chance to celebrate their birthday with a movie on the big screen.
Christie has named Hideaki Onishi as its new chairman and CEO. With more than 30 years of management experience in various positions within the Ushio, Inc. group – parent company of Christie – Hideaki will begin his role immediately to lead Christie into its next chapter. Hideaki will replace Kazuhisa Kamiyama, who has completed his tenure with Christie and is returning to Japan to take up a new role at Ushio headquarters.
