Showbiz Sandbox 475: Broadway Attendance Was Up and Box Office Was (Slightly) Down in 2019
January 6, 2020
Broadway produced its second highest grossing year in history during 2019, earning $1.7 billion, just 3% down from the year before. The season still managed to set a record for attendance, selling more tickets than any other season in modern history. Indeed, during the last decade attendance at Broadway shows was up 20% as ticket prices rose a whopping 70%.
Speaking of financial figures, the worldwide movie box office numbers are still being finalized for last year but it looks as if France and China may have set new records. So did Disney, whose movies grossed $11.1 billion globally, accounting for 33% of North America’s ticket sales.
Meanwhile, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association lent their voices to this year’s awards season by handing out their Golden Globes for achievement in film and television. Despite a few unexpected winners there was no indication there choices will hold sway of the Oscars in February.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why the Kingdom of Jordan is banning a movie it helped fund, the Coachella Music Festival announces this year’s lineup and some popular works enter the public domain.
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Showbiz Sandbox 464: Warner Bros. Gets the Last Laugh With “Joker”
October 7, 2019
After winning the top prize at the Venice Film Festival last month, “Joker” shattered October box office records around the world. This was despite mixed critical reviews and concerns about violence that led to heightened security at movie theaters. The question remains whether the movie will be too dark for Oscar voters come awards season.
The box office in China also made headlines over the past week as the country celebrated National Day by heading to the movies. China’s biggest release for the holiday week even made it onto the North American box office charts.
Meanwhile, one of Hollywood’s biggest talent agencies was hoping to raise a lot of money by going public and ultimately change how agents do business. However, Endeavor wound up pulling its initial public offering at the last minute as market makers began raising doubts.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including how who will be performing at next year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show, Spider-Man rejoins Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and Apple will release (some of) its movies in theatres with a 90-day theatrical window.
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Showbiz Sandbox 462: Netflix and Amazon Take Advantage of Fall Film Festivals
September 16, 2019
Though the Cannes Film Festival avoids programming movies from streamers like Netflix and Amazon, internationally renowned festivals in Venice, Telluride, Toronto and New York embrace them. And no wonder. As Anne Thompson of Indiewire tells us, the streamers used the fall film festival circuit to premiere some of the year’s most award-worthy movies.
Just back from Toronto and Telluride (and on her way to the New York Film Festival), Thompson fills us in on what new releases movie lovers should look forward to as we kick off awards season. She explains how making a big splash at such festivals can turn a middling movie into a hit collecting both big box office and plenty of kudos. Yes, we’re looking at you, Hustlers.
Meanwhile, with the imminent launch of their own streaming service, Disney wants to rewrite the rules — or at least the contracts — on how the profits from hit television shows gets shared, or as the company would prefer it, not shared. If successful, other networks and studios are sure to follow Disney’s lead.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why YouTube is revamping its music charts, Apple announcing the price for its streaming service and “Saturday Night Live” stumbling in a casting move.
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Showbiz Sandbox 44: And The (Six) Oscars Go To… “Hurt Locker”
March 8, 2010
The ballots have been counted, the envelopes have been opened and the nominees have undoubtedly returned their ball gowns and tuxes. Finally, after all the news coverage and public speculation about who would this year’s Oscars, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences put us out of our misery on Sunday during their annual awards ceremony. The proceedings lasted more than three hours as usual and provided very few surprises.
Katheryn Bigelow made history by being the first woman to win the Best Director Oscar for “The Hurt Locker”, which won six awards in total including Best Screenplay and Best Picture. Jim Cameron’s “Avatar” won three technical awards for art direction, cinematography and visual effects. One of the night’s biggest surprises was when Geoffrey Fletcher walked off with the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for “Precious”, upsetting Jason Reitman’s “Up In The Air”.
As we predicted on last week’s episode, Jeff Bridges won Best Actor for “Crazy Heart”, Sandra Bullock won Best Actress for “The Blind Side”, Mo’Nique won Best Supporting Actress for “Precious” and Christolph Waltz won Best Supporting Actor for “Inglorious Basterds”. Damien Bona, co-author of the book Inside Oscar
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