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☆ Disney's Marvel movies are returning to China after almost four years with 'Black Panther' and 'Ant-Man'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” will open in China on February 7, roughly three months after its global debut, while “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” will open on February 17, Marvel Studios announced on Chinese social media Tuesday. Since then, Marvel’s last eight movies have not been shown in the country, though that will drop down to seven with the upcoming “Black Panther” release, Dergarabedian said. Stars of Marvel Studios' "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" attending the film's European premiere in London on Nov. 3, 2022. “This likely played a part in this welcome shift in playability for Marvel films in the country.”China’s box office generally rakes in billions of dollars a year. That put North America’s box office ahead once more in 2022, generating more than $7.5 billion compared with China’s $4.4 billion, according to Comscore data.

☆ Netflix with ads got off to a slow start, but the streamer could still win at advertising
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Analysts are eagerly anticipating updates on Netflix's ads tier during its 4Q earnings call January 19. Netflix Basic with Ads has gotten off to a slow start, initially missing viewership targets. Subscriptions to the ad tier are expected to grow once the streamer cracks down on password sharing. The stock initially fell 9% on reports that Netflix was letting advertisers take money back after some ad campaigns fell far short of their viewer targets. And Netflix's Basic with Ads was the least popular tier in its first month, according to an Evercore ISI survey.

☆ I saw 'Last of Us' on a big screen. Here's why more blockbuster TV shows should be shown in movie theaters.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( Travis Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

More blockbuster TV shows like "Last of Us" should be shown on the big screen. It raised the question: Should more TV shows be put on the big screen? That event earned nearly $5 million, according to Fathom Events CEO Ray Nutt. The airings earned $2 million from just 205 theaters, according to The Los Angeles Times, and the episodes had already aired on HBO. Meanwhile, blockbuster shows like "House of the Dragon" and "The Rings of Power" had premiered on the small screen.

☆ 3 mental 'checkpoints' to help you meditate the right way
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Aditi Shrikant | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

In other words it's hard to know if you're "doing it right." And if you are doing it right, how is that supposed to feel? There is no specific feeling you are supposed to have while meditating, says Weston, who has been practicing for 15 years. "You're supposed to feel whatever you actually feel. Still, there are questions you can ask yourself which serve as "checkpoints" to help you monitor whether you're meditating correctly, Weston says.

More than a decade later, those that heeded this advice went on to become game-changing tech behemoths, including CNBC Disruptor 50 companies Block , Pinterest , Slack, Twilio , and Cloudera. Seed rounds had a record deal value in 2022, and valuations continued to grow even as late-stage venture companies nearer to the public market suffered. Venture funds raised a record amount of money in 2022, with $162.8 billion closed across 769 funds, according to PitchBook and the NVCA. We've seen companies struggle as public companies and then skyrocket, so a lower value-IPO is not the end of the road." "But when you can generate new share in a difficult market, when the market does turn, they are in a perfect position to capture more market share and customers."

☆ 'Avatar' sequel eclipses $1 billion at global box office, even with Covid weighing on China business
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

James Cameron's "Avatar: The Way of Water" has passed the billion-dollar mark at the global box office, but sluggish sales in China could weigh on the film's final haul. Worldwide ticket sales for the Disney film now stand at $1.03 billion, the combination of $317 million in domestic sales and $712 million from international markets. That places the film among the top five fastest movies to reach $1 billion in box-office sales. Still, industry experts are concerned by muted ticket sales from China. Through Tuesday, China has accounted for just $108 million in ticket sales for the film.

☆ 'Avatar: The Way of Water' makes more money in its first 10 days than the original film, suggesting the sequel has 'staying power'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Avatar: The Way of Water took more at the box office in its first 10 days than the original film. On its opening weekend, the sequel failed to live up to studio expectations for ticket sales. The $253 million box office take suggests the film will maintain momentum into the new year. "Avatar" made $212.7 million in its first 10 days in 2009 and went on to become the highest-grossing film of all time, taking more than $2.9 billion. The sequel is estimated to have made $56 million in North America over the weekend, compared with $134 million on the opening weekend – lower than the $150 million to $175 million projections.

☆ ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ nears $900 million globally
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( Sarah Whitten | Whitten Is A Social Media Writer For Cnbc. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Disney and James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” snared an estimated $56 million during its second weekend in theaters, a 58% drop from its debut. A decline in ticket sales is common for blockbuster titles, with most seeing a 50% to 70% slip. Box office analysts noted that cold winter weather and storms during the Christmas weekend likely led to slower ticket sales domestically. Additionally, international ticket sales continue to thrive. “The Way of Water” has generated $855 million in global ticket sales since its Dec. 16 release — $254 million domestically and $601 million from international markets.

☆ 'Avatar: The Way of Water' nears $900 million globally, boosted by international ticket sales
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Disney and James Cameron's "Avatar: The Way of Water" snared an estimated $56 million during its second weekend in theaters, a 58% drop from its debut. A decline in ticket sales is common for blockbuster titles, with most seeing a 50% to 70% slip. Box office analysts noted that cold winter weather and storms during the Christmas weekend likely led to slower ticket sales domestically. Additionally, international ticket sales continue to thrive. "The Way of Water" has generated $855 million in global ticket sales since its Dec. 16 release — $254 million domestically and $601 million from international markets.

☆ Three Marvel sequels are the most anticipated movies of 2023, according to Fandango
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Rebecca Picciotto | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

A trio of upcoming Marvel movies − the newest installments of the Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-Man and Ant-Man franchises − are the top three most anticipated films for 2023, according to a new survey by Fandango. Many of the most-anticipated films are prequels, sequels or films otherwise connected to a well-known franchise. 2023's Top 10 Most-Anticipated Movies Across Categories 1. "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" (Universal )Among the top 10 overall most anticipated films, only "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" isn't part of an established movie series. Last year, 80% said they wanted to see a minimum of five movies in theaters.

☆ How Silicon Valley and Madison Avenue are remaking the world of advertising
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Cnbc.Com Staff | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The Covid years led many organizations to finally understand just how important digital transformation was to their business future. But now, there's a rebalancing taking place in the advertising business, with firms merging the best of digital with the physical world of customer relationships that remains critical. But use of technology and greater emphasis on digital marketing has led firms like ServiceNow to find new and better ways to reach customers through a journey, so to speak. AI in advertisingAs digital immerses the world of marketing, it can be applied to physical events and that's something ServiceNow learned firsthand through a series of conferences it hosts. Look outside ad industryPark advises companies to look beyond his experience, or any advertising-specific case study, for new ideas.

☆ 'Avatar: The Way of Water' opens to $134 million, just missing box office expectations
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Internationally, "Way of Water" tallied $300.5 million, bringing the film's opening weekend haul to $434.5 million. The Chinese box office contributed around $265 million to "Avatar's" global tally a decade ago, but the market has grown significantly since. Since cinemas reopened in the country, it has been one of the fastest markets to recover and generate box office success. Box office analysts aren't concerned with the movie's smaller-than-expected domestic box office, particularly because of how it has played internationally. "It's premature to qualify the film's degree of success at this stage, especially with Cameron's history of long runs at the global box office," Robbins added.

☆ ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ gives James Cameron his first $100 million domestic debut
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —The highly anticipated “Avatar: The Way of Water” took in $134 million at the US box office, giving director James Cameron his first $100 million opening weekend — despite falling short of analyst predictions. “Avatar: The Way of Water” has so far earned $435 million at the global box office. Though Cameron hasn’t revealed exactly how much it cost to make the “Avatar” sequel, one answer isn’t in doubt: a lot. In 2009, “Avatar” earned $77 million in its opening weekend and collected 80% of its gross from 3D showings. “The Way of Water” notched the second highest all-time IMAX global opening weekend and the biggest IMAX December global opening ever.

☆ 'Avatar: The Way of Water' makes $17 million in Thursday previews, driven by big 3D sales
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

James Cameron's "Avatar: The Way of Water" snared $17 million during its Thursday night previews on its way towards a $175 million opening weekend. Premium formats will be a big factor in the film's opening weekend and its overall box office run. EntTelligence estimates that for "The Way of Water" 3D tickets will average around $16.50 each while 2D will cost around $12.50 a piece. Meanwhile, in Asia-Pacific, which includes Korea, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines, 39% of box office receipts were for these more expensive showings. The film had incredible staying power at the box office, running in theaters through August 2010, a staggering 234 days.

☆ 'Avatar: The Way of Water' is set to crush the box office. It won't be enough to salvage 2022 for theaters.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Travis Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

"Avatar: The Way of Water" is on pace for a solid box-office debut. "This is great news for theaters that have been looking for a proper blockbuster to take us out of 2022 and into 2023 with some much-needed box office momentum." Its box office dropped just 2% in its second weekend, for instance. Comscore is projecting the US box office to end the year with $7.2 billion — a vast improvement from last year's $4.5 billion, but still far below the $11 billion-plus that the US box office totaled every year from 2015 through 2019. There have been 37 fewer wide releases in theaters through December 5 this year than in 2019, Dergarabedian said.

☆ Disney is in an animation slump after 'Strange World' and 'Lightyear' flopped. Bob Iger may have the magic touch to turn it around.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Travis Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Disney's "Lightyear" and "Strange World" have flopped at the box office this year. Its latest animated movie, "Strange World," opened over the Thanksgiving weekend with $18 million over the five-day holiday in the US. This year was the first real test of the pandemic era to see if Disney's animated films could attract large swaths of consumers to theaters. In 2020 and 2021, Disney's animated movies either went straight to Disney+ or received a hybrid release on streaming and in theaters. But this year, Disney's movies have typically been released in theaters for 45 days before debuting on the streaming service.

☆ Thanksgiving used to be a movie feast. This year? Slim pickings
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Frank Pallotta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN Business —Thanksgiving weekend has historically offered a cornucopia of films, letting moviegoers get out of the house and kick back after eating copious amounts of turkey, mashed potatoes and pie. The North American box office has few new films this weekend that are likely to draw tons of moviegoers. Another Disney film, Marvel’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” is now in its second week and is set to win the holiday weekend with around $40 million domestically. For example, films like “Creed,” “Moana,” and “Knives Out” opened on Thanksgiving weekends and did well. As for Thanksgiving, Dergarabedian hopes that as the theater industry normalizes, the holiday will make a comeback.

☆ Warren Buffett just bet big on Paramount to win the ad streaming wars — here's what makes its business unique compared to competitors like HBO Max, Disney, and Netflix
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Elizabeth Pham Janowski | Ryan Joe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The maturation of ad-supported streaming services over the last year have become clearer. Discovery, and Netflix, which are charging high rates for streaming ads against so-called premium content. If these companies hope to attract premium CPMs however, they need to get them now. "The only reason, in my opinion, that they can control premium CPMs today is that they're just starting at this," Martin said. She believes the market will force services charging "premium" CPMs to lower these prices over time.

☆ Complexity for Marketers Has Meant Opportunity for Ad Agencies
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Megan Graham | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

Their performance is striking compared with ad agencies’ plight five years ago: Facebook and Google had established direct relationships with marketers and were winning growing portions of their ad budgets before agencies could even offer their services. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | CMO Today CMO Today delivers the most important news of the day for media and marketing professionals. PREVIEWSome major owners of ad agencies watched their growth slow or flatten in 2017 and 2018. Agency companies have responded by building practices to help marketers on platforms like TikTok and Amazon. Marketers navigate outside partnersSome major marketers still want to keep a close handle on some of their data efforts.

☆ 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' eyes $180 million opening weekend, highest November debut ever
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Disney and Marvel Studios' "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" snared an estimated $180 million during its domestic debut, earning it the record for the biggest opener in the month of November and the second-highest opener of 2022. "Wakanda Forever" is estimated to pull in 12.7 million patrons this weekend, according to data from EntTelligence. Only Marvel's "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" has pulled in more moviegoers, bringing in 13.7 million during its opening weekend in May. If "Wakanda Forever" sees a surge in ticket sales Sunday, it could surpass that figure. Like "Black Panther," "Wakanda Forever" features a predominately Black cast, but it also has several Hispanic actors.

☆ 'Black Panther: 'Wakanda Forever' aims to recreate blockbuster magic. Disney and theaters are counting on it
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Frank Pallotta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

If early projections and ticket sales are any indication, it appears “Wakanda Forever” will be just that. Why “Wakanda Forever” matters to theaters"Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" is set to be one of the biggest films of the year. “Every blockbuster counts more than ever for movie theaters right now.”Why does it matter how “Wakanda Forever” does this weekend? Why “Wakanda Forever” matters to Disney"Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" could break records this weekend. The performance of “Wakanda Forever” likely won’t move the needle on Disney’s stock, given that investors remain heavily focused on the company’s streaming endeavors.

☆ 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' aims to break box office records this weekend
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The long-awaited sequel to 2018's smash hit "Black Panther" isn't just another Marvel film. "Wakanda Forever" has a chance to not only be the biggest opener in 2022, but also the highest ever opener of the month of November. Box office analysts and theater operators are expecting African American and Hispanic moviegoers to flock to cinemas this weekend. Like "Black Panther," "Wakanda Forever" features a predominately Black cast, but it also has several Hispanic actors. According to Comscore, 37% of the opening weekend audience for "Black Panther" was Black, accounting for more than double what the demographic usually represents for other Marvel films.

☆ Women lead Wakanda through turmoil in 'Black Panther' sequel
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Lisa Richwine | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LOS ANGELES, Nov 7 (Reuters) - At the start of the follow-up to 2018's groundbreaking Marvel movie "Black Panther," the kingdom of Wakanda is reeling. The beloved King T'Challa dies at the opening of "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," a script change made after actor Chadwick Boseman passed away from cancer in 2020 just before the sequel was due to start filming. "T'Challa surrounded himself with powerful women," actor Letitia Wright said in an interview ahead of the movie's global rollout that starts on Wednesday. "We see these women in this film step into another level of leadership, together." "Black Panther" broke ground as the first superhero movie with a predominantly Black cast.

☆ Why horror films kill at the box office all year round
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Frank Pallotta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN Business —One of Paramount’s biggest blockbusters this year is a surprise hit that hasn’t slowed down at the box office since opening at No. The film, which stars Sosie Bacon as a psychiatrist being tormented by visions of horrifying smirks, opened to $22.6 million at the domestic box office late September. Many horror films this year have done the same, showing that — aside from superhero movies — horror is Hollywood’s most dependable genre at the box office. Audiences have been sporadic and the overall North America box office is down about 34% from the pre-Covid levels of 2019. “The box office results have been scary impressive.”

☆ 'Black Adam' wins a star-powered box office
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( Frank Pallotta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN Business —Who says movie stars no longer matter in Hollywood? Theaters and box offices got a much-needed boost this weekend thanks to superhero flick “Black Adam” and romantic comedy “Ticket to Paradise” — two films led by big stars. 1 spot at the domestic box office with an estimated $67 million. The debut of “Black Adam” is the largest opening at the box office since July’s “Thor: Love & Thunder.” (Warner Bros., like CNN, is owned by Warner Bros. In fact, Universal suffered a set back just a few weeks ago when “Bros.,” another romantic comedy, flopped at the box office.

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