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☆ '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.

☆ Paramount took a risk keeping ‘Top Gun’ grounded for two years. It was this year’s biggest hit
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Frank Pallotta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

“Maverick” flew into theaters with lots of buzz and strong reviews, and that helped the movie blow past box office projections for its opening weekend. It brought in a Memorial Day weekend record of $160 million at the North American box office. “Maverick” is an old-school box office hit made for the biggest screen possible that emerged just as the industry’s future was very much in doubt. “The commercial reception of Tom Cruise’s legacy sequel was the summer movie miracle theaters needed,” Scott Mendelson, a box office reporter, wrote for Forbes. Climbing back up the mountain"We really felt, and Tom certainly agreed with the fact that we had a great big screen movie," Bakish said.

☆ 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.

☆ A CEO and activist investor who moved into micro caps after two decades picking stocks at BlackRock and Merrill Lynch told us his process for finding companies that can double their worth in 3 years
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Marley Jay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Kevin Rendino led big value funds for Merrill Lynch and BlackRock, but changed course. He's now an activist micro cap investor and CEO of turnaround firm 180 Degree Capital. Rendino spent 24 years at Merrill Lynch and then BlackRock, as an analyst and then as a portfolio manager. At different stages, he managed a large cap value fund for six years and oversaw an equity value team that ran 11 funds that held a combined $13 billion. The firm specializes in investing in micro cap companies and helping them turn their businesses around.

☆ CNN CEO Chris Licht is facing an increasingly angry newsroom as more layoffs loom, plans are murky, and staff have lost confidence after 'horrible programming decisions'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

CNN CEO Chris Licht has been faulted by the newsroom for too many changes and not enough communication. Chris Licht needs a hit. "People are starting to believe there is no plan," said one executive familiar with the workings of CNN. "Is Chris Licht going to be there for them and push back on government officials? Many on the ad sales team that was formerly dedicated to CNN have either been pink-slipped or joined the broader ad sales group under WBD ad honcho Jon Steinlauf.

☆ 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' tallies $67 million in domestic debut, first film opening since July to top $50 million
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

"Black Adam" stormed into theaters this weekend, snaring $67 million domestically. This is a good sign for the film industry, which saw attendance shrink during the pandemic and is currently dealing with a significant lack of new film releases. "Black Adam" is one of only four major releases coming to theaters before the end of the year. The others are all Disney films: "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" (Nov. 11), "Strange World" (Nov. 23) and "Avatar: The Way of Water" (Dec. 16). The hope from movie theater owners is that films like "Black Adam" can continue to drive traffic to theaters beyond its opening weekend.

☆ '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.

☆ Ye’s graveyard of hate: What Kanye West’s agreement to purchase Parler actually means
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN Business —After being locked out of his Twitter and Instagram accounts for anti-semitic posts, Monday’s announcement Kanye West will buy the far-right social platform Parler for an undisclosed amount drove headlines. As of press time, the music icon had just 10,000 followers on the platform — a tiny sliver of the 31 million followers he has amassed on Twitter. (By comparison Twitter, also a small social platform compared to giants like Meta, has more than 237 million daily active users.) In truth, West did not even agree to purchase a “conservative social media platform,” as many headlines in the press would have led readers to believe. What he agreed to purchase is a platform with an embarrassingly small user base comprised of far-right extremists and racists.

☆ It’s a scary time in Hollywood. But the horror studio behind hits like ‘Halloween Ends’ is making a killing
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Frank Pallotta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

That includes hits like “Get Out,” “The Black Phone,” “The Purge,” “Paranormal Activity,” and the rebooted “Halloween” trilogy. “Halloween Ends,” the trilogy’s final film, hits theaters and streaming this weekend. Scary low budgets, scary good results"Get Out" was one of Blumhouse's biggest commercial and critical hits. For Jason Blum, the company’s CEO and founder, making movies on low budgets is more than just about saving money. “We’re really known for low budgets because low budgets are profitable,” he told CNN Business.

☆ Martin Scorsese is sick of hearing about how much money movies make and says it's 'really insulting' to cinema
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Travis Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Martin Scorsese said at the New York Film Festival on Wednesday that cinema is being "belittled." He thinks the "focus on numbers" — a movie's box office performance — is "repulsive" and "insulting." "Since the '80s, there's been a focus on numbers," Scorsese said. Scorsese added: "As a filmmaker, and as a person who can't imagine life without cinema, I always find it really insulting." His comments come amid intense scrutiny of box office takings.

Insider asked 12 top VCs what ad and marketing tech companies excited them the most this year. Check out the 19 most promising adtech startups, and what they do that makes them unique. It hopes to raise a Series A funding round in the coming months. Emperia is currently raising its next funding round. Why it's on the list: Tech companies are being scrutinized for their wasting energy consumption, and the digital advertising industry is no exception.

☆ 'The Woman King' shows why the box office needs more mid-budget movies
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-25 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

"The Woman King" held firm at the box office during its second weekend in theaters. "Proof that ''The Woman King' is in it for the long haul is reflected in its 42% second-weekend drop," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore. Lower-budget films like this don't make explosive box office numbers but provide much-needed supplementary revenue to cinemas. While big-budget franchise films dominate the box office charts, films with small-to-mid budgets are equally important to the theatrical ecosystem. Without them, the domestic box office loses out on billions in ticket revenue.

☆ 'Avatar' re-release shows franchise's overseas strength while pulling in $10 million domestically
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-25 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Disney is expected to snare $30 million in ticket sales globally from its theatrical re-release of 2009's "Avatar." While domestic ticket sales, which will reach $10 million, according to projections, are in-line with analysts' projections, it's the international tally of $20 million that has box office analysts buzzing. "Avatar: The Way of Water," the first of four sequels to the original film, is slated for release in December. There's clearly still audience interest for "Avatar," box office analysts agreed after seeing Sunday's projected figures. However, it's still up in the air as to whether that interest will translate to ticket sales in December, particularly for 3D showings.

☆ 'Avatar' returns to theaters as Disney tries to hype audiences for its long-delayed sequel
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Bringing the highest-grossing film of all time back to theaters has two purposes for Disney: drum up excitement for "The Way of Water" and fill a vacant spot on the theatrical calendar. The rerelease of the original film is a sort of litmus test for whether audiences still want to visit its eco-conscious science fiction world. But it never captured the cultural relevance that Star Wars or the Marvel Cinematic Universe – both also owned by Disney – have enjoyed. "Avatar" captivated audiences more than a decade ago, in part because of the technology that Cameron helped develop to film and animate the movie. Set more than a decade after the events of the first film, "Avatar: The Way of Water" tells the story of the Sully family.

Eight years after the show’s debut, the podcast circuit across all storytelling genres has never been more crowded or competitive. But in today’s oversaturated market, could any one show prove to be as singularly culture-shaping — influential enough to help free an imprisoned person? “I remember a time when I could keep up on new podcast series, but nowadays that seems virtually impossible,” he added. Cindy Ord / Getty Images file“Serial” is not the only podcast to have helped put more focus on a possible miscarriage of justice. In the years since, the stylistic tropes of true-crime podcasting have become all too easy to satirize.

☆ ‘The Woman King’ poised for big box-office run after surprisingly strong opening weekend
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

During a lull in the movie calendar, Gina Prince-Bythewood’s “The Woman King” is generating the kind of buzz — and ticket sales — that the box office desperately needs. ″‘The Woman King’ opened on the high end of our expectations and looks poised for a very healthy theatrical run thanks to strong word of mouth,” said Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at BoxOffice.com. Overall ticket sales were driven predominantly by older female viewers, a demographic that has been slower to return to cinemas coming out of the Covid pandemic. Additionally, Black audiences accounted for 56% of all opening weekend ticket sales in the U.S. and Canada. “Much like ‘Black Panther,’ ‘The Woman King’ demonstrates that positive, culturally based stories can resonate strongly among all audiences,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore.

☆ 'The Woman King' poised for big box-office run after surprisingly strong opening weekend
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

During a lull in the movie calendar, Gina Prince-Bythewood's "The Woman King" is generating the kind of buzz — and ticket sales — that the box office desperately needs. "'The Woman King' opened on the high end of our expectations and looks poised for a very healthy theatrical run thanks to strong word of mouth," said Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at BoxOffice.com. Overall ticket sales were driven predominantly by older female viewers, a demographic that has been slower to return to cinemas coming out of the Covid pandemic. Additionally, Black audiences accounted for 56% of all opening weekend ticket sales in the U.S. and Canada. "Much like 'Black Panther,' 'The Woman King' demonstrates that positive, culturally based stories can resonate strongly among all audiences," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore.

☆ The biggest box-office flops of the year show how the movie business still has a long road to recovery
▼ + stars: | 2022-05-23 | by ( Travis Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The 2022 box office saw a vast improvement over last year. 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 total in 2019. There were surprise successes this year, like the low-budget horror movie "Smile," which made $216 million off of a $17 million budget. Other movies weren't total disasters but underwhelmed, leaving the future of their respective franchises in question. Below are the year's most notable box-office flops and disappointments, in release-date order (numbers are based on data from IMDb Pro):

☆ Fandom is trying to build the Bleacher Report of entertainment
▼ + stars: | 2018-03-03 | by ( Mike Shields | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Now seen as a largely successful deal — Bleacher Report frequently tops category giant ESPN when it comes to social media interactions — at the time there were plenty of skeptics. Jacobs sees an opportunity to re-run the same Bleacher Report playbook in the entertainment category. And it's also hired a slew of professional writers and video producers from companies such as Variety, YouTube and yes, Bleacher Report. "In a way, we'd already done the heaviest lifting a media company has to do, which is to build scale," said CEO Craig Palmer. "For the first six to eight years, we just scaled and scaled and scaled and scaled thanks to our users.

Persons: –, Jon Miller, Walker Jacobs, Mike Freeman, Howard Beck, Jacobs, Jimmy Wales, Craig Palmer, it's, comScore, who's, Harry Potter, we'd, Walker, What's, Palmer Organizations: News Corp, AOL, Turner, ESPN, New York Times, Wikia, Variety, YouTube, TPG, Marvel, Star Wars, Netflix, nab, Gillette

☆ Returning customers are far more valuable to online retailers than new customers
▼ + stars: | 2016-03-30 | by ( Andrew Meola | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

New customers are certainly important to retailers, but returning customers should mean more. A new report from Monetate reveals that the value of returning customers is greater across numerous product categories, and that value continues to grow every year. Those shoppers leave 34.8% of the time compared to 24.4% for returning shoppers, though that number is up from 23.1% in the year-ago period. So returning customers are clearly important, but longevity is also crucial. Breaks down online spending habits of millennials and teens, including the brands and products they shop for.

Persons: Cooper Smith, Gen X Organizations: Commerce, RJ, Insider Intelligence, Business, eBay Locations: U.S, Greenfield

Search resuls for: "comScore"

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