Today In Entertainment

OCTOBER 19, 2020

What's news: China overtakes North America as 2020's biggest movie market, Liam Neeson steals the U.S. box office crown, cinemas given the green light to reopen in New York state, London Film Festival winners, SNL tackles the dueling town halls. Plus: Die Hard rebooted... as a battery commercial, and Harrison Ford and Ed Helms team up for a buddy comedy. --Alex Weprin

 China Takes 2020's Box Office Crown

➤China is officially home to the world's biggest movie box office. Movie ticket sales in China for 2020 climbed to $1.988 billion on Sunday, surpassing North America's total of $1.937 billion, according to data from Artisan Gateway. The gap is expected to widen considerably by year's end.

--Analysts have long predicted that the world's most populous country would one day top the global charts. But the results still represent a historic sea change: North America has been the global box office's center of gravity since the dawn of the motion picture business. It only took a pandemic to accelerate the transition. The story.

+Here in North America, Liam Neeson steals the box office crown. Neeson's turn as older action star continued over the weekend as his film Honest Thief collected a solid $3.7 million in its U.S. box office debut. The movie, which marks the first release from Tom Ortenberg's revived Open Road Films, topped yet another quiet frame in terms of moviegoing amid the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic. The movie played particularly well in Miami, Chicago, San Diego and Atlanta.

--101 Studios' The War With Grandpa took in $2.5 million in its sophomore session for a 10-day-domestic total of $7.3 million. Christopher Nolan's Tenet, from Warner Bros, grossed $1.6 million domestically for a North American total of $50.6 million and a worldwide tally of $333.9 million. The story.

 New York Begins Cinema Reopenings

➤Cinemas outside of New York City will be allowed reopen at limited capacity on Oct. 23, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Saturday. The reopening of movie theaters comes with precautions in place as audiences will be limited to 25 percent capacity, noted as up to 50 people per showing.

--Exhibitors view Saturday’s announcement as a key victory even if cinemas in New York City — the country’s second-largest moviegoing market behind Los Angeles — can't yet open. The announcement followed the most significant meeting to date between exhibition and Cuomo’s staff, which happened on Friday, sources tell Pamela McClintock. 

--Theater owners had been frustrated for weeks by the lack of communication. That frustration reached a tipping point earlier this month when leaders in the exhibition space said Cuomo was out of touch in not letting cinemas reopen when he has allowed indoor dining, gyms and other public-facing businesses to flip on the lights. The story.

+AMC Theatres says it will open about a dozen theaters this week, mostly on Long Island and upstate. "It has become clear that movie studios are not willing to release blockbuster product until key major markets are open," said AMC CEO Adam Aron in a statement Monday. "Therefore, it is a monumental step in the right direction for our entire industry that theatres are starting to open across the state of New York."

+Wall Street reacts: Cinema stocks rose in early trading Monday, with B. Riley analyst Eric Wold writing that "although movie theaters within the key five New York City boroughs will still remain closed for the time being, we view this as a positive step toward reopening those theaters in the coming weeks." More.

➤On Saturday Night Live: SNL's cold open got in a few digs at its host network NBC, which closely followed the network’s broadcast of President Trump’s town hall...Weekend Update touched on Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis and recent town hall event, including the moment when Trump claimed he didn’t know what QAnon was to moderator Savannah Guthrie. "I think he’s just never heard the word QAnon out loud before," Che said... The rest of the sketches...

+Also: Kanye West spoke out after being the butt of a joke... Adele will host next week, and says she's "absolutely terrified"...

➤London Film Festival: Thomas Vinterberg's Another Round claims Audience Award. Having foregone the usual festival jury and main competition as part of its hybrid, coronavirus-impacted 2020 edition, the BFI London Film Festival came to close on Sunday with its awards in the hands of the audience. With all contemporary films presented virtually being eligible, it was Another Round, Vinterberg's ode to alcohol starring Mads Mikkelsen, that earned the biggest cheers after winning best film. The story.

➤Harrison Ford and Ed Helms are attached to star in the LD Entertainment and STXfilms comedy The Miserable Adventures of Burt Squire Aboard the Horn High Yo. Inspired by a true story, the indie revolves around a family man, amid a midlife crisis on a dream sailing vacation, who ends up shipwrecked in the Atlantic Ocean with a charming but unhinged sea captain. More.

 'Die Hard'... With a Commercial

➤John McClane is back... for batteries. Bruce Willis is reprising the Die Hard role for a commercial that debuted Fox's Green Bay vs. Tampa Bay NFL coverage. The two-minute mini-movie not only features a lot of action and classic McClane snark, but also reunites some of the cast from the 1988 blockbuster. 

--De'voreaux White (Argyle) and Clarence Gilyard (Theo) appear in the spot, both bringing a healthy dose of nostalgia. And of course, there is some vent crawling in the commercial created in part due to October being National Car Care Month. Details (and the spot itself) here.

Deals: U.S. cable giant Altice USA increased its unsolicited offer for Cogeco Inc., adding cash to acquire the Canadian rival's U.S. business, Atlantic Broadband, while selling the target company's Canadian assets to Rogers Communications... But the controlling shareholder of Cogeco, the Audet family of Montreal, again rejected the bid... Satellite radio giant SiriusXM has completed its acquisition of podcast platform Stitcher...

In other news...

--The CBS newsmagazine 60 Minutes will interview President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden for next week's edition.

--A group of Disneyland employees and fans joined together on Saturday morning to hold a rally outside the shuttered Southern California theme park in an effort to urge Gov. Gavin Newsom to issue reopening guidance.

--Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Paul Rudd, Mark Ruffalo, Don Cheadle and Zoe Saldana will join Sen. Kamala Harris to participate in a grassroots fundraiser hosted by the Russo Brothers on Oct. 20, in support of Joe Biden's presidential campaign.

--Scores of police cars swarmed outside Paramount Studios in Hollywood on Sunday night, with the police arresting a suspect on the lot after an officer-involved shooting.

--Zachery Ty Bryan, the actor who played the oldest son on the long-running 1990s sit-com Home Improvement, was arrested in Oregon and faces charges of strangulation and assault.

What else we're reading...

--"Donald Trump is losing his touch. So is the TV producer who shaped his image" [NY Times]

--"Netflix had a great 2020. But 2021 could be rough" [CNN Business]

--"Michaela Pereira joined former rival Good Day L.A. But don’t call her disloyal" [LA Times]

--"Saturday Night Live has a Jim Carrey problem" [Vanity Fair]

Today's birthdays: John Lithgow, 75, Jennifer Holliday, 60, Michael Gambon, 80, Jon Favreau, 54, Trey Parker, 51.

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OCTOBER 19, 2020

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