Sky's the Limit: Skydance Gets Into Animation

The blockbuster end of Paramount is now looking into feature animation...

Skydance Media has produced and co-financed several tentpole pictures for Paramount, such as the newer Mission: Impossible films, the two Abrams-Star Trek sequels, and both Jack Reacher films. Though they are doing more films with the mountain studio, they are apparently set to end their partnership soon, which explains why two upcoming projects of theirs - Life and Geostorm - aren't Paramount movies.

Ilion is already hard at work on a feature for Paramount Animation, which is next summer's Amusement Park. Prior to Amusement Park, they did Planet 51 and a local film called Mortadelo and Filemon: Mission Implausible.

Two projects have been launched... The first of which is an untitled fantasy tale that will be penned by Linda Woolverton, screenwriter of Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. According to Deadline, the film "tells the story of Elian, a teenager who comes of age using her magical powers to defend her family when the opposing forces of light and darkness threaten to divide her kingdom." That's currently aiming for a 2019 release.

The other picture in the works sounds more interesting. Titled Luck, it's about organizations who are behind the good and bad luck in our lives. The premise kind of makes me think of Reel FX's upcoming film WISH Police, which is about a secret team taking on evil forces who attempt to make people's malevolent wishes come true. Glenn Aibel and Jonathan Berger, writers of the Kung Fu Panda trilogy and Trolls, are handling that one. Skydance CEO David Ellison will have a hand in producing both.

There is no word on what distributor Skydance is prepping these pictures for. Again, Paramount and Skydance are set to split soon, but some co-production pictures are still on the docket. However, those two films - Mission: Impossible VI and World War Z 2 - are entries in Paramount franchises that Skydance previously worked on. So right now, I don't know if these will be Paramount Animation films or if they will be released by someone else. That being said, I'm looking forward to seeing what they have in store for us. One has a cool concept, the other sounds like a fun old-school fantasy story.

What say you?

Weekend Box Office Report: Steady Drops

The calm before the storm... The Lego Batman Movie - currently garnering rave reviews - is out in a matter of days...

Sing still sits in the Top 10, staying at #7. It dipped 36%, made $4 million, and now sits at $262 million. Worldwide, it has jumped up to $487 million. France and the UK recently got it, China, Russia, and Japan are next. I expect it to do very well in the first two of those three territories.

Good ol' Monster Trucks slipped 49%, $31 million here, $57 million everywhere. Like I said on another post, I expected it to do way worse. The more I think about it, the more I think it should've been like Paramount's own Super 8. A town-set monster flick made for roughly $50 million, why in the world did Monster Trucks have to cost $75 million *more* than that? Oh right, something about confidence in it possibly kickstarting a Transformers/Ninja Turtles-esque franchise.

Despite losing over 1,000 screens, Moana eased 46%. $242 million here, $554 million worldwide. Still hanging in there, looks like it'll settle for a sub-$255 million domestic gross. $600 million worldwide is in sight!

No update on Trolls' gross. With the Blu-ray out tomorrow, I reckon its run will end pretty soon. There wouldn't be any major change anyways. We still await the verdict from DreamWorks on whether it was a success or a loss...

Weekend Box Office Report: Paramount Finally Rips Band-Aid, Others Hold Well

In an alternate universe, maybe Paramount's misguided mishap would've been the next Avatar...

Anyways, we all saw it coming. Monster Trucks' tires deflated. Opening at #7, behind several holdovers, the film took in $10 million for the three-day. It's also doing nothing in the few territories it's out in. With a 3x multiplier, the thing won't make more than $30 million, so yes. Big loss, but again, we knew it was going to happen. Paramount knew it back in August, the spillover from the previous guard is finally here and off their chests. Cult favorite in a few years? Or something that'll be locked in the bad box?

Paramount Animation will be fine. A few days ago, it seemed like a few heads were optimistic about their more animated future. By that, I mean we'll be seeing more caricature animation films from them, less live-action movies with hyper-real VFX elements.

Sing still crows, dropping a great 33% and reeling in $18 million for the weekend. At this point, somewhere between $250-270 million seems to be the sky. The picture's now at $397 million worldwide, still has to open in some key markets, as noted before. How long before Universal and Illumination officially ink Sing 2's 2019 release date?

Moana is now out of the Top 10, but it's still hanging ten. (My theater lost it this weekend.) It fell 38%, the gross to date is $231 million domestically. Worldwide, it's now at cruising its way towards $500 million, as it's now at $482 million. Finally past the 3x mark, Disney must be happy. Does it break out in Japan? Could it get to $600 million? We shall see...

Trolls is still around, dropping 12% and making 385k. $151 million domestically, $338 million worldwide. Still waiting on the verdict from DreamWorks themselves, whether this thing's a profit-maker or not.

Storks officially ended its run this past Thursday. $72 million here, $182 million worldwide. Non c'è male!

What are saying for The Lego Batman Movie's opening numbers?

UPDATE: MLK weekend totals...

Four-days are in...

Monster Trucks has made $15 million now, an $29 million worldwide.

Sing is now up to $238 million domestically, and $402 million worldwide.

Moana is still at $233 million, as it's pretty late into its run. $484 million worldwide.

Trolls stayed the same.