CinemaCon: Global Box Office Recovery Accelerated in First Quarter, Says Study

EXCLUSIVE: Religion of Sports, the Emmy-winning sports media company founded by Gotham Chopra, Tom Brady and Michael Strahan, has today named Pietro Moro to the hybrid role of COO/CFO, also spotlighting the expansion of its production team with two promotions and four hirings.

It’s a testament to Jeffrey Wright’s onscreen presence that he is now the longest-serving Felix Leiter — an often-thankless part that’s perhaps the 007-universe equivalent of a Star Trek redshirt — in the entire James Bond franchise. But, then, Wright has a charismatic gravitas that has served him well in the years since Basquiat, an experimental portrait of the ill-fated New York graffiti artist, first launched him in 1986. Emmy-nominated for his stint in HBO’s Westworld, he comes to Cannes with his second Wes Anderson hook-up, Asteroid City, after stealing the show in The French Dispatch as food writer Roebuck Wright.

Lupita Nyong'o is setting the record straight about her relationship with Janelle Monáe. The 40–year-old Oscar winner and the 37-year-old singer-actress became close after meeting at the 2014 Met Gala, sparking rumors the two were dating. Lupita – who currently dates Selema Masekela – understands why people thought the two were together. «She has magnetism that they were obviously picking up on,» Lupita tells Rolling Stonein its new cover story about Janelle, who came out as pansexual in 2018. «She is that enigmatic.

Director-writer Gina Prince-Bythewood, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Mexico City Governor Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo will be the recipients of the Motion Picture Association’s MPA Awards.

star Eden Wood is all grown up and graduated! Wood shared a series of photos from her high school graduation on Instagram over the weekend, including one in which she appears to be delivering a speech at a podium as her class valedictorian. «Alumni Status,» she captioned the carousel. In her hashtags, Wood confirmed her valedictorian status and revealed her plans to continue her education by moving "#ontocollege."A post shared by Eden Wood® (@officialedenwood)In an interview with, the 18-year-old Arkansas native said that she plans to pursue a career in broadcast journalism. «I want to do something that I love.

Chrishell Stause and G Flip are celebrating their wedding ceremony with some permanent ink. Amid reporting that the couple may not have signed the necessary paperwork to legalize their marriage, G Flip shares in a new interview that they and Stause did get tattoos of their wedding vows following their secret Las Vegas ceremony. «Not going to share them, but we've got them tattooed,» the songwriter tells . «Some, some of them.» As ET reported on Saturday, there are no marriage records for the couple in the Clark County, Nevada Recorder's Office.

Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, say they experienced a «near catastrophic» event due to the paparazzi in New York City, the 38-year-old Duke of Sussex has suffered a legal loss regarding his security while visiting the United Kingdom.According to the, a judge in the U.K. has ruled not to give the former royal a hearing after Harry made a legal challenge to be allowed to make private payments for police protection while across the pond.Harry's lawyers wanted a judicial review of the previous rejection of his offer to pay for protection while in the U.K.

A$AP Rocky isn't about to let just anything slide in front of his lady!The «Fashion Killa» rapper had some choice words for a group of clubgoers after a fight broke out near him and a pregnant Rihanna during a recent outing.«Y'all n***** act like gentlemen right now, you heard?» A$AP said over a microphone. «I got my lady in here.»He continued, «Y'all n***** calm that sh*t down, man.

Mike Tyson did a recent podcast interview where he briefly spoke about Jamie Foxx.

Chelsea could be without as many as nine first-team players on Thursday when they face Manchester United at Old Trafford.

ABC News Studios dropped the trailer for Jelly Roll: Save Me, the documentary chronicling the singer-songwriter’s mental health and addiction struggles. The doc is set to begin streaming on Tuesday, May 30 on Hulu and you can watch a preview in the video posted above.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The BBC has acquired Norwegian comedy drama ‘Afterglow’ for BBC Four and BBC iPlayer. The 7×45 minute series tells the story of Ester Sand, the one person you think will live forever, who finds out she has cervical cancer on her 40th birthday. But after the initial shock, it’s Ester who comforts the people in her life and she has no intention of leaving the world just yet. “ ‘Afterglow’ is a story of love and life and all of the glorious and silly things we do before we die,” the broadcaster said. “Afterglow” stars Nina Ellen Odegaard (“Possession”), Torbjorn Harr (“Vikings”), Sara Khorami (“Witch Hunt”) and Hermann Sabado (“Home for Christmas”). It was created by Kjetil Indregard and Atle Knudsen, who also acts as director.  It was produced by Monster Scripted for NRK, with rights handled by Reinvent International Sales. “Funny, sad, honest and touching, ‘Afterglow’ is that rare thing – an uplifting drama about serious illness,” said Sue Deeks, head of BBC program acquisition.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Director Stanley Tong (“Rumble in the Bronx”) is to team up with Jackie Chan for the tenth time on “The Legend.” State media in China report that Chan, who recently reached the top spot in the mainland Chinese box office with aged stuntman comedy “Ride On,” will play an archaeologist on a quest through time and space. With production by Bona Film Group, “The Legend” is pitched as being in the same vein as Tong and Chan’s 2005 effort “The Myth,” which was a fantasy love story. Tong and Chan have worked together on other titles including “Police Story 3,” “Supercop” and “Vanguard.” India’s Jio Studios is backing “Khashaba,” a Marathi-language film on the life of India’s first Olympic medalist Khasaba Dadasaheb. After delivering the sleeper hit Sairat and Fandry, the new film will be directed by Nagraj Manjule. The title is considered as part of Jio Studio’s ambition to deliver more than 100 stories this year. With production to begin shortly, the film will be mounted on a large scale. “Along with entertaining the audience, this film will also introduce the audience to a brave and exceptional athlete who made India proud all over the world,” said Manjule. “Khashaba” will be presented by JioStudios and produced by Aatpat Production, Jyoti Deshpande and Manjule.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The highly-anticipated Japanese animated feature film “The First Slam Dunk” dominated the mainland China cinema box office in its opening weekend. It broke multiple records as it did so. The film scored $38.5 million (RMB266 million) over the Friday to Sunday weekend, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. However, it opened on Thursday, a day earlier than is the norm in China, and has accumulated $55.2 million over the opening four-day frame. The film is based on IP that is well-known to a generation of comic book fans and TV audiences in China (early middle-aged men were reported to have been particularly interested) and has already proved a hit in other parts of Asia. (Comscore estimates that the film has grossed $211 million worldwide.)

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The South Korean cinema box office fell to its lowest level of the year over the latest weekend. Nationwide theatrical earnings in a territory which before COVID was the world’s fourth largest were barely over $6 million. “John Wick: Chapter 4” lead the weekend chart from Japanese anime “Suzume” and Korean sports drama “Rebound” in a top three repeat from a week earlier. “John Wick 4” earned $2.51 million in its second weekend of release, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). That was a 38% week-on-week decline and represented a 41% share of the total Korean box office market. It also gave the film a cumulative total of $9.73 million since release on April 12.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Japanese animated film “The First Slam Dunk” has taken a strong early lead at the mainland China box office, picking up $13.8 million on its Thursday opening day. Films mostly release in China on Fridays, but the Japanese hit was given previews on Wednesday and a full court release on Thursday, starting with widespread midnight screenings. Data from local firm Ent Group reveals that the film earned $3.16 million from some 14,000 preview screenings on Wednesday, followed by $13.8 million on Thursday from 184,000 screening sessions. That gives it a $17 million cumulative and positions it at the top of the box office chart even before the conventional Friday to Sunday weekend begins.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The battle for corporate dominance of K-Pop has become a drama that never stops giving. After the acrimonious takeover battle between BTS-backer Hybe Corp. and tech giant Kakao for control of SM Entertainment, Korea’s financial regulators are probing the deal-making that eventually led to Kakao’s victory. Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service raided the offices of SM Entertainment on Tuesday, according to the Yonhap news agency. Investigators were looking for evidence of stock price manipulation between February and March when the two camps were skirmishing.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Sydney Film Festival will present ‘Jane Campion – Her Way,’ a retrospective of films by the pioneering director. Campion herself will appear in conversation with David Stratton on June 10 at the 2023 edition of the festival, its 70th anniversary presentation (June 7-18). Held in association with ACMI and the National Film and Sound Archive, ‘Jane Campion – Her Way’ will encompass screenings of all nine of Campion’s feature films, as well as a selection of her short films. The selection will go on to tour the ACMI in Melbourne (June 15 – July 2) and at NFSA in Canberra (July 20-30). “For our 70th edition, we wanted to present a retrospective commensurate with the milestone, reflecting the audacious and boundary pushing filmmaking synonymous with our festival and region. Campion is a ground-breaking filmmaker who has made a profound impact on cinema with her daring and unforgettable films,” said Sydney Film Festival director Nashen Moodley.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Jackie Chan-starring nostalgic stuntman comedy film “Ride On” trotted to a second weekend atop the mainland Chinese box office. “The Super Mario” Bros. Movie” remained in fourth place. “Ride On” earned $6.0 million (RMB41.5 million) between Friday and Sunday, a 48% week-on week drop, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. That took it to a $22.6 million total since release on April 7. Below it, Japanese animation “Suzume” and Chinese shaggy dog story “Hachiko” swapped places. “Hachiko,” on its third weekend outing, earned $4.9 million, for a cumulative of $35.1 million. “Suzume” earned $4.5 million in its fourth weekend on release in China, giving it a $109 million cumulative.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “John Wick: Chapter 4” easily outgunned Japanese animation film Suzume to claim top spot at the South Korean box office over the latest weekend. The American action title earned $4.05 million between Friday and Sunday, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). That represented a nearly 50% market share, continuing a polarization or clustering around a single title that has become familiar of late in Korea, a market that formerly had greater diversity and width. Over the five days since its Wednesday opening, “John Wick 4” earned $5.87 million.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Is it time for South Korea’s TV drama series to move over and make way for Korean unscripted entertainment — namely game shows and reality shows? While 2003 drama series “Jewel in the Palace,” or the more recent “Crash Landing on You,” “Memories of the Alhambra,” “Mr. Queen,” “Love (ft. Marriage and Divorce)” and “Descendants of the Sun” have for years successfully tugged at emotional heartstrings across Asia, the unscripted category has equally long been a staple of Korean domestic TV. Korean variety shows have been a catch-all with multi-generational appeal. Talent contests have worked well in the home market, but often were too quirky — too much dialogue, or distracting titles flashing across the screen — which meant that they were best exported as formats rather than finished shows.