Chris Aronson: Last News

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter At the box office, horror movies have a tendency to run out of steam faster than a teenager being chased through the woods by a masked killer. Even the most successful scary stories are known to earn the bulk of their money in the first weekend of release. Yet “Smile” and “Barbarian,” two recent big-screen thrillers, have defied conventional wisdom by impressively sticking around in theaters after opening weekend. Ticket sales for “Smile,” in particular, nominally declined in between its first and second weekend of release, a sign of exceptionally positive word-of-mouth. Over the weekend, Paramount’s “Smile” retained the No. 1 spot in North America with $18 million, sliding just 18% from its $22 million start. At the international box office, something even crazier happened: “Smile” actually improved on its debut by 31%, bringing in $19.1 million in its second weekend. And it continues to flex during the week, adding $2.6 million domestically on Monday. After only 12 days in theaters, the movie is already nearing the coveted $100 million mark. It’s a bloody-good result for the $17 million-budgeted “Smile.”

Paramount co-CEO and head of Paramount Pictures, Brian Robbins, acknowledged to a big CinemaCon crowd that it may be an odd time for the company right now, but Par’s slate remains terrific.   

imaginary friends movie “IF” claimed the top spot at the box office this weekend according to studio estimates Sunday. Its $35 million North American debut was also a bit lower than some projections.Is that a disappointment? An ominous sign of the box office times? Or is the final story on “ IF ” yet to be written? It’s not just your imagination: In these bumpy early weeks of the 2024 summer box office season, in which nothing has been a runaway hit and every new movie has more and more pressure to succeed, “IF” hit a nerve.Starring Ryan Reynolds, Cailey Fleming, and an army of A-list voices including Steve Carell, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Louis Gossett Jr., Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Maya Rudolph, “IF” was an original idea from Krasinski, who wrote, directed and co-stars.Paramount debuted the film, which cost a reported $110 million to produce, in 4,041 locations in North America.

What do you do when your conglom might be a target for a takeover. Don’t sweat it and laugh.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Paramount Pictures CEO Brian Robbins got cheeky about the sales talks surrounding his corporate parent Paramount Global. In a presentation to worldwide theater owners at the annual Las Vegas convention CinemaCon, Robbins got right to the point in his opening remarks about what’s next for his team.

the 2004 Tina Fey movie, earned $28 million in its first three days in theaters according to studio estimates Sunday. Not accounting for inflation, that’s more than the $24.4 million the first movie made in its opening weekend.The “Mean Girls” competition over the Martin Luther King Jr.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter There’s a new queen bee at the box office. Paramount’s “Mean Girls” musical ruled over the competition with $32 million during the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend.

Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation (WRMPPF) is honoring one of their biggest champs this year with a posthumous recognition: late MGM and United Artists Distribution Boss Erik Lomis. The honor will be recognized at the October 4 dinner at The Beverly Hilton.

EXCLUSIVE: The Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation has created the Erik Lomis Leadership Award.

Refresh for updates…The final morning of CinemaCon 2023 began with Paramount, the studio that brought coast-to-coast moviegoers back with their $718.7M record breaking Tom Cruise sequel, Top Gun: Maverick. And in standard fashion, domestic distribution chief, Chris Aronson, hammed it up with a grand entrance.

Kevin Wilson has officially been named Head of Theatrical Distribution for Amazon Studios and MGM as the parent company combines labels into one theatrical distribution group.

The legacy of MGM Domestic Distribution Chief Erik Lomis was remembered this morning at CinemaCon by his Paramount Domestic Distribution Boss Chris Aronson, who worked with the former at MGM years ago. Lomis died suddenly March 22, having just released MGM’s Creed III to record box office results; a win also for the studio’s streaming parent Amazon.

Seven-time Emmy-nominated TV producer and marketing executive Adam Jordan has moved to the nonprofit sector by taking a role as the new senior director of the Lollipop Theater Network.  He will be working directly with cofounder and Executive Director Evelyn Iocolano.

The highest grossing movie of the year, Top Gun: Maverick, is going back into select theaters this Friday, Dec. 2 on premium large format screens and Imax for a two-week run.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterTom Cruise’s star-spangled blockbuster “Top Gun: Maverick” soared higher than expected in its second weekend of release.The Paramount and Skydance movie collected $90 million over the weekend, above Sunday’s estimates of $86 million. Thanks to positive word of mouth, rapturous reviews and premium screens, ticket sales declined only 29% in its second weekend — the lowest percentage in history for a movie that debuted to $100 million or more, according to Comscore.

estimated $124 million in ticket sales, Paramount Pictures said Sunday. Including international showings, its worldwide total is $248 million.It’s a supersonic start for a film that still has the wide-open skies of Memorial Day itself to rake in even more cash. According to projections and estimates, by Monday’s close, “Top Gun: Maverick” will likely have over $150 million.“These results are ridiculously, over-the-top fantastic,” said Chris Aronson, Paramount’s president of domestic distribution.

Forget breaking the sound barrier: Tom Cruise just flew past a major career milestone.

Sony and Paramount have been flexing their muscles at the box office lately with a wide range of offerings. The two studios are responsible for seven of the 10 highest-grossing films of 2022 and currently represent more than 46% of all domestic revenues, according to Comscore.