The directing duo known as Roenberg—consisting of Joachim Roenning and Espen Sandberg—has signed with Santa Monica-based boutique production house Motion Blur for exclusive spot representation in the U.S. Roenberg’s was last handled in the U.S. by Public Works, which closed last year. The duo has spent the past 10 months helming work exclusively in Europe….Venice, Calif.-headquartered Cucoloris Films has brought on two directors—Christian Johnston and Natasha Uppal….Rupert Samuel and David Rolfe have been promoted to co-directors of broadcast production at Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Miami, where they had been senior producers. Sara Gennet-Lopez, former VP/director of broadcast production at the shop, has been upped to the newly created position of VP/broadcast business manager….Annette Suarez has been promoted to director of broadcast production at Margeotes|Fertitta + Partners, New York….Miramax Films has bought the screen rights to Derailed, the novel written by BBDO New York vice chairman/senior executive creative director Jimmy Siegel (2/21/03, p. 7). The thriller—which Siegel penned under the name James Siegel—centers on an agency creative director who has an affair that leads to devastating consequences. No word on who will direct or play the lead in the film….Andy Milkis is returning to New York visual effects/design house Splash and assuming his former title of creative director/visual effects—but with expanded duties on the business end. He now additionally manages the creative team and company workflow. Milkis originally departed Splash to launch his own company, the now defunct Trans Lunar Injection.….Dan Ford has come aboard Steam Films, Toronto as executive producer….Brooklyn Heights, N.Y.-based music house Downtown Composer Collective has reached an affiliation agreement with sound design company Clatter & Din, Seattle….
“Mickey 17” Tops Weekend Box Office, But Profitability Is A Long Way Off
"Parasite" filmmaker Bong Joon Ho's original science fiction film "Mickey 17" opened in first place on the North American box office charts. According to studio estimates Sunday, the Robert Pattinson-led film earned $19.1 million in its first weekend in theaters, which was enough to dethrone "Captain America: Brave New World" after a three-week reign.
Overseas, "Mickey 17" has already made $34.2 million, bringing its worldwide total to $53.3 million. But profitability for the film is a long way off: It cost a reported $118 million to produce, which does not account for millions spent on marketing and promotion.
A week following the Oscars, where "Anora" filmmaker Sean Baker made an impassioned speech about the importance of the theatrical experience – for filmmakers to keep making movies for the big screens, for distributors to focus on theatrical releases and for audiences to keep going – "Mickey 17" is perhaps the perfect representation of this moment in the business, or at least an interesting case study. It's an original film from an Oscar-winning director led by a big star that was afforded a blockbuster budget and given a robust theatrical release by Warner Bros., one of the few major studios remaining. But despite all of that, and reviews that were mostly positive (79% on RottenTomatoes), audiences did not treat it as an event movie, and it may ultimately struggle to break even.
Originally set for release in March 2024, Bong Joon Ho's follow-up to the Oscar-winning "Parasite" faced several delays, which he has attributed to extenuating circumstances around the Hollywood strikes. Based on the novel "Mickey7" by Edward Ashton, Pattinson plays an expendable employee who dies on missions and is re-printed time and time again. Steven... Read More