Director Ago Panini has come aboard bicoastal/international Chelsea Pictures. His former U.S. roost was bicoastal Moxie Pictures….The design/directing duo known as Logan (Alexei Tylevich and Ben Conrad) has signed with bicoastal Anonymous Content….Director Mat Humphrey, who continues on staff at Filmgraphics, Sydney, has secured U.S. representation, coming aboard the roster of bicoastal Reactor Films….Director Lior Har-Lev has joined Santa Monica-based Area 51 Films…. Director Eddy Chu has come aboard Highway 61, New York. He had been with Venice, Calif.-based Backyard Productions…. Director/cameraman Serge Roman and ex-super model/actor turned director Magdalena have teamed to form a helming duo known as Serge y Magdalena. The twosome is repped in the U.S. by Metro Pictures, Marina del Rey, Calif…. Damian Stevens, formerly an executive producer at Moxie Pictures, has joined Hollywood-based JGF in the same capacity. Prior to Moxie, he was on the agency side as a senior producer at Fallon’s Southern California office. Also coming aboard JGF is Lilly LaBonge as staff executive producer/line producer… Editor Tom Scherma, formerly of Mad River Post, New York, has joined bicoastal Cosmo Street….Mary-Joy Lu has been promoted to head of production at Guava, New York. Lu—who came aboard Guava with her husband, visual effects artist Alex Catchpoole last summer—had been serving as visual effects producer at the visual effects/design boutique….Easyway Editorial, Dallas, has added editors Fernando Villena, George Kelly, Brad Briggs and Grant Pye….Nice Shoes, New York, has added Inferno artist Aron Baxter to its roster of artisans. He comes over from Condor Post Production, London, where he spent over five years as an Inferno artist….Los Angeles-based branding entertainment company 3 Ring Circus has brought veteran designer Maziar Majd on staff as creative director. Majd, a former senior designer/art director at Belief, Los Angeles, will work closely with creative director Ron Crabb. 3 Ring Circus has also entered into relationships with freelance designers/directors Nick Scott, Arne Type and Inka Kardys, who are all based in Europe. 3 Ring Circus is repping them exclusively worldwide, except for certain European markets where they already have representation….
“Dog Man” Fetches $36 Million To Top Weekend Box Office
DreamWorks Animation's "Dog Man" fetched $36 million in ticket sales at the weekend box office, according to studio estimates Sunday, making it the biggest debut yet in 2025.
It was a big opening for the Universal Pictures release adapted from the popular graphic novel series by author Dav Pilkey. The big-screen launch for the cartoon canine was produced for a modest $40 million, meaning it will easily coast through a profitable run. Audiences gave it an "A" CinemaScore.
Only one animated film before has had a better January launch: 2016's "Kung Fu Panda 3." "Dog Man," though, was soft overseas, collecting $4.2 million from 29 international markets. The voice cast of the Peter Hastings-directed movie is led by Pete Davidson, Lil Rel Howery and Isla Fisher.
Family movies last year buoyed the box office, with PG-rated films accounting for $2.9 billion, or 33% of all ticket revenue, according to data firm Comscore. So far, they're lifting 2025, too. The Walt Disney Co.'s December release "Mufasa: The Lion King" topped the weekend box office three times in January. In its seventh week of release, "Mufasa" held in third place with another $6.1 million, bringing its global tally to $653 million.
"The PG animation family film wave that was so prevalent in '24 continues in '25," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore.
The horror comedy "Companion," from Warner Bros. and New Line, also opened well, with $9.5 million in 3,285 locations. Drew Hancock's sci-fi tinged film set in the near future is about a group of friends on a weekend lakeside getaway.
"Companion," starring Sophie Thatcher ( "Heretic" ), was lightly marketed and made for just $10 million. It will depend on glowing reviews (94% fresh on Rotten... Read More