Bicoastal M-80 Films is now a one-director shop—the resident helmer being Tenney Fairchild, who will continue to team with M-80 executive producer Gregg Stern. M-80 remains part of the Stoney Road family of companies. Stern explained that he and Fairchild wanted to run as a leaner operation. Meanwhile, several other directors who were at M-80 will be part of an as yet unnamed house under the aegis of executive producer Matthew McManus; the new venture will also be a Stoney Road shop…. Bicoastal Coppos Films has signed director Jeffrey Karoff for exclusive spot representation….Bicoastal Zooma Zooma has signed director Sasha Levinson for commercials….Russell Ziecker has been named CEO of Syn America, the newly launched U.S. arm of Tokyo-headquartered Syn Corp. Syn’s U.S. operation will include the formation of a record label and a commercial music production division by the end of 2001….A correction on a recent Street Talk item (8/14, p. 30): Doug Wedeck is maintaining Single Bid, New York, after the departure of Heidi Gottlieb (see story p. 6). Wedeck, who currently holds the title of co-founder at Single Bid, and Gottlieb had been serving as partners/co-presidents at the sales and marketing firm. Single Bid’s roster includes Storyville Pictures, Los Angeles and Atlanta; Spoke Films, Los Angeles and Chicago; Element Music & Sound, Santa Monica; and newly signed Engine Media, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.….
“One of Them Days” and “Mufasa: The Lion King” In Tight Race For Top Spot In Weekend Box Office
The Keke Palmer buddy comedy "One of Them Days" opened in first place on the North American box office charts on a particularly slow Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend.
The R-rated Sony release earned $11.6 million from 2,675 theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday, beating Disney's "Mufasa: The Lion King" by a hair. By the end of Monday's holiday, "Mufasa" will have the edge, however.
"One of Them Days" cost only $14 million to produce, which it is expected to earn by Monday. The very well-reviewed buddy comedy stars Palmer and SZA as friends and roommates scrambling to get money for rent before their landlord evicts them. Notably it's the first Black female-led theatrical comedy since "Girls Trip" came out in 2017 and it currently carries a stellar 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
But the marketplace was also quite weak overall. The total box office for Friday, Saturday and Sunday will add up to less than $80 million, according to data from Comscore, making it one of the worst Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekends since 1997.
"For an individual film like 'One of Them Days' this was a great weekend," said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. "You can still find success stories within what is overall a low grossing weekend for movie theaters."
The Walt Disney Co.'s "Mufasa" was close by in second place with $11.5 million from the weekend, its fifth playing in theaters. Globally, the Barry Jenkins-directed prequel has made $588 million. It even beat a brand-new offering, the Blumhouse horror "Wolf Man," which debuted in third place with $10.6 million from 3,354 North American theaters.
Writer-director Leigh Whannell's monster tale starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner did not enter... Read More