Latest in Universal

FRIDAY AFTERNOON: It’s the biggest result ever seen at the end of October, with Universal/Blumhouse’s Five Nights at Freddy’s eyeing a $34M Friday after an Oppenheimer-sized Thursday night of $10.3M for a massive $68M opening. That’s with theatrical day-and-date on Peacock. It’s the biggest result for…

Lots of release dates changes and additions as the theatrical release schedule take a turn due to the ongoing actors strike. Universal Pictures has staked out June 27, 2025 for The Black Phone 2. The first movie, released during the summer 2022 as moviegoers were coming back to cinemas from the pandemic…

No one knew how big this was going to be, or is going to be, but Universal/Blumhouse’s feature take on beloved horror video game, Five Nights at Freddy‘s is eyeing a $50 million-plus start and possibly even more. At that level, it would make it the second-best domestic box office opening of the fall…

EXCLUSIVE: Here’s an eyebrow raiser in the wake of a zany box office season turned upside down by the actors strike, and ruled by Taylor Swift: Universal/Blumhouse’s feature take of videogame, Five Nights at Freddy’s, is shaping up for an opening around $40M. That would be the second-best opening at the…

In the long history of horror films since the dawn of cinema, it would be hard to imagine any of them quite having the particular impact of 1973’s The Exorcist, which became the first horror film to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar along with nine…

Universal/Blumhouse/Morgan Creek’s The Exorcist: Believer will continue horror’s head-spinning roll at the autumn box office with a $30M-$36M domestic start at 3,600 locations. Currently, the R-rated reboot/sequel is trending demo-wise like The Nun 2, which saw a $32.6M opening, meaning it’s great…

EXCLUSIVE: Universal Pictures Content Group has acquired international rights to Alex Gibney’s latest documentary Musk, about the lightning-rod entrepreneur and businessman. Negotiations first began in Cannes with Black Bear International and the multimillion-dollar pact is among the biggest ever for…

3rd UPDATE, 9:59 PM: In a note to members that just went out, the WGA says it will be meeting Friday with the AMPTP and CEOs from Netflix, Universal, Warner Bros Discovery and Disney for more talks. 2nd UPDATE 8:55 PM: The writers’ strike is not over yet, Despite putting in a long second day…

EXCLUSIVE, updated with WGA/AMPTP statement: The Writers Guild and studios and streamers are set to meet again Thursday for further talks on a new contract for scribes. After a long, CEO-attended session today that one insider described as "very encouraging," the WGA and the AMPTP will return to the…

More than 140 days into the WGA strike, the latest resumption of talks today between the scribes and studios and steamers are leaving nothing to chance. Netflix's Ted Sarandos, Disney's Bob Iger, Universal's Donna Langley and Warner Bros Discovery's David Zaslav are joining negotiating teams for both…

In its latest milestone, Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer has passed the $900M mark worldwide. The estimated total through Friday is $903M, including $586M from the international box office. With Saturday and Sunday numbers, that global cume is projected to reach $912M. This will make it the highest…

Looks like a federal judge believes in Yesterday. A year and a half ago, Paul Michael Rosza and Conor Woulfe filed a $5 million lawsuit against Universal over Ana de Armas appearing in the trailer for the 2019 Danny Boyle-directed Yesterday, but being absent from the film itself. Yesterday, U.S…