Ema No one younger than 15 may see a 15 film in a cinema.

BBFC

With cinemas across the UK still closed due to the ongoing pandemic all new releases at the moment are getting released onto streaming, all this weeks film were once set for a cinema release but then got moved to online platforms.

Here are the highlights of this weeks movies to stream either on Disney+ or Amazon Prime Video.

Coming 2 America

• The movie is directed by Craig Brewer
• Craig Brewer also directed Black Snake Moan in 2007 which grossed £39.7 Thousand in the UK.
• It stars Eddie Murphy who last starred in Dolemite Is My Name (2019).
• The film also stars Arsenio Hall who last appeared in Mr. Soul (2018).
• Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall appeared in Sammy Davis, Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me (2017) together.
• Available exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.

Raya and the Last Dragon

• This new release stars Kelly Marie Tran who's last film was The Croods: A New Age (2020)
• It also stars Awkwafina who appeared in The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge On the Run (2020).
• The film is brought to us by directors Don Hall and Carlos Lopez Estrada.
• Available exclusively on Disney+.

Next weeks there are 2 new movies

• SAS: Red Notice, Friday, 12th March
• Cherry, Friday, 12th March

This week was the first sign of things may be starting to get back to normal service on the cinema industry and Tom & Jerry: The Movie has the second biggest opening weekend since the spread of the pandemic forced the closure of cinemas a year ago.

There is little else going on this week but the coming months are starting to look better, New York cinemas have started to re-open with limited capacity and on the other side of America California will start to re-open cinema doors soon.

Of not this week is the small amount most films have dropped from last weekend, a sure sign that cinemas are starting to open up, and that people are starting to attend.

US box office Quickview

• Number 1 - Tom & Jerry: The Movie (1st week)
• Highest debut - Tom & Jerry: The Movie (@1)
• Longest run - The War With Grandpa (21 weeks)
• Highest total gross - The Croods: A New Age ($52,430,045)

Here is the US box office top 5 breakdown 26th - 28th February 2021

Tom & Jerry: The Movie

Warner Bros. have by far been the studio leading to way during the last year as far as releases is concerned, Tenet and Wonder Woman 1984 didn't pay off as much as they had hoped but this live action version of the classic cartoon seems to have hit the spot.

Directed by Tim Story and starring Chloë Grace Moretz alongside animated versions of the famous cat and mouse the movie takes an incredible $14.11 Million on its opening weekend.

The movie is also available on HBO Max, but if it follows in the steps of fellow kid pic The Croods: A New Age it could be around a while.

The Croods: A New Age

Falling from its second spell at the top of the US box office the animated sequel takes $1.25 Million this weekend, down just 27% from last week.

This gives the movie a total gross of $52.43 Million after 14 weeks of release.

The Little Things

Falling to number 3 this week is the John Lee Hancock directed movie which takes $930,000 over the weekend, a drop of just 23%, the movie has taken a very good $12.91 Million over 5 weeks of release.

Wonder Woman 1984

Director Patty Jenkins sequel remains at 4 and takes $705,000 this weekend, down 12% from last week giving the movie a $43.61 Million total gross after 10 weeks.

The Marksman

Liam Neeson stays put at number 5 this weekend with $701,002, down just 10%, giving the movie a $12.34 Million total from 7 weeks of release.

In a bid to promote its new streaming platform Paramount+ the studio today has announced that selected movies will be put exclusively on the platform between 30 and 45 days after release.

The new streaming platform is the latest home video on demand service to be launched alongside the likes of Disney+ from Disney which includes the likes of Pixar, Star Wars and marvel Cinematic Universe and HBO Max which is owned by Warner Bros.

During the last 12 months Disney and Warner Bros. have used their platforms to launch their titles that have had long delays, like Disney's Mulan, although often they have also given them a theatrical release in cities and countries where they are open, HBO Max has done it at no extra charge, Disney have charged a premium on top of the monthly fee.

During a press conference today (February 24th 2021) ViacomCBS chief Bob Bakish, who own Paramount and Universal studios laid out the plans for the new service which will take over from CBS All Access and their other streaming platforms.

The upcoming Mission:Impossible 7 and A Quiet Place Part II, both of which have suffered delayed releases because of the pandemic, are two title the CEO named which will be on the platform 45 days after an exclusive theatrical window.

Universal were the company last year that upset the cinema chains in the US when they announced they would shorted the exclusive window from 90 days to 30 days, and in a controversial move they put Trolls World Tour directly to video on demand (VOD).

Cinemas in the UK are going to open on or around May 17th and in the US cinemas are opening in different states as and when they can, the industry needs a hit movie in order to get people back into cinemas.

In China last weekend the movie Detective Cinamtown 3 was released which took over $300 Million on its opening weekend and to date has taken over $600 Million, challenging Avengers: Engame as the top grossing movie of all time.

China seems to cherish its industry and is doing all it can to make it thrive, so why is the same not happening in Europe and America?

Very little has changed on this weeks US box office with little in the way of new releases while studios continue to release movies straight to VOD waiting for more certainty in the cinema marketplace.

With the Croods sequel remaining at the top for a second weekend the top new movie of the weekend was Nomadland at number 7, the movie was also available on VOD.

US box office Quickview

• Number 1 - The Croods: A New Age (2nd consecutive, 5th in total)
• Highest Debut - Nomadland (@7)
• Longest Run - The War With Grandpa (20 Weeks)
• Highest total gross - The Croods: A New Age ($50,854,205)

US box office top 5 breakdown 19th - 21st February 2021

The Croods: A New Age

After going back to the top on last weekends chart the Nicholas Cage starring animated sequel has proved to be one of the biggest hits during the COVID-19 pandemic, and at the current rate will overtake Tenet to be the biggest.

This week the movie stays at the top with $1.7 Million on its 13th weekend of release, 18% down from last weekend, for a total of over $50 Million.

The Little Things

Jumping back up to number 2 this weekend is the Denzel Washington starring thriller which falls 44% for a $1.15 Million weekend.

This gives the movie a total gross in America of $11.85 Million after 4 weeks of release.

Judas And The Black Messiah

Director Shaka King's highly praised movie falls to number 3 on its second weekend of release with a weekend gross of $905.000, a 56% drop from last weekend.

This gives the movie a North American total gross of $3.39 Million from its first 2 weeks of release.

Wonder Woman 1984

The much anticipated DC Universe movie from Warner Bros. has not been the massive hit the studio may have hoped, largely due to a tighter COVID-19 lockdown over Christmas when it was released.

The movie has still taken $805,000 on its 9th weekend of release, only a 29% drop from last weekend, and has a total gross of $42.7 Million, it stays at number 4.

The Marksman

Liam Neeson is one of the few actors to have had 2 movies released during the lockdown and this week his second movie stays put at number 5 with $775,000 on its 6th weekend, 30% drop from last weekend, and has taken $11.45 Million in total.

During Prime Minister Boris Johnsons outline to re-opening that was announced on 22nd February cinemas will be allowed to open their doors, maybe, in stage 4 from May 17th.

Sourced from BBC

This will be good news for the industry, and cinema goers who have not been able to see movies on the big screen since the end of last 2020 when Wonder Woman 1984 was the big new movie.

It is also good news for the cinema industry which is suffering during the latest lock down and many small independent theatres may have no choice but to close for good.

The bad news of course is that after 6 weeks of having to close their doors to the public it looks like there will still be another 3 months at least of shutdown to ensure the country keeps moving in the right direction.

Also with studios having to re-shuffle their schedules and many blockbusters having gone to streaming already there needs to be some confidence that people will return to cinemas.

There are films like Tom And Jerry, The Croods: A New Age, Mortal Kombat and the much delayed MCU movie Black Widow which is due on 7th May, a move for that is almost certain now.

What is more positive is that film like No Time To Die and Top Gun: Maverick can possibly stick to their release dates of October 8th and July 9th respectively.

This date is conditional of COVID-19 cases and deaths not spiking, but the UK has done a great job under the current lockdown and the vaccination programme is going really well so fingers crossed to light can be seen at the end of the tunnel.

Breaking: English cinemas set to reopen from May 17 in lockdown easing plan https://t.co/M5wALXoYN1 pic.twitter.com/ljK5SjhHpu

— Screen International (@Screendaily) February 22, 2021