EXCLUSIVE: Derval Whelan, who previously worked at Searchlight Pictures for 14 years until 2021, is returning to the Disney specialty label as their Head of Distribution. She takes over for former Head of Distribution Frank Rodriguez, who Deadline told you departed for Amazon MGM to be their General Sales Manager. Whelan will be responsible for
Searchlight Pictures
EXCLUSIVE: Big shift in the film distribution sphere here today as Searchlight’s longtime Head of Distribution Frank Rodriguez is heading to Amazon MGM Studios as their new General Sales Manager. Rodriguez will report to Amazon MGM Head of Distribution Kevin Wilson, who was named to the position in April following the passing of longtime distribution
Searchlight Pictures’ The Banshees Of Inisherin opened to an estimated $181,000 and a raring per screen average of $45,250, beating Tár’s impressive $40,000. Both opened in four locations and now rank no. 2 and no. 3 for an indie per-theater gross this year after A24’s Everything Everywhere All At Once. That film’s in a class
Brett Morgen’s kaleidoscopic ode to David Bowie landed at no 10 in North America this weekend, singing up $1.225 million on 170 screens – exclusively Imax (159 U.S. locations, 11 in Canada). The $7,207 PSA for the Neon distributed Moonage Daydream – expanding to about 600 screens next week — was the best of the
A steady flow of specialty films starts this weekend with the return of a key player to cinemas and a broader arthouse slate that will expand steadily into awards season. This is still a weird theatrical landscape but independent distributors and theater owners have agreed for months that there’s no recovery without a brisker pace
Searchlight has announced that the next movie from American Beauty Oscar winning filmmaker Sam Mendes, Empire of Light, is coming out on Dec. 9. The release pattern hasn’t been specified yet. Searchlight went went with Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley before Christmas, and platformed Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch. The drama romance, which he also wrote, is set in and around
Guillermo del Toro’s remake of the 1947 thriller Nightmare Alley is going full noir next month. Searchlight Pictures said Friday that a black-and-white version of the new pic starring Bradley Cooper will get a limited theatrical release in Los Angeles. Titled Nightmare Alley: Vision in Darkness and Light, the b/w take hits screens on January 14, with
Saturday AM Update: The first Halloween in two years during the pandemic is taking its toll on the domestic box office, a grey cloud which many saw coming, with many trick-or-treating or heading to parties tonight. Essentially, whenever the holiday falls on a Sunday, it’s poised to gut the weekend. And, yes, we can blame
Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch did what a glum arthouse market was waiting for, revved it up with a smashing three-day average. “If Wes builds it, they will come,” said an elated Searchlight Pictures after a two year wait to get the film into theaters. It opened in 14 markets and in a total of
After a long Covid delay, The French Dispatch opens this weekend with distributor Searchlight Pictures and the industry hoping the whimsical Wes Anderson’s film brings a touch of Grand Budapest Hotel-ish coin to the specialty box office. Hoping, but not counting on it, as the box office take beyond studio tentpoles has been largely dour
The Eyes Of Tammy Faye from Searchlight Pictures finished in the top ten domestically (at no. 9) with the highest per screen average of the group after Shang-Chi and Free Guy. Its estimated PTA, $1,500 in 425 theaters, bested newcomers Blue Bayou and wide releases Cry Macho and Copshop on a per screen basis. That’s
EXCLUSIVE: New York-based Bleecker Street has hired Derval Whelan as its new President of Distribution. She replaces Jack Foley, who exited his post at President of Distribution last year. A highly respected industry vet in exhibition and distribution circles, Foley was at Bleecker Street since its launch and worked with CEO Andrew Karpen for several
Searchlight Pictures, ever the believer in theatrical, has dated four releases for 2021. Their Sundance horror pickup The Night House will turn its lights on July 16. The David Bruckner directed titles which Searchlight shelled out a reported $12M for last January follows a widow (Rebecca Hall) who begins to uncover her recently deceased husband’s disturbing secrets.
As theaters shutter and big studio films postpone wide theatrical releases, indie and arthouse films are trying their best to navigate the waters of the coronavirus outbreak. Like big banner titles, many indie films that were set to release this weekend are opting to delay their debuts, while a handful are opting for a digital