Box Office: Animated film ‘Abominable’ climbs to no. 1 with $20.8 million

LOS ANGELES: Abominable towered over the box office this weekend as Universal and DreamWorks’ animated adventure debuted to $20.85 million in North America and $29.7 million worldwide.

The PG movie benefited as one of the few offerings at multiplexes catering to family crowds and marked the best opening of the year for an original animated film.

Jill Culton wrote and directed Abominable, becoming the first female to independently make an animated film for a major studio. Universal’s DreamWorks co-produced the movie with China’s Pearl Studios. With a softer $8.8 million start at the international box office, the two companies will rely on Chinese audiences to turn out in force (where it debuts on Tuesday) to help justify its $75 million budget.

Abominable follows a young girl named Yi (voiced by Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. actress Chloe Bennet) who embarks on an epic journey to reunite a yeti named Everest with his family.

As awards season kicks off, Roadside Attractions’ Judy hit a high note at the specialty box office. The Renee Zellweger-led Judy Garland biopic amassed $3 million, enough to crack the top 10 despite opening on just 461 screens. The movie, which is already generating Oscar buzz for Zellweger’s transformation into the troubled star, appealed mostly to older females. Among inaugural crowds, 60% were women and nearly 80% were over the age of 35.

Judy

Though Abominable was the only new nationwide offering this weekend, a number of holdovers enjoyed solid receipts. Last weekend’s box office champion, Focus Features’ Downton Abbey slid to second place on domestic charts. The big-screen adaptation of the popular British TV series collected $14.5 million from 3,390 theaters, declining 53% from its inaugural outing. After two weeks of release, Downton Abbey has earned $58.5 million in North America.

In third place, STX’s Hustlers declined just 32% in its third frame, added another $11.47 million to its domestic haul. The $20 million film — directed by Lorene Scafaria and starring Jennifer Lopez and Constance Wu — has generated a strong $80 million at the domestic box office and $95.4 million globally.

In a race that’s currently too close to call, Warner Bros.’ It: Chapter Two and Disney’s Ad Astra will battle it out for fourth and fifth rankings on box office charts. Based on Sunday’s estimates, both films pocketed roughly $10 million over the three-day frame. It: Chapter Two, now in its fourth weekend of release, has made $193 million in North America. Brad Pitt’s Ad Astra has picked up $34 million at the domestic box office.

In box office milestones, Universal’s Good Boys crossed $100 million in global ticket sales, becoming the first original R-rated comedy to surpass that benchmark since last February’s Game Night.

The post Box Office: Animated film ‘Abominable’ climbs to no. 1 with $20.8 million appeared first on ARYNEWS.

from ARYNEWS https://ift.tt/2nIXfZw

Sialkot police bust gang of robbers, seize over Rs20m looted cash

SIALKOT: Police on Tuesday claimed to have busted an infamous gang of robbers and seized Rs20.3 million looted cash from their possession, ARY News reported. A spokesperson for the police confirmed the arrests saying the eight-member gang had looted a pharmaceutical company’s truck full of medicine. He said the looted cash to the tune of Rs20.3 million was also recovered from their possession. The police said the recovered cash and truck have been handed over to their owner. Read More: Youngster battles for life as Punjab police ‘mistakenly’ opens fire on him Earlier, on June 20, Karachi police had apprehended six robbers allegedly involved in a bank robbery of Rs10.5 million last month. The robbers had produced Rs9 million from the bank robbery in front of the police after being taken under arrest. The police also recovered the weapons used by the criminals in the bank robbery. The gang was stated to have a previous record of robbing various places in the city, the police said. ...

Peshawar security forces kill four suspected terrorists

The Peshawar Counter-Terrorism Department personnel gunned down four suspected terrorists after raiding their hideout on the Kohat Road Monday. According to the security forces, the suspects were plotting an attack. A cache of weapons and ammunition has been seized too. On Monday evening, a special CTD team raided the hideout after surrounding it and exchanged fire with them. No CTD personnel was injured in the operation. from SAMAA https://ift.tt/2V8MRbn

Headlines 9am: Karachi to face power outages, coronavirus cases rise

Here are the headlines from SAMAA TV’s 9am bulletin. Pakistan has begun reporting fewer coronavirus infections in the last couple of days. In the last 24 hours, 3,964 cases were reported with 105 deaths. Around 73,000 recoveries have been confirmed so far. Three people were killed in a collision between a motorcycle and ambulance on the Mehran highway. A child was injured as well. Robbers looted a house in Karachi’s Azizabad in broad daylight and in the presence of a policeman. The cop chased the thieves but they were able to escape. SAMAA TV has acquired a CCTV footage of the robbery. A terrorism bid has been foiled in Peshawar. During a raid, security forces eliminated four terrorists. A cache of weapons and ammunition has been recovered. Saudi Arabia has announced it would hold a “very limited” Hajj this year owing to the coronavirus pandemic, with pilgrims already in the kingdom allowed to take part. The Kingdom has informed Pakistan about it as well. Pakistan’s Religious A...

Latest News

Search This Blog