News

Bad Robot veteran Hannah Minghella has been hired as Head of Feature Animation and Live-Action Family Film at Netflix, Deadline can confirm. We understand that her departure from the J.J. Abrams-led company was amicable.

Also announced today was the news that Sharon Taylor, formerly CEO of Animal Logic Studios, will return to Netflix to head up production on feature animation, based out of Vancouver.

With this change, Karen Toliver and Traci Balthazor are exiting Netflix, we’re told. Both helped build the streamer’s animated film division into a powerhouse in the industry, launching hit films like Leo, Academy Award winner Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio, The Sea Beast and Nimona, while also integrating Animal Logic Studios and expanding key creative partnerships.

During her four years at Bad Robot, Minghella served as President of Motion Pictures, working across all live action, animation and documentary features. Prior to that, she...

Veteran studio executive and producer Hannah Minghella has joined Netflix as head of feature animation and live-action family film, Variety can exclusively report.

Minghella joins the tech giant from Bad Robot, where she worked across live action, animation and documentary features. She’ll now report to Dan Lin, the recently installed chariman of Netflix’s film operation. In addition to Minghella, Sharon Taylor will return to Netflix to lead production at the unit. Based in Vancouver, Taylor was previously the CEO of Animal Logic studios.

“Hannah brings her unique skill set and experience to this role, along with strong relationships with top filmmakers. As a studio executive and producer, Hannah has overseen many franchise films across animation and live-action. I believe her expertise will deepen our efforts to bring variety and quality to both our animation and live action family film slate,” said Lin.

As a result of the change,...

Exclusive: Animation veteran Jill Culton has joined Jon M. Chu as directing partner of the Warner Bros Pictures Animation adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ classic Oh, the Places You’ll Go! Pic is a big priority for the studio, being done with Dr. Seuss Enterprises and Bad Robot.

Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, whose work includes The Greatest Showman, Spirited and La La Land, will write original songs for the film adaptation. Rob Lieber (Peter Rabbit) is writing the screenplay based on Dr. Seuss’ final book. The book is the blueprint for a globetrotting animated musical following a young adventurer as they journey through the joys and heartaches, and the peaks and valleys, of life.

Bad Robot’s J.J. Abrams is producing along with Hannah Minghella, Bad Robot’s Head of Motion Pictures.

Culton is a 30-year veteran in the animated feature film space and is best known for both writing...

Room to Read, a global education nonprofit tackling illiteracy and gender inequality, announced a partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery for the premiere of She Creates Change, the first nonprofit-led animation and live-action film project to promote gender equality through the stories of young women around the world.

In celebration of International Women’s Day, the film series will premiere on Friday March 8, 15 and 22 to audiences in Asia. Episodes will air on the Discovery Asia channel in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, and on the TLC and Discovery+ India channels in Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

Presented in a series of six animated shorts with accompanying live-action mini documentaries, She Creates Change features the narratives of six young women from historically low-income communities in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Vietnam. Episodes portray how each girl confronts challenges unique to her life — such as harassment,...

Warner Bros. Discovery and Room to Read have partnered on “She Creates Change,” an animation and live-action film project to promote gender equality through the stories of young women around the world.

Room to Read is a global education nonprofit aiming to creating a world free from illiteracy and gender inequality. Presented in a series of six animated shorts with accompanying live-action mini-documentaries, “She Creates Change” features the narratives of six young women from historically low-income communities in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Vietnam. Episodes portray how each girl confronts challenges unique to her life — such as harassment, food scarcity or early marriage — by advocating for herself and her future.

Episodes feature voice performances by Freida Pinto (“Slumdog Millionaire”), Charithra Chandran (“Bridgerton”), Prajakta Koli (“Mismatched”), Dilshad Vadsaria (“Cloak & Dagger”), Adhir Kalyan (“United States of AI”), Amita Suman (“Shadow and Bone”), Amrita Acharia (“Game of Thrones”) and Quyen Ngo...

The award-winning Dreamworks Animation TV series "Abominable and the Invisible City", Season Two, directed by Jill Culton, streams 10 new episodes March 29, 2023 on Hulu and Peacock:

"...get ready for more 'yeti', as the world of 'Yi', 'Jin' and 'Peng' is forever changed when the public finds out about the existence of magical creatures. With the help of 'Everest', the friends form a 'Creature Brigade' in order to help the mystical beings find a safe haven while protecting them from prying eyes. It’s not always going to be easy for humans and creatures to peacefully coexist, especially when Yi is being watched by a mysterious force..."

Voice cast includes Chloe Bennet as 'Yi', Tenzing Norgay Trainor as 'Jin', Ethan Loh as 'Peng', Michelle Wong as 'Mei', Karen Huie as 'Nai Nai', Darin De Paul as 'Everest' and Alan Cumming as 'Burnish'.

Freida Pinto is lending her voice to a new animated film project in honor of International Women’s Day.

She Creates Change is a new nonprofit-led animation and live action film project from global education organization Room to Read produced by Nexus Studios. The multi-media initiative, which spans a six-episode film series as well as books and audio stories, aims to promote gender equality through telling the stories of young women across the planet. It will initially be available in English, Hindi and Spanish with plans to translate it into dozens more languages and will be distributed across the world via Room to Read and educational partnerships. The project will also be released to general audiences in October.

The film series will be comprised of six animated shorts accompanied by live action mini documentaries. They will feature young women from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Vietnam who are...

Roger Allers joined Disney in 1985, becoming part of a group of artists tasked with reviving public interest in Disney’s animated films by producing fresh theatrical releases. Allers directed his first feature picture, the Oscar-winning The Lion King (1994), which was adapted into a smash-hit Broadway musical.

The filmmaker spent the next many years at Disney, contributing to every animated feature film the company released. Among these are Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Rescuers Down Under, The Little Mermaid, and The Prince and the Pauper. Allers would later leave the studio after one of his projects was rejected.

Roger Allers’ 1994 film ‘The Lion King’ was a massive success

#TheLionKing directors Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff say they wanted Malcolm-Jamal Warner to play Simba in the original film pic.twitter.com/Gs7YXEm7nb

— Variety (@Variety) July 10, 2019

Twenty-five years before Jon Favreau’s 2019 photorealistic remake, co-directors Allers, Rob Minkoff, and a...

Are you looking to settle for a movie night with enchanting classics? We’ve got just what you need – an order breakdown of “Open Season” movies. Get ready to experience the roller-coaster ride of emotions that these fantastic animated films bring!

Weighing the heartwarming moments of big-hearted Boog (Martin Lawrence) and cuddly Elliot against their mischievous schemes and interactions with other woodland creatures, the “Open Season” franchise will bring your entire family together for an unforgettable adventure.

The “Open Season” movie series was created by Steve Moore and John B. Carls and produced by Sony Pictures Animation. It was released to the theatres by Columbia Pictures under Sony Pictures.

The movie was also released in the IMAX 3D format, and even a video game for the film was released on multiple platforms.

This blog post is perfect for anyone who loves animated comedy and wants to revisit the lovable characters from “Open Season.

DreamWorks Animation has announced the cast, set the premiere date and unveiled the trailer for Abominable and The Invisible City, the 10-episode series inspired by the 2019 film Abominable. Alan Cumming (The Good Wife) joins Abominable alums Chloe Bennet (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Tenzing Trainor (Liv and Maddie) and Michelle Wong. All 10 episodes of Abominable and The Invisible City will premiere on Peacock and Hulu on October 5.

Bennet reprises her role as Yi and Trainor as Jin, with Cumming joining as Burnish. In addition to Wong, the voice cast also includes Ethan Loh, Karen Huie and Darin De Paul.

Abominable and The Invisible City is a comedy adventure series that continues the wild and wooly fun of DreamWorks Animation’s Abominable. Through Everest the yeti, Yi, Jin, and Peng know that there’s a whole magical world out there, and now it’s even closer than they think!

Exclusive: Peacock will double down on its animated kids programming slate, unveiling a number of new and returning titles including two follow up series to DreamWorks Animation’s Megamind and Abominable.

The streamer has also renewed Babble Bop!, the musical dance jamboree series for preschoolers, for Season 2.

Written by Katherine Stanford, Babble Bop! is a foot-tapping, hand-clapping, baby-bottom wiggling, sing-along world of music, dance and preschool play. With a mix of new takes on classic nursery rhymes and original songs, this inclusive short-form series is intended for social and emotional learning for the pre-k set.

Heroes Lily, Hugo, Miguel, Izzie and Sam will play the day away movin’ and boppin’ and havin’ a ball to awesome, catchy, repeatable – and sometimes very familiar – songs. With new characters, animals and brand-new song styles, the second season continues to hold up a magnifying glass to the little things in their life: having a snack,...

Soul and Wolfwalkers were the big winners at the 48th annual Annie Awards for animation, which were doled out in a virtual ceremony tonight. The Disney/Pixar juggernaut strutted away with seven trophies, including Best Feature, while the “relatively small European movie” — as the filmmakers described it — snagged five wins, including Indie Feature.

After they battled it out all night, both will square off for the Academy Award next weekend against Onward, Over the Moon and A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon — all three of which went home empty-handed tonight.

On the TV side, big winners included Hilda, which picked up three awards, and Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal, which scooped a pair. Big Mouth took the writing prize, and — from a galaxy far, far away — The Mandalorian and Star Wars: The Clone Wars picked up one prize apiece.

So just how will tonight’s wins for Soul and/or Wolfwalkers...

The 48th annual Annie Awards, celebrating the best in animation, are taking place on Friday, April 16 at 7 p.m. Pst.

The ceremony — often a predictor for which film will win the best animated feature category at the Oscars — honors winners in 36 different animation-related categories, including independent feature, production design, effects animation, character animation, storyboarding, voice acting and more.

This year’s show will stream live at the Annie Awards’ website, as well as on Asifa Hollywood’s YouTube channel and Facebook page, as well as Variety‘s YouTube channel, which is embedded at the end of this post. Presenters include Josh Gad, Matthew Rhys, Philippa Soo from “Hamilton,” Eva Whittaker, Patrick Warburton, Oscar-winning composer Michael Giacchino, Sergio Pablos, Jill Culton, Nora Twomey and Matthew A. Cherry.

The Annie Awards will also give out four juried awards during the ceremony. The Winsor McCay Award, which honors career contributions to the field of animation,...

The 48th Annie Awards, like almost every other major entertainment event in the last year, is going virtual on April 16, and the show will have a few surprises in store for those tuning in to the free program.

“We’ve got some animation. We’ve done special graphics for the show. And because we won’t have people walking to and from the stage, which always takes some time, the show will probably be a little more streamlined,” Frank Gladstone, executive director of Asifa-Hollywood and the event’s producer, explains.

Among the presenters slated for the Annie Awards are actors Josh Gad, Philippa Soo (who voices the goddess Chang’e in “Over the Moon”) and Eva Whittaker (the voice of Mebh Óg MacTíre in animated feature — independent nominee “Wolfwalkers”). Other presenters include directors Sergio Pablos (“Klaus”) and Jill Culton (“Abominable”), “Wolfwalkers” producer Nora Twomey, composer Michael Giacchino and the cast of web series “Critical Role.

The ReFrame coalition has awarded 26 feature films released in 2019 with its ReFrame Stamp, which recognizes the top 100-grossing gender-balanced narrative and animated features. The list, which grew from 20 total films that earned the stamp a year ago, includes Booksmart, Captain Marvel, Harriet, Hustlers and Oscar Best Picture nominee Little Women.

This reflects gains for women in the important roles of director, department heads, and women of color leads and co-leads. With an aim to increase the number of women of all backgrounds working in film, TV, and media, the ReFrame Stamp, which is showcased in end credits and appears on IMDb, serves as a mark of distinction for projects that have demonstrated success in gender-balanced hiring. Additional points are awarded to content that has women of color in key positions.

This year’s list included 12 women directors (12 percent) in the top 100 films at the box office compared to 4 in 2018, with...

Exclusive: Jill Culton, who recently directed and wrote Dreamworks Animation-Pearl Studio’s Abominable, has signed with Verve.

The CalArts alum is one of the first females in animation history to both direct and write a feature original story following Brenda Chapman’s co-directing and co-writing on Pixar’s The Brave. Abominable made its world premiere at Tiff and went on to gross $190M WW, earning four Annie Awards and a Best Animated Feature nomination at the Critics Choice Awards.

Abominable follows teenager Yi (Chloe Bennet of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) who encounters a young Yeti on the roof of her apartment building in Shanghai. She and her mischievous friends, Jin (Tenzing Norgay Trainor) and Peng (Albert Tsai), name him “Everest” and embark on an epic quest to reunite the magical creature with his family at the highest point on Earth. But the trio of friends will have...

A record 10.6% of the directors of 2019’s top 100-grossing movies were women, directing 12% of Hollywood’s biggest hits last year, according to the latest study by Stacy L. Smith and USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative.

That’s the best gender representation since Smith and her team began studying the prevalence of female directors in 2007 — though the overall percentage remains 4.8% across all 13 years of the research. The top-grossing female filmmaker was Jennifer Lee, who co-directed the year’s No. 4 domestic box office hit, “Frozen II,” with Chris Buck.

“This is the first time we have seen a shift in hiring practices for female film directors in 13 years,” Smith said, noting that Universal alone had five films in the top 100 with female directors: Jill Culton’s “Abominable,” Melina Matsoukas’ “Queen & Slim,” Tina Gordon’s “Little,” Gail Mancuso’s “A Dog’s Journey” and Kasi Lemmons’ “Harriet” (through art-house division Focus Features). “Yet there...

Peilin Chou is very upfront in our recent webchat (watch the video above) that the film “Abominable,” on which she’s a producer, came about simply from wanting to work with writer-director Jill Culton. “We were big fans of her work. We pitched her a number of projects and the one she responded to most was the idea of making a movie about this Yeti.” She goes on to explain that there was a specific link to Culton’s childhood that made the subject resonate with her. “Jill had grown up with very large bloodhound dogs and she was fascinated by how they were able to communicate without speech. So she was very intrigued by the idea of creating this Yeti character that did not have speech.”

Seelatest Oscar Racetrack Odds: Best Animated Feature

“Abominable” centers on a Yeti that’s escaped from confinement in Shanghai. A teenage girl, Yi,...

The full conversation from The Hollywood Reporter's 2019 Cinematographer Roundtable is now available as a special episode of THR's Behind the Screen.

Recorded Sept. 29 in downtown Los Angeles, the conversation features Roger Deakins (1917 and The Goldfinch), Natasha Braier (Honey Boy), Cesar Charlone (The Two Popes), Caleb Deschanel (The Lion King), Rodrigo Prieto (The Irishman) and Robert Richardson (Once Upon a Time in...Hollywood).

THR's new Animation Roundtable is additionally available on Behind the Screen. It features Frozen 2's Jennifer Lee, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World's Dean DeBlois, Abominable's Jill Culton, Klaus'...

The full conversation from The Hollywood Reporter's 2019 Cinematographer Roundtable is now available as a special episode of THR's Behind the Screen.

Recorded Sept. 29 in downtown Los Angeles, the conversation features Roger Deakins (1917 and The Goldfinch), Natasha Braier (Honey Boy), Cesar Charlone (The Two Popes), Caleb Deschanel (The Lion King), Rodrigo Prieto (The Irishman) and Robert Richardson (Once Upon a Time in...Hollywood).

THR's new Animation Roundtable is additionally available on Behind the Screen. It features Frozen 2's Jennifer Lee, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World's Dean DeBlois, Abominable's Jill Culton, Klaus'...

In the innovative Netflix animated film I Lost My Body, a severed hand skitters across the streets of Paris trying to reunite with its missing anatomical companion. Whether that hand winds up grasping an Oscar is up to Academy voters, in a year when a record 32 contenders qualified for the Best Animated Feature race.

I Lost My Body is an original film, but more than likely a sequel will come away with the Oscar: either Toy Story 4, Frozen 2 or How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, the third and final film in the Dragon series.

Walt Disney Studios once again finds itself in prime contention, with the fourth installment in the Pixar Toy Story franchise, which saw the addition of a new character, the spork Forky, voiced by Tony Hale, and an expanded role for Bo Peep (Annie Potts). Toy Story 3 (2010) remains the only sequel to win...

The full conversation from The Hollywood Reporter's 2019 Animation Roundtable is now available as a special episode of THR's Behind the Screen.

Recorded Sept. 26 at the Warwick in Hollywood, the guests are Jennifer Lee, Dean DeBlois, Jill Culton, Jinko Gotoh and Josh Cooley.

Lee is the writer and one of the directors of Frozen 2, as well as chief creative officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios. Lee and Chris Buck won Oscars for 2013's Frozen and reteamed to make this sequel.

DeBlois is writer, director and executive producer of DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden ...

The full conversation from The Hollywood Reporter's 2019 Animation Roundtable is now available as a special episode of The Hollywood Reporter's Behind the Screen podcast.

Recorded Sept. 26 at the Warwick in Hollywood, the guests are Jennifer Lee, Dean DeBlois, Jill Culton, Jinko Gotoh and Josh Cooley.

Lee is the writer and one of the directors of Frozen 2, as well as chief creative officer at Walt Disney Animation Studios. Lee and Chris Buck won Oscars for 2013's Frozen and reteamed to make the sequel.

DeBlois is the writer, director and executive producer of DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train ...

DreamWorks Animation films How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World and Abominable set out to tell a story of transformation, growth, and individuality as the characters embark on their perspective journies.

For How to Train Your Dragon 3, that journey has spanned over a decade. The final installment finds protagonist Viking Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel), while on a quest to find a mysterious dragon utopia known as The Hidden World, has to come to terms with dragon Toothless falling for a female Light Fury, and he must consider who he would be without his trusted friend by his side.

“The thematic controlling idea of this final installment of the trilogy is a parental one,” said writer and director Dean DeBlois during the studio’s presentation at Deadline Contenders New York. “It’s what every parent has to go through when their child reaches a certain age and that’s...

When “Missing Link” producer Arianne Sutner began her career in the early 1990s, fresh out of college, she had a goal: Get a job working on a film set that didn’t involve doing craft service. Because, she says “as women, they were always kind of either intentionally or unintentionally pointing you in that direction.”

After all, back then the number of women working behind the scenes in animation was almost non-existent. Today, it’s a very different story. Nearly all of 2019’s biggest animated movies featured female writers, producers and/or directors crafting family-friendly stories, from “Toy Story 4” (with a screenplay co-written by Stephany Folsom) to “The Secret Life of Pets 2” (produced by Janet Healy) to some of this fall’s biggest releases.

The increase in diversity is something that “Abominable” writer-director Jill Culton attributes to “interest and education.” When she graduated from CalArts in 1992, only five...

Approached by DreamWorks Animation about the prospect of helming a “Yeti movie,” writer/director Jill Culton seized what she saw as both an opportunity and a challenge, “to reinvent and define a mythical creature in a new way for audiences,” she says.

Premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, Culton’s second feature centers on Yi (Chloe Bennet), a rebellious and highly intelligent young woman whose life is forever changed, after encountering a young Yeti on the roof of her Shanghai apartment building. After dragging two of her friends on a journey to the Himalayas to reunite the creature with his family, Yi contends with a zoologist and an ultra-wealthy man who have their own designs on the yeti.

Casting Albert Tsai, Tenzing Norgay Trainor, Sarah Paulson and Eddie Izzard in the awards-contending animated pic, Culton approached the role of Yi with great care.

“It was important to...

Note to would-be directors of animated features: get your composer involved from the start. That was one of the key observations from The Contenders L.A. DreamWorks Animation panel Saturday, that featured filmmaking talent behind How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World and Abominable.

“I try to put get [composer] John [Powell] involved as early as possible, sending him scripts from the earliest drafts,” said Dean DeBlois, director of all three Dragon films including The Hidden World.

“This is our third installment of a trilogy so we have honed a partnership over a 10-year period in which I completely trust John and his instincts and know that he is a great storyteller in his own right,” DeBlois added. “He finds themes that I might not be as aware of as I’m writing on the surface and they play like harmonies to the intention that I try to put on screen.

‘Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.’

In the battle of the sequels Disney’s Maleficent: Mistress of Evil beat Sony’s Zombieland: Double Tap last weekend but neither was a match for the third frame of Warner Bros’ juggernaut Joker.

Launching on 60 screens, Universal’s Judy Garland biopic Judy hit a high note while Cinema Live’s Billy Connolly: The Sex Life of Bandages did not generate many laughs or dollars and Icon’s mystery thriller Strange But True bombed.

It was a soft trading weekend at cinemas as the top 20 titles harvested $14.2 million, down 27 per cent on the previous frame, according to Numero.

Todd Phillips’ Joker rang up $4.3 million despite falling by 41 per cent, hoisting its total to $28.5 million. The WB/Village Roadshow/Bron Studios’ production has amassed $738.5 million worldwide: $247.2 million in the Us and $491.3 million internationally, where it now ranks as the fourth biggest DC comics-based blockbuster of all time.

Against the picturesque backdrop of the Alps, the View Conference will celebrate its 20th year in Turin, Italy, with its fullest program ever, featuring top creatives from around the world in film, television and games and more who will give keynote talks and present masterclasses at the weeklong event, Oct. 21-25.

This edition boasts director of DreamWorks Animation’s hit “Abominable” Jill Culton; Brad Bird, director of last year’s “Incredibles 2”; Peter Ramsey, co-director of Oscar-winning “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”; “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” director Dean DeBlois; composer Michael Giacchino; “The Lion King” VFX supervisor Rob Legato; “The Addams Family” co-director Conrad Vernon; Industrial Light & Magic’s Rob Bredow; Emmy-winning Baobab Studios’ Eric Darnell and Maureen Fan; and Sergio Pablos, director of Netflix’s first original animated film “Klaus.” A recent addition is “Frozen II” VFX supervisor Steve Goldberg, who will present a preview of...

Abominable has been frozen out of theaters in Vietnam.

The animated adventure from DreamWorks Animation and Shanghai-based Pearl Studios ran afoul of the Vietnamese government because of a map in the film illustrating China’s claims to a vast portion of the South China Sea, the BBC reported Monday.

The scene that touched off the controversy shows what’s known as China’s “nine dash line” in the background.

Journalist Mike Tatarski tweeted a picture of the scene.

'Abominable,' the animated movie produced by Dreamworks & Shanghai-based Pearl Studio, has been pulled from theaters in Vietnam after viewers noticed a map apparently depicting China's 9-dash line in the East Sea. (Screenshot & 'X' via Zing.) pic.twitter.com/S2OUR6xyu2

— Mike Tatarski (@miketatarski) October 14, 2019

China and Vietnam have been locked in a dispute over the sea, and tensions escalated in July when the Chinese conducted an energy survey in waters Vietnam claims.

Mark Harrison Oct 14, 2019

The first major collaboration between DreamWorks Animation and Pearl Studio, Abominable isn't nearly as bad as the title suggests...

Having previously co-produced Kung Fu Panda 3 with Pearl Studio, DreamWorks Animation now brings us the Chinese animation house's first original film, Abominable, which is a perfectly lovely movie whose title doesn't suit it at all. From writer-director Jill Culton, the film offers up a lively and colourful road trip across China with three youngsters and the baby yeti they've taken into their care.

When the film begins, teenage Yi (Chloe Bennet) is getting over her father's untimely death by throwing herself into the gig economy and escaping to the rooftop of her apartment building by night. It's there that she finds a big white fluffy creature hiding from a private scientific organization's roving helicopters and staring wistfully at a nearby “Visit Everest” billboard.

With her preening Insta-famous...

‘Hustlers’ (Photo credit: Stx Films).

Lorene Scafaria’s Hustlers is a hit in the Us but the crime caper starring Jennifer Lopez, Constance Wu, Lili Reinhart and Cardi B was never going to beat the second weekend of Todd Phillips’ blockbuster Joker in Australia.

Meanwhile Ang Lee’s $140 million-budgeted action thriller Gemini Man is shaping as a write-off for Paramount Pictures and co-investors Skydance, Alibaba and Fosun.

Rachel Griffiths’ Ride Like a Girl maintained a fair clip in its third weekend while two alternate content releases, Nt Live: Fleabag and Metallica & San Francisco Symphony: S&m drew sizable audiences.

The top 20 titles generated $19.2 million last weekend, 13 per cent down on the previous frame, according to Numero.

Starring Joaquin Phoenix as the twisted, disenfranchised clown-for-hire and stand-up comic in 1980s Gotham, Joker rang up $7.4 million, easing by just 24 per cent, hoisting its total to $22 million.

The Warner Bros/Village Roadshow/Bron Studios...

Further new openers include Lionsgate’s ‘Farming’, eOne’s ‘The Day Shall Come’.

Two contrasting titles are among the new openers at the UK box office this weekend, as Universal’s animated comedy Abominable goes up against Paramount’s Will Smith action drama Gemini Man.

However the new openers will have to score strongly to knock Warner Bros’ Joker from top spot, which scored a huge £12.6m debut last weekend.

Abominable is a DreamWorks Animation production, about a magical Yeti in Shanghai on a quest to reunite with his family on Mount Everest. Chloe Bennet, Albert Tsai and Tenzing Norgay Trainor lead the voice cast.

It took several years, but writer-director Jill Culton has finally seen her animated film “Abominable” come to the big screen, and in a big way. The DreamWorks Animation-Pearl Studio production led the domestic box office with $21 million in its opening weekend. As of Oct. 8, it has taken in nearly $80 million worldwide, and critics have sung its praises.

The longtime animator first started the project at Dwa seven years ago, but left it for awhile after the company experienced exec changes and was sold. Then, not that long ago, Culton was asked to come back on to see it to fruition.

Culton, who will be among the keynote speakers at the 2019 View Conference Oct. 21-25 in Turin, Italy, spoke with Variety about her upcoming View presentation and about her journey to finish the story of a girl who learns to move past the grief of losing her father by helping a...

Launched by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen as DreamWorks in 1994, DreamWorks Animation celebrates its silver anniversary, marking 25 years since embarking on its first voyage with the Academy Award-nominated biblical epic “The Prince of Egypt.”

Since then, DreamWorks Animation has released 38 feature films, including the blockbuster “Shrek,” “Madagascar,” “Kung Fu Panda,” “How to Train Your Dragon” and “Trolls” franchises and its newest release, “Abominable.” Earning more than $15 billion at the global box office, DreamWorks has received a multitude of accolades over its history, including three Oscars and three Academy Sci-Tech Awards.

Women have long been in the spotlight at DreamWorks Animation, well known for promoting female talent within their ranks to leadership roles. Here, six female directors share their memories of working at the studio during its first quarter century: Lorna Cook, Vicky Jenson, Elaine Bogan, Jennifer Yuh Nelson, Brenda Chapman, and Jill Culton.

Lorna Cook

Animator-director

For Cook,...

‘Joker’ (Photo credit: Warner Bros)

Is Todd Phillips’ Joker an enthralling masterpiece or a disturbing and deeply derivative incitement to commit violence? The comic book-inspired movie has polarised the critics but audiences in Australia and around the world have voted with their feet.

The action adventure starring Joaquin Phoenix as the twisted, disenfranchised clown-for-hire and stand-up comic in 1980s Gotham smashed industry opening records for October in Oz, the Us and internationally last weekend.

Meanwhile Rachel Griffiths’ Ride Like a Girl now ranks as the top-grossing Australian release of the year after racing through its second weekend. Ticket sales surged thanks to the school holidays and the new releases including Indian import War and Chinese dramas My People, My Country and The Captain.

The top 20 titles harvested $21.9 million from Thursday through Sunday, 80 per cent up on the previous weekend, according to Numero.

Joker punched up $9.7 million and $11.9 million including the Monday Labor Day holiday.

‘Ride Like A Girl’.

Transmission Films’ Ride Like a Girl, the directorial debut from Rachel Griffiths, has surpassed expectations, topping the Australian box office on its opening weekend.

The biopic covering the rise of Australian female jockey Michelle Payne opened at first place on Thursday and after an opening weekend performance across 269 screens, is hurtling towards becoming the highest grossing Australian film of the year.

According to the Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australian (Mpdaa) the weekend takings were $1.7 million, with a cumulative total of $2.4 million.

The feature produced by Richard Keddie stars Teresa Palmer as Payne, Sam Neill as her father Paddy, while brother Stevie Payne plays himself.

Transmission Films MD Andrew Mackie tells If the opening result exceeded the distributor’s already high expectations.

“The audience knows what they want. This is an authentic, heartfelt true story, and the audience seems to have recognised that,” he says.

“One...

Update, writethru: In its sophomore frame, Fox/New Regency’s Ad Astra again led the international box office, landing another $18M from 50 material markets. The overseas cume is $53.5M for $89M worldwide. The Brad Pitt-starrer is now out in all markets handled by Disney which is not across China, Taiwan or Hong Kong. Bona Film Group covered 30% of the bill on the expensive space pic which is expected to see a Middle Kingdom release.

New hubs on the James Gray-directed sci-fi thinker this weekend included Russia at No. 1 with $3.1M (54% ahead of Arrival and 425% ahead of First Man); Brazil at No. 2 with $900K (37% ahead of First Man and 44% ahead of Arrival); and Italy with a $1M No. 2 launch — the film premiered in Venice last month.

Holds were good in Europe which dropped 40% regionally. The pricey pic has been expected to play akin to the thrifty Arrival ($103M offshore...

Chicago – The changing view on yetis goes to show just how different my childhood was from kids growing up today. Back in my day, yeti’s were elusive creatures meant to be feared, much like Big Foot or Loch Ness. Films like “Smallfoot” and “Abominable” are paving the way towards acceptance were we ever to encounter a yeti, but the latter is more of a step back than forwards.

Rating: 2.5/2.5

It is impossible to completely dislike something that is so morally good and good-hearted. “Abominable” should be stomping into our hearts, but it feels more like it tip-toes past us. The story follows young Yi (Chloe Bennet) as she deals with the grief over the loss of her father by working constantly so that she can save enough money to take the trip they had been planning to take together. Her self-imposed isolation brings her in contact with an escaped...

Disney and Fox’s “Ad Astra” scaled international box office charts again, maintaining its lead for the second weekend in a row. The astronaut drama starring Brad Pitt amassed another $18 million from 50 foreign territories, easily placing first overseas among Hollywood offerings.

After two weekends in theaters, “Ad Astra” has generated $53.5 million abroad and $89 million worldwide. The film opened in Russia this weekend with $3.1 million, as well as Brazil with $900,000. Top performing markets include the United Kingdom ($5.6 million), France ($5.4 million) and Japan ($4.5 million).

Universal’s “Abominable” expanded its international footprint to 30 territories, where it reaped $8.8 million. In North America, the animated adventure launched in first place with $20.8 million for a global start of $29.7 million. The movie, a co-production between DreamWorks Animation and China’s Pearl Studios, kicked off in 27 new markets this weekend and had the strongest showing in Mexico with $2 million, followed by Brazil with $1.5 million and Germany with $700,000. “Abominable” bows in China on Tuesday.

“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 benefitted 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. It also joins Universal’s “Us” and “Good Boys” as the only original titles in 2019 to launch at No. 1 on domestic box office charts.

“We saw a great opportunity for not just an opening weekend, but a strong corridor going forward,” said Jim Orr, Universal’s president of domestic distribution. “With this particular weekend, kids have been back in school for some time and routines have settled down.”

Heading into October, Universal has now had seven films that have reached first place at the domestic box office, the most of any studio this year. Says Orr, “It’s...

Sunday Am Final: w/chart After a $9M Saturday that was up 58% over Friday, Dreamworks Animation/Pearl Studios’ Abominable is looking at a $20.85M opening and $30M worldwide. As we mentioned before that’s the 7th No. 1 opening for Universal, 8 if you count last weekend’s Downton Abbey, and it’s the most No. 1s for any major studio this year to date, more than Disney. Abominable also reps the the 22nd No. 1 opening for Dwa as they celebrate their 25th anniversary next month.

“Dreamworks Animation is known for creating quality family entertainment with global appeal and Abominable is a perfect addition to their impressive library. Yi, voiced by Chloe Bennet, is a standout as the newest beloved character in the Dreamworks’ family, adding to their long list of unapologetic, courageous heroines,” exclaimed Universal domestic distribution chief Jim Orr this morning.

Abroad the pic opened in 27 markets including Mexico, Germany,...

Marking the first studio animated pic of the fall season, DreamWorks Animation's Abominable easily scaled the box office chart over the weekend with a winning $20.9 million from 4,242 theaters.

Abominable is from filmmaker Jill Culton, the first woman to be credited as the lead director and writer of an animated Hollywood studio pic (Todd Wilderman is credited as a co-director). It's also the first co-production between Dwa and China's Pearl Studios. The movie is set to open Tuesday in China. 

Elsewhere overseas, the family film earned $8.8 million from 30 markets for an early foreign ...

Marking the first studio animated pic of the fall season, DreamWorks Animation's Abominable easily scaled the box office chart over the weekend with a winning $20.9 million from 4,242 theaters.

Abominable is from filmmaker Jill Culton, the first woman to be credited as the lead director and writer of an animated Hollywood studio pic (Todd Wilderman is credited as a co-director). It's also the first co-production between Dwa and China's Pearl Studios. The movie is set to open Tuesday in China. 

Elsewhere overseas, the family film earned $8.8 million from 30 markets for an early foreign ...

“Abominable” is edging out its box office competition, following $5.69 million in Friday’s domestic ticket sales.

If estimates hold, the DreamWorks Animation and Pearl Studio’s co-production should take home around $20 million come Sunday — the biggest opening for an original animated film this year and only the third original film to open at No. 1 in the North American box office (Universal’s “Us” and “Good Boys” also opened in first place).

Written and directed by Jill Culton, “Abominable” follows Chinese teenage Yi who embarks on a journey to the Himalayas after discovering a lost Yeti named Everest on the roof of her apartment building. Chloe Bennet voices Yi alongside fellow cast members Joseph Izzo, Tenzing Norgay Trainor, Albert Tsai, Eddie Izzard, Sarah Paulson, Tsai Chin and Michelle Wong.

Coming in second place is last weekend’s winner “Downton Abbey,” which continues to hold strong in its sophomore outing with $4.3 million in Friday’s ticket sales.

Animated adventure film “Abominable” is heading for a moderate but dominant $18 million opening weekend at 4,242 North American sites, early estimates showed on Friday.

The second weekend of Focus Features’ “Downton Abbey” is leading the rest of the pack with about $14 million, which will give the big-screen version of the British TV drama around $58 million in its first 10 days. A trio of holdovers are battling for third place in the $9 million to $11 million range: Stx’s third weekend of “Hustlers,” Disney-Fox’s second frame of Brad Pitt’s “Ad Astra” and Warner Bros.’ fourth session of horror sequel “It: Chapter Two,” which will finish the weekend with about $192 million domestically in its first 24 days.

“Abominable,” produced by Universal’s DreamWorks Animation and Pearl Studios, is coming at the middle of the range of pre-release forecasts. The film centers on the relationship between a modern Chinese teenager and a Yeti...

“Abominable,” the animated family film from DreamWorks Animation and Pearl Studios, earned $650,000 in box office previews on Thursday from 2,950 screens. It opens on 4,242 screens this weekend.

“Abominable” is the sole new wide release this weekend and could contend for the number one movie in America depending on how “Downton Abbey” performs in its second weekend. Universal is handling domestic distribution, and both the studio and independent trackers are projecting an opening between $17-20 million for the film.

That would put it close to films like “The Lego Ninjago Movie,” which also opened to $20.4 million in Sept. 2017, and DreamWorks’ “Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie,” which made $23 million. Those films though skipped preview screenings. The previous DreamWorks release, this spring’s “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World,” raked in $3 million in Thursday previews behind a $55 million opening weekend.

Also Read: 'Abominable' Film Review: Familiarity Doesn't Stop the...

Animated adventure film “Abominable” has launched with a moderate $650,000 in Thursday night preview showings at 2,950 North American sites.

“Abominable,” produced by Universal’s DreamWorks Animation and Pearl Studios, has been forecast to take in as much as $20 million this weekend when it expands to 4,242 locations. The film centers on the relationship between a modern Chinese teenager and a Yeti named Everest as they embark on an epic journey to reunite with his family in the Himalayas. The U.S. voice cast includes Chloe Bennet, Tenzing Norgay Trainor, Albert Tsai, Eddie Izzard, Sarah Paulson, Tsai Chin and Michelle Wong.

Jill Culton wrote and directed “Abominable” and is the first woman to independently make an animated movie for a major studio. The film carries a $75 million budget. Critical reception has been positive with a current 76% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Universal is also releasing the film this weekend in 27 international markets, including Brazil,...

After discovering a young Yeti named Everest on her roof, Yi goes on a wild adventure to make sure he gets home safe in Abominable.

With the help of her friends Peng and Jin, Yi dodges the evil Burnish and Dr. Zara, who are on the hunt for Everest.

This DreamWorks animated film is written and directed by Jill Culton.

Before the movie hits theaters Friday, take a look at which actors voice roles in the film.

After discovering a young Yeti named Everest on her roof, Yi goes on a wild adventure to make sure he gets home safe in Abominable.

With the help of her friends Peng and Jin, Yi dodges the evil Burnish and Dr. Zara, who are on the hunt for Everest.

This DreamWorks animated film is written and directed by Jill Culton.

Before the movie hits theaters Friday, take a look at which actors voice roles in the film.