International
Early Friday returns show ‘Pacific Rim’ and ‘Grown Ups 2’ in a tight race
MUMBAI: There‘s a fierce race going on at the North American box office as Guillermo del Toro‘s Pacific Rim and Adam Sandler comedy Grown Ups 2 jockey for position.
Universal‘s Despicable Me 2, however, could beat both and claim the numero uno place in its second weekend with a gross as high as $48 million.
Defying soft prerelease tracking, Pacific Rim is certainly doing better than expected, but the film could see a precipitous fall on Saturday once fanboy traffic slows. It took in $3.6 million in Thursday night shows, with 23 per cent coming from Imax theaters.
Some believe the 3D sci-fi epic, from Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros, could gross in the mid-$40 million range for the weekend, though most box-office experts believe it will top out at between $35 million and $40 million, a so-so number considering the tentpole‘s $190 million-plus budget.
Sony‘s Grown Ups 2 is tipped to debut in the $40 million range and earned a surprisingly strong $2.3 million in Thursday night runs. The sequel, costing $80 million to produce, opens three years after the original film turned into a box-office hit, bowing to $40.5 million and ultimately grossing $271.4 million worldwide.
The ensemble comedy, receiving blistering reviews, reteams Sandler with Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, Salma Hayek, Maya Rudolph and Maria Bello.
Prerelease tracking for Pacific Rim was notably soft, but Warners and Legendary say stellar reviews and word of mouth are fueling a better-than-expected performance. Legendary took the lead on the movie, including paying for most of the budget.
Pacific Rim, pitting giant robots against alien monsters, stars Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi and Charlie Day.
verseas, Pacific Rim is off to a strong start in Asia, Russia and Argentina, though it fared dismally in Australia on Thursday, coming in No. 4 behind the opening day of The Heat, Despicable Me 2 and Monsters University (the two animated films are benefiting from school holidays).
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Pacific Rim grossed $7.8 million from 25 markets on Thursday, led by Russia with $2 million. It also prospered across Asia, taking in $1.5 million in South Korea, marking Warners‘ third-largest opening day of all time in that market.
So far internationally, the epic is outpacing a slew of films that went on to gross between $300 million and $400 million overseas, including Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Clash of the Titans and Prometheus. It‘s also pacing on par with World War Z, which has earned more than $200 million to date at the foreign box office.
Pacific Rim opens just as Thomas Tull‘s Legendary and Warners prepare to part ways. This week, Legendary announced it had struck a new co-financing and production deal with Universal.
Despicable 2 has already earned well north of $316 million worldwide.
International
Council of Europe to unveil new TV and streaming co-production convention
Series Mania Forum to host landmark signing to boost global TV collaboration
LILLE: The small screen is getting a big policy push. At this year’s Series Mania Forum in Lille, Alain Berset will take centre stage to chair the opening ceremony for a new international convention aimed at reshaping how television and streaming series are co-produced across borders.
Set for March 26 at the Théâtre Marie Curie in Lille Grand Palais, the signing marks the debut of the first legal framework dedicated specifically to the independent co-production of series. In an industry where stories travel faster than ever, the move aims to make collaboration smoother, fairer and more transparent.
Backed by the Council of Europe, the convention is designed to strengthen cultural ties, give independent producers a firmer footing, and bring greater clarity to deals in a rapidly evolving content landscape. With streaming platforms fuelling a surge in global storytelling, the timing feels deliberate.
Council of Europe secretary general Alain Berset, underscored the cultural heft of series today, noting how they carry voices and viewpoints across borders. He called on member states and countries beyond Europe to sign on, framing the initiative as a way to turn culture into a tool for cooperation and democratic exchange.
For Series Mania founder and general director Laurence Herszberg, hosting the signing is both symbolic and strategic. She described the convention as a step that could widen the range of stories reaching audiences, staying true to the forum’s long-standing mission of championing diverse storytelling.
The ceremony will unfold alongside the Lille Dialogues, a high-level summit that gathers policymakers and industry leaders to debate the future of Europe’s audiovisual sector. Berset is also set to deliver the opening address there, adding political weight to a week already rich in creative ambition.
In short, as screens multiply and borders blur, Europe is putting a framework in place to ensure that storytelling keeps pace, collaboratively and coherently.
