Entertainment Lawyers

 With the 2023 theatrical slate still failing to deliver the hoped-for post-pandemic recovery, and a dismal performance from the latest superhero installment, it’s nice to see some good news for the beleaguered Box Office. The John Wick franchise started in 2014 as a small, reasonably cheap movie that gained surprising popularity, and the franchise now seems to be truly hitting its stride with both domestic and international audiences as the fourth iteration hits the big screen. Blake & Wang P.A entertainment attorney , Brandon Blake, unpacks this new record. Brandon Blake Opening Weekend Box Office Boom John Wick: Chapter 4 looks well set to be the franchise’s best earner to date, with a fantastic opening run. Thursday previews netted it a huge $8.9M, leading industry insiders to predict that it may reach a $70M opening weekend.  They fell short, with the film pulling in a rather dazzling $73.5M domestic opening weekend seemingly effortlessly. Internationally, it has pull...

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has secured a release in the Chinese market, making it the third Marvel title to do so after three-and-a-half years without any traction there. It will join Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania as the first Marvel titles to release there since June 2019. Entertainment attorney Brandon Blake, with Blake & Wang P.A, has all the details. Brandon Blake May Release The film will release for the still-robust Chinese market on May 5, on the day-and-date model. Despite gaining a release in China, neither Quantumania nor Wakanda Forever have seen a lot of interest, although their $39M and $15.6M totals will contribute solidly to their bottom line. Only Avatar 2 has really played well for the market recently, Quantumania seeing a decline from poor early reviews and the glut of offerings over the Chinese New Year, and Wakanda Forever having been released in a variety of other formats since its November domestic premier. However, ...

 With the takeover deal for ICM Partners finally inked, it seems the ramifications have yet to play out in full. This week we see UK-based Primary Talent International, previously an ICM-owned talent agency, break away from the new CAA leadership to go back to its previous indie model. Blake & Wang P.A entertainment attorney , Brandon Blake, has the full details.  Brandon Blake Returning to Roots Primary Talent International was founded in 1990 as an independent agency, but was bought out by ICM just before the disruptions of the pandemic hit. While the CAA’s $750M deal to acquire ICM Partners completed last year, the smaller talent agency will now breakaway once again, with a buyout offer made to the CAA for the firm. With them will go 460 clients, mostly in the music industry and including names like Lana Del Rey, The Cure, and Patti Smith. The original acquisition was part of a bid by ICM Partners to extend their international reach, especially in the live events and to...

 Awards Season is almost at a close. With the Academy Awards due to air on 13 March 2023, we’ve seen the last few high-profile awards ceremonies name their picks. The Producers Guild of America has the voting body most overlapping with that of the Oscars, so it’s typically seen as a strong predictor for what might happen on the night. Our specialist entertainment lawyer , Brandon Blake of Blake & Wang P.A, breaks it all down. Brandon Blake The Rise and Rise of Everything Everywhere All at Once If you’ve been paying attention to the voting this awards season, you won’t be surprised to hear that, once again, Everything Everywhere All at Once took home the crown. Making it increasingly likely we’ll also see this startling addition to the awards season trail walk off with the coveted Best Picture Oscar, too.  Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio took home the animation prize, while The White Lotus continued its award run on the TV side. Often less considered, the game/competition ca...

 As we get closer to Upfront season, we now see an old stalwart, Fox Corp, confirm it will host an in-person Upfront event from the Manhattan Center on Monday May 15th. And this time, they promise it will be an in-person event- not like last year, where the expected live presentation morphed into a mostly pre-recorded video. Entertainment attorney with Blake & Wang P.A, Brandon Blake, shares what we know. Brandon Blake Joining the Big Names This means they will present on the same day as NBCUniversal, and alongside industry giants like Disney (May 16th), Warner Bros Discovery, and even Netflix (both May 17th) as they enter the ad game. To date, the only expected presentations we won’t see will be from CBS/Paramount, who have announced they will take a different approach with more intimate, smaller presentations privately arranged for this year.  What Can We Expect? Fox, which did remarkably well out of this year’s Super Bowl event too, will likely give some time to the en...