Entertainment Lawyers

 Despite facing a year that was filled with challenges (to say the least), the rush of good news from across global markets around the 2023 box office continues. This week we see France report considerable improvements in its 2023 market over the pandemic-challenged previous years, too. Entertainment attorney Los Angeles Brandon Blake, from Blake & Wang P.A., takes a closer look. Brandon Blake Almost 40% Year-on-Year Rise According to data recently released by UniFrance, the worldwide audience for pictures made in France or with French partnership rose 38.5% year-on-year. Receipts followed suit at $256M, a 37.8% jump on 2022’s figures. That figure looks even cozier for majority-French-backed productions, which saw a 74.7% audience boost, albeit only amounting to about 29.7M. French-language releases brought in a 53.6% rise in viewers, or 30.1M in hard numbers. Overall admissions still lag behind pre-pandemic figures (no surprise there) by 18%, but that is consistent acros...

  What’s happening in the specialty box office realm this week? While Oscar-contender Poor Things continues to dominate people’s attention, there’s plenty more to enjoy. Blake & Wang P.A. entertainment attorney , Brandon Blake, recaps what is going on. Brandon Blake Poor Things Continues to Capture Awards Attention It’s been a good week for Poor Things , from Searchlight Pictures’ stable. Fresh off a flurry of Golden Globes wins, including Best Motion Picture for the musical and comedy category, the film has grossed another $2M in its fifth week for a cume of $14.2M. It is currently being shown on 750 screens across the country.  More Great Performances Poor Things is far from the only specialty success story at the moment, however. American Fiction , another strong Awards Season contender, continued its slow burn over 114 screens, an increase from the initial 40 that will further expand to 600 locations this week. Now in its fourth release week, it managed a respectable...

  New picks at Netflix did well on the Holiday BOD charts- but one thing is very notable. Unlike Universal, which also made its presence felt with a spate of homegrown releases, viewers are choosing Netflix, but not Netflix Originals. Blake & Wang P.A. entertainment attorney , Brandon Blake, has all the facts and figures for us. Brandon Blake Keeping Chart Prominence Netflix has had a palpable presence on the Top 10 VOD lists throughout 2023. Take a closer look at the charts, however, and it is also apparent that the streamer is increasingly relying on non-original fare to keep its viewer’s attention. Some in the industry are even starting to call Netflix ‘Sony’s go-to streamer’- probably not what they had in mind from the partnership! Additionally, Warner Bros. Discovery is increasingly turning over high-attention films to the streamer instead of their homegrown Max service. Elvis, Meg 2: The Trench, the original Aquaman , and Joker all made their mark. Then add two of the J...

 While the Christmas Box Office may not have delivered on everything we hoped for- most notably, Aquaman 2 had a rather dismal showing- it still managed to end the year on a high note  Brandon Blake, our entertainment attorney from Blake & Wang P.A. unpacks what the final box office milestone of 2023 brought to the table. Brandon Blake A 14% Rise From 2022 Christmas 2023 delivered on two fronts with its $281.4M in takings. Firstly, that’s 14% above the same period in 2022, and that’s always good news. Secondly, it delivered just enough to push the 2023 domestic box office total over the coveted $9B mark. All off the back of family-heavy fare (though some diversity was still present) and no real huge tentpole, either.   While Aquaman 2 may not have had the support it was hoping for, it still managed to deliver $58.3M in takings. Luckily, Wonka wasn’t far behind, adding $53.1M to the overall kitty in its second week. The hold on this film has been reasonab...