News

Georgia stands out as having one of the world's most complete esports infrastructures, spanning professional teams, game publishers, educational programs, and supportive policy. The state was pioneering in offering high school varsity letters for esports competitors and became the first to provide tax credits for esports broadcasting, helping attract major tournaments and events to Georgia.

All of this bodes well for moviegoing. No one was expecting September to overperform the way it is now with record openings for a Conjuring movie last weekend with Last Rites ($84M) and now the crazy start to Infinity Castle.

Last Rites had all the blessings from its fans this weekend, who made the film the third highest opening ever for a horror movie at the domestic B.O. with $83M and the second biggest worldwide at $187M. The Conjuring: Last Rites‘ opening is technically also the biggest opening in Blumhouse/Atomic Monster history surpassing Five Nights at Freddy’s $80M. The two companies merged in January 2024.

As of right now, 2025 remains ahead of the 2024 box office by +4%, with a running cume for Jan. 1-Aug. 30 of $5.99 billion, however, watch September put us behind sans a Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice.

The Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans directed anime movie did an estimated $9.6M yesterday and is expected to do $8.4M today, -13%. If we get better guidance, we’ll update our numbers, but this is how it’s looking as of this morning. Admissions for Kpop‘s Saturday and Sunday per EntTelligence is 1.5 million alone off a standard ticket price of $13.63.

Recent headlines about Marvel shifting production overseas paint a dramatic picture—but they don’t tell the whole story. Marvel’s decision to film in the U.K. is about global economics, not Georgia’s competitiveness. Exchange rates, health care requirements, and union considerations make foreign shoots temporarily attractive. That’s a worldwide issue—affecting California, New York, and every other U.S. production hub—not a Georgia problem.

Production began this week on "Southern Scares," an ambitious horror mystery that brings acclaimed actress Dee Wallace to the Columbus area for a locally-helmed feature film shooting in the region.

Thank God Warner Bros moved Weapons into the late summer, or else we wouldn’t be feeling a pulse. The Zach Cregger pic’s hold for weekend 2 stands at -43% for a second frame of $25M after a $7.4M Friday and Saturday of $9.6M, +29%.

Given the A- CinemaScore, the multiple on this will be massive ala Sinners (5.8x opening) and Get Out (5.3x). Weapons was always bound to be director Zach Cregger’s biggest opening at the box office. With Weapons, the Artists First and CAA-repped filmmaker is a new, dependable fresh voice for edgy commercial fare on the big screen.

What set Blaq on Broadway 2 apart was its daring blend of genres. A sprinkle of orchestral elements wove through the beats, giving the night a cinematic edge that had the crowd on their feet — and on their seats — singing, dancing, and rapping every line back to the artists.