All articles tagged with #universal pictures
Christopher Nolan's epic The Odyssey is projected to open between $98–$132 million in the U.S., potentially marking the director's biggest opening in 14 years and bolstering Universal's continued collaboration; with a $250 million budget and an all-star cast, early reactions are positive and overseas markets are expected to help drive strong worldwide totals, possibly surpassing Oppenheimer's debut.
Liz Meriwether, creator of New Girl, will write Universal’s Britney Spears biopic based on Spears’s memoir The Woman in Me, with Jon M. Chu directing and Marc Platt producing; the project follows the memoir’s strong debut (1.1 million copies in its first week) and successful audiobook, and Universal has not commented.
The Odyssey’s world premiere publicity has been overshadowed by a surge of negative reaction to the trailer, with dislikes nearing half a million as Universal disables replies on X for premiere posts; Elon Musk also weighed in. The London premiere is Monday with review embargoes lifting later in July, and industry chatter notes pre-sales remain strongest among IMAX-goers even as general audience interest seems to wane. The moves to control commentary highlight a broader strategy to manage early reception, though the box office remains the ultimate measure.
Universal will skip the usual word-of-mouth influencer screenings for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, instead debuting the film to professional critics after its July 6 world premiere in London, ahead of the July 17 release, signaling a move away from influencer-driven pre-release buzz.
Universal Pictures has officially greenlit a Donkey-origin spinoff from DreamWorks Animation, with Eddie Murphy returning to voice Donkey; the movie, directed by Charlie Bean and produced by Rebecca Huntley (co-directed by Matt Flynn), is scheduled for June 30, 2028, as an origin story within the Shrek universe (Shrek 5 is set for 2027).
Madonna says her long-gestating biopic with Julia Garner collapsed after a budget dispute with Universal, with talks of turning it into a Netflix series; she couldn’t reach a budget both sides could accept and even floated shooting in Serbia. She’s shifting to a new album, Confessions on a Dance Floor: Part II, while continuing to explore behind-the-scenes TV ideas like The Studio, which even features Garner in Venice for the show’s second season.
Madonna says a planned, high-budget biopic about her life was scrapped after a dispute with Universal Pictures over budget, despite two years of writing, budgeting and casting with Julia Garner attached. Netflix then approached to develop a limited series, and Madonna is pursuing a separate autobiographical project with Apple’s The Studio.
Madonna says her planned life-story biopic at Universal collapsed after a budget dispute, with the singer insisting the project would require a big-budget scope to cover her extraordinary life. Despite a 2021 multi-studio auction win and involvement from writers like Diablo Cody and Erin Cressida Wilson and Julia Garner cast as Madonna, Universal reportedly couldn’t agree on the budget. Madonna even explored filming a cheaper version in Serbia before Netflix pursued an autobiographical series instead; Universal has not commented on the matter.
Madonna reveals her life-story biopic with Julia Garner stalled at Universal over budget concerns, with plans to shoot for a bigger budget; Netflix later pursued a series version, but script and rights hurdles complicated the deal.
Jim Carrey is in talks to reunite with director Ron Howard and Universal for an untitled sequel to 2000's How the Grinch Stole Christmas; Carrey would reprise The Grinch, with Alec Berg, Jeff Schaffer and David Mandel writing, Howard set to direct and produce with Brian Grazer for Imagine Entertainment, under Dr. Seuss Enterprises' oversight.
Steven Spielberg’s original summer thriller Disclosure Day opens June 12 with a $115M budget and heavy marketing push, but early tracking suggests a $35M domestic debut—below some studios’ $50M target—meaning profitability hinges on roughly $300M global gross given theaters’ take and about $80M in marketing. The move marks a return to original storytelling for a director known for blockbuster franchises and prestige dramas, with backloaded marketing and an aging, less opening-weekend-urgent audience driving uncertainty about its legs and word-of-mouth impact.
Steven Spielberg’s original summer thriller Disclosure Day (budget around $115M) opens June 12 with early projections near $35M, a modest start for a high-budget film. Universal is backing a late, Spielberg-centric marketing push to differentiate it from IP-heavy fare, hoping strong reviews and word-of-mouth sustain ticket sales through the summer. With theaters taking about half of box office and roughly $80M in marketing, the movie would likely need around $300M worldwide to be profitable.
Hollywood finally reached the billion-dollar milestone in 2026 as The Super Mario Galaxy Movie crosses $1B worldwide (roughly $438.5M domestic and $571.5M international) on a $110M budget, marking a win for Universal/Illumination/Nintendo and signaling a robust, varied box office year. The milestone comes after last year’s Lilo & Stitch remake and sits among other high-profile hits like Project Hail Mary, with the year on track to top $9B domestically and fueling talk of more Mario installments and other potential billion-dollar releases.
Curry Barker, the Obsession filmmaker who rose from YouTube to Hollywood, is already drawing eight-figure offers for his next original project, with Universal in play via Blumhouse-Atomic Monster’s right of first negotiation; Barker has already shot Anything But Ghosts for Focus and is linked to Texas Chainsaw Massacre for A24, as industry interest grows following Obsession’s breakout performance and the rise of YouTube-created horror talent.
Michael Bay will direct an untitled war drama for Universal Pictures based on Mitchell Zuckoff’s forthcoming book about the April rescue of two U.S. crew members after their fighter jet crashed in Iran, with the book due in 2027; the project aims to celebrate service members and follows Bay’s past adaptations, including 13 Hours.