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Tom Cruise, Superman and 'Avatar' Hold Keys to 2025 Box Office

FILE PHOTO: Paris 2024 Olympics - Ceremonies - Paris 2024 Closing Ceremony - Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France - August 11, 2024. Actor Tom Cruise jumps from the roof of the Stade de France during the closing ceremony. REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Paris 2024 Olympics - Ceremonies - Paris 2024 Closing Ceremony - Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France - August 11, 2024. Actor Tom Cruise jumps from the roof of the Stade de France during the closing ceremony. REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo
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Tom Cruise, Superman and 'Avatar' Hold Keys to 2025 Box Office

FILE PHOTO: Paris 2024 Olympics - Ceremonies - Paris 2024 Closing Ceremony - Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France - August 11, 2024. Actor Tom Cruise jumps from the roof of the Stade de France during the closing ceremony. REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Paris 2024 Olympics - Ceremonies - Paris 2024 Closing Ceremony - Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France - August 11, 2024. Actor Tom Cruise jumps from the roof of the Stade de France during the closing ceremony. REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo

Tom Cruise takes on what may be his final "Mission: Impossible," a new Superman will wear the red cape, and the record-setting "Avatar" sci-fi series will return to movie theaters this year.
Those films and more are giving cinema operators hope that the long recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic will continue in 2025. Five years after the start of the health crisis, moviegoing has not fully rebounded.
Box office receipts totaled $8.6 billion last year in the United States and Canada, 25% below the pre-pandemic heights of $11.4 billion in 2019, Reuters reported.
The film industry was disrupted again in 2023 when Hollywood writers and actors went on strike.
"That complex matrix of filmmaking, where everyone wants the best talent and the best actors and the best sets, it takes a long time to get that running again," said Tim Richards, founder and CEO of Europe's Vue Cinemas. "2025 is going to feel the tail end of that."
Top names in the movie business will gather at the annual CinemaCon convention in Las Vegas early next month to talk about the state of the industry.
The conference draws executives from Hollywood studios and multiplex operators such as AMC Entertainment, Cinemark and Cineworld as well as owners of single theaters in small towns.
At the Academy Awards this month, "Anora" filmmaker and best director winner Sean Baker delivered a "battle cry" for filmmakers, distributors and audiences to support theaters.
"The theater-going experience is under threat," he said, noting that the number of screens shrunk during the pandemic.
"If we don't reverse this trend, we'll be losing a vital part of our culture," Baker added.
Shawn Robbins, Director of Movie Analytics at Fandango and founder and owner of Box Office Theory, said the movie business was adjusting to "a new normal."
"Event movies are increasingly drivers of the business," Robbins said. "There's even more weight on their shoulders in terms of box office dollars."
Moviegoers still turn out for big-budget films, Robbins said, but have shown they are happy to wait to watch others at home.
"It is very common knowledge that a lot of movies will be available to stream within three to eight weeks, whereas it used to be a minimum of three months," he said.
'AVATAR' AS TIPPING POINT?
Among the big hitters coming to theaters this year are "Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning," a movie that may be Cruise's last appearance in the long-running action franchise. "One last time," he says in the trailer. The film will debut over the US Memorial Day weekend in May, along with Walt Disney's live-action version of animated classic "Lilo & Stitch."
Brad Pitt plays a Formula 1 driver in the June release "F1," and in July, Warner Bros will release its new "Superman" movie directed by "Guardians of the Galaxy" filmmaker James Gunn and starring David Corenswet.
From Marvel, the anti-hero team "Thunderbolts" will kick off the summer moviegoing season in early May, followed by "The Fantastic Four" in late July.
Around the November and December holidays, offerings include the second part of musical box office phenomenon "Wicked," animated sequel "Zootopia 2" and "Avatar: Fire and Ash," the third film in James Cameron's "Avatar" series. The first "Avatar" is the highest-grossing movie of all time, and the second movie ranks third.
Robbins projected 2025 would end with a slight increase in domestic box office receipts compared with last year, "maybe flirting with $9 billion." He said it is unclear when ticket sales will return to pre-pandemic levels.
Richards said he believed the new "Avatar" would kick off "an extraordinary three to five years" for cinemas.
"We're going to see (Avatar) as the tipping point," Richards said. "2026 has got an extraordinary number of great films."

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Over 80 Berlin Film Festival Alumni Sign Open Letter Urging Organizers to Take Stance on Gaza 

12 February 2026, Berlin: President of the Berlinale jury Wim Wenders waves to the audience on the opening night of the 76th Berlin International Film Festival, before the premiere of the opening film "No Good Men" at the Berlinale Palast. (dpa)
12 February 2026, Berlin: President of the Berlinale jury Wim Wenders waves to the audience on the opening night of the 76th Berlin International Film Festival, before the premiere of the opening film "No Good Men" at the Berlinale Palast. (dpa)
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Over 80 Berlin Film Festival Alumni Sign Open Letter Urging Organizers to Take Stance on Gaza 

12 February 2026, Berlin: President of the Berlinale jury Wim Wenders waves to the audience on the opening night of the 76th Berlin International Film Festival, before the premiere of the opening film "No Good Men" at the Berlinale Palast. (dpa)
12 February 2026, Berlin: President of the Berlinale jury Wim Wenders waves to the audience on the opening night of the 76th Berlin International Film Festival, before the premiere of the opening film "No Good Men" at the Berlinale Palast. (dpa)

More than 80 actors, directors and other ‌artists who have taken part in the Berlin Film Festival, including Tilda Swinton and Javier Bardem, signed an open letter to the organizers published on Tuesday calling for them to take a clear stance on Israel's war in Gaza.

"We call on the Berlinale to fulfil its moral duty and clearly state its opposition to Israel's genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes against Palestinians," said the open letter, which was published in full in entertainment industry magazine Variety.

Multiple human rights experts, scholars and a UN inquiry say Israel's assault on Gaza amounts to genocide. Israel calls its actions self-defense after Hamas' October 2023 attack on Israel.

"We are appalled by Berlinale's institutional silence," ‌said the letter, which ‌was also signed by actors Adam McKay, Alia Shawkat and ‌Brian ⁠Cox, and director ⁠Mike Leigh.

It said organizers had not met demands to issue a statement affirming Palestinians' right to life and committing to uphold artists' right to speak out on the issue.

"This is the least it can - and should - do," the letter said.

The festival did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

THE MOST POLITICAL FESTIVAL

The Berlin Film Festival is considered the most political of its peers, Venice and Cannes, and ⁠prides itself on showing cinema from under-represented communities and young ‌talent. However, it has been repeatedly criticized by pro-Palestinian activists ‌for not taking a stand on Gaza, in contrast to the war in Ukraine ‌and the situation in Iran.

Calls have also previously been made for the ‌entertainment industry to take a stance on Gaza.

Last year, over 5,000 actors, entertainers, and producers, including some Hollywood stars, signed a pledge to not work with Israeli film institutions that they saw as being complicit in the abuse of Palestinians by Israel.

Paramount studio later condemned that ‌pledge and said it did not agree with such efforts.

ROY PULLS OUT

Tuesday's letter also condemned statements by this year's ⁠jury president, German director ⁠Wim Wenders, that filmmakers should stay out of politics, writing: "You cannot separate one from the other."

Wenders' comments prompted Indian novelist Arundhati Roy, winner of the Booker Prize in 1997 for her novel "The God of Small Things", to pull out of the festival earlier this week.

Roy, who had been due to present "In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones", a 1989 film which she wrote, in the Berlinale's Classics section, characterized Wenders' comments as "unconscionable."

In response, festival director Tricia Tuttle issued a note on Saturday defending artists' decision not to comment on political issues.

"People have called for free speech at the Berlinale. Free speech is happening at the Berlinale," she said.

"But increasingly, filmmakers are expected to answer any question put to them," she wrote, and are criticized if they do not answer, or answer "and we do not like what they say."

Entertainment

‘Godfather’ and ‘Apocalypse Now’ Actor Robert Duvall Dead at 95 

Actor Robert Duvall arrives at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California January 11, 2015. (Reuters)
Actor Robert Duvall arrives at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California January 11, 2015. (Reuters)
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‘Godfather’ and ‘Apocalypse Now’ Actor Robert Duvall Dead at 95 

Actor Robert Duvall arrives at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California January 11, 2015. (Reuters)
Actor Robert Duvall arrives at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California January 11, 2015. (Reuters)

Robert Duvall, who played the smooth mafia lawyer in "The Godfather" and stole the show with his depiction of a surfing-crazed colonel in "Apocalypse Now," has died at the age of 95, his wife said Monday.

His death Sunday was confirmed by his wife Luciana Duvall.

"Yesterday we said goodbye to my beloved husband, cherished friend, and one of the greatest actors of our time. Bob passed away peacefully at home," she wrote.

Blunt-talking, prolific and glitz-averse, Duvall won an Oscar for best actor and was nominated six other times. Over his six decades-long career, he shone in both lead and supporting roles, and eventually became a director. He kept acting in his 90s.

"To the world, he was an Academy Award-winning actor, a director, a storyteller. To me, he was simply everything," Luciana Duvall said. "His passion for his craft was matched only by his deep love for characters, a great meal, and holding court."

Duvall won his Academy Award in 1983 for playing a washed-up country singer in "Tender Mercies."

But his most memorable characters also included the soft-spoken, loyal mob consigliere Tom Hagen in the first two installments of "The Godfather" and the maniacal Lieutenant Colonel William Kilgore in Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 Vietnam War epic "Apocalypse Now."

"It was an honor to have worked with Robert Duvall," Oscar winner Al Pacino, who acted alongside Duvall in "The Godfather" films, said in a statement.

"He was a born actor as they say, his connection with it, his understanding and his phenomenal gift will always be remembered. I will miss him."

As Colonel Kilgore, Duvall earned an Oscar nomination and became a bona fide star after years playing lesser roles, in a performance where he utters what is now one of cinema's most famous lines.

"I love the smell of napalm in the morning," his war-loving character -- bare chested, cocky and sporting a big black cowboy hat -- muses as low-flying US warplanes bomb a beachfront tree line where he wants to go surfing.

That character was originally created to be even more over the top -- his name was at first supposed to be Colonel Carnage -- but Duvall had it toned down, demonstrating his meticulous approach to acting.

"I did my homework," Duvall told veteran talk show host Larry King in 2015. "I did my research."

Cinema giant Francis Ford Coppola -- who directed Duvall in "Apocalypse Now" and "The Godfather" -- called his loss "a blow."

"Such a great actor and such an essential part of American Zoetrope from its beginning," Coppola said in a statement on Instagram.

- A 'vast career' -

Duvall was sort of a late bloomer in Hollywood -- he was already 31 when he delivered his breakout performance as the mysterious recluse Boo Radley in the 1962 film adaptation of Harper Lee's novel "To Kill a Mockingbird."

He would go on to play myriad roles -- a bullying corporate executive in "Network" (1976), a Marine officer who treats his family like soldiers in "The Great Santini" (1979), and then his star turn in "Tender Mercies."

Duvall often said his favorite role, however, was one he played in a 1989 TV mini-series -- the grizzled, wise-cracking Texas Ranger-turned-cowboy Augustus McCrae in "Lonesome Dove," based on the novel by Larry McMurtry.

British actress Jane Seymour, who worked with Duvall on the 1995 film "The Stars Fell on Henrietta," took to Instagram to share a heartfelt tribute to the star.

"We were able to share in his love of barbecue and even a little tango," Seymour captioned a photo of herself with Duvall. "Those moments off camera were just as memorable as the work itself."

US actor Alec Baldwin made a short video tribute to Duvall, speaking about the star's "vast career."

"When he did 'To Kill A Mockingbird' he just destroyed you with his performance of Boo Radley, he used not a single word of dialogue, not a single word, and he just shatters you," Baldwin said.

Film critic Elaine Mancini once described Duvall as "the most technically proficient, the most versatile, and the most convincing actor on the screen in the United States."

Entertainment

Songwriter Billy Steinberg Dies at 75

Grammy-winning songwriter Billy Steinberg (L) was behind several top hits of the 1980s and 1990s including Madonna's 'Like A Virgin'. Paul A. Hebert / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
Grammy-winning songwriter Billy Steinberg (L) was behind several top hits of the 1980s and 1990s including Madonna's 'Like A Virgin'. Paul A. Hebert / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
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Songwriter Billy Steinberg Dies at 75

Grammy-winning songwriter Billy Steinberg (L) was behind several top hits of the 1980s and 1990s including Madonna's 'Like A Virgin'. Paul A. Hebert / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
Grammy-winning songwriter Billy Steinberg (L) was behind several top hits of the 1980s and 1990s including Madonna's 'Like A Virgin'. Paul A. Hebert / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File

Award-winning US songwriter Billy Steinberg, who wrote several top hit songs including Madonna's "Like a Virgin," died Monday at age 75, according to media reports.

Steinberg wrote some of the biggest pop hits of the 1980s and 1990s and was behind songs performed by singers from Whitney Houston and Celine Dion to Madonna and Cyndi Lauper.

He died following a battle with cancer, his attorney told the Los Angeles Times and BBC News.

"Billy Steinberg's life was a testament to the enduring power of a well-written song -- and to the idea that honesty, when set to music, can outlive us all," his family said in a statement to the outlets.

Steinberg was born in 1950 and grew up in Palm Springs, California, where his family had a table grape business. He attended Bard College in New York and soon began his career in songwriting.

He helped write five number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 list. Among those was "Like a Virgin," co-written with Tom Kelly, which spent six consecutive weeks at the top of the charts.

Steinberg won a Grammy Award in 1997 for his work on Celine Dion's "Falling Into You."

He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2011.