SONY - Anime lion thriller look to juice up sleepy box office

A long, slow stretch at the box office continues this weekend, though two new releases hope to improve on last weekend's disappointing grosses.

The new films notably include the widest release ever for anime producer Crunchyroll ( NYSE: SONY ). Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero rolls out to more than 3,900 domestic screens, including premium formats like IMAX ( IMAX ).

The long-running Dragon Ball series has a select but loyal audience, and it's likely to open in the mid-teen millions for the weekend, not unlike the $13.4M that Bullet Train ( SONY ) led the chart with in its second weekend.

Sony bought Crunchyroll from AT&T in summer 2021, and merged its Funimation brand into Crunchyroll earlier in 2022 .

Taking it on is the only big-studio release of the weekend, Beast ( NASDAQ: CMCSA ), a story starring Idris Elba as a father whose family is hunted by a massive rogue African lion, which might struggle to do similar business to Dragon Ball.

The slow times also mean an opportunity for the last couple of months' releases to add to their cash piles: DC League of Super-Pets ( WBD ), Thor: Love and Thunder ( DIS ) and Nope ( CMCSA ).

But eyes will also be on Minions: The Rise of Gru ( CMCSA ), which gets an (increasingly rare) opening in China that should juice its numbers somewhat - and also on Top Gun: Maverick ( PARA ) ( PARAA ), the year's top film, which should pass Avengers: Infinity War to become the No. 6 all-time grosser.

Bracing for the receipts as always are some newly challenged exhibitors: Cinema tickers: AMC Entertainment ( AMC ); Cineworld ( OTCPK:CNNWF ); Cinemark ( CNK ); ( IMAX ); Marcus ( MCS ); Reading International ( RDI ); Cineplex ( CGX:CA ); National CineMedia ( NCMI ).

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