29 Mar – Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum's new movie, "The Lost City" has now dethroned "The Batman" from the weekend top spot, collecting US$31 million in US theatres over the weekend. The film, which has received good reviews from critics and being described as "Romancing the Stone" meets "Raiders of the Lost Ark", seems to indicate that cinemagoers aren't just going to the movies for superhero flicks, and that there is a market for romantic comedies. "This has exceeded any of my expectations," said Chris Aronson, Paramount's president of domestic distribution. "It's great to see us and [Bullock and Tatum] rewarded for taking a risk."
David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research, stated that this is a great opening for the genre. "Romantic comedies have been in decline for a dozen years, well before the pandemic. The combination of big cast plus crowd-pleasing romance plus comedy plus adventure has worked before, and it's working again," he said. Directed by Aaron and Adam Nee, the story revolves around a middle-aged author who gets kidnapped by an eccentric billionaire who hopes to use her in discovering an ancient lost city's treasure from her latest story. On the other hand, several new movies will be released in the coming weeks, including Sony's "Morbius", Paramount's "Sonic the Hedgehog", and Warner Bros.' "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore".