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Kirk Jay will win season 15 of “The Voice” for coach Blake Shelton according to the predictions of more than one-third of the viewers of the live finale on December 17. This 22-year old country singer from Alabama wowed the crowd with three outstanding performances on Monday’s show and registered 34% in our instant poll. He would be the seventh contestant coached to victory on “The Voice” by Blake.

All four coaches wanted this soulful singer for their team after his rendition of “God Bless the Broken Road” in the blind auditions. He opted to work with his hero, Blake. Kirk was then pitted against two other artists on Team Shelton. In each instance Blake went with him, first in the Battle round when he and Caeland Garner sang “Let it Rain” and then in the Knockouts where his performance of “In Case You Didn’t Know” outdid that of Colton Smith.

The Season 15 finalists for NBC’s reality TV singing competition “The Voice” have been chosen and the winner will be announced live on Tuesday, December 17. After months of Blind Auditions, Battles, Knockouts, Live Shows and Instant Saves we asked our readers in a recent poll who You want to win the title. With 34% of the votes, Team Blake Shelton‘s front-runner Kirk Jay proves he is not only the statistical favorite to win, but the fan favorite as well. Kirk would become Blake’s seventh champion, extending the coach’s unprecedented string of winners since the show’s inaugural season.

See‘The Voice’ finale spotlight: Kennedy Holmes could become youngest winner ever and the first for coach Jennifer Hudson

Coming in second place in our poll is the 16-year old country singer from Team Kelly Clarkson, Chevel Shepherd. The “Country Tinkerbell” currently ranks third in Gold Derby’s racetrack odds,...

The Season 15 finalists for NBC’s reality TV singing competition “The Voice” have been chosen and will compete for the championship on Monday, December 17. After months of Blind Auditions, Battles, Knockouts, Live Shows and Instant Saves the stage has been set: Team Blake Shelton‘s Chris Kroeze and Kirk Jay, Team Kelly Clarkson‘s Chevel Shepherd and Team Jennifer Hudson‘s Kennedy Holmes will compete for the title. Coach Adam Levine failed to advance any of his artists to the finale. But which of the four finalists do You want to to be crowned the winner during the season finale on Tuesday, December 18? Vote in our poll below.

See‘The Voice’ Semi-Finals results show recap: Top 8 will cruelly and swiftly become a Final 4 tonight [Updating Live Blog]

Chevel Shepherd (Team Kelly) – The 16-year old country singer from New Mexico impressed Blake, Jennifer and Kelly with her blind audition of “If I Die Young,...

Experience the uplifting family film with Jordin Sparks and NFL Pro Football Hall of Famer Ladainian “Lt” Tomlinson when God Bless the Broken Road arrives on Blu-ray Combo Pack (plus DVD and Digital), DVD, Digital and On Demand December 4 from Lionsgate. Dove-approved for all ages and directed by Harold Cronk, the acclaimed director of the films God’s Not Dead and God’s Not Dead 2, the faith-based film tells an inspirational tale where faith, family, friends, and the brave soldiers who serve in the United States military are paramount. God Bless the Broken Road also stars Lindsay Pulsipher, Robin Givens, Gary Grubbs (TV’s “The X-Files”), Andrew Walker, Kim Delaney, and Makenzie Moss.

God Bless the Broken Road tells the inspirational story of a young mother who loses her husband in Afghanistan and struggles to raise their young daughter in his absence. The film focuses on the importance of faith,...

Films about war aren’t always subtle. Neither are films about faith. But some movies find a way to tackle these enormous issues without resorting to simplistic messages, and thank goodness “Indivisible” is one of them.

Directed by David G. Evans (“The Grace Card”), “Indivisible” tells the story of real-life U.S. Army Chaplain Darren Turner and his wife Heather. Together, and separately, they endure the mental, physical and spiritual stresses that come from Darren’s tour of duty in 2007, as he offered support for the soldiers around him but struggled with his own self-care.

Not everyone is looking for emotional support, of course. Some soldiers are just trying to keep their heads down, do their job and not think about the horrors they experience every day. But if they aren’t looking for an earnest heart-to-heart about life’s big questions, Darren can at least remind them to call their...

Pure Flix breaks into top 10 with faith-based drama Unbroken: Path To redemption.

September 17 Update: Shane Black’s action reboot The Predator returned to its North American hunting ground on a confirmed $24.6m through Fox and pushed Warner Bros’ horror hit The Nun into second place on $18.2m in its second weekend.

The Predator arrived in 4,037 theatres 31 years after Arnold Schwarzenegger took arms against the alien warriors in John McTiernan’s original tentpole. Olivia Munn, Jacob Tremblay, Sterling K. Brown and Trevante Rhodes star in the new story about a boy who accidentally enables the lethal predator hunters to return to earth,...

Pure Flix breaks into top 10 with faith-based drama Unbroken: Path To redemption.

Shane Black’s action reboot The Predator returned to its North American hunting ground on an estimated $24m through Fox and pushed Warner Bros’ horror hit The Nun into second place on $18.2m in its second weekend.

The Predator arrived in 4,037 theatres 31 years after Arnold Schwarzenegger took arms against the alien warriors in John McTiernan’s original tentpole. Olivia Munn, Jacob Tremblay, Sterling K. Brown and Trevante Rhodes star in the new story about a boy who accidentally enables the lethal predator hunters to return to earth, where...

Gratuitously prolific director Harold Cronk keeps cranking them out. Fascinated by supposedly undamaged people who turn out to be spiritually shattered given the absence of religious submissiveness in their lives, this month alone he’s behind two faith-based releases sporting such a premise: last week’s” God Bless the Broken Road,” and now “Unbroken: Path to Redemption.”

Both follow an individual’s transformation from sinfully reproaching God to realizing their woes are punishment for straying away from Him.

Produced with meager resources, “Path to Redemption” sneakily professes itself as a sort-of sequel to Angelina Jolie’s 2014 sophomore directorial effort “Unbroken,” even though they don’t share any cast members, below-the-line crew, or screenwriters. Most importantly, they are eons apart in storytelling dexterity, technical quality, and tone. Jolie’s feature was far from glorious and earned her mixed reviews, but it’s nonetheless an incomparably superior exercise in period filmmaking.

Also...

20th Century Fox’s sixth iteration of The Predator is expected to hit its tracking range between $25M-$30M at around 4,000 locations including Imax and Plf locations.

In the wake of buzzy promo blitzes at CinemaCon and San Diego Comic-Con, the film hit a bump in the road as it headed to Tiff last week and that was that director Shane Black cast a friend who was a registered sex offender. The convicted offender’s scene with Olivia Munn was cut last week. While studio marketing and PR executives fear this type of black ink in this day and age which can throw a film’s commercial trajectory off its tracks, many of those in distribution do not believe it will impact general moviegoers’ decision to see the $88M-budgeted R-rated sci-fi film this weekend. “It’s a matter that’s in Hollywood’s orbit,” said one non-Fox studio executive.

Another...

Last year, Warner Bros. gave the box office a huge post-summer jolt with New Line’s remake of “It,” which set a September opening weekend record with $123.4 million. Now, they’ve posted September’s second-highest opening with New Line’s “The Nun,” which earned $53.5 million this weekend from 3,876 screens.

It’s the continuation of what was a very successful August for WB with “Crazy Rich Asians” and “The Meg,” both of which are also in this weekend’s top five at No. 2 and No. 4 respectively. In fact, this is the first time in over a quarter-century that a studio has held the top two spots on the weekend charts for four consecutive weekends.

What’s also particularly interesting about the success of “The Nun” is that in an era where Rotten Tomatoes can make or break a film’s box office success, this “Conjuring” spinoff has shown a “Transformers”-esque...

“The Nun” had a divine opening weekend atop the North American box office.

Warner Bros. dominated for the fifth weekend in a row as the latest installment in the “Conjuring” series launched with $53.5 million in 3,876 locations. That easily marks the best debut in the series, crushing 2013’s “The Conjuring,” which previously held the record with $41.8 million. It’s also the second-best September debut behind Warner Bros.’ “It.” Overseas, “The Nun” generated a mighty $77.5 million for a global start of $131 million.

Corin Hardy’s horror flick — starring Demian Bichir and Taissa Farmiga — broke a number of franchise records this weekend. It had the largest Thursday showing out of the five movies ($5.4 million), as well as the biggest opening day ($22.3 million). Imax screens accounted for $4.5 million of “The Nun’s” debut.

The first four movies in Warner Bros.’ “Conjuring” franchise — “The Conjuring,” “Annabelle,” “The Conjuring 2,” and “Annabelle: Creation” — have generated over $1.1 billion globally.

“The Nun” is heading for a scary-good opening weekend, with an estimated $50 million from 3,876 domestic sites.

The Warner Bros. gothic horror flick earned $20.2 million from 60 international markets Friday, bringing its overseas cume to $32.1 million. Should the opening estimate hold, “The Nun” will mark the “Conjuring” universe’s best debut.

Earlier estimates had placed “The Nun” in a lower range between $36 million and $45 million. 2013’s “The Conjuring” had previously held the best North American opening of the franchise with $41.9 million, eventually accumulating $137 million domestically.

Taissa Farmiga stars in the “Conjuring 2” spin-off as a young novitiate who is sent to Romania in 1952 along with a priest (Demián Bichir) to investigate the mysterious suicide of a nun at a convent. Corin Hardy directed the film from Gary Dauberman’s script. “The Nun” has earned mixed reviews, with praise for its atmosphere and performances but criticism for its reliance on jump scares. It’s...

Best described as an unbalanced sample platter of vapid conservative beliefs, Harold Cronk’s “God Bless the Broken Road” is not concerned with disputing any of the preconceived notions coastal dwellers may have about Middle America, but rather leans into them shamelessly for a Christian drama squarely aimed at women and veterans.

Seemingly inspired by the eponymous song originally released by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1994 and further popularized thanks to country group Rascal Flatts in 2005, the faith-based narrative is the latest cash cow from the team that unleashed the vitriolic, Islamophobic and generally disturbing “God’s Not Dead” franchise. Both the original “God’s Not Dead” and its sequel were directed and co-written by Cronk and became bastions of Evangelical propaganda with combined box-offices grosses of over $80 million. He was, however, not directly involved with this year’s much less successful third installment.

Advantageously set in small-town Kentucky,...

“The Nun” is heading for a franchise-best $44 million opening weekend at 3,876 North American locations, early estimates showed on Friday.

Jennifer Garner’s action-thriller “Peppermint” is performing in line with expectations and will probably wind up the weekend with $12 million at 2,980 sites for Stx and Lakeshore. It’s battling for second place with Warner Bros.’ fourth frame of “Crazy Rich Asians.”

“The Nun,” the fifth installment in Warner Bros.’ successful “The Conjuring” horror series, had been pegged to dominate the domestic box office with forecasts in the $36 million to $45 million range. “The Conjuring” had the best North American opening with $41.9 million in 2013 on its way to a $137 million domestic total.

“The Nun” is a spinoff of “The Conjuring 2.” Set in Romania in 1952, it stars Demian Bichir and Taissa Farmiga as a Catholic priest and a novice who are sent by the Vatican to investigate the mysterious suicide of a nun.

“The Nun” earned $5.4 million in previews on Thursday, making it the highest pre-show earner in the “Conjuring” universe.

In comparison, “Annabelle: Creation” grossed $4 million in previews last year, while “The Conjuring 2” made $3.4 million in 2016. In 2014, “Annabelle” earned $2.1 million, while the first “Conjuring” grossed $3.3 million in 2013.

So far, the highest-grossing opener in the franchise is the first “Conjuring,” which opened to $41.8 million, followed by its sequel, “Conjuring 2,” with $40.4 million.

Also Read: Does 'The Nun' Have a Post-Credits Scene?

“The Nun,” directed by Corin Hardy, is expected to open in the high $40 million range this weekend from 3,700 screens, with the most optimistic projections reaching $52 million. WB is projecting a low $40 million start, based on a $22 million budget. If “The Nun” hits the higher end of projections, it will have the second-highest opening for a September release behind “It.” That spot currently belongs to “Hotel Transylvania 2” with $48 million.

Gary Dauberman...

“The Nun” has conjured up a franchise-best $5.4 million on Thursday night.

Jennifer Garner’s “Peppermint,” meanwhile, made a moderate $800,000 at 2,340 locations.

“The Nun,” the fifth installment in Warner Bros.’ “The Conjuring” horror franchise, is pegged to dominate the domestic box office with forecasts in the $36 million to $45 million range when it debuts at 3,876 theaters.

It’s by far the best preview number for the five movies in the “Conjuring” franchise — “The Conjuring,” “Annabelle,” “The Conjuring 2,” and “Annabelle: Creation” — which has generated more than $1.1 billion globally. “Annabelle: Creation” took in $4 million in previews last year on its way to a $35 million U.S. opening weekend.

“The Nun” is a spinoff of “The Conjuring 2.” It’s set in Romania in 1952 and stars Demian Bichir and Taissa Farmiga as a Catholic priest and a novice who are sent to the Vatican to investigate the mysterious suicide of a nun. Gary Dauberman,...

Through the end of July, Warner Bros. was approximately 30% behind where they were in 2017, a year in which the studio topped $2 billion domestically for only the second time in its history. Thanks to the August releases of The Meg and Crazy Rich Asians, that difference was cut down to -21% by the end of August, and, as of September 3, the studio topped $1 billion in domestic earnings and is pacing just -19% behind 2017. We mention this only because Warner Bros. is about to deliver yet another box office hit this weekend in the form of The Nun, the latest film in the ever-expanding Conjuring Universe and this one is looking to deliver a franchise record opening. Debuting in 3,876 locations, The Nun is outpacing all previous films in the Conjuring Universe by a healthy margin when looking at IMDb page view data leading up to release. So much so that our $45 million weekend forecast almost feels conservative.

Although blockbuster season officially came to a close Labor Day Weekend, “the darkest chapter” in The Conjuring universe isn’t intending on going quietly.

While early tracking had Valak the Defiler headed toward a respectable opening weekend haul – somewhere between $30 million and $40 million – the latest intel is suggesting The Nun could very well bow as high as $50 million. According to Variety, Corin Hardy’s (The Hallow) gothic horror has a decent shot at trouncing the nearly $42 million earned by The Conjuring on opening weekend, as The Nun is projected to debut betwixt $36 million to $45 million.

However, it should be noted there’s evidence denoting that a $50 million opening weekend’s entirely plausible, with some indicating that the film could gross in excess of the half-century mark. Regardless of where it’ll land, though, The Nun should easily take the weekend, as the Jennifer Garner-led Peppermint is expected to earn between $10 million and $15 million,...

As the summer movie season officially came to a close, a pair of darker titles are hoping to terrorize the domestic box office this weekend.

Estimates show “The Nun,” the fifth installment in “The Conjuring” series, launching with $36 million to $45 million when it debuts in over 2,850 locations. Some tracking suggests that’s too modest, and the film could make well over $50 million during its opening weekend. That would be a monstrously good start considering the low price tag typically attached to horror flicks. Buzz already seems strong as “The Nun” is currently outpacing all previous “Conjuring” movies combined in Fandango’s presales, the ticketing service reported on Wednesday. According to Fandango, it is also dominating previous horror hits “Get Out” and “A Quiet Place” in advanced sales at the same point in those film’s sales cycles.

If “The Nun” is able to reach the higher end of projections, it...

Warner Bros. ended the summer on a remarkable high note as “Crazy Rich Asians” and “The Meg” combined to gross $240 million at the box office this past month. Now they look to keep that success going with New Line’s “The Nun,” the fifth installment in the “Conjuring” horror series.

While most studios have largely steered clear of releasing films — or at least major ones — in late August and early September, Warner Bros. has turned that into a slot where they can release a New Line mid-budget horror film to excellent results.

Last year, the studio released the “Conjuring” film “Annabelle: Creation” in August, which grossed $306 million globally against a $15 million budget.

Also Read: Can Fall Box Office Break Records Despite Lack of New 'Star Wars' and Marvel Movies?

Then, the following month, WB struck gold with the remake of Stephen King’s “It,” which set a September box office...

For the fifth weekend in a row Warner Bros. will rule the top of the box office, this time with New Line’s Conjuring spinoff The Nun which is expected to bring the Burbank, CA studio moola from heaven with an estimated $36M-$45M start at an estimated 3,700-plus locations. Two out of three tracking services have The Nun north of $40M, and there’s a very good chance that the Corin Hardy-directed pic will rep a record debut for The Conjuring universe, besting the first 2013 installment’s debut of $41.8M. Total awareness, first choice, and unaided awareness on The Nun is best with females under 25. Already we’re hearing that advance ticket sales are ahead of Annabelle: Creation and The Conjuring 2.

Warner Bros. pulled off something amazing last year with the feature adaptation of Stephen King’s It which blew away all September and horror box office records with a $123.4M opening,...

Tickets acquired by MoviePass accounted for up to 5% of summer box office.

Incredibles 2

Source: Disney/Pixar

September 3 Four-day Update: Pixar’s Incredibles 2 became the first animation to cross $600m in North America, as the four-day portion of a strong Labor Day holiday saw Crazy Rich Asians stay top as summer delivered a terrific estimated $4.39bn. MoviePass contributed to approximately 5% of the seasonal tally.

According to the National Association Of Theatre Owners (Nato), summer box office in North America is expected to generate $4.39bn, marking a 14.6% gain on summer 2017 that will if confirmed ranki among the top five summers.

The...

Tickets acquired by MoviePass accounted for up to 5% of summer box office.

Incredibles 2

Source: Disney/Pixar

Pixar’s Incredibles 2 became the first animation to cross $600m in North America, as the three-day portion of a strong Labor Day holiday saw Crazy Rich Asians stay top as summer delivered a terrific estimated $4.39bn. MoviePass contributed to approximately 5% of the seasonal tally.

According to the National Association Of Theatre Owners (Nato), summer box office in North America is expected to generate $4.39bn, marking a 14.6% gain on summer 2017 that will if confirmed ranki among the top five summers.

The 2018 number does not...

After popcorn season comes to a close, Warner Bros. is hoping to scare moviegoers back into theaters with “The Nun.”

Early tracking suggests the fifth installment in “The Conjuring” franchise is on pace to open to more than $32 million when it opens on Sept. 7, though some estimates predict it could make as much as $37 million. That’s a promising launch given the low price tag typically attached to horror movies.

“The Nun,” a spinoff of “The Conjuring 2,” stars Demian Bichir, Taissa Farmiga, and Jonas Bloquet. It’s set in Romania in 1951 and centers on a Catholic priest and a novice who are sent to the Vatican to investigate the mysterious suicide of a nun. The first four movies in the “Conjuring” series — including “Annabelle” and its sequel — have generated over $1.1 billion globally.

Though an opening in the high-$30 millions would prove profitable, it won’t come close to matching...

In no coincidence whatsoever, hours before Warner Bros. began screening “The Meg” nationwide, Entertainment Studios dropped the teaser trailer Thursday for its own shark film. “47 Meters Down: The Next Chapter” is the sequel to “47 Meters Down,” last year’s second-highest grossing indie ($44 million domestic). The follow-up, once again from British director Johannes Roberts, was greenlit in October, with the working title “48 Meters Down.”

“47 Meters Down” starred Mandy Moore and was released three months before the premiere of her hit NBC series “This Is Us.” She and Claire Holt (“The Vampire Diaries”) played sisters vacationing in Mexico who encounter multiple sharks while scuba diving; only the former survived. “We’d never really seen a shark movie do poorly, so I felt good about it,” Entertainment Studios founder, owner, chairman, and CEO Byron Allen told IndieWire in 2017, when asked about the film that put him in the distribution business.

God's Not Dead director Harold Cronk has released another trailer for his latest film, God Bless the Broken Road, which The Hollywood Reporter is debuting exclusively above.

In the film, a young mother (True Blood and Hatfields and McCoys' Lindsay Pulsipher) struggles to hold onto her faith as she raises her daughter (Steve Jobs' Makenzie Moss) in the wake of her husband's death in Afghanistan.

In the preview, her character is heard saying, "I tried putting my faith in God. I don't understand why he would do that to us. If he wants me, he knows where to find me....

God's Not Dead director Harold Cronk has released another trailer for his latest film, God Bless the Broken Road, which The Hollywood Reporter is debuting exclusively above.

In the film, a young mother (True Blood and Hatfields and McCoys' Lindsay Pulsipher) struggles to hold onto her faith as she raises her daughter (Steve Jobs' Makenzie Moss) in the wake of her husband's death in Afghanistan.

In the preview, her character is heard saying, "I tried putting my faith in God. I don't understand why he would do that to us. If he wants me, he knows where to find me....

Entertainment Studios CEO, chairman and founder Byron Allen touched several topics in his CinemaCon breakfast session today, from his beginnings as a kid hanging around the Universal and NBC lots where his mother worked to breaking through in syndication with his Entertainers With Byron Allen and launching Entertainment Studios’ motion picture division with the indie darling 47 Meters Down.

Allen told exhibitors how he plans for his studio to be the middleweight with $30M-$60M grossing titles — the type of fare studios sidestep.

“I don’t like the whispers and the conversations from studios who want to reduce your window,” said Allen to great applause/ “That’s unacceptable, and I’m here to fight for it and defend it. Let’s not talk 90 days, how about 120 days?”

He then pitched exhibitors that “as theater owners, maybe you should be part of all the revenue streams so we protect the most important...

Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures’ Byron Allen will take center stage at CinemaCon April 25. He’s scheduled to welcome the National Association of Theatre Owners to the 28,000-square-foot Palace Ballroom for an early breakfast and keynote address.

Unless, you know, he doesn’t.

“I think I’m going to go,” said Allen April 17 from the Culver City set of “Funny You Should Ask.” He produces the gameshow that’s broadcast on his Comedy.TV, one of eight 24-hour networks he owns. That afternoon, he served as audience cheerleader and unofficial director, not only anchoring its quintet of comedian-panelists but also instructing “Baskets” Emmy-winner Louie Anderson and “Saturday Night Live” veteran Jon Lovitz to deliver their set-ups and punchlines again, from the top.

Presuming he does find himself in Vegas, he should find a rapt audience. People want to hear from Allen, if only to figure out what the hell he’s driving at.

Ladainian Tomlinson, the NFL Network analyst and former star running back, will make his feature-film acting debut in a movie based on the country song "Bless the Broken Road," which was first recorded by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and more recently was a hit for Rascal Flatts.

In the film, titled God Bless the Broken Road, Tomlinson plays a pastor trying to help a distressed mom, played by Lindsay Pulsipher, and a disabled war veteran, played by Arthur Cartwright. Jordin Sparks, Kim Delaney, Robin Givens and Madeline Carroll also star.

The song's lyrics tell of a person finding love...

Actresses Lindsay Pulsipher, Kim Delaney and Jordin Sparks have just been cast in the latest film from God’s Not Dead director Harold Cronk. The faith-based film God Bless The Broken Road is about a grieving widow named Amber whose husband was killed during combat in Afghanistan and now faces financial and spiritual challenges while raising her young daughter, Bree. Lindsay Pulsipher (True Blood, The Hatfields & McCoys, and Justified) has signed on to the film in the…...