Lionsgate Review Embargo; Early Memorial Day Box Office Numbers; A24 Shutting Down Documentary Division; Alex Garland's Elden Ring
Early box office numbers for the holiday weekend look good, A24 closes its documentary division and Lionsgate faces criticism from the critics.

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It's Friday, May 23rd. Here's what's happening.
The Big Picture
Lilo and Stitch and Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning kickstarted the official Summer movie season with solid box office numbers. Meanwhile, the Cannes Film Festival rolls into its final innings, with awards soon to be announced. At home, online film critics are upset over increasingly complex rules on review embargoes.
🎥 Extra Coverage
The review embargo rules for Ballerina (staggered, with positive first) has caused resentment among online film critics, upset with Lionsgate. (Deadline)
A24 is reportedly shutting down its documentary department. (TheWrap)
Disney’s live-action Lilo & Stitch topped Memorial Day preview earnings with $14.5 million, while Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning set a franchise record with $8.3 million. (Variety)
Director Alex Garland is prepping a live-action feature film for A24 based on the video game Elden Ring. (IndieWire)
Kieran Culkin and Elle Fanning have joined the star-studded cast of The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping (Empire)
💰 MNP Stock Index
Market Close: Thursday, May 22nd, 2025
Total Value: $103,720.98
Today's Change: -$351.62 (-0.34%)
Total Gain/Loss (Since 05/12/25): $3,720.95 (3.72%)
Slightly down day, as the MNP Index closed down -0.34%. Apple was hit hard on news Trump wants to levy extra tariffs against the iPhone maker. Theater group Marcus Corp was our biggest gainer, up 1.06%

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🍿 Film Festivals
Cannes Film Festival, France - May 13-24
Seattle International Film Festival, US - May 15-25
Docaviv, Israel - May 22-31
Inside Out Toronto 2SLGBTQ+ Film Festival, Canada - May 23-31
Krakow Film Festival, Poland - May 25-June 1
Los Angeles Greek Film Festival, US - May 27-June 1
Nippon Connection Film Festival, Germany - May 27-June 1
Mendocino Film Festival, US - May 29-June 1
SXSW London, June 2-7
Lighthouse International Film Festival, US - June 4-8
New Media Film Festival, US - June 4-5
Sydney Film Festival, Australia - June 4-15
Tribeca Film Festival, US - June 4-15
📺 Watch This Tonight
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992)
Directed by David Lynch
In a town like Twin Peaks, no one is innocent. One of Lynch's weirdest, yet oddly restrained with a tight script.
Disclaimer/Transparency
MovieNewsPro is a film industry news monitoring service. All stories have been previously reported elsewhere and are not exclusive stories to MNP. All information is believed to be accurate at the time of reporting. MovieNewsPro uses a full array of technology to gather information, including machine learning, automation and artificial intelligence throughout its business monitoring, editing and reporting process.