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Tag: Anaconda

  • ‘Avatar: Fire And Ash’ Soars To $760M+ Global, Sending Franchise Across $6B; ‘Zootopia 2’ Sails Past $1B Overseas For $1.42B+ WW; ‘Wicked 2’ Tops $500M; ‘Anaconda’ Grasps Big Debut – International Box Office

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    Refresh for latest…: James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash has reached an estimated $760.4M through Sunday globally. Within that, this return to Pandora is now at $542.7M from the international box office. 

    The sophomore session added $181.2M overseas amid just a 25% dip (-15% excluding China), and increases in some key markets.

    The 20th Century/Disney sci-fi threequel is currently the No. 5 MPA global release of 2025, while the trio of Avatar films have now earned over $6B worldwide.

    Fire and Ash is thisclose to topping the $100M milestone in China (sitting at $99.6M through today), and will become only the second Hollywood movie to get there in the market this year, behind Disney’s own Zootopia 2.

    Regarding the latter, the animals have now grossed $1,420.9M worldwide, including $1,099.5M from overseas. This makes Zootopia 2 the first studio movie of 2025 to cross $1B at the international box office.

    Z2 is also the top global release of 2025, the 3rd studio animated release ever worldwide and the highest-grossing Hollywood animated movie of all time internationally. It has also entered the Top 10 MPA international releases ever. Weekend five added $67.9M across all overseas markets, for a terrific 15% overall drop (-1% excluding China), with five key markets increasing from last frame.

    Before we dig into more details on the above, here are some other highlights from the weekend: Paramount’s The SpongeBob Movie: Search for Squarepants opened to $22.1M (including previews) internationally in 76% of the offshore footprint – the global running cume is $60.3M. And, Universal’s Wicked: For Good crossed the half-century mark globally, getting to $504M amid a very slight 17% dip overseas and a domestic increase. Also from Universal, and Blumhouse-Atomic Monster, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 crossed $100M internationally.

    MORE…

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    Nancy Tartaglione

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  • ‘Avatar: Fire & Ash’ Heads To $214M Cume, ‘Marty Supreme’ $25M+, ‘Anaconda’ $22M, ‘Song Sung Blue’ $12M In Final B.O. Weekend Of 2025

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    FRIDAY PM UPDATE: Rainstorms in Los Angeles aren’t getting in the way of moviegoing, nor is two-to-five inches of snow in NYC as 20th Century Studios’ James Cameron Avatar: Fire and Ash will of course lead the final weekend of 2025 with a second frame around $60M over Friday-Sunday, -33%.

    That’s a better second weekend hold than 2022’s Avatar: Way of Water (-52%) which encountered fierce ice storms at the time, but nothing beats the second weekend ease of the original Avatar back in 2009, which dipped -1.8%

    With Christmas, the 4-day on Fire and Ash stands at $84M after a second Friday that stands at $22M at 3,800 theaters. Running cume by Sunday gets to $213.7M.

    By the way, we’re coming off of the best Christmas week ever post Covid with an estimated $342.3M, +10% from last year’s previous high of $311.4M (per Box Office Mojo). We’re still down greatly from 2019, -29%, which was $485.5M, but that’s when we had Star Wars: Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker on marquees.

    Disney has bragging rights for second place with Zootopia 2, which a month after its release refuses to be penned up at 3,370 theaters. Weekend 5 is $19M, +28% for a running cume by Sunday of $320.3M. That will be $20.9M away from besting the original 2016’s stateside gross of $341.2M. As we reported earlier this week, Disney is the only major studio to click past $6 billion at the global box office.

    A24’s Josh Safdie directed Marty Supreme in 4-days will make more than Timothee Chalamet’s Christmas movie from last year, A Complete Unknown did in 5 days, $25.7M to $23.2M. Today is $6M, -37% from Christmas Day’s $9.5M for a 3-day that stands at $15M at 2,668 theaters. Don’t be shocked if it’s higher. Comp this to the previous Safdie Brothers movie, the zany gangster drama, Uncut Gems, which went wide over a 2019 5-day Christmas stretch with $18.8M. The Adam Sandler movie finaled at $50M. We already told you that the social media universe for Marty Supreme stood at 197M before opening across TikTok, X, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube; that’s with Chalamet standing atop The Sphere in Las Vegas. There was also a Marty Supreme blimp flying over Beverly Hills in further stunts.

    Fourth is a bit of a fight with Lionsgate’s The Housemaid holding in with a 3-day of $12.5M-$15M (4-day of $16M-$18M), after a Friday in the $4.8 – $5.2M range. On the high-end that second weekend would rep a -21% hold. Angel Studios’ David might ward off Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney with a $14M second weekend, -36%, after a second Friday of $5M. Sony’s Anaconda is sneaking up behind with a 3-day of $13M, 4-day of $22M, after a $5M Friday as well at 3,509 theaters. The 4-day start on the year’s previous most prolific comedy Naked Gun was $18.4M. Very good start here for Anaconda especially in regards to its budget of net $45M (Marty Supreme cost $65M before P&A).

    Anaconda‘s social media was propelled by Jack Black’s 48.7M fans along with Selton Melo’s 9.9M, however, Paul Rudd is off the grid. Social media analytics corp RelishMix says, “Convo runs positive for Anaconda when the crowd leans into self-awareness and comedy as the point, not the apology. There’s a clear pocket of viewers clocking the film as a deliberate tonal pivot, closer to Tropic Thunder, Jumanji, or Be Kind Rewind than creature-feature horror. These comments frame the cast as a feature, not a flaw, treating Black and Rudd as genre translators rather than sacred-cow desecrators. Nostalgia works when it’s playful, not reverent, and that’s where enthusiasm clusters. Humor-forward fans applaud the meta energy, soundtrack drops, and Christmas counter-programming angle. ‘Anaconda meets Tropic Thunder!!! I love it!’ and ‘Whoever thought of making Anaconda comedy action genius move!’ anchor this side of the conversation, often comparing it favorably to the original’s camp reputation rather than its scares.”

    Paramount’s SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants at 3,570 sites is seeing $3.4M in its second Friday, 3-day of $10M, -36%, for a running total of $36.9M.

    Focus Features’ Song Sung Blue at 2,587 theaters is seeing $2.6M today, $7.6M for the 3-day and $12M for the 4-day. Rotten Tomatoes audience score is super at 98% certified fresh. Net production cost for the Craig Brewer directed title is $30M. The social media universe for the Kate Hudson and Hugh Jackman movie counts 128M, which is under A Complete Unknown‘s 187.4M. Still, there’s Jackman pushing the pic to his 80.5M followers and Hudson to her 23.1M.

    Observes RelishMix: “Convo on Song Sung Blue lands strongest with audiences craving warmth, nostalgia, and communal musical comfort. The positive thread treats this less as prestige cinema and more as a feel-good jukebox experience, repeatedly framing schmaltz as intentional and welcome. Jackman’s musical credibility is defended through comparisons to The Greatest Showman and earlier stage-forward performances, while Neil Diamond’s catalog is viewed as emotional shorthand that does the heavy lifting. Fans lean into sing-along energy, cross-generational memory, and sincerity over subtlety, positioning the film as counter-programming to darker or more ironic releases. The tone here is knowingly corny but emotionally confident. ‘I think we all need a movie like this right now,’ and ‘Cheesy but also brilliant and heartfelt, perfect for Neil Diamond,’ neatly capture the pro argument.”

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    Anthonypauldalessandro

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  • Anaconda Post-Credits Scene Reveals Shocking Return 28 Years Later

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    Anaconda, recently released in theaters, features a post-credits scene that reveals the fate of one of the film’s core characters. The remake also includes a mid-credits scene that ties it to the original 1997 film.

    The film follows a group of friends, dissatisfied with the current trajectory of their lives, who travel to the Amazon rainforest to remake the 1997 movie. Tom Gormican directed the film from his and Kevin Etten’s screenplay. Paul Rudd, Jack Black, Thandiwe Newton, Steve Zahn, and Daniela Melchior make up the main cast.

    Anaconda’s mid-credits scene at the end brings back original franchise star

    Anaconda’s mid-credits scene features a montage showing the fates of the film’s characters. The scene reveals that Ice Cube, one of the original film’s stars, who saved the main characters from the anaconda and went to rescue the other original stars — Jennifer Lopez and Eric Stoltz — from the creature, survived. While Stoltz’s fate is left unanswered, Lopez’s survival is confirmed, and she later appears in the film’s final scene.

    Lopez visits Doug at his home and informs him that she liked the low-budget version of the film he made. She then offers him the opportunity to direct another Anaconda film that she is doing, causing Doug to faint.

    Meanwhile, the post-credits scene reveals that Carlos, the snake handler hired by Griff and Doug for their film and believed to be killed by the anaconda in the first half, is alive.

    In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Tom Gormican revealed that Lopez’s cameo was “a product of reshoots.” He added that they tried to include Lopez in principal photography, but couldn’t “coordinate” schedules. “We had always wanted a version of her to come in. And we talked about it and talked about it and talked about it. I was finally able to shoot her cameo a month ago on November 17. It was the very last thing we did,” he further stated.

    Gormican continued, “I was finishing up my final mix when I went to shoot it, and I dropped it into this [mid-credit] sequence that I was having built to accommodate it. I never thought it was going to ultimately materialize, but it did, and we put it together.” The director further noted that although Lopez’s cameo’s inclusion “happened very, very late in the game,” the idea for it was conceived long ago.

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    Abdul Azim Naushad

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  • Box Office: ‘Marty Supreme’ Almost Beats ‘Anaconda’ in Christmas Eve Surprise; ‘Avatar 3’ Jumps $500M Globally

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    A second batch of holiday movies is opening nationwide on Christmas Day in North America, including A24’s high-profile period pic Marty Supreme — starring Timothée Chalamet as a 1950s table tennis champion who will do whatever it takes — and Sony’s Jack Black-Paul Rudd campy monster reboot Anaconda.

    Marty Supreme made headlines last weekend with a record-breaking per-location average of $145,913 across six locations in New York City and L.A., the best in A24’s history and the best of any film since 2016’s La La Land. Sporting a pricey budget of $60 million to $70 million, it is reportedly the most expensive movie ever made by the esteemed indie studio.

    Both films launched in previews on Christmas Eve before expanding everywhere on Thursday, with Anaconda earning an estimated $2.1 million, versus $2.01 million for Marty Supreme. Anaconda is arguably the more commercial offering and is projecting a four-day Christmas weekend north of $20 million. However, the reboot has been skewered by critics. Its ranking on Rotten Tomatoes is presently a rotten 44 percent, compared to a 95 percent fresh rating for Chalamet film (audience scores won’t be posted until tonight or tomorrow.

    In his review for THR, chief critic David Rooney says Marty Supreme reinvents the sports comedy. “Marking the first time since his 2008 solo debut that Josh Safdie has directed a feature without his brother and longtime collaborator Benny, Marty Supreme turns out, paradoxically, to be his most Safdian movie to date. Propelled by a hot-wired Timothée Chalamet as a cocky operator aiming for global table tennis glory, this genre-defying original is an exhilarating sports comedy, a scrappy character study, a thrumming evocation of early ‘50s New York City — plus a reimagining of all those things. Think of it as Uncut Gems meets Catch Me If You Can and maybe you’re halfway there.

    Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa A’zion and Tyler, the Creator also star in this tale of an aspiring table tennis champion angling to ping pong his way out of 1950s Lower East Side Manhattan

    Chalamet has stopped at nothing to help market the movie — culminating with becoming the first person to stand atop The Sphere in Las Vegas on Dec. 22 — and it appears to be paying off. In the weeks leading up to the film’s release, he wrote and directed a staged Zoom call with A24’s marketing team in which he presented increasingly ridiculous ideas to promote Marty Supreme. One of the ideas presented actually became reality: fly a bright orange rented blimp with the movie’s title imprinted on each side. While there was talk of a cross-country tour, the blimp is based in the Los Angeles area. And the idea for Safdie and the cast to light the Empire State Building orange ahead of the New York premiere also emerged from something said in the staged Zoom call.

    The big question facing Marty Supreme is whether it can break out and play to mainstream audiences, versus the more traditional specialty crowd.

    And, according to Angie Han’s Anaconda review for THR, “An action-comedy starring Jack Black, Paul Rudd and a giant CG snake should be way more fun. Director Tom Gormican’s meta-take on the previous Anaconda films follows a director (Black) and his crew as they travel to the Amazon to make the defining movie about the storied monster. Thandiwe Newton and Steve Zahn co-star.

    Of course, the overall winner of the holiday box office contest will be Avatar 3, which is crossing the $500 million mark on Christmas Day after topping Wednesday’s domestic chart with another $10.7 million for a North American tally of $129.2 million. Overseas, it added $11 million for a foreign tally of $353.6 million — including $71 million from China— for a worldwide haul of $483.3 million through Wednesday. And Disney Animation’s Zootopia 2 is still going strong after opening at Thanksgiving, helping to propel the studio past the $6 billion mark in global ticket sales for the first time since 2019, prior to the pandemic.

    Elsewhere on Wednesday’s domestic chart, Angel Studio’s faith-based David placed third with $2.6 million, followed by Paramount’s The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants ($1.8 million) and Lionsgate’s femme-skewing thriller The Housemaid ($1.8 million), starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried. All three films opened opposite Avatar on the 19th, followed by the Dec. 25 entries.

    Christmas Day falling on a Thursday is a dream scenario for theater owners, since the long holiday weekend will be free and clear. And the final two weeks of the year are the most lucrative for moviegoing, considering that schools and colleges are closed, with many adults off from work as well.

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    Pamela McClintock

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  • Box Office: ‘Avatar 3’ Rings Out Very Merry Year for Disney, Studio Hits $6 Billion in Global Revenue in a Post-Pandemic First

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    While overall box office revenue won’t make any gains in 2025, the same can’t be said of Disney.

    The studios sprawling film empire on Wednesday will cross the $6 billion mark in global box office revenue for the year, having earned $5.967 billion globally through Tuesday, including $2.310 billion domestically and $3.656 billion internationally.  

    This marks the first time Disney has hit $6 billion since 2019, just before the pandemic struck and decimated moviegoing. Even before COVID, clearing $6 billion was no easy feat. No other studio has done so since 2015, while Disney is a now a five-time multiple offender (2016-2019, 2025).

    Disney’s success this year has been fueled by 16 wide releases, led by the only two titles that have crossed $1 billion at the worldwide box office: Zootopia 2, which has earned $1.311 billion to date, and Lilo & Stitch, which topped out at $1.038 billion earlier this year. Thanks to some nifty math, Disney is also reporting that three Marvel Studios’ titles have collectively grossed more than $1.3 billion worldwide, even if not one title did so on its own; The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Thunderbolts* and Captain America: Brave New World.

    Other titles helping to propel Disney past $6 billion were Predator: Badlands, Freakier Friday and Elio, albeit at much smaller numbers.

    James Cameron‘s Avatar: Fire and Ash is the icing on the cake, grossing $450.1 million at the global box office after only seven days in release, including worldwide earnings of $51 million on Tuesday. In North America, it topped Tuesday’s chart with $16.5 million for a domestic tally of $119 million. Overseas, it finished the day with a foreign tally of $331.1 million.

    Avatar 3 is easily expected to dominate the long Christmas weekend (Thursday-Sunday) with a four-day gross of $70 million to $75 million, if not more. Sony’s comedic adventure Anaconda, teaming Jack Black and Paul Rudd, opens nationwide on Dec. 25 alongside Timothée Chalamet‘s Marty Supreme and Focus Features’ music-infused Song Sing Blue, starring Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson. They join a crop of films opening last weekend that wanted to a jump on the holiday. In addition to Avatar, these include Lionsgate’s femme-skewing The Housemaid, starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried; Angel Studios’ faith-based David; and Paramount’s The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants, which still hopes to hunt down families after a soft debut.

    Anaconda, Song Sing Blue, and Marty Supreme — which is expanding nationwide after opening in New York and L.A. last weekend to supremely impressive numbers after a massive marketing blitz by its leading man — will all hold Wednesday previews before opening everywhere on Christmas Day, which can be a busy day for moviegoing once presents are unwrapped.

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    Pamela McClintock

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  • ‘Avatar 3’ to Rule Over Christmas Box Office; ‘Anaconda’ to Top Fellow New Holiday Releases ‘Marty Supreme’ and ‘Song Sung Blue’

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    Theater owners are preparing for a very merry Christmas season.

    This holiday might not be one for the record books, but the lineup of films offers something important — a range of genres and styles — as exhibitors brace for what’s usually the busiest stretch of the year. That’s an important distinction in post-COVID times. Since the pandemic, cinema operators have relied on one billion-dollar behemoth (“Spider-Man: No Way Home” in 2021 and “Avatar: The Way of Water” in 2022) or struggled with none at all (“Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” floundered in 2023 and while “Mufasa” rebounded after a soft start in 2024, “The Lion King” prequel couldn’t claw its way to the billion-dollar mark).

    This year, “Avatar: Fire and Ash” will continue to dominate but James Cameron’s sci-fi threequel won’t be alone in enticing audiences. Over the weekend, a trio of holiday releases — A24’s R-rated ping-pong adventure “Marty Supreme,” the Focus Features musical drama “Song Sung Blue” and Sony’s disaster comedy “Anaconda” — hope to cater to moviegoers young, old, or disinterested in returning to the alien planet of Pandora.

    “Avatar: Fire and Ash” is aiming for $55 million to $65 million over the traditional weekend and $75 million to $80 million through the four-day holiday frame. Those ticket sales would mark a 30% to 40% decline from its $89 million domestic debut. For context, “Avatar: The Way of Water” dropped by 52% in its sophomore outing after a significantly stronger $134 million debut. Disney and 20th Century’s “Avatar” franchise appears be experiencing diminishing returns, though it’s important to remember these films aren’t known for explosive opening weekends. Instead, “Avatar” installments enjoy exceptional staying power, sticking around at the top of the box office for weeks on end. The first two films, which each ended up grossing over $2 billion globally, were No. 1 for seven consecutive weekends. Barring a surprise, “Fire and Ash” should remain atop the charts in North America well into the new year.

    In terms of new releases, Jack Black and Paul Rudd’s “Anaconda” is expected to lead the pack with $20 million from 3,400 venues between Christmas on Thursday and Sunday. “Marty Supreme” is targeting $12 million to $20 million, while “Song Song Blue” is projected to earn $10 million to $14 million from 2,400 theaters. In general, Christmas releases don’t always deliver huge debuts but tend to play and play on the big screen into January and beyond.

    “Anaconda” cost $45 million to produce. A meta-reboot, “Anaconda” follows best friends who travel to the jungle to pursue their childhood dream of remaking their all-time favorite movie (you guessed it!) 1997’s “Anaconda.” The project starts to unravel when life imitates art and a real anaconda begins hunting them down.

    “Marty Supreme” had a rollicking start in limited release, breaking into the top 10 with $875,000 while playing on just six screens. Those initial returns are promising ahead of the nationwide expansion, which will test the $70 million-budgeted film’s commercial viability. It helps that Timothée Chalamet, who stars as the fictional table tennis champ Marty Mauser, has been rewriting the rules of movie marketing in terms of getting out the word for an original film. “Marty Supreme” has generated great reviews and encouraging word of mouth. Now the question is: Will Chalamet’s viral antics translate to ticket sales?

    “Song Sung Blue” carries a modest $30 million production budget. Craig Brewer directed the film, featuring Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson in the true story of two down-on-their luck musicians who form a Neil Diamond tribute band. Variety’s chief film critic Owen Gleiberman praised “Song Sung Blue” as “a winning pop nostalgia trip with a dark side.”

    With just two weeks to go, overall domestic revenues are hovering at $8.37 billion, just 1.3% ahead of last year and 22.4% behind 2019, according to Comscore. It’s been a wobbly year with several hits (“Lilo & Stitch,” “Zootopia 2,” “A Minecraft Movie” and “Demon Slayer,” among others) but not enough to offset a number of big-budget flops (“Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” and “Snow White,” to name a few). Projections for 2025 were already revised down to $9 billion, but after a brutal fall season, even that milestone feels like a stretch. Will these holiday offerings be able to deliver, or is the box office doomed to fall short of $9 billion for the second consecutive year?

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    Rebecca Rubin

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  • ‘Avatar’ Box Office: James Cameron’s Epic Firing Up $85M-$95M U.S. Bow, Crosses $100M Globally

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    James Cameron‘s highly anticipated Avatar: Fire and Ash delivered an opening day of $36.5 million, putting the sci-fi epic on course for a domestic debut in the $85 million to $95 million range. Friday’s haul included more than $11 million in previews.

    Overseas, where it began opening in select markets midweek, the 20th Century and Disney tentpole has already grossed $100 million, including a stellar opening day of $17 million in China. The male-skewing film is earning strong audience exits — including an A CinemaScore, in line with the two previous films — despite its running time of more than three and a quarter hours.

    Avatar: The Way of Water opened to $134 million in 2022, but there was a tremendous pent-up demand, considering the first Avatar debuted all the way back in 2009. Also, Way of Water had nine full days of play before the Christmas holiday, while Fire and Ash had six days, with the theory being that some audiences will wait to see the movie until preparations are done and presents unwrapped.

    The first Avatar was all but lambasted when it opened to $77 million in 2009, but the angst soon ended as the film picked up momentum on its way to becoming the top-grossing film of all time at the worldwide box office with an astounding $2.97 billion, not adjusted for inflation. It still holds that honor, followed by Marvel’s: Avengers: Endgame and two more Cameron titles, Way of Water and Titanic.

    Avatar: Fire and Ash isn’t the only movie pulling up an early seat at this year’s holiday feast.

    Also opening nationwide over the Dec. 19-21 weekend are Paramount’s family pic The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants, which is looking at a muted debut in the mid-teens, while Lionsgate’s R-rated thriller The Housemaid, starring Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney, is in a close race for second place. The film, a throwback to the 1990s, will be a key test for Sweeney following her failed Oscar hopeful, Christy, and is hoping for a launch in the $20 million to $24 million range after earning $8 million on Friday.

    The Angel Studios animated faith-based feature David is also tracking in the $20 million to $23 million range after earning $8.3 million on Friday. Based on Saturday sales, it presently holds a lead over Housemaid, which would be the best opening ever for Angel Studios, home of Sound of Freedom. David earned an A CinemaScore.

    Another round of films opens Christmas Day, including Sony’s Anaconda reboot (no one is quite sure where it will land). On the prestige side of the aisle, Oscar hopefuls Marty Supreme, starring Timothée Chalamet, and Hugh Jackman/Kate Hudson starrer Song Sung Blue also open nationwide.

    This story was originally published Dec. 19 at 10:21 am.

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    Pamela McClintock

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  • Montana man caught a week after bar shooting faces 4 counts of murder

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    A man suspected of killing four people at a Montana bar and evading capture for a week while hundreds of law enforcement officers searched for him in the nearby mountains faces four counts of murder, according to court records.

    Defendant Michael Paul Brown lived next door to The Owl Bar in Anaconda, Montana, where a bartender and three patrons were shot and killed Aug. 1.

    Authorities have not commented on a potential motive for the 45-year-old former soldier. His niece has said Brown long struggled with mental illness. Several local residents told CBS News they were aware of his troubles.

    The charges Brown faces were posted on a court website Saturday after the case previously had been under seal by a state judge. Charging documents were not immediately available.

    Following the shooting, authorities said Brown stole a truck and then ditched it a few miles outside of town, close to where he was eventually apprehended.

    He hid in nearby forests, moving locations while helicopters and drones circled overhead and officers and dogs searched on the ground, officials said. But he was eventually flushed into a sparsely populated area near a state highway by the pressure of so many officers searching for him, according to officials.

    Brown was captured on Aug. 8 inside an unoccupied structure near a state highway.

    Investigators also are examining whether he had any contact with individuals or property owners who might have helped him while he was on the run.

    State Department of Justice spokesperson Chase Scheuer said Friday that the probe is ongoing.

    Brown is scheduled to make an initial district court appearance on Sept. 3. He is being held on $2 million bail and represented by attorney Walter Hennessey, who did not immediately respond to telephone messages on Friday or Saturday. Brown is accused of killing Daniel Edwin Baillie, 59; Nancy Lauretta Kelley, 64; David Allen Leach, 70; and Tony Wayne Palm, 74.

    Anaconda, about 25 miles northwest of Butte, is home to roughly 9,000 people. Hemmed in by mountains, it was founded by a copper magnate in the late 1800s. A smelter stack that is no longer operational looms over the valley.

    The owner of The Owl Bar has said Brown patronized it over the past several decades, but he was not aware of any conflicts between the suspect and victims. Montana’s attorney general said the suspect lived next door to the bar and appeared to be a regular.

    A conviction for murder, known in Montana as deliberate homicide, is punishable by death in the state. Executions have been on hold since 2015 under a court ruling regarding a drug used in lethal injections.

    Saturday Sessions: Waylon Wyatt performs “Arkansas Diamond”

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    Saturday Sessions: Waylon Wyatt and Bayker Blankenship perform “Jailbreak”

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