One of the most important decisions by a studio is where they will date the film with studios publically announcing their slates up to five years in advance.
Remember watching on from the projection booth at 20th Century Fox when studio executives were discussion release dates for their upcoming releases and often amazed at many of their decisions. I look nowadays again in amazement at dating decisions done by many studios. As there are now so many films being released today with so many films being released over weekends it’s important to give the films the best date to give the films the best chance to succeed at the box office as these days a film that doesn’t perform in its opening weekend will unlikely see a second weekend.
Before day and date releasing international distributors were able to position films into the best slots for different territories but now they are released within a couple of weeks of its US launch which could affect the performance at the box office.
Two franchises this year had very different releases for previous films Jurassic Park opened June 11 1993 in the US but was delayed by a month to July 16th in the UK.
Star Wars The Phantom Menace was released 19th May 1999 in the US but delayed almost 2 months till July 16th which allowed both to open at the start of the lucrative school holidays with. Jurassic Park opened with £4.9m dropping little the following weekend taking over £46m while Star Wars Phantom Menace opened with £9.5m taking £50.7m.
This summer Universal Pictures brought Minions release forward by two weeks in the UK to June 26th to separate it from Pixar’s Inside Out which opened July 24th both performed strongly while Minions opened big and dropped big taking £46m while Inside Out held strongly and 10 weeks after it opened was still in the top five taking £38m to date.
Sometimes studios bring international releases forward to avoid sporting events as last year with Edge of Tomorrow (unsuccessfully) and 22 Jump Street (successfully). Universal Pictures have dated Jurassic World sequel to open two weeks before its US release to avoid opening during the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Similarly next summer has the European Championships in France June 10th to July 10th followed by Rio Olympics August 5th – 21st
While the controversial Qatar 2022 dates were recently announced this will have a huge impact on autumn releases in 2022 with it starting November 21st and ending December 18th.
Edge of Tomorrow
Originally set to be released day and date with the US on June 6th 2014 but Warner Bros decided to bring it forward a week to give it extra playing time before the World Cup. In doing so it opened the same weekend as Maleficent which was generating much pre-release hype while the buzz on Edge of Tomorrow was far less. The weekend before X-Men Days of Future Past opened which also featured a time travelling plot.
In the hope of generated much need buzz and media coverage Warner Bros held three premieres within 24 hours on May 28th in London, Paris and New York. But despite positive reviews it opened third behind Maleficent and X-Men Days of Future Past with Tom Cruise having one of his worst openings in years.
Far behind his then biggest openings 2013’s Oblivion opened with £4.9m was his fourth biggest opening in the UK behind Mission Impossible III £5.4m in 2006, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol £8.2m in 2011 and War of the Worlds in 2005 took £8.6m.
In the weeks after opening Edge of Tomorrow held strongly showing that had the film been given a better date it would of likely opened better. It ended up taking £7.75m in the UK 4.12x its opening far more than normal. (In comparison Godzilla opened with £6.37m and took £16.87m 2.64x its opening.
Of the many summer films of 2014 its one that is still very watchable on repeat viewings unlike most films these days.
22 Jump Street
Similar to Edge of Tomorrow Sony choose to release the sequel a week earlier in the UK to its US date which was a surprise to many as the first film was only a moderate success in the UK.
But the sequel rook more on its opening day than it took for the 3 day opening weekend of the original which opened in March 2012 taking £4.83m and went on to take £18.03m in the UK holding well in the weeks after release taking 3.73x its opening.
Mission Impossible Rogue Nation
In January Paramount Pictures surprised everyone bringing forward the release of Mission Impossible Rogue Nation by 5 months; it was originally set for release the weekend after Star Wars The Force Awakens opens bringing it forward allowed it to gain lucrative IMAX screens even though the film wasn’t shot in the format unlike the previous film Ghost Protocol in 2011. Rogue Nation went on to perform strongly with its global box office just below Ghost Protocol $679.1m vs. $694.7m. (Ticket prices have increased by 8.57%+ since 2011 and one of the biggest territories increased was China up 29.7% while US box office was 7.87% down from Ghost Protocol.
The Martian
In June 20th Century Fox brought forward its release date from November 27th to October 2nd after it was selected to screen at the Toronto Film Festival. The first weekend in October has been a lucrative date for adult dramas in the last couple of years with Gravity opened $55.78m in 2013 and Gone Girl $37.5m in 2014 both holding well in following weekends.
Sony Pictures had dated The Walk for the same date last December had been generating strong early buzz praising its 3D but while The Martian premiered on September 11th received positive reviews building its buzz Sony had an embargo in place for The Walk until its New York Film Festival premiere on 26th September. Received positive reviews but by then couldn’t compare with the buzz generated by The Martian. with the media coverage The Martian was generating was strange Sony didn’t allow reviews to be released earlier to allow it to build its buzz as by September 26th was too late.
The Martian opened strongly taking $18.1m on its opening day going on to take $54.3m for its wide weekend. In comparison The Walk had a two day advantage opening on Wednesday with $240,379 from 448 IMAX and PLF screens in 3D taking only $1.98m for the weekend. Two weekends before Universal Pictures opened Everest on IMAX and PLF screens in 3D ahead of its wide release taking $7.22m 72.5% more than The Walk.
In the UK The Martian opened with £6.52m. While unreported as seen as “previews” The Walk 3 day opening in 36 IMAX screens (one of the Empire IMAX received much media coverage as it was the first cinema in the UK to have Laser IMAX) and more PLF screens took £157,597; compared to £395,164 for Everest two weeks earlier (60.1% less).
Will be interesting to see how The Walk does when it opens wide this weekend but with The Martian likely to hold well its unlikely The Walk will be able to compete.
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Due to the London Film Festival and the early UK release of along with The Hunger Games Mocking jay Part 2 and Star Wars The Force Awakens autumn is more packed than ever for films; Along with several Monday openings and Hotel Transylvania 2 having two weekends of previews and Pan with one.
These are major releases set for release till end of 2015 are many more films will be released fighting over scraps of box office these don’t take.
October 2nd
The Martian – 20th Century Fox
Macbeth – Studiocanal
The Intern -Warner Bros
The Walk (IMAX) – Sony Pictures
October 9th
The Walk – (wide) Sony Pictures
Sicario – Lionsgate
Regression – Entertainment
October 12th
Suffragette – Pathe
October 16th
Hotel Transylvania 2 – Sony
Pan – Warner Bros
Crimson Peak –Universal Pictures
The Program – Studiocanal
The Lobster – Picturehouse
Hamlet –NT Live – Picturehouse
October 23rd
The Last Witch Hunter – eOne
Paranormal Activity Ghost Dimension – Paramount
October 26th
Spectre – Sony Pictures
November 6th
Burnt – Entertainment
Brooklyn – Lionsgate
He Named Me Malala – 20th Century Fox
Kill Your Friends – Studiocanal
Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse – Paramount
November 13th
The Lady in the Van – Sony Pictures
Steve Jobs – Universal Pictures
The Hallow –eOne
Fathers and Daughters – Warner Bros
November 20th
The Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 2 – Lionsgate
The Dressmaker – Entertainment
The Perfect Guy – Sony
Branagh Theatre Live: The Winter’s Tale (November 26th) -Pcturehouse
November 27th
The Good Dinosaur – Disney
Bridge of Spies – 20th Century Fox
Black Mass – Warner Bros
Carol – Studiocanal
December 4th
Krampus – Universal Pictures
The Night Before – Sony Pictures
Victor Frankenstein – 20th Century Fox
Christmas with the Coopers – eOne
December 11th
By the Sea – Universal Pictures
December 17th
Star Wars The Force Awakens – Disney
December 18th
Sisters – Universal Pictures
December 21st
Snoopy and Charlie Brown: The Peanut Movie – 20th Century Fox
December 26th
Daddy’s Home – Paramount Pictures
In the Heart of the Sea – Warner Bros
