This weekend
Major release
- The Walk – Sony – Biographical drama based on the story of French high-wire artist Philippe Petit’s walk between the Twin Towers on August 7th 1974 starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Ben Kingsley and directed by Robert Zemeckis; received world premiere at New York Film Festival on September 26th received mixed reviews with many saying last 40 minutes make up for the rest of the film that needs to be seen in IMAX and 3D if you don’t suffer from vertigo; opens in IMAX exclusively going wide October 9th as Everest and likely will be added to its wide opening October 9th. After the huge media coverage The Martian has received The Walk has been a bit muted in comparison didn’t help with an embargo until Saturday ahead of its world premiere.
After opening in IMAX last weekend having a disappointing opening Sony will be hoping strong word of mouth will bring audiences out when it expands.
Also released
- Sicario – Lionsgate – Thriller starring Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro, and Josh Brolin directed by Denis Villeneuve premiered at Cannes Film Festival received critical acclaim Empire gave it a 5 star review calling it “A beautifully murky, hard-edged thriller. Quite simply, one of the best films of the year”; premiered at Toronto Film Festival. Denis Villeneuve last wide release was Prisoners opened September 2013 with £1.32m. He has just completed Story of Your Life with Adam Adams and Jeremy Renner and will start shooting next year Blade Runner 2; received UK premiere on September 21st.
- Regression – Entertainment – Psychological thriller directed by Alejandro Amenábar starring stars Ethan Hawke, Emma Watson and David Thewlis; had its world premiere at San Sebastian Film Festival. Had the highest opening weekend for a home-grown film in Spain this year taking 40% of the box office coming close to last years record breaking A Spanish Affair.
- Beasts of No Nation – Curzon/Netflix – West African war drama directed by Cary Fukunaga based on the 2005 novel of the same name starring Idris Elba; had world premiere at Venice Film Festival receiving positive reviews, screened at Toronto Film Festival and receives its UK premiere on October 8th at the London Film Festival opening on limited release in cinemas before being released on Netflix on October 16th worldwide.
- Suffragette – Pathe/Fox (opens Monday 12th) Drama starring stars Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter, Meryl Streep, Ben Whishaw and Brendan Gleeson directed by directed by Sarah Gavron; received its world premiere at Telluride Film Festival reviews have been positive with strong female performances but many have said the male roles are underwritten; receives its UK premiere on October 7th opening the London Film Festival with its release days after allowing it to build on the media coverage the premiere will generate.
Out next week
Major release
Pan – Warner Bros – Fantasy adventure prequel to J. M Barrie’s Peter Pan story starring Hugh Jackman, Garrett Hedlund, Rooney Mara and Levi Miller; the film received its world premier on September 20th after being delayed from a July release date. Reviews have been mixed with many saying it looks good but lacks the fun element you would expect from the film; as most family films opening will be boosted by preview screenings on October 10th & 11th.
Also released
Crimson Peak – Universal – Guillermo del Toro’s gothic horror starring Mia Wasikowska, Tom Hiddleston, Jessica Chastain and Charlie Hunnam; Universal Pictures acquired the spec script in 2006 after the release of Pan’s Labyrinth Del Toro was o make it but postponed it to make Hellboy 2 and The Hobbit. After seeing the film in March Stephen King called the film “gorgeous and just fucking terrifying”… “electrified me in the same way Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead electrified me when I saw it back in the day.” His son Joe Hill tweeted “Del Toro’s blood-soaked Age of Innocence, a gloriously sick waltz through Daphne Du Maurier territory.” The first trailer was released in February with a second in May before Legendary Pictures panel at Comic Con in July. Has its New York premiere on October 14th.
Not to be confused with 1994 film Widow’s Peak
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Hotel Transylvania 2 – Sony – Sequel to the 2012 fantasy animated comedy. Many of the original voice cast return for the sequel Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez, Kevin James, Steve Buscemi and David Spade; like first film sequel has received mixed reviews. First film opened in UK October 12th with £1.73m sequel has two weekends of previews 3rd & 4th (taking £1.46m) and 10th & 11th ahead of its opening.
The Program – Studiocanal – Biographical drama about Lance Armstrong directed by Stephen Frears starring Ben Foster and Chris O’Dowd a more fictional version of events it shares from 2013 documentary The Armstrong Lie; had world premiere at Toronto Film Festival receiving positive reviews; Has gala screening at London Film Festival on October 10th but will suffer opening over such a busy weekend of new releases similar to The Lobster these two films could have been released anytime but due to the London Film Festival distribution want to cash in on the media coverage generated but causes a bottleneck of films creating cannibalization opening this weekend to avoid opening against Spectre.
The Lobster – Picturehouse –Comedy drama starring Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz directed by Yorgos Lanthimos; screened at Cannes Film Festival winning Jury Prize and screened at Toronto Film Festival receiving positive reviews. Variety called it “a wickedly funny, unexpectedly moving satire of couple-fixated society”; receives its premiere on October 13th at London Film Festival.
Hamlet NT Live – Picturehouse – National Theatre screens Benedict Cumberbatch live on October 15th with a repeat screening the following Thursday. With cinemas charging a premium for tickets ( 100% Odeon, 60%+ Vue and 73%+ for Cineworld) for the single screening. Event Cinema is in its infancy and audiences are currently ok paying extra for Event Cinema but if there is to be a future for it needs to charge the same price as regular which is already expensive.
Out in two weeks
Major release
Spectre – Sony Pictures (opening Monday) Twenty-fourth James Bond film Daniel Craig’s fourth James Bond and director Sam Mendes second. In the Sony hacking emails much was written about Spectre with issues over budget reported to be up to $300m but many emails saying it was the best Bond more in tone to the original films. The first teaser trailer was released in March; trailer in July (viewed 13.78m times on YouTube) and on October 3rd final trailer was released (viewed 4.5m times in first 24 hours on YouTube); Sam Smith’s Writing on the Wall theme received a mixed reception when it was released (compared to the wide critical acclaim Adele got for Skyfall ) became the first Bond theme song to be a number 1.
Has its world premiere on October 26th same night it opens across the UK for the first time opening at both Odeon and Empire Leicester Square (in Laser IMAX).
Skyfall opened Friday October 26th taking £6.2m (Quantum of Solace took £4.9m) having the largest ever Saturday box office before going on to take £20.1m for the weekend; this compares to.
| Quantum of Solace | 29 October 2010 | £15.38m | Skyfall opening +130% |
| Casino Royale | 16th November 2008 | £13.37m | Skyfall opening +37% |
As Spectre opens on Monday also the start of school half-term will be looking to beat £37.2m Skyfall took in 7 days. With average ticket prices up 11.77% (from £6.37 to £7.12) and Odeon increasing their blockbuster tax by 50% to £1.50 will need to take £41.57m in 7 days and £22.46m Fri-Sun to have a similar opening to Skyfall.
Also released
Paranormal Activity: Ghost Dimension – Paramount – The sixth film is final part of the lucrative found footage supernatural horror films; the first film was an independent film made for $15,000 acquired by Dreamworks in 2007 for $350,000 was released in October 2009 in the US and in the UK in November via Icon Film. The first film took $193m globally making it one of the most profitable films ever and no wonder Paramount were quick to release sequels as they were cheap and quick to make.
| Paranormal Activity | 25 Nov 2009 | £3,503,762 | Icon |
| First Paranormal Activity 2 | 22 Oct 2010 | £3,764,722 | Paramount |
| Paranormal Activity 3 | 21 Oct 2011 | £3,405,036 | Paramount |
| Paranormal Activity 4 | 17 Oct 2012 | £2,544,701 | Paramount |
| Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones | 1 Jan 2014 | £1,579,435 | Paramount |
Back to the Future 2 – Universal – Celebrating the day Marty Mcfly and Doc Brown travelled into the future in Back to the Future 2 the sequel that many felt was the poorest of the trilogy will be released in cinemas for one day; film series celebrating its 30th anniversary in US on July 3rd and will celebrate its 30th anniversary on December 4th in UK.
Last Witch Hunter – eOne – Supernatural action film starring Vin Diesel who recently said this will be the first of a planned franchise which is normally the kiss of death and opening the weekend after Crimson Peak and the same weekend of the last Paranormal Activity film its unlikely to be a success.
Mississippi Grind – eOne – Comedy drama starring Ryan Reynolds, Ben Mendelsohn and Sienna Miller received its world premiere at Sundance in January receiving positive reviews.
Opening Friday in the US
- Pan – Warner – Fantasy adventure originally set for release June 26th delayed to give “more time for editing and visual effects” similar to last year’s Jupiter Ascending. Opened in Australia on September with unspectacular opening reviews have been mixed with many saying visuals are great but missing is element of fun expect to have with the film; tracking poorly with estimates of it opening between $21-26m would be a massive disappointment for Warner Bros with $150m budget and huge marketing spend.
- Steve Jobs – Universal – Biographical drama starring Michael Fassbender directed by Danny Boyle and written by Aaron Sorkin; had world premiere at Telluride Film Festival received positive reviews many praising Fassbender’s performance seen as major award contender. Would be a little hard on Leonardo DiCaprio who was previously attached to star and if he was to lose out on another potential Best Actor Oscar for his performance in The Revenant for a role he was signed to play.Danny Boyle was signed to direct with Leonardo DiCaprio attached to star but then exited and Sony surprisingly pulled the film acquired soon after by Universal signing up Michael Fassbender in the lead. The film started shooting in January with the first trailer released in July. Steve Jobs widow Laurene Powell Jobs says the film plays down accomplishments and paint Mr. Jobs as cruel and inhumane. Ms. Jobs repeatedly tried to kill the film. Will of course be compared to The Social Network opened with $22.4m in October 2010. Last Danny Boyle films Trance opened April 2013, 127 Hours November 2010 and Slumdog Millionaire November 2008 all opened on limited release ahead of going wide.
Will open limited on October 9th before going wide on October 23rd.
- Much of the films development has been seen in Sony hacking emails where it was in development since 2011 a natural home for it after the success of The Social Network previous year. In early 2014 David Fincher was set to direct with Christian Bale attached to star as Steve Jobs but exited after contract disputes.
- The Walk – Sony – (Expansion) After opening exclusively in 365 IMAX screens last weekend having a disappointing launch will it do any better going wide against the second weekend of The Martian. After having strong early buzz it was surprising there was an embargo in place until its premiere at New York Film Festival that always put it behind the buzz generated by The Martian.
