UK/US Box office Report March 4th- 6th 2016

Top 5 Breakdown

1. London Has Fallen £3,197,881 – NE

 Ahead of its release generated much media coverage mostly as negative as the reviews it received after the embargo broke on Wednesday. Many critics describing it as Team America without the jokes but this didn’t stop it topping the box office chart for its opening weekend. Opening was inflated with £511,336 from preview screening Tuesday-Thursday). It took £2.69m Fri-Sun.

Studios regularly have competing rival projects (1988) Vice Versa Vs Big, (1998) Deep Impact Vs Armageddon (1997) Volcano Vs Dante’s Peak and (2011) Friends with Benefits Vs No Strings Attached (1994) Tombstone Vs Wyatt Earp among many others with studios then rushing out to get their film out first as normally the first out is the biggest success. As was the case in 2013 with two competing White House terror attack films high budget Sony Pictures White House Down starring Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx and lower budget rival Olympus Has Fallen made by Millennium Films acquired by Lionsgate Films.

Olympus Has Fallen opened April 2013 with £2.25m including £652,000 from previews in comparison with White House Down opening with £1.4m 5 months later which was a much more enjoyable film but audiences weren’t that interested in watching it.

The sequel was originally dated for release last October before being delayed to March after 20^th Century Fox brought the release of The Martian forward. The timing of the release of the first teaser trailer was seen as insensitive released only days before the 10^th anniversary of the 7/7 London bombings and so soon after Tunisia massacre.

Olympus Has Fallen went on to take £6.1m in 2013 London Has Fallen is expected to be much more front-loaded with Divergent: Allegiant opening on Thursday.

2. Hail Caesar! – £1,504,629 – NE

After its US launch was disappointing following the positive reviews its received positive reviews and had the fourth biggest opening for a Coen Brothers film in the UK showing the quirky nature of the film and the humour Coen Brothers have in their films works better in the UK which has been the cast for several of their previous films. Will likely perform well mid-week with older audiences likely to seek it out.

Squeezed ahead of Deadpool thanks to previews of £79,783 without which it would of opened in third.

Dating could have also been at issue with its US versus UK release date as it was a much quieter week for Hail Caesar! Opening in the UK as opposed to US and whereas embargo broke only days before opening the strong reviews have been released for the past several weeks in the UK allowing buzz to generate.

As it opened the same weekend as Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel opened in 2014 opening with a similar £1,430,365 (going on to take over £10m at the box office but doubtful Hail Caesar! will get close), Both films benefited from receiving their European premieres at the Berlin Film Festival with The Grand Budapest Hotel taking almost double as again by opening in March allowed it to separate itself from the more congested February.

2011’s True Grit is Coen Brothers biggest hit in the UK £8.46m its doubtful Hail Caesar!

3. Deadpool £1,571,024 – total £34,051,651

2D – £1,352,336 total £31,045,323 – IMAX £120,648 total £3,006,328

Losing top spot after three weeks down 47.2% in its fourth weekend has become the sixth biggest superhero film of all time in the UK with 2013’s Iron Man 3 £37m the next superhero film it could top in the coming weeks.

Deadpool is holding better than last year’s Avengers Age of Ultron which dropped 52.5% it its fourth weekend taking £1.66m and £43.24m after 4 weekends remove 3D box office and the difference between the films isn’t as big as it seems.

But Deadpool box office cannot be compared with the box office of these other Marvel films as they all benefited from lower certificates and 3D.

Will likely drop heavier in the coming weekends with Divergent: Allegiant and 10 Cloverfield Lane targeting similar audience.

4. Grimsby £800,573 – total £3,561,869

 Dropping an unexpectedly big 58.3% in its second weekend (including previews) but compared to Sacha Baron Cohen’s previous films held better than 2012’s The Dictator which dropped 78% in its second weekend but worse than both Bruno and Ali G indahouse which dropped 545 and 53%. Will likely drop similar in the coming weekends and be his worst performing film in the UK unlikely to get anywhere near 2002’s Ali G indahouse £10.3m

Leicester Mercury received global attention after their review described it as “The privately schooled, Oxbridge-educated multimillionaire Sacha Baron Cohen invites us to laugh at his latest creation: a bloke with no job and 11 kids.” Former MP John Prescott used this as the basis of his column in yesterday’s Sunday Mirror hitting out at spoilt public

In the US Sacha Baron Cohen attended the premiere in character and supporting Donald Trump with the news Sony executives were unhappy with the Donald Trump scene worried he might sue. But similar to The Interview Sony changed the country Sacha Baron Cohen changed the scene from The Queen to Donald Trump as he would likely get more media coverage polarising audience opinions.

The film opens this weekend in the US after much media coverage surrounding the extreme nature of the content but audiences have felt it was lacking the elements that his previous films have had or more likely they have just become as predictable as his characters.

5. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip £535,716 – total £15,341,507

Despite being limited to weekend matiness dropped 56.1% but still far better than Goosebumps which has dropped out of the charts after five weeks.

With stablemate Kung Fu Panda having weekend previews and opening this weekend will likely drop out the charts as Goosebumps did this weekend.

Complete UK Box office top 10 – March 4^th – 6^th 2016

Also opened

Truth – Warner Bros – £26,000 from 118 screens

Goodnight Mommy – Vertigo – £12,9995 from 25 screens

Other box office news:

The big Oscar winners all performed well eOne’s Spotlight up 72.5%, Studiocanal’s Room and 20^th Century Fox’s The Revenant.

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This weekend’s top 10 box office took £9,088,613 down 3.2% from last weekend £9,392,604 and up 11.4% from same weekend last year. (£8,157,377) when Chappie £996,518, Still Alice £401,396 and Unfinished Business £391,844 opened.

This weekend last year Run All Night £822,466, Suite Francaise £500,850 and X + Y £154,374 opened.

 

US Box Office

1. Disney’s Zootopia – opens with $73.7m topping Frozen opening in 2013 to be third biggest opening of an original film behind Avatar and Inside Out; received A CinemaScore

2. Focus Features – London Has Fallen opens with $21.7m; received A- CnemaScore

3. 20th Century Fox – Deadpool down 47.3% – $16.4m total $311.1m.

4. Paramount Pictures – Whiskey Tango Foxtrot opens with $7.6m; received B CinemaScore.

5. Lionsgate – Gods of Egypt – drops 64.6% -$5m – $22.8m total.

6. Sony Pictures – Risen – down 43% – $3.8m –   $28.6m total

7. 20th Century Fox – Kung Fu Panda 3 down 60.4%- $3.5m – $133.8m total.

8. 20th Century Fox – The Revenant – down 15.9% – $3.3m – $175.9m total.

9. 20^th Century Fox – Eddie The Eagle – down 49.1% – $10.2m

10. A24 – The Witch down 50.1% – $2.5m – $20.9m total.