Top 5 Breakdown
- La La Land – £4,373,249 – £14,907,148
After taking £10.5m over its opening 8 days adding £4m Monday-Thursday expanded its screens from 606 to 674 over the weekend to become one of the most widely released films ever in the UK; Star Wars: The Force Awakens and The BFG played on more screens.
But adding 11% more screens still saw the La La Land drop 34.1% in its second weekend asking the if there was any need to widen its already very wide release as a film as La La Land would have a far longer screen run than other films and with BAFTAs in 3 weeks and Oscars in 5 weeks’ time La La Land will likely loose many of those screens over the coming weeks with Sing and Trainspotting out this week both likely to open in over 500 screens each and then in two weeks’ time The Lego Batman Movie and Fifty Shades Darker both in similar number of screens.
La La Land second weekend was similar to both 2011’s The Kings Speech and 2013’s Les Misérables and second weekends both films had similar award hype surrounding them; Les Misérables opened with 19% more than La La Land with £8.12m dropping 46% in its second weekend staying in the top 10 for 9 weeks going on to take £40.45m. While The Kings Speech opened with 46% less than La La Land but increased its box office by 25% in its second weekend dropping only 4% in its third weekend staying in the top 10 for 11 weeks going on to take £44.9m.
In recent years, has been one must see Oscar film opening in January in recent years except for 2009.
| La La Land | 12th January 2017 | £6.59m | ||
| The Revenant | 15th January 2016 | £5.07m | x4.50 | £22.86m |
| The Theory of Everything | 1st January 2015 | £3.74m | x5.73 | £21.45m |
| 12 Years A Slave | 10th January 2014 | £2.51m | x7.97 | £20.02m |
| Les Misérables | 11th January 2013 | £8.12m | x4.98 | £40.45m |
| War Horse | 13th January 2012 | £3.94m | x4.71 | £18.59m |
| The Kings Speech | 7th January 2011 | £3.52m | x12.75 | £44.90m |
| Slumdog Millionaire | 9th January 2009 | £1.82m | X17.18 | £31.28m |
La La Land is likely to take 4.5-5x opening box office which will see it ending with £29m-£32m.
Comparing La La Land second/third-weekend drops with recent Oscar/BAFTA January releases
| O w/e | 2nd w/e | 2 w/e T | 3rd w/e | 3rd w/e T | ||
| Spotlight | 29 Jan 2016 | £1.06m | £864,199 | £2.64m | £451,302 | £3.65m |
| The Revenant | 15 Jan 2016 | £5.23m | £3.85m | £12.01m | £2.27m | £16.09m |
| Birdman | 1 Jan 2015 | £1.52m | £826,316 | £2.99m | £551,250 | £4.01m |
| 12 Years A Slave | 10 Jan 2014 | £2.51m | £3.05m | £7.12m | £2.23m | £11.03m |
| Les Misérables | 11 Jan 2013 | £8.12m | £4.40m | £17.36m | £4.01m | £24.61m |
| The Kings Speech | 7 Jan 2011 | £3.52m | £4.40m | £10.75m | £4.22m | £18.31m |
| Slumdog Millionaire | 9 Jan 2009 | £1.82m | £2.63m | £5.95m | £2.80m | £10.23m |
| No Country For Old Men | 18 Jan 2008 | £1.25m | £828,196 | £2.75m | £712,346 | £3.93m |
La La Land received its premiere at Toronto Film Festival in September and UK premiere at London Film Festival in October generating much media coverage from both but what helped La La Land the most was probably the trailers being screened with autumn blockbusters Bridget Jones’s Baby and The Girl on the Train targeting the same audience.
Within 11 days on release has overtaken 2008’s Sweeney Todd £10.85m and 2007’s Hairspray taking £12.16m and La La Land will shortly overtake Oscar-winning musicals Chicago took £16.11m in 2003 and Moulin Rouge took £18m in 2001. But as average ticket prices in 2001/2003 £4.14 and £4.29 their equivalent box office today would be more than £29.1m for Chicago and £33.6m for Moulin Rouge.
La La Land unexpectedly received 14 Oscar nominations tying the record set by Titanic and All About Eve. Having been the Oscar favourite since receiving its world premiere in September at Toronto Film Festival in September. The question is how many will it win as wouldn’t put a film about Hollywood made in Hollywood matching the record of 11 Oscar wins 2003’s Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (which won all the awards it was nominated for), 1997’s Titanic and 1959’s Ben Hur won.
La La Land was originally due for release July 15th, 2016 had it been released then would it of received the critical reaction and award success or did one come from the other after having its world premiere at Toronto Film Festival in September.
A video showing the movie references within La La Land which shows while it might be a lovely film there is nothing new or original about the film. As with so many other nostalgic films in recent years including Star Wars: The Force Awakes, Jungle Book, and T2 Trainspotting audiences have overdosed on memberries.
<p><a href=”https://vimeo.com/200550228″>La La Land – Movie References</a> from <a href=”https://vimeo.com/sarapreciado”>Sara Preciado</a> on <a href=”https://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a>.</p>
- Split – £2,548,516 – NE
The fourth biggest opening of a M. Night Shyamalan film behind 1999’s The Sixth Sense (had a week limited release before going wide) 2002’s Signs £3.76m and 2004’s The Village £2.94m.
Split was also M. Night Shyamalan’s biggest opening in the UK since 2004’s The Village. After M. Night Shyamalan had massive success in 1999 with The Sixth Sense, he followed the success the following year with Unbreakable (Split was described as a thematic sequel to Unbreakable but M. Night Shyamalan has recently announced a real sequel to Unbreakable could be his next film).
Signs and The Village followed both having the famous M. Night Shyamalan twist ending but then came The Lady in the Water in 2006 which was a flop 2008’s The Happening was a middling success but then came the two flops The Last Airbender in 2010 and 2013’s After Earth. He made his comeback in the low-budget horror The Visit in 2015.
Away from X-Men movies and animated films James McAvoy recent films have underwhelmed at the box office; 2015’s Victor Frankenstein took only £923,000; His three 2013 films also disappointed Danny Boyle’s Trance took £4.53m, Welcome to the Punch £1.17m and Filth took £3.91m. Have to go back to 2008’s Wanted which opened with £3.81m taking £9.58m but that had much more to do with Angelina Jolie than James McAvoy. Next up for James McAvoy is The Coldest City and Submergence along with vocally as Hazel in Netflix TV reboot of children’s classic Watership Down.
- xXx: The Return of Xander Cage – £1,620,811 – NE
2D took £1,028,326 with previews £1,171,070 (82.9%)3D took £287,778 with previews £330,346 (23.4%) IMAX/3D took £96,025 with previews £110,250 (7.8%)
Last year Paramount released several unwanted unnecessary sequels Zoolander 2, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 and Jack Reacher: Never Go Back and they start the year with another made 12 years after the first sequel xXx2: The Next Level.
The second sequel was originally announced in 2006 a year after its sequel xXx2: The Next Level had its happen soon after might have sparked up some interest but 12 years later was past its sell by date.
xXx opened 17th October 2002 with £2.43m in October 2002 taking £11.41m
xXx2: The Next Level opened 29th April 2005 with £920,506 in May 2005 taking £2.62m.
The marketplace was crowded with adult dramas as last year but Ride Along 2 still managed to open strongly with £2,133,078; this year market was ‘split’ with xXx: The Return of Xander Cage and Split.
- Lion – £1,265,282 – NE
After receiving positive reviews since having its world premiere at Toronto Film Festival in September and having its UK premiere at London Film Festival in October received four Golden Globes (no wins) and five BAFTA nominations (unlikely to win).
Lion received 6 Oscar nominations yesterday which caused confusion on Facebook yesterday with the advert incorrectly naming Best Supporting Actress as Naomi Watts rather than Nicole Kidman.
Hard to compare with other films being a unique original story which has elements of Philomena (opened November 2013 with £1,509,726 taking £10.73m) and Life of Pi (opened December 2012 with £3,610,604 taking £28.72m).
Lion has received strong reviews and word of mouth but opens during a very crowded adult drama marketplace with La La Land cannibalizing the box office of other films including A Monster Calls, Silence and Live By Night. While Manchester By the Sea more than doubled its screens at the weekend from 146 to 306 but still dropped 29%.
Lion is a comeback for both Dev Patel after starring in Slumdog Millionaire 8 years ago, he followed it with M. Night Shyamalan flop The Last Airbender before moving to TV for three series of the excellent Aaron Sorkin drama The Newsroom also having success with The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and its sequel The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
Nicole Kidman won Best Actor Oscar for The Hours in 2003 followed it in Cold Mountain but her films since haven’t been as successful at the box office or critically with several major disappointments including remake of The Stepford Wives and TV show Bewitched, the first part of Philip Pullman’s trilogy His Dark Materials The Golden Compass (while a success in the UK opening December 2007 with £7.24m taking £25.77m was the highest grossing non-sequel in the UK in 2007 but wasn’t success elsewhere and its failure was the reason Warner Bros decided to merge New Line Cinema into Warner Bros Pictures). Starred in The Paperboy in 2012 generated much media coverage but flopped at the box office as did Grace of Monaco in 2014. Like so many actors these days Nicole Kidman will move to TV in March starring with Reese Witherspoon in Big Little Lies in the HBO comedy-drama produced by David E. Kelley. Upcoming films for Nicole Kidman is Sofia Coppola’s The Beguiled and How to Talk to Girls at Parties in both she co-stars with Elle Fanning.
- Rogue One: A Star Wars Story £881,235 – £64,341,177
2D took £752,153 (85.9%)– total £46,070,076 (71.6%)– IMAX/3D took £101,163 (11.5%)– total £6,598,449 (10.2%)
3D took £17,751 (2.02%)- total £10,705,786 (16.6%) – IMAX took £6.018 (0.7%) – total £961,876 (1.5%)
Down 50.4% in its sixth weekend has become the eleventh biggest film in the UK and within a few days will move ahead of Jurassic World to become the tenth biggest film in the UK.
With Sing and T2: Trainspotting opening this week Rogue One will leave the top five after six weeks and likely out of the top 10 by week 8 compared with Star Wars: The Force Awakens staying in the top 5 for seven and ten weeks in the top 10.
Similar to Bridget Jones’s Baby which took £47.1m after eight weeks Rogue One will last a similar length of time the charts taking £65m but then be played out of cinemas after a similar amount of time but then be unavailable legally for about 8 weeks which cannot be good for anyone as by which time pirates from China will likely be available
| 6th w/e comparisons | ||||||||||||||||
| Av P | 6th we | 5 we T | 5 A | % final | Final BO | Final A | ||||||||||
| Rogue One | 16 Dec 2016 | £7.74 | £1.76 | £64.33 | 8.31m | 96.7%* | £66.5m* | 8.59m* | ||||||||
| The Force Awakens | 17 Dec 2015 | £7.21 | £1.99 | £117.29 | 16.26m | 95.3% | £123m | 17.06m | ||||||||
| Revenge of the Sith | 22 May 2005 | £4.71 | £709,777 | £37.86 | 8.03m | 96.6% | £39.18 | 8.32m | ||||||||
| Attack of the Clones | 19 May 2002 | £4.29 | £780,577 | £35.01 | 8.16m | 93.8% | £37.32 | 8.70m | ||||||||
| The Phantom Menace | 15 July 1999 | £4.12 | £1.42 | £42.88 | 10.40m | 84.5% | £50.73 | 13.69m | ||||||||
| Jurassic World | 11 Jun 2015 | £7.21 | £1.13 | £59.48 | 8.24m | 92.2% | £64.5m | 8.95m | ||||||||
| Avengers Age of Ultron | 23 Apr 2015 | £7.21 | £833,790 | £47.14 | 6.53m | 97.6% | £48.3m | 6.70m | ||||||||
| Avengers Assemble | 25 Apr 2012 | £6.37 | £847,598 | £48.36 | 7.59m | 93.1% | £51.9m | 8.15m | ||||||||
| Skyfall | 26 Oct 2012 | £6.37 | £2.27 | £93.76 | 14.71m | 90.8% | £103.2m | 16.2m | ||||||||
| Spectre | 26 Oct 2015 | £7.21 | £1.24 | £90.63 | 12.57m | 95.2% | £95.2m | 13.2m | ||||||||
| Avatar | 17 Dec 2009 | £5.44 | £5.15 | £57.44 | 11.15m | 61.4% | £93.44 | 15.74m | ||||||||
| Titanic | 23 Jan 1998 | £4.07 | £3.40 | £39.69 | 9.75m | 49.4% | £80.3m | 18.05m | ||||||||
Disney announced on Monday the title of Star Wars Episode VIII The Last Jedi with Rogue One after 5 weeks on release taking $1 billion worldwide it is now playing out of cinemas the marketing campaign will shortly start the next chapter with the first trailer likely to be released during Star Wars Celebration in April likely to be attached to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2.
Other box office news
UK 2016 box office £1,246,558,036 with admissions 168,259,894 which would make an average ticket price of £7.41 up only 2.8% from 2015 which is rather strange as claimed ticket prices were up 7.3% in 2015 and 3.1%. Admissions are down from 171.5m from 2015 while admissions are down 4.4% from their highest 14 years ago 175.9m. Admissions have been flat for the past 14 years but box office is up 68% and ticket prices are up 67% so box office including inflation only increased by 1% in 14 years.
As ticket prices have increased the same as 2015/16 of 7.3% would make ticket price £7.74 which would see admissions 160.98m which is still a lot more than they really are as many believe real average ticket price is nearer £9.20 which would see admissions down to 134.91m which would be the lowest since 1996. Until the industry is honest with the figures they are in denial of the facts and issues facing the industry as everyone who goes to the cinema regularly knows what the real average ticket prices are.
Weekend admissions 1,574,241 down 7.6% from last week 1,704,633
The weekend was down 4.1% from same weekend last year (£13,532,704) Ride Along 2 £2,133,078, The Big Short £1,251,850, The 5th Wave £495,649 opened.
In 2015: (£10,524,401) Ex Machina £902,147, Mortdecai £482,155 The Gambler £380,110 opened
Next weekend in 2016: Dirty Grandpa £1,440,811, Spotlight £1,054,466, Capture The Flag £774,867 opened.
A recent survey said average ticket price was £8.24 (same cost as 13 pints of cider) up from Cinema Exhibitors Association average ticket price of £7.41 for 2016 up 2.8% increase from 2015. If the same percentage was used 2016 average ticket price would be £7.74.
US Box Office
January 20th – 22nd 2017
| Title | Studio | R-Date | W/E BO (m) | % Ch | Screens | Total (m) |
| Split | Universal | 20/01/2017 | $ 40.19 | NE | 3,038 | $ 40.19 |
| xXx: The Return of Xander Cage | Paramount | 20/01/2017 | $ 20.00 | NE | 3,651 | $ 20.00 |
| Hidden Figures | Fox | 25/12/2016 | $ 16.25 | -22.10% | 3,416 | $ 84.23 |
| Sing | Universal | 21/12/2016 | $ 9.04 | -36.50% | 3,193 | $ 249.36 |
| La La Land | Lions Gate | 09/12/2016 | $ 8.35 | 42.50% | 1,865 | $ 89.68 |
| Rogue One: A Star Wars Story | Disney | 16/12/2016 | $ 7.04 | -47.80% | 2,603 | $ 512.20 |
| Monster Trucks | Paramount | 13/01/2017 | $ 7.00 | -36.10% | 3,119 | $ 23.61 |
| Patriots Day | Lions Gate | 21/12/2016 | $ 6.00 | -48.30% | 3,120 | $ 23.63 |
| The Founder | Weinstein | 20/01/2017 | $ 3.75 | NE | 1,115 | $ 3.75 |
| Sleepless | Open Road | 13/01/2017 | $ 3.70 | -55.60% | 1,803 | $ 15.19 |
M Night Shyamalan’s Split opens far bigger than expected with his fourth biggest US opening behind Signs $60.1m, The Village $50.7m and The Last Airbender $40.3m. With a similar opening to 2008’s Cloverfield. His previous film 2015’s The Visit opened with $25.4m and took $65m which Split was expected to do. Received B+ CinemaScore.
Paramount Pictures xXx: The Return of Xander Cage opened as expected with $20m which was more than the sequel XXX: State of the Union opened 29th April 2005 $12.7m taking $26.87m but less than the original XXX – opened August 9th 2002 with $33.5m taking $142.1m. Received a surprisingly positive A- CinemaScore but still likely to drop heavily next weekend is another of the many pointless sequels made many years too late.
Paramount also strangely added 833 screens to Martin Scorsese’s Silence which still managed to drop 41.2% in its fifth weekend. Silence is one of three major films that suffered from being dated for Oscar consideration over cinemagoers. Live By Night dropped 66.4% in its second weekend wide taking only $1.71m and $9.38m and A Monster Calls dropped 96.2% losing 1,471 screens taking $20,183 and $3.73m.
After three weeks, Hidden Figures has taken just under $85m which will see it shortly overtake Kevin Costner’s Waterworld to be his biggest film in the US since 1992’s The Bodyguard (not including cameos).
Rogue One has taken $499m internationally to add to its $512.2m to gross $ 1 billion globally and become the 28th film to gross over $1 billion worldwide and Disney’s fourth 2016 film to do so.
Opened January 27th
Opening UK
- Sing – Universal Pictures UK
After having weekend previews last weekend, the Seventh animation film from Illumination Entertainment opens for half term holidays. Reviews have been mixed described as completely unoriginally (many will likely confuse it as a sequel to Zootropolis) but that was similar to their previous film The Secret Life of Pets and that took over £36m.
| Despicable Me | 15 October 2010 | £3.66m | £21.2m |
| Hop | 1 April 2011 | £1.39m | £7.39m |
| The Lorax | 27 July 2012 | £1.85m | £7.02m |
| Despicable Me 2 | 28 June 2013 | £14.78m | £47.4m |
| Minions | 26 June 2015 | £11.55m | £47.25m |
| The Secret Life of Pets | 24 June 2016 | £9.58m | £36.43m |
Sing took £4,187,048 from previews Sat/Sun more than last year’s £3.63m The Secret Life of Pets took from previews should see Sing opening with around £10m for its opening weekend opening similar to The Secret Life of Pets.
In two weeks time, The Lego Batman Movie opens also for half-term holidays having weekend previews next weekend. After the massive success of The Lego Movie in 2014 which opened the same weekend with £8.03m taking £34.27m which will be the bigger success as often the first family film released performs far better than the second but The Lego Batman Movie has the family audience as well as comic-book audience as it will probably be the DC movie comic-book fans have been wanting to see since The Dark Knight Rises.
- T2 Trainspotting
Opening 21 years after original featuring the original cast Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, and Robert Carlyle directed by Danny Boyle and screenplay by John Hodge; marketing campaign has been massive wit so much hype and expectation surrounding it with the first film on Channel 4 last Sunday can the sequel possibly live up to expectations or will it just be another memberries movie as so many films are lately.
For years after the original film was released were rumours of a sequel but it was only in 2009 when Danny Boyle said he wanted to make a sequel. Danny Boyle was premiering Steve Jobs at the Telluride Film Festival in September 2015 saying his next film would be Trainspotting 2.
In December 2015 was announced Sony Pictures had acquired world rights and starting filming in March 2016 in Edinburgh. The first teaser trailer was released in July with the trailer released in November which felt like a remake of the 1995 trailer just updated with Choose Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Few sequels made years after the original can ever match up to their predecessor despite the hype they receive. The original film took £12.43m in 1996 and was the tenth biggest film of 1996;
Reviews have been mixed with many describing it as very nostalgic which was expected another of the many memberries movies which have been made in recent years which audiences have been very fickle with some loving like Star Wars The Force Awakens, Jurassic World and The Jungle Book but then others Independence Day: Resurgence not so much. The big question is who the audience is for the sequel as will today’s teens be so interested in seeing a sequel to a film their parents watched when they were their age?
The sequel should take more than Trainspotting but unlikely to be anywhere nearly as successful asking the question which is asked with so many films like this as, why bother as it can never live up to the hype and expectation that will be surrounding its release.
Advance bookings in Scotland are predictably strong but while of course, it will open bigger than the first film released 21 years ago will it match the box office taking £12.43m in 1996 would be over £26m today.
- Denial – eOne
Historical drama starring Rachel Weisz, Tom Wilkinson, Timothy Spall, Andrew Scott, Jack Lowden, Caren Pistorius and Alex Jennings and directed by Mick Jackson based on Deborah E. Lipstadt’s book History on Trial: My Day in Court; received world premiere in September at Toronto Film Festival receiving positive reviews with many singling out Rachel Weisz powerful performance.
Opened September 30th on limited release as so many films opened strongly on limited release but then expanded far too quickly to 648 screens after 4 weeks only managing to get to #14.
- Hacksaw Ridge – Lionsgate
Biographical war drama starring Andrew Garfield, Sam Worthington, Luke Bracey, Teresa Palmer, Hugo Weaving, Rachel Griffiths and Vince Vaughn and directed by Mel Gibson his first since Apocalypto in 2006 which opened 5th January 2007 with £1.36m taking £3.57m.
Had world premiere at Venice Film Festival in September receiving a 10-minute standing ovation was released in Australia and USA in November. Was nominated for three Golden Globes and received five BAFTA nominations.
This year’s Oscar nominations were predictable for most but the biggest surprise was Hacksaw Ridge receiving six nominations including Best Actor for Andrew Garfield but most surprising was Best Director nomination for Mel Gibson which generated much outrage after his infamous drunken anti-Semitic, misogynistic 2006 rant after being pulled over for drink driving by a female police office along with and a few years later there were charges of domestic violence which he pleaded guilty for.
This is double standards after the controversy surrounding The Birth of a Nation Nate Parker overshadowed its release and it’s Oscar chances even though he was acquitted of the charges. But Mel Gibson and Roman Polanski were both found guilty but Hollywood has allowed them to have a comeback winning Best Director Oscar for The Pianist in 2003.
Opening in US
- Gold – Weinstein Co
Crime adventure starring Matthew McConaughey, Édgar Ramírez, Bryce Dallas Howard, Corey Stoll, Toby Kebbell, Craig T. Nelson, Stacy Keach and Bruce Greenwood and directed by Stephen Gaghan;
Was originally set for a wide release on December 25th moved to wide release January 27th
- Resident Evil: The Final Chapter – Sony Pictures
The sixth and final installment in the Resident Evil film series based on the Capcom survival horror video game series Resident Evil starring Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Shawn Roberts, Ruby Rose, Eoin Macken, William Levy, and Iain Glen and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson
| Resident Evil | 3 March 2002 | $17.70m | $40.11m |
| Resident Evil: Apocalypse | 10th September 2004 | $23.03m | $51.20m |
| Resident Evil: Extinction | 21 September 2007 | $23.67m | $50.64m |
| Resident Evil: Afterlife | 10 September 2010 | $6.65m | $60.12m |
| Resident Evil: Retribution | 14 September 2012 | $21.05m | $42.34m |
After the release of Resident Evil: Retribution in 2012 Resident Evil 6 was originally set for September 12th, 2014 release with a seventh film also planned. But then in 2014 was announced it would be titled Resident Evil: The Final Chapter and the final film of the series; the film was released in Japan on December, 23rd 2016.
- A Dog’s Purpose – Universal Pictures
Comedy-drama starring Britt Robertson, Dennis Quaid, Josh Gad, Peggy Lipton, and Juliet Rylance based on the 2010 novel of the same name by W. Bruce Cameron and directed by Lasse Hallström.
A video surfaced on TMZ last week showing footage taken from the set from 2015 with German Shepherd Hercules being dragged into rushing water while visibly resisting.
Universal Pictures canceled the film’s premiere and press junket which was to be Saturday, January 21st. Amblin Entertainment who made the film released a statement saying Hercules was “happy and healthy.” PETA urged moviegoers to boycott the film. While the film’s director Lasse Hallstrom said on Twitter he had not witnessed the events but was “very disturbed” by the footage. He said he had been promised “a thorough investigation.”
If it wasn’t for the controversy surrounding the production footage films about dogs have been successfully family movies at the box office with films including 1992’s Beethoven and its sequel Beethoven’s 2nd, My Dog Skip and Marley & Me. But reviews for A Dog’s Purpose have been poor being described as Cloud Atlas for dogs.
