Top 5 Breakdown
- The Meg – £3,651,111 – NE
Opened with £1.17m on Friday 11% more than Rampage, 43% more than London Has Fallen and more than double White House Down and Into The Storm.
On Sunday weekend estimates had Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again #1 taking £16,000 more than The Meg and then Odeon’s box office reporting system crashed with final box office results delayed.
Box office results seem to be always delayed when figures are close almost like they are waiting for the other to report before they find some extra money they didn’t report.
For the previous two weeks Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again had been the #1 Fri-Sun but not for the weekend but in its fourth weekend, there was a real chance for it to move back into #1 something the first film did 10 years ago.
But despite the delay it wasn’t Universal could claim The Meg was boasted by 4DX IMAX 3D PLF Screen X all having surcharges to them but Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again did it with only regular tickets.
While The Meg was the biggest Warner opening of the year (so far) it was the fourth biggest in the UK after Ready Player One, Ocean’s Eight and Rampage but all three openings were inflated with previews.
Was 342nd biggest opening in the UK between Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 and Ferdinand and 469th biggest inflation inflated between Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Men in Black 3.
Opened bigger than Baby Driver £3,605,705; The Legend of Tarzan £3,570,350; London Has Fallen £3,229,675 and Armageddon £2,732,785 (of course that was 20 years ago its opening would now be £6,990,993; while Deep Blue Sea inflation inflated opening would be £3,638,621.
Going into the weekend expectations were low for The Meg after received mixed reviews but like disaster movies, cinemagoers have always liked shark movies from Steven Spielberg’s classic Jaws to more recent Deep Blue Sea and The Shallows.
2017’s 47 Meters Down opened £637,964 taking £1,326,136
2016’s The Shallows opened with £800,963 taking £1,723,386
2004’s Open Water opened with £1,970,176 taking £4,818,915
1999’s Deep Blue Sea opened with £1,946,454 taking £8,087,585
While many like to mock Jason Statham, his films are crowd pleasers (Fast & Furious, The Transporter, The Mechanic, The Expendables and Crank) that have often performed strongly in August ever since he starred in Guy Ritchie’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels 20 years ago (opened August 1998 with £941,638 taking £11,399,953).
His last leading film was 2016’s Mechanic: Resurrection which took £1.37m; in recent years better known for being Deckard Shaw in the Fast & the Furious series starring next in the spinoff Hobbs and Shaw with Dwyane Johnson opening next summer. Previous to that starred in the comedy Spy opened June 2015 with £2,557,824 taking £9,654,086 (have been rumours since of a sequel but they are up in the air with Disney’s purchase of 20th Century Fox).
For me, it was 2002’s Transporter that showed he was more than just than the Statham which was a very enjoyable action film while it wasn’t a huge box office success became a bigger hit on video and had two sequels and it was the kind of film he has put his name to since.
The first trailer released in April receiving 108m global views, but Warner didn’t release the second trailer even though they created one and it tested well research showed the second trailer would only reach 10%-15% of the intended audience.
Cineworld brought Screen X to their Greenwich O2 cinema screening the film on a 270- degree screen but ask with 4DX is it just a fad to try and get people to come back to the cinema or just away to charge more for tickets? As if you want to go on a ride you go to the fair if you want to see a film you see it at the cinema.
Warner Bros have eight remaining films of the year with their Fantastic Beasts sequel, of course, their big gun and their biggest film of the year opening in November. Releasing The Nun (trailer generated controversy this week scaring viewers on YouTube), A Star is Born generating strong buzz premiering at Venice later this month seen as a major Oscar contender and Creed 2 and Aquaman. (recent trailers have received positive buzz)Also opening in November is Crazy Rich Asians which is surprising as it opens next week in the US, it was originally set to open the week after the US in the UK but was then moved to November a few months ago.
Years ago, it was common that distributors would locally date their films but has become less common in recent years as studios opt to go day and date which works for the major releases but often hurts smaller films.
Had Crazy Rich Asians opened on August 24th would have opened against comedies The Spy Who Dumped Me and The Happytime Murders which was probably one of the reasons they opted to delay as well as the film would be hard sell in the UK so after receiving positive buzz and reviews will likely have an extensive talker screening program before it.
The problem Warner Bros had was similar to Disney delaying Ant-Man and the Wasp was that September and October were already very crowded (they already had three films The Nun, Smallfoot and A Star is Born) so November was the only possibility, one possible reason is that it will screen at the London Film Festival.
- Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! – £3,568,169 – £48,311,304
Down 13.42% in its fourth weekend; Screendaily excitedly says, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again could take more than the original film 10 years later it must take more than the original as ticket inflation is 50%+ since. The problem is industry compares box office like for like rather than with inflation and as ticket prices have increased so much between only a couple of years it’s impossible to compare the box office of films released 10 years apart.
While Mamma Mia! took £69,166,087 in 2008 it is the equivalent of £104,680,212 today up 515 which is slightly less than Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! is currently holding to.
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again took 12.65% more than Mamma Mia! took in its fourth weekend showing that it won’t have the legs of the original but with over 50% ticket inflation since.
It is one of a few films that has taken more than £3m over four weeks something Avengers: Infinity War and Black Panther (and no other MCU film) didn’t do despite their huge openings Peter Rabbit has been the only other film to do so this year but had the advantage of poor weather and lack of competition from other family films and is based on a beloved children book.
The other films to take over £3m+ over four weeks include Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Skyfall, Avatar, Titanic and Spectre
The Greatest Showman took £3m+ in its opening weekend with previews but then took £2m+ for 6 weeks and Mamma Mia! also took £3m for 4 weeks and 6 weeks £2m+.
Avatar took £3m+ for 8 weeks in 2009 and Titanic 8 weeks in 1998 neither are records, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again will get close to.
Next week Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! fifth weekend box office will drop beneath Mamma Mia! fifth weekend £2,803,272
Mamma Mia! increased by 12% in its fourth weekend taking £3,167,377 and £32,109,923;
Mamma Mia! stayed in the top 3 for 11 weeks until the end of September until Taken, Righteous Kill and Death Race opened; taking over £1m at the box office for 10 weekends and staying in the top 5 for 13 weeks (#13 £479,057) and in the top 10 for 17 weeks (#17 £142,664)
Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! has become the 35th biggest film in the UK between Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire and Avengers Age of Ultron overtaking 2013’s Les Miserables and The Greatest Showman.
While it might have taken more than The Greatest Showman in only for weeks its impossible to compare the two as Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! received huge media coverage from a lot of media that only takes films when its Star Wars, Harry Potter or James Bond, received rave reviews, huge London premiere which again received lots of media coverage and opened with almost 4 times the amount The Greatest Showman opened to £9,735,930.
Compare this to The Greatest Showman which was always seen as the runt of the Christmas releases behind Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Pitch Perfect 3 received very little pre-release media coverage and mixed reviews opening fourth to those films taking only £16m of its £47m in its first four weeks.
While the reaction for Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! has been positive from fans it hasn’t been anywhere nearly as positive to The Greatest Showman as it became a cultural phenomenon the size of Titanic as fans created their own content with the original songs being sung in schools across the planet, people might be singing the songs of ABBA too but they have been singing them for over 40 years.
These days it very hard to launch an original property as the market gets saturated by the remakes reboots and sequels but The Greatest Showman did that in a similar way The Full Monty did 21 years before. But again The Full Monty had the advantage of months of positive buzz, being a British film, receiving positive reviews and opening in the shadow of Princess Diana’s death as I do think it became a comfort blanket to audiences who turned to the cinema for cheering up in a similarly way audiences did after 9/11 with Moulin Rouge which was a far bigger success in the UK opening early September 2001 than in the US opening in May.
I am often very cynical and harsh on film performances as I look back to The Gull Monty time when films were really successful but with The Greatest Showman, I see it as a similar success which a film like Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! isn’t even though it has overtaken it at the box office as it was a made by numbers sequel by studio executives that brought in Richard Curtis for him to do his normal tearjerker moment which to me feels much faker now than The Greatest Showman could ever be as Barnum is asked by a journalist if he cares what he is selling is fake but he says does the reaction seem fake, while the reaction to Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! the ending is real it feels that it was cynically added to get an audience reaction.
The reaction by critics between Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again and The Greatest Showman has been very different with critics calling out The Greatest Showman as fake while shedding tears at the end of Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again. If you compare the two is far more cynically designed to make audiences cry as Richard Curtis has done it so many times in his films before knowing exactly what buttons to push to get the audience welling up. While The Greatest Showman doesn’t pretend to be anything it’s not
By the end of the week Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! will become the 113th film to take £30m+ at the UK box office since Jurassic Park 25 years ago and Universal Pictures 17th.
It is the 78th biggest film in the UK inflation inflated between The Da Vinci Code and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.
While Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! might have taken 50% more than Mamma Mia! adding ticket inflation the films are performing similarly to Mamma Mia! inflation inflated the third weekend £4,793,703 and £48,597,133 went on to take £104,680,212; in 2008 Mamma Mia! was #2 behind the second weekend of The Dark Knight taking £6,737,306 and £25,374,829.
In comparison The Greatest Showman was in the top three for two weeks (took £2,142,337 in the third weekend) became #1 in its sixth weekend ; in the top five for 12 weeks (#12 £753,420) and in top 10 for 17 weeks (#17 £300,947) only dropping out of the charts because of four new releases and the film released on DVD. In its fourth-weekend #4 down only -2% taking £2,103,605 and £16,865,309 only 36% of its final box office in comparison Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! has taken about 60% of its final total of £65m+.
Comparisons with The Greatest Showman have been made also with their soundtracks both becoming #1. Impossible to compare the two as Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again soundtrack was full of classic ABBA song people have been singing along to for almost 40 years. While This is Me, A Million Dreams and From Now On were original songs from a film that didn’t receive anywhere nearly the media coverage and hype, only getting it after fans reacted to the film generating their own content; 32 weeks after opening The Greatest Showman was up 55% taking £12,104 and £47m; it is the 43rd biggest film in the UK will overtaking films including The Jungle Book, Paddington 2, Frozen and will of taken more than Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom few would have thought that was possible.
Over the last 25 years Mamma Mia! had the seventh smallest opening percentage to final box office total behind The Full Monty, The Greatest Showman, Slumdog Millionaire, Titanic, The Kings Speech and Avatar and slightly ahead of Jurassic Park. Mamma Mia! was also the fourth biggest opening and total box office after Titanic, The Kings Speech and Avatar.
- Incredibles 2 – £2,354,530 – £45,007,302
Down 1.56% in its fifth weekend overtaking Pixar’s Finding Dory and Toy Story 2 to become the second biggest Pixar film in the UK after Toy Story 3 and will overtake Illumination Animation’s Despicable Me 2, Minions and Despicable Me 3 by the end of the week.
Incredibles 2 has become the fourth biggest film of 2018 overtaking Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Peter Rabbit to be Disney’s third film this year to take over £40m at the box office;
By the end of next weekend, Incredibles 2 could become the second biggest film of the year overtaking Black Panther and Mamma Mia! here We Go Again; with two more weeks of summer holidays and cooler temperatures £60m could still be a possibility
Has become the 45th biggest film in the UK between The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe and The Kings Speech; by next weekend will become the 32nd film to take £50m+ at the UK box office and the 10th Disney film (their first £50m film was 2006’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.
Became the 63rd film to take £40m and Disney’s 19th film to take over £40m, Mary Poppins will likely be their 20th.
Inflation inflated Incredibles 2 is 83rd biggest film in the UK between Slumdog Millionaire and Paddington 2; Overtook A Bug’s Life, Monsters University and Incredibles breaking £30m barrier becoming the 112th film to take over £30m at the UK box office (since Jurassic Park released 25 years ago) becoming 91st biggest film in the UK between The Inbetweeners Movie 2 and Suicide Squad.
The 20 Pixar film has taken almost £608m over the last 22 years with an average box office is £30.5m; Toy Story 4 is Pixar’s next release opening next June and then the year after will release their first original animated film since The Good Dinosaur in 2015.
- Ant-Man and the Wasp – £2,282,343 – £10,493,740
Down 54.2% Its second weekend would be a strong hold normally for a major release but as all other films dropped much less as cooler temperatures brought people back to the cinema.
Had the 281st biggest second weekend between 300 and Kung Fu Panda 2
Holding close to the Ant-Man second weekend which dropped 37.2% taking £2,520,129 and £9,619,553; Ant-Man and the Wasp is 9.08% up from Ant-Man released in 2015 (but ticket inflation is up 9.1% since 20215 so its increase is just ticket inflation) went on to take £16,309,117.
Ant-Man and the Wasp will likely end with about £17.5m will be the fifteenth biggest Marvel Cinematic Universe film or fifth lowest grossing after Iron Man, Ant-Man, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger and The incredible Hulk.
It had the 16th biggest second weekend with only Iron Man, Thor, The incredible Hulk and Captain America: The First Avenger but as all of them opened almost 10 years ago and at the start of the MCU it shows how poor its second weekend was; it was also the 15thh biggest MCU after 11 days on release above those other five MCU films.
While many have raved about how incredible Avengers Infinity War was I wasn’t so enamoured as I had the same feelings about it as Captain America Civil War (and before someone says I’m anti-Disney the same I felt about Batman Vs Superman Dawn of Justice, Justice League and X-Men Apocalypse it was an exhausting watch with a very disappointing baddie. (Why do comic-book films always seem to suffer from a poorly developed baddie, Thanos wants to kill billions because he wants some quiet time) while the male comic-book heroes are all so very similar that was what made Wonder Woman so different if the ending and the baddie were poor.
Ant-Man and Ant-Man and the Wasp in comparison are much lighter in tone and far more enjoyable and similar to Teen Titans Go! To The Movies is a much more enjoyable cinema experience giving audiences something different to the genre.
Do find it a sad then that these films underwhelm at the box office Ant-Man and Ant-Man and the Wasp compared with other MCU films and Teen Titans Go! To The Movies and Captain Underpants against other children’s films. Why did parents decide to take their children to see Cars 3 and Despicable Me 3 last year instead of Captain Underpants and then this year to the dreadful Hotel Transylvania 3 instead of either Ant-Man and the Wasp or Teen Titans Go! To The Movies.
The 19 Marvel Cinematic Universe films have taken almost £586m in the UK over the last 20 years will have to wait until Captain Marvel to take over £600m but with also Avengers 4 and Spider-Man: Dar From Home also released in 2019 by then end of the year MCU could be getting close to £750m after 23 films.
Ant-Man was Disney’s lowest grossing MCU and the fourth lowest grossing MCU film after Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger and The Incredible Hulk but all three were part of the first five MCU films released as Marvel than with paramount were launching the franchise they had far bigger success with Iron Man and its sequel but was a far more well-known character. Thor, Captain America and The Hulk have since had far bigger success starring in later MCU films.
- Mission: Impossible: Fallout – £2,042,327 – £17,455,734
Down 17.3% in its third weekend;
Having a similar second weekend as all of the other Mission Impossible films except for the first film took £3,465,278
Third weekends
Mission: Impossible – £2,343,827 – -32.3% and £11,040,340 – 59.29% of £18,619,357
Mission: Impossible II – £1,366,195 – -45.2% and £12,126,805 – 70.9% of £17,299,719
Mission: Impossible III – £1,840,168 – -33.1% and £12,618,529 – 82.2% of £15,342,575
MI: Ghost Protocol – £1,373,539 – -38% and £15,373,252 – 87.6% of £17,536,984
MI: Rogue Nation – £1,585,062 – -34% and £14,739,612 – 69.9% of £21,074,999
The six Mission Impossible films have now taken £107m at the box office (£154m inflation inflated)
Since Top Gun was released in 1986 Tom Cruise has starred in 35 films they have taken over £325m at the UK box office inflation inflated total over £575m (but am missing box office from 5 of his earlier films which would add another £30m+).
Mission Impossible: Fallout is Tom Cruise’s sixth biggest film in the UK overtaking the box office for Mission Impossible 2 and 3 and will shortly overtake Ghost Protocol and the first Mission: Impossible by the end of next weekend.
Of course, the inflated total of the first film would be £39m today highlighting how bigger the first one was at the UK box office despite much lower ticket prices and no IMAX, PLF, 4DX and 3D. Would be interesting to see how 3D affected its box office is the first film of the franchise to be released in 3D.
After the disappointing performance of Mission Impossible 3 Paramount Pictures dropped Tom Cruise and were looking to possibly replace Tom Cruise in the lead, but then ten years ago he surprised everyone with his performance as Les Grosman in Tropic Thunder was his comeback and made Paramount keep him as the lead in Ghost Protocol. Now he is again Paramount MVP starring in Top Gun 2 next year before Mission Impossible 7 foe 2021?
They have four remaining films in 2018 this week bringing forward their Mark Wahlberg comedy Instant Family directed by Sean Anders who previously also directed Daddy’s Home 1 & 2 for the studio which was both successes. Other three films are Tyler Perry comedy Nobody’s fool Tyler Perry films don’t normally travel well and overlord and Bumblebee (oe of five films opening the weekend before Christmas.
UK box office in detail
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £16,439,374 up 0.66 xx% from last weekend £16,330,724
The weekend admissions 2,088,866 up 0.66% from last weekend 2,075,060; 2018 average ticket up 3.87% from last year’s £7.49 to £7.87 for 2018 according to six-month box office results.
14 films opened at weekend taking £4,558,950; The Meg 80.8% (£3,651,111); The Darkest Minds 8.51% (£388,325); remaining 12 films shared 11.39% (£519,514): top 2 films took 43.91% of top 10; The Meg took 22.2% and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again took 21.7%
The weekend was up 54.1% from 2017 (£10,664,274); Annabelle: Creation £1,960,203; Atomic Blonde £1,686,430; The Nut Job 2: Nutty By Nature £354,276; A Ghost Story £133,899; Overdrive £60,043;
Up 20.2% from 2016: (£13,670,811): Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates £1,068,522; Pete’s Dragon £844,090; Nerve £803,457; The Shallows £800,963; Wiener-Dog £86,423;
Up 45.9% from 2015; (£11,265,417); Pixels £2,660,772; The Man from U.N.C.L.E. £1,448,298; Trainwreck £931,981; Absolutely Anything £487,147; Mistress America £164,691; Brothers £142,403; Precinct Seven Five £21,441
Down 23.3% from 2014: (£21,448,750); The Inbetweeners 2 £12,538,114;
Up 13.2% from 2013: (£14,517,689); Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa £2,175,850; Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters £2,137,835; Grown Ups 2 £2,075,831; The Lone Ranger £1,342,196; Barbie Mariposa & The Fairy Princess £33,161;
Up 92.3% from 2012 (£8,544,393); Step-Up 4: Miami Heat £680,052;
Up 1.1% from 2011 (£16,161,288): Rise of the Planet of the Apes £5,835,140; The Smurfs £3,778,085; The Devil’s Double £318,512;
Up 30.9% from 2010: (£12,550,727): The Last Airbender £1,653,776; Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue £288,544; The Secret in Their Eyes £85,467; Black Dynamite £6,400
Up 75.1% from 2009 (£9,386,362); The Ugly Truth £1,976,043; G. I. Joe £1,708,760; Orphan £570,146; Mesrine: Killer Instinct £135,999; Adam £23,201;
Up 7.07% from 2008 (£15,353,692); The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor £4,434,650; Make it Happen £505,820; The Fox and the Child £132,441; Elegy £71,274; CJ7 £437
Up 67.3% from 2007 (£9,824,857); Rush Hour 3 £2,731,998; Surf’s Up £601,289; License to Wed £268,016; Waitress £105,910; The Walker £44,623;
Up 92.9% from 2006; (£8,521,761); Monster House £1,030,305; Nacho Libre £993,948; Lady in the Water £452,744;
Up 94.2% from 2005 (£8,464,617); The Island £1,481,647; Crash £818,604; The Perfect Catch 272,285; The Bad News Bears £45,514;
Up 78.5% from 2004 (£9,205,066): The Bourne Supremacy £2,720,016; Catwoman £557,583; Yu-Gi-Oh £112,980;
Up 94.4% from 2003 (£8,452,765); The Pirates of the Caribbean £3,765,450; Rugrats Go Wild £360,005; What a Girl Wants £220,217;
Up 80.8% from 2002 (£9,089,415): Eight Legged Freaks £1,031,494; Heaven £78,207;
Up 70.9% from 2001 (£9,615,584); The Parole Officer £902,028;
Average ticket prices are up almost 100% since 2001from £4.14 to £7.97 but box office is only up 50% from 2011-2003 highlights the issues I have been saying for years the industry fails to deal with.
Next weekend in 2017: (£9,602,352): The Hitman’s Bodyguard £1,982,951; The Dark Tower £910,529; Everything, Everything £453,401; An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power £201,130;
Also released
- The Darkest Minds – 20th Century Fox
Opened with only £388,325 from 404 screens
Becomes another young adult dystopian novel adaption disappointment which is very hit and miss for every The Hunger Games, Twilight and Maze Runner are Ender’s Game, The 5th Wave, The Giver, The Golden Compass, The Circle, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones and many more. Studios keep making them as if they do find an audience as seen with The Hunger Games can become massive franchises as they are popular books so there is a potential fanbase, but they are ones who prefer to tweet about it rather than pay to see the film in a cinema.
As the year goes so does the clock on the 83-year-old independent studio with six more films to be released in their final year as a studio. Expectations are according to recent reported which was expecting Disney will take control of all current films and 20th Century Fox to be little more than a label within Disney. While Fox Searchlight is expected to survival mostly, 20th Century Fox is likely to become their library remake label.
Over recent years 20th Century Fox was the one studio that made a mix of genres was happy to take a risk make films like The Greatest Showman and Bohemian Rhapsody unlikely either would be the films Disney have any interest in.
- Unfriended: Dark Web – Universal Pictures
Opened with only £223,110 from 239 screens
The first film Unfriended opened May 2015 with £1.34m taking £3.5m
- Heathers (Re) – Arrow
Opened with £43,462 from 107 screens
The classic high school teen drama is re-released for its 30th anniversary, but its 30th anniversary is next year opened in the US in March and then in the UK in November; I saw it at the Cannon Oxford Street which is now a McDonalds.
Always surprises me when distributors celebrate film anniversaries early or close to their US opening but as most films released in the 80s and 90s opened weeks if not months after the US. Die Hard also celebrating its 30th anniversary opened in July 1988 in the US, but February 1989 in the UK cinemas held 30th-anniversary screening last year, but also hold screenings again in December.
Heathers was directed by Michael Lehmann was seen as a cool young upcoming director but ten he signed up to direct Hudson Hawk (his third film) which flopped and took many tears to return to Hollywood when he did they were lower budget comedies Airheads, The Truth About Cats & Dogs, My Giant and 40 Days and 40 Nights in 2002 but since he is better known for TV.
So many directors never move past a big flop while the actors who appear in them Bruce Willis In Hudson Hawk or Ben Affleck in Gigli move on, but their director often has trouble making another film. Martin Brest who directed Beverly Hills Cop, Midnight Run (celebrated its 30th-anniversary last month), Scent of a Woman and Meet Joe Black then made Gigli in 2003 but hasn’t directed a film since.
UK Box Office Top 10
US Box office
- The Meg – Warner Bros
Opens with $45.4m; received mixed reviews 50% Rotten Tomatoes score and B+ CinemaScore.
Ahead of release was tracking to open with low $20m’s that increased on Friday after taking $4m from Thursday midnights to low 30’s and increasing to high 30’s on Saturday.
Had Warner Bros biggest opening of the year ahead of Ready Player One $41.76m and Ocean’s 8 $41m and Rampage $35.75m highlighting how disappointing their year has been so far
The Meg box office saw Warner Bros become the third biggest studio in the US moving ahead of 20th Century Fox and behind Disney and Universal. Warner Bros has a far stronger slate of films than Fox for the rest of the year (Crazy Rich Asians, The Nun, Smallfoot, A Star is Born, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald and Aquaman) are likely to end the year ahead of Fox. 20th Century Fox remaining films of 2018 and their final films will release before being swallowed up by Disney and becoming just a label within the studio are The Predator, The Old Man & the Gun, Bad Times At The El Royale, The Hate U Give, Bohemian Rhapsody, Widows and Alita: Battle Angel.
US- China co-productions don’t always perform well outside China as seen with The Great Wall, Warcraft and Skyscraper as non-Chinese audiences want different things. While this is expected with certain films locally set why Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is performing far stronger in the US than the US but not when they are global films featuring globally recognised actors like Dwyane Johnson and Jason Statham.
Universal Pictures was hoping Matt Damon would make non-Chinese audiences interested in The Great Wall especially opening so soon after his global hit and Golden Globe-winning “comedy” The Martian despite being very much a local film. As Chinese audiences often want different things from their films and China is becoming even more important maybe studios should make Chinese friendly versions of their films.
Opened with $96.8m internationally from 42 territories (including $50m in China) and $146.9m worldwide) #1 in 28 territories opening ahead of Rampage, Geostorm, London Has Fallen and Into The Storm.
In China, there was controversy over the box office results of other local films opening against The Meg with two films opened above it with claims the distributor inflated their box office which regularly happened in the past in the US and UK until box office collections were made by an outside agent. Still, question some results and studios are still twisting the rules as seen with A Wrinkle in Time having double bills with Incredibles in June to get the film to cross the $100m barrier so Disney could claim they do have successes from original films.
- Mission: Impossible: Fallout – Paramount Pictures
Down 45.2% in its third weekend taking $19.35m and $161,31m total has overtaken Star Trek: Beyond to be Paramount Pictures #42 biggest film
Mission Impossible Fallout is ahead of all previous films of the Mission Impossible series after 17 days on release only Ghost Protocol took more in its third weekend due to its IMAX platform release it was its second-wide weekend over lucrative Christmas holidays.
Mission: Impossible: Fallout should take $220m+ which would see it become Paramount’s biggest film at the US box office since 2014’s Transformers: Age of Extinction.
But being a 22-year-old film series is having 20% increase in box office from Mission Impossible in 1996 really a success especially as the budget and marketing costs have more than doubled since as have ticket prices so these films are being seen but half the audience that saw the first film.
Third weekends
Mission: Impossible $14,662,192 – -32.2% – $130,823,989 – 72.2% of $180,981,856
Mission: Impossible II $17,231,372 – -53.30% – $158,068,698 – 73.3% of $215,409,889
Mission: Impossible III $11,349,570 – -54.6% -$103,535,579 – 77.2% of $134,029,801
MI: Ghost Protocol $29,421,879 – -0.5% – $132,406,086 – 63.23% of $209,397,903
MI: Rogue Nation $17,186,540 – -39.7% – $138,323,095 – 70.9% of $195,042,377
Mission Impossible: Fallout is expected to take about 3.5x opening which would be similar to Rogue Nation and all other films apart from Ghost Protocol as that had the IMAX staggered opening over lucrative Christmas.
The 6 Mission Impossible films have taken $1.1bn in the US and almost $3.2bn worldwide; with Transformers box office dropping off in recent years Mission Impossible is the studios MVP having lost Marvel Cinematic Universe, Dreamworks Animation and Indiana Jones franchises to rival studios (17 of their biggest 50 films in the US are from those IP’s)
Tom Cruise 39 films have taken almost $4bn at the US box office since making his acting debut in 1981’s Endless Love and $9.7bn worldwide.
Took $38.4m from 59 territories (dropping 47% due to the arrival of The Meg targeting similar demographic) $275.6m total and $438m worldwide #239 biggest worldwide between Terminator: Genisys and The Greatest Showman (taking $31m from IMAX worldwide); could take over $800m worldwide if performs strongly in China at the end of the month.
- Christopher Robin – Disney
Down 47.3% in its second weekend taking $12.96m and $50.54m
It’s the first time since 12th August 2016 when a Disney new release hasn’t opened #1 when Pete’s Dragon opened third (taking $21.5m) with Suicide Squad #1 and Sausage Party #2;
Took $3.8m from 25 territories internationally and $12.1m total will have limited appeal internationally apart from the UK where it opens in next week.
- Slender Man – Sony Pictures
Opens with $11.37m; received poor reviews
- The Spy Who Dumped Me – Lionsgate
Down 46.6% in its second weekend taking $6.46m and $24.42m
Taking $4.9m internationally from 52 territories with $7.3m total
- Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! – Universal Pictures
Dropped 34.9% in its fourth weekend taking $5.86m and $103.87m;
Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! is performing exactly the same as Mamma Mia! but as ticket prices are up over 30% since with budgets and marketing costs also increased its performance is far less
Mamma Mia! in its fourth weekend dropped 34.9% taking $8.2m and $104.14m total $144.13m in July 2008;
While Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! Will take more than The Greatest Showman $434.54m internationally it won’t match its success in the US and will take less than the original film. But the sequel wasn’t made for US audiences but much more international the UK, Europe and Australia where ABBA is far more popular as was the original film.
Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! Took $21.5m internationally from 52 territories and $177m total with a global total of $280.8m #486 biggest film worldwide between Skyscraper and Split; Mamma Mia! took $609.8m worldwide #138; The Greatest Showman took $434.6m #240 worldwide with $174.3m US and $260.2m international as the sequel hasn’t got the legs of either Mamma Mia! will it match the global box office of The Greatest Showman?
- BlacKkKlansman – Focus
Opens with $10.45jhm received 98% Rotten Tomatoes and A- CinemaScore
It’s Spike Lee’s biggest opening since 2006’s inside Man $28.95m taking $88.51m and his third biggest opening.
BlacKkKlansman has received critical acclaim since premiering at the Cannes Film Festival in May when it won the Grand Prix are many references to Donald Trump in the film which is about two cops one black one Jewish infiltrating the Ku Klux Klan in the early 1970s.
Took $400k from three territories international (#1 in Finland Jasper Pääkkönen’s home country) expands further internationally over the weeks ahead.
UK Box Office Predictions
After being held from being the official number 1 against Mission Impossible Fallout and Ant-Man and the Wasp (due to previews) and The Meg (due to performing far better than many expected) Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again does have another chance to move back to 1 in its fifth weekend.
But has three wide releases to deal with The Equalizer 2 and The Festival are unlikely to be much of a concern (unless audiences do see The Festival as an unofficial Inbetweener film as the trailers make it be).
Christopher Robin is the only film likely to stop Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again returning to #1 opened in the US with $24.5m two weeks ago but as Paddington, The BFG and Peter Rabbit Winnie the Pooh is a beloved children’s character in the UK and the books have been children’s favourites for decades; Paddington opened with £5,125,519, The BFG £5,288,529, Paddington 2 £8,260,160 and Peter Rabbit £7,273,207 while trailers have been showing with Incredibles 2 and Hotel Transylvania 3.
Christopher Robin should open far bigger than in the US as all those other UK based children’s files opened with which should see it open above Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (but maybe again another tighter weekend as last weekend than might have been expected had it of opened ahead of the US).
Delaying The Equalizer 2 to open four weeks after Mission Impossible: Fallout rather than a week after won’t stop it from opening similar to the first film as it did in the UK (but that also depends on how The Meg holds) Denzel Washington was in the UK last week receiving much media coverage but it was overshadowed by Antoine Fuqua comments being misquoted about Idris Elba being the next James Bond after Daniel Craig is finished playing James Bond after Bond 25 as often with these kinds of stories the articles written unlikely mentioning the film that the director was there to talk about.
While Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again and Incredibles 2 will likely cross the £50m barrier and Mission Impossible: Fallout £20m barrier highlighting the massive gaps that are developing within blockbuster movies, 20 years ago it would be action films Mission Impossible leading the way which again does wonder how Top Gun 2 will do against the properties that have replaced films like Top Gun over the last decade.
Cooler and wet weather will again likely see films dropping much less than they would of done as they did last weekend and will likely see nine films take over £1m at the box office and three films taking £2m+ and six taking £1m+ showing show cannibalised the marketplace becomes late summer with three new wide releases.
Opening in the UK
- The Festival – Entertainment Films
Comedy starring Joe Thomas, Claudia O’Doherty, Hammed Animashaun, Jemaine Clement, Hannah Tointon, and Kurt Yaeger and directed by Iain Morris
From Iain Morris, co-creator of The Inbetweeners the film feels like an unofficial sequel to The Inbetweeners films.
The Inbetweeners Movie opened 19 August 2011 with £13,216,736 taking £45,030,412 (is the 45th biggest film in the UK).
The Inbetweeners Movie 2 opened 7th August 2014 with £12,538,114 taking £33,386,962 (is the 92nd biggest film in the UK).
It is the first film to be greenlit under a four-picture pact Fudge Park has with Film4 and Entertainment Film Distributors; Fudge Park was formed by The Inbetweeners writers and exec producers Iain Morris and Damon Beesley.
- Christopher Robin – Disney
Fantasy comedy-drama starring Ewan McGregor, Hayley Atwell and the voices of Jim Cummings and Brad Garrett and directed by Marc Forster; inspired by A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard’s book Winnie-the-Pooh.
It is the 10th Disney reimagination of their classic animated films first was 1994’s The Jungle Book and 1996 101 Dalmatians (sequel 102 Dalmatians in 2000) but was a one off. 2010’s Alice in Wonderland was the start of their reimagination all of their older animated classics Maleficent, Cinderella, The Jungle Book, Alice Through the Looking Glass and Beauty and the Beast. With Dumbo, Aladdin and The Lion King released next year and Mulan and Maleficent 2 in 2020. Cruella, Lady and the Tramp, The Little Mermaid, Peter Pan, Pinocchio, The Sword in the Stone. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and The Jungle Book 2.
Last year Fox Searchlight released Goodbye Christopher Robin telling the true story of how A. A. Milne created Winnie-the-Pooh after the first World War. Disney’s Christopher Robin is a fictionalised reimagination of the Winnie-the-Pooh story.
After A. A. Milne’s death in 1955 Disney acquired the right to Winnie the Pooh characters and in 2001 they sold Winnie the Pooh to Disney for $350m (the rights to his original Winnie the Pooh books expire in 2026). Winnie the Pooh is one of the most beloved children’s books in the UK (#7 of BBC 2003’s nations best-loved novels of all time #5 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire).
Being based on a beloved British children’s book its surprising it didn’t open in the UK first but because Incredibles 2 and Ant-Man and the Wasp were delayed Disney’s Christopher Robin was delayed in the UK two weeks.
Comparisons have been made with Finding Neverland also directed by Marc Forster opened October 2004 with £776,124 taking £3,306,342 and Saving Mr Banks opened November 2013 with £795,615 taking £4,347,734.
Special preview screenings on August 16th in aid of MediCinema with all monies going to the charity but will the money also be added to its opening weekend?
- The Equalizer 2 – Sony Pictures
Sequel to the 2014 film The Equalizer starring Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Ashton Sanders, Melissa Leo, and Bill Pullman and directed by Antoine Fuqua. It is the first sequel Denzel Washington has ever starred in (while he has starred in several remakes)
It’s the fourth film Antoine Fuqua has directed starring Denzel Washington Training Day (won Washington his second Oscar), The Equalizer and western remake The Magnificent Seven.
While Denzel Washington hasn’t had the box office success of similar actors of his stature his biggest film to date at the US box office was 2007’s American Gangster his films have taken almost $2.4bn at the US box office and $3.72bn globally. Also directing three films Fences, The Great Debaters and Antwone Fisher
Denzel Washington has won two Best Actor Oscars but like Tom Hanks has given many more memorable acting performances including one of his first 1987’s Cry Freedom directed by Richard Attenborough.
Before the release of the first film, Sony Pictures announced plans for a sequel the director said at the time would be a sequel if audiences and Denzel Washington wanted it.
The sequel was originally set for September 29th, 2017 release then pushed back a year to September 14th, 2018 and then moved forward to August 3rd and then finally July 20th. Those last two date switches were to do with 20th Century Fox moving The Predator reboot and The Meg opening in September and August.
As with the recent Sicario: Day of the Soldado it was surprising Sony Pictures moved The Equalizer 2 away from the less crowded September into a busy July only a week before Mission Impossible: Fallout and a week after Skyscraper.
The Equalizer opened in September 2014 with £1,890,146 (dropped 36% in its second weekend taking £1,207,129 and £4,280,077) taking £6,669,034; opening September had much less competition than the sequel opening 3 weeks after Mission Impossible Fallout.
The first film received strong media coverage having the world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival and Denzel Washington and director Antoine Fuqua in the UK. The film also received decent reviews. It was Denzel Washington’s biggest opening in the UK beating 2009’s The Taking of Pelham 123 £1.78m and Unstoppable with £1.7m in 2010.
Many believe UK opening for films is about 10% of US The Equalizer opened with $34m but its opening was only 5.4% of US opening (taking 6.59% of it US total which is similar to A Quiet Place, Den of Thieves, John Wick 2 and Atomic Blonde) but an opening of over £2.5m must have been expected. Instead, it opened second to Billy Elliot The Musical Live taking £1,904,098 from one day.
The original film took $101.53m with a $55m budget and taking $192.33m worldwide.
Last week Denzel Washington and director Antoine Fuqua came to the UK for interviews one of which was with the Daily Star and the director was asked about the future of James Bond who is a friend of Barbara Broccoli who said he spoke to her about the possibility of a black James Bond. This developed into a news story that went viral that Barbara Broccoli was considering Idris Elba to play James Bond after Daniel Craig is finished with it which will probably be Bond 25. After Spectre, it was expected Daniel Craig ad made his final Bond film and in the following couple of years, many actors were mentioned about replacing him one of the favourites was Idris Elba.
It was then disappointing when it was announced Daniel Craig would be returning as after the dreadful Spectre Janes Bond needed a complete reboot which will be much more of a soft reboot now. Danny Boyle starts filming Bond 25 shortly for October 2019 release. It was surprising Danny Boyle decided to do a Bond film now as he previously turns down the chance to make a Bond film and after he shot the Bond scene for London 2012 Olympics how could he possibly up to that with a Bond film.
Opening in US
- Alpha – Sony Pictures
Historical drama adventure starring Kodi Smit-McPhee, Leonor Varela and Jens Hultén and directed by Albert Hughes; the film was shot in IMAX 3D.
Originally called The Solutrean and changed to Alpha in June 2017; originally set for release for September 15, 2017, then moved to March 2, 2018, and September 14, 2018, before moving to August 17, 2018, in April; expected to open with about $10m
- Mile 22 – STX Entertainment
Action thriller starring Mark Wahlberg, John Malkovich, Lauren Cohan, Iko Uwais, and Ronda Rousey and directed by Peter Berg.
It’s the fourth film Peter Berg has directed starring Mark Wahlberg after Lone Survivor, Patriot’s Day, and Deepwater Horizon. Netflix recently acquired their fifth film together in Wonderland. They could pair up again for the Six Billion Dollar Man.
Originally set for August 3rd before being moved to 17th August; tracking to open about $17m opening similar to Den of Thieves which opened with $15.2m in January taking $45m and as Mile 22 immediately announced plans for a sequel.
- Juliet, Naked – Roadside Attractions
Comedy-drama starring Rose Byrne, Ethan Hawke, Chris O’Dowd and directed by Jesse Peretz based on Nick Hornby’s novel; premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2018, receiving positive reviews.
Many of Nick Hornby’s books have been adapted into films including Fever Pitch twice once set UK with Arsenal FC and then remade in the US, also High Fidelity and About A Boy. He has also adapted several scripts for the screen including An Education, Wild and Brooklyn.
