- John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum – £3,562,524 – NE
Took £849,972 from previews on Wednesday/Thursday; without previews Pokemon: Detective Pikachu would have been #1
Opened 560.2% more than 2015’s John Wick and 59.6% more than John Wick: Chapter 2
Had the 384th biggest opening in the UK between The A-Team and Gladiator (close to Jack Reacher, Goldeneye, Cloverfield and XXX) and the 494th biggest inflation inflated between The Woman in Black and The Smurfs 2 (close to the Perfect Storm, Collateral, The Meg and Captain America: The First Avenger).
Lionsgate’s 8th biggest opening in the UK between Saw 3D and London Has Fallen (Lionsgate Angel Has Fallen, the third film of the series in August) and 9th biggest inflation inflated opening between Saw III and Saw IV (in 2017 Jigsaw was expected to be the 8th and final film of the series, but Lionsgate announced a reboot starring Chris Rock will be released in October 2020) .
John Wick: Chapter 3: Parabellum is Keanu Reeves biggest opening in the UK since 2003’s The Matrix Revolutions £8,712,350 and his first #1 since 2008’s The Day the Earth Stood Still £2,752,132
John Wick has a lot of similarities to The Matrix trilogy (celebrating its 20th anniversary this year) and John Wick: Chapter 3: Parabellum marketing is very similar to The Matrix
Critics have called John Wick the second-best action film franchise after Mission Impossible; Keanu Reeves and Tom Cruise have similar acting careers similar age and made a wide mix of genres and two franchises each they are now best known for The Matrix/John Wick and Mission Impossible/John Wick.
The first John Wick film opened 6 months after its US release and a week after Fast & Furious 7 with £539,602 taking £1.5m despite receive positive reviews became a huge success on home entertainment.
John Wick: Chapter 2 opened in February 2017 with £2,232,055 (including £248,415 previews) third after second weekends of The Lego Batman Movie and Fifty Shades Darker taking £5,766,633
The third part of the John Wick film series and the first to be released by Lionsgate in the UK after the first two films Lionsgate surprisingly sold on to Warner Bros for the UK as they had done previously in 2015 for Point Break reboot.
Lionsgate acquired rights to the original film in July 2014 after being rejected by several other studios dating its US release for October after 20th Century Fox pushed Kingsman: The Secret Service to February 2015.
It was understandable why studios were weary of acquiring John Wick as Keanu Reeves previous film was 2013’s 47 Ronin the $175m action film took only $152m worldwide opened with £1,415,252 in December 2013 taking £2,726,425
As many 80s actors Keanu Reeves, has had a very up and down acting career with a very mixed slate of films of different genres as Johnny Depp and Nicholas Cage their follow-up choices of blockbusters hasn’t always been that successful.
1989’s Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure was his breakthrough role followed by Parenthood but then starred in the flop I Love You to Death, followed up with 1991’s Point Break and Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey both moderate successes along with Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Much Ado About Nothing but then made two independent films Even Cowgirls Get the Blues and Little Buddha both disappointed before 1994’s Speed (tenth biggest film in the UK taking £10.2m).
After Speed starred in several flops Johnny Mnemonic, A Walk in the Clouds, Chain Reaction and turned down Speed 2. 1997’s Devil’s Advocate took £5.12m but then The Matrix blew audiences away in 1999 opening with £3.38m taking £16.91m. The Replacements, The Watcher, The Gift, Sweet November and Hardball followed all disappointing at the box office before returning to The Matrix in 2003 with The Matrix Reloaded opening with £12.16m taking £32.51m and The Matrix Revolutions opening with £8.71m and taking £17.75m.
His films since have had mixed success Something’s Gotta Give in 2004 opening £1.2m taking £6.68m, Constantine in 2005 opening £2.09m taking £6.45m, The Lake House in 2006 £761,465m taking £2.75m, The Day the Earth Stood Still in 2008 opened £2.75m taking £6.95m.
After opening bigger globally than the last film Lionsgate announced on Monday John Wick 4 will be released in May 2021. As with Paramount Pictures with Mission Impossible films its likely Lionsgate will want to release a new John Wick film every couple of years until Keanu Reeves says I’m Getting to old for this..
- Pokemon: Detective Pikachu – £2,718,116 – £8,884,879
Dropped 45.1% in its second weekend
Had the 230th biggest second weekend Fifty Shades Freed and War for the Planet of the Apes (close to Zootropolis, Monsters vs. Aliens, Kong: Skull Island and Mad Max: Fury Road) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) and the 342nd biggest inflation inflated between Night at the Museum 2 and American Beauty (close to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Maleficent, Kung Fu Panda 2 and Zootropolis)
38th biggest Warner Bros second weekend between Godzilla and Kong: Skull Island (close to Batman Begins, Justice League, The Matrix Revolutions and Scooby-Doo) and 55th biggest inflation inflated between Justice League and A.I. (close to Clash of the Titans, Happy Feet, The Lego Movie: The Second Part and Ready Player One
Second weekend was 30.5% more than 2016’s Angry Birds (£2,083,673); 129% more than Tomb Raider (£1,186,436); 273% more than Warcraft. World of Warcraft (£728,168) and 116% Pokemon: The First Movie (£1,257,082)
Pokemon: The First Movie took £1,257,082 in its second weekend in April 2000 (£2,062,757 inflation inflated) taking £10,761,547 (£17,658,720 inflation inflated) 64%+ ticket inflation since it was release.
Pokemon: Detective Pikachu held well in its second weekend but faces tougher competition from Aladdin from Wednesday and The Secret Life of Pets 2, but with half-term holidays coming up should take similar to Pokemon: The First Movie inflation inflated box office.
With Pokemon: Detective Pikachu taking almost $300m worldwide Legendary Pictures will surely go ahead with the sequel they developed before the film opened for release in 2023.
- Avengers: Endgame – £2,232,115 – £83,993,395
Dropped 49.4% in its fourth weekend
Having a steadier decline in its fourth weekend than the last two weeks, but after having the biggest opening ever in the UK would then assume Avengers: Endgame would have the biggest second, third and fourth weekends.
Instead Avengers: Endgame had the 24th biggest third weekend between Mary Poppins Returns and Titanic and Disney’s 9th biggest third weekend 23% less than last year’s Avengers: Infinity War and 32nd biggest fourth weekend between Mary Poppins Returns and A Star Is Born only £184,646 more than The Greatest Showman and almost three times less than Skyfall (£5,566,537).
So while Avengers: Endgame has become the 5th biggest film in the UK (after Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Skyfall, Spectre, Avatar) it will have taken almost 50% of its total box office in its opening 4 days compared with only 9% for Avatar.
17th biggest inflation inflated between Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and Casino Royale.
After opening with £43.4m three weeks ago many expected Avengers: Endgame to overtake Star Wars: The Force Awakens to become the biggest film in the UK nut now it’s unlikely to overtake either Avatar or Spectre; Avengers: Endgame will lose IMAX screens from Wednesday with the arrival of Aladdin and Rocketman and then loose several hundred screens o Friday with the release of The Secret Life of Pets 2 could see it drop out of the top 5 after only 4 weeks on release.
Fourth weekend (less than)
31% Black Panther and 26% Avenger Infinity War
More than
Avenger Infinity War 8%; Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 13%; Captain Marvel 21%; Avengers: Age of Ultron 26%; Spider-Man Homecoming 30%; Iron Man 3 37%; CA: Civil War 40%; Guardians of the Galaxy 44%; Thor:Ragnorok 48%; Doctor Strange 58%; Iron Man 63%; Captain America: Winter Soldier 63%; Ant-Man and the Wasp 64%; Thor: The Dark World 68%; Ant-Man 75%; Thor 76%; Iron Man 2 77%; Captain America: The First Avenger 93%; The incredible Hulk 95%
While the industry celebrates the success of Avengers: Endgame I do believe megamovies like these do more long-term damage to cinema as they cannibalize the box office of films opening several weeks before and several weeks after. Unlike a film like Dunkirk or Bohemian Rhapsody they don’t build the audience. In the weeks leading up to Avengers: Endgame while advance bookings were breaking records weekend ox office was down as it has been for most of the weeks this year to last.
It used to be success breeds success as was the case with Universal Pictures in 2015 with back to back successes Fifty Shades of Grey, Furious 7, Pitch Perfect 2, Jurassic World, Minions, Trainwreck and Straight Outta Compton. Now its Captain Marvel, (box office drops off) Avengers: Endgame (box office drops off) Toy Story 4, The Lion King (box office drops off) Frozen 2 and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Box office success used to be much steadier, but now as people go less than they used to them will only come out in mass to see the big guns and then wait out to see the smaller films on streaming. Those six films will take £500m+ at the UK box office this year about 40% of the years box office, this squeezes even more the ox office of the other 800 films being released.
22 Marvel Cinematic Universe films have taken over £716m at the UK box office since 2008 and over £736m inflation inflated;
Spider-Man: Far from Home is the next to be released in July; next years untitled two films dated for May and November are expected to be announced in late summer with the first trailers released in November.
The directors of Avengers: Endgame over the last week have been explaining events that happened in the film similar to what Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson did. Shouldn’t these films be able to stand up by themselves and not need a commentary track highlighting the problem with these films.
In one discussion said Black Widow was supposedly going to be in charge of an orphan shelter but they removed it from the script. They also tried to explain how Captain Marvel found Iron Man is quickly and the two Captain America’s. With Captain America going back to be with Peggy Carter does make his passionate kiss with Sharon Carter now his niece during the events of Civil War feel a bit incestuous. Adding time travel into Endgame was an easy way to bring back the fallen but then must change all the events that happened since. However careful they were must of changed elements in the past which changes the future (The Butterfly Effect)
Avenger Endgame has the feeling of Toy Story 3/Star Trek The Undiscovered Country as its tris to make it feel like the conclusion of the story but then find out is Toy Story 4/Star Trek Generations as we will surely find out in a few years’ time Avengers 5 with new and old Avengers teaming up again. Endgame sets up replacement for all the characters that won’t return which was similarly done with Disney Star Wars films, killing off Han Solo and Luke but having younger replacements.
My biggest problem with Avengers: Endgame is that time travelling was done last year with Deadpool 2 and the heist was also done in Solo.
While if Doctor Strange let Iron Man die in Infinity War would be no need for Endgame and for billions to suffer showing these superheroes haven’t changed they are still as arrogant as they were compared this to Flash Gordon ‘one life for billions’ is the true superhero without any superpowers
The of the film felt like the final Lord of the Rings film, the big battle ended and then was another half an hour to try to make it a tearjerker. While if your having a funeral for Iron Man why not also for Black Widow as without her actions in the middle of the film the fallen wouldn’t have returned.
The first 90 mins were very slow even though they just happen to get things right… and the Avengers showed their arrogance again rushing off at the start without thinking that they believed they could change what Thanos had done… again see all the destruction caused by Avengers cost trillions and extinction rebellion should be protesting against them for causing climate change with the pollution and damage to the earth they have been responsible for over the last 11 years earth must be bankrupt by now?
While it’s great that half the population returned but after five years of changes how does the world exist with the population doubling overnight.. the return of 3 billion people must cause famine as there isn’t the food or infrastructure in place for them anymore as they were gone they weren’t coming back… but that reminded me of the HBO drama The Leftovers when millions just disappear…
One of the strangest stores surrounding Avengers: Endgame was the news that misogynistic men were downloaded an edited illegal version of the film without the feminism, people of colour, and gay moment, as those scenes are very short not much must have been cut out? Last year a similar ‘Chauvinist cut’ of Star Wars: The Last Jedi was made removing all female characters which must have cut the film by half.
Much was made about the feminist moment in Avengers: Endgame as the gay moment but both were just that, compare that to Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman gay sequences, its crazy that so much was made from the 30 second scene featuring an extra in Endgame.
- The Hustle – £793,328 – £2,315,805
Down 19% in its second weekend; holding surprisingly well after receiving poor reviews being highlighting star power of Rebel Wilson and Ann Hathaway also helped being an alternative to the testosterone heavy films on release.
Holding better than What Men Want in its second weekend dropped 38% taking £515,410 and £1,853,240 total £1.95m and 2017’s Snatched dropped 60% taking £336,854 and £1,626,748 total £2.8m.
Holding similar to
Rebel Wilson’s 2016’s How to Be Single dropped 35% (49% with previews) taking £954,311 and £3,666,958 total £5.76m.
Anna Hathaway 2008’s Get Smart dropped 38% (54% with previews) taking £710,174 and £3,493,606 total £4.62m
Comparisons have been made with 2015’s Spy dropped 34% (39% with previews) taking £1,549,756 and £5,549,333 total £9.65m.
MGM last year release a female reboot of Overboard taking $50m in the US and $91m worldwide but opened with only £19,304 from 21 screens last June in the UK due to switching Goldie Hawn for Mexican actor Eugenio Derbez while Anna Faris and Eva Longoria weren’t strong enough to replace Kurt Russell despite starring in many films and TV shows.
Next month MGM release their Child’s Play reboot against Toy Story 4; the original films generated much controversy when the films were suggested by the media they inspired the real-life murder of a child, but police rejected this finding no evidence linking them to the murder.
At the time government said, ‘We cannot see any other way we can make the laws any tighter . . . no matter how tightly Parliament may classify films, what you watch in your own home as viewers is the decision of parents and youngsters.’
The marketing for the film has been tongue in cheek in the US opening against Toy Story 4 ( with Chucky killing Woody) but will be interesting to see how U media react to it, maybe that is why Verve are releasing it not Warner Bros or Universal who normal release MGM films in the UK
An animated The Adams Family film opens in October and Legally Blonde 3 and Bill & Ted Face the Music in 2020 along with Bond 25 most of the films will be released internationally via Universal Pictures apart from Bill & Ted 3 which Warner Bros have recently acquired international rights.
Over the years have been many gender-swapping remakes while 2016’s Ghostbusters received much negativity films Ocean’s Eight was far better received as it didn’t have the fandom attached targetting an older audience and the film was already a remake. Will be interesting to see how the new Ghostbusters film will be received next year.
- Paw Patrol: Mighty Pups – £521,504 – NE
Feature length film of the animated TV series opening ahead of half term holidays targeting younger audiences faces tough competition from The Secret Life of Pets 2 and Aladdin next weekend.
As with Peppa Pig: Festival of Fun opened with £982,617 last month Vue Cinemas were the one exhibitor that had the 60-minute film at reduced prices
Paw Patrol: Mission Big Screen opened from 83 Vue Cinemas in July 2017 with £42,460
Bing at the Cinema opened from 85 Vue Cinemas in April 2018 with £65,535
The Snowman and the Snowdog opened in December 2018 from 87 Vue Cinemas with £18,135
Hey Dugge At The Cinema opened in January 2019 from 88 Vue Cinemas with £67,672
These openings might seem low, but tickets were much lower than regular price with some of the screenings only £1.
With the arrival of Aladdin and The Secret Life of Pets 2 Paw Patrol: Mighty Pups will drop down the charts this weekend but with half-term net week should still have a lucrative week at the box office as it plays to a much younger toddler audience as previous Peppa Pig films have managed to hold their own against much bigger family films.
UK box office in detail
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £10,607,906 down 12.1% from last weekend £12,057,386
The weekend admissions 1,469,239 down 11.6% from last weekend 1,661,712; average ticket £7.22 down from last year’s £7.49 but Applaudience estimate ticket price of £10.28
16 films opened at weekend taking (£4,601,930); John Wick: Chapter 3: Parabellum 77.4% (£3,562,524); Paw Patrol: Mighty Pups 11.3% (£521,504); remaining 14 films shared 11.2% (£517,901)
Top three took 80.5% (£8,512,755) of the top 10; John Wick: Chapter 3: Parabellum 33.7% (£3,562,524); Pokemon Detective Pikachu 25.7% (£2,718,116); Avengers: Endgame 21.1% (£2,232,115);
The weekend was Down 37.7% from 2018: (£17,042,583); Deadpool 2 (£12,974,669); An American in Paris – The Musical (£68,201); On Chesil Beach (£67,017); 2001: A Space Odyssey (Re) (£4,646); #1 Deadpool 2 £12,974,669 636 screens 1st week (76.1% of top 10)
Up 21.3% from 2017: (£8,745,494); King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (£2,501,993); Snatched (£842,489); Colossal (£150,642); King Arthur: Legend of the Sword £2,501,993 564 screens 1st week (28.6% of top 10)
Down 24.5% from 2016: (£14,060,126); X-Men: Apocalypse (£7,354,293); A Hologram For The King (£378,759); Thomas & Friends: The Great Race (£147,617); Sing Street (£126,269); X-Men: Apocalypse £7,354,293 598 screens 1st week (52.3% of top 10)
Down 20.6% from 2015; (£13,363,529); Pitch Perfect 2 (£5,005,394); Mad Max: Fury Road (£4,538,933); #1 Pitch Perfect 2 £5,005,394 496 screens 1st week (37.4% of top 10)
Up 10.2% from 2014: (£9,627,777); Godzilla (£6,385,483); The Two Faces of January (£328,438); Concussion (£9,507); #1 Godzilla £6,385,483 550 screens 1st week (66.3% of top 10)
Down 42.8% from 2013: (£18,557,112); Fast & Furious 6 (£8,717,534) The Great Gatsby (£4,095,325); #1 Fast & Furious 6 £8,717,534 462 screens 1st week (46.9% of top 10)
Down 13.6% from 2012 (£12,276,016); The Dictator (£4,963,745); The Raid (£417,596); 2 Days in New York (£87,385); #1 The Dictator £4,963,745 1st week 509 screens (40.4% of top 10)
Up 40.2% from 2011 (£7,566,720); Attack the Block (£1,133,859); The Way (£104,397); Take Me Home Tonight (£45,859); Taxi Driver (35th Anniversary) (£15,161); #1 Thor £1,360,418 30% drop 3rd week 472 screens (17.9% of top 10)
Down 0.5% from 2010: (£10,656,307); Robin Hood (£5,750,332); Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (£5,623); #1 Robin Hood £5,750,332 1st week 537 screens (53.9% of top 10)
Down 30.4% from 2009; (£15,250,846); Angels and Demons (£6,054,627); Fighting (£991,180); Synecdoche, New York (£123,125); #1 Angels and Demons £6,054,627 506 screens 1st week (39.7% of top 10)
Up 88.3% from 2008; (£5,755,952); Caramel (£122,790); Charlie Bartlett (£97,181); Smart People (£88,235); Shutter (£72,574); #1 Iron Man £1,917,925 3rd 496 screens 3% drop (33.3% of top 10)
Up 79.7% from 2007:(£5,900,836); Zodiac (£818,369); Magicians (£366,188); Love Wrecked (£223,400); Spider-Man 3 £2,549,712 3rd week 508 screens 54% drop (43.2% of top 10)
Down 21.1% from 2006; (£13,433,839); The Da Vinci Code (£9,501,444); Waiting (£307,791); #1 The Da Vinci Code £9,501,444 1st week 523 screens (70.7% of top 10)
Down 39.1% from 2005 (£17,406,831); Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith (£14,361,469); Mysterious Skin (£39,382); Only Human (£26,574); #1 Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith £14,361,469 1st week 490 screens (82.5% of top 10)
Up 153.4% from 2004 (£4,185,573); The Football Factory (£207,683); Troy (platform) (£89,286); Shattered Glass (£46,921); #1 Van Helsing £2,403,036 2nd week 456 screens 56% drop (57.4% of top 10)
Up 81.9% from 2003 (£5,829,019); Kangaroo Jack (£764,917); The Actors (£226,860); Secretary (£165,318); Antwone Fisher (£59,976); To Kill a King (£59,701); Extreme Ops (£14,751); #1 X-Men 2 £2,115,011 3rd week 468 screens 31% drop (36.2% of top 10)
Down 27.9% from 2002 (£14,728,512); Star Wars Ep II: Attack of the Clones (£11,386,209); The Closet (£75,396); #1 Star Wars Ep II – Attack of the Clones £11,386,209 467 screens 1st week 32% drop (77.3% of top 10)
Next weekend in 2018: (£13,192,041) Solo: A Star Wars Story (£6,061,231); Show Dogs (£546,405); The Breadwinner (£79,329); McKellen: Playing the Part Live 2018 (£41,110); #1 Solo: A Star Wars Story £6,061,231 1st week 680 screens (45.9% of top 10)
Also opened
- Breakthrough – 20th Century Fox
Opened with £81,134 from 198 screens
- Batman – Warner Bros
Took £38,112 from 221 screens
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Tim Burton’s Batman in August the for-Batman films were re-released on Friday in 4K ahead of their 4K DVD release net month. They had one screening each over the weekend.
The sequel fared much worse
Batman Returns (4K £7,906 from 90 screens
Batman Forever (4K) £293 from 2 screens
Batman & Robin (4K £154 from 2 screens
Cinemas charged regular prices for these screenings no its no wonder the box office was so low for the re-release. As with Paw Patrol: Mighty Pups exhibitors (apart from Vue) should have priced these screenings lower and then more people might have seen them.
Also on release
- Amazing Grace – Studiocanal
Took £124,173 from 114 screens in its second weekend taking £374,933
Added 45 screens but still dropped 25%.
2018’s Whitney opened with £142,936 from 231 screens taking £454,095
2015’s Amy opened with £523,192 from 133 screens taking £3,675,233
Weekend Comparison
John Wick: Chapter 3: Parabellum topped the weekend chart but the weekend was down 38% from last year when Deadpool 2 took more than this weeks top 10 combined Deadpool 2 £12,974,669.
Also down
24% from 2016; X-Men: Apocalypse opening £7,354,293
21% from 2015; Pitch Perfect 2 opened £5,005,394 and Mad Max: Fury Road £4,538,933
43% from 2013; Fast & Furious 6 opened £8,717,534
14% from 2012: The Dictator opened £4,963,745
30% from 2009; Angels and Demons opened £6,054,627
21% from 2006: The Da Vinci Code opened £9,501,444
39% from 2005: Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith opened £14,361,469
28% from 2002: Star Wars Ep II: Attack of the Clones opened £11,386,209
But this weekend with 6-day openings for Rocketman, five day for Aladdin and three day for The Secret Life of Pets 2 will be a much stronger weekend than previous years showing again how the UK box office now has massive highs and then lows.
2019 Box office
With the double punch of Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame Disney have taken over 41% of 2019 BO to date over £180m add 20th Century Fox 9.8% (£43m) Disney now has over 50% of the UK BO.
Aladdin, Toy Story 4, The Lion King, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, Frozen 2, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Dark Phoenix, Ad Astra, The Woman in the Window, Ford v. Ferrari and Spies in Disguise still to be released. Disney are likely to take over £650m this year more than double last year and over 50% of the years box office of £1.3bn.
The two studios have released 12 films combined this year (including 2018 holdovers) more than any other distributors.
Their closest rivals are Warner Bros and Universal Pictures taking £51m and £46m; Paramount Pictures are the most improved studio while Sony Pictures have so far disappointed but had a soft start to the year summer and winter much stronger Men in Black International, Spider-Man: Far from Home, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, The Angry Birds Movie 2, Charlie’s Angels and Jumanji 2.
2019 was always going to be that Disney were going to be unbeatable with or without 20th Century Fox but rival studios have stronger slates in 2020 and with Avatar moved to 2021 Disney have a much softer slate than previous years with Onward, Mulan, Artemis Fowl, Jungle Cruise, The One and Only Ivan, Cruella, two untitled MCU films, Kingsman Prequel, Free Guy, Bob’s Burgers, Death on the Nile and West Side Story.
UK Box Office Top 10
US Box office
- John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum – Lionsgate
Opened with $56.81m; received positive reviews (88% Rotten Tomatoes score) and A- CinemaScore
John Wick Chapter 2 received A- CinemaScore (89% Rotten Tomatoes)
John Wick received B CinemaScore (86% Rotten Tomatoes)
Ahead of release John Wick: Chapter 3 was tracking to open between $30m-$40m but after taking $5.9m from Thursday midnights its estimate was increased to $56.8m on Saturday almost double John Wick 2’s opening not suffering a case of threequelitis as many other films have done.
John Wick: Chapter 3 is Lionsgate biggest opening since November 2015’s The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part ($102.66m); Lionsgate’s first #1 film since A Madea Halloween 2 in October 2017 and is their 6th biggest opening in the US.
Keanu Reeves first #1 film since 2008’s The Day the Earth Stood Still ($30.48m)
John Wick opened $14.41m taking $43.03m and $88.76m while it was always conceived as a series of films as are so many films was still a surprise a sequel was made raking less than $100m worldwide but then the film became a huge success on video.
John Wick: Chapter Two opened in 2017 again received positive reviews (89% Rotten Tomatoes) opened with more than double the first film with $30.43m taking $92.02m and $171.53m worldwide.
Keanu Reeves has made a wide range of genres over the years; his 48 films have taken over $2bn over the last 33 years and $4.21bn worldwide.
Opened with $35.2m from 66 territories and $92.2m worldwide (opened #1 in 53/66 territories
- Avengers: Endgame – Disney
Dropped 52.6% in its fourth weekend taking $29.97m and $771.36m
Avengers: Endgame is the 2nd biggest film in the US overtaking Avengers: Infinity War ($679m) and Black Panther ($700m) and will overtake Avatar ($760.5m) by next weekend
Disney now have 8 of the top 10 (6 from Disney Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Marvel’s The Avengers, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Incredibles 2 and Avatar from 20th Century Fox)
Had the sixth biggest fourth weekend in the US after Avatar ($50.3m);Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($42.35m); Black Panther ($40.81m); Avengers ($36.68m); Avengers: Infinity War ($29.45m);
After taking $1.3bn worldwide in 3 days everyone expected Avengers: Endgame to canter past the global box office of Avatar $2.78bn but is still $174m short and after taking $72m worldwide this weekend will now likely come short to overtaking Avatar.
Incredible the second biggest film in the US will only be #1 for three weeks; last year Black Panther was #1 for 4 weeks the longest #1 since Avatar (7 weeks) Titanic #1 for an incredible 15 weeks in 1997/98. The longest E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial with 16 weeks, but the 80s were a completely different time as film rang for year or more in cinemas now even Avengers: Endgame will be playout before July in cinemas.
Fourth weekend drops
Infinity War dropped 52.6%; Black Panther 38.4% Avengers 34.1%; Avengers: Age of Ultron 44.2%; Star Wars: The Force Awakens 53.1%; Star Wars: The Last Jedi 54.8%; Jurassic World 46.4%
Took $102.3m from 55 territories and $1.762bn; China $624.6m; UK $109m; Korea $101.5m; Brazil $79.2m; Mexico $73.9m; India $60.4m; Germany $58.1m; France $55.4m; Australia $55.2m; Japan $47.2m; Russia $44.5m; Indonesia $34.2m; Italy $32.7m; Philippines $32.4m; Spain $30.3m; taking $207m globally from IMAX $62m from US and $145m internationally including $81.2m from China.
2nd biggest film worldwide between Avatar and Titanic taking $2.61bn; Disney now have 7 of the top 10 (6 from Disney, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Marvel’s The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Avatar from 20th Century Fox).
Avengers: Endgame is moving now much slower to topple Avatar as the biggest film globally, but after opening with $1.2bn worldwide in three days should be taking over $3bn worldwide easily. Over the last 10 years have been many films industry had expected to topple Avatar after having massive global openings including Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Avengers: Infinity War and Jurassic World but they failed to do so, while Avengers: Endgame will do so thanks to taking over $600m from China.
With Avengers: Endgame supposedly the conclusion of the Avengers film (will of course be hundreds more Marvel films) but what film could possibly top Avengers: Endgame? James Cameron brings Avatar sequels from 2021 but can the possibly be the huge success the first film was in 2009, as the films haven’t aged as well,
22 Marvel Cinematic Universe films have now taken $8.01bn in the US and $21.14bn worldwide
- Pokemon Detective Pikachu – Warner Bros
Dropped 53.8% in its second weekend taking $25.1m and $94.29m
The 40+ video game adaptions have taken over $1.57bn in the US since 1980 but few have been successful 2001’s Lara Croft: Tomb Raider the biggest taking $131.2m and $275m worldwide
1999’s Pokemon: The First Movie opened $31.03m taking $85.8m and $163.6m worldwide
2000’s Pokemon: The Movie 2000 opened $19.57m taking $43.7m and $134m worldwide
2001’s Pokemon 3: The Movie opened $8.24m taking $17.1m and $68.4m worldwide
The six Pokemon films have taken $203.39m in the US and $581.8m worldwide
First trailer viewed over 100m times in its first 24 hours in November setting a new record of 400,000 mentions in Twitter; the second over 25m times since February and a third was released at the end of April.
Took $53.8m from 71 territories and $193.4m total and $287.4m worldwide; #499 biggest film globally between Pitch Perfect 2 and The Green Mile
China: $70.3m; Japan: $16.8m; UK: $11.6m; Mexico: $8.8m; Germany: $7.6m; France: $7.2m; Australia: $6.5m; Italy: $4.9m; Korea: $4.5m; Spain: $4.2m; Taiwan: $3.9m; Indonesia: $3.2m
- A Dog’s Journey – Universal Pictures
Opened with $8.03m; received average reviews (50% Rotten Tomatoes score) and A CinemaScore
A Dog’s Purpose opened in January 2017 with $18.22m taking $64.5m
A Dog’s Journey generated controversy ahead of its release after a video appeared to show a dog in distress on the set of the film, the video was “leaked” sparking outrage with calls to boycott the film. It was later revealed that the video was “deliberately edited for the purpose of misleading the public and stoking public outrage”.
Likely to be confused with A Dog’s Purpose opened in January with $11.25m taking $42m
Pet children’s films have been popular for decades in cinemas with films including Beethoven (and the many sequels), Max, Bolt, Cats and Dogs, The Shaggy Dog, 101 Dalmatians, Oliver & Company, My Dog Skip, Eight Below, White Fang, Lassie, The Lady and the Tramp, Snow Dogs, The Shaggy Dog and The Incredible Journey.
Took $3m internationally from 14 territories $15.5m total
- The Sun Is Also a Star – Warner Bros
Opened with $2.51m; received average reviews (50% Rotten Tomatoes score) and B- CinemaScore
Never can tell with young adult film adaptations being based on best-selling novels they often generate strong social media coverage but most of the time audiences don’t come out to see them.
2014’s The Fault in our Stars opening with $48m taking $124.87m was the biggest film based on young adult novel away from Harry Potter, Twilight and The Hunger Games.
Earlier this year Five Feet Apart opened $13.19m taking $45.52m; 2018’s Love, Simon opened $11.75m taking $40.82m; The Hate U Give opened $7.5m taking $29.71m; 2017’s Everything, Everything opened $11.72m taking $34.12m; 2014’s If I Stay opened $15.67m taking $50.47m,
Took $484k from 25 territories
- The Hustle – United Artists
Dropped 52.8% in its second weekend taking $6.13m and $23.2m
Took $774k from previews similar to 2018’s Life of the Party $700k opening with $17.8m and 2017’s Snatched $650k opened with $19.5 million.
The Hustle is a reboot of 1998’s Dirty Rotten Scoundrels made by Orion Pictures; opened in December 1988 with $3,840,498 taking $42,039,085 was the 24th biggest film of the year #1 Rain Man.
Female reboots have received a mixed reception by audiences and critics 2016’s Ghostbusters reboot was surrounded by misogynistic vitriol, while last year’s Ocean’s Eight was much more positively received, Overboard not so much and What Men Want was also successful this year.
The Hustle is likely to preform similar to 2017’s Snatched opened with $19,542,24 taking $45,852,178 and 2015’s Hot Pursuit opened with $13,942,258 taking $34,580,201
Took $9.5m from 33 territories and $28.1m total and $51.3m worldwide
UK Box Office Predictions
Rarely do studios open three major films over the same weekend as normally even though they target different demographics they still cannibalise each other as they eat into the others audience. As will be the case with Aladdin and The Secret Life of Pets 2 both opening ahead of the lucrative half-term holidays and for The Secret Life of Pets 2 gives it a four-week gap before Toy Story 4.
Five years ago three major releases opened in May with Disney’s Maleficent #1 £6,590,071 (taking £2,767,018 previews) without previews took £3,823,053 only £300k more than X-Men: Days of Future Past #2 (£3,518,389); but those two films squeezed the box office of the other two releases Edge of Tomorrow £1,886,096 (one of Tom Cruise’s lowest openings) and A Million Ways to Die in the West £1,240,465.
With Aladdin opening on Wednesday has two more days than The Secret Life of Pets 2, but won’t be so impactful as schools haven’t broken up yet.
Despite all the negativity surrounding Aladdin would never bet against Disney from opening top but rarely have they had direct competition opening against one of their films and when it does happen after a few weeks on release as did with Avengers: Endgame they drop much heavier than expected as there is no sustenance to these memberberries movies.
All the footage released so far for Aladdin has been wishy-washy much different to the animated film which had so much energy from Robin Williams, as Will Smith has said himself he has used his role as The Fresh prince of Bel-Air as his genie, but the TV series is older than the animated film.
In the 90s Will Smith was a huge star Independence Day, Men in Black, Bad Boys, his music but over the last decade his films haven’t been as successful and has been overshadowed by his son Jaden. While Robin Williams in 1992 had much less of a back catalogue of films had just starred in Hook but was well known for his stand-up something Will Smith is not known for.
Disney’s reimaginations be it their like-action remakes of Star Wars films are about nostalgia targeting those who were children when the original films were released and younger audience which makes the casting of Will Smith a surprise as he will attract the adults, but those are also the ones who will say his not our genie.
26 years ago Aladdin was the second biggest film of the year after Jurassic Park despite opening in 1992 (was one of the final films Disney released through Warner Bros before they opened Buena Vista International with Sister Act their first release in November 1992). Aladdin took £16,115,822 would be £52,163,050 today almost as much as Bohemian Rhapsody and Dunkirk.
The Secret Life of Pets opened in June 2016 with £9,580,039 (including £3,630,044 previews) £5,949,995 Fri-Sun taking £35,825,195. 4th biggest Illumination Entertainment film. As with The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part and How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World The Secret Life of Pets 2 doesn’t have previews to inflate its opening weekend.
The Secret Life of Pets 2 is the first time Illumination Entertainment has opened directly against Disney film, so the two films are likely cannibalizing with Aladdin playing to similar demographics.
Rocketman had its UK premiere on Monday with paid previews in cinemas the same day and then previews from Wednesday to give it a 6-day opening weekend similar to Bohemian Rhapsody opened with £9,530,463 (including £3,054,530 previews) taking £6,430,463 Fri-Sun dropping only 39% in its second weekend taking £54,921,586 28th biggest film in the UK.
Rocketman is in a similar position as The Greatest Showman was in opened December 2017 behind Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Pitch Perfect 3 with £2,575,147 but had very long legs outlasting all of them in the top 10 playing wide in cinemas till May taking £47,280,000.
The difference is Rocketman has had huge marketing campaign and has world premiere this week at the Cannes Film Festival and the UK premiere in London a few days later and will generate huge media coverage. The Greatest Showman opened with very little media attention but became the people’s champion.
Jamie Bell has had a connection with Elton John for 20 years since starring in The Dancer which became Billy Elliot at the Cannes Film Festival in 2000. Elton John loved the film and then wrote the music for the musical
Billy Elliot opened September 2000 with £1,541,109 (£2,528,820 inflation inflated) taking £16,972,531 (£27,850,380 inflation inflated)
Monday was the UK premiere of Rocketman at the Odeon Leicester Square Liz Hurley was among the celebrities attending the premiere almost 25 years to the day she attended the UK premiere of Four Wedding and a Funeral.
In 1994 she wore the infamous black Versace dress which generated huge media coverage for weeks after the film opened, do believe was partly responsible for the film becoming the biggest British film in the UK (opened with £1,432,424 (£3,182,185 inflation inflated) taking £27,369,755 (£60,802,963 inflation inflated); in 1994 it was then one of a few films that took over £20m at the UK box office, now it’s the norm with ticket inflation of over 125%. This time she wore a white Versace trouser suit.
After all the media coverage has received and with critics calling it a better film than Bohemian Rhapsody am feeling now that with Aladdin and The Secret Life of Pets 2 targetting similar audiences Rocketman could run them close in third and will have much stronger legs.
What will also be key to how the three new release do is how will holdovers John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum and Pokemon Detective Pikachu perform against the new arrivals and will surely see Avengers: Endgame drop another 60%+ In its fifth weekend.
Opening in UK Next Week
- Godzilla: King of the Monsters – Warner Bros
Monster action film starring Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, Bradley Whitford, Sally Hawkins, Charles Dance, Thomas Middleditch, David Strathairn, Ken Watanabe, and Zhang Ziyi and directed Michael Dougherty; sequel to 2014’s Godzilla and the 35th film in the Godzilla franchise; third film in Legendary’s MonsterVerse; third Godzilla film made by a Hollywood studio.
Early buzz has been very positive calling it a great action film much better than Avengers: Endgame (showing how fickle audiences have become).
Godzilla opened May 2016 with £6,385,483 (including £1,185,844 previews) taking £17,074,621
Kong: Skull Island opened March 2017 with £6,230,997 (including £615,360 previews) taking £15,616,015
While the 1998 Godzilla film opened with £4,176,960 (£7,483,288 inflation inflated) taking £15,920,578 (£28,522,723 inflation inflated)
Sequel, Godzilla vs. Kong, is scheduled to be released on March 13, 2020.
Disaster films used to be much more successful but are one of many genres of films that have been squeezed at the box office over the last decade; Independence Day (£37m), The Day After Tomorrow (£25.1m), 2012 (£19.2m) and Armageddon (£16.4m) more recently Geostorm (£4.21m) and Rampage (£8.6m).
As with Pokemon Detective Pikachu, Godzilla: King of the Monsters was produced by Legendary Pictures and was originally to be a joint Universal Pictures/Warner Bros film, but Warner Bros took world rights to along with Kong: Skull Island and Godzilla vs. Kong.
- Ma – Universal Pictures
Psychological horror starring Octavia Spencer, Juliette Lewis, Diana Silvers, Luke Evans, McKaley Miller, Missi Pyle, Corey Fogelmanis, Marjay Ross, Gianni Paolo and Dante Brown, directed by Tate Taylor and produced by Jason Blum (Blumhouse Productions).
Trailer was released in February; the poster has similarities with The Martian with Octavia Spencer’s face and tagline of “Get Home Safe” while The Martian has Matt Damon’s face and “Bring Him Home”
At the Los Angeles premiere Octavia Spencer described the film as “a cautionary tale” playing killer a who struggles with rejection, peer pressure and bullying, which could connect well with audiences, as other Blumhouse Production films have done previously with films like Get Out and Us.
The second film starring Octavia Spencer directed by Tate Taylor after 2011’s The Help
Being very different to other films opening or on release likely to open similar to last year’s Breaking In £424,675
- Booksmart – eOne (opening Monday 27th)
Comedy starring Kaitlyn Dever, Beanie Feldstein, Jessica Williams, Will Forte, Lisa Kudrow, and Jason Sudeikis and directed by Olivia Wilde produced by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay.
Had its world premiere at South by Southwest in March receiving critical acclaim currently 100% Rotten Tomatoes score.
Comparison have been made with 2007’s Superbad (being a female version) even its marketing campaign is similar; Superbad opened in the UK in August 2007 with £1,484,456 taking £6,064,632.
eOne open Booksmart and Late Night within two weeks both have generated strong buzz and positive reviews and seen as original films, but both have similarities with older films Booksmart with Superbad and Late Night with The Devil Wears Prada despite this are that need to e a success if UK cinema is really healthy as industry claims it is.
These films would be the summer sleepers a decade or more ago, two years ago The Big Sick generated similar positive buzz from its Sundance Film Festival premiere and positive reviews but only managed to open tenth in the UK with £488,718 9from 160 screens) in July 2017, added 49 screens in its second weekend taking £276,107 and £1,080,038. These films used to play all summer now they are pulled within weeks.
Hopefully after being trailered with Long Shot and The Hustle and having a strong talker screening program the film will play stronger but both films open in a very crowded market and its unlikely exhibitors will allow them a chance to find their audience. Surprising eOne opted to open Booksmart this week but with Late Night opening in two weeks had little wiggle room unless they held back the release of both.
While industry celebrates the success of Avengers: Endgame its films like Booksmart it should be championing and needs to be a success.
Opening in the US
- Godzilla: King of the Monsters – Warner Bros
Expected to open with $50m+
2017’s Kong: Skull Island opened with $61.02m taking $168.02m and $566.62m worldwide
2014’s Godzilla opened with $93.18m taking $200.67m and $529m worldwide
1998’s Godzilla opened with $44.04m taking $136.31m and $379.01m worldwide
Before comic-book movies took over disaster films were the big summer draw at the box office including Apollo 13, Independence Day, Dante’s Peak, Deep Impact, Armageddon, The Day After Tomorrow and War of the Worlds
- Rocketman – Paramount Pictures
Biographical musical drama starring Taron Egerton, Jamie Bell, Richard Madden and Bryce Dallas Howard and directed by Dexter Fletcher; film is titled after Elton John’s 1972 song Rocket Man.
As with Bohemian Rhapsody the Elton John biopic had a long development starting in 2012 with Justin Timberlake Elton John’s first choice to play him. Michael Gracey attached to direct with Tom Hardy cast in October 2013 and Focus Features acquired US rights and was set to start shooting in autumn 2014 but due to creative differences between Elton John and Focus Features along with budget issues they moved the film to Paramount Pictures.
The project moved to Paramount Pictures with Matthew Vaughn attached to produce, Taron Egerton cast as Elton John (Elton John just had a cameo in Kingsman: The Golden Circle starring Taron Egerton).
When musicians are the producers the film as with Rocketman and Bohemian Rhapsody they are never going to be the kind of biopic critics want them to be but more for the fans.
Two years ago Universal Pictures acquired the rights to Blonde Ambition Madonna biopic, but she disapproved of the idea saying “Nobody knows what I know and what I have seen. Only I can tell my story. Anyone else who tries is a charlatan and a fool.. Looking for instant gratification without doing the work. This is a disease in our society.” While saw Universal Pictured pull the project, have been similar plans for a David Bowie biopic but his estate won’t give approval to use his music. Making a biopic is a careful balancing act when making a biopic that doesn’t hurt the imagine of the artist which Oliver Stone’s The Doors biopic did.
Dexter Fletcher replaced Michael Gracey (who was making The Greatest Showman for 20th Century Fox) as director in April 2018 and started shooting in August after he had completed Bohemian Rhapsody.
Rocketman is in a similar position as The Greatest Showman was in opened December 2017 fourth behind Star Wars: The Last Jedi #1 second weekend ($71.56m);Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle ($36.16m) and Pitch Perfect 3 ($19.92m); The Greatest Showman ($8.8m). The Greatest Showman had very long legs in the top 10 for 11 weeks one less than Jumanji but 5 weeks more than Star Wars: The Last Jedi and 7 weeks longer than Pitch Perfect 3.
The difference is Rocketman has had huge marketing campaign and has world premiere last week at the Cannes Film Festival and the UK premiere in London a few days later and will generating huge media coverage. The Greatest Showman opened with very little media attention having world premiere onboard the Queen Mary 2 ship 10 days before release but became the people’s champion.
Rocketman received a standing ovation at its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival receiving mostly positive reviews (including 5-star reviews from The Times and Telegraph) with many critics saying it is the film Bohemian Rhapsody should have been. Others have said Taron Egerton gives a poor imitation of Elton John while his performance is likely to be compared with Rami Malek’s Oscar winning performance of Freddie Mercury.
Bohemian Rhapsody opened 11 months later after 20th Century Fox decided to avoid opening against Mary Poppins Returns, instead opened early November as they had successfully launched Murder on the Orient Express a year earlier (opening with $28.68m taking $102.82m; dated sequel Death on the Nile next year).
Elton John songs gave featured in many films over the years two of my favourites was Your Song in Moulin Rouge and Tiny Dancer in Almost Famous; Cameron Crowe’s 2000 Almost Famous was underrated at the time flopping opening with $2.13m taking $32.53m but while about a fictional band feels very similar to Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman as A Star Is Born being how it must feel performing in front of thousands.
Taron Egerton also sung Elton John’s I’m Still Standing in 2016’s animated film Sing
While Elton John’s Can You Feel The Love Tonight featured in 1994’s The Lion King and will also feature in the live-action animated remake opening in July.
Last Thursday the first original song was released sung by Taron Egerton – (I’m Gonna) Love Me Again; many are already calling it out as favourite for next years Oscars.
In March Paramount screened footage from Rocketman which received positive this was similar to 20th Century fox screening footage of Bohemian Rhapsody a few months ahead of release, this has become the norm for studios wanting to generate buzz but not able to screen the completed film.
Three weeks ago Rocketman was tracking to open with $30m+ less than $40m+ Bohemian Rhapsody was tracking to open with (opening with $51.06m taking $216.42m and $903.17m worldwide); that was of course before the films marketing campaign kicked into fifth gear with its premiere at Cannes Film Festival generating huge global publicity.
A Star is Born opened October 2018 $42.9m taking $215.28m and %434.18m worldwide
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again opened July 2018 $34.95m taking $120.53m and $394.74m worldwide
The Greatest Showman opened December 2017 $8.8m taking $174,34m and $434.99m worldwide
While The Great Gatsby opened in May 2013 $50.08m taking $144.84m and $353.64m worldwide; as with Rocketman it was counterprogramming to the megamovies Iron Man 3 #1 $72.52m (2nd weekend) with Star Trek Into Darkness opening in its second weekend.
Rocketman opens the week after Aladdin (after opening with $80m+ second weekend $35m+) and against Godzilla: King of the Monsters (expected $50m+ opening) with The Secret Life of Pets 2 ($70m+) and Dark Phoenix ($50m+) second weekends but Rocketman is expected to hold much stronger as Bohemian Rhapsody (38.9%).
Rocketman has a lot of similarities to Bohemian Rhapsody and The Greatest Showman as Freddie Mercury says in Bohemian Rhapsody Tell you what it is, Mr. Reid. Now we’re four misfits who don’t belong together, we’re playing for other misfits. They’re the outcasts right at the back of the room. We’re pretty sure they don’t belong either. We belong to them.
While in The Greatest Showman when the journalist tells Barnum “I never liked your show, but I always thought the people did”… “Putting people of all Shapes, Sizes, Colours. Putting them on stage together and presenting them as equals, another critic might have even called it a celebration of humanity.”… Tell me, Mr. Barnum, does it bother you that everything you’re selling is fake? Barnum replies “Do these smiles seem fake? It doesn’t matter where they come from. The joy is real.”
In Rocketman Elton John asks, “So how does a fat boy from nowhere get to be a soul man?”… man replies, “You got to kill the person you were born to be in order to become the person you want to be.”…
- Ma – Universal Pictures
Horror/Thriller opening as counter-programming to Godzilla targeting female audience with Oscar winning Octavia Spencer the lead who has said the film is a bloody revolution against racial stereotypes as “Black people always die in the first 15 minutes of a horror film,” but she was told by director Tate Taylor ‘Not only do you not die, you get to kill people!’.
Octavia Spencer has compared the tone of Ma to 1990’s Misery (opened $10.07m taking $61.27m) and classic 80s teen films.
While Tate Taylor calls the film a “cautionary tale” about the mistreatment of women. “Don’t brush them under the rug and think there won’t be repercussions,” he teases. “Not with Ma!” Audiences could get behind the film after the controversial new abortion bill recently passed in Alabama.
Third Blumhouse Production film of 2019 after Happy Death Day 2U and Us with The Hunt opening in October. The 41 films he has produced since 2009 (Paranormal Activity) have taken over $2.2bn in the US and $4.21bn worldwide.
Ma expected to open between $15m-$20m similar to Breaking In last year $17.63m taking $46.85m
