UK Box Office December 25th- 27th 2020 week 52

1. Wonder Woman 1984 – £72,674 – £1,377,049

Down 91.4% in its second weekend (86.6% not including previews)
Warner Bros announced Wonder Woman 1984 would be released on VOD on January 13^th, this should surely be brought forward to now as makes little sense with its box office dropping so heavily in its second weekend
After having the 16^th biggest opening of the year and second-biggest opening since the first lockdown ended ahead of New Mutants (£0.68m) and After We Collided (£0.65m). It had the 31^st biggest second weekend of the year between The Hunt and Bloodshot (both films opened just before the first lockdown) and the 11th biggest second weekend opening since the first lockdown between Unhinged and American Pickle.
Wonder Woman 1984 is the 23^rd biggest film of 2020 between A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood and New Mutants and the 4^th biggest film since the first lockdown ended between Unhinged and The New Mutants.
In 2017 Wonder Woman held far stronger in its second weekend down 45% (40% fewer previews) taking £3.48m and £12.84m 57.8% of £22.2m total; took £137,306 more than The Mummy in second with £3,343,650. Critical and the audience reaction was far more positive for the first film why despite it’s lower than expected opened held strongly over the weeks after, this has been the case with other films like 2014’s Edge of Tomorrow.
Wonder Woman 1984 received a far more mixed response from both critics and audiences maybe some of this had to do with seeing it on the small screen rather than the big screen as parts of Wonder Woman 1984 including the opening sequence were shot in IMAX and you don’t get the same reaction to a film watching it alone than with a crowded cinema auditorium.
This is of course why streaming is no real competition for the cinema experience that is if exhibitors kept the auditoriums as big as possible as they have had a habit of shrinking screens and seating capacity due to recliners long before the reduced capacity due to social distancing due to Coronavirus.
While it makes for shocking headlines to see Wonder Woman 1984 dropping 92% in its second weekend this was always likely opening it now as despite what exhibitors believe there is no “pent-up” demand to go to the cinema and hasn’t been since cinemas closed the first time in March. The cinephiles who rushed out to see Tenet in August were joined by comic-book fans last week for the opening of Wonder Woman 1984 but for everyone else going to the cinema is exceptionally low on the list of priorities.
I have gone to the cinema regularly for the last 40+ years and this year will be the first year I’ve not gone to the cinema, for someone who loved the cinema experience in the 80s and 90s cinema, cinema doesn’t have that excitement anymore and this was log before Coronavirus, while there are films that need to be seen on the big screen and the biggest screen possible many films are perfectly fine watching at home, 20 years ago I felt every film needed to be seen in the cinema, now it’s only a handful.
Impossible to make comparisons with any other film as no film has ever experienced a second weekend like Wonder Woman 1984, as Tenet was released during a time when Coronavirus was in the decline and all cinemas were open and it was the middle of summer and people felt more positive,
Now things are very different despite there being a vaccine (it will still take many months for there to be herd immunity, not until summer at the earliest), Coronavirus cases increase on a daily basis, most of the country is in either Tier 3 or 4 and the weather has got colder and the days have got gloomier and that’s before the long month of January ahead.
Ever since the first lockdown in March have always believed 2020 should have been written off by studios with all films undated. Most films were apart from Tenet, Mulan, and Wonder Woman 1984. Of course, studios did so they would have taken away the little bit of hope the industry had that it could have a comeback this year, but as Morgan Freeman says in Shawshank Redemption “Hope is a dangerous thing my friend, it can kill a man”.
UK cinemas reopened in July for Tenet which was far too soon as this was before Chinese cinemas had reopened closing two months earlier, with all the research by the industry saying it would still be at least 6 months before the majority felt comfortable to go back to the cinema, it was then no surprise the level of the box office over was less than 10% of normal. Even with the massive media coverage, Tenet received it still failed to attract less than a third of the audience it could have received if it were delayed.
Wonder Woman was the best part of both Batman Vs Superman and Justice League. (Zack Snyder’s Justice League will be released on HBO Max in the US in March and in cinemas international).
Non-film related issues also affected Wonder Woman’s UK box office in 2017 with the premiere cancelled after the terrorist attack at the end of Ariana Grande concert in Manchester. This saw the Warner having to pull back on the final elements of its UK marketing campaign so the film didn’t get the media coverage it would have received with a big London premiere with Gal Gadot in attendance.
While will always be a loyal 20% cinephiles who will keep going to the cinema, the other 80% are perfectly happy to watch films at home on their phones and tablets, especially over the last 6 months and the next 6+ months or more and it’s going to be extremely hard to get them to come back.
With the huge decline in the box office this week with more parts of the country going into Tier 3 and 4 on December 31^st that saw cinemas close it is surely time for exhibitors to make the decision to close cinemas. As Coronavirus cases are only going to get worse over the next month or so the sensible decision would be not to reopen cinemas before April, but exhibitors will surely reopen them immediately after the areas drop back down to Tier 2, but that might not happen before Easter.
So we are going to see many more films being delayed over the coming weeks, Blithe Spirit was going to be the first major release in 2021 opening in cinemas and Sky Cinema, now will only be on Sky and then Monster Hunter o January 29^th was due to be the first film to be released by a major studio in 2021, now likely to go PVOD.
With February releases The Croods 2: A New Age, Another Round, Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway, Promising Young Woman, Nomadland and Freaky also likely to be delayed. March and April films are also likely to be delayed including No Time To Die being delayed probably for another 6 months to October and Black Widow in May,
Hopefully, the industry will learn from its mistakes after the first lockdown and not reopen cinemas far too soon and studios will also learn by not holding films in the hope that cinemas will reopen as was the case with Tenet and Mulan which was why exhibitors were so eager to reopen cinemas in July, as they will be in March if No Time To Die isn’t delayed. The difference is No Time To Die success is vital for MGM’s future slate not as much as Tenet or Wonder Woman 1984 are to Warner Bros.
While 2017’s Wonder Woman was the best DC comic-book film (apart from The Lego Batman Movie and Teen Titans Go! To the Movies) it did have some issues like the CGI ending and Steve Trevor. The problem with the sequel is that Steve died at the end of the first film but his relationship in Wonder Woman was so important to the plot he had to return in the sequel. In Wonder Woman he makes all the crucial decisions and sacrifices himself to save the day, this is similar in the sequel when they learn the only way to stop Maxwell Lord is for Steve to sacrifices himself so Diane can get her powers back.
Warner was very quick to announce plans for a third Wonder Woman film to be fast-tracked over the weekend with director Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot expected o return. The question is how quickly they can get the film made as director of Star Wars Rogue Squadron set for Christmas Day 2023 release and she is attached to direct Gal Gadot in Cleopatra for Paramount. So Wonder Woman is unlikely to start filming until after Rogue Squadron which will likely be in 2023 for 2024 release.
Warner also announced plans for many more DC films with bigger films released theatrically and smaller films going to HBO Max. The Suicide Squad is set for release in August 2021 and then in 2022 The Batman (March), DC Super-Pets (May), The Flash (November) and Aquaman 2 (December) with two more being released on HBO Max.
Disney is also planning to release four Marvel films in 2022 Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, Black Panther 2, and Captain Marvel 2 (but with Black Widow likely to e delayed from May to July this will likely shift their 2021 slate again.
After the criticism, Warner received after they announced all of their 2021 slate will be released in cinemas and HBO Max they announced Mad Max prequel Furiosa, Coyote vs. Acme and musical The Color Purple will open only in cinemas in 2023, a sign that their plans for 2021 slate are as most believed short-term to deal with the fact that cinema attendance won’t return to pre-lockdown levels in 2021 despite exhibitors believing is a ‘pent-up demand’.

2. Home Alone – £3,840 – £732,205

Down 93.1%; 30 years Home Alone was #1 in the UK for its fourth week.

Home Alone was last re-released in cinemas by Park Circus in December 2019 opening with £88,011 from 163 screens
Home Alone originally opened December7th 1990 with £987,706 taking £12m (£27m inflation inflated).
Home Alone was voted as the fifth best Christmas film in a Radio Times poll in 2018; It’s A Wonderful Life #1; Elf #2; The Muppet Christmas Carol #3; Love Actually #4 with Die Hard #6 and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation #7 both were also re-released over the weekend.
Christmas films as Christmas songs are re-released every November and December and people will watch (and listen) to them, again and again, each year over the Christmas period, as they are the perfect antidote for the time of year being fun and feel-good and will be what people will crave even more this year. Home Alone used to be just for Christmas but it’s now a Christmas film that is now shown on TV throughout the year.

3. Come Away – £3,245 – £77,362

Down 92.4% in its second weekend
The film combines elements from Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan in a family fantasy with an ensemble cast with comparisons to Bridge To Terabithia as the children in Come Away create a similar fantasy world to escape their real-world tragedy.
Bridge To Terabithia opened May 2007 with £1,045,444 #2 from 409 screens (Spider-Man 3 opened the same weekend with £11,827,013) taking £4,682,915
Along with other children fantasy adventures including The Spiderwick Chronicles, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Hugo, Where the Wild Things Are, The Secret Garden, The NeverEnding Story and Pan’s Labyrinth.
Come Away opened in 160 screens one of several films Signature Entertainment have released since cinemas reopened in July, in normal circumstances Come Away would have opened in far less screens and unlikely opened in the top 10.
Children’s films have also performed well from independent distributors from July including Dreambuilders opened July 17 taking £12,407 from 51 cinemas released by Signature Entertainment went on to take £358,188 over 8 weeks. Followed by 100% Wolf opening two weeks later with £33,130 from 146 screens from Vertigo taking £1.4m after 10 weeks. Pinocchio opened 2 weeks later with £108,626 from 272 screens also released by Vertigo taking £852,909 after 11 weeks.
The rebuilding of confidence with people going to the cinema will be long as while exhibitors have talked a lot about the safety measures they come short of the far stricter safety measures seen in Asian countries that helped boost confidence with cinemagoers much quicker and with a mix of local films and smaller releases admissions in many of those countries are slowly getting back to normal.
Over the last 26 weeks, it has been films released by independent distributors including Vertigo, Signature Entertainment, Trafalgar, and Altitude have released most of the new releases. They took the gamble to release films ahead of the major studios and many of the films have been steady performers with films like 100% Wolf in the top 10 for 10 weeks and Two by Two: Overboard! For 8 weeks in the top 10 taking £1,071,693. In normal circumstances, these films would be lucky if they lasted more than a week in the top 10.
Will major exhibitors remember these independent distributors next year when the studios release these big movies, or will they go back to struggling to get the screens and support for their films?

4. The Greatest Showman – £3,231 – £49,592,940

Almost four years to the day The Greatest Showman opened with £2,575,147 it returns into the top 10 for the third time since cinemas reopened in July (taking £14,499 from 48 screens also in fourth) and then a month later #8 taking £20,182 from 58 screens showing the continued popularity for the film, taking £256,236 at the box office since July.
As with Onward taking £2m+ and Trolls World Tour £1m+ people choose to see these films in the cinema despite being able to watch them cheaper at home showing that exhibitors really shouldn’t worry about streaming being their competition as if it’s a film people want to see in the cinema they will see it on the cinema.
While cinemas screened Harry Potter, classic James Bond films and The Empire Strikes Back they should have screened many more classics over the last few months to get people back into the cinema habit. While distributors gave exhibitors a library of 450+ films in June and then 100+ in December exhibitors should have been far shrewder with their booking choices and pricing decisions.
The Greatest Showman stayed in the top 10 for 18 weeks only Mamma Mia! in recent years has stayed in cinemas for longer. It became this generation’s Titanic as fans came back to see it again and again while the soundtrack was #1 for 21 non-consecutive weeks in the UK. Critics were quite snotty about the film but as Barnum is asked in the film “does it bother you that everything your selling is fake” his reply “do the smiles seem fake” The Greatest Showman does to quote the famous Ronseal advert What it says on the tin.
In its 18th weekend took £300,947 and £45,974,245 which was comparable with Titanic released 20 years earlier took £199,618 in its 18th weekend its inflation inflated box office would be a similar £374,000. While The Full Monty took £394,620 in its 18th weekend in the top 10 and £228,368 in its last weekend (21st week).
42^nd biggest film in the UK between Harry Potter and The Order Of The Phoenix and The Dark Knight and the 72^nd biggest inflation inflated film in the UK between Black Panther and Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the WereRabbit
The Greatest Showman was released in December 2017 two weeks after it was announced Disney was to buy 20th Century Fox for $52.4bn, the price increased to $71.3bn in June 2018 after Comcast also made a bid for the studio. In March 2019, Disney acquired the studio and over the months that followed the studio has been incorporated within Disney and In January 2020 Disney renamed the studio 20th Century Studios.
The Greatest Showman was a huge success for 20th Century Fox taking over $435m worldwide, they had an even bigger success from Bohemian Rhapsody the year after taking over $900m worldwide and £55.2m in the UK but was the studio’s last successful release as all the films they have released since have underwhelmed.

5. Superintelligence – £2,254 – £142,455

Down 88.3% in its third weekend has taken more than the previous HBO Max August release American Pickle taking £128,349 but neither film should have been released in the UK as if Warner didn’t think there was any box office potential for these films in the US they weren’t going to travel,
Superintelligence was originally due for a theatrical release in the USA on December 25th but in October 2019 Warner Bros announced the film would be released on HBO Max in the US instead, but Warner Bros opted to release the film theatrically internationally.
Melissa McCarthy films with the exception of Spy and Bridesmaids don’t travel well internationally and the other three films Ben Falcone has directed starring Melissa McCarthy have all poorly performed internationally (Tammy, The Boss and Life of the Party).
2018’s Life of the Party opened May 2018 with £618,311 taking £1,660,250
2016’s The Boss opened June 10th £594,672 taking £1,692,452
2015’s Spy opened June 5th £2,557,824 taking £9,654,086
2014’s Tammy opened 4th July £471,429 taking £1,433,635
2013’s The Heat opened 1st August £2,500,522 taking £6,825,860
2013’s Identity Thief opened 22nd March 2013 £1,313,162 taking £4,716,437
Melissa McCarthy next stars in Thunder Force for Netflix also directed by Ben Falcone and The Little Mermaid reimagination.
UK box office in detail
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £91,059 down 91.2% from last weekend (£1,133,072); down 99.6% from the same weekend last year (£23,799,781)
The weekend admissions 159,363 down 92% from last week (12,807); admissions last year this week was 3,169,079 (99.6% down)
The latest estimate for 2020 box office is £300m less than a third of last year’s £1.227bn; UK BO was only £294m after 37 weeks and is likely to be the lowest annual box office since 1995 (£383m but that is £814.10m inflation inflated) so really the lowest since 1984 (£102.22m and £382.52m inflation inflated)
Top 3 took 87.6% of £79,759; Wonder Woman 1984 79.8% (£72,674); Home Alone 4.2% (£3,840); Come Away 3.6% (£3,245)
Down 99.6% from 2019 (£23,799,781); Top three took 69.4% (£16,528,558) of the top 10; Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker 39.1%; Jumanji: The Next Level 15.2% (£3,638,441); (£9,311,240); Little Women 15.1% (£3,578,877); 7 films opened at weekend taking (£6,222,945); Little Women 57.5% (£3,578,877); Spies in Disguise 23.9 (£1,487,638); Playing With Fire 12.2% (£762,850; remaining 4 films shared 6.3% (£393,580);
Down 99.6% from 2018: (£21,066,980); Bumblebee (£5,103,382); Holmes & Watson (£1,418,030); #1 Mary Poppins Returns £7,441,687 2nd week 740 screens 10% drop (35.3% of the top 10)
Down 99.6% from 2017: (£24,534,387); The Greatest Showman (£4,754,049); #1 Star Wars: The Last Jedi £7,975,174 3rd week 691 screens 22% drop (32.5% of top 10)
Down 99.3% from 2016: (£12,473,395); Passengers (£2,418,976); Ballerina (£1,094,317); It’s a Wonderful Life (Re-release) (£130,016); #1 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story £5,652,730 2nd week 680 screens 67% drop(45.3% of the top 10)
Down 99.5% from 2015; (£17,525,083); Star Wars: The Force Awakens (£34,011,849); Sisters (£1,215,368); #1 Star Wars: The Force Awakens £10,164,805 2nd week 665 screens 70% drop (58% of top 10)
Down 99.4% from 2014: (£16,382,437); Exodus: Gods and Kings (£2,607,453); Annie (£2,310,453); Unbroken (£656,991); Big Eyes (£135,582); #1 The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies £4,249,226 3rd 601 screens 21% drop (25.9% of top 10)
Down 99.5% from 2013: (£18,132,029); The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (£2,235,612); 47 Ronin (£1,415,252); All Is Lost (£231,595); #1 The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug £5,450,824 3rd week 589 screens 43% drop (30.1% of top 10)
Down 99.5% from 2012 (£20,367,014); Jack Reacher (£3,575,066); Parental Guidance (£1,293,400); Midnight’s Children (£101,725); Safety Not Guaranteed (£33,028); #1 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey £6,850,728 3rd week 596 screens up 15% (33.6% of top 10)
Down 98.7% from 2011 (£7,210,571); no new releases; #1 Arthur Christmas £2,047,463 7th weekend up 52% 549 screens (28.4% of top 10)
Down 98.4% from 2010: (£5,980,170); Little Fockers (£3,035,717); Arthur and the Great Adventure (£83,875); #1 Little Fockers £3,035,717 1st week 488 screens (50.7% of top 10)
n/a from 2009;
n/a from 2008;
Down 99.6% from 2007: (£21,258,964); I am Legend (£11,009,365); Balls of Fury (£638,761); The Kite Runner (£468,592); Closing the Ring (£23,339); #1 I am Legend £11,009,365 1st week 440 screens (51.8% of top 10)
Down 98.9% from 2006; (£8,021,487); Flags of Our Fathers (£97,765); #1 Happy Feet £2,048,266 3rd week 475 screens 1% up (25.5% of top 10)
Down 98.5% from 2005 (£5,961,400); No new releases; #1 The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe £2,843,353 3rd week 2nd 1 over 3 weeks 525 screens 41% drop (47.7% of top 10)
Down 97.1% from 2004 (£3,180,924); National Treasure (£312,784); House of Flying Daggers (£251,498); The Aviator (platform) (£23,835); #1 The Polar Express 4th week 1st #1 41% drop 452 screens (21.6% of top 10)
n/a from 2003;
Down 99.3% from 2002 (£13,253,300); Chicago (platform) (£113,386); Blood Work (£61,053); #1 Lord of the Rings: Two Towers £8,177,801 2nd week 499 screens 37% (61.7% of top 10)
Down 99.4% from 2001 (£14,285,925); The Mean Machine (£1,573,594); Serendipity (£635,042); #1 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings £7,825,995 2nd week 470 screens 29% drop (54.8% of top 10);
Next weekend in 2020 (£21,600,665); Top three took 47.1% (£10,064,857) of the top 10; Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker 20.5% (£4,396,258); Jumanji: The Next Level 14.3% (£3,069,462); The Gentlemen 14.3% (£3,057,108); 12 films opened at weekend taking (£7,318,404); The Gentlemen 41.7% (£3,057,108); Jojo Rabbit 33% (£2,415,233); Andre Rieu: 70 Years Young 23.4% (£1,717,074); remaining 9 films shared 1.7% (£128,989);
UK Box Office since the restart
Before lockdown in March were 848 UK cinemas open, on October 9^th Cineworld closed 127 Cineworld and Picturehouse cinemas (1,180+ screens) they won’t reopen before March.
UK cinemas were open 18 weeks before the first English lockdown, then English cinemas closed, and Scottish cinemas stayed open for the next four weeks; box office from a low of £189,000 when UK cinemas reopened July 4^th (dropping to a low November 6^th £22,908 from 119 screens when Scottish cinemas were only open (£32,804 November 13^th from 143 screens, £26,250 November 20^th from 128 screens, £23,597 November 27^th from 125 screens) to high when Tenet opened £6,224,288; first weekend (from 42 cinemas+ drive-ins (460 screens) to 670 cinemas+ drive-ins 6,372 screens.
English cinemas reopened on December 4^th but then London and the South East closed two weeks on December 16^th and then more cinemas on December 19^th before the majority of English cinemas closed on December 31^st.
Week 1 £189,000 from 460 screens (73 cinemas) 141 films on release; top 5 took £81,880
Week 2; Up 76.2% £333,002 (182 films) from 1,059 screens (123 cinemas 85 from the UK the rest from Ireland and drive-ins) up 130.2%; The Empire Strikes Back (40th Anniversary opening with £50,406 from 1012 screens); top 5 £148,675.
Week 3: Down 7.5% £308,154 (191 films) from 151 cinemas and 1,286 screens up 21.4%; top 5 took £136,559; top 5 took £169,911
Week 4: Up 30.7% £402,752 (214 films) from 185 cinemas and 1,734 screens Up 34.8%; top 5 took £328,783
Week 5: Up 61.8% £651,914 (218 films) from 3,016 screens (326 cinemas reopened) up 74%; Unhinged opened with £175,263 from 243 screens); top 5 took £328,783
Week 6: Down 17.4% £538,716 (236 films) from 338 cinemas and 3,393 screens up 12.5%: American Pickle opened with £27,732 from 162 screens; top 5 took £262,058
Week 7: Up 85.2% £997,837 (269 films) from 366 cinemas; Inception: 10th Anniversary opened £207,675 from 313 screens; top 5 took £628,678
Week 8: Up 10.9% £1,107,153 (264 films) from 3,889 screens (491 cinemas) up 21.5%; top 5 took £643,139
Week 9: Up 462.2% £6,224,288 (204 films) from 3, 856 (629 cinemas); Tenet opened with 85.7% (£5,335,654); top 5 took £5,868,018
Week 10: Down 39.8% £3,746,637 (198 films) 658 cinemas 4,607 screens (198 films on release; 487 England); top 5 £3,167,757
Week 11: Down 25% £2,812,496 from 5,522 screens; top 5 took £2,223,661; top 5 took £2,086,954
Week 12: Down 7.4% £2,603,624 from 5,401 screens; 613 cinemas; top 5 took £1,598,935
Week 13: Down 18.9% £2,112,443 from 5,564 screens 620 cinemas; top 5 took £1,598,935
Week 14: Up 24.6% £2,633,473 from 6,372 screens; top 5 took £1,753,045
Week 15: Down 36.5% £2,425,745 from 4,527 screens (closure of 1,180+ Cineworld screens); top 5 took £1,139,278
Week 16 Down 59.3% £1.2m from 4,031 screens in 488 cinemas (closure of Northern Ireland cinemas); The top five took £570,127 down 38.7% from £1,139,278 last week
Week 17 Up 54.2% £1.85m from 4,124 screens in 461 cinemas (Wales cinemas closed); 20 new releases taking almost £1m between them.
Week 18 Up 9.7% £2.03m from 469 cinemas; box office has risen well over the last two weeks, but they were boosted by over 30 films being released and being half-term and Halloween.
Week 19 Down 98.9% £22,908 from 119 screens in Scotland only; the first week of second English Lockdown; #1 The Three Kings £3,521 from 2 screens most films in the top 15 dropped close to 98%
Week 20 Up 43.2% £32,804 from 143 screens in Scotland; the second weekend of second English Lockdown; #1 The Secret Garden £5,147 from 15 screens up 201%; box office increased strongly for most films
Week 21 Down 20% £26,250 from 128 screens in Scotland; the third weekend of second English Lockdown; #1 Two By Two: Overboard! £3,422 from 16 screens many films increasing box office from last weekend despite box office down from the weekend before.
Week 22 Down 10% £23,597 from 125 screens in Scotland; the fourth weekend of second English Lockdown; #1 Home Alone £2,705 from 4 screens
Week 23 Up 2,069% £512k from 1,549 screens in 231 cinemas 20% of UK cinemas reopened with 50 Vue cinemas reopening next weekend
Week 24 up 91% £980k TBC from 3,068 screens (up 98% of screens from last weekend) about 70% of UK screens were open in the UK out of 4,500 with Cineworld being 1,100+ screens still closed along with cinemas who went into tier 3 last week. With London, the South East, Essex, and parts of Herts closing on Wednesday this will probably see over 1,000 screens closing.
Week 25 up 43% £1.4m from 2,213 screens down 28% from 279 cinemas (33% of UK cinemas open the lowest since the end of July); London and the South East have 40% of UK cinemas and they are the most expensive across the UK with many central London cinemas over £20 (almost three times average ticket price) and many outside London and South East cinemas over £15.
Week 26 Down 93% £102k box office was the lowest it’s been since England lockdown in October and lower than the first weekend cinemas reopened in July
This weekend’s box office was Down 99.6% from 2019 (£23,799,781); Top three took 69.4% (£16,528,558) of the top 10; Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker 39.1%; Jumanji: The Next Level 15.2% (£3,638,441); (£9,311,240); Little Women 15.1% (£3,578,877); 7 films opened at weekend taking (£6,222,945); Little Women 57.5% (£3,578,877); Spies in Disguise 23.9 (£1,487,638); Playing With Fire 12.2% (£762,850; remaining 4 films shared 6.3% (£393,580);

UK cinema admissions will drop to less than 40m the lower than in 1984 (53.8m) in 1984 (was the lowest ever but the years that followed saw a renaissance of cinema with admissions growing steadily for almost 20 years along with box office) would see 2020 box office drop 76% from £1.25bn to £296m, the lowest total since 1992, but with 150% ticket inflation since really have to go back to 1984 box office levels of £102.22m (£382.52m inflation inflated).
Many industry experts believe cinema attendance will bounce back next year, but many of those same people believed there would be a pent-up demand when cinemas reopened after the first lockdown in July. Despite their belief cinema is incredibly low on the list of importance to most people and are a small part of the hospitality sector and value to the UK economy.
Ever since cinemas closed in March exhibitors and studios should have set aside their differences and worked together as they previously did in 1985 with British Film Year (started the renaissance of cinema in the UK and the launch of the first multiplex cinemas in the UK) and National Cinema Day in 1996 (repeated the following year) when all cinemas across the UK were £1 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of cinema.
Over the years that followed from 1985 to 2002 admissions grew steadily in the UK, they were boosted in 1996 with admissions increasing 226% from 54m to 175.9m (between 2003-2019 admissions only increased by 0.6%). A similar-sized event was needed to relaunch cinema and get people back into the cinema habit again, it is the 125th anniversary next year and this could have been part of a celebration of British cinema. As despite what exhibitors thought there is no pent-up demand away from the cinephiles, but they only make up less than 20% of cinemagoers.
The issue with cinema since July has been confidence not streaming recent YouGov survey said 55% are not comfortable going to the cinema as whatever exhibitors have said the majority won’t return anytime soon and WW84, as Tenet did, will attract cinephiles and fans.
Exhibitors regularly talk of being no COVID traced back to cinemas but surely if Cinemark has 500 staff tested positive many of them could have infected cinemagoers but as there are only 18 states with contact tracing apps most wouldn’t know if they were infected at a cinema? The same is surely the case in the UK?
The US box office dropped over 80% from $11.3bn last year to $2.4bn this year; dropping 95% in the third quarter and 85% in the fourth quarter. The industry seems to believe there will be herd immunity in the US by the spring, US President-elect Joe Biden has said that within his first 100 days (April 30^th) he would want to get 100m Americans vaccinated, which is 30% of the population, medical experts have said that between 67%-80% of the population would need to be vaccinated before there is herd immunity, which is unlikely to happen and if it did wouldn’t be until 2022.
So while there will be some improvement in 2021, many of the films currently dated between now and May will likely be delayed as box office won’t likely get back to pre-COVID levels probably until 2022 or 2023 outside of China.
The UK cinema industry said 93% of current cinemagoers feel safe going to the cinema now, what the industry fails to understand is that is 93% of the 20% who have been comfortable returning to cinemas since they reopened in July, but cinema should be for the many, not the few, and is still 80%+ who aren’t comfortable and won’t return anytime soon.
Exhibitors behaved like a bull in a china shop rushing to reopen far too soon and didn’t think of the consequences targeting the pent-up demand of 20% of cinemagoers (who would have continued going to the cinema if they were open between March and June had they stayed open) rather than the 80% who have always said it would take 6 months or more to return. A recent survey for Morning Consult in the US has said it will still be more than 6 months before most people return, whilst US exhibitors still believe things will be back to normal in the spring.
These are the same exhibitors who were in denial in February and who rushed to reopen cinemas far too soon as they believed there would be a “pent-up demand”. Instead predictably reopening months too soon reopening two months earlier than China did, so the results were always very predictable. Rather than blaming studios for moving films to PVOD, streaming, or delaying them exhibitors need to take responsibility.
The current 10 biggest films of the year are 1917 (£43.94m); Sonic the Hedgehog (£19.28m); Tenet (£17.36m); Bad Boys For Life (£15.95m); Dolittle (£15.93m); Parasite (£12.03m); The Gentlemen (£11.53m); Birds of Prey (£8.82m); Onward (£7.55m); Jojo Rabbit (£7.54m).
The top 10 would have likely been, No Time to Die, 1917, Tenet, Minion: The Rise of Gru, Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway, Black Widow, Externals, Soul, Wonder Woman 1984, Top Gun: Maverick.
At the start of the year, only 1917 and Tenet would have been expected to still be in the top 10 in November, the one positive is the £160m box office is shared out much more evenly through 9 distributors rather than one or two, while there are only one sequel, one remake and one comic-book film and it’s not part of the MCU.
On December 31^st cinemas across the UK have all but closed with many more parts of the country going into Tiers 3 and 4 as Coronavirus cases keep increasing with over 50,000 the last two days. Since London and the South East moved into Tier 4 two weeks the question has been when they will drop back down to Tier 2, despite now two vaccines available nothing is likely to improve before Easter with many believing most parts of the UK will be in either Tier 3 or 4 until then which means all hospitality closed.
Even the most optimistic can’t possibly believe cinemas will reopen before March as surely they need to learn their lessons from reopening far to soon in July and then reopening December 4^th as despite Wonder Woman dated to open on December 18^th it was only going to be a matter of weeks before many more parts of the country moved into tougher restrictions.
As opening Tenet in August rather than being the saviour of cinema opening Wonder Woman 1984 in December has done more long-term damage as this was so very predictable, but the problem is exhibitors only think short-term and this has caused them so much damage over the last 18 years killing the growth of the 80s and 90s.
COVID as streaming will be blamed for killing movie theatres but the biggest enemy to the cinema over this century has been major exhibitors giving their customers what they think they want (turning cinemas into living rooms with recliners and restaurant food) and not what they want (big screens with superior picture and sound at a reasonable price). Exhibitors over the last few months talked a lot about the ‘pent-up demand’ that will get people rushing back to cinemas, but away from cinephiles, most people are now perfectly happy to watch new releases at home on their 50inch TVs and 5-inch phones.
With UK cinemas all but closed today the industry has a second once in a lifetime chance to relaunch the cinema experience in the 125th anniversary year of commercial cinema. In 1985 after UK admission were the lowest ever had was British Film Year which launched the renaissance of cinema with admissions growing steadily till 2002, in 1996 to celebrate 100th anniversary of cinema had National Cinema Day and now need something of similar scale to get people back into the cinemagoing habit when cinemas reopen whenever that happens, but it needs to be when the majority feel comfortable to return as cinema should be for the many, not the few.
US Box Office

• Wonder Woman: 1984 – Warner Bros

Opened with $16.7m; received B+ CinemaScore and 62% Rotten Tomatoes score (2017’s Wonder Woman had 93% Rotten Tomatoes).
While Tenet opened with $20.2m in September it was inflated with many days of previews (Warner never released daily box office figures but many believe its opening weekend was about half) Wonder Woman 1984 had the biggest Fri-Sun opening since cinemas reopened in July and the biggest opening since Onward ($39.11m) in March.
Wonder Woman opened in 2,151 screens about half the screens 2017’s Wonder Woman opened I and didn’t play in New York and Los Angeles and many other major cities but was available to watch on HBO Max.
Opened 83.8% less than 2017’s Wonder Woman ($103.25m taking $412.63m and $409.28 internationally and $821.84m worldwide); had Wonder Woman 1984 opened last November or next summer it would have expected to open similar to Wonder Woman, while it wouldn’t have the legs Wonder Woman had it should have taken similar box office worldwide.
As with Tenet, it was a puzzling decision that Warner didn’t do as all other studios did in March and just delay Wonder Woman 1984 and Tenet a year to next summer, the issue they did have with the film is that it does feel dated and they needed to release it. So releasing the film now along with HBO Max was the best bad idea they had as it gave them a chance to boost HBO Max subscriptions (12.6m in early December) and avoided another lengthy delay.
While Disney delayed Black Widow from May to November this year to then May next to the problem Warner had was they delayed Wonder Woman from December 2019 to November 2019 to June 2020 before then moving it to October and then December this year. The problem Warner had was the initial date switch from November 2019 to June 2020, it was done to distance itself with Joker but that made it much harder for them to delay it a year from June 2020 to 2021.
Maybe the reason why Warner kept both Tenet and Wonder Woman 1984 on the release schedule this year was they hoped the “pent up demand” would make more people go to see them but the issue they had was as there were no other major releases around them all eyes were focused on these two films and will be found our far quicker that they weren’t as good as the hype that surrounded them.
The issue they had is unlike other streaming services HBO Max is currently the US only and with much of Europe in lockdown till early January meant they killed its international box office to gain a few more subscribers, and of course the issue with releasing a film to streaming means there were 4K pirate versions of the film online hours after being released on Christmas Day.
Warner didn’t release any viewing figures for WW84 on HBO Max only saying that nearly half of the subscribers viewed the film and that HBO Max viewing hours tripled on Friday (Christmas Day).
Warner did say that private cinema hire was extremely popular with over 10,000 screenings over the weekend (taking 10% of the BO with IMAX taking $1.2m from 180 screens), as that has been the big issue for many despite exhibitors saying cinemas are safe an bringing in their CinemaSafe measures the majority of people still don’t feel comfortable going back to the cinema, and the biggest issue they have is other cinemagoers, so if you can control the environment watch a film with friends and family then they will feel much more comfortable going to the cinema.
Warner announced they would release all of their 2021 films in cinemas day and date with HBO Max, this received much criticism, but it was the only option they had available to them as despite many people believing things will get back to normal in the spring, US box office will struggle for the next 6 months and as seen with Universal Pictures delaying The Boss Baby 2 this week from March to September and Disney recently announcing Raya and the Last Dragon would be released in cinemas and on Disney+ in March it’s likely that all other films due for March/April will be delayed again including No Time To Die (probably to October), Peter Rabbit 2 and A Quiet Place 2 and Disney will likely delay Black Widow to July as they won’t want it to be the canary in the coalmine.
As whatever exhibitors might believe only 20% of cinemas still feel comfortable going to the cinema in the US at the moment and cinema is very low on the list of priorities for most at the moment, recent research from Morning Consult says it will be more than 6 months before the majority feel comfortable going back to the cinema again, while the vaccines are roiling out now it might noy be until 2022 before there will be herd immunity until then cinephiles will ne going back to the cinema but everyone else is perfectly happy to watch these films at home on their TV or tablets.
In the 125^th anniversary, year of cinema exhibitors need to relaunch the cinema experience and get back to its roots to get people excited about going to the cinema again as for many cinemas has just become a big TV full of repeats while streaming has so many great original shows from The Queens Gambit to Tiger King and of course also acquired many films from studios from The Trial of the Chicago 7 to Coming To America 2.
Took $19.4m from 42 territories and $85m worldwide; took $7m from IMAX internationally 10% of BO; dropped 92% in its second weekend in China taking $23.9m

• News of the World – Universal Pictures

Opened with $2.25m; received B+ CinemaScore and 86% Rotten Tomatoes
News of the World reunites director Paul Greengrass with Tom Hanks for the first time since Oscar-nominated Captain Philips in 2013. Tom Hanks has been nominated five times for Best Actor Oscar-winning for Philadelphia and Forrest Gump in 1994 and 1995 he has had many Oscar-worthy performances since but incredibly not won and was nominated for Best Supporting Actor this year for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.
News of the World was original acquired by Fox 2000 in May 2017 with Tom Hanks attached, it was all set to start production in 2019 but it was put into turnaround after Disney acquired 20^th Century Fox and they closed Fox 2000 and shutdown their development slate, shortly afterwards Universal Pictures acquired the film.
In November it was announced Netflix acquired international rights to News of the World who will release it in early 2021 the same time when Universal Pictures release the film on PVOD. As News of the World targets an older audience who isn’t comfortable returning to the cinema anytime soon it makes sense that the likely Oscar contender goes to Netflix as it would struggle to find an audience in cinemas if it opened as planned in January,
this was similar the case with The Trial of the Chicago 7 in October. This does put another death nail on the coffin of original adult-targeted films in cinemas as they have often struggled to find an audience before COVID. Streaming has become the home for these films, that said films like Parasite and 1917 are able to cross the streams and play to both audiences as well as younger ones.

• Promising Young Woman – Focus Features

Opened with $719,305; received B+ CinemaScore and 91% Rotten Tomatoes
The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival receiving critical acclaim praising Carey Mulligan’s performance. The review by Variety in January was called out for being sexist “Mulligan, a fine actress, seems a bit of an odd choice as this admittedly many-layered apparent femme fatale — Margot Robbie is a producer here, and one can (perhaps too easily) imagine the role might once have been intended for her. Whereas with this star, Cassie wears her pickup-bait gear like bad drag; even her long blonde hair seems a put-on,” the review now has an apology attached to it months after it was first published.
Carey Mulligan responded to the review in a New York Times interview saying “’ I read the Variety review because I’m a weak person,’ Mulligan said. ‘And I took issue with it.’ She paused, debating whether she really wanted to go there. ‘It felt like it was basically saying that I wasn’t hot enough to pull off this kind of ruse,’

• Monster Hunter – Screen Gems

Down 48.9% in its second weekend taking $1.12m and $4.21m.
Monster Hunter has sold over 65 million units since the first game was launched in 2007 and is Capcom’s second best-selling computer game series after Resident Evil, the film is directed by Paul W. S. Anderson who also directed the Resident Evil films and stars Milla Jovovich.
The seven Resident Evil films have taken $271m in the US and $1.22bn worldwide since the first film was released in 2002. While the films weren’t that successful in the US they were international which was why the franchise ran for seven films.
The last Resident Evil film 2016’s Resident Evil: The Final Chapter opened with $13.6m; Screen Gems have Resident Evil reboot currently dated for September 9^th, 2021 starring Kaya Scodelario and directed by Johannes Roberts.
Monster Hunter was expected to launch a new franchise but after being pulled in China after only a day after controversy with a racist subtitle from a scene (it took $5.3m in China after one day but that box office hasn’t been included within the films global box office.

• The Croods: A New Age – Universal Pictures

Down 16% in its fifth weekend taking $1.74m (81% less than The Croods) and $30.36m total (80.4% less than The Croods); dropping only 16% is good as the film is now available on PVOD showing that theatrical alongside PVOD can work as there is an audience for both.
2013’s The Croods took $9.23m in its fifth weekend and $154.63m
The film is currently due to be released in the UK on February 5^th in the UK for half-term holidays along with Peter Rabbit: The Runaway (opening two months ahead of the US).
Took $9.2m from 24 territories taking $67.9m and $98.26m worldwide; taking 75.6% of its international box office in China ($51.4m).
UK Box Office Top 10