- Sonic the Hedgehog 2 – £4,986,334 – NE
Had the 277th biggest opening between Ant-Man and The Wasp and Murder on the Orient Express (close to Scooby-Doo, Ready Player One, Pokemon Detective Pikachu and Batman and Robin) and the 418th biggest inflation inflated between Ant-Man and The Wasp and The Expendables (close to Crocodile Dundee II, The Grinch, Big and Kick-Ass).
22nd biggest Paramount Pictures opening in the UK between Bumblebee and The Dictator (close to Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, Star Trek, Daddy’s Home 2 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles); Paramount Pictures’ biggest opening in the UK since Rocketman in 2019
Took £1.1m from Friday
Had the 3rd biggest opening in 2022 after The Batman and Sing and the 12th biggest opening since cinemas reopened after the first lockdown between Tenet and Uncharted
Opened 5.3% more than 2020’s Sonic the Hedgehog (11.4% ticket inflation since) the first film opened at the start of the half-term holidays and the sequel opened at the start of the Easter holidays.
Sequel to the 2020 film and Paramount Pictures announced plans for a third film and a spinoff film series based on Knuckles in February.
2020s Sonic the Hedgehog opened with £4,733,768 from 619 screens taking £19,280,822, its box qoffice was affected by COVID which saw the film pulled from cinemas after 5 weeks after the first lockdown.
Had a similar opening to 2019’s Pokémon Detective Pikachu £4,951,838 taking £13,368,175) and Uncharted £4,705,948 taking £23.64m after.
The question for the sequel is how it will hold against Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore opening on Friday, but as with The Bad Guys, it’s targetting a younger demographic.
So far this year #1’s Spider-Man: No Way Home for 3 weeks (3 in 2021); Sing 2 2 weeks; Uncharted for 3 weeks and The Batman for 4 weeks and now Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will only be #1 for one week with Fantastic Beasts 3 opening on Friday.
Opened with $25.5m from 31 territories ahead of opening in the US next week
2. Morbius – £3,254,830 – NE
Took £749,069 from previews on Thursday and took £850k on Friday (similar to Birds of Prey (£930k)
Took £222,711 (6.8%) from 48 IMAX cinemas with £3,030,965 (93.2%) from 2D
Had the 467th biggest opening between The Devil Wears Prada and The Incredible Hulk (close to Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, The Matrix, Alita: Battle Angel and Watchmen) and 691st inflation inflated between Dangerous Minds and The Suicide Squad (close to Dawn of the Dead, Beowulf, GI Joe: Retaliation and The Fast and the Furious).
69th biggest comic-book opening between The Hulk and The Incredible Hulk (close to X-Men: Dark Phoenix, Fantastic Four, Hellboy 2: The Golden Army and Men in Black 3) and 79th biggest inflation inflated between Daredevil and The Suicide Squad (close to Captain America: The First Avenger, Men in Black 3, Green Lantern and Blade).
Morbius UK opening was 8.34% of the US similar to X-Men 2, Thor,.Captain Marvel, Suicide Squad, Black Widow, Birds of Prey
It’s the first comic-book movie since Birds of Prey in February 2020 not to open #1; Birds of Prey opened #2 £2,833,297 (no previews) against Dolittle #1 at £5,085,520 (including £1,965,515 previews).
Buzz was similarly poor for 2018’s Venom ahead of its release in 2018 with critics calling it “a bizarre and baffling mess” but it was a hit with comic-book fans opened #1 with £8,031,342 including £2,431,342 dropped 63% in its second weekend taking £19,907,988 and 2021’s Venom 2 opened £6,167,833 (no previews) dropped 60% in its second weekend taking £18,300,000.
But better comparisons are with
2019’s X-Men: Dark Phoenix opened with £3,771,153 (including £1,017,305 previews) taking £6,728,850 as it also had a problematic production and several delays.
1998’s Blade £1,642,390 (£3,064,708 inflation inflated) taking £6,161,443 (£11,497,283 inflation inflated)
2002’s Blade 2 £2,540,226 (£4,614,130 inflation inflated) taking £9,022,422 (£16,388,554 inflation inflated)
2004’s Blade Trinity £2,633,626 (including £775,590 previews) (£4,410,884 inflation inflated) taking £6,094,509 (£10,207,285 inflation inflated)
Morbius opened in 620 cinemas but was probably playing in over 2,000 screens as many cinemas were playing it in about 5 screens played in all IMAX/PLF screens which it will loss this weekend to Fantastic Beasts.
There have been many films delayed due to COVID but the delay from January to April was due to having more extensive reshoots but used COVID and Spider-Man as an excuse as delays for Dark Phoenix and The New Mutants did far more damage than if it had just opened in January which is often the case with films that have been delayed as it overshadows the film’s opening.
Morbius embargo ended at 1 am on Thursday, March 31st hours before the first shows in the UK received poor reviews expected after social media reaction was very poor, describing it as not great, not as fun as Venom and with poor visual effects, saying that there’s a good film trapped in it. As the film had multiple reshoots this is understandable as the film was due to open before Spider-Man No Way Home and a few months after Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The poor buzz is unlikely to stop comic-book fans from seeing Morbius but will make it front-loaded.
Morbius was due to have a cameo in 1998’s Blade before having a larger role in 2000’s Blade 2. In 2017 Sony Pictures announced Sony’s Spider-Man Universe which started with 2018’s Venom.
The film was made in 2019 before Sony announced a new deal with Marvel to make a sequel to Spider-Man Far From Home, the first trailer was released in January 2020, including an image of Spider-Man refereeing to the end of Far From Home. Morbius had its first reshoots in February 2020.
It has been delayed seven times since its original July 2020 release date, many of these were due to COVID but the last delay from January to April was rumoured to the film having extensive reshoots after the success of Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Spider-Man No Way Home adding more of Michael Keaton’s Vulture. At the end of Morbius Keaton’s Vulture has a brief appearance, he also appears in the end credit scene in Venom 2 and also appeared in Spider-Man Homecoming.
Extensive reshoots were probably needed for Morbius as they were also needed for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as both films were originally due to open before Spider-Man No Way Home.
Timing is everything and had Morbius opened first before both Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Spider-Man No Way Home it wouldn’t have received so much hype and expectations before it but now opening after those two Marvel films and DC’s The Batman earlier in the month audiences are primed for Morbius and then Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness in May.
As with Venom in 2018 and Venom 2 in 2021 unlike most other comic-book films Morbius doesn’t have the weekend to itself. But as with the two Venom films it received 15 certificates similar to The Batman and being trailered before it will help its opening as will opening on Thursday and having IMAX/PLF screens.
During the press tour of Morbius, Jared Leto told Variety “If it wasn’t for Marvel films, I don’t even know if theatres would exist. It doesn’t seem like there’s room for everyone, and that starts to become a little heart-breaking. I also have gratitude for these movies because they’re keeping cinema alive.”
Sony Pictures have access to about 900 Marvel characters (compared to the 7,000+ Disney owners) but most of them are supporting characters that aren’t well known away from comic-book fans so they will struggle to exploit them as they will need to be launched within Spider-Man or Venom film.
Morbius will likely drop 60%+ in its second weekend due to poor buzz and Fantastic Beasts opening. It’s yet another film that Sony advertises using exclusively in cinemas that have underwhelmed in cinemas over the last few months.
3. The Bad Guys – £2,279,074 – NE
Took £697,141 from previews last Saturday and Sunday
694th biggest opening between Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse and Four Christmases (close to Smallfoot, Bee Movie, Storks and Jungle Cruise) and 1,001st inflation inflated between Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse and The Descendants (close to Mean Girls, Rise of the Guardians, Thunderbirds and Yogi Bear).
108th biggest animated film opening in the UK between Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse and SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water (close to Captain Underpants, The Paw Patrol Movie, Moana and Abominable) and 128th biggest inflation inflated between Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse and Moana (close to Puss in Boots, Smallfoot, The Boxtrolls and Shaun The Sheep Movie).
It’s the 42nd Dreamworks Animation film, the seventh released by Universal Pictures since they acquired the studio in 2016 and their first original animated film since Abominable in 2019.
29th biggest Dreamworks Animation opening between Bee Movie and Abominable (close to Captain Underpants, Megamind, Puss in Boots and Rise of the Guardians).
While Dreamworks Animation had huge success with the Shrek film series (Shrek The Third and Shrek 2 are their two biggest films in the UK, Shrek Forever After #4 with Shrek #19 despite opening in 2001 . While they also had success with How To Train films and the first instalments of The Boss Baby, Trolls and The Croods, their sequels were affected by opening during the pandemic.
Dreamwork Animation has fallen behind Pixar and Illumination while they make some enjoyable animated films they don’t have the success of their rivals anymore and as Comcast own Dreamworks Illimunation is a far more valuable brand for the studio with films like Sing 2 and Minions 2 while Dreamworks Animation will likely see more sequels upcoming including Puss In Boots 2 later this year and Shrek 5 currently in development.
The Dreamworks Animation films have taken almost £700m at the UK BO since 2001 over £900m inflation inflated.
Being the start of the Easter holidays and playing to a younger audience it should perform steadily over the next two weeks. Critics have described it as the best Dreamworks Animation film for several years but critics also loved Captain Underpants, but it struggled to find an audience.
4. The Batman – £1,200,386 – £37,855,328
Down 27.9% in its fifth weekend
58th biggest the fifth weekend between Aladdin and Die Another Day (close to Avenger Infinity War and Captain Marvel).
£305,792 less than 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises £1,506,178 (18% ticket inflation since) #5 down 31% from 440 screens taking £43,498,315 88.2% of £56,374,370
£254,461 less than 2008’s The Dark Knight £1,454,847 (45% ticket inflation since) #4 down 37% from 440 screens taking £40,153,039 88.3% of £49,263,805
£1,245,814 less than 2019’s Joker £2,446,200 #1 down 29% from 639 screens taking £51.56m 89.2% of £57.8m
£777,897 more than 2005’s Batman Begins £422,489 (60% ticket inflation since) #4 down 46% from 382 screens taking £14,806,311 88.8% of £16,665,365
Has become the biggest 2022 release of the year overtaking Sing 2 (£31.85m) and the third biggest film since cinemas reopened;
12th biggest comic-book movie (23rd to take £30m+ since Men In Black in 1997) between Captain Marvel and Deadpool (close to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Spider-Man: Far From Home and Captain America: Civil War) Batman Vs Superman #17 £36,495,828; Man of Steel #24 £29,830,339); The Dark Knight Rises #5 £56,374,370; The Dark Knight #8 £49,263,805; #4 Joker £57.8m
23rd biggest inflation inflated between Deadpool and Captain America: Civil War; #14 Batman Forever (inflation inflated) Batman #20 £38,840,287 (inflation inflated), Batman and Robin #38 £27,117,137, Batman Begins #39 £26,607,971 and Batman Returns #42 £25,721,677; The Dark Knight #4; The Dark Knight Rises #6; Joker #8
83rd biggest film in the UK (131st to take £30m+ since Jurassic Park) between Paddington and Deadpool (close to The Simpsons, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Independence Day and Spider-Man: Far From Home) and 173rd biggest inflation inflated between Sex and the City and I am Legend (close to Batman, X-Men 2, The Twilight Saga: New Moon and Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 1).
17th biggest Warner Bros film between Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (close to Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug, Batman Vs Superman, Inception and Fantastic Beasts 2) 31st inflation inflated biggest between Scooby-Doo and I am Legend (close to The Bodyguard, Ocean’s Eleven and Batman Vs Superman).
Using DCM’s average ticket price of £9.71 The Batman would have 3.89m admissions but using the average of £7.52 from last year this would be 5.03m.
In 1989 Batman opened in 400 cinemas took £12,034,291 inflation inflated £38,840,287); Batman was the second-biggest film of the year after Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
1992’s Batman Returns took £10,979,599 and £25,721,677 inflation inflated; 7th biggest film of 1992
1995’s Batman Forever opened £4,714,153 (£10,186,905 inflation inflated) taking £20,015,001 and £43,250,807 inflation inflated; 2nd biggest film of 1995
1997’s Batman and Robin took £14,676,429 £27,117,137 inflation inflated; 7th biggest film of 1997
5.. Ambulance – £273,015 – £1,184,408
Don 47.6% in its second weekend;
16 years ago over the same weekend Universal Pictures released another heist film Inside Man starring Denzel Washington and Clive Owen directed by Spike Lee opened with £1,806,854 250%+ more than Ambulance’s £521,049 and over 400% inflation inflated (£2,790,050) taking £8,106,743 and £12,518,010 inflation inflated (Rotten Tomato scores were 86% s 72%)
Bu Ambulance box office has more in common with 2018’s Mile 22 taking £1.6m and 2019’s 21 Bridges £1,508,196 than even 2018’s Den of Thieves taking £2.79m.
Michael Bay films were made to be seen on the biggest screen directing big action films including Bad Boys, in Ambulance, there are in-jokes to Bad Boys and The Rock, with one of the characters quoting from The Rock and then confusing it with The Rock (Dwyane Johnson)
It’s Michael Bay’s first theatrical released film since 2017’s Transformers: The Last Knight previously made 6 Underground for Netflix. Michael Bay is of course famous for his big-budget action films including Bad Boys, The Rock, Armageddon, Pearl Harbour, The Island and four Transformers films, also directed the smaller scale Pain & Gain and 13 Hours in 2016.
Heist films have been popular in the cinema over the years including
2004’s Layer Cake took £4,447,859; 1998’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels £11,784,141; 2003’s The Italian Job £7,699,425 and 2010’s The Town £4,771,263.
Michael Bay previously directed Netflix’s 2019’s 6 Underground
Ambulance is his first original theatrical released film since 2016’s 13 Hours took £238,231 and 2013’s Pain & Gain £1,923,892 and directed five Transformers films between 2007 and 2017; the highest-grossing was 2011’s Transformers: Dark Of The Moon opened £10.7m taking £28.1m. In an interview, Michael Bay said Steven Spielberg told him to stop making Transformers films after the third film (Transformers: Age of Extinction in 2014). The first film apart from the sexualization of Megan Fox was very enjoyable. Paramount rebooted Transformers with a Bumblebee spinoff in 2018 which was far better received and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts opens in 2023 directed by Stephen Cable.
1995’s Bad Boys took £5.1m; 2003’s Bad Boys 2 £8.4m; 1998’s Armageddon £16.5m; 2001’s Pearl Harbor £13.4m and 2005’s The Island £4.87m;
Jake Gyllenhaal is best known for 2001’s Donnie Darko also starring in dramas 2007’s Zodiac took £3,288,925; 2014’s Nightcrawler £2,777,52; 2013’s Prisoners £7,213,760; 2011’s Source Code £5,888,913. He also starred in blockbusters including 2004’s The Day After Tomorrow taking £25.2m; 2010’s Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time £8.9m and 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home £37.3m.
The problem with Ambulance despite surprisingly getting positive reviews it’s a film if you have seen the trailer there is no need to watch the film. While its also far too long 136mins is almost an hour longer than the original 2005 Danish film, there is no need for many of the films released today to be as long as they are but directors always seem to believe to make an epic film it needs to be so long but as Saturday Night Live sketch said Sex and the City 2 was 2h 26 mins long and Jurassic Park was 2h 7 mins long.
The box office performance of Ambulance shows that just cutting the theatrical window from 90 days to 31 or 45 days doesn’t fix the problem as rather than fixing the window months before the film has opened it needs to be determined after the opening weekend. Exhibitors will pull underperforming films from cinemas after a week as seen with the dramatic drop-in showtimes The Phantom of the Open and The Nan Movie had in their second weekends to the first, so studios should be able to shorten the window.
I always go back to Paramount Pictures’ plan for a shorter theatrical window in 2015 which was immediately rejected predictably by exhibitors but made far more sense films would be released on VOD the week after films dropped below a fixed number of screens, this would make it in exhibitors interest to keep successful films staying in cinemas for longer but would also mean a film like Ambulance could be released on VOD within 17 days.
Ambulance has taken $18.67m from 58 territories after three weeks showing again that international early openings rarely work. Ambulance opens in the US this weekend so will be interesting to see if it opens as soft as it has done internationally.
Other Box Office News
FDA launched their yearbook last week with concerns that the cinema recovery faces the cost of the living challenge, but people always turned to cinema in a time of a recession, in the US BO increased over six of the last seven recessions, and the Depression saw big increases in cinema attendance, so if a trip to the cinema is a cheap night out (as the industry claims) attendance should soar to record levels this year.
Industry average ticket price increased 11.4% from 2020 (£6.75 to £7.52) but real average prices are probably about a third more as IMAX/PLF screenings have become even more popular since cinemas reopened and as the US dynamic pricing has seen ticket prices increase further for tentpoles like The Batman. Vue has reduced many of their cinemas to about £6.99 but they have 91 cinemas with 870 screens which are about 10% of the cinemas in the UK and 20% of the screens.
Everyman Cinemas are more honest about average ticket pricing and their average is about £11 with customers spending on average £8.96 on food and drink showing that exhibitors are in the popcorn business and not the cinema industry.
This was seen when cinemas were able to gain the hospitality VAT reduction from July 2020 to September 2021 to 5% and then to 12.5% till March 31st but didn’t pass on the reduction to customers unlike the rest of the hospitality sector. This was why hospitality sector prices increased o April 1st.
At the UKCA conference on Tuesday and Wednesday, there will be lots of backslapping and self-congratulatory comments but it should start by admitting that they didn’t get everything right and should have done much better as can’t just rely on Bond and Spider-Man Greatest Hits to save them as FDA report said last week
The top 20 films’ box office took £542m, taking 91% of the total £597m. 28% came from two films: Universal’s No Time To Die and Sony’s Spider-Man: No Way Home’ two films took 28% leaving 477 fighting over scraps this is far from healthy.
The report also admitted average price increased 11.4% to £7.52 despite 6 months of that time hospitality VAT was reduced to 5% which they didn’t pass on… exhibitors said at the time they didn’t pass it on as it was only a few pennies but when you’re talking about £20 IMAX/PLF and London it must be at least £2. As the report said 25% of 2021 BO came from London so that’s 18.5m so probably about £50m of last year’s BO came from VAT cut.
Top price tickets for Fantastic Beasts 3 at the Odeon Leicester Square are £32.50 up from £30 for The Batman; less than 50ft away it’s also showing on 5 screens at the Vue West End with a top price of £16.99 half the price, but still 126% more than industry average. If prices in London are far more than in the rest of the UK and it takes 25% of the annual BO it should be pushing the average price up much more.
Before 2009 Odeon Leicester Square used to take over £5m annually in ticket sales, this dropped in 2009 to £3.8m which saw increases in sales at the Empire and Vue West End, and revenues returned to the Odeon in 2010 to £5m. Since then the cinema has had a huge refurbishment with seating capacity reduced by over1,000 but despite the drop in seats I rarely sell out,
I remember going to the Odeon Leicester Square in the late 80s, 90s and early 00s and the cinema would sell out on opening weekends, but tickets were less than a quarter of the price they are now. I saw most of my films in Leicester Square cinemas in the late 80s and 90s but haven’t paid to see a film in any of the cinemas in over a decade, the only time I go to them is for a preview screening.
While the standard ticket price is high there are many things inflating admissions from Meerkat Movies on Tues/Weds (but not seen any data to see how popular it is the impact it has on cinema attendance unlike with Orange Wednesday) to subscription cinema services of Cineworld and Odeon paying £215 a year with some watching upwards of 200 films a year. Cineworld, Odeon and Vue had almost 70% of the UK market share with Cineworld having 23% and Odeon 21.9%
The average spend per head of the UK population pre-pandemic was £18.72 a year, in 2002 was £12.73 up only £5.99 in 20 years despite 82%+ ticket inflation since and the massive growth in food sales in cinemas, in 2002 concession sales were limited popcorn, syrup, hotdogs, nachos and sweets.
The industry talks a lot about the change, especially at the UKCA conference and CinemaCon but they are very slow to do so and when they do they see it as revolutionary as AMC announcing last year they will sell their popcorn in shops only a century after companies like Butterkist, while at CinemaCon AMC famously announced in 2016 text-friendly cinemas only to backtrack on the idea 24 hours later after it was received poorly, they want to be seen to looking cool with AMC also announcing they will accept payment by Bitcoin when probably most have no clue how to get it.
The idea of having different screens to target different audiences is a good one, cinemas currently have over 18 screenings for films that have lower certificates, and there could be a text-friendly screen, another having an intermission in the middle of the film especially when you have long films like The Batman and they would also be good for films targeting younger audiences.
Similarly in some countries, they have child-friendly screens, as films open on multiple screens this gives a chance to over different ways to enjoy the experience like a no smelly foods screen, it’s looking at the cinema experience from the eyes of the cinemagoer, not the exhibitor as never understood the logic behind recliners as it cuts seating by half so increases prices, means fewer cinemagoers and less popcorn and syrup sold.
Cinema admissions grew steadily from 1985 to 2002 but then they stopped growing in 2003 until they increased by less than 1% in 2018, the highest for 40 years and this was heralded as a massive success, admissions had increased 1.1m over 20 years while BO had increased from £743m in 2002 to £1.27bn in 2018 up 72.4% and industry ticket average was up over 82%, so this “growth” was purely ticket inflation.
I know I’m a broken record when I say this but after the steady growth between 1985 to 1993 industry experts predicted in Screen International in early 1994 admissions would top 200m by 2000, while they didn’t get to 200m they continued to increase until 2002, had prices not stared to creep upwards from then I do believe admissions would have been over 250m in 2019.
More admissions mean more popcorn sold and that’s where exhibitors’ real profits are as Guy Hands said when he brought Odeon Cinemas “When we bought it, the management team believed they were part of the film business. I had the difficult job of explaining to them that they were in the popcorn-selling business.”
I have gone back 20 years charting the top 10 the average weekend BO is £12.4m and inflation inflated is £14.4m only 10 weekends out of the last 70 weeks since 1st lockdown in March 2020 has BO been over £12.4m and only 7 since have been over inflation inflated average.
There have been 553 weeks £10m+, 370 weeks over £12.4m average, 65 weeks with BO over £20m; 8 over £30m and 2 over £40m (SPECTRE and Avengers Endgame).
UK box office in detail
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £12,727,545 up 195.8% from last weekend’s £4,302,969
339th biggest top 10 of the last 20 years
The weekend admissions were 1,692,493 up 195.8% 572,203 from last week; using the average price of £7.52 calculated by CAA 2021 admissions 74m with UK BO of £556.9m;
Top 3 took £10,520,238 82.6% of the top 10; Sonic the Hedgehog 2 39.2% (£4,986,334); Morbius 25.6% (£3,254,830); The Bad Guys 17.9% (£2,279,074);
2021 n/a cinemas closed
2020 n/a cinemas closed
Up 13% from 2019; (£11,266,299); Dumbo (£6,076,779); Die Walkure – Met Opera 2019 (£176,278); #1 Dumbo £6,076,779 1st week 666 screens (53.9% of top 10)
Down 28.6% from 2018: (£17,838,773); Ready Player One (£5,113,041); Isle of Dogs (£1,641,509); Blockers (£1,349,627); Duck Duck Goose (£653,832); Cosi Fan Tutte – Met Opera 2018 (£261,409); Midnight Sun (£163,482); Journeyman (£60,249); #1 Peter Rabbit 3rd week up 22%
Down 12.6% from 2017: (£14,560,830); Ghost in the Shell (£2,300,753); Smurfs: The Lost Village (£1,383,059); Free Fire (£480,644); Peter Kay’s Car Share: A Second Series Celebration (£283,024); Madama Butterfly – Royal Opera, London 2016/17 (£65,810); The Autopsy of Jane Doe (£12,678); #1 Beauty and the Beast £6,750,000 3rd 45% drop
Down 4% from 2016: (£13,252,091); Eddie the Eagle (£2,834,785); Madama Butterfly – Met Opera 2016 (£421,695); Victoria (£108,602); #1 Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice £4,661,959 2nd week 68% drop
Down 42.3% from 2015; (£22,075,680); Fast & Furious 7 (£12,765,033); The Water Diviner (£521,546); While We’re Young (£427,151); Blade Runner: The Final Cut (Re: 2015) (£267,452); #1 Fast & Furious 7 £12,765,033 1st week
Up 1.4% from 2014: (£12,545,501); Rio 2 (£2,882,680); Noah (£2,511,397); Divergent (£1,767,295); La Boheme – Met Opera 2014 (£374,522); The Double (£281,794); #1 Rio 2 £2,882,680 1st week
Up 58.8% from 2013: (£8,015,138); Dark Skies (£1,031,948); Spring Breakers (£345,153); The Odd Life of Timothy Green (£269,465); A Late Quartet (£107,158); #1 The Croods £2,364,348 3rd week 28% drop
Up 26.9% from 2012 (£10,028,615); Wrath of the Titans (£2,192,740); The Pirates! In an Adventure With Scientists (£2,176,195); StreetDance 2 (£608,024); #1 The Hunger Games £2,986,317 2nd week 39% drop
Up 96.1% from 2011 (£6,490,539); HOP (£1,392,740); Source Code (£1,306,661); Sucker Punch (£814,976); Killing Bono (£112,206); Oranges and Sunshine (£82,922); Psycho (£8,552); The Railway Children (RE) (£1,470); #1 HOP £1,392,740 1st week
Down 41.5% from 2010: (£21,761,471); Clash of the Titans (£5,682,875); How to Train your Dragon (£4,846,532); Kick-Ass (£3,881,704); Remember Me (£987,310); #1 Clash of the Titans £5,682,875 1st week
Up 25.1% from 2009; (£10,172,026); Monsters vs. Aliens (£4,345,711); The Boat that Rocked (£1,804,773); Religulous (£18,736); #1 Monsters vs. Aliens £4,345,711 1st week
Up 92.1% from 2008; (£6,623,644); Son of Rambow (£897,089); Never Back Down (£845,530); Awake (£546,562); One Missed Call (£432,327); Funny Games (£88,376); How She Move (£78,771); #1 27 Dresses £1,028,661 2nd week 41% drop
Up 81.1% from 2007: (£7,026,692); Blades of Glory (£1,023,836); Sunshine (£1,021,063); The Messengers (262,562); #1 Mr Beans Holiday £2,451,283 2nd week 62% drop
Up 107.6% from 2006; (£6,128,821): Failure to Launch (£874,999); The Shaggy Dog (£831,250); Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addiction (£487,031); Firewall (£465,880); Yours, Mine and Ours (£330,665); The White Countess (£70,012); #1 Inside Man £1,117,054 2nd week 38% drop
Up 70% from 2005 (£7,489,470); The Ring Two (£2,062,792); Be Cool (expansion) (£1,150,434); Downfall (£163,413); #1 The Ring Two £2,062,792 1st week
Up 57.7% from 2004 (£8,067,662); The Passion of the Christ (expansion) 3rd week (£2,019,935); Dawn of the Dead (£1,944,745); Agent Cody Banks 2 (£246,755); Under the Tuscan Sun (£203,634); The Station Agent (£97,044); The Honeymooners (£8,229); Fear X (£7,902); #1 The Passion of the Christ £2,019,935 3rd week up 573% (25.1% of top 10)
Up 198% from 2003 (£4,270,657); Shanghai Knights (£749,655); A Man Apart (£527,730); Blue Crush (£491,419); #1 The Recruit £923,834 2nd week (3rd weekend down 17% 378 screens (18.1% of top 10)
Up 96.8% from 2002 (£6,466,007); Collateral Damage (£434,639); 24 Hour Party People (£265,428); Kate & Leopold (£204,325); #1 Blade 2 £1,335,594 2nd week 47% drop
Next weekend 2020 and 2021 – Cinemas Closed First Lockdown
Next weekend in 2019 (£13,628,515) Shazam! (£4,067,068); Pet Sematary (£1,554,881); Peppa Pig: Festival of Fun (£982,617); Missing Link (£644,649); The Sisters Brothers (£253,187); The Keeper (£77,806); The Golden Age – Bolshoi Ballet 2019 (£76,563); #1 Shazam! £4,067,068 1st week 599 screens (29.8% of top 10)
US Box Office
- Morbius – Sony Pictures
Opened $39m; received poor reviews (17% Rotten Tomatoes) and C+ CinemaScore
390th biggest opening between Kingsman: The Golden Circle and Dinosaur (close to Daredevil #364 $40.31m; Batman #359 $40.48m; Batman & Robin #327 $42.87m
Sony was expecting and opening around $33m then upped it to $38m-$41.5m; while industry experts were predicting between $40m-$50m but opening after the hugely successfully Spider-Man No Way Home, along with Venom: Let There Be Carnage and The Batman would have surely expected an opening twice as big even with the poor buzz and reviews as comic-book fans would still rush out to see it over opening weekend.
Took $5.7m from Thursday previews about 50% less than both 2018’s Venom ($10m) and 2021’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage ($11.6m) and similar to the $5.9m Shazam took in April 2019 opening with $53.5m but that received critical acclaim (90% Rotten Tomatoes); it is amazing to see that Morbius has the same PG-13 rating as Shazam.
Took $17.1m from Friday (including previews) similar to Ghostbuster (2016) and The Lego Movie (close Handcock, xXx, Lucy and The Purge)
Took 36% from IMAX/PLF with IMAX taking $3m from 400 cinemas which would push the average ticket price to be similar to The Batman about $13.66
Things could have been very different had Morbius opened in July 2020 as it was originally dated in January 2019 and the film would have been a very different film as has gone through several reshoots.
Comparisons could be made with X-Men: Dark Phoenix also went through extensive reshoots and the ending was completely changed due to it being too similar to Captain Marvel. As with Morbius Dark Phoenix’s release date was moved to open after Captain Marvel as Morbius was originally due to open before both Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Spider-Man No Way Home.
2018’s Venom opened $80.25m taking $213.51m and $856.08m worldwide
2021’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage opened $90.03m taking $213.55m and $502.05m worldwide
2019’s X-Men: Dark Phoenix opened $32.82m (taking $5m from Thursday midnights) and $65.84m and $252.44m
The vampire comic-book film has comparisons with 1998’s Blade $17.07m ($35 inflation inflated) taking $61.12m and $131.21m worldwide; 2002’s Blade 2 $32.52m ($75m inflation inflated) taking $82.34m and $155.01m; 2004’s Blade Trinity $16.1m taking $52.41m and $131.97m worldwide
It’s the 31st consecutive weekend with at least one comic book movie in the Top 5 going back to September with Shang-Chi, Venom 2, Eternals, Spider-Man No Way Home, The Batman and Morbius. The industry sees this as a positive but while in other genres of films success means success over a wide range of genres, success for one comic-book movie only means success for the next which will be the case until Doctor Strange opens in a month and then there is the longest gap from May to July until the next released.
Having three comic-book movies in the top ten highlights the problem with box office over the last few years as it used to be success breeds success over a wide range of genres (Universal in 2015) but now success for one comic-book movie leads to the next with all other films fighting over scraps. It will be this way until mid-May when there’s an 8-week gap between Doctor Strange and Thor sequels. The industry needs to get audiences to see a wider range of films than they used to do.
US BO increased for six of the last seven recessions, and the Depression was the peak of cinema attendance, are fears of another recession in the US and Europe (a YouGov poll this week said 81% of US adults expect a recession this year) so surely, it’s time for exhibitors to show cinema is still a cheap night out, especially with the rising cost of streaming?
Opened with $44.9m from 62 territories and $84m worldwide IMAX took $5.5m worldwide including $2.5m internationally.
In comparison 2020’s Birds of Prey opened with $48m from 78 territories and $81.3m worldwide and took $5m from IMAX worldwide with $2.6m international from 390 screens. While 2019’s X-Men: Dark Phoenix opened with $103.7m from 53 territories and $136.5m worldwide and took $14.1m worldwide from IMAX including $9.1m internationally.
- The Lost City – Paramount Pictures
Dropped 52% in its second weekend taking $14.71m and $54.49m
Industry predictably heralded the opening of The Lost City as they did earlier In the year with Scream and Jackass Forever despite both performing similar to films released 20 years ago.
1,616th biggest film between Three Billboards and The Woman in Black; 2,526th biggest inflation inflated between Savages and My Favourite Year; 214th biggest Paramount Pictures film between What Men Want and Paranormal Activity 4
Despite the massive box office of Spider-Man No Way Home (taking over $800m over the weekend) the industry has seemly lowered expectations on what success is with films this year, as Scream and Jackass Forever were seen as successful despite both taking less than films released 20 years ago while The Lost City was being compared with Sandra Bullock films which dropped far less in their second weekend 2013’s The Heat dropped 36.7% taking $24.76m and $86.25m and 2009’s The Proposal dropped 44.8% taking $18.57m and $69.16m while taking $163.95m while 1999’s The Mummy dropped 42.7% taking $24.85m and $80.58m taking $155.38m.
The industry also says box office is back to normal, if it is normal it’s a new normal that sees the divide between comic-book movies Vs everything else becoming wider and films like The Lost City which should have longer legs struggling to maintain that momentum past opening weekend.
EntTelligence reported an average price of $11.90 with exhibitors not up charging for the film as they did with The Batman; this is still a third more than the industry claimed average ($9.18) and as other films premium formats taking 21% from Friday.
Similar films second weekends
2008’s Tropic Thunder dropped 37% by $16.27m and $65.83m taking $110.51m and $195.7m worldwide
1984’s Romancing of the Stone up 9.1% $5.57m and $12.54m taking $76.57m ($310m inflation inflated)
1998’s Six Days Seven Nights dropped 35.1% $10.7m and $34.36m taking $90.5m ($260m inflation inflated)
2005’s Sahara dropped 27.7% $13.07m and $36.41m taking $50.56m ($80m inflation inflated)
2008’s Fool’s Gold dropped 40.2% $12.9m and $41.86m taking $70.23m and $111.23m worldwide
2012’s Journey 2: The Mysterious Island dropped 27.4% by $19.84m and $52.96m taking $103.88m and $335.29m worldwide
2021’s Jungle Cruise dropped 54.8% by $15.81m and $65.44m taking $116.98m and $220.88m worldwide
Took $7m from 16 territories; expands into territories in mid-April after Fantastic Beasts 3 opened.
- The Batman – Warner Bros
Dropped 46% in its fifth weekend taking $11m and $349.2m
Took $31.5% from IMAX in the US (10% of US BO)
58th biggest film in the US between American Sniper and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers; Batman Vs Superman; Aquaman #64 $335.1m; Joker #63 $335.45m; Wonder Woman #32 $412.56m; The Dark Knight Rises #22 $448.13m; The Dark Knight #13 $553.72m.
148th biggest inflation inflated between The Twilight Saga: Eclipse and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey; 6th biggest Warner Bros film between American Sniper ($350.12m) and Joker ($335.45m)
Batman BO fifth weekends
1989’s Batman dropped 26.1% $11.16m and $187.52m 74.6% of $251.34m ($882m) Int $160.16m ($560m) $411.5m WW ($1.4bn)
1992’s Batman Returns dropped 44.3% $4.3m and $145.48m 89.3% $162.9m ($530m) Int $103.99m ($338m) $266.89m WW ($870m)
1995’s Batman Forever dropped 42.9% $5.28m and $164.64m 89.4% of $184.07m ($573m) Int $152.5m ($471m) WW $336.56m ($1.04bn)
1997’s Batman and Robin dropped 56.4% $1.78m and $102.8m 95.8% of $107.35m ($235m) Int $130.88m ($395m) WW $238.23m ($720m)
2005’s Batman Begins dropped 39.7% $6.03m and $183.14m 88.5% of $206.85m ($435m) Int $166.8m ($350m) WW $373.66m ($790m)
2008’s The Dark Knight dropped 37.3% $16.4m and $471.08m 88.1% of $534.85m Int $471.11m WW $1.005bn
2012’s The Dark Knight Rises dropped 42% $11.01m and $409.78m 91.4% of $448.14m Int $633m WW $1,081bn
2016’s Batman Vs Superman dropped 39.1% $5.5m and $319.48m 96.7% of $330.36m Int $543.27m WW $873.63m
2017’s Justice League dropped 55.4% $4.3m and $219.59m 95.8% of $229.02m Int $428.9m WW $657.92m
2019’s Joker dropped 29.9% $13.5m and $299.18m 89.2% of $335.45m int $738.8m WW $1.74bn
Took $13.4m (down 46%) from 76 territories taking $362.7m and $710.5m worldwide; UK $47.4m; Mexico $28m; Australia $24.1m; France $22.2m; Brazil $20.2m; China $17.9m.
122nd biggest film worldwide between Captain America: The Winter Solider and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes; 30th biggest comic-book movie between Captain America: The Winter Soldier and The Amazing Spider-Man; 22nd biggest Warner Bros film worldwide between Inception and It Chapter One; Suicide Squad #19; Wonder Woman #16 and Batman Vs Superman #15.
UK Box Office Top 10
UK Box Office Preview
The weekends No Time To Die and Spider-Man No Way Home last year might have been bigger but this weekend with Fantastic Beasts 3, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Morbius and The Bad Guys will be far better for the industry as BO will be shared across several films rather than cannibalized by one. It would be t60 biggest opening over the last 20 years similar to the February half-term in 2020
Rival studios distanced themselves from opening big films close to previous Fantastic Beasts films In 2018 and 2018 but after they didn’t open similar to Harry Potter films (never were going to) Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore opens only a week after Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
2016’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them opened £15,333,146 from 666 screens; with Arrival #2 at £1,496,205 and Trolls #3 at £1,241,574
2018’s Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald opened £12,318,966 (19.6% less) from 674 screens; with The Grinch #2 at £3,906,597 and Bohemian Rhapsody #3 at £3,021,648
A long way from 2011’s Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 £23,753,171 from 582 screens (£9.48m from the opening day) taking £73.04m; Transformers: Dark of the Moon #2 £1,990,508 3rd weekend and Bridesmaids #3 £1,576,780 4th weekend.
Was #1 for 4 weeks with Cars 2 opened in its 2nd w/e; Captain America: The First Avenger 3rd w/e; Super 8 in its 4th w/e dropping to 3rd w/e in its 5th weekend Rise of the Planet of the Apes #1
2010’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 1 £18,319,721 from 579 screens taking £52,541,780; Due Date #2 £1,218,115 3rd w/e and Despicable Me £648,479 6th w/e.
No major releases in 2nd w/e; Megamind opened the third w/e dropped to #2 in 4th w/e with Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader #1 taking £2,460,118 Vs £1,905,368.
But the Fantastic Beast films were never going to perform like Harry Potter films as they targeted an older audience and a major part of the attraction of the Harry Potter films was children had read the books and grown up with Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter. It was similar to how The Hobbit films were less successful than the original Lord of the Rings trilogy.
2018’s Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald opened 20% less than the first film so would expect Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore to open about 20% less than the second film about £9m-10m but that would be the case without any competition, that said the third film does have an advantage over the previous two films as opens on Friday which is part of Easter holidays. While cold wet weather over the weekend will continually make going to the cinema an activity many will go to over the Easter holidays.
Reviews have called the third film the closest to being a Harry Potter film that said has the problems the first two films had, while there were originally plans for five films the script for the fourth film reportedly hasn’t been written yet so unlikely to be released before 2024.
Fantastic Beasts films suffer from the same issues most prequels have done as they are telling a story that doesn’t need to be told about lesser-known characters that only play to the fans, this was similarly the issue with the Star Wars anthology films Rogue One and Solo that told the story of events that were mentioned in the original trilogy but didn’t need to be seen.
2020’s Sonic The Hedgehog dropped 12% in its second weekend taking £4,171,244 from 634 screens and £14,688,538 but didn’t have any competition as The Call Of The Wild opened #4 with £1,465,400 while Dolittle #2 £2,032,270 targeted younger audiences and Parasite #3 £1,722,236 targetting older audiences. Sonic The Hedgehog 2 will likely drop slightly more than the first film but BO will be boosted by Friday taking about £3.5m-£4m
Morbius will likely drop about 65% (including previews) taking about £1m-£1.5m losing the lucrative 48 IMAX screens to Fantastic Beasts 3.
The Bad Guys climbed up to #2 on Monday will drop about 30% as its opening was inflated with weekend previews, removing the preview BO it will likely have a slight increase as paying to a younger audience than either Sonic The Hedgehog 2 or Fantastic Beasts 3 it has no competition over Easter holidays.
Opening next week
- Operation Mincemeat – Warner Bros
A war drama based upon Ben Macintyre’s book on the British Operation Mincemeat starring Colin Firth, Kelly Macdonald, Matthew Macfadyen, Penelope Wilton, Johnny Flynn, Jason Isaacs and directed by John Madden.
It’s John Madden’s first film since 2016’s Miss Sloane, he has also directed Mrs Brown, Shakespeare in Love, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, The Debt, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and the sequel The Second-Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Colin Firth recently starred in Mothering Sunday (opened #11 £156,940 from 170 screens), Supernova (opened #8 £245,715 353 screens), The Secret Garden (opened #3 £154,087 from 196 screens) all opened in the early months after cinemas reopened when older audiences were much slower to return to cinemas and 1917 (released in January 2020) and will next star in Sam Mendes’s Empire of Light expected to be an award contender opening later this year.
The film was made by See-Saw Productions the same UK production company that made The Power of the Dog.
Warner Bros acquired selective rights including the UK at the Cannes Film Festival in 2019 with Netflix acquiring other rights including the US in February 2021. The film was originally set for release in January 2022 but was delayed to April due to the rise in COVID cases. But April has been a lucrative time to open adult dramas at the weekend after the Easter holidays end with films like Woman in Gold (£494,512 #7 from 226 screens and Eye in the Sky (£1,110,959 #3 from 428 screens. While The Duke opened with £992,659 in February taking £5,047,071
- The Northman – Universal Pictures
Historical epic starring Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ethan Hawke, Björk, Willem Dafoe and directed by Robert Eggers.
The film recurved mixed test scores and was recut after the studio felt it started too slowly which saw its budget increase from $65m to $90m
Robert Eggers previously directed 2016’s The Witch (opened #7 £447,626 from 179 screens taking £883,088) and 2020’s The Lighthouse (opened #10 £384,284 from 83 screens) both received critical acclaim and had very low budgets.
The Witch and The Lighthouse were independently made films but The Northman had the pressure of the much larger budget along with the studio, which is often problematic, while there is a lot of expectation for the film due to his previous two films and the cast.
