- The Lost City – £2,743,211 – NE
Took £1,006,273 from previews on Wednesday and Thursday; taking £500k on Wednesday opening #4; took £99,590 more than Fantastic Beasts 3
Had the 556th biggest opening between Maverick and The Imitation Game (close to 300: Rise of An Empire, The Lion King 3D, The Emoji Movie and Fantastic Four (2015) and the 833rd biggest inflation inflated between Rugrats in Paris: The Movie and One Day (close to Big Fish, Wrath of the Titans, Around the World in 80 Days and 28 Days Later).
46th biggest Paramount Pictures opening between GI Joe: Retaliation and A Quiet Place (close to Cloverfield, Captain America: The First Avenger, Noah and Tropic Thunder).
835th Fri-Sun opening (taking £1,736,938) between Die Hard 2 Die Harder and Scream 3 highlighting how to preview box office has inflated film openings over the last 20+ years it’s now impossible to make direct comparisons as without previews The Lost City would have opened third, but it’s impossible to just take off preview BO as many who went to previews on Weds/Thurs would have gone Fri-Sun if it didn’t have previews.
Always find it interesting that the US doesn’t include BO taken before Thursday previews within weekend BO but the UK does. With its opening inflated taking £1m from previews The Lost City will likely drop upwards of 70% in its second weekend which will likely see Fantastic Beasts 3 return to #1.
The Lost City has been compared to action-adventure films like Romancing of the Stone and Tropic Thunder. Had its world premiere at SXSW on March 12 and received positive reviews but some felt while there is great chemistry between Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum with a fun cameo from Brad Pitt they seem to be having more fun than the audience as it’s let down by the script.
It’s Sandra Bullock’s first action comedy since 2013’s The Heat opening with £2,500,522 (including £910,146 previews) £2,879,621 inflation inflated taking £6,825,860 and £7,860,715 inflation inflated; and first rom-comedy since 2009’s The Proposal opening with £3,249,640 (including £1,153,357 previews) £4,492,149 inflation inflated taking £11,740,551 and £16,229,585 inflation inflated.
While Channing Tatum recently starred in Dog opening with £822,123 taking £3,228,094 and action-comedies 21 Jump Street in 2012 opened with £1,556,039 taking £9,863,555 and 22 Jump Street opened at £4,854,991 taking £18,322,998
Other similar films include
1998’s Six Days Seven Nights opened £908,713 (£1,695,663 inflation inflated) taking £4,535,477 (£8,463,223 inflation inflated)
2005’s Sahara opened £1,370,577 taking £4,726,275
2008’s Fool’s Gold opened £975,498 taking £2,241,576
2008’s Tropic Thunder opened £2,483,271 (£474,296 previews) taking £8,387,745; took £259,940 more but had an extra days previews and 45% ticket inflation.
2012’s Journey 2: The Mysterious Island opened £1,200,587 taking £6,467,920
2021’s Jungle Cruise opened £2,241,651 taking £12,487,739
2022’s Free Guy opened £2,477,891 taking £16,866,112
Over the last few years Paramount Pictures have been putting together strong slats of films but for one reason or another films get delayed and the failure to build on the momentum, but this year The Lost City is the fourth successful opening after Scream, Jackass Forever and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 with the long-awaited Top Gun: Maverick finally opening next month opening almost 3 years after it was originally due to open.
Sadly after opening 5 strong films over the first 6 months they only have two films for the rest of the year Secret Headquarters and Tadeo Jones 3 neither are likely to find wide audiences. But then in 2023 they are building their strongest slate for more than a decade including Babylon directed by Damien Chazelle already generating strong buzz, Scream sequel, Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts, Mission Impossible 7 and a new Star Trek film.
It’s the seventh different film to open #1 this year after Spider-Man: No Way Home for 3 weeks (3 in 2021); Sing 2 (2 weeks); Uncharted (3 weeks); The Batman (4 weeks); Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1 week); Fantastic Beasts (1 week).
Took £560k on Easter Monday with £3.3m total
- 2. Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore – £2,643,621– £12,658,733
Down 55.1% in its second weekend
Took £1.1m on Friday down 53% from opening day (£2.3m)
Had the 2nd biggest opening in 2022 after The Batman (£13.53m) and the 8th biggest opening since cinemas reopened between Fast & Furious 9 and Dune
Took £10.01m over its opening week the second-biggest week this year between The Batman and Uncharted; 118th biggest 7 days opening between Inception and Bad Neighbours (close to Night at the Museum 2, Paddington 2, Dune and Men In Black 2); Fantastic Beasts took £21,243,787 in the opening week and Fantastic Beasts 2 took £16,421,035.
Had the 264th biggest second weekend between Signs and Mad Max: Fury Road (close to War for the Planet of the Apes, Kong: Skull Island, Oz: The Great and Powerful and Maleficent) and the 443rd biggest inflation inflated between American Sniper and Kevin & Perry Go Large (close to Big Hero 6, The Rock, Ant-Man and Snow White and the Huntsman).
40th biggest Warner Bros second weekend between Inception and Dune (close to Kong: Skull Island, Wonder Woman, Tenet and Aquaman) and 59th biggest Warner Bros inflation inflated opening between Scooby-Doo Too and Dune (close to Batman, Sweeney Todd, The Bodyguard and Beetlejuice).
497th biggest film in the UK between The Lady in the Van and The Final Destination (close to Hook, Shazam!, Ghostbusters (1984) and Back to the Future) and 778th biggest inflation inflated between The Pursuit of Happyness and Passengers (close to The Meaning of Life, Tron Legacy, Jungle Cruise and National Treasure 2).
2016’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them dropped 42% in second weekend taking £8,892,489 and £30,136,276; Allied opened #2 with £1,331,919 and Bad Santa #4 £799,156
Dropped 50% in third weekend taking £4,494,727 from 649 screens and £37,886,538; Moana opened #2 £2,214,898 and Sully: Miracle on the Hudson #3 £1,786,844
Dropped 40% in fourth weekend taking £2,734,960 from 620 screens and £42,392,249; Moana #2 £1,911,784 and Sully: Miracle on the Hudson #3 £1,222,683
After 4 weeks at #1 dropped to #3 in fifth weekend down 48% taking £1,416,433 from 480 screens and £44,963,803; Rogue One: A Star Wars Story opened #1 £17,305,011 and Moana #2 £1,424,527
Stayed in top 5 for 6 weeks and In top 10 for 9 weeks taking £568,432 in 9th weekend and £54,000,202 98.9% of £54,593,487
2018’s Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald dropped 54% in second weekend taking £5,622,755 from 679 screens and £22,043,790; with The Grinch #2 £3,283,072 and Bohemian Rhapsody #3 £2,211,454 and new releases Robin Hood #4 £1,330,387; Nativity Rocks! #5 £834,414; The Girl in the Spider’s Web #6 £557,403
Dropped to #3 in third weekend down 52% taking £2,709,967 from 661 screens and £26,753,839; with Ralph Breaks the Internet opening #1 £4,032,775 and Creed 2 #2 £2,991,509
Dropped 46% in fourth weekend #4 taking £1,468,736 from 619 screens and £29,271,816; with Ralph Breaks the Internet #1; The Grinch #2 and Creed 2 #3
Stayed in the top 5 for 4 weeks and in the top 10 for 8 weeks taking £365,814 at the 9th weekend and £33,501,931 98.5% of £33,995,565
After having the 8th widest ever opening last week in 716 cinemas and 1,959 screens dropped 573 screens to 1,386 screens in its second weekend, but as seen with K.G.F: Chapter 2 opening in 74 and 108 screens this weekend films don’t need to play so wide as those cinemas probably had many sold-out performances while Fantastic Beasts 3 probably had many almost empty screenings.
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.
They feature lessen known characters that were mentioned in passing in the original films and prequels. These films often tell stories only fans want to see as was the case with Star Wars Anthology films Rogue One and Solo expanding on how the rebels got the plans to the Death Star and the Kessel Run that were covered enough in The New Hope.
Over recent years there is always one film that gets singled out as an example of everything bad in Hollywood today, in 2016 it was the female Ghostbusters film, while it wasn’t a good film it didn’t shouldn’t have received any of the misogynistic comments. 2018 Solo: Star Wars Anthology, 2019 X-Men: Dark Phoenix, 2020 The New Mutants, 2021 Black Widow and most recently Morbius were singled out for their negatives before Fantastic Beasts 3. While many films receive backlash after they have opened as was the case with Disney’s Star Wars sequels these films received negativity many months before opening.
In October 2014 JK Rowling and Warner Bros announced plans for at least three Fantastic Beasts films, but then two years later they announced it would be 5 films with the first being released in November 2016 the second in November 2018 and the third was originally set for November 2020. Warner Bro’s decision to make five films instead of three was similar to 20th Century Fox announcing 4 Avatar sequels instead of the expected trilogy as this was all in response to Disney announcing a Star Wars film every year in 2013. Rival studios needed to have similar-sized films to stay competitive.
Filming was to start in early 2019 for the third film but didn’t start until early 2020 which saw its release date moved from November 2020 to November 2021. Then COVID struck production on the film was delayed and its release date was moved to July 15, 2022, but then surprisingly in September 2021 its release date was brought forward to April 2022. As almost all previous Harry Potter films opened in either July or November it was very surprising that the film was moved away from the prime summer slot, but at that time they had dated Black Adam to open two weeks afterwards maybe that was the reason its release was brought forward as DC has become far more important to the studio than Fantastic Beasts. But in March due Warner Bros announced Black Adam was being delayed to October 2022 due to production delays which leave Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis as the studio’s only major release this summer.
While many blamed the weather as the reason why Fantastic Beasts 3 softly opened and BO has been softer than expected over the last two weeks but advance sales for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness have been very strong since they went on sale. Hot weather is always used as an excuse but if it’s a film people want to see nothing will stop them from seeing it. I remember going to the Odeon Leicester Square to see the first Pirates of the Caribbean film on the hottest day of the year and the cinema was packed despite the air conditioning not working and the audience melting in the heat.
The 11 Harry Potter films have taken almost £550m at the UK BO and almost £785m inflation inflated
Took £1.3m on Easter Monday with £14m total
- 3. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 £2,046,908 – £16,391,816
Dropped 30% in its third weekend; took £3,701,825 Mon-Thurs
363rd biggest film in the UK between Kingsman: The Secret Service and About A Boy (close to Free Guy, Enchanted, Scooby-Doo Too and The Smurfs) and 604th biggest inflation inflated between Mona Lisa and Santa Claus The Movie (close to Flushed Away, Rio 2, Charlotte’s Web and Spice World).
2020’s Sonic The Hedgehog dropped 54% in its third weekend taking £1,937,939 from 637 screens and £17,215,552 89.3% of £19,280,822; dropped heavily due to the end of half-term holidays and COVID despite the industry being in denial at the time as it was pulled from cinemas 2 weeks later after the first lockdown.
The Invisible Man opened #1 with £2,163,798 and Dark Water #4 at £860,942 targetting older audiences with Onward having weekend previews taking £800,000.
2019’s Pokémon Detective Pikachu #4 dropped 63% taking £1,009,717 from 572 screens and £10,544,424 of £13,368,175 having competition from Aladdin #1 £7,066,773 and The Secret Life of Pets 2 #3 £3,490,598
Uncharted dropped 18% taking £3,084,102 #1 (end of half-term) 631 screens taking £18,097,781 of £23,641,476
Took £800k on Easter Monday with £17.2m total
1,429th biggest opening between Cruel Intentions and Operation Mincemeat (close to Behind Enemy Lines, Reign Of Fire, From Hell and Bad Boys).
Took £2,729 more than Operation Mincemeat
As Robert Eggers previously directed films The Northman received widespread critical acclaim and was compared to films like Gladiator and 300 but despite its ensemble cast including Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ethan Hawke, Björk and Willem Dafoe but was always likely to struggle to find mainstream audiences.
Similar recent films include
The Green Knight opened #8 in September with £166,118 from 73 screens
The Last Duel opened #6 October with £325,523 from 439 screens
While 2007’s 300 opened £4,746,071 taking £13,986,190
Some will use the hot Easter weekend weather as an excuse but it was all the reviews have said how bloody, brutal, violent and gruesome (despite only getting a 15 certificate) while it was a strange time to open such a film during the Easter Holidays.
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 Northman opened with more than double the BO of Robert Eggers’s previous films, but it also opened on more than double the number of screens and had a far bigger marketing campaign so impossible to compare the openings of the film.
The film received mixed test scores and was recut after the studio felt it started too slowly which saw its budget increase from $65m to $90m. The film is based on the Scandinavian legend Amleth who was the inspiration for William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.
Took £300k on Easter Monday with £1.2m total
- 5.Operation Mincemeat – £895,008 – NE
Took £41,146 from previews
Operation Mincemeat is John Madden’s first film since 2016’s Miss Sloane, also directed by 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. 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
Took £300k on Easter Monday with £1.2m total and will play well over the weekdays and will distance itself from The Northman by the end of the week.
Also Opened
Doctor No – Park Circus
Took £8,349 from 89 screens, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of James Bond Park Circus is re-releasing all 25 of the films over the next few months in Vue and Odeon cinemas ending on September 30th with No Time To Die.
The problem is ticket prices are the normal price so these re-issues will have very limited appeal in cinemas as why would you pay £9.99 to see a film you can watch at home on streaming.
Other Box Office News
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 £11,463,631 down 2.1% from last weekend’s £11,707,957
435th biggest top 10 of the last 20 years close to 15 September 2017 #1 It £6,070,542 and 05 December 2014 #1 Paddington £3,837,885 and 693rd biggest inflation inflated over last 20 years close to 24 February 2006 (£7,442,296) #1 Date Movie £1,288,089 and 19 October 2007 (£7,694,181) #1 Ratatouille £3,056,938
The weekend admissions were down 2.1% 1,524,419 from last week 1,556,909; using the average price of £7.52 calculated by CAA 2021 admissions 74m with UK BO of £556.9m;
Top 3 took £7,433,740 64.8% of the top 10; The Lost City 23.9% (£2,743,211); Fantastic Beasts 3 23.1% (£2,643,621); Sonic the Hedgehog 2 17.9% (£2,046,908);
2021 n/a cinemas closed
2020 n/a cinemas closed
Up 5.2% from 2019; (£10,896,294) Wonder Park (£1,586,003); Hellboy (£989,562); Wild Rose (£772,060); Little (£540,579); Mid90s (£100,454); #1 Dumbo £2,345,046 down 33% 3rd week 2nd week #1 split over 3 weeks 697 screens 21.5% of top 10
Down 9.8% from 2018: (£12,710,945); Rampage (£4,109,247); Truth or Dare (£931,250); Luisa Miller Met Opera 2018 (£231,297); #1 Rampage £4,109,247 1st week
Down 50.9% from 2017: (£23,325,163); Fast & Furious 8 (£14,026,301); The Handmaiden (£474,752); The Sense of an Ending (£329,948); #1 Fast & Furious 8 £14,026,301 1st week
Down 27.3% from 2016: (£15,777,777); The Jungle Book (£9,901,921); Eye in the Sky (£1,110,959); Criminal (£248,376); 28 Days Later (Secret Cinema) (£160,185); #1 The Jungle Book £9,901,921 594 screens 1st week (62.7% of the top 10)
Up 53.3% from 2015; (£7,479,374); Child 44 (£505,558); A Little Chaos (£331,530); Ivan The Terrible – Bolshoi 2015 (£97,268); The Last Five Years (£5,371); #1 Fast & Furious 7 £3,039,720 3rd week 44% drop
Down 19.4% from 2014: (£14,230,137); The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (£9,011,114); The Love Punch (£613,424); Locke (£251,063); #1 The Amazing Spider-Man 2 £9,011,114 1st week
Up 49.3% from 2013: (£7,677,512); Olympus Has Fallen (£2,247,900); Evil Dead (£1,375,842); Love is All You Need (£202,176); Promised Land (£52,664); The Lords of Salem (£925); The Words (£765); #1 Olympus Has Fallen £2,247,900 1st week
Up 42.6% from 2012 (£8,037,734); Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (£1,169,235); Lockout (£596,500); Gone (£275,087); Marley (£203,062); #1 Battleship £1,282,091 2nd week 66% drop
Up 42.9% from 2011 (£8,022,776); Scream 4 (£2,061,885); Your Highness (£926,338); Red Riding Hood (£842,398); Winnie the Pooh (£159,369); Little White Lies (£125,273); #1 Scream 4 £2,061,885 408 screens 1st week (25.7% of top 10)
Up 25.5% from 2010: (£9,130,568); Dear John (£1,995,3010; The Ghost (£853,679); Cemetery Junction (£641,218); Repo Men (£182,798); #1 Dear John £1,995,301 1st week
Up 20.8% from 2009; (£9,489,959); I Love You Man (£1,122,258); Crank 2: High Voltage (£554,565); In the Loop (£468,954); Good (£27,054); Not Easily Broken (£10,727); #1 Monsters vs. Aliens £2,057,367 3rd week 1st #1
Up 90.1% from 2008; (£6,030,881); Fool’s Gold (£975,498); In Bruges (expansion up 634%) (£638,654); Street Kings (£619,647); Happy-Go-Lucky (£383,365); Flashbacks of a Fool (£246,072); #1 21 £1,010,923 2nd week 39% drop
Up 115.1% from 2007: :(£5,328,808); Fracture (£851,289); Alpha Dog (£452,232); The Reaping (£310,591); Pathfinder (£109,262); #1 Wild Hogs (£954,553 2nd week 44% drop
Up 29.5% from 2006; (£8,853,843): Scary Movie 4 (£1,953,094); Take the Lead (£621,735); An American Haunting (£541,446); Glastonbury (£23,893); #1 Ice Age II £3,608,531 2nd week 67% drop
Up 74.4% from 2005 (£6,573,859); The Interpreter (£1,589,829); The Amityville Horror (£1,339,417); #1 The Interpreter £1,370,577 1st week £1,589,829 1st week 370 screens (24.2% of top 10)
Up 41.2% from 2004 (£8,118,464); The Butterfly Effect (£735,287); The Girl Next Door (£713,107); Hidalgo (£446,550); Barbershop 2 (£73,174); #1 Scooby-Doo Too £ Scooby-Doo Too 3rd week 13% drop
Up 51.1% from 2003 (£7,590,235); Phone Booth (£1,385,040); How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (£1,247,975); Bulletproof Monk (£607,839); Ghosts of the Abyss (£75,227); #1 Johnny English £2,529,665 2nd week 26% drop
Up 61.5% from 2002 (£7,099,174); Bend It Like Beckham (£2,001,795); The Queen of the Damned (£611,440); K-Pax (£567,349); The One (£493,491); Y Tu Mama Tambien (£182,166); #1 Bend It Like Beckham £2,001,795 1st week 28.2% of top 10
Next weekend 2020 and 2021 – Cinemas Closed First Lockdown
Next weekend in 2019 (£4,991,232); Red Joan (£432,866); Greta (£331,811); The Goonies (4K Restoration) (£59,033); #1 Shazam! £979,787 2nd week #1 over 3 weeks 512 screens (19.6% of top 10)
US Box Office
- Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore – Warner Bros
Opened with $42.15m; received mixed reviews (58% Rotten Tomatoes) and x CinemaScore B+ (Fantastic Beasts received A and The Crimes of Grindelwald B+ while all Harry Potter films received A with Chamber of Secrets A+)
336th biggest opening between Anger Management and High School Musical 3 (close to Terminator Salvation, Uncharted, Ready Player One and The Hangover Part III).
Took $6m from Thursday midnights compared to $8.7m for 2016’s Fantastic Beasts and $7.3m for 2018’s The Crimes of Grindelwald.
Days before opening it was tracking to open with about $55m-$60m but that seemed high after its soft opening in the UK and as often with internationally early openings they will hurt the US opening. While previous Fantastic Beasts films took about 75% of their BO internationally opening it early was always going to hurt their US BO and while these films might not perform as well in the US it is still vital for their success.
2018’s Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald opened $62.16m taking $159.55m; $495.3m internationally 75.6% and $645.85m worldwide; dropped 52.7% in the second weekend taking $29.37m and $116.35m
2016’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them opened $74.4m taking $234.03m; $580m internationally 71.3% and $814.04m worldwide; dropped 39.4% in the second weekend taking $45.08m and $156.01m
Fantastic Beasts 3 will drop upwards of 60% in its second weekend taking $15m-$17m with three new wide releases The Northman, The Bad Guys and The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent opening.
Took $71.7m from 52 territories $150.17m total and $192.34m worldwide; Germany $17.1m; Japan $17m; UK $16.7m; China $14.7m; Australia $8m; 892nd biggest film worldwide between Paddington 2 and Rocketman; 146th biggest Warner Bros film worldwide between Paddington 2 and Superman 2.
In comparison 2018’s Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald opened with $191m internationally from 79 territories and $253m worldwide with $37.5m from China and $16.4m in the UK and 2016’s Fantastic Beasts opened with $45.5m internationally from 63 territories taking $19.16m in the UK
- Sonic The Hedgehog 2 – Paramount Pictures
Dropped 59% taking $29.3m and $118.9m
579th biggest film between Fahrenheit 9/11 and Hairspray; 1,082nd inflation inflated between 300: Rise of an Empire and The Notebook; 77th biggest Paramount Pictures film between The Hunt for Red October and Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events.
After Sonic the Hedgehog 2 opened with $72m last weekend and Fantastic Beasts 3 mixed buzz ahead of opening would have expected Sonic the Hedgehog 2 to hold stronger in its second weekend but dropped 59% more than the first film that didn’t have any competition opening against it?
2nd weekend
2020’s Sonic The Hedgehog dropped 54.9% taking $26.19m and $106.49m of $148.97m (COVID affected) taking $319.71m worldwide
Paramount has been the lowest-performing studio over the last decade since 2011 when they were the #1 studio in the US and globally due to releasing Marvel and Dreamworks Animation films they lost to rival studios. These films are part of the slate of films made while Jim Gianopulos headed the studio.
Paramount’s next release is Top Gun: Maverick opening almost three years after it was originally due to be released on 12th July 2019, delayed first due to production delays and then COVID several times.
Took $25m from 54 territories $69.87m and $188.78m worldwide; 910th biggest worldwide between The X Files: Fight the Future and Rambo III; 7th biggest 2022 worldwide between Uncharted and Scream; 101st biggest Paramount Pictures film worldwide between Tropic Thunder 4 and Wayne’s World.
- Ambulance – Universal Pictures
Dropped 53% in its second weekend taking $4.06m and $15.6m
Michael Bay’s films have taken $2.32bn in the US and $6.46bn worldwide
Away from directing 5 Transformers films over the last 15 years previously directed second weekends
2016’s 13 Hours dropped 44.2% taking $9.03m and $32.76m of $52.85m and $69.41m worldwide
2013’s Pain & Gain dropped 62.9% taking $7.51m and $33.83m of $49.87m and $87.3m
2005’s The Island dropped 51.9% taking $5.96m and $24.31m of $35.81m and $162.94m
2003’s Bad Boys 2 dropped 52.6% taking $22.05m and $88.5m of $138.6m and $273.33m worldwide
2001’s Pearl Harbour dropped 50% taking $29.6m and $118.85m of $198.54m and $449.22m worldwide
1998’s Armageddon dropped 34.7% taking $23.55m and $99.86m of $201.57m and $553.7m worldwide
1996’s The Rock dropped 26.2% taking $18.51m and $56.06m of $134.06m and $335.06m worldwide
1995’s Bad Boys dropped 29% taking $11.01m and $32.5m of $65.8m and $141.4m worldwide
His films show how cinemagoing has changed over the last 20 years going from the big action films many produced by Jerry Bruckheimer to comic-book movies over the last decade. These box office totals seem small in comparison to comic-book films today but the average ticket price is now over 200% more than they were when many of these films were released. While many of these action films have the rewatchable factor that many recent comic-book movies don’t have.
Took $1.4m (down 50%) from 69 territories and $24.9m and $40.6m worldwide; 3,349th biggest film worldwide between Three Fugitives and The Dark Crystal; 373rd biggest Universal Pictures film between Undercover Brother and The Dark Crystal.
- Morbius – Sony Pictures
Dropped 54% taking $4.73m in its third weekend taking $65.1m
1,305th biggest film between Jack the Giant Slayer and Now You See Me 2; 2,148th biggest inflation inflate between Hardball and Deepwater Horizon; 171st biggest Sony Pictures film between The Taking of Pelham 123 and Think Like a Man Too.
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.
Third weekends
2018’s Venom dropped 48.5% $18.04m and $171.06m of $213.51m and $856.08m worldwide
2021’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage dropped 48% $16.5m and $168.07m of $213.55m and $502.05m worldwide
2019’s X-Men: Dark Phoenix dropped 62.5% $3.53m and $60.09m of $65.84m and $252.44m
The vampire comic-book film has comparisons with (but with ticket inflation of at least 100% since)
1998’s Blade dropped 1% (Labor Day w/e) $10.78m and $49.55m of $61.12m and $131.21m worldwide;
2002’s Blade 2 dropped 42.6% $7.47m and $67.44m of $82.34m and $155.01m;
2004’s Blade Trinity dropped 55.3% $2.95m and $42.09m of $52.41m and $131.97m worldwide
It’s the first time in 33 weeks there hasn’t been a 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.
Took $6.7m from 62 territories (down 55%) and $81.3m internationally and $146.4m worldwide; 1,225th between Crazy, Stupid, Love and Music and Lyrics; 89th biggest comic-book movie worldwide between Blade 2 and Blade: Trinity; 157th biggest Sony Pictures film worldwide between Friends with Benefits and Surf’s Up.
- The Lost City – Paramount Pictures
Dropped 31% in its fourth weekend taking $6.22m and $78.2m
The Lost City continues to perform similar to 1984’s Romancing the Stone taking $5.68m and $27.9m ($77m inflation inflated) taking $76.57m ($310m inflation inflated) and 1998’s Six Days Seven Nights dropped 23% $5.8m and $56.9m ($126m inflation inflated) taking $90.5m ($200m+)
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.
1,041st biggest film between Artificial Intelligence: AI and Cocktail; 1,798th biggest inflation inflated between Mississippi Burning and The Gods Must Be Crazy; 145th biggest Paramount Pictures film between Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and We Were Soldiers.
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 their fourth weekend in 2013’s The Heat dropped 33.6% taking $9.3m and $129.27m and 2009’s The Proposal dropped 17.5% taking $10.6m and $113.86m while taking $163.95m.
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)
Similar films fourth weekends
2008’s Tropic Thunder dropped 37.2% by $7.23m and $96.54m taking $110.51m and $195.7m worldwide
1984’s Romancing of the Stone up 2.4% by $5.68m and $27.9m taking $76.57m ($310m inflation inflated)
1998’s Six Days Seven Nights dropped 23.4% $5.8m and $56.9m taking $90.5m ($260m inflation inflated)
1999’s The Mummy dropped 27.9% taking $9.94m and $114.33m taking $155.38m.
2005’s Sahara dropped 36.8% $5.7m and $56.88m taking $50.56m ($80m inflation inflated)
2008’s Fool’s Gold dropped 32.6% $4.41m and $58.8m taking $70.23m and $111.23m worldwide
2012’s Journey 2: The Mysterious Island dropped 51.1% by $6.54m and $85.23m taking $103.88m and $335.29m worldwide
2021’s Jungle Cruise dropped 30.4% by $6.34m and $92.66m taking $116.98m and $220.88m worldwide
Took $10m from 33 territories and $20.4m internationally; UK $3.5m; Australia $3.3m.
UK Box Office Top 10
UK Box Office Preview
With Easter holidays ended and no major new releases for a week until Downton Abbey: A New Era will see another soft weekend with Fantastic Beasts 3 likely to return to #1 due to The Lost City taking £1m from previews so will likely drop over 60% while Fantastic Beasts 3 will drop about 50%. This will see Fantastic Beast 3 taking £1.2m- £1.6m with Sonic the Hedgehog 2 likely to move up #2 taking £1m-£1.4m and The Lost City #3 with £1m-£1.2m.
The highest new entry will be The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent has received positive reviews but is likely to have limited appeal. In the film Nicolas Cage plays himself as a film like the whole cast of This Is the End, John Malkovich was himself in Being John Malkovich as was Bill Murray in Zombieland. There have been many films where actors have cameoed as themselves including Chuck Norris in Dodgeball, David Bowie and Billy Zane in Zoolander and Bruce Willis in Ocean’s Twelve where he turns up knowing Julia Roberts and in the film, Julia Roberts is Tess who pretends to be Julia Roberts to steal a Faberge egg.
While also many films that have broken the fourth wall blurring reality and fiction including Wes Craven’s New Nightmare, Scream, Fight Club, Adaption, The Last Action Hero and 21 Jump Street amongst many others,
The Northman took £2,729 more than Operation Mincemeat this week but Operation Mincemeat will likely hold better in its second weekend as it targets an older audience while The Northman will have a much more limited audience despite receiving widespread critical acclaim.
Depending on if screenings on Wednesday (today) are included Event Cinema’s Seventeen Power Of Love: The Movie could get into the top 10 as Sunday’s Merlin – Northern Ballet due to a lack of new releases and the two Indian films that were in the top 10 this weekly likely to only last a week being replaced by Jersey.
This weekend will be the lowest since 25 March 2022 (top 10 taking £4,302,969) as the following 16 weeks will be far busier with Downtown Abbey 2, Doctor Strange 2, Top Gun 2, Jurassic World 3, Elvis, Minions: The Rise of Gru and Thor: Love and Thunder opening in close succession to each other until mid-August. With many interesting box office battles ahead along with many predictable ones too.
Opening next week
- Downton Abbey: A New Era – Universal Pictures
Historical drama sequel to the 2019 film which was a spinoff to the ITV TV series that ran between 2010- 2015 a spinoff to the 2001 film Gosford Park starring Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Maggie Smith, Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter and Phyllis Logan. It was written by Julian Fellowes and directed by Simon Curtis.
It was originally set for release on December 22nd, but then moved to March 18th and then April 29th in the UK and May 20th in the US; receives its world premiere in London on April 25th.
The first Downton Abbey film attracted an older 45+ audience many of whom haven’t returned to the cinema since seeing No Time To Die in October.
The first film opened in September 2019 with £5,180,865 from 728 screens taking £28,248,361; took £9,882,483 in its opening week taking 52.4% (£5,180,865) Fri-Sun and £4,701,618 Mon-Thurs; dropped 36.6% in the second weekend taking £3,280,442 and £13,162,925 46.60% of BO taking 5.45x opening; it stayed #1 for 3 weeks with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness opening the week after the sequel will only be #1 for one week.
While younger audiences are fickle going quickly from one new megamovie to the next the grey pound is much more loyal and lucrative, and they also go to the cinema as much during the week as the weekend; 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express took £8,612,958 in its opening 7 days taking 42% of its box office (£3,627,358) Mon- Thurs and dropped only 12% in its second weekend from £4,985,600 to £4,376,429 going on to take £23,900,453.
Downtown Abbey was originally conceived as a spinoff of 2001’s Gosford Park also written by Julian Fellowes opened with £837,169 taking £12,259,248 and £22,268,006 inflation inflated.
7.6m watched the first episode of the first series in 2010 on ITV, 9m watched the first episodes of season two and season three, 9.2m watched the first episode of series 4 and 8.4m watched the first episode of series 5. The final episode of Downtown Abbey was broadcast on ITV1 on Christmas Day 2015 with an audience of 6.9m with another 4m watching on catchup with a total of 10.9m. Was the most-watched TV programme on Christmas Day, the first time ITV had managed to do so in 15 years.
Since the final episode was broadcast on ITV on Christmas Day 2015 had been rumours of a spinoff film, in July 2018 it was announced a film would be made and Universal Pictures would release the film worldwide.
Films based on British TV shows have had mixed success at the box office the hits mostly based on comedy series The Inbetweeners Movie, Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie, Ali G Indahouse, Kevin & Perry Go Large, Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa, Bean, Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie, In the Loop. Films based on drama series including The Avengers, Edge of Darkness, The Saint, Spooks, State of Play, The Sweeney, The Singing Detective and Widows have had more mixed success.
Other films targetting the grey pound include
2015’s The Second-Best Exotic Marigold Hotel opening £3,771,852 taking £15,575,797; increased 5.4% second weekend taking £2,342,095 and £7,014,101 34.5% of £20,308,480 total
2017’s Murder on the Orient Express opened £4,985,600 taking £23,900,453; dropped second weekend 12.2% taking £4,376,429 and £12,989,387 54.3% of £23,900,453
2017 Victoria and Abdul opened £1,846,970 taking £9,434,937
2013’s Philomena opened £1,509,726 taking £10,470,225; dropped 6.7% second weekend taking £1,407,318 and £4,762,182 45.4% of £10,470,225
2011- Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy opened £2,814,860 taking £14,133,500
2006 The Queen opened £856,273 taking £9,381,693; increased 6.1% second weekend £908,295 taking £2,658,523 28.3% of £9,381,693
2003 Calendar Girls opened £1,762,505 taking £20,174,133; increased 5.3% second weekend £1,855,986 taking £5,679,683 28.1% of £20,174,133
The question is will sequelitis affect the Downton Abbey sequel while Doctor Strange 3 might open the weekend after the audience of the two is of course very different but exhibitors will, of course, squeeze its screens in its second weekend pushing it into smaller screens.
