- Minions: The Rise of Gru – £1,056,163 – £44,198,979
Up 84% in its 10th weekend due to National Cinema Day on Saturday and being the last weekend before schools return. Interestingly, four of the top 5 and 5 of the top 10 are currently available to watch at home if it’s a film people want to see in the cinema and the price point is good then they will always see the films in the cinema. Exhibitors complain about shorten theatrical windows but as 90% of the BO of most films is taken in the first 4 weeks 31- and 45-day theatrical windows have little impact on these films.
10th biggest animation film between Toy Story 2 and Finding Dory (close to Despicable Me 3, Despicable Me 2, Inside Out and The Simpsons) and 26th biggest inflation inflated between Finding Dory and Inside Out (close to Ice Age II, Toy Story, Shrek Forever After, Aladdin (1992).
61st biggest film in the UK between Toy Story 2 and 1917 (close to The Jungle Book, Mary Poppins Returns, Frozen and Paddington 2) and 151st biggest inflation between Goldeneye and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (close to Cats and Dogs, 101 Dalmatians, The Mask and Bruce Almighty).
A third of the weekends BO came from National Cinema Day on Saturday showing that the problem for cinemas is that after BO had a boost this weekend they will drop heavily next weekend before they could increase the following weekend with the arrival of Ticket to Paradise. Tad The Lost Explorer And The Curse Of The Mummy took £467,361 from previews on Sat/Sun more than 2018’s Tad, the Lost Explorer And The Secret Of King Midas £302,312.
- 2.DC League of Super-Pets – £1,008,586 – £14,031,480
Up 68.2% in its sixth weekend
Fifth weekend
2022’s The Bad Guys dropped 57% to £311,459 #6 from 573 screens and £11,040,668 81.9% of £13,478,928; all films dropped heavily due to Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness opening
2021’s Space Jam: A New Legacy dropped 3% £435,781 from 545 screens and £11,134,791 86.6% of £12,856,287; 9.43x opening
2021’s The Croods 2: A New Age down 3% £410,507 from 580 screens and £7,996,214 80% of £10m; 14.36x opening
2018’s Smallfoot £161,068 dropped 55% #10 from 392 screens and £10,840,021 96.3% of £11,250,608; dropped heavily due to Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald #1 £12,318,966 and The Grinch #2 £3,906,597
2016’s Storks down 49% £175,637 #10 from 358 screens and £6,451,670 96.2% of £6,703,174; #1 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them opened £15,333,146
2001’s Cats and Dogs down 48% £495,615 #5 from 420 screens and £20,389,160 88.6% of £23,013,391 (£44,915,024 inflation inflated); #1 Moulin Rouge £2,403,378
85th biggest animated film between Puss in Boots and Kung Fu Panda 3 (close to Ice Age, The Emoji Movie, The Bad Guys and The Rugrats Movie) and 116th biggest inflation inflated between The Smurfs 2 and Space Jam: A New Legacy (close to Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, Bee Movie, Megamind and Smallfoot).
456th biggest film between Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues and Flash Gordon (close to Puss in Boots, Evita, Home Alone 2: Lost In New York and American Pie) and 785th biggest inflation inflated between Saw III and Empire Strikes Back (SE) (close to Death Becomes Her, Look Who’s Talking Too, Turner & Hooch and The Jewel on The Nile).
- 3 Top Gun Maverick – £600,258 – £81,629,004
Up 9.2% in its 15th weekend
9th biggest film between Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Titanic (close to Avatar, Avengers: Endgame, The Lion King and Toy Story 3) and 36th biggest inflation inflated between Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Bridget Jones’s Diary (close to Crocodile Dundee, The Lion King, Flash Gordon and Moonraker).
Despite being released digitally two weeks ago Top Gun Maverick continued to hold on strong showing again that if it’s a film people want to see in the cinema they will still see it in the cinema showing exhibitors’ issues of shortened theatrical windows is not as big as an issue they believe it is.
The film had the biggest digital release of the year in the UK and the US and one of the biggest ever in the UK, while the original film climbed up to #3 and the double-bill was #8. So many of those who have seen it over the last two weeks probably had brought it and then after seeing it at home wanted to see it again in the cinema.
Watching Top Gun Maverick at home as it feels like a very different film as was the case with Spider-Man No Way Home both are films that need to be seen in the cinema with an audience as at home realise they aren’t as great as they seem. The reason why Top Gun Maverick was a huge success was the nostalgic elements that hit you from the start with the same open scene as the original film even though it has no connection to the film itself.
As producer Jerry Bruckheimer described the original film as Star Wars on Earth the sequel feels very much like Star Wars The Force Awakens/The Top Gun sequel is Maverick live, had he died it would have ended his story and set up sequels as was the case with Han Solo dying in The Force Awakens.
As what ruins the film is after crashing his aircraft they happen to come across the airfield that hadn’t been fully destroyed and can walk across the airbase and there happens to be an F14 still able to fly despite being over 30 years old.
While you do worry about what happens after the end credits run as surely it’s the beginnings of World War 3 as the country will surely retaliate to the attack and with the enemy having fifth-generation fighters could the US defend themselves…
After the film has taken $1.4bn worldwide Paramount will surely want a sequel but that will surely depend on Tom Cruise if he would want to make another. As Harrison Ford has just made Indiana Jones 5 at 80, Tom Cruise has 20 years on him, so maybe after he has completed Mission Impossible in 2024 and then gone to space he could return to make another in 2025.
Everything was perfectly aligned for Top Gun Maverick, the audience was primed and the film was exactly what audiences wanted similarly to The Force Awakens, but to try to copy that same formula again could it work again as seen with the other The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker not so much. A sequel could have worked well had Maverick dead as Solo died in The Force Awakens and the young fighters could move the story into another direction, but how can you have a Top Gun film without Tom Cruise, it’s like having Solo film without Harrison Ford and look how that turned out.
After a similar length of time, another legacysequel has finally started filming that had been in development for many years at Paramount and even had a release date set in 2014 for March 25th, 2016. Netflix surprisingly acquired rights in 2016 and it’s now called Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley. Hopefully, they will ignore the third film and follow on from the Tony Scott sequel, as Beverly Hills Cop 3 was a terrible film had so much expectation going in but similar to walking out of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was deeply disappointed walking out of the cinema.
- 4 Bullet Train – £554,100 – £9,240,002
Down 6.6% in its fifth weekend
The two children’s films saw big increases from last weekend as did the two holdovers that were also available to watch at home Top Gun Maverick and Elvis and the two major releases Spider-Man No Way Home and E.T, while the others are currently exclusive to cinemas all saw a drop.
89th biggest action film between The Rock and Deep Blue Sea (close to Kill Bill – Volume 2, Waterworld, The King’s Man and Jack Reacher: Never Go Back) and 138th biggest inflation inflated between Angel Has Fallen and Sahara (close to Lethal Weapon, Broken Arrow, The Hitman’s Bodyguard and Olympus Has Fallen).
Hard to compare with 5th weekends of other action films
2019’s John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum #9 dropped 28% £463,005 and £8,911,996 93% of £9,587,828
2010’s Kick-Ass dropped 37% £402,864 #8 323 screens and £10,991,324 95.3% of £11,528,933 (£15,656,097 inflation inflated)
2014’s Lucy dropped 32% £551,482 393 screens #4 and £13,031,253 92.2% of £14,129,734
2003’s Kill Bill Volume 1 dropped 27% £421,252 #5 from 312 screens and £10,464,992 91.4% of £11,453,044 (£21,149,511 inflation inflated); the film never was #1 due to Finding Nemo
2004’s Kill Bill Volume 2 dropped 29% £239,525 from 295 screens #4 £8,676,296 96.1% of £9,024,046 (£16,239,263 inflation inflated)
2017’s Atomic Blonde took £3,063,918 (stayed in the top 15 for 2 weeks) and John Wick: Chapter Two took £5,766,633 (stayed in the top 15 for 4 weeks)
732nd biggest film between Juno and Mulan (close to As Good As It Gets, Sleepless in Seattle, Alita: Battle Angel and Cloverfield) and 1,1177th biggest inflation inflated between 300: Rise of An Empire and Central Intelligence (close to Edge of Tomorrow, Wall Street, Legends Of The Fall and Salt).
- 5.Spider-Man No Way Home – £469,309 – £96,903,566
3rd biggest film in the UK overtaking No Time To Die (£96,691,697) and 26th biggest inflation inflated between Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and Casino Royale (close to The Spy Who Loved Me, Avengers: Endgame, Shrek 2 and Crocodile Dundee (£86.3m inflation inflated).
The extended cut has 11 minutes of extra footage probably to give extreme fans to see it one final time in cinemas, (having already seen it a dozen times) this is similar to Disney re-releasing Avengers Endgame in August 2019 with a new credit scene which was done for it to overtake Avatar’s global BO. In the UK it allowed Sony to overtake No Time To Die and have two of the top three and three of the top 5 until December at least.
Also opened
• E.T. (40th Anniversary) – £438,715 #7 from 529 screens
Released in IMAX for the first time for its 40th anniversary, but the film was originally released in selective cinemas in 70mm in December 1982 and the cinema experience seeing in a 70mm cinema would be more than a match to seeing the film in IMAX.
The classic film was the first to take over £20m at the UK BO in 1982, taking £21.69m (£106m inflation inflated). The 19th biggest film in the UK inflation inflated between Spectre and No Time To Die.
Had the biggest ever opening in the UK in December 1982 taking £1,528,652, was the biggest opening until Who Framed Roger Rabbit in 1988 (£1,506,863), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in 1989 (£1,648,850), Batman (£2,058,159) it and Back to the Future Part II (£2,051,496).
• Three Thousand Years Of Longing – Entertainment Film Distributors
Opened £307,176 #10 from 546 screens
Had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival receiving a 6-minute standing ovation but also mixed reviews (62% on Rotten Tomatoes).
• The Forgiven – Universal Pictures
Opened with £182,772 #15 from 423 screens
Received world premiere at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival and international rights were acquired by Universal Pictures in November 2021. The film received average reviews (66% on Rotten Tomatoes).
National Cinema Day
Returning after a 26-year absence National Cinema Day returned but this time on Saturday and with tickets from £3. UKCA reported there were 1.46m admissions on Saturday taking £4.38m but only tickets brought at the cinema were £3 all others had booking fees which were anything from 50p per ticket for Peckhamplex to 95p for Cineworld/Odeon/Vue, this might seem a tiny amount but this added 30% to the ticket price. Similarly not all cinemas were part of National Cinema Day so those cinemas including Everyman boosted National Cinema Day despite not being a part of it, as their £16+ tickets would add 5 admissions to every ticket sold.
Similar occurred when cinemas reopened after COVID and VAT were reduced to the hospitality sector from July 2020 to September 30th, 2021, to 5% and then from October 1st to March 31st, 2022, 12.5% but the price reduction wasn’t passed on to cinemagoers, this would have increased BO by about £100m.
£8.42m total weekend BO with £5.6m (66.6%) top 10, £6.81m (80.9%) top 15, £467k for Tad previews and £1.14m for other films. With Minions: The Rise of Gru taking 66% (£700k) of weekend BO from Saturday;
Friday took £1.496m (17.7%; Saturday £4.959m (58.9%); Sunday £1.971m (23.4%)
While it would be interesting to see the daily BO split between Friday, Saturday and Sunday as Saturday must have taken about 65% of the weekend’s BO.
The first National Cinema Day was in 1996 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of cinema, with 1.1m admissions (had a big marketing campaign and trailer running in cinemas for months featuring actors Bob Hoskins and Prime Minister John Major talking about their cinema experiences) this was 2.5x the normal Sunday admissions. Cinemas showed current releases, and classics and had previews of upcoming films.
From Dusk Till Dawn opened #1 with £501,303 with the top 15 taking £3,079,284 which was similar to a normal top 15 in 1996 (£3,597,871)
The following year had 1.34m admissions with The Fifth Element #1 £1,510,073
1998 admissions were about half as ticket prices were half normal prices with 850,000 admissions with The Wedding Singer #1 taking £1m
National Cinema Day has been an annual event in Ireland for many years. While France has held Fete Du Cinema in Paris for over 30 years a four-day discounted event in June/July that sees over 3m admissions.
It was probably the only week distributors and exhibitors would agree on as the reason why it ended in 1998 was distributors felt they lost out on BO with films like The Fifth Element losing millions opening the weekend before.
February 28th was Cineworld Day with 650,000 admissions (mostly seeing Uncharted, Sing 2 and Spider-Man: No Way Home) from 100 cinemas taking £2m about 25% of weekend BO (£10.074m).
The biggest issue I have with the cinema industry is nothing ever changes and this was highlighted by an article from Screen International in August 1976 which could have been written today. When after having the hottest ever summer admissions were down 15%, with exhibitors blaming the weather for the drop; (weekly BO in 1976 were £1.67m is over 900% ticket inflation since so this would be the equivalent of £15.5m today).
Screen International said “the industry cannot continue to rely on continuing price rises to cushion against further falls in admissions” and an exhibitor said, “if I didn’t have Jaws I’d be in real trouble”, while Rank’s cinemas made virtually no profit outside London. As these are similar issues facing the industry almost 50 years later the question is why they are doing the same and expecting a different response. As probably if you went back another 25 years to the 50s there would be similar articles written about the drop in admissions due to the rise in TV viewing and the lack of gimmicks to get audiences back into cinemas, which current cinemas are doing now with the likes of 3D, 4DX, ScreenX and PLFs, they are similar to 3D, Smellovision and Cinerama, the difference was cinemas didn’t charge more for those experiences as they do now.
Cinema News
July admissions were 13.3m, the biggest month of 2022 to date and the biggest since December 2021. The top 10 biggest films in July were #1 Minions: The Rise of Gru £33.5m; #2 Thor: Love and Thunder £30.8m; #3 Elvis £13.7m; #4 Top Gun: Maverick £10.8m; #5 Jurassic World: Dominion £5.4m; #6 Where the Crawdads Sing £3.8m; #7 DC League of Super-Pets £2.7m; #8 Prima Facie £2.5m; #9 Lightyear £2.4m; #10 Dirty Dancing (Secret Cinema) £2.4m.
Admissions were boosted by Secret Cinemas Dirty Dancing taking £2.4m added 300k+ admissions but about 30k saw it as tickets for about £85. Similarly, Prima Facie Prima Facie added 300k+ admissions but with prices, of £20+ about 100k saw it.
Those 10 films took £108m with other releases July BO was about £110m which would see average ticket price now £8.28 up 2.5% since June (£8.08).
August-October admissions are going to be no match for last year until Black Panther Wakanda Forever opens in November and then Avatar: The Way of Water, both films will need to be more successful than their predecessor if UK BO has a chance to top £1bn this year.
UK box office in detail
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £5,607,200 up 5.6% from last weekend’s £5,311,427
984th biggest top 10 of the last 21 years (out of 1,064) between 05 March 2004 #1 Along Came Polly £1,572,126 (28.0% of top 10) and 06 July 2018 #1 The First Purge £1,778,157 (31.9% of top 10) and 1,031st the biggest inflation inflated between 19 April 2019 #1 Shazam! £979,787 (19.6% of top 10) and 10 December 2021 #1 West Side Story £1,297,786 (24.9% of top 10);
Not having Friday and Sunday BO split hard to calculate weekend admissions after National Cinema Day had 1.46m from £4.38m on Sunday which would be about 65% of weekends BO.
Top 3 took £2,665,007 47.5% of the top 10; Minions: The Rise of Gru 18.8% (£1,056,163); DC League of Super-Pets 18% (£1,008,586); Top Gun Maverick 10.7% (£600,258).
Down 37.9% from 2021 (£9,037,234) Shangi-Chi (£5,759,504); Rise Of The Footsoldier: Origins (£122,898); Annette (£86,670); Here Today (£28,577); #1 Shangi-Chi £5,759,504 640 screens 1st week (63.7% of top 10)
Up 55.6% from 2020 (£3,625,642); The New Mutants £686,407; After We Collided £255,000; #1 Tenet £2,151,490 2nd week 60% drop 613 screens (62.6% of the top 10)
Down 25.2% from 2019 (£7,501,395); The Informer £301,424; #1 Once Upon A Time In Hollywood £1,841,873 3rd week 9% drop 697 screens (24.5% of the top 10)
Down 28.8% from 2018: (£7,876,859); Searching (£765,050); The Happytime Murders (£694,044); Yardie (£438,088); Cold War (£228,780); Upgrade (£58,006); Action Point (£33,993); #1 Disney’s Christopher Robin £1,173,235 3rd week 646 screens (14.9% of top 10)
Down 9.5% from 2017: (£6,193,484); The Limehouse Golem (£371,412); God’s Own Country (£167,824); Patti Cake$ (£121,446); Inhumans (£80,176); #1 American Made £968,068 2nd week 556 screens 9% drop (15.6% of the top 10)
Down 49.1% from 2016: (£11,014,615); Sausage Party (£2,690,156); Brotherhood (£1,979,309); Cafe Society (£494,457); Morgan (£193,686); Equity (£12,923); #1 Sausage Party £2,690,156 1st week 525 screens (24.4% of the top 10)
Up 4% from 2015; (£5,392,011); No Escape (£637,630); Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (£431,726); The Transporter Refuelled (£352,278); American Ultra (£347,401); Ricki and the Flash (£220,032); Dope (£39,787); #1 Straight Outta Compton £1,366,741 2nd week 456 screens (25.3% of top 10)
Down 17.6% from 2014: (£6,808,576); Sex Tape (£1,431,058); Before I Go to Sleep (£790,271); The Hundred-foot Journey (£694,875); The Guest (£313,003); They Came Together (£21,951); Island of Lemurs: Madagascar (£3,341); #1 Sex Tape £1,431,058 1st week 440 screens (21.1% of top 10)
Down 43.2% from 2013: (£9,874,123); One Direction: This Is Us (£3,471,872); Pain & Gain (£1,016,136); The Way, Way Back (£532,487); You’re Next (£523,549); Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain (£36,882); #1 One Direction: This Is Us £3,471,872 1st week 476 screens (35.1% of top 10)
Down 48.1% from 2012 (£10,812,241); Total Recall (£2,493,230); The Watch (£2,235,933); The Possession (£979,192); A Few Best Men (£263,770); Thomas & Friends: Blue Mountain Mystery (£108,503); Berberian Sound Studio (£45,516); Cockneys vs. Zombies (£11,474); Rec 3 (£1,263); #1 Total Recall £2,493,230 1st week 464 screens (23.1% of top 10)
Down 34.9% from 2011 (£8,618,765); Friends with Benefits (£1,947,272); Jane Eyre (£1,012,111); Colombiana (£424,049); Troll Hunter (£200,607); #1 The Inbetweeners Movie £3,679,555 3rd week 475 screens 42% drop (24.9% of top 10)
Down 22.4% from 2010: (£7,227,858); The Last Exorcism (£1,104,856); Dinner for Schmucks (£940,586); The Switch (£666,018); Jonah Hex (£36,456); #1 The Last Exorcism £1,104,856 1st week 313 screens (15.3% of top 10)
Down 35.6% from 2009; (£8,704,321); District 9 (£2,288,378); 500 Days of Summer (£1,242,631);#1 District 9 £2,288,378 1st week 447 screens (26.3% of top 10)
Down 37.2% from 2008; (£8,929,646); Rocknrolla (£1,565,439); The Duchess (£1,402,200); Disaster Movie (£925,655); Bangkok Dangerous (£307,420); #1 Rocknrolla £1,565,439 1st week 362 screens (17.5% of top 10)
Down 27.4% from 2007:(£7,728,093); 1408 (£1,073,963); No Reservations (£512,657); Death Sentence (£260,733); Breach (£156,140); Hallam Foe (£132,972); Two Days in Paris (£110,284); Year of the Dog (£5,733); #1 The Bourne Ultimatum £2,232,971 3rd week 468 screens 22% drop (28.9% of top 10)
Down 5.1% from 2006; (£5,908,103); Little Man (£1,090,761); The Wicker Man (£736,316); The Sentinel (£627,838); Crank (£450,141); Adrift (£337,718); #1 You, Me and Depree £1,165,610 2nd week 412 screens 29% drop (19.7% of top 10)
Down 7.8% from 2005 (£6,082,782); The 40-Year-Old Virgin (£1,757,540); Red Eye (£891,582); The Business (£531,267); On a Clear Day (£58,257); #1 The 40-Year-Old Virgin £1,757,540 1st week 394 screens (28.9% of top 10)
Down 12.3% from 2004 (£6,394,789); The Terminal (£1,451,168); Hellboy (£1,058,375); Stage Beauty (£128,035); #1 The Terminal £1,451,168 1st week 436 screens (22.7% of top 10)
Up 7.1% from 2003 (£5,237,796); Blackball (£376,233); Camp (£245,183); #1 The Pirates of the Caribbean 5th week (4th #1 over 5 weeks ) £1,542,745 456 screens 24% drop (29.4% of top 10)
Down 10.1% from 2002 (£6,235,380); Insomnia (£1,159,754); The Sweetest Thing (£592,722); Windtalkers (£388,212); #1 Insomnia £1,159,754 1st week 264 screens (18.6% of top 10)
Down 12.1% from 2001 (£6,378,036); A Knight’s Tale (£1,678,264); Angel Eyes (£162,648); What’s Cooking (£45,445); #1 A Knight’s Tale £1,678,264 1st week 377 screens (26.3% of top 10);
Next weekend 2021 (£6,488,144); Respect (£424,514); Malignant (£409,299); Copshop (£198,225); #1 Shangi-Chi £3,583,848 2nd week 38% drop 653 screens (55.2% of top 10)
US Box Office
- Top Gun: Maverick – Paramount Pictures
Up 27% in 15th weekend taking $6.014m and $699.34m
Returned to #1 after 15 weeks since June 3rd it’s 4th-weekend #1
1986’s Top Gun took $3.32m ($8m inflation inflated) in its 15th weekend and $124.44m ($350m inflation inflated) of $176.8m ($450m inflation inflated)
5th biggest film between Avatar and Black Panther; the 18th biggest inflation inflated between Black Panther and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Top Gun Maverick has overtaken Titanic but it’s impossible to compare the two films as Titanic was released 25 years ago when the industry average ticket price was half of what it is now $4.59 Vs $9.18 but the real price is a third of what it is now. The average price for Top Gun Maverick was close to $15 due to a large percentage of BO from IMAX/PLF/4DX/ScreenX so Titanic inflation inflated would be about $2bn.
Tom Cruise’s 42 films have taken $5.1bn in the US and $12.1bn worldwide;
Took $5.8m taking $739.4m and $1.441bn from 63 territories; UK $100.9m; Japan $90.4m; Korea $66.5m; Australia $63.5m; France $56.7m.
12th biggest film worldwide Frozen II and Avengers: Age of Ultron; 2nd biggest Paramount Pictures film between Titanic ($2.2bn) and Transformers: Dark of the Moon ($1.12bn)
Has taken $106.6m IMAX worldwide (10th biggest worldwide) and $50m worldwide from 4DX ($11m from the US)
- Bullet Train – Sony Pictures
Up 3% in its fifth weekend taking $5.78m and $86.31m
As in the UK, Saturday was National Cinema Day in the US (and Monday was Labor Day) which helped boost the box office of several films and see others have smaller drops than expected. The downside of this will be next weekend be hit doubly with drops but with no major releases, will be interesting to see will any of the holdovers apart from Top Gun Maverick will likely drop upwards of 50% to hold onto #1 and how low #1 BO will be.
906th biggest between The Hand That Rocks the Cradle and Entrapment; 1,621st biggest inflation inflated between Hellboy and The Emoji Movie; 119th biggest Sony Pictures between The Ugly Truth and Pineapple Express; 16th biggest 2022 film between The Black Phone and Where the Crawdads Sing
Took $7.1m worldwide from IMAX
Took $9.8m from 61 territories $109.5m total and $195.4m worldwide; 885th biggest film worldwide between Smurfs: The Lost Village and The Intern; 15th biggest 2022 worldwide between Lightyear and The Lost City; 115th biggest Sony Pictures film between Smurfs: The Lost Village and 50 First Dates.
- Spider-Man No Way Home -More Fun Stuff – Sony Pictures
Took $5.4m and $810.19m
3rd biggest film between Avengers: Endgame and Avatar; 12th biggest inflation inflated between Star Wars Ep: The Phantom Menace and Forrest Gump
Took $2.6m from 20 territories and $1.94bn internationally total and $1.9bn worldwide; the UK $129.4m; Mexico $76.8m; France $70.2m; Korea $64.8m; Australia $58.7m; 6th biggest worldwide between Avengers: Infinity War and Jurassic World;
- DC League of Super-Pets – Warner Bros
Up 22% in its sixth weekend taking $5.03m and $80.39m
138th biggest animated film between Beowulf and Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius; 995th biggest film between The Pink Panther and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows; 1,731st biggest inflation inflated between Race to Witch Mountain and Curious George; 18th biggest 2022 between Where the Crawdads Sing and Scream; 169th biggest Warner Bros film between Disclosure and Arthur.
Sixth weekends
The Bad Guys dropped 28.6% taking $4.38m and $81.12m of and $96.67m and $245.67m worldwide
2016’s Storks dropped 28.8% taking $2.85m and $68.31m of $72.67m and $183.38m worldwide
2018’s Smallfoot dropped 18.9% taking $3.86m and $77.54m of $83.31m and $214.11 worldwide
Took $4.1m taking $79.25m internationally from 78 territories and $161.37m worldwide;
147th biggest animation film worldwide between Pokemon: The First Movie and Happy Feet Two; 1,113rd biggest film worldwide between Three Billboards and The Muppets; 21st biggest 2022 worldwide between Morbius and Nope; 179th biggest Warner film worldwide between Pokemon: The First Movie and Never Say Never Again.
- Jaws- (IMAX re-issue) – Universal Pictures
Opened with $2.63m from 285 IMAX screens and $269.79m
Taking $1.23m internationally
125th biggest film in the US between How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Captain America: The Winter Soldier; 15th biggest Universal Pictures film between Despicable Me 3 and How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
As with E.T, The Extra-Terrestrial last month Jaws was released in cinemas for the first time in IMAX, E.T struggled to find an audience due to cinemas charging regular IMAX prices but thanks to National Cinema Day the $3 attracted a wider audience than it might have done.
249th biggest film worldwide between Star Wars: Return of the Jedi and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade; 28th biggest Universal Pictures film worldwide between Bruce Almighty and Lucy.
UK Box Office Top 10
UK Box Office Preview
Murder mystery See How They Run follows in the footsteps of Rian Johnson’s Knives Out and Kenneth Branagh’s Murder on the Orient Express while the film feels like Wes Anderson‘s film like The French Despatch and Roger Mitchell’s The Duke. But See How the Run is a film that thinks it‘s cleverer than it is
2022’s The Duke opened £992,659 taking £5,283,515
2022’s Death on the Nile opened £1,898,357 taking £3,228,094
2021’s The French Despatch opened £867,672 taking £3,934,943
2019’s Knives Out opened £2,937,305 taking £10,573,381
2017’s Murder on the Orient Express opened £4,985,600 taking £24,224,914
Early September has been a lucrative time to open British-based films over recent years; 2019 Downton Abbey; 2017 Victoria and Abdul; 2016 Bridget Jones’s Baby; 2015 Legend; 2014 Pride; 2013 Rush.
Should open £1m+
Tad The Lost Explorer And The Curse Of The Mummy took £470k from previews last weekend which was more than the last film Tad, the Lost Explorer And The Secret Of King Midas opened within February 2018 #12 £302,312, so should take a similar amount over the weekend opening £1m.
After E.T, The Extra-Terrestrial was re-released last weekend Jaws is the next to be re-released in cinemas for the first time in IMAX.
Jaws took £12m in UK cinemas when it was released the first time in 1976 tickets were an average 72p; would be £133m inflation inflated and the 5th biggest film in the UK inflation inflated after Titanic £161m; Star Wars £142m; Avatar £140m and Star Wars: The Force Awakens £138m.
female-led slasher black comedy Bodies, Bodies, Bodies performed well at the US BO last month as did A24’s Everything Everywhere All at Once should open similar £681,351 having received similarly positive reviews and being something very different to everything else on release.
After Minions: The Rise of Gru and DC League of Super-Pets saw big increases last weekend they will both likely drop 50% as many of those who went to see them again last weekend were due to National Cinema Day.
Opening next week
- Ticket To Paradise – Universal Pictures
Romantic comedy starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts (their fifth film together) and directed by Ol Parker; opens in the UK a month before the US (October 21st).
They previously worked together on 2001’s Ocean’s Eleven 2002’s Confessions of a Dangerous Mind 2004’s Ocean’s Twelve 2016’s Money Monster (2016). Only the Ocean’s films were successful at the box office but it was more about the ensemble cast that would have attracted audiences.
While Julia Roberts was a massive global star in the 90s it’s been a while since she has had a hit film, have to go back to Mirror, Mirror in 2012 and Eat Pray Love in 2010. Similarly have to go back a decade for George Clooney as while he starred alongside Sandra Bullock in Gravity he wasn’t in for long so it’s going back to The Descendants and Up In the Air. That said films with both actors are very watchable. But then look back to the 1995’s One Fine Day co-starring Michelle Pfeiffer which disappointed at the BO, but that was likely due to poor dating opening against Jerry Maguire in the US.
So it’s hard to say if audiences will embrace Ticket to Paradise as wanted to like the trailer as it has George Clooney and Julia Roberts in another film together what’s not to like but it felt awkward and trying too hard whilst being Mamma Mia! without singing.
- Clerks III – Lionsgate
Sequel to the 1994 and 2006 films starring Brian O’Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Jason Mewes, and Rosario Dawson and directed by Kevin Smith.
Had world premiere on September 4, 2022
Clerks opened £14,562 from 5 screens in May 1995; while Clerks II opened £223,046 #10 from 245 screens in September 2006th; Silent Bob also appeared in 1999’s Dogma opened with £283,056 #5 from 200 screens taking £2.2m
