- See How They Run – £1,163,484 – NE
Took £330k From Friday
The first film to open with over £1m since Nope 5 weeks ago with the next Ticket To Paradise now opening September 20th after the Queen’s Funeral on September 19(originally due to open September 16).
As See How They Run opened with 77% less than Murder on the Orient Express, 60.4% less than Knives Out and 40% less than Death on the Nile it was affected by the death of the Queen as being a British-based murder mystery drama that had received strong marketing and positive reviews should have opened with more than double.
The question will hold it holds over the coming weeks, but as Disney has brought David O Russell’s Amsterdam forward a similar period murder mystery comedy it’s not expected to have strong legs, as the two films will be targetting the same audience.
Knives Out dropped 44.2% in the second weekend taking £1,637,525 and £6,042,446 while Murder on the Orient Express dropped 12.2% taking £4,376,429 and £12,989,387 but See How They Ruin will likely drop similar to Death on the Nile 29% (taking £1,349,395 and £4,738,119).
1,349th biggest opening between Conspiracy Theory and Moonfall (close to One Fine Day, Eat Pray Love, Michael Collins and The Green Mile) and 1,671st the biggest inflation inflated between The Little Mermaid and Moonfall (close to The Help, The Bridges Of Madison County, Much Ado About Nothing and Wall Street).
Had cinemas closed on Friday out of respect for the death of the Queen the day before would have given a reason for why weekend BO was the second lowest of the year and the 50th lowest for the last 21 years despite five new releases including See How They Run. Mid-September has been a lucrative time to open British-based films over recent years including 2019 Downton Abbey; 2017 Victoria and Abdul; 2016 Bridget Jones’s Baby; 2015 Legend; 2014 Pride; 2013 Rush.
The film 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
- 2. Tad The Lost Explorer And The Curse Of The Mummy – £818,525 – NE
Took £467,361 from previews last weekend taking over 57 of opening showing how previews artificially inflate films opening but then will see it drop 60%+ in the second weekend.
1,560th biggest opening in the UK between Crash and The General’s Daughter (close to The Santa Clause, The Shaggy Dog, Herbie: Fully Loaded and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) and 1729th biggest inflation inflated between Dog and True Romance (close to James And The Giant Peach, Plane’s Trains and Automobiles, Big Trouble In Little China and Howard – A New Breed of Hero).
172nd biggest animation opening between Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas and The Prince of Egypt (close to Treasure Planet, Ron’s Gone Wrong, The Croods 2: A New Age and Anastasia) and 178th biggest inflation inflated animation film between Ron’s Gone Wrong and The Angry Birds Movie 2 (close to The Boss Baby 2, The Little Mermaid, The Iron Giant and Treasure Planet).
Tad The Lost Explorer And The Curse Of The Mummy took £468,372 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 which was £40k less than the new film’s Fri-Sun opening.
Tad was likely affected by Minions The Rise of Gru #5 and DC League of Super-Pets #6 still attracting audiences in cinemas taking £382,581 and £365,296 despite both being available to watch at home. The positive for Tad is it’s a month before the next children’s film opens, Lyle, Lyle Crocodile on October 14th.
- 3 Jaws – £524,233 – NE
Following the re-release of E.T, The Extra-Terrestrial last weekend opening #7 with £438,715 from 529 screens for the first time in IMAX, Jaws was also released 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.
- 4 Brahmastra Part 1: Shiva – £516k – NE
Had the third biggest opening of 2022 for a Bollywood film after (£692k) and K.G.F: Chapter 2 (£612k)
RRR opened in March with £650,204 #2 from 160 screens; interestingly the weekend RRR opened had the lowest top 10 of the year. Last weekend was the second lowest but both weekends would have been much lower without these Bollywood films, showing how alternative non-English films, Event Cinema and Secret Cinema are where the growth is with cinema attendance.
Opening on 220 screens had the best screen average of all films in the top 10, 220 screens s much wider than most Bollywood films open in as it played in Cineworld, Everyman, Odeon and Vue cinemas as well as in several IMAX screens. It’s the first of a planned trilogy of films.
Bollywood has grown in popularity in the UK over the last decade, over the last few months Paramount released Gangubai Kathiawadi opening with £243,848 #11 from 150 screens taking £583,079 from 62 screens also Bheemla Nayak opened £146,671 from 35 screens; Radhe Shyam opened £186,705 #9 from 124 screens.
- 5. Minions: The Rise of Gru – £382,581 – £44,776,199
Down 63.8% in its eleventh weekend
After the two children’s films saw big increases last weekend with two third from National Cinema Day both films had heavy drops this weekend, but they still managed to stay in the top 5 despite also being available to watch at home.
9th biggest animation film between Despicable Me 2 and Toy Story 2 (close to Despicable Me 3, Minions, Finding Dory and Frozen) and 26th biggest inflation inflated between Finding Dory and Inside Out (close to Ice Age II, Toy Story, Shrek Forever After, Aladdin (1992).
59th biggest film in the UK between The Inbetweeners Movie and Mary Poppins Returns (close to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Jungle Book, Frozen and Paddington 2) and 149th biggest inflation between The World Is Not Enough and 101 Dalmatians (close to Paddington, Cats and Dogs, Crocodile Dundee II and The Mask).
Also opened
- Bodies, Bodies, Bodies – Sony Pictures
Opened with £351,159 #7 from 521 screens
Took £100k from Friday and £42,233 from previews
In the US the film opened on platform release on 6 screens before expanding to 1,290 and 2,541 screens over the next two weeks but as it opened on 521 screens in its opening weekend gives it no chance to expand further. This has been the problem with many films lately distributors feel they must open as wide as possible as exhibitors will start pulling them in their second weekends limiting showtimes.
Exhibitors say they want more films but they will book them on their terms so why would a streaming company take a gamble on giving a film a theatrical release if it’s going to be dropped within a week especially if exhibitors demand that the film has a 45-day window? So for a film like Bodies, Bodies, Bodies it will play out in cinemas within 14 days but won’t be available on VOD for another 31 days, how does that benefit anyone?
The female-led slasher black comedy has received positive reviews (87% Rotten Tomatoes critic score and 90% audience score) since premiering at South By Southwest in March. It has been described as Scream for the Zoomer Generation and was inspired by Heathers.
The film was released by A24 in the US, they have had a very strong 2022 taking $100m this year releasing 7 films with Everything Everywhere All at Once taking $69.6m in the US and $100.7m worldwide. A24 films have strong marketing campaigns giving audiences an alternative to the majority of the films being released by studios, showing that audiences do want different things to the sequels, remakes, reboots and comic-book movies.
Sony Pictures acquired international rights in April via Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions which acquire a wide range of films normally for home entertainment.
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 £5,007,757 down 10.7% from last weekend’s £5,607,200; 619,772 admissions
1,015th biggest top 10 of the last 21 years (out of 1,065) between 13 March 2020 #1 Onward £1,272,748 (25.2% of top 10) and 11 October 2013 #1 Prisoners £968,990 (19.4% of top 10) and 1,036th the biggest inflation inflated between 11 June 2021 #1 A Quiet Place Part II £1,314,938 (27.6% of top 10) and 24 September 2021 #1 Shangi-Chi £1,558,002 (34.2% of top 10);
Top 3 took £2,506,242 50.01% of the top 10; See How They Run 23.2% (£1,163,484); Tad The Lost Explorer And The Curse Of The Mummy 16.3% (£818,525); Jaws 10.01% (£524,233)
Down 22.8% from 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)
Up 94.7% from 2020 (£2,572,070); Break The Silence (£249,996); The Broken Hearts Gallery (£87,568); The Roads Not Taken (£27,742); #1 Tenet £1,233,090 3rd week
Down 58.2% from 2019 (£11,975,243); It: Chapter Two (£7,368,586); #1 It: Chapter Two £7,368,586 (61.5% of the top 10)
Down 46.6% from 2018: (£9,386,760); The Nun (£4,098,198); American Animals (£347,486); The Miseducation of Cameron Post (£142,996); Puzzle (£23,565); Final Score (£9,945); #1 The Nun £4,098,198 1st week 548 screens (43.6% of top 10)
Down 64.2% from 2017: (£13,995,695); It (£10,002,443); Wind River (£437,899); Poster Boys (£24,964); #1 It £10,002,443 1st week 606 screens (71.4% of the top 10)
Down 32.5% from 2016: (£7,420,952); Ben-Hur (£1,047,800); Don’t Breathe (£1,028,938); Kubo and the Two Strings (£844,027); Hell or High Water (£552,230); Captain Fantastic (£280,614); Anthropoid (£227,591); #1 Sausage Party £1,219,972 2nd week 55% drop 533 screens (16.4% of the top 10)
Down 56.6% from 2015; (£11,539,308); Legend (£5,189,074); The Maze Runner: Scorch Trials (£2,799,428); The Visit (£1,031,292); Irrational Man (£197,188); #1 Legend £5,189,074 1st week 522 screens (44.9% of top 10)
Down 29.6% from 2014: (£7,115,583); The Boxtrolls (£2,000,597); Pride (£718,778); A Most Wanted Man (£610,312); The Wizard of Oz (Re: 2014) (£42,478); #1 The Boxtrolls £2,000,597 1st week 510 screens (28.1% of top 10)
Down 36.9% from 2013: (£7,942,235); About Time (£1,761,079); Riddick (£1,415,141); #1 About Time £1,761,079 1st week 556 screens (22.2% of top 10)
Down 19.2% from 2012 (£6,196,846); Dredd (£1,049,345); Lawless (£973,234); Anna Karenina (£875,702); That’s My Boy (£254,621); #1 Dredd £1,049,345 1st week 415 screens (16.9% of top 10)
Down 41.9% 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 £2,147,393 4th week 475 screens 42% drop (24.9% of top 10)
Down 24.2% from 2010: (£6,609,071); Resident Evil: Afterlife (£1,690,655); Tamara Drewe (£615,553); Going the Distance (£436,361); Cyrus (£429,687); The Runaways (£59,443); #1 Resident Evil: Afterlife £1,690,655 1st week 361 screens (25.6% of top 10)
Down 16.1% from 2009; (£5,969,293); Dorian Gray (£883,148); Sorority Row (£782,693); Julie & Julia (£540,441); Adventureland (£210,671); Whiteout (£150,995); Fish Tank (£103,180); The September Issue (£81,892); Miss March (£24,434); #1 District 9 £2,288,378 2nd week 446 screens 48% drop (19.8% of top 10)
Down 33.6% from 2008; (£7,542,608); Pineapple Express (£1,372,911); The Women (£865,310); The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (£513,653); Eden Lake (£192,027); Sydney White (£1,157); #1 Pineapple Express £1,372,911 1st week 389 screens (18.2% of top 10)
Down 28.5% from 2007:(£7,003,476); Run, Fat Boy, Run (£2,010,250); Atonement (£1,634,065); Rise of the Footsoldier (£85,903); #1 Run, Fat Boy, Run £2,010,250 1st week 413 screens (28.7% of top 10)
Up 30.8% from 2006; (£3,829,476); Right at your Door (£441,548); Little Miss Sunshine (£349,810); Pulse (£210,409); Beerfest (£208,782); Snow Cake (£23,944); #1 You, Me and Depree £746,602 3rd week 410 screens 36% drop (19.5% of top 10)
Down 14.9% from 2005 (£5,883,345); The Longest Yard (£1,255,334); Cinderella Man (£614,346); Green Street (£446,369); The Man (£329,233); #1 The Longest Yard £1,255,334 1st week 379 screens (21.3% of top 10)
Down 28.4% from 2004 (£6,998,915); Open Water (£1,970,176); Anchor Man (£555,864); Wicker Park (£316,722); Super-Size Me (£264,843); #1 Open Water £1,970,176 1st week 378 screens (28.1% of top 10)
Down 6.2% from 2003 (£5,338,138); Calendar Girls (expansion) (£1,762,505); Tears of the Sun (£406,324); Sin Eater (£161,779); Spirited Away (£152,504); #1 Calendar Girls £1,762,505 2nd week (1st #1) 462 screens (33.1% of top 10)
Down 20.6% from 2002 (£6,305,370); The Bourne Identity (£2,150,511); Importance of Being Earnest (£554,413); Once Upon A Time In The Midlands (£129,920); #1 The Bourne Identity £2,150,511 1st week 419 screens (34.1% of top 10)
Down 33% from 2001 (£7,473,347); Moulin Rouge (£2,403,378); Scary Movie 2 (£1,553,796); #1 Moulin Rouge £2,403,378 1st week 284 screens (32.1% of top 10);
Next weekend 2021 (£4,812,471); Gunpowder Milkshake (£35,578); 12 Mighty Orphans (£17,220); #1 Shangi-Chi £2,362,692 3rd week (49.1% of top 10)
US Box Office
- Barbarian – 20th Century Studios/Disney
Opened with $10.54 m; received positive reviews (92% Rotten Tomatoes) and C+ CinemaScore
Opened with $850k from Thursday midnights
Surprising Disney gave Barbarian a theatrical release but released a prequel to Predator straight to Disney+ as it would have surely played stronger in cinemas despite Barbarian receiving positive reviews.
The latest horror that received critical acclaim but the audience reaction was muted as with those other horrors Barbarian will likely drop heavily next weekend.
Took $500k from 7 international territories; opens in the UK on October 28th
- Top Gun: Maverick – Paramount Pictures
Down 48% in 16th weekend taking $3.15m and $705.63m
1986’s Top Gun took $5.02m ($12.7m inflation inflated) in its 176th weekend and $131.34m ($333m inflation inflated) of $176.8m ($450m inflation inflated)
5th biggest film between Avatar and Black Panther; the 17th biggest inflation inflated between Jurassic World and Black Panther.
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. 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 $4.6m taking $747.55m and $1.453bn from 62 territories; UK $101.5m; Japan $92m; Korea $66.8m; Australia $64m.
12th biggest film worldwide Furious 7 and Frozen II; 2nd biggest Paramount Pictures film between Titanic ($2.2bn) and Transformers: Dark of the Moon ($1.12bn)
Has taken $108m IMAX worldwide (10th biggest worldwide) and $50m worldwide from 4DX ($11m from the US)
The question now after the massive success of Top Gun Maverick can Tom Cruise follow it up next year with $1bn+ for Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1, the last film Fallout was released in 2018 taking $220.15m in the US and $787.17m worldwide and was the highest grossing film of the series to date, taking $1.15bn in the US and $3.57bn worldwide.
The difference is next year Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1 while it will weight expectations attached it will be one of a dozen big summer films and the timing of Top Gun Maverick opening was perfect as was the film that had the perfect mix of nostalgia and repeating what made the original film a success.
- Bullet Train – Sony Pictures
Dropped 43% in its sixth weekend taking $3.31m and $92.6m
850th biggest between When Harry Met Sally and The Town; 1,533rd biggest inflation inflated between Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip; 114th biggest Sony Pictures between Elysium and Think Like a Man; 15th biggest 2022 film between Fantastic Beasts 3 and The Black Phone.
Took $5.7m (34% drop) from 61 territories $115.3m total and $211.9m worldwide; 811th biggest film worldwide between End of Days and Total Recall; 17th biggest 2022 worldwide between Lightyear and The Lost City; 102nd biggest Sony Pictures film between District 9 and Total Recall.
- DC League of Super-Pets – Warner Bros
Down 47% in its seventh weekend taking $2.65m and $85.24m
128th biggest animated film between Brother Bear and Open Season; 938th biggest film between Stripes and Rocky 2; 1,675th biggest inflation inflated between 2 Guns and The Last Dragon; 18th biggest 2022 between Where the Crawdads Sing and Scream; 160th biggest Warner Bros film between Pokemon: The First Movie and Tammy.
Took $1.5m from 75 international territories $84.3m total and $169.54m worldwide; 144th biggest animation film worldwide between The Emperor’s New Groove and Spies in Disguise; 1,047th biggest film worldwide between The Impossible and The Saint; 20th biggest 2022 worldwide between The Lost City and Nope; 170th biggest Warner film worldwide between Starsky & Hutch and Four Christmases.
UK Box Office Top 10
UK Box Office Preview
After Ticket To Paradise has been delayed to Tuesday, September 20th this weekend is likely to be even softer than last weekend and likely to be the lowest top 10 this year (previous low March 29th £4,302,969 fourth weekend of The Batman #1 taking £1,664,503.
See How The Run will drop 20-30% taking £800k-£900k with Tad The Lost Explorer And The Curse Of The Mummy dropping 60%+ due to previews taking £300k-£400k in its second weekend.
With Jaws and Brahmastra Part 1: Shiva is likely to drop 50% which could incredibly see Top Gun Maverick return to the top 5 in its 17th weekend due to all other films dropping much more heavily.
My estimates for the weekend see the top 10 taking about £3m which will be the lowest top 10 on par with 25 June 2010 when #1 Get Him to the Greek £1,569,556 (49.9% of top 10) would be 24 weekends worse but they were immediately after COVID.
Ticket To Paradise was due to open on Friday but Universal Pictures delayed the release until September 20th until after the Queen’s funeral on September 19th. Now it opens after the funeral the film could be the right film at the right time, the feel-good film set in the summer sunshine being the perfect antidote to the outpouring of grief after the death of the Queen last Thursday. 25 years ago became that film after Princess Diana’s death and Moulin Rouge 21 years ago after the horrific 9/11 terrorist attack.
As George Clooney said at the premiere last week ‘The whole country was experiencing a “tough time”, and he was happy in his role as a dispenser of frothy cinematic delights to be “a ray of sunshine” for everyone.’
Within a few hours on Monday evening after Universal delayed Ticket to Paradise to Tuesday, September most UK cinemas announced they would close next Monday the day of the Queen’s funeral. While government guidance said cinemas weren’t obliged to close the day after the Queen’s death was announced (Friday) but many independent exhibitors closed out of respect. It shouldn’t have taken exhibitors so long to understand the mood of the country especially as Odeon Cinemas must have known they closed their cinemas the day after King George VI and Winston Churchill died in 1952 and 1965 and on the day of their funerals.
These were both State Funerals as The Queen will be and they are very different to ceremonial held for Prince Philip, the Queen Mother, Princess Diana and Margaret Thatcher. The UKCA guidance compared the death of the Queen with Prince Philip’s but ceremonial funerals don’t have Bank Holidays while State Funerals do.
The Cinema industry shouldn’t have needed to wait on government guidance to decide to close as over the last 126 years cinema has lived through monarchy deaths and worldwide pandemics they should be leading the way, as famously government policy changed with COVID after Matt Hancock watched 9-year-old Contagion on ITV2, likewise cinemas have lived through the deaths of King George VI and Winston Churchill.
Opening next week
- Don’t Worry Darling – Warner Bros
Psychological thriller starring Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Wilde, Gemma Chan, KiKi Layne, Nick Kroll, and Chris Pine and directed by Olivia Wilde (follow-up to 2019’s Booksmart).
The film has generated a lot of media attention for both film and non-film-related issues that included Shia LaBeouf’s departure from the film, (replaced by Harry Styles), Olivia Wilde being served custody papers while she was onstage at CinemaCon in April. While Florence Pugh didn’t attend the press conference at the Venice Film Festival or the New York premiere. But all publicity positive or negative is good as it generates media coverage and gets the film talked about.
Received world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival getting a mixed response, praising Florence Pugh’s performance; been compared to Stepford Wives and Truman Show.
The film opens the same weekend as 2018’s A Simple Favour opened with £1,621,900 (£303,453 previews) taking £4,930,383
2019’s Booksmart received critical acclaim but struggled to find an audience in cinemas, days after opening in the US Director Olivia Wilde tweeted “Anyone out there saving Booksmart for another day, consider making that day TODAY,…We are getting creamed by the big dogs out there and need your support. Don’t give studios an excuse not to green-light movies made by and about women.” A wide release for a small film is def a major gamble. I’m lucky my first movie is in any theatre at all! Also proud a movie like this can be seen by the entire country at once. We made Booksmart for everyone”
While Ryan Reynolds tweeted “Booksmart. Don’t walk, RUN to see this. Today and all summer. Holy shit.”
Netflix was been blamed for the poor opening of Booksmart but $15+ tickets have made people much more selective in the films they pay to see in cinemas (won’t take a chance on a film anymore) and that wait to see. A film like Booksmart would become a sleeper which used to be a mainstay at the box office throughout the 80s and 90s, films would have a smallish opening but then hold well over months rather than the weeks of the larger films. Exhibitors would give these films longer to find their audience.
- Avatar (re-release) – Disney
The 2009 film is being re-released in cinemas ahead of the release of Avatar: The Way of Water finally opening in December, it feels a very long time since Avatar was released in 2009 and can the sequel possibly be as successful as the original film and have the legs of the original film.
Avatar opened in December 2009 with £8,509,050 (£11,555,147 inflation inflated and was #1 for 7 weeks knocked off by Valentine’s Day for a week before returning #1 for another 2 weeks being knocked off again by Alice In Wonderland in its 12th weekend due to losing a vast proportion of 3D screens 299 to 132. How audiences embrace 3D will be key for the sequel to get anywhere near the first films BO, but will benefit from opening in many more IMAX and PLF screens along with ScreenX, 4DX and Dolby Cinema.
Disney showed more footage of Avatar: The Way of Water at D23 last weekend.
Avatar re-release comes soon after re-releases for E.T, Spider-Man No Way Home and Jaws.
