- Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse – £1,995,517 – £23,437,344
Down 23.7% in the fourth weekend; returning to #1
Took £437k Friday 21.9% 14.5% drop (£511k); £849k Saturday 42.5% 22.8% drop (£1.1m); £412k Sunday 20.6% 55.1% drop (£917k)
99th biggest fourth weekend between The Croods and Chicago (close to Sherlock Holmes, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 and Shrek) and the 203rd biggest inflated between Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and American Pie (close to Batman Forever, Spider-Man 3, Lethal Weapon 3 and Back to the Future Part II).
10th biggest comic-book fourth weekend between Avengers Infinity War and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 (close to Avengers: Endgame, The Dark Knight Rises, Captain Marvel and Spider-Man: Far From Home) and 18th biggest inflated between Spider-Man 3 and Thor: Love And Thunder (close to The Mask, Batman Forever, Men In Black 2 and Spider-Man: Far From Home).
Much has been made about the hold of Across The Spider-Verse, but it continues to hold similar to non-MCU Spider-Man films which were expected.
2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse dropped 13% £878,768 #7 and £7,730,537 520 screens 77% of £10,040,340.
216th biggest film between Taken 2 and The Girl on the Train (close to Uncharted, The Hunger Games, Transformers and The Lion King (1994) and 447th biggest inflated between Stardust and The Revenant (close to What Lies Beneath, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, Sleepless in Seattle and Cliffhanger).
37th biggest comic-book film between The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Doctor Strange (close to Spider-Man 2, The Amazing Spider-Man, Men in Black 3 and Batman Forever) and 58th inflated between Wonder Woman and Captain America: The Winter Soldier (close to Batman Returns, X-Men, Fantastic Four and X-Men: Apocalypse).
- 2. The Flash – £1,336,897 – £6,771,495
Dropped 68.6% in the second weekend. (58% without previews)
Took £349k Friday 26.1% 57.3% drop (£818k); £558k Saturday 41.7% 54.6% drop (£1.23m); £430k Sunday 32.2% 59% drop (£1.05m)
736th biggest second weekend between Jerry Maguire and Rush (close to M3gan, The LEGO Ninjago Movie, Blade 2 and Ghostbusters (2016) and 1,237th biggest inflated between Ticket To Paradise and The Color of Money (close to Beverly Hills Cop III, Tango & Cash, The Mask Of Zorro and Predator (1988).
81st biggest comic-book second weekend between The Hulk and Blade 2 (close to Fantastic Four (2005), Batman, Green Lantern and Daredevil) and 93rd biggest inflated between Ghost Rider and X-Men: Dark Phoenix (close to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990), Superman IV, Super Mario Brothers and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers).
20th biggest DC second weekend between Batman (1989) and Shazam! Fury Of The Gods
You can often tell when a studio is struggling the management gets more hands-on with films and this often makes the situation worse as the films end up delayed due to reshoots as was the case with The Flash. This normally makes things worse and makes the failure fait accompli, as rarely has a film that has had long delays been a hit at the box office (apart from Titanic).
There were three different endings filmed for The Flash, the first was when Barry meets Supergirl and Michael Keaton’s Batman, this would have set up the Batgirl film which was unfinished.
The second ending included Wonder Woman and Henry Cavill’s Superman, at the time Cavill could have returned in the Black Adam sequel while Gal Gadot was returning in Wonder Woman 3. It would have also removed Ben Affleck’s Batman and Henry Cavill’s Superman from the timeline.
The third ending which was released has George Clooney as Batman, as he won’t return as Batman in any further film. The question is how will 2019’s Joker connect to 2022’s The Batman as Matt Reeves has said they don’t share the same universe which means the new slate by James Gunn can start afresh that said Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is still to be released in December.
The problem with The Flash was as it featured time travel Warner saw it as a film, the studio felt they could reset the DC Universe whilst using it to set up further films as has happened often before with films like King Arthur which Warner Bros had planned to make a 6-part film series. The problem Warner Bros have had over the last decade is they haven’t got a Kevin Feige overseeing DC film series instead opted for Zack Snyder who is often style over substance, trying to be different to MCU, James Gunn will hopefully bring some stability in his upcoming slate that includes Superman: Legacy in 2025 with David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan cast as Clark Kent and Lois Lane.
The Flash comic-book character is lesser-known internationally, The Flash TV series has been on Sky One/Max since its launch; the first episode got a 629k audience on Sky One in October 2014 (compared with 13m in the US on CW) compared with 1.3m for Gotham on Channel 5.
The Flash was fait accompli long before the opening, due to multiple delays and studio bosses seeing multiverse as they did with Ready Player One as a way to stuff as many Warner Bros characters in the film as possible) which saw it being gazumped by many other multiverse films. As it was originally due to open as part of Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and two Justice League films, Shazam, Cyborg and Batman Vs Superman Warner Bros announced in October 2014.
The 14 DC Extended Universe films have taken over £330m since Man of Steel opened 10 years ago.
- 3. No Hard Feelings – £1,181,383 – NE
Took £275k (32%) Friday; £321k Saturday (37.3%); £264k Sunday (30.7%)
Including £321,848 from previews Weds/Thurs
1,406th biggest opening between Freddy’s Dead The Final Nightmare and Payback (close to Mona Lisa Smile, 13 Going On 30, One Fine Day and How to Lose Friends and Alienate People) and 1,996th biggest inflated between Sinister 2 and Body of Evidence (close to Game Night, Pitch Perfect, The Tall Guy and LA Story).
Comparisons were made with 2011’s Bad Teacher £1,958,656 #3 taking £7,642,887; 2014’s Sex Tape £1,431,058 #1 from 440 screens taking £4,321,004, but more likely to open similar to 2019’s Good Boys £844,169 #6 from 474 screens taking £3,069,323 and 2006’s Failure to Launch opened £874,999 #2 352 screens taking £2,657,334.
No Hard Feelings is Jennifer Lawrence’s first film since 2019’s X-Men: Dark Phoenix and 2018’s Red Sparrow before these starred in 2016’s Passengers, despite receiving poor reviews opened with £2,418,976 #2 from 569 screens taking £12,757,682. It is also her first comedy, but despite being a producer of the film she has the only full-frontal nude scene, there are men in sex scenes, but they are never shown fully naked. Would have expected that being a producer of the film Jennifer would have had more control over her role as that could alienate the female audience it was aimed at.
Reviews have been polarised with some saying it feels like an 80s gross-out comedy film, but others say the trailers marketing the film wrong and it’s much more than that. You can tell a lot about films from their trailers and the trailers for No Hard Feeling felt disjointed and unfunny, of course, I’m not the target audience for the film but still would normally get something from it.
- 4. Asteroid City – £1,176,972 – NE
Took £372k Friday (31.6%); £393k Saturday (33.4%); £412k Sunday (35%)
Includes £69,676 from previews
1,413th biggest opening between Fight Club and Air (close to Sommersby, Eyes Wide Shut, Eat Pray Love and See How They Run) and 2,005th biggest inflated between Ballerina and Amistad (close to Pacific Heights, The Bridges Of Madison County, Shadowlands and Much Ado About Nothing).
Hard to compare the opening of Asteroid City with other Wes Anderson films as they often have staggered openings expanding wider in their second weekend, but with Asteroid City opening on 350 screens it’s unlikely to expand further.
Similar to Paul Thomas Anderson’s films Wes Anderson always receives critical acclaim, but they often struggle to break out into wider audiences, 2014’s The Grand Budapest Hotel and 2009’s Fantastic Mr Fox were the only two films that have done so.
Asteroid City was the third Wes Anderson film to receive its world premiere in competition at the Cannes Film Festival after The French Despatch and Moonrise Kingdom and the first film directed by Wes Anderson to be released by Universal Pictures since 2012 Moonrise Kingdom.
2021’s The French Dispatch opened #6 with £867,672 from 315 screens taking £4,167,060
2018’s Isle of Dogs £1,641,509 on 487 screens (£194,905 from previews) taking £6,009,438
2014’s The Grand Budapest Hotel opened £1,532,239 on 287 screens (dropped only 20% in the second weekend taking £1,309,103 adding 90 screens and £4,115,618) taking £10,978,014
2009’s Fantastic Mr Fox opened on 481 screens for £1,517,312 (increased 2% in second weekend taking £1,545,325 (due to half-term) £5,589,484) taking £8,707,283.
2012’s Moonrise Kingdom opened #7 £251,760 from 163 screens (dropped 16% in the second weekend £210,804 and £724,870) taking £1,378,748
2007’s The Darjeeling Limited opened £435,198 #6 from 192 screens taking £1,323,698
2004’s The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou opened £455,722 #9 from 207 screens taking £1,323,544
2002’s The Royal Tenenbaums opened #4 £700,025 from 169 screens taking £2,674,161
1998’s Rushmore took £424,055
- 5. The Little Mermaid – £1,088,803 – £23,701,009
Down 17.7% in the fifth weekend
Took £221k Friday 20.3% 6.4% drop (£236k); £455k Saturday 41.8% 24.2% drop (£600k); £413k Sunday 38% 7% drop (£444k)
141st biggest fifth weekend between Despicable Me and Star Wars Attack of the Clones (close to Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical, Peter Rabbit 2, The Lion King (1994) and Lilo & Stitch) and 300th inflated between Avengers Assemble and Muriel’s Wedding (close to My Girl, Elf, Beauty and the Beast (1992) and Pocahontas).
6th biggest Disney reimagination fourth weekend between Dumbo (£1,121,558) and Maleficent (£881,437) close to Aladdin (£1,326,130) and Cinderella (£836,920).
6th biggest Disney reimagination after 31 days between Aladdin (£32,598,692) and Dumbo (£23,349,387).
Ahead of opening wouldn’t have expected a remake of the beloved 1989 The Little Mermaid would have performed similarly to Dumbo rather than The Jungle Book (£46,235,032), Alice in Wonderland (£42,169,542) and Aladdin (£36,710,978) as the original animated film was the 9th biggest film of 1990 taking (15.46x opening) £6,266,749 (£21,731,902 inflated).
The biggest Disney re-imaginations on fifth weekends:
2019’s The Lion King dropped 43% £2,486,795 #2 691 screens £65,977,991 86.8% of £76,023,435
2019’s Aladdin dropped 58% £1,201,337 #2 621 screens £32,598,692 88.8% of £36,710,978
2017’s Beauty and the Beast dropped 5% £2,598,163 #3 652 screens £65,048,372 89.7% of £72,507,458
2010’s Alice in Wonderland dropped 48% £1,285,889 #5 438 screens £37,940,131 90% of £42,169,542
2016’s The Jungle Book dropped 23% £1,628,456 #3 596 screens £39,312,115 85% of £46,238,425
2019’s Dumbo up 10% £1,016,016 #2 601 screens £23,349,387 92.9% of £25,142,945
204th biggest film between Borat and Logan (close to Home, Ratatouille, Rocketman and Trolls) and 436th inflated between 12 Years a Slave and X-Men Origins: Wolverine (close to Pocahontas, Saturday Night Fever, Liar Liar and Cool Runnings.
Next reimaginations to be released are Snow White in March 2024, The Lion King sequel Mufasa opening in July 2024 with Moana in June 2025 and Lilo & Stitch, Hercules and Bambi undated.
UK box office in detail
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £8,200,506 down 24.5% from last weekend’s £10,857,760: 1,028,922 admissions down 24.5% from 1,362,329.
785th biggest top 10 of the last 21 years (out of 1,108) between 17 December 2004 #1 Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events £2,210,979 (27% of the top 10) and 29 September 2006 #1 Click £1,797,073 (22% of the top 10) and 999th biggest inflation inflated between 28 September 2018 #1 Night School £1,596,377 (21.4% of top 10) and 17 September 2010 #1 The Other Guys £1,980,601 (32.4% of top 10).
The top 3 took £4,513,797 55% of the top 10; Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse 24.3% (£1,995,517); The Flash 16.3% (£1,336,897); No Hard Feelings 14.4% (£1,181,383);
857th highest percentage (24.3%) #1 between 26 February 2010 Avatar (24.3%) and 13 June 2003 The Matrix Reloaded (24.3%).
991st biggest admissions #1 (250,379) between 07 December 2012 Rise of the Guardians (251,600) and 08 April 2011 Rio (250,141).
Down 45.2% from 2022 (£14,973,318); Elvis (£4,023,573); The Black Phone (£1,384,344); George Michael Freedom Uncut (£68,399); First Blood (40th Anniversary 4K Restoration) (£11,880); #1 Elvis £4,023,573 1st week 740 screens (26.9% of top 10)
Up 19.8% from 2021; (£6,842,018) The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard (£1,636,128); In the Heights (£1,073,68); Monster Hunter (£150,078); In The Earth (£58,538); #1 The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard £1,636,128 1st week 522 screens (23.91% of top 10)
2020; Lockdown
Down 55.4% from 2019; (£18,378,720); Toy Story 4 £13,300,000); Bight Burn (£509,030); Childs Play £247,572; #1 Toy Story 4 £13,300,000 1st week (72.37% of top 10)
Down 18.6% from 2018: (£10,066,964); Ocean’s 8 (£4,347,070); In the Fade (£25,963); Overboard (£19,304); #1 Ocean’s 8 £4,347,070 1st week 641 screens (43.2% of the top 10)
Down 14.1% from 2017:(£9,547,804); Transformers: The Last Knight (£4,635,570); Hampstead (£453,522); The Book of Henry (£72,128); The Graduate: 50th Anniversary 4K Restoration (£28,946); #1 Transformers: The Last Knight £4,635,570 1st week 577 screens (48.5% of top 10)
Down 54.1% from 2016: (£17,839,552); The Secret Life of Pets (£9,580,039); Independence Day: Resurgence (£5,067,855); Elvis & Nixon (£56,790); The Meddler (£19,327); #1 The Secret Life of Pets £9,580,039 1st week 592 screens (53.7% of the top 10)
Down 58.4% from 2015; (£19,704,414); Minions (£11,558,946); Knock Knock (£250,825); Slow West (£140,858); The Terminator (Re: 2015) (£66,492); She’s Funny That Way (£22,311); Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief (£16,849); Everly (£160); #1 Minions £11,558,946 1st week 571 screens (58.6% of top 10)
Down 21.7% from 2014: (£10,468,569); Mrs. Brown’s Boys d’Movie (£4,301,306); Chef (£605,976); How to Train Your Dragon 2 (Scotland) (£604,325); Walking on Sunshine (£403,490); Cold in July (£156,783); Seve (£47,294); #1 Mrs. Brown’s Boys d’Movie £4,301,306 1st week 522 screens (41.1% of top 10)
Down 30.6% from 2013: (£11,810,188); World War Z (£4,535,899); Snitch (£268,229); Before Midnight (£244,231); A Haunted House (£153,805); Spike Island (£55,961); #1 Man of Steel £5,073,356 2nd week 575 screens 55% drop (42.9% of top 10)
Up 21.2% from 2012 (£6,765,529); Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (£1,119,117); The Five-Year Engagement (£1,058,897); Chernobyl Diaries (£495,875); Lay the Favourite (£112,706); Think Like a Man (£81,516); #1 Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter £1,119,117 1st week 460 screens (16.5% of top 10)
Down 15.6% from 2011; (£9,716,933) Bridesmaids (£3,445,395); Talihina Sky: The Story of Kings of Leon (£82,464); #1 Bridesmaids £3,445,395 1st week 482 screens (21.8% of top 10)
Up 160.7% from 2010: (£3,145,120); Get Him to the Greek (£1,569,556); The Collector (£109,519); Whatever Works (£72,678); When in Rome (£61,512); #1 Get Him to the Greek £1,569,556 1st week 389 screens (49.9% of top 10)
Down 16.2% from 2009; (£9,778,033); Year One (£978,008); My Sister’s Keeper (£922,947); Blood: The Last Vampire (£232,190); #1 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen £4,368,024 2nd week 521 screens 48% drop (44.6% of top 10)
Down 26.6% from 2008; (£11,174,084); Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (£4,060,532); Wanted (£3,814,055); Female Agents (£68,412); A Complete History of My Sexual Failures (£12,772); #1 Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian £4,060,532 1st week 546 screens (36.3% of top 10)
Up 36.5% from 2007: (£6,006,969); Captivity (£329,193); La Vie En Rose (£205,659); Lucky You (£56,346); #1 Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer £2,254,179 2nd week 481 screens 46% drop (37.5% of top 10)
Up 89.7% from 2006; (£4,322,278); Lakehouse (£761,465); The Wind that Shakes the Barley (£390,720); Fearless (£369,947); Ultraviolet (£147,337); Aquamarine (£109,232); Half Light (£23,930); #1 The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift £1,019,854 2nd week 415 screens 44% drop (23.6% of top 10)
Up 22.6% from 2005: (£6,688,816); Kung Fu Hustle (£469,211); A Lot Like Love (£417,904); #1 Batman Begins £2,926,042 2nd week 34% drop 516 screens (43.75% of top 10)
Up 52.1% from 2004 (£5,390,891); The Ladykillers (£565,137); The Notebook (£309,507); Eurotrip (£147,439); You Got Served (£68,255); #1 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban £2,029,289 4th week 499 screens 40% drop (37.6% of top 10)
Down 20.6% from 2003 (£10,329,409); Bruce Almighty (£7,260,467); Wrong Turn (£370,562); Nicholas Nickleby (£222,376); Biker Boyz (£65,412); Feardotcom (£23,025); #1 Bruce Almighty £7,260,467 1st week 446 screens (70.3% of top 10)
Up 49.6% from 2002 (£5,480,099); Murder by Numbers (£729,164); Big Fat Liar (£406,105); Birthday Girl (£237,165); Rollerball (£136,243); What’s The Worst That Could Happen? (£69,194); #1 Spider-Man: The Movie £2,605,993 3rd week 507 screens 39% drop (47.5% of top 10)
Next Week 2022 (£19,545,957); Minions: The Rise of Gru (£10,424,758); The Railway Children (Re: 2022) (£14,471); #1 Minions: The Rise of Gru £10,424,758 1st week 631 screens (53.3% of top 10)
US Box Office
- Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse – Sony Pictures
Dropped 30% in the fourth weekend taking $19m and $317.05m
67th biggest fourth weekend between Frozen II and The Dark Knight Rises (close to Iron Man #53 $20.44m; Joker #65 $19.24m; Black Panther: Wakanda Forever #82 $17.54m; Thor: Ragnarok #91 $16.83m).
Across The Spider-Verse has already overtaken the lifetime total of Into the Spider-Verse, the reason is that it plays like a Spider-Man film as the audience seeing it is likely the same that saw No Way Home and other recent MCU films as seen by its third weekend being similar to Spider-Man 3 and Spider-Man 2. While opening so close to The Flash is another reason why the DC opened lower than expected.
18th biggest animated film between Shrek the Third and Up; 89th biggest between Jumanji: The Next Level and Star Wars Ep. VI: Return of the Jedi; 212th inflated between Gladiator and The Amityville Horror; 3rd biggest 2023 between Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 and The Little Mermaid; 31st biggest comic-book film between Iron Man and Thor: Ragnarok; 9th biggest Sony Pictures between Jumanji: The Next Level and Skyfall; has overtaken The Amazing Spider-Man $262.03m and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 $202.85m and will shortly overtake Spider-Man 3 $336.53m and Spider-Man: Homecoming $334.2m.
2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse dropped 30.2% taking $13.12m and $133.97m of $190.24m and $384.25m WW, unlike live-action Marvel films the BO was almost 50/50 US and international.
Took $22m (down 20.3%) from 63 territories $243.2m total and $560.3m worldwide; #China $46.2m; UK $29.5m; Mexico $25.7m; Australia $16.5m; Brazil $11.2m; France $10.8m; Germany $7m; Spain $6.9m; Italy $6.3m.
- The Flash – Warner Bros
Dropped 72% in the second weekend taking $15.14m and $87.52m
696th biggest second weekend between Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and The Invisible Man; Green Lantern #535 $18.02m; Hulk #489 $18.84m; Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer #453 $20m.
2011’s Green Lantern dropped 66.1% taking $18.02m and $88.98m of $116.6m and $219.85m worldwide while 2013’s Man of Steel dropped 64.6% taking $41.28m and $210.07m and $291.04m and $668.04m worldwide.
Warner Bros release two more DC films this year Blue Beetle in August and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom in December with Joker: Folie à Deux in October 2024 and then Superman: Legacy and The Batman Part II in July and October 2025.
In November 2022 The Flash was delayed to June 23rd to give more time to the CGI, but despite having several more months of post-production many have had issues with some of the CGI, a VFX artist posted videos on TikTok to explain why as studios give VFX studios insane deadlines to get the work completed and with films like The Flash there are thousands of shots.
Had The Flash opened on June 23rd it would have been the 34th anniversary of the opening of Tim Burton’s Batman starring Michael Keaton, the film that started the comic-book renaissance; Batman opened with $40.89m taking $251.4m in the US and $411.56m worldwide.
Took $26.6m in the second weekend (down 64.5%) $123.3m total and $210.9m worldwide; #China $23.6m; Mexico $14.4m; UK $8.5m; Brazil $5.4m; Korea $4.7m; Australia $4.6m; France $4.4m; India $3.9m.
- No Hard Feelings – Sony Pictures
Opened with $15m; received mixed reviews (67% Rotten Tomatoes) and B+ CinemaScore.
Took $2.15m from Thursday midnights similar to 2019’s Good Boys ($2.1m)
Gene Stupnitsky previously directed 2019’s Good Boys opened $21.4m taking $83.14m and $111.17m worldwide
While similar films include
2011’s Bad Teacher opened $31.6m taking $100.29m and $216.19m worldwide
2014’s Sex Tape opened $14.6m taking $38.54m and $126.06m worldwide
2006’s Failure to Launch opened $24.41m taking $88.71m and $130.22m worldwide
2004’s The Girl Next Door opened $6m taking $14.58m and $30.38m worldwide
2010’s Easy A opened $17.73m taking $58.4m and $75.02m worldwide
Opened with $9.5m from 48 territories internationally; UK $1.5m; Australia $1.3m; Germany $1.1m.
- Elemental – Disney
Dropped 38% in the second weekend taking $18.44m and $65.49m
21st biggest Pixar second weekend between Toy Story ($55m inflated) and Lightyear; only The Good Dinosaur and Onward had lower second weekends, but the positive for Elemental was it had the 17th biggest second-weekend drop between Ratatouille and Up, so it could have long legs but much will depend on how Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken opens this weekend.
509th biggest second weekend between Elvis and Sleepy Hollow (close to Toy Story $20.16m; Lightyear $18.15m; Puss in Boots: The Last Wish $16.81m).
154th biggest animated film between Spies in Disguise and Flushed Away; 1,334th biggest film between Witness and The Taking of Pelham 123; 2,223rd biggest inflated between Night Shift and This Christmas; 15th biggest 2023 between Evil Dead Rise and Cocaine Bear; 207th biggest Disney between Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo and Step Up.
23 Pixar films have made $6.26bn since 1995 ($8.5bn inflation inflated) and $15bn worldwide.
Took $31.3m (up 108.7%) from 45 territories (up from 17) $55.6m total and $121.1m worldwide; China $11.1m; Korea $9.4m; Mexico $4.6m; Argentina $3.1m; France $2.7m; Australia $2.2m; Italy $1.9m; Germany $1.8m; Brazil $1.5m.
- Transformers: Rise of the Beasts – Paramount Pictures
Dropped 43% in the third weekend taking $11.75m and $123.1m
503rd biggest third weekend between Interview with the Vampire and Cheaper by the Dozen (close G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra $12.2m; Wanted $12m; Unstoppable $11.42m; Mission: Impossible III $11.34m).
571st biggest film between Nope and The Good Dinosaur; 1,087th biggest inflated between Zero Dark Thirty and Blue Streak; 9th biggest 2023 film between Fast X and Scream VI; 75th biggest Paramount Pictures film between Rango and G.I. Joe: Retaliation.
The box office of the Transformers film series highlights the impact China has had on the global box office over the last 16 years and how the Transformers series wouldn’t have survived as long had it not been for the huge growth of China as has also been the case with Fast & Furious franchise.
Third weekends
2007’s Transformers dropped 44.6% taking $20.51m and $262.97m out of $319.24m and $709.7m WW (55% international $37.2m China)
2009’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen dropped 42.8% taking $24.21m and $339.22m of $402.1m and $836.3m WW (51.9% international including $66m China)
2011’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon dropped 54.7% taking $21.32m and $302.87m of $352.39m and $1.12bn WW (68.6% international including $165.1m China)
2014’s Transformers: Age of Extinction dropped 56% taking $16.3m and $208.83m of $245.43m and $1.1bn WW (77.8% international including $301m China)
2017’s Transformers: The Last Knight dropped 62.2% taking $6.37m and $118.9m of $130.16m and $605.42m WW (78.5% international including $229m China)
2018’s Bumblebee dropped 36.8% taking $13.2m and $97.55m of $127.19m and $467.98m WW (72.8% international including $171m China)
The 7 Transformer films have taken over $1.7bn in the US and $5.2bn worldwide.
While Bumblebee received far better reviews than all of the other Transformer films it was also the lowest-grossing film of the series.
Took $25.6m from 69 territories $218.3m total and $341.3m worldwide; China $78.1m; Mexico $15.8m; Peru $11m; Indonesia a$9.8m; UK $8m.
461st biggest worldwide between Wanted and Close Encounters of the Third Kind; 10th biggest 2023 worldwide between John Wick: Chapter 4 and Creed III; 51st biggest Paramount Pictures worldwide between Over the Hedge and Star Trek Beyond.
- The Little Mermaid – Disney
Dropped 23% in the fifth weekend taking $8.55m and $270.12m
194th biggest fifth weekend between Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Monsters vs. Aliens.
124th biggest between Sing and Monsters University; 302nd inflated between City Slickers and The Bodyguard; 4th 2023 film between Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Ant-Man and the Wasp; 42nd biggest Disney film between Monsters, Inc. and Monsters University.
The biggest Disney re-imaginations on fifth weekends:
2017’s Beauty and the Beast dropped 42.1% $13.7m #3 $454.72m 90.2% of $504.01m
2019’s The Lion King dropped by 39% $12.33m #3 $496.54m by 91.4% of $543.63m
2010’s Alice in Wonderland dropped 53.6% $8.2m #5 $309.73m 92.7.% of $334.19m
2016’s The Jungle Book dropped 30.1% $17.11m #2 $311.11m 85.5% of $364m
2019’s Aladdin dropped 23.5% $13.24m #3 $288.55m 81.2% of $355.55m
Took $9.4m (dropped 38.7%) from 52 territories $229.1m total and $499.3m worldwide; UK $27.5m; Mexico $19.7m; Brazil $14.8m; Italy $12.3m; Australia $11.9m; France $11.2m; Japan $10.5m; Spain $10.2m; Germany $9.6m; Philippines $5.8m; Argentina $5.4m; Indonesia $5.1m.
236th biggest worldwide between Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Sherlock Holmes; 7th biggest 2023 between Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania; 65th biggest Disney film between Aladdin (1992) and Wreck-It Ralph (close to Cinderella, Toy Story 2, Oz the Great and Powerful and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil).
- Asteroid City – Focus Features
Up 961% in the second weekend taking $9.05m and $10.26m
Wes Anderson’s films have a one-week platform release before having a wide release.
Wes Anderson’s previous openings
2021’s The French Despatch expanded to 1,205 screens after 2 weeks taking $16.12m and $46.33m worldwide
2018’s Isle of Dogs slowly expanded into 1,939 screens after 4 weeks taking $32.01m and $64.24m worldwide
2014’s The Grand Budapest Hotel slowly expanded into 1,467 screens over 6 weeks taking $59.3m and $172.93m worldwide
2009’s Fantastic Mr Fox expanded into 2,033 screens after 3 weeks taking $21m taking $46.47m worldwide
2012’s Moonrise Kingdom slowly expanded into 924 screens after 8 weeks taking $45.51m taking $68.26m worldwide
2007’s The Darjeeling Limited slowly expanded into 698 screens after 5 weeks taking $11.9m taking $35.3m worldwide
Wes Anderson’s 10 directed films have taken $280m in the US and $550m worldwide; Asteroid City is Wes Anderson’s first film having previously directed 5 films for Fox Searchlight and four films for Disney.
Took $3.9m from 35 territories $6.5m total and $17m worldwide.
UK Box Office Top 10
UK Box Office Preview
After Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny received its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival getting mixed reviews, expectations dropped off. It was a surprising decision to premiere the film at Cannes opening 6 weeks later, 2008’s Kingdom of the Crystal Skull also premiered at Cannes, but the difference was it opened days after. Temple of Doom and Last Crusade also opened in the US over Memorial Day weekend, having a staggered international release, with The Last Crusade opening June 28th the same day as Dial of Destiny in 1989.
Dial Of Destiny is the most anticipated film of the summer in the US according to recent research by Morning Consult, but the question as with all of the legacy sequels is will younger audiences be as excited to see the film.
Other long-gap sequels added new younger characters (Jurassic World, The Force Awakens, Ghostbusters Afterlife and Top Gun: Maverick) as they did with Kingdom of the Crystal Skull with Shia LaBeouf playing Indiana Jones’s son to attract younger audiences who hadn’t grown up watching the original films.
Do wonder if 16-year-olds are as excited to see Dial of Destiny as I was 34 years ago to see The Last Crusade, rushing to see it on opening day at the Empire Leicester Square?
Despite the huge popularity of the original trilogy; Raiders of the Lost Ark was the #7 biggest film in the UK taking £3.31m (£17.1m inflated) and #1 in the US; #1 Superman II; #2 For Your Eyes Only; #3 Flash Gordon; #4 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs; #5 Any Which Way You Can; #6 Clash of the Titans; #7 Private Benjamin; #8 Raiders of the Lost Ark; #9 The Elephant Man; #10 Tess.
Temple of Doom was #1 biggest film in the UK taking £9.25m (£41.3m inflated) and #2 in the US (behind Ghostbusters); #2 Never Say Never; #3 The Jungle Book; #4 Police Academy; #5 Sudden Impact; #6 Terms of Endearment; #7 Educating Rita; #8 Trading Places; #9 Greystoke: The Legend of the Apes; #10 Jaws III.
The Last Crusade was #1 biggest film in the UK (£15.92m) and #2 in the US (behind Batman); #2 Who Framed Roger Rabbit (£15.61m); #3 Batman (£12.03m); #4 Rain Man (£9.66m); #5 The Naked Gun (£7.74m); #6 Licence To Kill (£7.55m); #7 Lethal Weapon 2 (£6.74m); #8 Twins (£6.55m); #9 Dead Poets Society (£5.87m); #10 Cocktail (£5.76m).
At the time of opening in 1989 The Last Crusade had the biggest-ever opening weekend in the UK (£1.73m/£6.1m inflated) the third biggest opening of 1989 after Batman (£2.058m/£7.2m inflated) and Back to the Future Part II (£2.51m/£7.1m inflated) ahead of Ghostbusters 2 (£1.41m) and Lethal Weapon 2 (£1.33m).
Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was #4 biggest film in the UK (£40.28m) and #3 in the US ($317.1m); #1 Mamma Mia! (£68.9m); #2 Quantum of Solace (£51.1m); #3 The Dark Knight (£49.31m); #4 The Crystal Skull; #5 Sex and the City (£26.23m); #6 Hancock (£24.41m); #7 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (£23.3m); #8 High School Musical 3 (£22.63m); #9 Wall·E (£22.2m); #10 Kung Fu Panda (£19.63m).
It had the second biggest opening (£12.22m) in 2018 after Quantum of Solace (£15.38m) and ahead of The Dark Knight (£11.19m).
Other major legacy sequels openings include Top Gun: Maverick (£15,924,629), Jurassic World (£19,350,727 including £2,514,284 previews), Star Wars The Force Awakens (£34,011,849 including £9,679,746 previews), Spider-Man No Way Home (£31,899,232 including £12,388,380 previews), Independence Day Resurgence (£5,067,855 including £944,356 previews), Ghostbusters Afterlife (£4,314,263 including £549,710 previews), Mad Max: Fury Road (£4,538,933 including £638,690 previews) and Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle (£8,154,548 including £4,114,058 previews).
Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has the 68th-biggest opening between Thor: Love and Thunder and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (close to Deadpool 2, Fast & Furious 7, Jurassic World Dominion and Star Wars: Attack of the Clones) and 39th biggest inflated between Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness and Spider-Man 3.
In 2008 it was the 15th biggest opening in the UK between LOTR: The Two Towers and The Matrix Reloaded and the 18th biggest inflated between Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End and Spider-Man 3.
Would surely then 15 years on from Crystal Skull opening with £12.22m Dial Of Destiny opening with about £20m over its 5-day opening (similar to Skyfall, Beauty and the Beast and Jurassic World) especially as it will open in 50+ IMAX cinemas and other premium formats that weren’t around for Crystal Skull, (The Last Crusade opened at the Empire Leicester Square and tickets were £6-£7 while Dial Of Destiny opens at the Cineworld and Odeon Leicester Square and tickets are £25-£32.50.
But it’s more likely to have a 5-day opening of half as advance bookings have been soft which could be coincidentally similar to 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story (£6,061,231), Blade Runner 2049 (£6,071,625) and Avatar (£6,670,591).
In 1989 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade broke many UK box office records, it opened at 316 screens taking £1,648,850 overtaking the previous biggest openings in 1988 of Who Framed Roger Rabbit £1,506,863 from 285 screens and Crocodile Dundee II £1,333,508 from 302 screens. It took £214,825 at the Empire Leicester Square having the all-time biggest single cinema opening week overtaking the previous records of Roger Rabbit, Star Wars and Crocodile Dundee. It took £307,755 from its 6 West End screens, breaking records in all 6 cinemas; took £177,518 from 3 days at the Empire Leicester Square from 49 shows with tickets between £6-£7.
This is despite transport strikes, hot temperatures, Wimbledon and competition from Licence to Kill which was holding strong down only 5.5% in West End cinemas. It was believed that the two films helped each other. Many people often use hot weather as an excuse for films opening lower but if it’s a film people want to see they will see it no matter the weather. While the weather this weekend will be much cooler and wetter than it has been over recent weeks.
In 1989 The Last Crusade opened only at the Empire Leicester Square and Plaza Lower Regent Street selling out most of its screenings over its opening 5 days while Dial of Destiny opens on three screens at Odeon Leicester Square, one screen at Odeon West End, two screens at Cineworld Leicester Square (IMAX and Super Screen), five screens at Vue West End, three screens at Vue Piccadilly and two screens at Picturehouse Central and none will likely sellout. While the problem with this is that it will be similar with Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1 and Oppenheimer if films opened in fewer cinemas, they would perform stronger and it would allow audiences to see these films on their biggest screens for longer.
Kingdom of the Crystal Skull opened with $269m worldwide from 12,000 screens in 56 territories; UK $21.5m from 536 screens; France $14.1m; Germany $12.6m; Spain $11.7m; Korea $10m; Australia $9m; Russia $8.4m; Italy $6.5m; Brazil $5.7m; Mexico $4.5m.
1989’s Last Crusade took $277m internationally; 1984’s Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom $153.5m; 1981’s Raiders of the Lost Ark $141.8m.
Deadline was expecting Dial of Destiny to open with $140m worldwide including $60m in the US, which is about a third of what it should be opening with if the film is as anticipated as claimed, this could just be Disney doing their lowball estimates as their estimates are always low, so it looks like the films have opened far stronger than they did.
But as I’ve said before while much will be written about the opening of Indy 5 it doesn’t need to take $1bn+ worldwide it just needs to exist as Star Wars as Yogurt said in Spaceballs “Merchandising, merchandising, where the real money from the movie is made.” And while Disney will likely take about $6bn+ globally in box office they will take ten times this with merchandise and theme park sales, the cinema release is just the start of the journey for these films.
Also, opening is Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken likely to have one of the smaller openings for Dreamworks Animation close to Captain Underpants £2,495,744 (including £1,228,837 previews) rather than their last original animated film 2022’s The Bad Guys (£2,279,074).
While Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse and Asteroid City should hold far stronger than all other holdovers down about 40% compared with 50%+ for all others.
Opening in two weeks
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem – Paramount Pictures (Monday)
Animated film featuring voices of Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Hannibal Buress, Rose Byrne, John Cena, Jackie Chan, Ice Cube, Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, and Maya Rudolph and directed by Jeff Rowe.
Early social media reactions have been very positive
The seventh theatrical Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film since 1990, the first was released as Hero Turtles in the UK and is the second animated film after 2007’s TMNT opened £948,791 #2 taking £2,739,160 and is Paramount’s third film after 2014’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles opened £4,785,448 #1 taking £13,771,574 and 2016’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows opened £3,495,445 #2 taking £5,957,182.
1990’s Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles opened £769,000 (£2,630,442 inflated) taking £5,452,740 (£18,651,647 inflated)
1991’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 opened £458,539 (£1,206,124 inflated) taking £2,250,201 (£5,918,846 inflated).
