- Migration – £3,577,676 – NE
Took £435k (12.1%) Friday; £1.71m (47.8%) Saturday; £1.432m (40%) Sunday.
445th biggest opening between Little Women (2019) and Jack Reacher (close to Life of Pi, Baby Driver, Scooby-Doo Too and Dungeons & Dragons) and 679th biggest inflated between Bee Movie and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (close to Sister Act, The Naked Gun, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls and Edward Scissorhands)
77th biggest animated opening between Over the Hedge and Cars 2 (close to Lightyear, Despicable Me (£3,664,376), The Secret Life of Pets 2 (£3,490,598) and Onward (£3,419,500) and 102nd biggest inflated between Bee Movie and Coraline (close to Dinosaur, The Lion King 3D, Antz and Mulan).
22nd biggest opening over the last 52 weeks between Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Dungeons & Dragons (close to The Flash, The Marvels, Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie and Mean Girls).
11th biggest Illumination (out of 14) between Despicable Me and The Secret Life Of Pets 2.
Opened in 1,500 screens in 601 cinemas including 35 4DX screens; Saturday (£1.71m) was the biggest day for an animated film since Super Mario Bros in April 2023.
190th widest opening 601 cinemas close to The Croods 2: A New Age, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, Dolittle and The LEGO Batman Movie; 192nd 600+ cinema opening since 2015’s Inside Out.
It is the fourth animated film Universal Pictures have held back from Christmas to open ahead of the lucrative February half-term over the last three years; 2023’s Puss In Boots: The Last Wish opened £4,950,495 #1 626 screens taking £25,633,299; 2022’s Sing 2 opened £6,867,533 #1 632 screens taking £32,790,416; 2017’s Sing £10,487,380 #1 554 screens taking £28,848,865.
Delaying the film to February gives it distance from the Christmas family film and there would otherwise be a lack of a children’s film for half-term which can be very lucrative taking £1m+ Mon-Fri. Previously there used to be at least two family films opening in late Jan/early Feb but there have been fewer family films.
Disney would regularly delay their Thanksgiving animated film for the February half-term 2018’s Coco was the last film they delayed opened £5,209,214 #1 575 screens taking £18,013,336 but that was to avoid opening against Paddington 2, re-releasing Frozen in cinemas to show the Olaf short.
BO for Migration will drop off Mon-Fri this week before again increasing Sat- Fri. Three other animated films are opening on Friday Turning Red, The Jungle Bunch World Tour and Peppa’s Cinema Party but they aren’t likely to have much impact. Should expect Migration to take upwards of £20m, but that will be less than half of February family films have previously taken, a decade ago The Lego Movie, Mr. Peabody and Sherman and Frozen took £50m+ in February 2014.
Migration opening again shows how the industry has lowered its expectations of openings from a few years ago as it opened similar to Lightyear, The LEGO Ninjago Movie, The Secret Life of Pets 2, Monsters University, Hotel Transylvania 3 and Onward all seen as disappointing openings at the time. While also opened similar to recent animated films Lightyear, Trolls Band Together and Elemental, there is now a big divide between tentpole animation films taking £30m+ and the rest taking about half. Universal Pictures have Kung Fu Panda 4 opening next in March and then Despicable Me 4 opening in July, three weeks after Inside Out 2.
Saying that it did open far stronger than 2016’s Angry Birds opened £2,138,507 #2 522 screens taking £10,408,235; 20216’s Storks £2,247,038 #3 taking £6,990,236; 2006’s Open Season £1,666,750 #3 taking £7,418,065.
- 2. Argylle – £2,014,521 – NE
Took £232,262 (11.5%) from Thursday previews.
Took £455k (22.6%) Friday; £798k (39.6%) Saturday; £529k 26.3%) Sunday.
853rd biggest opening between Step Up 3 and Need for Speed (close to Batman, The Mask, Liar Liar and The Other Guys) and 1,331st biggest inflated between Alexander and Lincoln (close to Point-Break (1991), The Mexican, The Rocketeer and Bedazzled).
40th biggest opening over the last 52 weeks between A Haunting In Venice and Ferrari (close to Shazam 2, The Creator, Poor Things and The Nun 2).
Opened similar to Matthew Vaughn’s 2007’s Stardust £2,245,143 #2 from 445 screens taking £14,855,712.
Opened in 622 cinemas 134th widest opening similar to Scream and Hobbs & Shaw (close to Free Guy, Alien: Covenant, Hobbs & Shaw and Ready Player One)
Much was written after Argylle had a poor opening with the normal questions asked, but it was the age-old story when producers are too busy planning a franchise they forget need to make the first film good enough to deserve more than one film. What happened with Argylle has happened many times before with films like King Arthur, Warcraft and Dark Tower which meant Argylle was DOA. Many have speculated the budget was $200m+ but many have said it was much less, while there was also much speculation on who wrote Argylle with many believing it was Taylor Swift.
Spy action film Argylle was directed by Matthew Vaughn, he previously directed The Kingsman trilogy, X-Men First Class, Kick-Ass, Stardust and Layer Cake and also produced three Guy Ritchie films Lock Stock, Snatch and Swept Away.
Cast attended the world premiere in London on January 24th social media embargo ended on January 26th with positive reactions and the review embargo ended on January 31st a day before opening in UK cinemas. Argylle is 12A (PG-13 in the US) compared to 15 The Kingman, the first ending had misogynistic undertones receiving media backlash, hopefully, the lower certificate means it won’t be repeated in Argylle.
It was made by Apple as a planned franchise similar to Kingsman, as with Killers Of The Flower Moon and Napoleon Apple has partnered with a studio to release the film theatrically worldwide and will release it on Apple several months later.
Thre lack of a second trailer was an early sign that expectations were low for Argylle as the first trailer was released in September so would have expected a second trailer to be released in December.
As 2022’s The Lost City Argylle is inspired by Romancing the Stone, Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard) is the writer of a fictional spy Agent Argylle which becomes reality, similar to Joan Wilder (Romancing the Stone).
Matthew Vaughn previously directed The Kingsman trilogy, X-Men First Class, Kick-Ass, Stardust and Layer Cake and he also produced three Guy Ritchie films Lock Stock, Snatch and Swept Away.
AppleTV acquired rights for $200m and Matthew Vaughn has plans to be a franchise of at least three films and a potential crossover with The Kingsman.
Previous Matthew Vaughn directed films.
2015’s Kingsman: The Secret Service opened £4,241,292 #3 taking £16,440,885
2017’s Kingsman: The Golden Circle opened £8,525,664 #1 taking £24,883,225
2004’s Layer Cake opened £1,090,561 #3 from 355 screens taking £4,447,859
2010’s Kick-Ass opened £3,881,704 #3 402 screens taking £11,601,334
2011’s X-Men: First Class opened £5,438,386 #1 507 screens taking £15,027,740
Other similar films include.
2022’s Bullet Train opened £2,858,197 #1 taking £10,766,199
2015’s The Man From U.N.C.L.E. opened £1,448,298 #4 taking £6,455,363
1993’s Last Action Hero opened £894,309 (£2,220,449 inflated) taking £3,580,336 (£8,889,495)
Argylle will likely drop up to 70% in its second weekend.
- 3. Mean Girls – £843,601 – £6,831,950
Down 42.2% in the third weekend
Took £180k (21.3%) Friday; £402k (47.7%) Saturday; £261k (31%) Sunday.
738th biggest third weekend between San Andreas and Ferdinand (close to Freaky Friday, Ali G Indahouse, Wayne’s World and Ocean’s 8) and 1,076th biggest inflated between 300: Rise Of An Empire and Independence Day: Resurgence (close to Eddie The Eagle, A League of Their Own, One Day and House Of Gucci).
2004’s Mean Girls dropped 39% £594,147 (£1,054,644 inflated) #3 from 358 screens and £4,212,161 of £5,411,323 (£9,605,400 inflated)
The original Mean Girls opened 20 years ago over the years since its popularity has grown, research In 2019 found the Machiavellian-like plot popular with adolescents as adolescents place a lot of emphasis on popularity and they are keenly aware of the difference between being liked and being popular. Similarly, films like Heathers and most recently Saltburn are also popular.
Much has been made about how social media and TikTok helped films like Mean Girls and Anyone But You, but if that were the case these films would be taking far more as Taylor Swift: Eras Tour would have been taken in October.
1,061st biggest between RED and In the Line of Fire (close to Bride Wars, Wayne’s World 2, The Heat and Just Friends) and 1,608th biggest inflated between The Monuments Men and Spy Game (close to Boomerang, Jackass: The Movie, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and Just Go With it).
- 4. All Of Us Strangers – £797,004 – £2,756,602
Down 32.3% in its second weekend (23% without previews)
Took £227k (28.5%) Friday; £320k (40.1%) Saturday; £250k (31.4%) Sunday.
1,324th biggest second weekend between Me Myself and Irene and The Men Who Stare at Goats (close to Love and Other Drugs, Eat Pray Love, Chocolat and The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past) and 1,846th biggest inflated between Street Fighter and Duplicity (close to Serendipity, Little Women (1995), Definitely, Maybe and The Craft (1996).
Added 54 cinemas from last weekend from 493 to 547.
Andrew Haigh’s previous films also received critical acclaim but struggled to find an audience 2011’s Weekend played in a maximum of 20 screens taking £221,169; 2015’s 45 Years expanded into 103 screens taking £1,829,573; 2018’s Lean on Pete took £473,558.
All Of Us Strangers has generated much more media coverage with the British cast Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Jamie Bell and Claire Foy on the promotional tour starring with a UK premiere at the London Film Festival in October to a Gala screening at the BFI South Bank days before opening.
Similar films include.
2013’s Warm Bodies dropped 48% £456,779 #11 323 screens and £2,009,064 of £2,664,789
2014’s If I Stay dropped 52% £237,755 #9 335 screens and £1,138,233 of £1,373,572
2009’s The Time Traveler’s Wife dropped 35% £915,751 #2 431 screens and £3,789,285 of £7,308,665
2006’s Lake House dropped 47% £397,747 and £1,787,055 of £2,751,266
1990’s Ghost dropped 10.3% £1,349,914 #1 (£4,588,549 inflated) and £4,066,963 of £23,341,442 (£66,179,756 inflated).
Holding similar to
2018’s Love, Simon dropped 47% £623,042 #7 499 screens and £2,749,944 of £3,540,552
2006’s Brokeback Mountain up 30% £1,279,878 #4 275 screens and £2,843,944 of £9,469,032.
Others include.
2010’s I Love You Phillip Morris dropped 65% £369,460 #8 329 screens and £1,906,927 of £2,298,494.
2017’s Call Me by Your Name dropped 40% £140,191 #15 95 screens and £568,714 of £1,173,150
2017’s Moonlight dropped 36% £392,906 #12 175 screens and £1,259,529 of £3,852,475.
Films about loneliness include.
2004’s Lost in Translation up 32% £1,051,380 #3 187 screens and £2,361,109 of £9,865,162
2002’s One Hour Photo dropped 26% £311,064 #7 190 screens and £981,049 of £1,331,333
2012’s The Perks Of Being A Wallflower dropped 51% £397,869 #5 335 screens and £1,546,290 of £2,145,840
2017’s Manchester By The Sea dropped 28% £521,694 #7 306 screens and £1,649,746 of £2,298,179
2022’s The Banshees of Inisherin dropped 22% £1,270,321 #3 577 screens and £4,226,659 of £9,979,347
Last week UKCA and FDA appeared before the CMS (Culture, Media and Sport) Select Committee Inquiry into British Film and High-End Television to give evidence on the current film industry landscape and what can be done to improve the fortunes of UK independent film. They spoke of a lack of quality British films; it’s been 30 years now since the National Lottery started funding British Films and won 14 Oscars and 32 BAFTAs, the problem is the majority of these films including The King’s Speech, Gosford Park, Billy Elliot and The Last King of Scotland all needed to be co-financed by US studios.
All of Us Strangers and Poor Things both are made by Film Four but they both needed Searchlight Pictures owned by Disney to be made, similarly, See-Saw Films One Life (taking £8.5m in the UK) needed Warner Bros to acquire it for the UK.
Film Four opened UK film distributor in the mid-90s releasing a mix of Film Four productions and acquired films, closing it in 2002 after generating big losses, seeing films that were in development including Bright Young Things, The Lovely Bones, and Under The Skin acquired by other distributors. All films since have seen Film Four as one of the producers. Channel 4 has had a key role in the British Film industry for almost 40 years since My Beautiful Laundrette and Letter To Brezhnev. The loss of Film Four was soon after the likes of Palace and Rank also were closed and there hasn’t been a UK-centric film company since.
Much has been made about Barbie being “made and recorded in Hertfordshire – not Hollywood” and Leavesden Studios generating £200m and 4,000 jobs but Barbie was made by Warner Bros, and it was shot in the UK due to 25% tax breaks as Wonka, The Marvels, Napoleon and many others. The problem is now Warner Bros, Disney and Netflix have booked out studio space in the UK for many years meaning the smaller British financed films struggle for studio space. If other companies like Malta did for Gladiator 2 offer higher tax breaks will US studios go elsewhere?
The problem is the UK doesn’t have the infrastructure as funding is still by film rather than a slate, there was a plan in the mid-90s to create up to 4 franchises that would receive about £45m over about 7 years and they would be like mini studios with production company, distributor and exhibitor chain partnering.
The problem was it was poorly conceived, that said two Pathe Productions were still making films up to last year (The Great Escaper) and DNA Films are still making films Civil War directed by Alex Garland opens in April and they are currently developing 28 Years Later. 28 Years Later as the two previous films (28 Days Later and 28 Months Later) will be co-financed by a US studio taking world rights, as the problem is only Entertainment Films is left of the British film distributors of 30+ years ago and they are a shell of the company they were 20 years ago.
While there has been much made of the successful British film industry with Wonka and Barbie made in the UK, with BAFTA Best British Film nominees Napoleon, Poor Things, The Zone of Interest, Rye Lane, Saltburn and All of Us Strangers all needed US funding to be made only How To Have Sex, The Old Oak and Scrapper were made without US funding but they took less than £2m combined at the UK BO.
- 5. The Zone Of Interest – £585,855 – NE
Took £232,540 (34.1%) from previews.
Took £88k (15.1%) Friday; £139k (23.7%) Saturday; £159k (27.1%) Sunday.
Opened in 106 sccreens having screen average £5,527thre second best after Migration
Had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival receiving critical acclaim and a six-minute standing ovation, won both the Grand Prix and FIPRESCI Prize, was selected as one of the top-five international films of 2023 by the National Board of Review and was nominated for three Golden Globes (Best Film Drama, Best Foreign Film and Original Score).
As in the US Jonathan Glazer’s films receive critical acclaim but as with directors like Paul Thomas Anderson struggles to find a wide audience beyond cinephiles.
2001’s Sexy Beast opened £98k from 27 screens (expanded to widest of 50 screens) taking £285k
2004’s Birth opened £421,758 #5 from 270 screens taking £953,661
2014’s Under the Skin opened £238,694 #10 from 75 screens taking £1,183,956
The Zone of Interest had extensive previews over the last two weeks, receiving critical acclaim, BAFTA and Oscar nominations and audiences seeing the trailer before One Life. The Zone of Interest had extensive paid previews over the two weeks before opening and had a similar limited wide opening as 2017’s Moonlight opening £621,836 #10 from 85 screens (expanded into 175/343/411 screens over the following weeks) while (2023’s The Whale opened £690,026 #5 from 385 screens expanding into 517 screens in the second weekend). The Zone of Interest will likely have a similar expansion with BAFTA on February 18th and Oscars two weeks later.
Also opened.
- American Fiction – Curzon
£389,375 #10 (26%) from 188 screens
Includes £101,356 from previews.
Took £71k (18.2%) Friday; £125k (32.1%) Saturday; £92k (23.6%) Sunday.
Premiered at the Toronto Film Festival winning the People’s Choice Award, received positive reviews (92% Rotten Tomatoes), was named one of the top 10 films of 2023 by the American Film Institute and was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards, including Best Film – Musical or Comedy.
UK box office in detail
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £10,173,023 up 30.5% from last weekend’s £7,796,217: 1,284,473 admissions up 30.5% from 984,371 admissions.
29th biggest weekend of the last 52 weeks between 19 January 2024 #1 Mean Girls £3,251,159 (31.69%) and 15 December 2023 #1 Wonka £6,362,786 (64.27%)
63rd biggest since cinemas reopened out of 168 weeks between 19 January 2024 #1 Mean Girls £3,251,159 (31.69%) and 25 February 2022 #1 Uncharted £3,084,102 (30.61%); have been 64 £10m+ top 10 weekends since cinema reopened.
591st biggest top 10 of the last 21 years (out of 1,140) between 04 December 2009 #1 Paranormal Activity £1,839,273 (18.04% of top 10) and 03 April 2009 #1 Monsters vs. Aliens £4,345,711 (42.72% of top 10) and 887th biggest inflated between 28 June 2002 #1 Spider-Man: The Movie £2,605,993 (47.55% of top 10) and 23 June 2017 #1 Transformers: The Last Knight £4,635,5706 (48.55% of top 10); 606 £10m+ opening since July 2001 and 899 inflated.
The top 3 took (£6,435,798) 63.3% of the top 10; Migration 35.17% (£3,577,676); Argylle 19.8% (£2,014,521); Mean Girls 8.29% (£843,601);
531st highest #1 percentage (35.17%) between 22 March 2019 Captain Marvel (35.2%) and 30 August 2013 One Direction: This is Us (35.16%)
719th biggest admissions #1 (451,727) between 25 June 2004 Harry Potter and Prisoner of Azkaban (451,957) and 26 March 2004 The Passion of the Christ (449,874)
Down 7.2% from 2023; (£10,968,696); Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (£4,950,495); Knock at the Cabin (£985,027); The Whale (£690,026); BTS: Yet to Come in Cinemas (£535,337); #1 Puss In Boots: The Last Wish £4,950,495 1st week 626 screens (45.13% of top 10)
Down 15.7% from 2022 (£12,068,383): Jackass Forever (£2,091,017); Moonfall (£1,163,114); BELLE (£152,287); The Souvenir Part II (£93,044); Beauty And The Beast (1991) (Re: 2022) (£4,409); Jumanji (Re: 2022) (£4,001); #1 Sing 2 £5,149,645 2nd week 640 screens 25% drop (42.7% of top 10)
2021; Lockdown 2
Up 9.1% 2020 (£9,319,783); Queen & Slim (£507,302); A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (£493,770); Porgy and Bess – Met Opera 2020 (£409,359); The Lighthouse (£384,284); The Rhythm Section (£171,837); Richard Jewell (£158,868); La Boheme – ROH, London 2019/20 (£58,051); #1 1917 £2,798,457 4th week 38% drop 721 screens (30.1% of the top 10)
Down 15.2% from 2019: (£11,997,508); How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (£5,323,448); Green Book (£1,672,562); Escape Room (£820,218); Can You Ever Forgive Me? (£518,230); Carmen – Met Opera 2019 (£293,456); #1 How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World £5,323,448 1st week 556 screens (44.3% of top 10)
Down 21% from 2018; (£12,874,783); Den of Thieves (£1,082,560); Phantom Thread (£727,104); Winchester (£373,550); Journey’s End (£123,961); Roman J. Israel, Esq. (£22,193); #1 The Greatest Showman £2,201,523 6th week 1st #1 531 screens op 8% (17.1% of top 10)
Down 24.6% from 2017: (£13,491,421); Rings (£812,267); Resident Evil 6 (£463,691); Gold (£406,399); Loving (£236,147); Swan Lake – Bolshoi 2017 (£189,737); Toni Erdmann (£157,688); Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back (£58,266); #1 Sing £3,800,408 2nd week 554 screens 64% drop (28.1% of top 10)
Down 1.3% from 2016: (£10,312,748); Goosebumps (£2,686,105); Dad’s Army (£2,077,942); Point Break (£421,818); Trumbo (£146,105); #1 Goosebumps £2,686,105 1st week 510 screens (26.1% of top 10)
Down 28.1% from 2015; (£14,145,093); Big Hero 6 (£4,293,286); Kingsman: The Secret Service (£4,241,292); Inherent Vice (£363,133); Les Contes D’Hoffmann – Met Opera 2015 (£238,597); Trash (£79,178); Son of a Gun (£21,065); #1 Big Hero 6 £4,293,286 1st week 501 screens (30.3% of top 10)
Up 12.1% from 2014: (£9,072,053); That Awkward Moment (£961,167); I, Frankenstein (£811,365); Lone Survivor (£751,564); Out of the Furnace (£191,011); Lost Illusions – Bolshoi 2014 (£58,510); #1 The Wolf of Wall Street £2,385,585 3rd week 515 screens 34% drop (26.3% of top 10)
Down 2.5% from 2013: (£10,437,105); Flight (£1,401,214); Bullet to the Head (£429,317); Hyde Park on Hudson (£136,783); Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away (£78,747); #1 Les Miserables £2,785,143 4th week 562 screens 31% drop (26.6% of top 10)
Down 18.1% from 2012 (£8,612,269); Chronicle (£2,193,072); Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (Journey 2: The Mysterious Island); Jack and Jill (£848,814); Man on a Ledge (£697,394); Carnage (£298,733); Young Adult (£137,736); Martha Marcy May Marlene (£110,156); #1 Chronicle £2,193,072 1st week 397 screens (25.4% of top 10)
Down 27.5% from 2011 (£14,039,027); The Fighter (£2,118,140); James Cameron presents Sanctum (£859,064); A Little Bit of Heaven (£443,156); Brighton Rock (£352,815); #1 Tangled £4,569,135 2nd week 448 screens 11% drop (32.5% of top 10)
Down 20.4% from 2010: (£12,786,495); The Princess and the Frog (expansion) (£2,219,769); Astro Boy (£1,091,872); Invictus (£1,068,388); Youth in Revolt (£743,932); #1 Avatar £4,338,774 7th week over 8 weeks 417 screens 11% drop (34% of top 10)
Up 22.1% from 2009; (£8,335,147); The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (£2,213,495); He’s Just Not That Into You (£1,913,542); The Secret of Moonacre (£308,099); Doubt (£253,097); Vicky Cristina Barcelona (£243,684); Punisher: War Zone (£94,365); #1 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button £2,213,495 1st week 425 screens (26.5% of top 10)
Up 5.4% from 2008; (£9,648,055); Cloverfield (£3,485,956); Over Her Dead Body (£995,690); Penelope (£769,840); Underdog (£330,914); Things We Lost in the Fire (£42,438); Asterix at the Olympic Games (£9,969); #1 Cloverfield £3,485,956 1st week 386 screens (36.1% of top 10)
Up 33.7% from 2007: (£7,607,816); Dreamgirls (£1,329,817); Arthur and the Invisibles (£1,185,603); Notes on a Scandal (£1,141,364); #1 Dreamgirls £1,329,817 1st week 270 screens (17.5% of top 10)
Up 44% from 2006; (£7,062,485); Zathura (£1,317,391); Walk the Line (£1,111,142); Derailed (£693,669); #1 Zathura £1,317,391 1st week 400 screens (18.6% of top 10)
Down 11.6% from 2005 (£11,511,558); Ocean’s Twelve (£3,394,100); Racing Stripes (£1,145,965); #1 Meet the Fockers £4,588,360 2nd week 456 screens 42% drop (39.9% of top 10)
Up 22.5% from 2004 (£8,304,070); Big Fish (£1,644,011); Cold Creek Manor (£136,556); Sylvia (£123,981); The Emperor’s New Clothes (£5,656); #1 Scary Movie 3 £1,894,077 2nd week 417 screens 46% drop (22.8% of top 10)
Down 0.3% from 2003 (£10,207,853); Catch Me If You Can (£3,720,957); Banger Sisters (£201,731); #1 Catch Me If You Can £3,720,957 1st week 459 screens (36.4% of top 10)
Up 26.2% from 2002 (£8,058,230); Shallow Hal (£1,277,183); Gosford Park (£837,169); Training Day (£739,718); #1 Vanilla Sky £1,743,556 2nd week 427 screens 41% drop (21.6% of top 10)
Next week: (£8,352,776); Magic Mike’s Last Dance (£1,529,155); Titanic (Re: 2023) (£870,646); Epic Tails (£259,637); Women Talking (£117,380); #1 Puss In Boots: The Last Wish £3,066,908 38% drop 697 screens 2nd week (36.72% of top 10)
US Box Office
- Argylle – Universal Pictures
Opened $17.47m; received poor reviews (35% Rotten Tomatoes) and C+ CinemaScore.
Took 42% from IMAX/PLF screens.
Took $1.7m from Thursday midnights.
No Time To Die $6.3m; Spectre $5.25m; Bullet Train $4.6m; Kingsman: The Golden Circle $3.4m; The Lost City $3.25m; Quantum of Solace $2.5m; Skyfall $2.4m; John Wick: Chapter 2 $2.2m.
Universal Pictures acquired world rights to the Apple-produced film, as it opened under $50m it could be released on VOD after 17 days. It’s the third major Apple-produced film they have released over the last 6 months; Killers of the Flower Moon opened $23.25m taking $67.73 and $156.73m worldwide; Napoleon opened $20.63m taking $61.49m and $219.39m worldwide.
In March 2023 Apple announced plans to spend $1bn on a slate film that would get a full theatrical release likely to be released through major studios. Apple is learning lessons from many companies that have tried to compete directly with studios from Orion to Polygram to distribute films through a studio rather than launching distribution. For a company like Orion to have a film with a $200m budget open poorly would have a huge impact on the studio but as Apple is worth $3 trillion it won’t have any impact, that said Apple could not give as many films a theatrical release.
Apple reportedly lost $16m on the theatrical release of Napoleon and $20m on Killers of the Flower Moon, answers why Netflix aren’t interested in theatrical release as majority of these films are original so need a much higher global marketing spend. While these films have budgets of up to $200m which is why they were rejected by studios, Napolean was based at 20th Studios as Ridley Scott has a production deal as Killers of the Flower Moon was originally at Paramount having production deal with Martin Scorsese.
Universal Pictures were due to get a 8% distribution fee and paid 50% of the $80m marketing costs
2014’s Kingsman: The Secret Service opened $36.2m taking $128.26m and $415.15m WW
2017’s Kingsman: The Golden Circle opened $39.02m taking $100.23m and $410.9m WW
2021’s The King’s Man opened $5.91m taking $37.17m and $125.9m WW
2022’s Bullet Train opened $30.03m taking $103.36m and $240.6m WW
2022’s The Lost City opened $30.45m taking $105.34m and $192.9m WW
2015’s The Man from U.N.C.L.E. opened $13.42m taking $45.44m and $110.04m WW
2010’s Kick-Ass opened $19.82m taking $48.07m and $96.83m WW
2013’s Kick-Ass 2 opened $13.33m taking $28.79m and $63.1m WW
Opened with $17.3m from 78 territories and $35.3m worldwide; UK $2.6m; Australia $1.6m; France $1.5m; Mexico $1.3m and Germany $1.3m; took $3m worldwide from IMAX including $1.3m from 345 international screens.
- Mean Girls – Paramount Pictures
Dropped 44% in its fourth weekend $3.85m #5 and $66.22m.
Fourth weekend
2004’s Mean Girls dropped 32.2% $6.9m and $64.7m of $85.05m and $130.12m worldwide.
1,340th biggest between The Parent Trap and Kill Bill: Volume 2; 2,460th inflated between Shadowlands and Betrayed; 33rd biggest musical between The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and Happy Feet Two and 190th biggest Paramount film between The Godfather: Part III and The Manchurian Candidate.
Social media was measured to have 264m across X, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube below A Star Is Born 301m and ahead of Rocketman (113.5m) and The Color Purple (200m). Would have surely expected a far bigger opening, especially given the popularity of the original film in the last 20 years, but again industry has lowered expectations for the size of the opening.
As with Smile, it was originally due to be released on Paramount+ but after positive test scores Paramount decided to give it a theatrical release, it was also after the successful run of the musical based on the film running from 2018 to 2020, the run ended early due to COVID. It was expected to open in the UK in 2021 but its opening was delayed until June 2024 due to COVID.
Took $2.4m from 32 territories $26.3m total and $92.52m worldwide; 1,943rd biggest worldwide between I Am Sam and Four Brothers; 213th biggest Paramount Pictures worldwide between The Lovely Bones and Four Brothers.
- Wonka – Warner Bros
Down 17% in its eighth weekend taking $4.67m #4 and $201.03m
107th biggest eighth weekend between Mr Mom and Wedding Crashers (close to Incredibles 2, Stuart Little, Wonder Woman and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)
231st biggest between Ralph Breaks The Internet and Tangled; 637th inflated between Us and The Devil Wears Prada; 8th biggest 2023 between Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and John Wick: Chapter 4; 7th biggest musical between Beauty and the Beast (1991) and Happy Feet (overtaking The Greatest Showman (overtaking Chicago and Mary Poppins Returns); 43rd biggest Warner Bros between Batman Begins and Godzilla.
Other Roald Dahl’s film adaptions eighth weekends
2005’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory dropped 34.9% $1.75m and $200.71m of $206.45m and $474.96m WW
2016’s The BFG is up 31.3% $359,607 and $53.86m of $55.48m and $195.24m WW
In the UK Wonka is performing similarly to Paddington
2015’s Paddington dropped 30.2% $1.26m and $72.06m of $76.27m and $282.43m WW
2017’s Paddington 2 dropped 0.4% $212,361 and $40.05m of $40.9m and $227.3m WW
2017’s The Greatest Showman dropped 16.3% $6.44m and $146.57m of $174.34m and $434.9m WW
2018’s Mary Poppins Returns dropped 59.3% $830,005 and $179.76m of $171.95m and $349.54m WW
2018’s Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again dropped 52.5% $594,885 and $119.06m of $120.63m and $395.04m WW.
Took $10.4m from 77 territories $370.6m total and $572.43m worldwide; UK $76.7m; France $29.8m; Mexico $26.4m; Australia $25m; Germany (23.6m.
195th worldwide between The Croods and Fifty Shades of Grey; 9th biggest 2023 worldwide between Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and The Little Mermaid; 7th biggest musical worldwide between Mamma Mia! And Beauty and the Beast (1991) (overtaking Les Misérables $435.4m; La La Land $435.2m; The Greatest Showman $429.9m and close to 2005’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’s $474.96m worldwide; 32nd biggest Warner Bros worldwide between Ready Player One and Kong: Skull Island.
- The Beekeeper – MGM
Dropped 21% in the fourth weekend $5.28m #3 and $49.42m.
978th biggest fourth weekend between Role Models and Fast X (close to Gone in 60 Seconds, Waterworld, Dante’s Peak and Daredevil)
Fourth weekend
2020’s The Gentlemen dropped 34.7% $2.75m and $31.27m of $36.47m and $115.17m worldwide
2002’s The Transporter dropped 54.2% $1.28m and $23.55m of $25.29m and $43.92m worldwide
2006’s Crank dropped 54.2% $1.22m and $26.65m of $27.83m and $42.93m worldwide
2011’s The Mechanic dropped 68.7% $1m and $27.88m of $29.12m and $76.13 worldwide
Jason Statham’s films have taken over $635m in the US and over $1.80bn worldwide.
Took $6.2m from 61 territories $73.1m total and $122m worldwide.
- Migration – Universal Pictures
Down 14% in the seventh weekend $4.19m #5 and $106.26m
261st biggest seventh weekend between The Croods and Maleficent (close to Finding Dory, Sing 2, The Lego Movie and Sonic the Hedgehog 2).
110th biggest animation between Chicken Run and The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part; 725th biggest between Love Story and Kramer vs. Kramer; 1,558th inflated between Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip and The Great Outdoors; 24th biggest 2023 between The Flash and Trolls Band Together; 106th biggest Universal Pictures between Hop and Robin Hood.
Seventh weekends
2022’s Puss in Boots: The Last Wish dropped 25% $7.87m and $151.22m of $185,53m and $481.07m worldwide
2021’s Sing 2 dropped 9.7% $4.21m and $139.62m of $162.72m and $408.4m
The 13 Illumination Entertainment films have taken $3.83bn in the US and $9.65bn worldwide.
Took $8.5m from 77 territories $115.7m total and $221.81m worldwide; Germany $16.1m; France $10.6m; Australia $9.6m; Mexico $8.3m; Spain $4.9m; having staggered international release and original Illumination animated film hard to compare with any other animated films.
131th biggest animation worldwide between The Little Mermaid (1989) and Lightyear; 793rd worldwide between The Little Mermaid (1989) and Constantine; 106th biggest Universal Pictures between Non-Stop and Everest.
- Anyone But You – Sony Pictures
Down 25% in its seventh weekend $3.45m #7 taking $76.23m.
372nd biggest seventh weekend between It and The Last of the Mohicans (close to Coming to America, The First Wives Club, Midnight in Paris and Bridget Jones’s Diary).
1,125th biggest between White Men Can’t Jump and Pete’s Dragon (2016); 2,162nd biggest inflated between Planes: Fire and Rescue and Tears of the Sun; 33rd biggest 2023 between Insidious: The Red Door and Blue Beetle; 44th biggest rom-com between 27 Dresses and Six Days, Seven Nights (close to The Wedding Singer, What Happens in Vegas, Yesterday and Bridget Jones’s Diary); 143rd biggest Sony Pictures between The Monuments Men and Moneyball.
Fewer films released over the last couple of months have helped the likes of Saltburn, Anyone But You and Wonka to have much stronger legs and Aquaman 2 to take $413m worldwide almost a third more than The Flash and more than double The Marvels.
With low expectations for Argylle and Madame Web are crazy expectations for Dune 2 to open more than double the first film and take more than double worldwide. Many will say it opened post-COVID but internationally was strong and opening close to No Time to Die taking almost double. Problem for Dune 2 if Argylle and Madame Web do underperform it has to do it alone, Dune had Halloween Kills, No Time to Die and Venom 2 as Oppenheimer had Barbie.
Seventh weekends
1996’s One Fine Day dropped 37.4% $694,306 and $43.62m of $46.15m
Most recent rom-coms
2023’s No Hard Feelings dropped 72.5% $114,030 and $50.4m of $50.45m and $87.25m worldwide
2022’s Ticket to Paradise dropped 54.1% $854,680 and $66.52m of $68.27m and $168.76m worldwide.
It’s been called a sorta sequel to 1997’s My Best Friend’s Wedding dropped 30.8% $3.12m and $108.92m of $127.12m and $299.28m worldwide) as it features Dermot Mulroney and Rachel Griffiths as parents of Sydney Sweeney (aged 26). The film has been compared to Much Ado About Nothing and 1999’s 10 Things I Hate About You dropped 19.4% $911,194 and $33.82m of $38.17m and $53.47m worldwide.
Will Gluck’s films took $565m in the US and $1.06bn worldwide.
2010’s Easy A dropped 39% $1.06m and $56.3m of $58.4m and $76.2m worldwide
2011’s Friends with Benefits dropped 9.7% $192,687 and $55.53m of $55.8m and $146.59m worldwide
2014’s Annie dropped 60% $317,837 and $84.77m of $85.91m and $139.82m worldwide
2018’s Peter Rabbit took $115.23m and $346.72m worldwide and 2021’s Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway $40.5m and $150.97m worldwide
Took $13.5m from 49 territories total $75.5m and $151.68m worldwide; Australia $13.1m; UK $11.8m; Germany $8.4m; Mexico $5.3m; Italy $4.1m.
1,258th biggest worldwide between 47 Ronin and Big; 47th biggest 2023 between Killers of the Flower Moon and Evil Dead Rise; 62nd biggest rom-com between Yesterday and Me, Myself & Irene (close to America’s Sweethearts, This Means War, New Year’s Eve and Friends with Benefits); 157th biggest Sony Pictures between The Angry Birds Movie 2 and Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway.
- Poor Things – Searchlight
Down 26% dropping 350 screens taking $2.15m #9 in the 9th weekend from 1,950 screens and $28.21m
The Favourite expanded to 1,540 from 517 screens in its 10th weekend taking $2.54m and $26.1m of $34.36m and $95.91m worldwide.
2017’s The Killing of a Sacred Deer expanded to 238 screens after 4 weeks); taking $2.29m and $6.93m worldwide.
Took $8.5m from 37 territories $40.1m total and $68.3m worldwide; UK $7.5m; Italy $5.1m; Germany $3m; Greece $3m; Mexico $2.9m.
UK Box Office Top 10
UK Box Office Preview
Migration will hold #1 having a similar second-weekend drop as 2022’s Sing 2 25% and 2023’s Puss In Boots: The Last Wish 38% taking £2.4m-£2.9m ahead of the start of half-term which will see it take about £1m+ Mon-Sun taking about £15m by February 18th.
Migration will take more than double all of the holdovers as Argylle will likely drop upwards of 70% this will likely see Anyone But You return into the top 5. This could see All of Us Strangers climb to #2 as it’s likely to drop less than Mean Girls.
While The Zone of Interest will likely increase screens in its second weekend its opening was inflated with extensive previews.
It’s unusual for the weekend before the February half-term to be so quiet for new releases having few choices available for children until Madame Web opens on Wednesday with low expectations, the embargo ends the day before it opens. February half-term has been very lucrative, but with Super Bowl weekend there are no major releases.
Opening in two weeks
- Dune: Part II – Warner Bros
Sci-fi starring Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista, Stellan Skarsgård, Charlotte Rampling, Javier Bardem, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Christopher Walken, and Léa Seydoux and directed by Denis Villeneuve.
It’s the sequel to 2021’s Dune based on the 1965 novel Dune by Frank Herbert.
In 2018 Denis Villeneuve announced plans to adapt Dune into two part film series but it wasn’t until October 2021 that the sequel was greenlit by Legendary Pictures, as while the first film performed well internationally its BO for both the US and was much lower than it was expected taking £21.7m in the UK, $108.32m In the US, $293.7m internationally 73.1% of its $402.02m WW, had it not been for COVID Warner Bros would have surely been expected similar global BO as other grownup sci-fi films Interstellar $731.07m; The Martian $631.05m; Gravity $773.03m.
2021’s Dune opened £5,876,892 #21 657 screens taking £21,701,533
2013’s Gravity opened £6,238,375 #1 539 screens taking £32,756,514
2014’s Interstellar opened £5,378,220 #1 574 screens taking £21,173,601
2015’s The Martian opened £6,531,734 #1 582 screens taking £23,589,854
2016’s Arrival opened £2,924,059 #1 561 screens taking £9,144,719
2017’s Blade Runner 2049 opened £6,071,625 #1 634 screens taking £18,918,361
The teaser trailer was shown at CinemaCon in April 2023 receiving rave reactions Variety called it “breathtaking”. A second trailer was released in June 2023.
Some analysts have predicted it could open with $100m+ in the US taking $1bn worldwide when the first film opened with $41.01m many said but that was during COVID but cinephiles still came out to see it as it opened 4 weeks after No Time To Die opened with £25,916,476 in the UK taking £68,58m over its opening 3 weeks. Of course, Dune Part 2 will have the market to itself opening two weeks after Madame Web and Bob Marley: One Love and three weeks before Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.
But in recent weeks that has dropped to a more sensible $40m-$60m and $190m total BO.
The social media embargo ends on February 15th with reviews on February 22nd.
While Dune Part 2 was meant to be the final part of the film series there have been rumours of a third film based on based on Dune Messiah and a TV series spinoff.
It was originally due to be released in October 2023, then delayed to November and then delayed to March due to the WAG/SAG strike.
It will be released in 12 70MM IMAX cinemas across the world as Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer.
Dune opened In 49 IMAX cinemas in the UK taking £1.1m 19% of the UK opening compared to 8% for No Time To Die and 9% for Shang Chi; opened in 668 cinemas and 1,331 screens and took 21% of the opening day BO compared to 8% for No Time to Die and 9% Shang-Chi.
Arylle took 42% of opening from IMAX/PLF so Dune Part 2 will take upwards of 60%.
Advance bookings opened a week ago in the US and it has IMAX Fan screenings in the US on February 25, but advance bookings haven’t yet opened in the UK, currently its dated for March 1st opening, will it have previews on Thursday as Dune?
Dune Part 2 has a 2h 46 min run time 10 minutes longer than Dune
- Lisa Frankenstein – Universal Pictures
Comedy horror starring Kathryn Newton, Cole Sprouse, Liza Soberano, Henry Eikenberry, Joe Chrest, and Carla Gugino and directed by Zelda Williams (feature-length directorial debut) written by Diablo Cody inspired by Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein and set in 1989.
Zelda Williams is the daughter of Robin Williams.
