- Gladiator II – £9,155,050 – NE
Included £381,638 from previews (IMAX £51k Wednesday; £351k Thursday captions)
Took £2.58m 28.18% Friday; £3.4m 37.14% Saturday and £2.87m 31.4% Sunday.
125th biggest opening between Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse and X-Men: Days of Future Past (close to Logan, Dune Part 2, Die Another Day and The Matrix Revolutions) and 196th inflated opening between Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse and Madagascar (close to Batman and Robin, Titanic, The Sixth Sense and Mission: Impossible)
5th biggest 2024 opening between Dune: Part 2 and Despicable Me 4 (close to Paddington In Peru, Beetlejuice 2, Bob Marley: One Love and Joker: Folie à Deux)
It’s the biggest opening for director Ridley Scott ahead of The Martian (£6.5m) and Hannibal (£6.4m); his films have taken over £230m at the UK BO.
16th widest opening (720 cinemas) similar to Barbie, The Lion King, Avatar: The Way of Water and Back To Black; playing in about 2,000 screens.
Gladiator II opened similarly to Dune Part 2 opening; Friday £2.58m Vs £2.81m; Saturday £3.4m Vs £3.5m; Sunday £2.88m Vs £2.95m; Monday £1.09m Vs £1.02m; Dune 2 took £1.05m Tues/£1.06m Weds and £1.02m and then £1.58m Fri; £2.47m Sat and £1.8m Sunday.
Other comparison films include 2023’s Oppenheimer £10,891,486: 2017’s Dunkirk £10,023,720 and 2020’s 1917 £7,446,302.
After the enormous success of the organic fan-generated Barbenheimer last year with fans opting to watch both Barbie and Oppenheimer, having Paddington in Peru, Gladiator II, Wicked and Moana 2 opening over four weeks the cinema industry tried to create Gladdington and Glicked but it’s unlikely either will work.
Gladiator 2 should take £5.5m+ in its second weekend, compared to £ 5.85m for Dune Part 2. Wicked might open this weekend, but its target demographic and vastly different from Gladiator 2’s, as Paddington In Peru was to Gladiator 2. Dune Part 2 took 17.95% of 53 IMAX cinemas and Gladiator 2 took a similar amount, with PLF and other premium formats at 30%+. Wicked does take many IMAX and PLF screens from Gladiator II.
Gladiator II has been generating massive media coverage over the last month. The early media screening influencers raved about the film, calling it the best film ever made. Critics have said that while it looks incredible, Denzel Washington gives a Best Supporting Actor performance, but it has a similar plot to the original, and predictably, Paul Mescal is no Russell Crowe.
There have been many stories from insiders about Gladiator II, In Deadline in July “a couple of industry veterans,” said Gladiator II” was “fantastic,” and could be a major player in the upcoming Oscar race saying Mescal was “terrific” and Washington “extraordinary”. In April Gladiator II test screened saying it was “thrilling” and “Oscar-worthy.” Empire City said Gladiator II was Ridley Scott’s best film and Paramount were blown away with the footage they have seen.
A few weeks later embargo ended reviews were mostly incredibly positive, the issue some critics had was it felt far too similar to the original and while it looked stunning it was inferior to the original film and Paul Mescal is no Russell Crowe. If you are going to spend $310m on a sequel and wait 24 years to make it, it needs to be much more than a remake of the original film.
That said Disney have made billions over the last decade doing similar with their reimaginations and Star Wars films, but most ignore that. The original Gladiator film has been seen countless times since its cinema release but as with so many sequels and reboots, it will be a while until I want to see Gladiator II again. Some would respond saying the sequel wasn’t made for me but a younger audience who didn’t see the original in the cinema, if that’s the case don’t call it Gladiator II.
Gladiator II received its world premiere with the 72nd Royal Film Performance on November 13th. (first since Top Gun: Maverick in May 2022) There were also regional IMAX premieres across the country generating £51k. Thursday. As with Transformers One, the previews it had on Thursday were captioned.
Gladiator II is seen as a major award contender with many believing Ridley Scott could finally win Best Director Oscar after being nominated three times previously for Best Director, Thelma & Louise, Gladiator and Black Hawk Down. But only two sequels have won Best Picture and Director Oscars 1974’s The Godfather Part II and 2003’s The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
If Ridley Scott does win the Best Director Oscar it will be similar to many other directors who have won for inferior films to what they should have won, Gladiator won Best Film, but Steven Soderbergh was nominated for two films Traffic and Erin Brockovich won Best Director.
Gladiator opened in May 2000 £3,555,446/£6,667,507 inflated; #1 for 7 weeks; dropped 2.7% in its second weekend £3,459,104/£6,486,837 and £9,433,058 30.18% of £31,257,293/£58,616,618 inflated.
Gladiator II will take about £40m depending on how it holds over the coming weeks as Gladiator II losing most IMAX/PLF screens after a week, Dune Part 2 had them for several weeks.
Gladiator II opened with $87m from 63 territories; UK $11.4m; France $10.3m; Spain $5.6m; Australia $4.9m; Mexico $4.7m; Germany $4.3m; Italy $3.8m; Korea $3.2m; Brazil $3m; took $7m from 453 IMAX cinemas.
- 2. Paddington In Peru £6,809,382 – £18,776,064
Dropped 29.03% in its second weekend.
Took £986k 14.4% (-43.3% £1.74m) Friday; £3.15m 46% (-25.4% £4.22m) Saturday; £2.71m 49.2% (-50.8% £3.689m) Sunday.
45th biggest second weekend between Black Panther and Incredibles 2 (close to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Shrek 2, Toy Story 2 and Wonka) and 91st biggest inflated second weekend between Minions and Hannibal (close to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Mamma Mia!, Men In Black and Chicken Run).
3rd biggest 2024 second weekend between Inside Out 2 and Dune: Part 2 (close to Deadpool & Wolverine, Despicable Me 4, Beetlejuice 2 and Kung Fu Panda 4).
Paddington in Peru took 77.4% more than Paddington (£3,837,885) and 2.9% more than Paddington 2 (6,612,699)
in comparison opened 61% more than the first film so would have surely expected 7 years later Paddington in Peru opened bigger, so maybe the reviews not being as positive as the first two films held some back from opening weekend.
9th biggest 2024 between Migration and Bob Marley: One Love (close to Beetlejuice 2, Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire and Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire)
330th biggest between Blade Runner 2049 and Little Fockers (close to Maleficent, Sonic The Hedgehog, The Lego Movie: The Second Part and Billy Elliot) and 604th biggest inflated between My Girl and The Imitation Game (close to Jerry Maguire, The Wedding Singer, Ali G Indahouse and Oz: The Great and Powerful).
David Heyman originally started developing Paddington at Warner Bros in 2007, in 2011 Warner Bros dropped it and it was acquired by Studiocanal. Warner Bros acquired US rights for Paddington 2, and Sony Pictures has US rights for Paddington in Peru and released it in January.
The first two films were hugely popular in the UK, but they faced lesser competition over the weeks after opening so both had exceedingly long legs which saw them play through to January. It’s different for Paddington In Peru with Moana 2 opening three weeks later and then Mufasa: The Lion King and Sonic The Hedgehog 3 over the Christmas holidays.
2014’s Paddington dropped 25% in the second weekend £3,837,885 #1 and £10,332,911 with Penguins of Madagascar opening #2 £1,575,949 and 24% in the third weekend £2,909,674 #2 staying in top 5 for 8 weeks (£943,320) and top 10 for 12 weeks (£208,857) (mid-February) taking £38,027,750
2017’s Paddington 2 dropped 20% in the second weekend £6,612,699 #3 and £16,893,580 with Justice League opening #1 £7,264,784 and 32% in the third weekend £4,545,218 #2; staying in the top 5 for 8 weeks (£1,884,062) and top 10 for 10 weeks (£401,521) mid-January taking £42,661,628
- 3. Red One £1,430,705 – £4,599,207
Down 40.5% in its second weekend (28% without previews)
Took £258k 18% (-35.5% £400k) Friday; £677k 47.34% (-26.81% £925k) Saturday; £495k 34.62% (-25.9% £668k) Sunday.
704th biggest second weekend between Joker: Folie A Deux and Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (close to Back to the Future Part II, Lyle, Lyle Crocodile, Rampage and Batman) and 1,169th inflated between Joker: Folie A Deux and I Wanna Dance With Somebody (close to Edge of Tomorrow, Green Lantern, The Muppets Christmas Carol and Scrooged).
24th biggest 2024 second weekend between Joker: Folie à Deux and Garfield (close to Twisters, Mean Girls, Longlegs and One Life)
Red One has been surrounded by negativity over the last few months, with low expectations and received poor reviews so was expected to drop much heavier in its second weekend against Gladiator II, but being a 12A it was targetting a younger audience to Gladiator II and an older audience to Paddington In Peru and audience reactions are far more positive as while it has 33% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes it has 90% audience score.
The only problem for Red One is it’s going to lose many screens and showtimes with Wicked and Moana 2 opening over the next two weeks so will drop much bigger over the next two weeks.
There have been other Christmas set action films including 2022’s Violent Night; 2000’s Reindeer Games; 1996’s The Long Kiss Goodnight; 1990’s Die Hard 2; 1998’s Enemy of the State; 2005’s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang; 2005’s The Ice Harvest; 1992’s Batman Returns; 1987’s Lethal Weapon; 1988’s Die Hard. Of course, the debate is a Christmas film set at Christmas, as Die Hard was released in July while Christmas features in all of Shane Black’s screenplays, but does that make them Christmas films?
1996’s Jingle All the Way dropped 38.9% £576,399/£1,233,805 and £1,804,848 44.39% of £4,065,966/£8,703,365
Jake Kasdan previously directed Dwayne Johnson in two Jumanji films (taking $1.7bn worldwide) and also directed 2014’s Sex Tape, 2011’s Bad Teacher and 2007’s Walk Hard. He will also direct Jumanji 3 set for release on December 11th, 2026.
Second weekends
2011’s Bad Teacher dropped 45.8% £1,061,551/£1,396,132 and £4,357,776 57.02% of £7,679,122/£10,036,080
2014’s Sex Tape dropped 52.9% £673,478/£724,375 and £2,705,088 62.6% of £4,068,571/£4,795,102
2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle dropped 36% £5,210,725 #2 and £17,835,902 of £36,968,605/£39,090,968; #1 Star Wars: The Last Jedi £7,975,174 3rd weekend
2019’s Jumanji: The Next Level dropped 69%/44% without previews £2,932,285 #3 and £14,724,635 of £36,079,399/£39,577,402; #1 Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker £20,864,500; #2 Cats £3,207,471
37th biggest 2024 film between Speak No Evil and All Of Us Strangers (close to Argylle, Civil War, Transformers One and Madame Web).
1,546th biggest between Hail Caesar! And Wolf (close to Game Night, Get Smart, Why Him? And Zoolander 2) and 2,090th biggest inflated between A Perfect Murder and United 93 (close to To Die For, Teen Wolf Too, G.I Jane and The Iron Giant)
With Wicked and Moana 2 opening over the next two weeks, Red One will drop down the chart due to losing screens and showtimes before it’s released on Amazon in mid-December. Last year Saltburn was released on Amazon five weeks after opening in cinemas.
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- 4. Heretic £505,118 – £4,923,276
Dropped 49.9% in the third weekend.
1,201st biggest third weekend between Insidious: The Last Key and Zathura (close to Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, The First Purge, Where The Crawdads Sing and Joker: Folie A Deux) and 1,482nd biggest inflated between Saw VI and Monster’s Ball (close to Alien Vs Predator, Moonlight, Paranormal Activity 4 and Rambo III).
Overtook Bryan Woods and Scott Beck’s last film 2023’s 65 £3,211,908; wrote the screenplay to 2018’s A Quiet Place dropped 46.2% in the third weekend £1,024,722 and £8,262,665 70.01% of £11,801,912
Similar films include.
2016’s The Witch took £883,088; 2019’s Midsommar took £2,125,299 and also the recently released Speak No Evil dropped 21.2% in the third weekend £641,119 and £3,995,263 71.47% of £5,590,237
While Hugh Grant has starred in some huge British films including Wonka, Paddington 2, Bridget Jones trilogy, Love Actually and Four Weddings and A Funeral has to go back to 1997’s Extreme Measures (taking £1,194,157/£2,323,765) for playing an unexpected role.
36th biggest 2024 film between Argylle and Speak No Evil (close to Smile 2, Civil War, Red One and Madame Web).
1,477th biggest between Memphis Belle and The Princess Diaries (close to Insomnia, A Simple Favour, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Children Of Men) and 2,031st biggest inflated between Man Called Otto and Wonder Park (close to Sunshine, The Royal Tenenbaums, Zombieland and Galaxy Quest).
The end credits include a generative AI disclaimer “No generative AI was used in the making of this film.” Writer-director Scott Beck and Bryan Woods said in a Variety interview “AI is an amazing technology,” ..“Beautiful things will come of it, and its jaw-dropping. What is being created with generative AI and video … it’s amazing we could create that technology. Now let’s bury it underground with nuclear warheads, cause it might kill us all.”
- 5. Venom: The Last Dance £398,650 – £11,836,452
Down 58.7% in its fourth weekend
955th biggest fourth weekend between The House With A Clock In Its Walls and A Bad Moms Christmas (close to The Rock, Three Men And A Baby, Oblivion and Vantage Point) and 1,236th biggest inflated fourth weekend between Bewitched and The Green Hornet (close to Air America, The King’s Man, Dirty Dancing and The Untouchables)
83rd biggest comic-book fourth weekend between The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Shazam! (close to Blade 2, Batman Returns, Birds Of Prey and Sin City) and the 91st biggest inflated comic=book between Birds Of Prey and The Green Hornet (close to Blade: Trinity, Daredevil, Green Lantern and Ghost Rider)
Fourth weekends
2018’s Venom dropped 46% £855,826 #8 438 screens and £18,452,016 of £20,123,186: Bohemian Rhapsody #1 £9,530,463.
2021’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage dropped 55% £675,820 #4 500 screens and £16,202,882 of £18,027,072; Eternals #1 £5,456,577
75th biggest comic-book film between The Wolverine and Fantastic Four (2005) (close to Thor, Batman, Kick-Ass and Batman Returns) and 89th biggest inflated between The Incredible Hulk and Hellboy 2: The Golden Army (close to The Hulk, Superman IV, Daredevil and Green Lantern).
593rd biggest between Lethal Weapon 3 and Jaws (close to Home Alone, Independence Day: Resurgence, A Quiet Place and The Others) and 1,001st biggest inflated between Role Models and The Interpreter (close to The Last of the Mohicans, Shaun of the Dead, Moonwalker and 28 Days Later).
Also opened.
- One Direction – This Is Us – Sony Pictures
Opened £102,781 #15 from 75 screens (one show) taking £8,037,856.
The 2013 One Direction concert film was re-released in selected cinemas on Saturday as a tribute to band member Liam Payne with a percentage of ticket sales going to mental health charities. Odeon Cinemas will re-release the film in January donating profits to charities MIND, SAMH and AWARE NI.
One Direction – This Is Us originally opened in September 2013 with £3,471,872 (including £1.3m previews) after having a massive UK premiere in Leicester Square; In the 24 hours of the premiere there were 3.6million tweets about One Direction and the hashtag #1DMoviePremiere received 1.9million tweets.
UK box office in detail
The weekend’s top 10 box office took £19,676,839 up 66.2% from last weekend’s £16,336,256: 2,454,153 admissions up 19% from 2,062,659 admissions.
2nd biggest weekend of the last 52 weeks between 26 July 2024 #1 Deadpool and Wolverine £17,276,621 (71.35%) and 08 November 2024 #1 Paddington In Peru £9,649,984 (59.07%)
10th biggest since cinemas reopened out of 209 weeks between 08 July 2022 #1 Thor: Love And Thunder £12,283,719 (60.92%) and 01 July 2022 #1 Minions: The Rise Of Gru £10,424,758 (53.33%)
80th biggest top 10 of the last 22 years (out of 1,181) between 26 June 2015 #1 Minions £11,558,946 (58.66%) and 21 November 2014 #1 THG: Mockingjay, Part 1 £12,654,109 (64.33%) and 214th inflated between 30 March 2018 #1 Peter Rabbit £5,610,556 (31.45%) and 10 July 2009 #1 Bruno £5,000,229 (34.04%)
The top 3 took (£17,433,883) 88.6% of the top 10; Gladiator II 46.53% (£9,155,050) Paddington In Peru 34.8% (£6,848,128); Red One 7.27% (£1,430,705)
219th biggest admissions #1 (1,155,941) between 02 June 2023 #1 Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse (1,156,543) and 15 July 2005 #1 Madagascar (1,153,214)
329th biggest percentage share #1 (46.53%) between 26 October 2018 #1 Bohemian Rhapsody (46.68%) and 12 May 2017 #1 Alien: Covenant (46.51%)
Up 78.9% from 2023; (£10,997,223); The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes (£5,420,681); Tiger 3 (£1,184,001); Saltburn (£841,064); Thanksgiving (£486,198); Kevin Bridges – The Overdue Catch-Up (£332,166); May December (£158,428); The Nightmare Before Christmas (30th Anniversary) (£95,418); THG: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes £5,420,681 1st week 658 screens (49.29% of top 10).
Up 106.9% 2022 (£9,511,327): The Menu (£932,029); Aftersun (£230,334); Armageddon Time (£67,043); Confess, Fletch (£56,000); #1 Black Panther Wakanda Forever £6,190,594 2nd weekend dropped 49% 702 screens (65.1% of top 10)
Up 119.3% 2021 (£8,973,238); Ghostbusters: Afterlife (£4,314,263); King Richard (£570,316); Petite Maman (£97,321); Rocky IV: Rocky Vs. Drago (Director’s Cut) (£31,779); #1 Ghostbusters: Afterlife £4,314,263 1st week 658 screens (48.1% of top 10)
Up 76,401% 2020; COVID Second Lockdown England (£25,721); #1 The Three Kings £3,521 (21.48% of top 10)
Up 121.4% 2019; (£8,886,417); Last Christmas (£2,654,354); Le Mans ’66 (£2,000,000); #1 Last Christmas £2,654,354 1st week 512 screens (29.9% of top 10)
Down 13.2% 2018: (£22,674,299); Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (£12,318,966); Burn the Stage: The Movie (£644,308); Suspiria (£166,257); Hell Fest (£78,116); 9 To 5 (Re: 2018) (£7,514); #1 Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald £12,318,966 1st week 674 screens (54.3% of top 10)
Up 4.9% 2017: (£18,740,071); Justice League (£7,264,784); Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool (£236,317); The Exterminating Angel – Met Opera 2017 (£98,593); Ingrid Goes West (£65,750); #1 Justice League £7,264,784 1st week 578 screens (38.7% of the top 10)
Down 9.1% 2016: (£21,643,947); Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (£15,333,146); Andre Rieu: Christmas with Andre 2016 (£1,180,208); #1 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them £15,333,146 1st week 666 screens (70.8% of the top 10)
Up 32.8% 2015; (£14,812,116); The Lady in the Van (£2,256,121); Steve Jobs (£903,214); The Hallow (£51,742); Fathers and Daughters (£25,199); #1 SPECTRE £7,833,891 3rd week 617 screens 40% drop (52.8% of top 10)
Up 68.1% 2014: (£11,703,689); The Imitation Game (£2,742,725); Nativity 3: Dude, Where’s My Donkey? (£1,800,419); The Drop (£637,867); Third Person (£2,294); #1 Interstellar £3,777,804 2nd week 576 screens 30% drop (32.3% of top 10)
Up 66.5% 2013: (£11,818,983); The Counsellor (£815,051); The Butler (£794,044); Don Jon (£343,535); Dom Hemingway (£98,232); In Fear (£41,335); Battle of the Year (£34,821); #1 Gravity £4,838,152 2nd week 571 screens 22% drop (40.9% of top 10)
Down 21.8% 2012: (£25,176,278); The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 (£15,850,825); Amour (£115,700); Mental (£12,849); #1 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 £15,850,825 1st week 558 screens (63% of top 10)
Down 1.5% 2011; (£19,978,237); The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (£13,910,877); Justice (£276,483); #1 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 £13,910,877 1st week 543 screens (69.6% of top 10)
Down 10.4% 2010: (£21,967,470); Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 1 (£18,319,721); Peeping Tom: 50th Anniversary (Re) (£4,729); #1 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 1 £18,319,721 1st week 579 screens (83.4% of top 10)
Up 40.4% 2009; (£14,013,567); 2012 (£6,489,809); Harry Brown (£1,271,814); The White Ribbon (£72,226); Amelia (£49,224); Taking Woodstock (£41,348); #1 2012 £6,489,809 1st week 480 screens (46.3% of top 10)
Up 100.9% 2008; (£9,795,141); Max Payne (£1,004,995); Zack and Miri Make a Porno (£798,205); The Baader-Meinhof Complex (£108,791); #1 Quantum of Solace £5,164,182 3rd week 549 screens 44% drop (52.7% of top 10)
Up 121.1% 2007: (£8,899,926); American Gangster (£2,564,853); Beowulf (£2,199,848); Brick Lane (£194,745); The Jane Austen Book Club (£50,052); Earth (£24,286); #1 American Gangster £2,564,853 1st week 410 screens (28.8% of top 10)
Up 7.9% 2006; (£18,237,708); Casino Royale (£13,370,969); #1 Casino Royale £13,370,969 1st week 505 screens (73.3% of top 10)
Down 4.7% 2005: (£18,792,982); Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (£14,933,901); The Libertine (£278,482); Separate Lies (£14,568); #1 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire £14,933,901 1st week 535 screens (79.4% of top 10)
Up 118.4% 2004; (£9,011,036); After the Sunset (£664,214); The Manchurian Candidate (£624,441); Taxi (£540,581); The Incredibles (limited) (£81,307); #1 Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason £5,047,315 2nd week 506 screens (56.1% of top 10)
Up 196.6% 2003 (£6,633,990); The Medallion (£106,797); The Mother (£59,077); Octane (£9,910); #1 The Matrix Revolutions £2,575,595 2nd week 466 screens 70% drop (38,8% of top 10)
Down 11.7% from 2002: (£22,279,336); Harry Potter Chamber of Secrets (£18,871,829); Super Troopers (£269,696); Bowling for Columbine (£157,898); #1 Harry Potter Chamber of Secrets £18,871,829 1st week 524 screens (84.7% of top 10)
Up 0.2% from 2001 (£19,644,298); Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (£16,335,627); Ghost World (£133,188); #1 Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone £16,335,627 1st week 507 screens (83.1% of top 10).
2023 Next week: (£12,410,416); Napoleon (£5,235,706); Wish (£2,432,228); Cliff Richard: The Blue Sapphire Tour 2023 (£329,826); Love Actually (20th Anniversary) (£104,728); Santa Claus: The Movie (4K Restoration) (£20,514); #1 Napoleon £5,235,706 1st week 716 screens (42.19% of top 10).
US Box Office
- Red One – MGM/Amazon Studios
Opened $32.1m #1; received mixed reviews (32% Rotten Tomatoes) A- CinemaScore.
Opened in IMAX/PLF/Dolby Cinemas; IMAX/PLF took 38%.
572nd biggest opening between Wedding Crashers and Elf (close to Rush Hour, X-Men: Dark Phoenix, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Bad Teacher)
It was tracking to open with $30m, Sunday estimates were $34m but final figures dropped to $32m.
Took $3.7m from Thursday previews; Bullet Train $4.6m; Clash of the Titans $4.2m; San Andreas $3.1m; Jungle Cruise $2.7m; Rampage $2.4m
It’s the first Christmas film since 2018’s The Grinch
Entelligence said it had 2.4m admissions.
As with Joker: Folie à Deux much of the negativity towards Red One was due to its $250m budget but there are often double standards with budgets Gladiator II had a reported budget of $310m almost double its original budget and had 40% tax breaks from Malta but far less has been talked about its budget. As with Gladiator II, some of Red One’s increased budget was due to the SAG strike delaying its release a year as it was originally due to be released in December 2023.
Many articles have said that Red One was originally set for streaming but when Amazon acquired the project in June 2021 it was seen as a tentpole title so always going to have a cinema release as Deadline wrote “The movie will film in 2022 for a 2023 holiday release. Amazon will look to exploit the property across multiple ancillaries in addition to being a tentpole film.”
Jake Kasdan previously directed Dwayne Johnson in two Jumanji films (which took $1.7bn worldwide) and also directed 2014’s Sex Tape, 2011’s Bad Teacher, and 2007’s Walk Hard. He will also direct Jumanji 3, set for release on December 11th, 2026.
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
2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle opened $36.16m taking $404.54m and $962.54m WW
2019’s Jumanji: The Next Level opened $59.25m taking $320.31m and $801.69m worldwide
Other Christmas film openings
2004’s The Polar Express opened $23.3m taking $189.5m
2003’s Elf opened $32.1m taking $178m
2007’s Fred Claus opened $18.5m taking $72m
1996’s Jingle All the Way opened $12.1M taking $60.5m
Took $14.7m from 75 territories $50m total and $84.1m worldwide; UK $6m; Mexico $4.5m; Germany $3.1m; China $2.9m; Australia $2.5m; Spain $2.5m; Brazil $2m; Italy $2m.
Last week opened with $28m from 75 territories.
- Venom: The Last Dance – Sony Pictures
Dropped 54% in the fourth weekend $7.32m #2 and $127.57m.
606th biggest fourth weekend between Sleepless in Seattle and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (close to Ready Player One, Superman Returns, Captain America: The First Avenger and Bumblebee)
555th biggest between Enchanted and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; 1,285th biggest inflated between The Conjuring 2: The Enfield Poltergeist and The Fighter; 14th biggest 2024 between The Wild Robot and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire; 77th biggest comic book between Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom; 62nd biggest Sony Pictures between Ghostbusters (2016) and My Best Friend’s Wedding.
The box office is currently 11% down from 2023 and 27% from 2019, but Gladiator, Wicked and Moana 2 are likely to perform very strongly this month should see BO top 2019 levels by the end of the month, but December will be softer than 2019.
Fourth weekends
2018’s Venom dropped 41% $10.65m #3 and $187.13m of $213.51m and $856.08m worldwide
2021’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage dropped 43.6% $9.3m #4 and $182.03m of $213.55m and $506.81m worldwide.
Next from Sony/Marvel is Kraven the Hunter set for release in December.
Took $17.3m from 66 territories $308.5m total and $436.1m worldwide; China $90.3m; Mexico $18.8m; UK $15.3m; Germany $13.1m; S. Korea $12.1m; France $11.5m; Australia $8m; Spain $7.9m; Italy $7.8m; India $7.5m.
316th biggest worldwide between Beauty and the Beast (1991) and Les Misérables; 11th biggest 2024 between Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and Bad Boys: Ride or Die; 55th biggest comic-book between Thor and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom; 31st biggest Sony Pictures between Men in Black 2 and Bad Boys For Life.
- Heretic – A24
Dropped 52% in its second weekend $5.16m #4 and $20.43m.
2019’s Midsommar dropped 44.1% $3.66m #8 and $18.52m of $27.42m and $47.87m worldwide
2015’s The Witch dropped 42.4% $5.06m #7 and $16.67m of $25.13m and $40.42m worldwide
2024’s Longlegs dropped 46.6% $11.97m #4 and $44.92m of $74.34m and $126.17m worldwide
2018’s Hereditary dropped 49.5% $6.85m #7 and $27.01m of $44.06m and $79.9m worldwide
Scott Beck and Bryan Wood previously directed 2023’s 65 dropped 52.5% $5.85m #4 and $22.47m of $32.06m and $60.73m worldwide.
Heretic social media had 60m followers ahead of release compared to 125m for Imaginary.
The film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival
- The Wild Robot – Universal Pictures
Dropped 36.2% in the eighth weekend $4.21m #5 and $137.68m.
145th biggest eighth weekend between Philadelphia and Elf (close to Moana, Despicable Me 4, The Grinch and Happy Feet).
Like many other animated films The Wild Robot is holding well after being released on VOD, showing again if its a film people want to see in the cinema they will see it in the cinema.
95th biggest animated film between Dinosaur and Chicken Little; 494th biggest between Ready Player One and The Conjuring; 1,154th biggest inflated between Cheaper by the Dozen 2 and Eddie Murphy: Raw; 13th biggest 2024 between A Quiet Place: Day One and Venom: The Last Dance; 69th biggest Universal Pictures between Split and Five Nights at Freddy’s.
Dreamworks Animations have taken $6.526bn in the US and almost $17.5bn worldwide.
Took $6m from 80 territories $170.7m total and $308.83m worldwide; Mexico $20m; UK $17m; France $12.4m.
104th biggest animated worldwide between Chicken Little and Ferdinand; 546th biggest worldwide between Chicken Little and Ransom; 18th biggest 2024 worldwide between It Ends With Us and A Quiet Place: Day One; 71st biggest Universal Pictures worldwide between Little Fockers and Skyscraper.
- Anora – Neon
Dropped 30% added 396 screens to 1,500 screens $1.76mm #8 and $10.42m
It’s currently the favourite to win Best Picture Oscar next year ahead of Emilia Perez, Conclave and The Brutalist. Next year’s Oscars are wide open compared to other years with fewer contenders. In the last 70 years has only been one film that won both the Palme d’Or and Best Picture: Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite.
Sean Baker’s previous films
2021’s Red Rocket expanded to 377 screens after three weeks taking $1.02m and $2.31m worldwide.
2017’s The Florida Project expanded to 229 screens after 6 weeks taking $5.9m and $10.95m worldwide
2015’s Tangerine expanded to 44 screens after 5 weeks taking $702,354
It was acquired by Neon and became the fifth consecutive Palme d’Or winner distributed by Neon in the US after Parasite, Titane, Triangle of Sadness and Anatomy of a Fall.
Took $851k from 27 territories $9.88m total and $20.38m worldwide.
- A Real Pain – Searchlight
Up 657% in the third weekend $2.22m #7 adding 1,173 screens to 1,185 screens and $2.96m
The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival receiving critical acclaim; soon after Searchlight Pictures acquired world rights for $10m.
UK Box Office Top 10
UK Box Office Preview
The film version of Wicked has been generating massive media coverage over the last month, early reactions said it was the best stage-to-screen adaption since Chicago with stunning performances from Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande.
The popularity of the stage show Wicked in the UK is similar to Mamma Mia! In April 2024, the stage musical became the 10th longest-running stage show in London’s West End, seen by over 12 million people, having over 6,500 shows and generating over £2m in ticket sales since its premiere in 2006.
Wicked targets a different demographic than both of those films and will have long legs as other musicals have had in the UK. Wicked will have the biggest musical opening in the UK topping Mamma Mia 2 (£9,735,930); Bohemian Rhapsody (£9,530,463) Wonka (£8,904,750); High School Musical 3 (£8,409,375/£12,888,984); Les Miserables (£8,127,991/£9,920,381); La La Land (£6,596,256) and Mamma Mia! (£6,594,058/£10,106,662).
But would look at comparisons more like Frozen 2 (£15,088,012); Fantastic Beasts (£15,333,146); The Lion King (£16,671,764); Barbie (£18,509,236) and Beauty and the Beast (£19,700,000) given the huge popularity of the stage show in the UK and the huge popularity of musicals in the UK and should have very long legs playing into January.
The only complication is that despite it being 2hrs 40 mins it’s the first of two films, the second will be released next December and Universal hasn’t marketed the film as Part 1, unlike other two partner films like Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 1 and Deathly Hallows Part 1. The stage musical is 2hr 30 mins, but the film adaption will be twice as long over two films.
Universal Pictures has been developing a film adaption of the stage musical since 2012. Many directors were attached including Rob Marshall, James Mangold, and Ryan Murphy. In 2015 Universal Pictures announced Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot) was directing the film with a December 20th, 2019, release date, but left in 2020 due to “scheduling conflicts”.
Cats was instead released on December 20th, 2019, while it underperformed Cats still opened £3,207,471 taking £11,987,192 as British audiences love their film musicals.
Wicked will overtake No Time To Time (773 cinemas), becoming the widest-ever opening in the UK, playing in over 2,250 screens. Many cinemas are showing it on over 4 screens, including most of all IMAX/PLF screens, with Vue Cinemas including Manchester and Westfield playing in 8 screens every 30 mins from 8 am to 12 am.
Gladiator 2 is likely to drop about 40% in its second weekend taking £5m-£5.5m similar to the second weekend of Dune Part 2 £5.85m (£1.58k Friday; £2.47k Saturday; £1.8m Sunday).
Other second-weekend comparison films include.
2010’s Inception dropped 29% £4,172,568 #2 456 screens and £14,204,521 40.61% of £34,976,999 (£46,851,543 inflated); took 5.92x opening
2013’s Gravity dropped 22% (14% without previews) £4,838,152 #1 571 screens and £14,711,488 45% of £32,756,514; 5.24x opening
2014’s Interstellar dropped 30% £3,777,804/£4,063,306 #1 576 screens and £12,131,990 60.46% of £21,173,601; 3.73x opening
2015’s The Martian dropped 41% (21% without previews) £3,854,809 #1 582 screens and £13,211,096 56.03% of £23,589,854; 3.61x opening
2017’s Blade Runner 2049 dropped 49% (41% without previews) £3,098,872 #2 653 screens £12,184,828 64.74% of £18,918,361; 3.1x opening
2023’s Oppenheimer dropped 24% £8,222,657 #2 694 screens and £27,657,602 47.55% of £58.9m; took 5.37x opening
2005’s War of the Worlds dropped 51% (44% without previews) £4,219,120 (£7,139,360 inflated) #1 506 screens and £17,568,570 57.41% of £30,367,791 (£51,386,687 inflated); 3.43x opening
2009’s Avatar £3,828,123 #2 (£5,608,482 inflated) and £18,404,659 19.57% of £93,442,625 (£136,900,316 inflated); 14.1x opening
2017’s Dunkirk down 17% £8,235,532 #1 663 screens and £27,017,724 47.74% of £56,797,955; 5.65x opening.
Despite the arrival of Wicked Paddington In Peru will hold strongly in its third weekend as despite having the same PG certificate as Wicked it plays to a different demographic. Paddington In Peru will drop slightly more than the previous two films between 35%=40% taking £4m-£4.5m.
2014’s Paddington dropped 24% in the third weekend £2,909,674 #2 staying in top 5 for 8 weeks (£943,320) and top 10 for 12 weeks (£208,857) (mid-February) taking £38,027,750.
2017’s Paddington 2 dropped 32% £4,545,218 #2 638 screens in the third weekend and £22,990,836; #1 Daddy’s Home 2 £4,919,051; dropped 37% £2,883,617 #1 in fourth weekend and £26,903,226 staying in the top 5 for 8 weeks (£1,884,062) and top 10 for 10 weeks (£401,521) mid-January taking £42,661,628.
Red One will drop 40%-45% in its third weekend taking £800k-£850k.
The last two weekends have been the biggest since Barbie opened and this weekend could overtake.
Opening in three weeks
- Kraven The Hunter – Sony Pictures
The sixth film in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ariana DeBose, Fred Hechinger, Alessandro Nivola, Christopher Abbott, and Russell Crowe and directed by J. C. Chandor.
While Spider-Man films have been hugely successful since 2002 the extended universe films have been underwhelming both critically and at the box office.
Sony’s Spider-Man Universe
2018’s Venom opened £8,031,342 #1 taking £20,123,186
2021’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage opened £6,167,833 #2 597 screens taking £18,027,072.
2022’s Morbius opened £3,254,830 #2 638 screens taking £6,417,947
2024’s Madame Web opened £2,273,544 #3 575 screens taking £4,196,294
2024’s Venom: The Last Dance opened £4,299,477 #1 taking £10,966,917*
Kaven was planned to appear in the fourth Spider-Man film which was cancelled, and Sony Pictures instead rebooted the series with 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man. Director Ryan Coogler had hoped to include Kaven in 2018’s Black Panther because of a fight between them in comics.
It was originally due to be released on January 13, 2023, October 6, 2023, and August 30, 2024, after the SAG strike.
The first trailer was shown at CinemaCon in April 2023, leaked online on June 19th, 2023, and released the day after receiving mixed reactions.
- Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim – Warner Bros
Animated fantasy film set 183 years before The Lord of the Rings film trilogy featuring voices of Brian Cox, Gaia Wise, Luke Pasqualino, and Miranda Otto and directed by Kenji Kamiyama.
It was announced in 2021 to stop New Line from losing rights to the J. R. R. Tolkien novels and is based on the appendices of The Lord of the Rings.
Unfinished footage was shown at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June 2023 receiving positive reactions saying fans who liked Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films would enjoy the film.
The first trailer was released in August receiving positive reactions; it was originally due to be released in April 2024 delayed to December after the SAG Strike.
It’s 10 years since the last Hobbit film was released and 11 years since the last Lord of the Rings film was released. Warner Bros have announced plans for a new Lord of the Rings film to be released in 2026 The Hunt for Gollum directed by Andy Serkis.
2001’s LOTR: Fellowship of the Rings opened £11.058m/£21.3m taking £62,759,288/£120.81m
2002’s LOTR: Two Towers opened £13.063m/ £24.26m taking £55,889,009/£103.83m
2003’s LOTR: Return of the King opened £15,021,761/£26.96m taking £60,666,284/£108.89m
2012’s Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opened £116m/£14.51m taking £52,329,481/£65.47m
2013’s Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug opened £9.32m/£11.38m taking £42.91m/£52.38m
2014’s Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies opened £9.75m/£10.49m taking £40.9m/£44m
