- 28 Years Later £4,780,374 – NE
Took £902,825 (18.9%) from Thursday previews.
Took £1.23m 25.73% Friday; £1.38m 28.87% Saturday; £1.27m 26.57% Sunday; took £600k Mon and £701k Tues.
341st biggest opening between Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Kung Fu Panda 3 (close to Jurassic Park, The Sixth Sense, X-Men and The Wolverine) and 504th biggest inflated opening between Saw 3D and Ocean’s Eight (close to Ghostbusters 2, Kill Bill Volume One, The Beach and Superman III)
18th biggest opening over the last 52 weeks between Nosferatu and It Ends with Us (close to Thunderbolts*, Joker: Folie à Deux, Venom: The Last Dance and Final Destination: Bloodlines); 9th biggest 2025 opening between Nosferatu and Final Destination: Bloodlines.
2nd biggest horror opening of the year after Nosferatu and ahead of Final Destination: Bloodlines
6th biggest horror opening between Nosferatu and The Conjuring 2: The Enfield Case (close to The Blair Witch Project, Five Nights At Freddy’s, The Nun and Final Destination: Bloodlines) and 16th biggest inflated horror between Saw 3D and The Nun (close to Sleepy Hollow, Paranormal Activity 2, The Others and What Lies Beneath).
Opened in 707 cinemas (1,500+ screens) 32nd widest opening, similar to Deadpool and Wolverine, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and Jurassic World Dominion; the 40th 700+ opening since 2017’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
Its 4-day opening was 15.93% of its US opening and 12.92% of its 3-day opening; 28 Weeks Later 4 4-day opening was 23.73% of its US and 13.12% of its 3-day opening.
There are many elements at play in 28 Years Later, being a social commentary, making it feel much more horrific, like 28 Days Later, it’s not the scary horror elements, it’s the other scenes that play with them. Ahead of the release of 28 Years Later watched 28 Days Later for the first time in about 20 years, not being a fan of horrors and having seen the original film dozens of times as did a UK tour with Danny Boyle and the cast ahead of its opening in October 2002 when I was at 20th Century Fox. The scene that affected me more than the horror was the “I promised them women” when Mitchell tries to rape Selena. When I saw it 23 years ago, maybe I was more focused on the horror to see the horror within.
In 28 Years Later, it’s about a post-pandemic and Brexit world with the UK having a societal breakdown isolated from Europe, which has recovered from the virus and rather than stopping boats coming to the UK, NATO is patrolling the English Channel to stop them escaping.
The film has a lot of similarities to 2006’s Children of Men (opened £1,284,254/£2,088,561 taking £4,858,150/£7,900,729); instead of a virus, it’s a pandemic caused by pollution that sees an infertility crisis with no children being born for 25 years, and the last hope of humanity comes from a pregnant immigrant. In 28 Years Later, not a spoiler as it’s in the trailer, a baby is born to a woman who is infected. The baby doesn’t seem to be infected. As the baby isn’t infected, is she immune, as in films like I Am Legend and TV series The Last of Us?
The ending of 28 Years Later sets up 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. Jimmy is one of the children in the opening scene watching the Teletubbies on TV when the house is attacked by the infected, and he escapes. At the end of the film, Spike is saved from the infected by a group of men wearing different coloured track suits, their leader is Sir Jimmy Crystal, looking like Jimmy Savile. It does have A Clockwork Orange feel to it. Sir Jimmy says to Spike, “Let’s be friends”. In the end credits the Jimmy’s all have surnames. As with the original film, the introduction of the Jimmy’s show, there are worse things than being infected, making me again question how it got a 15 when the original used to be an 18.
As the Rage Virus happened in 2002, the world never found out about Savile’s crimes (they were first made public in 2011), so in 28 Years Later, he is still the national treasure the UK thought he was.
In the US, Savile is unknown why the audience reaction has been underwhelming as they don’t understand the significance of Jack O’Connell being Jimmy, but it goes back to a comment made by Danny Boyle when he said Sony allowed him to make a British film.
Alex Garland talked about the deceptive power of nostalgia: “The thing about looking back is how selective memory is” .. “It cherry picks and it has amnesia, and crucially, it also misremembers. We are living in a time right now which is absolutely dominated by a misremembered past.”
Expectations have been high for 28 Years Later ever since it was first announced in January 2024. While they are vastly different films, comparisons could be made between 28 Days Later/28 Years Later with Trainspotting/T2 Trainspotting. As the sequels both were released 20+ years after the original films, both directed by Danny Boyle, both had iconic marketing campaigns, and both Trainspotting and 28 Days Later found a bigger audience when released on video/DVD over the following 20 years.
The question was always whether it would attract a new audience or play to the audience who saw the original films. Trainspotting 2 was always likely to find a larger audience as Irvine Welsh’s novel became a modern-day classic, selling over 30m copies worldwide. 28 Years Later was harder to sell to younger audiences who have grown up with many other zombie films and TV shows over recent years, with series 2 of The Last of Us recently ending on Sky Atlantic, featuring many shared elements like the isolated community, Alpha zombies, and going into decrepit stores.
1996’s Trainspotting opened £1,422,906/£2,786,379 taking £12,431,663/£24,344,067
2017’s T2 Trainspotting opened £5,146,791/£5,476,625 (no previews) taking £16,956,434/£18,043,095
2002’s 28 Days Later opened £1,500,079/£2,786,860, taking £6,238,016/£11,589,041
2007’s 28 Weeks Later opened £1,575,620/£2,486,672, taking £5,309,160/£8,379,011
When 28 Days Later was released, it was given an 18, ahead of the release of 28 Years Later. It was reclassified as 15 as 28 Years Later, but how did it get a 15 with extreme gore and nudity? Danny Boyle spoke in an interview with Variety, talking about the brutal aspects of the horror, stretching it as far as you can go, but surely it’s like 50 Shades of Grey getting a 15, 28 Years Later as Trainspotting 2 needed to be an 18. The 18 wouldn’t have had any impact on the film’s BO as the majority of its audience was much older.
In the PostTrak exit poll, it received 3.5 stars and a 79% total positive score; 52% recommended; 30% indicated exceeded expectations. What would have been interesting to see would have been a demographic breakdown of the audience over or under 30.
After the release of 28 Weeks Later, a third film was in development at 20th Century Fox but was stuck in development hell for many years due to rights issues. Alex Garland initially said the sequel was going to be 28 Months Later, but the sequel wasn’t officially confirmed until June 2023. Andrew MacDonald acquired the rights to 28 Days Later in 2022, licensing them to Sony Pictures when they acquired world rights to 28 Years Later and its sequel in January 2024, as they acquired world rights to Trainspotting 2 in December 2015; T2, released in 2017, was the sequel to 1996’s Trainspotting.
In 2002, 28 Days Later opened only in 35mm in 318 cinemas, 28 Years Later will open in double the number of cinemas and on many more screens.
Sony Pictures screened the first 28 minutes of 28 Years Later at CineEurope on Monday, ahead of the world premiere on Wednesday and opening in the UK on Thursday. The embargo ends at 10 pm on Wednesday after the premiere, and critics haven’t been allowed to even share an emoji about what they think of it. 28 Days Later had a budget of $8m, taking $75m worldwide; $45m US and $27.5m internationally; 28 Years Later has a budget of $75m.
Danny Boyle has directed 15 films and famously dropped out of directing Alien: Resurrection in 1997 and Bond 25 in 2018 due to “creative differences”, opting to direct Yesterday instead. In interviews for 28 Years Later id his one regret of walking away from directing the film was that it had a great script.
Danny Boyle also directed.
1995’s Shallow Grave opened £558,886/£1,271,947, taking £5,075,847/£11,551,928
1997’s A Life Less Ordinary opened £795,206/£1,547,428, taking £3,376,442/£6,570,374
2000’s The Beach opened £2,418,321/£4,626,353, taking £13,332,236/£25,505,147
2004’s Millions opened£293,032/£492,742 taking £1,453,171/£2,443,549
2007’s Sunshine opened £1,021,063/£1,601,350, taking £3,163,317/£4,961,083
2009’s Slumdog Millionaire opened £1,827,457/£2,660,562, taking £31,660,043/£46,093,298
2010’s 127 Hours opened £2,168,570/£1,342,432, taking £7,705,020/£10,069,927
2013’s Trance opened £1,592,339/£1,931,290, taking £4,374,590/£5,305,781
2015’s Steve Jobs opened £903,214/£992,157, taking £2,282,033/£2,506,755
2019’s Yesterday opened £2,212,380, taking £13,813,168
Danny Boyle also directed the 30-minute short Alien Love Triangle in 1999. It was meant to be one of a set of three short films that were going to be released as one film, but the other two films were made as separate films (Mimic and Imposter), and Alien Love Triangle was left unreleased for many years. When I was working at 20th Century Fox in the early 00s, did got to see it, and Mark Kermode held a premiere of the film in 2008.
It’s interesting looking back at the marketing campaign for 2002’s 28 Days Later, which included 1m CD-ROMs distributed with The Times, a website (www.28dayslaterthemovie.co.uk), with behind-the-scenes and animation clips from the film and a chatroom and forum allowing users to ask questions to the director and producer of the movie. So vastly different to the marketing campaign for 28 Years Later.
There have been many zombie films and TV series over the last decade, including The Walking Dead, World War Z, Zombieland and The Last of Us (series 2 recently ended).
Mixing Trainspotting with 28 Years Later on ChatGPT; Choose Rage — A Modern Monologue for a Dying Empire (Inspired by Boyle’s “Choose Life” from Trainspotting*)
Choose Rage.
Choose lockdowns that lasted too long and leaders that didn’t.
Choose clapping on your doorstep while the government sold off the NHS.
Choose empty supermarket shelves and a blue passport that gets you nowhere.
Choose a country that left Europe and found isolation instead of independence.
Choose ministers who party while you bury loved ones on Zoom.
Choose Rage.
Choose your bills tripling while CEOs cash out.
Choose a childhood interrupted and a future on hold.
Choose another reboot, another scandal, another “We’re learning lessons.”
Choose nostalgia as sedation — 28 years later, and we’re still infected.
Not with a virus.
With apathy. With corruption. With despair dressed up as tradition.
Choose Rage.
Because hope was privatised.
Because the system’s a virus.
Because Danny Boyle was right —
The apocalypse isn’t coming.
It’s already here.
And we’re paying £13.99 to watch it unfold in Dolby surround.
With the arrival of F1 and M£GAN 2.0, the polarised audience reaction to 28 Years Later and having a four-day opening will likely drop 50% in its second 2nd weekend, taking £2.2m-£2.5m.
- 2. How To Train Your Dragon £2,817,385 – £12,693,731
Down 65.5% in its second weekend (51% without previews)
£470k 16.7% (-58.4% £1.13m) Fri; £1.12m 39.8% (-54.47% £2.5m) Sat; £1.3m 43.6% (-81.3% £2.09m) Sun; £300k Mon; £363k Tues
279th biggest second weekend between American Pie 2 and Cats and Dogs (close to Jumanji: The Next Level, Kung Fu Panda 4, How to Train Your Dragon 3 and POTC: Dead Men Tell No Tales) and 505th biggest inflated second weekend between Erin Brockovich and Ice Age (close to Casper, The Incredible Hulk, The Jungle Book (1993RE) and Hercules (1997)
15th biggest second weekend over the last 52 weeks, between It Ends with Us and Sonic The Hedgehog 3 (close to Beetlejuice 2, Mufasa: The Lion King, Thunderbolts and Venom: The Last Dance); 6th biggest 2025 between Captain America: Brave New World and Sinners.
How to Train Your Dragon is a live-action reimagination of the DreamWorks animated film, but it still features an animated dragon, and it features many of the cast from the animated film. The flying sequences feel remarkably similar to those in the animated film, and many scenes feel like they are shot-by-shot from the original.
This, of course, is why there’s nostalgia towards these reimaginations as they are the same film as the original, but look photorealistic rather than animated, and there are many who wouldn’t see an animated film but would see a live-action version. The original animated film was stunning to watch, and as with other reimaginations, making it live-action, it feels less magical; it’s like some 2D animated films look far more real than 3D animated films. Audiences will enjoy How to Train Your Dragon in cinemas despite having a better version of it at home.
It’s 15 years since the first Dreamworks Animation film opened, which means it doesn’t have the same nostalgic element as Disney’s reimaginations have done those preteens who saw the first film are now in their early 20s and their children if they have any will be far too young to go to the cinema to watch it and likely prefer the animated film.
2010’s How to Train Your Dragon dropped 71.1% £1,399,017/£1,873,977 and £9,782,793 57% of £17,168,517/£22,997,156
2014’s How to Train Your Dragon 2 dropped 75.9% £1,877,346/£2,019,224 and £12,864,015 52.1% of £24,690,123/£26,556,043
2019’s How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World dropped 48.3% £2,750,729/£3,036,470 and £9,055,241 45.9% of £19,714,201/£21,762,075
There is a Lilo & Stitch connection with HTTYD as directors, Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders also made the original 2002 animated film. Both films also had the same actors repeating their roles, Chris Sanders voices Stitch again, and Gerard Butler voices Stoick the Vast. Studios will keep remaking these films as audiences keep going to see them. Universal Pictures has already dated HTTYD2.
- 3. Elio £971,168 – NE
Took £150k 15.45% Friday; £381k 39.24% Saturday; £440k 45.31% Sunday.
1,789th biggest opening between Lawless and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (close to Haunted Mansion, Mousehunt, Cuban Fury, and Pitch Perfect) and 2,415th biggest inflated opening between In Bruges and Ritchie Rich (close Teen Wolf Too, The Parent Trap, Little Women (1995) and Short Circuit 2).
54th biggest opening over the last 52 weeks between A Real Pain and Black Bag (close to Peppa Meets The Baby Cinema Experience, The Penguin Lessons, Fly Me to the Moon and Borderlands); 27th biggest 2025 opening between A Real Pain and Black Bag.
199th biggest animated opening between The Book of Life and Tinker Bell And The Pirate Fairy (close to Planes 2: Fire & Rescue, Monster House, Meet the Robinsons and Treasure Planet) and 220th biggest inflated animated opening between Jimmy Neutron and Surf’s Up (close to The Little Mermaid (1990), Oliver & Company (1989), Snow White (1992RE) and Cinderella (1986 RE).
Elio is Disney’s lowest Disney film opening since 2022’s Strange World (£833,043) and slightly ahead of 2023’s Haunted Mansion (£990,084).
270th widest opening in 597 cinemas similar to Greatest Days, Air, Venom 2, Respect and War for the Planet of the Apes; 716th 500+ cinema opening since 2002’s Monsters, Inc.
Took only 4.6% of the US opening (similar to 2023’s Haunted Mansion 4.1%). Why do Disney films open so much lower in the UK, as 10% is the normal guide figure, but the last films to do double figures were A Complete Unknown and Mufasa: The Lion King? Disney films do often have longer legs.
Many will blame the hot weather for Elio’s opening, but there were several other reasons for its opening poorly.
- Opening the weekend after How to Train Your Dragon, both films target the similar pre-teen boy demographic, why it’s madness. Disney announced last week that they will release Gatto a week after HTTYD2 in June 2027.
- Elio was originally due to be released in March 2024, but the film had extensive changes, which saw the director being replaced and the story change; this is evident by seeing the first teaser trailer released over two years ago and the second teaser released 6 months ago, they look tonally very different.
- Opening so soon after Lilo & Stitch, having a similar plot and a similar title
- Despite trailers attached to both Moana 2 and Lilo & Stitch, awareness was very low, as marketing was underwhelming.
The problem with Disney is that they have had huge success with reimagination, reboots, sequels and film series launched by other studios. Their Achilles heel for over a decade has been original films, this is despite all the success Disney had with original films for over 90 years and all the success Pixar had over the first 14 years. Pixar made 10 films, with only one sequel; all the others were hugely successful and received critical acclaim: Toy Story, A Bug’s Life. Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, WALL-E and Up. Over the following 15 years, they have released 19 films, 9 have were sequels, and three of the original films were released straight to Disney+.
Of course, much will be written about how disappointing the opening of Elio has been, then three of their next five films are sequels that will take $1bn+ worldwide: Toy Story 5, Incredibles 3 and Coco 2 and Elio’s opening will be forgotten, but studios need to add new intellectual properties as they can’t survive on nostalgia alone as Disney will running low of animated reimaginations.
Would have expected Elio to open similar to recent original Pixar films, Onward and Elemental had more modest openings of £3,419,500 and £3,049,002. While Toy Story 4 and Inside Out 2 had big openings (£13,300,000 and £11,321,387), original Pixar films have had soft openings since 2018’s Coco (£5,209,214)
This is, of course, the problem with Disney now, while Pixar sequels and reimaginations have their predictable huge openings, Inside Out 10 years ago was Pixar’s last original hit, and why they are making many more sequels like Toy Story 5, Incredibles 3 and Coco 2.
Elio is the 28th Pixar film since Toy Story was released 30 years ago in the US (opened in the UK in March 1996), it’s the 18th original Pixar animated film and the first original film since Elemental was released 2 years ago. Over the last 10 years, Pixar has released 15 films, and 8 were original (Soul, Luca and Turning Red had limited cinema releases after premiering on Disney+).
The one positive for Elio is in the PostTrak exit poll, receiving a 4-star rating; children, 92% positive; 60% would recommend it to their friends; 59% exceeded their expectations; 42% cited the trailers/adverts looked good; 33% wanted to see it again in cinemas. Sunday was Elio’s best day, seeing an increase from Saturday, so he could have a decent second weekend hold. This again goes back to the poor dating, as had it not opened so close to HTTYD and Lilo & Stitch, it would have had a far bigger opening.
- 4 Lilo & Stitch £670,244 – £34,255,710
Dropped 54.4% in its fifth weekend.
£227m 15.45% (-58.1% £542k) Fri; £734k 50% (-57.8% £1.74m) Sat; £510k 34.58% (-80.21% £1.25m) Sun
341st biggest fifth weekend between The Da Vinci Code and The Beach (close to The Matrix, Zootropolis, The Muppets and The Boss Baby) and 574th biggest fifth weekend, inflated between Maverick and Smile (close to Yesterday, Mulan, Fantastic Mr. Fox and LA Confidential).
Showing how front-loaded Lilo & Stitch has been after having the fifth biggest opening for reimagination it’s now the 12th biggest Disney reimagination, fifth weekend, between Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil and Christopher Robin (close to Maleficent, Cinderella, Disney’s Snow White and Cruella); 20 Disney reimaginations since 2010 have taken £500m+ and £550m+ inflated.
After opening with £9.6m ahead of half-term, Lilo & Stitch should have early topped £40m, but as with Moana 2, it hasn’t performed as strongly as would have been expected if compared to US BO.
2002’s Lilo & Stitch up 6.7% £1,625,440/£3,019,757 and £9,315,027 72.25% of £12,892,631/£23,801,780. There were three straight-to-video sequels, including 2003’s Stitch! The Movie and 2005’s Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch, several TV animated series and several video games.
Many called Lilo & Stitch BO a surprise, but these reimaginations are never surprises for Disney, as last year Lilo merchandising increased by over 300% in the UK, as it’s never about the film for Disney, with these reimaginations, it’s the merchandising that will be sold ahead and after its release. The original film has gained over 500m hours of viewing on Disney+, so many of those who are seeing the reimagination have recently watched the original animated film again.
Global sales for the films had taken $2.6bn, up from $200m in 2019. As Yoghurt says in Spaceballs, “Merchandising, merchandising, where the real money from the movie is made. Spaceballs-the T-shirt, Spaceballs-the Colouring Book, Spaceballs-the Lunch box, Spaceballs-the Breakfast Cereal, Spaceballs-the Flame Thrower.
Disney has exploited their animated films for decades. Originally, they would re-release a classic animated film every few years in cinemas, so each generation could experience them in the cinema. In the 80s and 90s, their cinema release would be followed by the film being available on home video for a limited time. In the 90s and 00s, Disney would make straight-to-video sequels of many of their animated films, and many of them were hugely popular, selling millions of videos and DVDs.
127th biggest between Up and Fantastic Beasts 2 (close to Jurassic World Dominion, Ice Age III, Mufasa: The Lion King and The Lego Movie) and 263rd inflated between Bean and Alvin And The Chipmunks II (close to Moulin Rouge, High School Musical 3, Home Alone and Pretty Woman).
6th biggest Disney reimagination between Aladdin and Mufasa: The Lion King; Moana is the next Disney reimagination to be released in July 2026, and after Moana 2 last year, will surely take £50m+ next summer.
Disney seems to be running short of reimaginations, with The Aristocrats, Hercules, and Bambi the only ones that are currently being developed; many others have been cancelled, including an Aladdin prequel, The Sword in the Stone, Robin Hood, The Princess and the Frog, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Tangled, while they wouldn’t make a Pocahontas reimagination due to the same obvious reasons why Song of the Sea has never been mentioned being remade.
- 5 Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning £599,292 – £24,781,798
Down 49.7% in its fifth weekend
£255k 21.43% (-52.1% £532k) Fri; £490k 41.2% (-54.63% £1.08m) Sat; £450k 37.4% (-71.6% £700k Sun.
406th biggest fifth weekend between Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse and DC League of Super-Pets (close to Interstellar, The Mummy (1999), The Gentlemen and Fast & Furious 6) and 638th biggest inflated fifth weekend between The Perfect Storm and Final Destination (close to Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, Die Hard 2 Die Harder, Fantastic Four (2005) and The Last of the Mohicans).
The 7th biggest Tom Cruise fifth weekend between Mission: Impossible and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (close to The Minority Report, Mission: Impossible II and Rain Man).
War of the Worlds and Mission: Impossible- Fallout; 18th inflated Tom Cruise’s fifth weekend between Jerry Maguire and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (close to Cocktail, Far and Away, Eyes Wide Shut and Days Of Thunder).
4th biggest Tom Cruise film between Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1 and Mission: Impossible Fallout, and 12th inflated between Mission: Impossible 3 and Mission: Impossible- Rogue Nation (close to Top Gun, Interview with the Vampire, Jerry Maguire and A Few Good Men. Tom Cruise has had 7 films taking £20m+ in the UK and 26 inflation-adjusted over the last 39 years. (17 Inflation inflated showing how his films have been such strong BO performers for almost 40 years.
Tom Cruise is the “Last Action Hero”, the only actor from the 80s who has continually had box office hits over almost 40 years, outlasting all of the other 80s action stars.
The plot of Tom Cruise’s next film, Untitled Alejandro G. Iñárritu, feels perfectly timed: “The most powerful man in the world embarks on a frantic mission to prove he is humanity’s saviour before the disaster he’s unleashed destroys everything.” It will be his first original film since 2017’s American Made. Tom Cruise will surely be hoping to replicate the success of Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s previous film, 2015’s The Revenant, which won Leonardo DiCaprio the Best Actor Oscar after several attempts.
Previous instalments’ fourth weekends
1996’s Mission: Impossible dropped 25.2% £742,403/£1,453,797 and £14,823,018 80.1% of £18,351,333/£35,936,148
2000’s Mission: Impossible II dropped 35.2% £564,522/£1,058,645 and £13,914,302 80.5% of £17,291,606/£32,426,847
2006’s Mission: Impossible III dropped 61% £294,933/£482,673 and £14,948,094 97.4% of £15,342,575/£25,108,896
2011’s MI: Ghost Protocol dropped 35.1% £529,462/£696,339 and £17,536,984/£23,064,317
2015’s MI: Rogue Nation dropped 14.6% £890,857/£984,761 and £18,682,262 88.6% of £21,074,999
2018’s MI: Fallout dropped 21.3% £924,424/£1,020,451 and £21,855,333 89.7% of £24,373,443
2023’s MI: Dead Reckoning Part 1 dropped 45.2% £568,769 and £24,110,951, 90.7% of £26,579,966
The Final Reckoning has been seen as the final Mission: Impossible film, but will it be, as no franchise ever really ends? As in 2022, Jurassic World Dominion was seen as the final Jurassic World film, but soon after, Universal Pictures announced Jurassic World: Rebirth.
Much depends on how Tom Cruise’s next few films perform, as Paramount Pictures lacks tentpoles, and they will surely be hoping for a Mission: Impossible 9 alongside Top Gun 3 and Days of Thunder 2 over the next few years. As you look at Paramount Pictures’ biggest films in the UK, only Tom Cruise and Sonic the Hedgehog are continuing to be successful for the studio, losing several properties to rival studios, including Indiana Jones, Dreamworks Animation and Marvel, while the Transformers franchise seems to be dead,, they have struggled to get another Star Trek since 2016’s Star Trek Beyond and while Ridley Scott has talked about a Gladiator 3 its unlikely.
The 8 Mission: Impossible films have taken £165m+ at the UK BO and £230m+ inflation-adjusted since 1996; While Tom Cruise films since 1986’s Top Gun have taken £485m+ and £760m inflation-adjusted. His next film is currently untitled, from director Alejandro G. Iñárritu (The Revenant), due for release in October 2026, it will be his first original film since 2017’s American Made.
213th biggest between Ocean’s Eleven and Prometheus (close to I am Legend, The Day After Tomorrow, The Sixth Sense and Hancock) and 428th biggest inflated between Uncharted and Doctor Strange (close to The Beach, Ransom, Superman Returns and Apollo 13).
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The weekend’s top 10 box office took £10,835,871, down 18.4% from last weekend’s £13,279,653: 1,399,983 admissions, down 19.3% from 1,734,405 admissions.
The 29th biggest weekend of the last 52 weeks was between 19 December 2024 #1 Mufasa: The Lion King £4,415,961 (39.65%) and 02 May 2025 #1 Thunderbolts* £5,979,242 (55.57%)
89th biggest since cinemas reopened out of 240 weeks between 16 June 2023 #1 The Flash £4,252,532 (39.17%) and 29 July 2022 #1 DC League of Super-Pets £2,694,626 (24.89%)
552nd biggest top 10 of the last 24 years (out of 1,211) between 16 June 2023 #1 The Flash £4,252,532 (39.17%) and 01 February 2013 #1 Les Misérables £2,785,143 (25.71%) and 856th inflated between 28 February 2020 #1 The Invisible Man £2,163,797 (23.39%) and 30 July 2021 #1 The Suicide Squad £3,252,028 (31.66%)
The top 3 took £8,568,927 (79.1%) of the top 10; 28 Years Later 44.1% (£4,780,374); How To Train Your Dragon 26% (£2,817,385); Elio 8.96% (£971,168)
381st biggest percentage share #1 (44.12%) between 06 December 2013 #1 Frozen £4,704,940 (44.19%) and 25 November 2022 #1 Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical £4,135,418 (44.07%)
581st biggest admissions #1 (603,583) between 23 December 2005 #1 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe £2,843,353 (603,684) and 22 June 2018 #1 Ocean’s 8 £4,347,070 (602,087)
Down 25.59% from 2024; (£11,256,622); The Bikeriders (£1,085,530); Doctor Who – The Two Episode Finale (£364,353); Ghost: Rite Here Rite Now (£282,961); The Exorcism (£146,046); Something In The Water (£120,341); Waitress: The Musical (Theatre) (£47,571); #1 Inside Out 2 £7,762,903 2nd week 31% drop 700 screens (68.96% of top 10)
Up 32.14% from 2023; (£8,200,506); No Hard Feelings (£1,181,383); Asteroid City (£1,176,972); #1 Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse £1,995,517 dropped 24% 702 screens 3rd week #1 over 4 weeks (24.33%)
Down 27.63% from 2022 (£14,423,033); Lightyear (£3,718,002); Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (£238,640); The Spy Who Loved Me (Re: 2022) (£12,844); #1 Jurassic World: Dominion £5,717,882 2nd week 713 screens 53% drop (39.6% of top 10)
Up 9.10% 2021 from (£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 41.04% 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)
Up 7.64% 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)
Up 13.49% 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)
Up 25.8% from 2016: (£8,610,329); The Conjuring 2: The Enfield Case (£4,637,862); Gods of Egypt (£484,467); Barbershop: A Fresh Cut (£91,502); The Keeping Room (£26,199); #1 The Conjuring 2: The Enfield Case £4,637,862 1st week 504 screens (53.8% of the top 10)
Down 32.5% from 2015; (£16,046,393); Take That Live 2015 (£965,000); Mr Holmes (£741,080); Entourage (£632,754); The Longest Ride (£419,047); #1 Jurassic World £11,133,912 614 screens 2nd week 34% drop (69.4% of top 10)
Up 30.79% from 2014: (£8,284,805); The Fault in Our Stars (£3,434,334); Jersey Boys (£415,608); 3 Days to Kill (£324,560); Chinese Puzzle (£22,617); The Art of the Steal (£7,867); #1 The Fault in Our Stars £3,434,334 1st week 511 screens (41.4% of top 10)
Down 8.25% 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 60.16% 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)
Up 11.52% 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 244.53% 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 -20.64% from 2009; (£13,653,796); Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (£8,349,739); Telstar (£22,343); #1 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen £8,349,739 1st week 516 screens (61.15% of top 10)
Up 38.58% from 2008; (£7,818,976); Adulthood (£1,203,319); Teeth (£235,658); The Edge of Love (£180,837); The Ruins (£123,507); The Escapist (£79,579); #1 The Incredible Hulk £1,870,800 2nd week 483 screens 43% drop (23.9% of top 10)
Up 80.39% 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 150.70% 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 62% 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 41.11% from 2004 (£7,678,849); Mean Girls (£1,393,494); Jersey Girl (£226,970); The Whole Ten Yards (£61,405); #1 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban £3,374,330 3rd week 534 screens 23% drop (43.9% of top 10)
Up 103.47% from 2003 (£5,325,585); 2 Fast 2 Furious (£2,747,875); Basic (£248,088); I’ll Be There (£14,829); #1 2 Fast 2 Furious £2,747,875 1st week 424 screens (51.6% of top 10)
Up 57.31% from 2002 (£6,888,015); The Musketeer (£131,338); Kissing Jessica Stein (£102,234); Hardball (£79,864); Before You Go (£58,387); #1 Spider-Man: The Movie £4,255,920 2nd week 509 screens 55% drop (61.8% of top 10)
2024 Next week: (£12,103,063); A Quiet Place: Day One (£2,933,722); Kalki 2898 AD (£886,366); Kinds Of Kindness (£322,142); Horizon: An American Saga Chapter One (£150,371); Riverdance 25th Anniversary Show (Re: 2024) (£80,615); #1 Inside Out 2 £6,003,526 1st week down 23% 719 screens (49.6% of top 10)
US Box Office
- How To Train Your Dragon – Universal Pictures
Dropped 57% in its second weekend $36.57m and $160.06m
EntTelligence said HTTYD had an average price of $15.10 for general audiences, $12.89 for children, $13.45 for seniors; 54% before 5 pm; IMAX $8.1m, about 10%; taking 40% from IMAX/PLF screens.
152nd biggest second weekend between Thor: The Dark World and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (close to Mufasa: The Lion King, Night at the Museum, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa and Trolls).
394th biggest between A Quiet Place: Part II and The Sting; 7th biggest 2025 film between Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning and Final Destination: Bloodlines; 158th biggest adventure film between How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald; 54th biggest Universal Pictures between How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World and The Sting.
Took $28.4m from IMAX worldwide; $15.4m US and $13m internationally; opened in 339 IMAX cinemas.
Second weekends
2010’s How to Train Your Dragon dropped 33.7%, $29.01m/$42.32m and $92.13m/$134.4m of $217.6m/$317.4m and $494.87m/$722m worldwide
2014’s How to Train Your Dragon 2 dropped 50% $24.71m/$34.82m and $94.59m/$133.3m of $217.6m/$317.4m and $621.53m/$906.7m worldwide
2019’s How to Train Your Dragon 3 dropped 4.4% $30.02m/$37.7m and $97.67m/$122.5m of $177m/$317.4m and $539.98m/$760.74m worldwide
The animated films have taken $1.6bn worldwide since 2010, and Universal Pictures has already dated How to Train Your Dragon 2 for 2027, which will surely be a reimagination of the second animated film; and then surely a third and fourth will follow. Cressida Cowell has written 12 novels so far this franchise will run for decades to come.
PG-rated films, including A Minecraft Movie and Lilo & Stitch, have taken $1.53bn at the US BO, 41% of 2025 BO to date, with Elio, Smurfs and Bad Guys 2 still to be released this summer.
Took $53.6m from 81 territories $197.7m total, and $357.8m worldwide; Mexico $24.5m; China $23.2m; UK $16.8m; Brazil $12.6m; S. Korea $9.6m; Australia $8.6m; Spain $8.3m; France $8.3m.
449th biggest film worldwide between Peter Rabbit and Top Gun; 9th biggest worldwide between Sinners and Final Destination: Bloodlines; 182nd biggest adventure film between Peter Rabbit and Dinosaur; 58th biggest Universal Pictures film between The Flintstones and Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax.
- 28 Years Later – Sony Pictures
Opened $30m; received positive reviews (90% Rotten Tomatoes) and B CinemaScore
Took $5.8m from Thursday previews; A Quiet Place: Day One $6.8m; Nope $6.4m; Final Destination Bloodlines $5.5m; A Quiet Place Part II $4.8m; Sinners $4.7m
662nd biggest opening between Scream (2022) and Meg 2: The Trench (close to Sleepy Hollow, Bullet Train, The Purge: Anarchy and What Lies Beneath).
When tickets went on sale at the start of the month, presales in their first 24 hours were the highest for any horror this year, ahead of both Sinners and Final Destination: Bloodline and also ahead of 2024’s Nosferatu and Alien: Romulus. This led many to believe 28 Years Later could open with $34m+, with some believing it could open up to $45m.
24% came from PLF, and it was also showing in 4DX screens.
The trailer was viewed 60.2m times globally within the first 24 hours ahead of A Quiet Place: Day One (46.6m views), Smile 2 (33.1m views) and Nosferatu (26.4m views).
RelishMix reported 28 Years Later ‘s social media universe of 225.5m across TikTok, Facebook, X, YouTube and Instagram.
While critics loved 28 Years Later, audience reactions were very mixed seen by the difference between Rotten Tomatoes critics’ score of 90% and 67% audience score, compared to Final Destination: Bloodline’s 92% critics and 87% audience. 28 Years Later will drop 60% next weekend with M3GAN 2.0 opening.
It was a surprising dating decision to open 28 Years Later in June, especially with M3GAN 2.0 opening the following weekend and Sony dated 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple during a less busy January. August would have been a better time to open, as Sony has successfully opened horror films in August. Danny Boyle talked about Americans being happy to fund a British film set in the North of England with a completely British cast.
Opened with $30m internationally from 59 territories and $60m worldwide; UK $6.4m; Mexico $2.7m; Australia $1.7m; S. Korea $1.5m; France $1.3m; Germany $1.3m; Spain $1.2m
- £lio – Disney
Opened $20.84m; received positive reviews (85% Rotten Tomatoes) and A CinemaScore
Took $3m from Thursday previews; Inside Out $3.7m; Cars 3 $2.8m; Onward $2.65m; Monsters University $2.6m; Elemental $2.4m
Elio was tracking to open with $30m, similar to Elemental.
Opened in 725 PLF; 2,500+ 3D and 175 D-Box/Motion screens. Elio is sharing PLF screens with 28 Years Later and How to Train Your Dragon, while IMAX screens remain with How to Train Your Dragon.
2023’s Elemental opened $29.6m, taking $154.42m and $496.44m worldwide
2022’s Lightyear opened $50.57m, taking $118.3m and $226.42m worldwide
2020’s Onward opened $39.11m, taking $61.55m and $141.88m worldwide (COVID lockdown only had two weeks of release)
RelishMix said Elio had 272.5m across TikTok, Facebook, X, YouTube and Instagram.
Over the last decade, Pixar has released 14 films, 6 sequels, and 8 original films. Soul, Luca and Turning Red were released straight to Disney+. Inside Out, The Good Dinosaur, Coco, Onward, Elemental and Elio had theatrical release. The last three original Pixar films underwhelmed at the box office despite receiving positive reviews and high audience scores. 2018’s Coco was the last successful original Pixar film, opening $50.8m, taking $210.46 m and $814.64m worldwide, and 2015’s Inside Out opened $90.44m, taking $356.46m and $859.07m worldwide.
So, it’s no wonder that three of Pixar’s next five films are sequels: Toy Story 5 in 2026, Incredibles 3 in 2028 and Coco in 2029, with original films, Hoppers in 2026 and $Gatto in 2027.
Opened $14m internationally from 43 territories and $35m worldwide.
- Lilo & Stitch – Disney
Down 38% in its fifth weekend, $9.73m #4 and $386.77m
155th biggest fifth weekend between The Green Mile and Meet the Fockers (close to A Bug’s Life, Toy Story, The Boss Baby and Despicable Me); 101 Dalmatians #95 $11.38m; Beauty and the Beast #54 $13.7m; The Jungle Book #25 $17.11m; The Little Mermaid #210 $8.55m; Alice in Wonderland #235 $8.2m, Maleficent #220 $8.37m; Aladdin #59 $13.24m, Mufasa: The Lion King #75 $12.05m
55th biggest between Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II; 2nd biggest 2025 behind A Minecraft Movie $423.67m and ahead of Sinners $272.54m; 29th biggest Disney film between Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 and Finding Nemo.
Fifth weekends
2002’s Lilo & Stitch dropped 38% $4.97m and $128.43m of $145.79m/$288.9m and $273.14m/$542m WW
2010’s Alice in Wonderland dropped 53.6% $8.2m, and $309.73m of $334.19m/$487.52m and $1.025bn/$1.495bn worldwide
2016’s The Jungle Book dropped 30.1% $17.11m, and $311.11m of $364m/$484.4m and $966.55m/$1.286bn worldwide
2019’s Aladdin dropped 23.5% $13.24m and $288.54m of $355.55m and $1.050bn worldwide
2023’s The Little Mermaid dropped 22.6% $8.55m, and $270.12m of $298.17m and $569.62m worldwide
Similar to last year’s Moana 2 up 43.1% $18.9m and $395.3m of $460.4m and $1.059bn worldwide, which is the real reason why Lilo & Stitch opened as it did as the audience who saw Moana 2 returned to see Lilo & Stitch and will return in November to see Zootopia 2, but many of them won’t see Elio opening in three weeks despite having a similar plot to Lilo % Stitch and made by Pixar.
While 2019’s The Lion King dropped 39% $12.33m and $496.54m of $543.63m and $1.662bn worldwide
2017’s Beauty and the Beast dropped 42.1% $13.7m, and $454.72m of $504.5m/$670.7m $1.266bn/$1.68bn worldwide
Took $19.7m and $523.6m from 52 territories and $910.2m worldwide; Mexico $64.2m; UK $46.3m; France $37.1m; Brazil $34.5m; Germany $29m; China $24.9m; Spain $23.9m; Italy $23.8m; Argentina – $18.2m; Australia $17.8m.
76th biggest worldwide between The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and Star Wars Ep. III: Revenge of the Sith; the 3rd biggest 2025 worldwide behind Ne Zha 2 $1.98bn, and A Minecraft Movie $951.2m; 34th biggest Disney between Finding Nemo and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2.
- Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning – Paramount Pictures
Down 39% in its fifth weekend, $6.45m #5 and $178.28m
378th biggest fifth weekend between Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw and Mission: Impossible (close to 22 Jump Street, The Bourne Supremacy, Fast Five and John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum).
The 311th biggest between Pretty Woman and Hitch; 6th biggest 2025 between Thunderbolts* and Final Destination: Bloodlines; 41st biggest Paramount Pictures between Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Captain America: The First Avenger
The Final Reckoning has overtaken the US BO of Dead Reckoning Part 1; it’s the fifth biggest of the series and will overtake the first film by the end of the week. The Mission: Impossible films, except for the third film, have all taken similar US BO. After Mission: Impossible was released in 2006, it looked like it was the end for Tom Cruise at Paramount Pictures and the final film of the series.
Tom Cruise has now had 23 films that have taken over $100m at the US box office. In the late 80s and 90s, Tom Cruise was the world’s biggest film star, starring in Top Gun, Rain Man, Days of Thunder, A Few Good Men, The Firm, Interview with a Vampire, Mission: Impossible, Jerry Maguire, Vanilla Sky, and Minority Report. The Last Samurai, Collateral, War of the Worlds and Edge of Tomorrow.
When a film took $100m in the US, BO was the sign of a hit. Now, with films costing many times more than they did 40 years ago, ticket prices are similarly more expensive films can take $100m+ within a few days.
Tom Cruise used to bookend the Mission: Impossible films after making original films. Making Jerry Maguire, Eyes Wide Shut, and Magnolia between the first two films. Vanilla Sky, Minority Report, The Last Samurai, Collateral and War of the Worlds before the third film in 2006.
Since making his acting debut in 1981’s Endless Love, Tom Cruise’s films have taken $5.52bn at the US box office and $13.3bn worldwide; eight Mission: Impossible films have taken $1.5bn in the US and $4.7bn worldwide.
Fifth weekends
1996’s Mission: Impossible dropped 25.2% $6.44m, and $156.23m of $180.98m/$471.3m
2000’s Mission: Impossible II dropped 33.2% $7.58m and $188.9m/$403m of $215.4m/$460m and $546.38m/$1.16bn WW.
2006’s Mission: Impossible III dropped 33.1% $4.68m and $122.66m/$215.6m of $134.02m/$235.2m and $398.47m/$700.2m WW
2011’s MI- Ghost Protocol dropped 41.2% $11.68m and $186.93m/$270.3m of $209.4m/$302.8m and $694.71m/$1bn WW
2015’s MI- Rogue Nation dropped 28.8% $8.15m and $170.24m/$232.4m of $195.04m/$266.3m and $682.71m/$932.2m WW
2018’s MI- Fallout dropped 24.9% $8.08m and $193.98m of $220.15m and $791.1m WW
2023’s MI- Dead Reckoning Part 1 dropped 30.3% $4.6m, and $159.49m of $172.64m and $571.12m worldwide
Taken $74.5m from IMAX worldwide; took $31m US and $38m internationally; IMAX had three weeks for The Final Reckoning compared to only one for Dead Reckoning Part 1.
Took $12.8m from 66 territories, taking $362.5m and $540.78m; China $60.6m; UK $32.9m; Japan $30.2m; Korea $22.5m; France $21.8m
227th biggest worldwide between Cinderella and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows; 4th biggest in 2025 between Lilo & Stitch and Captain America: Brave New World; 86th biggest action film between X-Men: Apocalypse and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows; 26th biggest Paramount Pictures between Mission: Impossible 2 and World War Z.
UK Box Office Top 10
UK Box Office Preview
F1 received positive reviews, but many have said it feels like a 2-hour+ promotional film as it was made with full cooperation with F1, so as the BBC review said, “There is no wisp of criticism or scepticism, and no hint of anything exploitative or sleazy.” For F1 fans, it’s must-see; the question is, will it play beyond with clunky dialogue? Last year’s British Grand Prix was watched by 2.2m on Sky Sports. In 2024, Formula 1 has a global fanbase of 826.5m, the question is how many will see the film in cinemas?
Brad Pitt was reunited with Tom Cruise at the UK premiere of F1; they previously starred together in 1994’s Interview With A Vampire and in 2013 were both attached to star in Le Mans ’66/Ford v Ferrari, then called Go To Hell, with Joseph Kosinski attached to direct. Several years later, Christian Bale and Matt Damon were cast with James Mangold directing.
F1 has been described as Top Gun Maverick on land, and Tom Cruise starred in 1990’s Days of Thunder was also called Top Gun on Land and seen as a secret Top Gun sequel, and since Top Gun: Maverick opened, Tom Cruise has been talking about a Days of Thunder 2.
Car racing films have had mixed success at the box office, including.
2019’s Le Mans ’66 opened £2,000,000/£2,193,906 taking £5,919,482/£6,493,393
2023’s Ferrari opened £1,981,677 (£975,272 previews) taking £3,850,021
2013’s Rush opened £2,099,308/£2,546,174, taking £10,052,403/£12,192,195
2008’s Speed Racer opened £362,102/£551,509, taking £1,615,794/£2,460,979
1990’s Days of Thunder opened £590,553/£1,664,477, taking £3,430,086/£9,667,716
Brad Pitt is coming off recent successes. 2022’s Bullet Train opened £2,858,197, taking £10,766,199 and 2019’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood opened £7,544,445 (£2,435,523 previews) taking £20,851,025.
Has a 5-day opening (opened Wednesday), has IMAX/PLF screens for a week before Jurassic World: Rebirth opens and will take 40% of the opening from IMAX/PLF.
F1 will open with about £6m-£8m, including £2m from previews Weds/Thurs.
28 Years Later will drop about 60% (45% without previews) in its second weekend, having a similar second weekend drop as Trainspotting 2, taking £1.7m-£2.5m
How To Train Your Dragon will drop about 40%+ in its third weekend, taking £1.5m-£1.8m
Buzz for M3GAN 2.0 has been much softer than the original film, as the tagline “Hold on to your vaginas bitches” hasn’t become the same internet sensation the first film was, after M£GAN had strong success opening in January why release the sequel in crowded June. 2023’s M3GAN opened £2,356,357 taking £6,953,411, M3GAN 2.0 will open with half as much.
Miley Cyrus: Something Beautiful also opens with screenings on Friday only.
Opening in three weeks
- I Know What You Did Last Summer – Sony Pictures
The fourth instalment in the IKWYDLS franchise and sequel to 1998’s I Still Know What You Did Last Summer starring Madelyn Cline, Chase Sui Wonders, Jonah Hauer-King, Tyriq Withers, Sarah Pidgeon, Billy Campbell, Gabbriette Bechtel, Austin Nichols, Freddie Prinze Jr. and Jennifer Love Hewitt and directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson.
Takes place 27 years after the Tower Bay murders from the second film, when events repeat themselves with another hook-wielding killer targeting a group of people one year after they covered up a car accident.
Plans for a fourth film began in 2014, but was cancelled, and a TV series was made in 2021 instead; plans restarted for a fourth film in 2023. The sequel ignores events of the third film, 2006’s I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer (which was direct-to-video). Sarah Michelle Gellar was asked if she would return in the sequel, which would be hard as she died in the first film.
As with the original film, as original Final Destination and Scream films, the cast for the fourth film are young actors from popular TV shows.
- Smurfs – Paramount Pictures
Live-action animated musical comedy and reboot of The Smurfs film series featuring the voices of Rihanna, James Corden, Nick Offerman, Daniel Levy, Amy Sedaris, Natasha Lyonne, Sandra Oh, Jimmy Kimmel, Octavia Spencer, Hannah Waddingham, Alex Winter, Kurt Russell, and John Goodman and directed by Chris Miller previously directed Shrek the Third and Puss in Boots.
2011’s The Smurfs opened £3,778,085/£4,968,868 (£1.47m from previews Weds/Thurs), taking £16,761,850/£22,044,875
2013’s The Smurfs 2 £3,220,911/£3,931,188 (£1.45m from previews) taking £11,477,946/£14,009,070
2017’s Smurfs: The Lost Village opened £1,383,059/£1,471,693 (£467k previews), taking £5,241,521
- Friendship – Paramount Pictures
Black comedy starring Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd and directed by Andrew DeYoung; had its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, also screening at SXSW and was released in the US by A24 in May, receiving positive reviews; opened $444,759, taking $15.68m.
Paramount’s Republic Pictures acquired international rights in May 2023. Paramount relaunched Republic Pictures as the studio’s acquisition company, similar to Stage 6 Films at Sony.
