- F1 The Movie £7,071,647 – NE
Took £2,147,964 from previews 30.4% (Weds/Thurs)
Took £1.45m 20.51% Friday; £1.98m Saturday 28% £1.51m 21.37% Sunday.
195th biggest opening between X-Men: The Last Stand and Aladdin (close to Justice League, Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny, Avatar and The Martian) and 295th biggest inflated opening between Sing 2 and Superman Returns (close to Rocky IV, Tomorrow Never Dies, Back to the Future Part II and Batman (1989).
14th biggest opening over the last 52 weeks between Beetlejuice 2 and Captain America: Brave New World (close to Gladiator 2, Mission Impossible 8, Thunderbolts and Joker: Folie à Deux); 6th biggest 2025 opening between How To Train Your Dragon and Captain America: Brave New World
Took 12% from 50 IMAX cinemas (£760k) and another 40%+ from PLF/other premium formats; had the second-best IMAX opening of the year after Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (£870k)
5-day opening was 12.41% of the US opening and 8.64% of the 3-day opening, as F1 is more popular in the UK would have expected F1 to open higher, especially after taking £2.1m over 2 days of previews, the hot weather will be used as an excuse but all the holdovers held well despite the heat. Maybe the audience is opting to wait to see it in IMAX as a film that plays to older audiences, they don’t rush out to see it over opening weekend, so it will be interesting to see how it performs Mon-Thurs, especially Weds/Thurs against JW4.
39th widest opening in 703 cinemas (1,657 screens); between Belfast and Killers Of The Flower Moon; 41st 709+ cinema opening since 2017’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi
The industry regular makes hyperbolic statements about how a film has opened. They called F1 a strong opening despite two years ago Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny opening the same weekend with very similar BO in both the UK and US, and was seen as a disappointment. Make me think of the line in the film The American President: “In the absence of genuine leadership, they’ll listen to anyone who steps up to the microphone. They want leadership. They’re so thirsty for it they’ll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there’s no water, they’ll drink the sand”. The industry is so desperate for an original film to be a hit that they will lower their expectations on what is a hit, despite everyone knowing it’s just hyperbolic nonsense.
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.
While Tom Cruise is the “Last Action Hero”, Brad Pitt is the “Last Charismatic Movie Star” of the 90s and 00s ahead of George Clooney, Tom Cruise, Leonardo DiCaprio and Johnny Depp. Brad Pitt has been smouldering on the cinema screen ever since 1991’s Thelma & Louise. Away from the Ocean’s Trilogy, starred in a much wider mix of mostly original films in many iconic roles, including True Romance, Interview with the Vampire, Legends of the Fall, Se7en, 12 Monkeys, Meet Joe Black, and Fight Club in the 90s. Snatch, Troy, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Burn After Reading and Inglourious Basterds in the noughties.
Joseph Kosinski developed the smallest movable 6k IMAX camera ever designed to take the viewer into the cockpit, as he did with Top Gun: Maverick; it had never been used before in a film.
2022’s Top Gun: Maverick opened £15,931,497 (£4,735,406 previews) taking £83,575,590
2013’s Oblivion opened £4,959,386/£6,015,059, taking £10,486,465/£12,718,653
2010’s Tron Legacy opened £1,970,692/£2,623,173, taking £10,069,754/£13,403,773
PostTrak exit poll received 4 stars and a 94% Total Positive rating; the biggest draws to see the film were genre/type of film (39%) and the subject matter/plot (38%), and Brad Pitt 29%.
After having a 5-day opening and taking 30%+ of its opening, Weds/Thurs will drop about 60% against Jurassic World: Rebirth. F1 holds on to IMAX screens for another two weeks until Superman, but loses PLF and other premium formats.
- 2 28 Years Later £2,379,963 – £9,704,462
Down 51% in its second weekend (39% without previews)
£746k 31.4% (-39.3% £1.23m) Fri; £944k 39.7% (-31.6% £1.38m) Sat; £690k 29% (22.3% £1.27m -77.7%) Sun
376th biggest second weekend between Aquaman and Star Wars Special Edition (close to Django Unchained, Van Helsing, Planet of the Apes and Minority Report) and 643rd biggest inflated second weekend between Dumb and Dumber and Miss Peregrine’s Home for… (close to Mars Attacks, Shutter Island, Cool Runnings and The X- Files)
18th biggest second weekend over the last 52 weeks between Sinners and Thunderbolts (close to It Ends with Us, Sonic The Hedgehog 3, Venom: The Last Dance and Alien: Romulus); 8th biggest 2025 second weekend.
6th biggest horror second weekend between Sinners and The Blair Witch Project (close to Paranormal Activity 2, Split, Nosferatu and The Final Destination) and 19th biggest inflated horror second weekend between Scream 2 and Final Destination 3 (close to What Lies Beneath, Paranormal Activity, The Exorcist (RE) and Final Destination).
It’s the third biggest horror in 2025 after Nosferatu (£12.9m) and Final Destination: Bloodlines (£11.5m).
In an interview with Danny Boyle, he talks about the studio’s reaction to extreme gore and nudity, but then the film gets a 15 certificate. 28 Days Later was an 18, as were the two Trainspotting films and fans expected an 18, and it would have done better as an 18, its incredible 28 Years Later has the same certificate as M£GAN 2.0, as tonally they are vastly different films.
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. 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, I was more focused on the horror to see the horror within.
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 dropped 43.9% £798,771/£1,564,178 and £4,763,428 38.3% of £12,431,663/£24,344,067
2017’s T2 Trainspotting dropped 42.3% £2,935,145/£3,123,245 and £10,638,197 62.7% of £16,956,434/£18,043,095
2002’s 28 Days Later dropped 28.5% £1,073,042/£1,993,507 and £3,338,507 53.5% of £6,238,016/£11,589,041
2007’s 28 Weeks Later dropped 43.9% £882,692/£1,393,080 and £3,335,395, 62.8% of £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.
28 Years Later is the 6th biggest Danny Boyle film, ahead of 127 Hours (£7.7m) and 28 Days Later (£6.3m).
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 dropped 0.6% £555,505/£1,264,253 and £2,282,383 44.9% of £5,075,847/£11,551,928
1997’s A Life Less Ordinary dropped 31.1% £548,022/£1,066,421 and £1,979,406 58.6% of £3,376,442/£6,570,374
2000’s The Beach dropped 18.7% £1,966,210/£3,761,445 and £5,899,002 44.2% of £3,332,236/£25,505,147
2005’s Millions dropped 3.7% £282,294/£474,685 and £1,039,016 71.5% of £1,453,171/£2,443,549
2007’s Sunshine dropped 56.6% £443,368/£695,341 and £2,245,583 71% of £3,163,317/£4,961,083
2009’s Slumdog Millionaire up 44% £2,630,820/£3,830,164 and £5,959,416 18.8% of £31,660,043/£46,093,298
2011’s 127 Hours dropped 38.1% £1,342,432/£1,754,466 and £4,367,411 56.7% of £7,705,020/£10,069,927
2013’s Trance dropped 54.7% £722,027/£875,720 and £3,314,299 75.7% of £4,374,590/£5,305,781
2015’s Steve Jobs dropped 55.3% £404,026 and £1,776,129 50.8% of £2,282,033/£2,506,755
2019’s Yesterday dropped 26.4% £1,628,468 and £5,620,084 40.7% of £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.
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).
- 3 How To Train Your Dragon £1,996,805 – £15,925,368
Down 29.3% in its third weekend
£399k 31.4% (-15.1% £470k) Fri; £853k 42.74% (-23.84% £1.12m) Sat; £740k 37.27% (-52.46% £1.3m) Sun
256th biggest third weekend between The Girl on the Train and Transformers: Dark Of The Moon (close to Dolittle, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, Trolls, and Night At The Museum) and 457th biggest inflated third weekend between Taken 3 and Sex and the City 2 (close to Waterworld, Ghostbusters 2, Arachnophobia and Dumb and Dumber)
It’s the 8th biggest 2025 film between Dog Man (£13.7m) and Sinners (£16.1m).
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.
Third weekends
2010’s How to Train Your Dragon dropped 8.3% £1,282,519/£1,717,929 and £13,089,419 76.2% of £17,168,517/£22,997,156
2014’s How to Train Your Dragon 2 dropped 47.2% £990,959/£1,065,849 and £15,111,906, 61.2% of £24,690,123/£26,556,043
2019’s How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World dropped 40% £1,649,759/£1,821,133 and £11,498,639, 58.33% 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.
429th biggest between Dolittle and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (close to The Muppets, Casper, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked) and 731st biggest inflated between the Perfect Storm and Epic (close to War of the Roses, While You Were Sleeping, Dr. Dolittle 2 and Dick Tracy).
- 4 Elio £765,540 – £2,075,160
Dropped 21.3% in its second weekend.
£124k 16.2% (-17.3% £150k) Friday; £381k 44.4% (-10.8% £381k) Sat; £300k 39.35% (-40.63% £440k) Sun
1,449th biggest second weekend between Exorcism of Emily Rose and Planet 51 (close to Father of the Bride 2, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, A Fish Called Wanda and Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery) and 2,016th biggest inflated second weekend between Nuns on the Run and The Three Musketeers (close Fantastic Four (2015), Hocus Pocus, Picture Perfect and Failure to Launch).
43rd biggest second weekend over the last 52 weeks between Conclave and Babygirl (close to Better Man, The Amateur, Black Bag and Transformers One); 20th biggest 2025 second weekend between The Amateur and Babygirl.
185th biggest animated second weekend between Anastasia and Planet 51 (close to The Tigger Movie, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, Monsters, Inc. 3D and Toy Story 2 (Digital 3-D) and 200th biggest inflated second weekend animated opening between Sherlock Gnomes and The Angry Birds Movie 2 (close to Piglet’s Big Movie, The Jungle Book (1988 RE), Bambi (1993 re) and The Fox and the Hound (1988 re)
Elio’s second weekend is predictably Pixar’s lowest in the UK, below COVID-affected 2020’s Onward £1,272,748 and The Good Dinosaur (£1,701,333) and Cars 3 (£1,636,488)
As with other Pixar films, Elio had a strong second weekend hold. The problem, of course, was that it started so low with its opening and with no other children’s releases until Smurfs in three weeks should have decent holds over the next few weeks, but still won’t take close to £5m; 2020’s Onward is Pixar’s current lowest film taking £7,308,920 (COVID affected).
Recent Original Pixar second weekends
2023’s Elemental dropped 18.7% £2,477,972 and £6,630,843 35.8% of £18,151,466
2018’s Coco dropped 55.6% £2,315,450 and £8,165,400 45.3% of £18,013,336
Elio was originally due to be released in March 2024, but the film had extensive changes; this is evident by seeing the first teaser trailer released over two years ago and the second teaser released 6 months ago. They look like hugely different films, according to THR, “Elio originally featured an 11-year-old ‘queer-coded’ protagonist, including subtle visual cues (posters, bedroom details) pointing to a same-sex crush.”
After a test screening, the audience was asked if they would pay to see it in cinemas, and no one said yes (but surely after they had seen it for free, why would they go and pay to see it in the cinema? Do they ask the same question to all who attend test screenings? Will you pay to see it again in the cinema?
The original budget was $150m, but many have said the real budget after all the reshoots was $300m, but of course, we will never know the true figure.
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+).
- 5 Lilo & Stitch £539,281 – £35,064,308
Down 19.5% in its sixth weekend
£91k 16.9% (-59.9% £227k) Fri; £242k 44.9% (-9.02% £266k) Sat; £221k 38.2% (£337k -38.9%) Sun
255th biggest sixth weekend between Tarzan and Hotel Transylvania 2 (close to Stuart Little, Home Alone, Fantastic Beasts 2 and Fatal Attraction) and 448th biggest sixth weekend, inflated between The Santa Clause 2 and Peter Rabbit (close to Batman Returns, Groundhog Day, Bird on a Wire, and Waterworld).
Showing how front-loaded Lilo & Stitch has been after having the fifth biggest opening for reimagination, it’s now the 9th biggest Disney reimagination, sixth weekend, between Cinderella and Christopher Robin (close to Alice in Wonderland, Dumbo, Maleficent 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 easily 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 dropped 64.5% £378,397/£702,989 and £12,257,547 95.1% 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.
Predictably, Disney have announced plans for a sequel. Will it be based on one of the many straight-to-DVD sequels?
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 lucrative 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.
123rd biggest between Jurassic World Dominion and Inception (close to Jumanji: The Next Level, Die Another Day, Ice Age III and Up) and 252nd inflated between Black Panther Wakanda Forever and The Fugitive (close to Transformers, Deadpool 2, Jurassic Park 3 and Armageddon).
Also Opened
- M3GAN 2.0 – Universal Pictures
Opened £508,947 #6 taking £186k Fri; £185k Sat; £140k Sun.
After 2023’s M3GAN opened £2,356,357, taking £6,953,411 supported by a hugely popular viral marketing campaign, which was lacking in the sequel with buzz much softer than the original film, as the tagline “Hold on to your vaginas bitches” hasn’t become the same internet sensation.
Ahead of the reason of M£GAN 2.0 said he could see another five films, and there could have been had it opened in January as the first one opened. Universal Pictures originally dated the sequel for January 2025, but it was pushed back to May and then June 2025 as the studio must have thought a summer release would see it have a bigger opening.
One of the problems for M£GAN 2.0 is that it had a 15 certificate despite being a PG-13 in the US, being the same certificate as 2 Years Later, despite the two films being tonally completely different, 28 Years Later is a social horror, while M3GAN 2.0 is futuristic comedic horror.
Most Blumhouse Productions have disappointed since 2023’s Five Nights at Freddy’s, including Imaginary, Wolf Man, The Woman in the Yard and Drop. As with Drop, M3GAN 2.0 received positive reviews, with many saying it’s better than the original film.
Upcoming Blumhouse films include Black Phone 2, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 and M£GAN spinoff SOULM8TE.
BO is currently 20% up from last year, but this will likely drop over the next few weeks as it’s hard to see how F1, Jurassic World 4, Superman, Smurfs, I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Fantastic Four, The Bad Guys 2, The Naked Gun, Freakier Friday, Weapons, Nobody 2 and The Conjuring: Last Rites will top Deadpool & Wolverine £57.6m; Despicable Me 4 £48.26m; Beetlejuice 2 £26.3m; It Ends with Us £21.24m; Twisters £14.4m; Alien: Romulus £13.1m; A Quiet Place: Day One £9.51m; Longlegs £8.1m.
BO will end about 10% up from 2025, with admissions up slightly; it’s films like The Salt Path and (£7.1m) and The Ballad of Wallis Island (£1.5m) that are far more important titles than the tentpoles that have predictable audiences who will see them.
• Clueless (30th Anniversary 4K Re-Issue) – Paramount Pictures
Opened £45,850 #17 from 353 screens (limited shows)
It’s seen as one of the best teen films of all time and has been beloved by audiences ever since it opened.
Clueless opened in the UK in October 1995, several months after opening in the US with £638,212/£1,452,482 at 196 screens, taking £3,802,232/£8,653,356 but over the decades since has become a massive hit on video/DVD.
A TV show based on the film ran for three seasons, starring many of the cast from the film, apart from Alicia Silverstone, as she had a two-film deal with Sony Pictures, but only one was made, 1997’s Excess Baggage, which underperformed at the box office. Despite being fully involved in the casting and production of the film didn’t receive a producer credit on Excess Baggage. The film opened two months after starring in Batman & Robin underperformed. Alicia Silverstone never made the second film for Sony Pictures.
It’s been recently announced that Alicia Silverstone will star in a new Clueless TV show.
———-
The weekend’s top 10 box office took £14,072,301, up 29.9% from last weekend’s £10,835,871: 1,818,127 admissions, up 29.9% from 1,399,983 admissions.
The 16th biggest weekend of the last 52 weeks was between 02 August 2024 #1 Deadpool and Wolverine £8,021,084 (55.56%) and 09 August 2024 #1 It Ends With Us £4,516,760 (32.29%)
45th biggest since cinemas reopened out of 241 weeks between 03 June 2022 #1 Top Gun Maverick £10,325,500 (72.66%) and 09 August 2024 #1 It Ends With Us £4,516,760 (32.29%)
306th biggest top 10 of the last 24 years (out of 1,212) between 10 May 2013 #1 Star Trek: Into Darkness £8,431,574 (59.84%) and 13 January 2017 #1 La La Land £6,596,25 (46.96%) and 560th inflated between 11 February 2022 #1 Uncharted £4,705,948 (34.41%) and 09 August 2019 #1 The Lion King £4,366,824 (34.57%)
The top 3 took £11,448,415 (81.3%) of the top 10; F1 50.2% (£7,071,647); 28 Years Later 16.9% (£2,379,963); How To Train Your Dragon 14.19% (£1,996,805)
282nd biggest percentage share #1 (50.25%) between 22 July 2011 #1 Harry Potter Deathly Hallows Part 2 £8,523,417 (50.26%) and 22 November 2002 #1 Die Another Day £9,122,344 (50.07%)
323rd biggest admissions #1 (913,649) between 09 July 2021 #1 Black Widow £6,889,187 (916,115) and 24 May 2013 #1 The Hangover Part III £5,964,619 (913,418)
Up 16.27% from 2024; (£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 3rd weeks down 23% 719 screens (49.6% of top 10)
Up 5.75% from 2023; (£13,307,283); Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny (£7,144,441); Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken (£885,056); #1 Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny £7,144,441 743 screens 1st week (53.69%)
Down 5.75% from 2022 (£14,973,318); Elvis (£4,023,573); The Black Phone (£1,384,344); George Michael Freedom Uncut (£68,399); First Blood (40th Anniversary 4K Restoration) (£11,880); #1 Elvis £4,023,573 1st week 740 screens (26.9% of top 10)
Up 41.7%% 2021 from (£9,931,625); Fast & Furious 9 (£6,014,132); Supernova (£245,715); Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds (£212,334); #1 Fast & Furious 9 £6,014,132 1st week 594 screens (60.6% of top 10)
2020 Lockdown
Up 3.86% from 2019; (£13,549,874); Yesterday (£2,212,380); Apollo 11 (£324,732); #1 Toy Story 4 £8,284,437 2nd week 37% drop 691 screens (61.1% of top 10)
Up 117.16% from 2018: (£6,480,095); Sicario 2: Soldado (£698,466); Tag (£475,373); Adrift (£405,240); Patrick (£299,862); The Bookshop (£65,558); Leave No Trace (£50,445); Zoo (£12,516); #1 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom £2,001,876 3rd week 4th week on release 633 screens 38% drop (30.9% of top 10)
Down 28.31% from 2017: (£19,630,337); Despicable Me 3 (£11,154,904); Baby Driver (£3,605,705); All Eyez on Me (£912,662); The House (£487,542); Alone in Berlin (£108,047); #1 Despicable Me 3 £11,154,904 1st week 608 screens (56.8% of top 10)
Down 8.11% from 2016: (£15,368,987); Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie (£4,042,959); Central Intelligence (£3,050,261); Notes on Blindness (£20,049); #1 The Secret Life Of Pets £4,739,295 2nd week 601 screens 51% drop (30.8% of the top 10)
Down 28.58% from 2015; (£19,704,414); Minions (£11,558,946); Knock Knock (£250,825); Slow West (£140,858); The Terminator (Re: 2015) (£66,492); She’s Funny That Way (£22,311); Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief (£16,849); Everly (£160); #1 Minions £11,558,946 1st week 571 screens (58.6% of top 10)
Up 34.42% from 2014: (£10,468,569); Mrs. Brown’s Boys d’Movie (£4,301,306); Chef (£605,976); How to Train Your Dragon 2 (Scotland) (£604,325); Walking on Sunshine (£403,490); Cold in July (£156,783); Seve (£47,294); #1 Mrs. Brown’s Boys d’Movie £4,301,306 1st week 522 screens (41.1% of top 10)
Down 35.96% from 2013: (£21,973,402); Despicable Me 2 (£14,822,427); This is the End (£1,390,323); Hummingbird (£206,731); The East (£65,523); Stand Up Guys (£44,845); #1 Despicable Me 2 £14,822,427 1st week 534 screens (67.4% of top 10)
Up 172.64% from 2012 (£5,161,480); Ice Age: Continental Drift – Scotland only (£853,226); Friends with Kids (£357,520); Killer Joe (£208,553); Storage 24 (£131,342); Your Sister’s Sister (£81,098); Joyful Noise (£32,205); #1 Ice Age: Continental Drift (Scotland only) £853,226 1st week 134 screens (16.5% of top 10)
Down 8.75% from 2011; (£15,422,378); Transformers: Dark of the Moon (£10,728,503); Larry Crowne (£346,486); A Separation (£55,511); The Conspirator (£39,217); #1 Transformers: Dark of the Moon £10,728,503 1st week 521 screens (69.5% of top 10)
Up 26.89% from 2010: (£11,090,024); Shrek Forever After (£8,955,554); Heartbreaker (£119,742);; #1 Shrek Forever After £8,955,554 1st week 539 screens (80.7% of top 10)
Up 43.92% from 2009; (£9,778,033); Year One (£978,008); My Sister’s Keeper (£922,947); Blood: The Last Vampire (£232,190); #1 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen £4,368,024 2nd week 521 screens 48% drop (44.6% of top 10)
Up 25.94% from 2008; (£11,174,084); Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (£4,060,532); Wanted (£3,814,055); Female Agents (£68,412); A Complete History of My Sexual Failures (£12,772); #1 Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian £4,060,532 1st week 546 screens (36.3% of top 10)
Down 33.42% from 2007: (£21,135,733); Shrek the Third (£16,671,727); Hostel 2 (£681,426); The Flying Scotsman (£60,754); #1 Shrek the Third £16,671,727 1st week 536 screens (78.8% of top 10)
Up 121.16% from 2006; (£6,362,835); Over the Hedge (£3,589,038); Just My Luck (£579,306); Cave of the Yellow Dog (£12,623); #1 Over the Hedge £3,589,038 1st week 504 screens (56.4% of top 10)
Up 18.17% from 2005: (£11,909,005); War of the Worlds (£8,644,787); #1 War of the Worlds £8,644,787 1st week 507 screens (72.59% of top 10)
Up 161.04% from 2004 (£5,390,891); The Ladykillers (£565,137); The Notebook (£309,507); Eurotrip (£147,439); You Got Served (£68,255); #1 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban £2,029,289 4th week 499 screens 40% drop (37.6% of top 10)
Up 36.24% from 2003 (£10,329,409); Bruce Almighty (£7,260,467); Wrong Turn (£370,562); Nicholas Nickleby (£222,376); Biker Boyz (£65,412); Feardotcom (£23,025); #1 Bruce Almighty £7,260,467 1st week 446 screens (70.3% of top 10)
Up 156.79% from 2002 (£5,480,099); Murder by Numbers (£729,164); Big Fat Liar (£406,105); Birthday Girl (£237,165); Rollerball (£136,243); What’s The Worst That Could Happen? (£69,194) #1 Spider-Man: The Movie £2,605,993 3rd week 507 screens 39% drop (47.5% of top 10)
2024 Next week: (£8,755,143); MaXXXine (£388,043); Blue Lock The Movie – Episode Nagi (£118,565); The Mummy (25th Anniversary 4K Restoration) (£101,404); Kill (£74,884); The Conversation (50th Anniversary 4K Restoration) (£24,498); #1 Inside Out 2 £5,127,182 4th week 15% drop 728 screens (58.56% of top 10)
US Box Office
- F1 – Warner Bros
Opened $57m; received positive reviews (83% Rotten Tomatoes) and A CinemaScore
Took $10m from previews (includes $7m from Thursday and $3m from other previews); MI -The Final Reckoning 8.3m; Gladiator II $6.5m; Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood $5.8m; Dune $5.1m; Sinners $4.7m; Bullet Train $4.6m; Ford v. Ferrari $2.1m
235th biggest opening between Sex and the City and John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Mission: Impossible II, Fantastic Four, and No Time to Die)
It always amazes me how industry reaction is always so over the top in both ways. If a film performs as expected, F1, they are so desperate to call an original film a hit, especially after their immediate reaction to Sinners. As 60% of F1 BO is from IMAX/PLF, it artificially inflates its BO higher than what was expected.
Audience breakdown was 62% male, 38% female, 53% under 35, 47% 35+.
F1 was tracking to open between $40m-$50m and take $75m internationally, opening with about $120m worldwide, taking a large percentage of BO from IMAX and other premium formats.
Has IMAX screens for two weeks until Superman opens, and opened in PLF/Dolby/ScreenX and 4DX screens; 58% of Friday’s BO was from IMAX/PLF.
Took $12.8m from 414 IMAX cinemas, 23% of the opening; the 8th biggest IMAX opening.
Took $27.7m from IMAX; $12.8m US and $14.9m international.
The question with F1 was how it would play in the US, as F1 isn’t as popular in the US as seen by 2013’s Rush opening $10.01m, taking $26.94m and $95.22m worldwide; so in the US, Brad Pitt and selling it as Top Gun on Earth, this was similar to how 1990’s Days of Thunder was sold as many believed it was a Top Gun sequel having many similar plot elements and also directed by Tony Scott.
Apple offered $10 discount when customers bought two or more tickets on Fandango.
Brad Pitt has had a long and successful career to date, starring in over 50 films since starring in 1991’s Thelma & Louise. Starring in a wide mix of films, taking $3.55bn in the US and $9bn worldwide. 15 films to date, taking $100m+ in the US. These films include his cameo in Deadpool 2.
Brad Pitt most recently starred in
2022’s Bullet Train opened $30.03m, taking $103.36m and $239.26m worldwide
2019’s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood opened $41.08m, taking $142.5m and $392.1m worldwide
Brad Pitt’s biggest opening
2013’s World War Z opened $66.41m, taking $202.8m and $540.45m worldwide
F1 is the first film directed by Joseph Kosinski since 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick; Apple Studios acquired the film in June 2022, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. In 2022, Apple Studios was building a slate of high-profile films after CODA won the Best Picture Oscar for Apple a few months earlier. In March 2023, Apple announced plans to spend $1bn a year to make 12-15 films to be released in cinemas.
F1 had a budget of $300m.
Joseph Kosinski previously directed.
2010’s TRON: Legacy opened $44.02m, taking $172.06m and $400.07m worldwide
Oblivion opened $37.05m, taking $89.1m and $286.16m worldwide.
2017’s Only the Brave $6m, taking $18.34m and $26.35m worldwide
2022’s Top Gun Maverick opened $126.7m, taking $718.73m and $1.495bn worldwide
Also directed 2022’s Spiderhead, released on Netflix
Joseph Kosinski was a surprised choice to direct Top Gun 2, as were other high-profile directors attached, including Ridley Scott (his brother Tony Scott directed the original died in 2012) and Christopher McQuarrie, who directed several Mission: Impossible films.
Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt were attached to star in Ford v. Ferrari, then called Go To Hell, it was going to be The Right Stuff on the racetrack, with Joseph Kosinski attached to direct in 2011, but they dropped out, and after several more years of development, Matt Damon and Christian Bale took the leads with James Mangold directing
2019’s Ford v. Ferrari opened $31.47m, taking $117.62m and $226.29m worldwide
While F1 has a lot of similarities in plot to Tom Cruise’s 1990s Day of Thunder opened $15.49m/$42.3m, taking $82.67m/$225.5m and $157.92m/$430.8m worldwide; during interviews for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, Tom Cruise has talked again about wanting to do Top Gun 3 and Days of Thunder 2 (the original was also directed by Tony Scott).
The problem was that the films Apple were going to make were the films studios had struggled to make over previous years, as they would be original films, cast and director-led led as Apple doesn’t own any existing IPs. Exhibitor reaction to Apple was initially incredibly positive, but despite exhibitors repeatedly saying they needed more films, these aren’t the films they wanted. These are film studios used regularly for over a decade but now struggle to find an audience why so many of them have gone straight to streaming.
Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon opened $23.25m, taking $68.03m and $158.77m worldwide.
Matthew Vaughn’s Argylle opened $17.47m, taking $45.2m and $96.22m worldwide.
Ridley Scott’s Napoleon opened $20.63m, taking $61.52m and $221.39m worldwide.
Greg Berlanti’s Fly Me To The Moon opened $9.4m, taking $20.53m and $42.26m worldwide.
After these films underperformed, Jon Watts’s Wolfs starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt, which was to have a wide release by Sony Pictures in September 2024, went straight to Apple streaming. This was due to Warner Bros acquiring F1/Apex, as after releasing several Apple Studios films, they would have thought they were in the driver’s seat to acquire the film, but were gazumped by Warner Bros. Last year, Warner Bros acquired several high-profile original films, including Ryan Coogler’s Sinners. Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride, Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another and Untitled Alejandro G. Iñárritu Film, in response to Christopher Nolan moving to Universal Pictures.
Interestingly, when the package was being sold in January, Warner Bros were notably absent from the company’s bidding for it (Paramount, MGM, Sony and Universal, Apple, Netflix and Amazon)
Will the strong opening for F1 see Apple try again to make high-profile films? They currently don’t have any schedule for this year and next, but have announced plans for F1 sequel, another film from director Joseph Kosinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and Mayday starring Ryan Reynolds.
Opened $88.4m from 78 territories and $144m worldwide; UK $9.2m; China $9m; Mexico $6.7m; France $5.4m; Australia $5m; S. Korea $3.7m; Germany $3.4m; India $2.8m; Japan $2.8m; U.A.E. $2.7m; Italy $2.4m; Spain $2.3m.
- M£GAN 2.0 – Universal Pictures
Opened $10.2m #4; received mixed reviews (58% Rotten Tomatoes) and B+ CinemaScore.
Took $1.5m from Thursday previews; M3GAN $2.75m.
Xth biggest opening between
2022’s M3GAN opened $30.42m, taking $95.15m and $180.08m worldwide
2025 Blumhouse Production films have disappointed at the BO.
Wolf Man opened $10.89m, taking $20.7m and $34.15m worldwide.
The Woman in the Yard opened $9.3m, taking $22.4m and $23.31m worldwide.
Drop opened $7.39m, taking $16.6m and $28.61m worldwide.
They have Black Phone 2 in October and Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 in December still to come on current performance, they won’t do as well as their first films either.
This happens so often that a film is a surprise success, and then the studio makes a sequel, but rather than date it the same time the original film opened, they decide to move it into a prime slot. 2022’s M3GAN opened strongly after the M£GAN dance became a viral sensation on TikTok ahead of its release on TikTok, #M3GAN had over 954.4m views, and #M3GANDANCE had over 186.5 million views to a remixed track of Taylor Swift’s “It’s Nice to Have a Friend”. While the trailer for M3GAN 2.0 is set to Britney Spears “Oops I Did It Again”
Universal Pictures dated M3GAN 2.0 as counter-programming for younger female audiences not interested in F1. Has a budget of $15m compared to $12m of the first film.
It’s simply poor dating again; if the first M3GAN was successful in January, the sequel should have opened in January, as was the case with the two Smile films.
In January 2023, Universal dated Megan 2 for January 2025. So why did they move it from May 2024 to June? The reason, of course, was that they saw $$$, thinking if M3GAN opened with $30m in January, M3GAN 2 opening in June would open with more.
Despite an abundance of data on why studios are regularly making dating mistakes, as this was similarly the reason why Elio had a soft opening, why did it open the week after HTTYD? Disney is going to repeat this dating failure in two years, recently dating Gatto the week after HTTYD2.
Counterprogramming only works if it’s different from what else is on release, but that doesn’t work when, with Elio, there is only one letter difference from Lilo.
Opened $7m from 80 territories and $17.2m worldwide.
- How To Train Your Dragon – Universal Pictures
Dropped 46% in its third weekend $19.59m and $200.25m
EntTelligence said HTTYD had 5.8m admissions with 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.
Third weekends
2010’s How to Train Your Dragon dropped 14.3% $24.86m and $133.4m of $217.6m/$317.4m and $494.87m/$722m worldwide
2014’s How to Train Your Dragon 2 dropped 46.4% $13.23m and $121.95m of $217.6m/$317.4m and $621.53m/$906.7m worldwide
2019’s How to Train Your Dragon 3 dropped 51.1% $14.68m and $119.65m 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 $32.7m from 81 territories $254.4m total, and $454.4m worldwide; China $31.1m; Mexico $30m; UK $21.8m; Brazil $15m; S. Korea $11.4m; Spain $11.3m; Australia $11.2m; France $11.2m; Germany – $9.1m; Italy $8m.
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
Dropped 67% in its second weekend $9.75m and $50.4m
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.
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).
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.
2002’s 28 Days Later dropped 40.3% $6m/$11.9m and $20.55m/$40.72m of $45.06m/$89.3m and $72.6m/$143.9m worldwide
2007’s 28 Weeks Later dropped 44.4% $5.45m/$9.12m and $18.9m/$31.6m of $28.63/$47.91m and $65.04m/$108.9m worldwide
Took $13.7m internationally from 59 territories $52.7m total, and $103m 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
Dropped 50% in its second weekend $10.43m and $41.95m
2023’s Elemental dropped 37.7% $18.4m and $65.5m of $154.42m and $496.44m worldwide
2022’s Lightyear dropped 64.1% $18.15m and $89.25m of $118.3m and $226.42m worldwide
2020’s Onward dropped 72.9% $10.6m and $60.36m of $61.55m and $141.88m worldwide (COVID lockdown only had two weeks of release)
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, dropping 45.8% $27.53m and $110.1m of $210.46m and $814.64m worldwide, and 2015’s Inside Out dropped 42.1% $52.32m and $185.14m $356.46m and $859.07m worldwide.
So, no wonder that three of Pixar’s next five 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.
Took $11.4m internationally from 44 territories $30.1m total, and $72.3m worldwide; Korea $3m; France $2.9m; UK $2.9m; China $2.7m; Mexico $2.3m.
- Lilo & Stitch – Disney
Down 30% in its sixth weekend, $6.84m #6 and $400m
179th biggest sixth weekend between What Women Want and A Christmas Carol (close to Minions: The Rise of Gru, Despicable Me, Ralph Breaks the Internet and Wonka); 101 Dalmatians #144 $7.34m; Beauty and the Beast #76 $9.7m; The Jungle Book #44 $10.9m; Aladdin #63 $10.1m, Mufasa: The Lion King #98 $8.59m
53rd biggest between Frozen and Spider-Man: Far From Home; 2nd biggest 2025 behind A Minecraft Movie $423.67m and ahead of Sinners $272.54m; 28th biggest Disney film between Frozen and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2.
Sixth weekends
2002’s Lilo & Stitch dropped 45% $2.73m and $134.22m of $145.79m/$288.9m and $273.14m/$542m WW
2010’s Alice in Wonderland dropped 35.4% $5.3m and $319m of $334.19m/$487.52m and $1.025bn/$1.495bn worldwide
2016’s The Jungle Book dropped 36.1% $10.94m, and $327.42m of $364m/$484.4m and $966.55m/$1.286bn worldwide
2019’s Aladdin dropped 23.6% $10.1m and $306.63m of $355.55m and $1.050bn worldwide
2023’s The Little Mermaid dropped 36.9% $5.39m and $281.24m of $298.17m and $569.62m worldwide
Similar to last year’s Moana 2 dropped 34.1% $12.4m and $425.4m 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.
Took $13.1m and $545.9m from 52 territories and $946.9m worldwide; Mexico $65.7m; UK $47.4m; France $38.8m; Brazil $35.5m; Germany $30m.
68th biggest worldwide between The Jungle Book and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1; the 3rd biggest 2025 worldwide behind Ne Zha 2 $1.98bn, and A Minecraft Movie $951.2m; 33rd biggest Disney between The Jungle Book and Finding Nemo.
- Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning – Paramount Pictures
Down 36% in its sixth weekend, $4.15m #67 and $186m
476th biggest sixth weekend between Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 and Scent of a Woman (close to Stakeout, The Italian Job, Gladiator II and John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum).
The 285th biggest between Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and Pitch Perfect 2; 6th biggest in 2025 between Thunderbolts* and Final Destination: Bloodlines; 35th biggest at Paramount Pictures between A Quiet Place and What Women Want.
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.
Sixth weekends
1996’s Mission: Impossible dropped 25% $4.83m, and $164.26m of $180.98m/$471.3m
2000’s Mission: Impossible II dropped 35.3% $4.9m and $197.08m of $215.4m/$460m and $546.38m/$1.16bn WW.
2006’s Mission: Impossible III dropped 35.5% $3.02m and $127.49m of $134.02m/$235.2m and $398.47m/$700.2m WW
2011’s MI- Ghost Protocol dropped 52.5% $5.55m, and $197.36m of $209.4m/$302.8m and $694.71m/$1bn WW
2015’s MI- Rogue Nation dropped 11.3% $7.23m, and $180.47m of $195.04m/$266.3m and $682.71m/$932.2m WW
2018’s MI- Fallout dropped 13% $7.03m and $204.37m of $220.15m and $791.1m WW
2023’s MI- Dead Reckoning Part 1 dropped 40.5% $2.73m and $164.62m of $172.64m and $571.12m worldwide
Took $6.7m from 66 territories, taking $376m and $562m; China $60.6m; UK $33.4m; Japan $30.2m; Korea $23.8m; France $21.8m
210th biggest worldwide between The Smurfs and Monsters, Inc.; 4th biggest in 2025 between Lilo & Stitch and Captain America: Brave New World; 83rd biggest action film between Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One and Mission: Impossible 2; 24th biggest Paramount Pictures between Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One and Puss in Boots.
UK Box Office Top 10
UK Box Office Preview
In Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Claire asks, “Do you remember the first time you saw a dinosaur? First time you see them, it’s like… a miracle. You read about them in books, you see the bones in museums, but you don’t really believe it. They’re like myths. And then you see… the first one alive.” This was how cinema audiences responded to 1993’s Jurassic Park.
Steven Spielberg uses dinosaurs sparingly in the film, featuring them for only 15 minutes in the 2-hour film, which is similar to 1975’s Jaws, the shark only on screen for 4 minutes.
1993’s Jurassic Park opened £4,875,137/£12,104,312, taking £47,886,423/£118,895,574
1997’s Jurassic Park: The Lost World opened £5,970,014/£11,690,666, taking £25,799,961/£50,522,282
2001’s Jurassic Park 3 opened £4,762,155/£9,167,724, taking £18,307,718/£35,244,568
2015’s Jurassic World opened £19,350,727/£21,390,471 (£2,514,284 previews)
, taking £63,674,773/£70,386,677
2018’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom opened £14,334,894 (£3,650,000 previews), taking £41,573,492/£45,892,068
2022’s Jurassic World Dominion opened £12,121,728, taking £36,379,686
It feels too soon for a reboot, as it’s only three years since the release of Jurassic World Dominion, which was planned to be the final film of the series. Especially as Jurassic World Dominion was the worst-reviewed film of the series, receiving even worse reviews than Jurassic Park 3, now doesn’t seem that bad 24 years later, when compared to Jurassic World films. Of course, the casting of Scarlett Johansson, Universal Pictures, will be hoping her fan base will come out.
The plot of going back to the park to get an egg that could be the cure for a disease has a similar plot to Deep Blue Sea, with a similar outcome as was the case in Jurassic Park 3 when Billy stole the T Rex’s eggs.
Development started soon after the release of Jurassic World Dominion. Gareth Edwards signed to direct in February 2024; previously directed 2014’s Godzilla (opened £6,385,483, taking £17,074,621); 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (opened £17,305,011, taking £66,013,076/£71,001,918); 2023’s The Creator (opened £2,255,034, taking £7,084,748).
Scarlett Johansson called Jurassic World Rebirth a ‘Love Letter’ to the original film, saying, “Fans of the Jurassic universe can expect to really feel the DNA of the original ‘Jurassic Park’ in this film.” Some critics have thought similarly and given it very positive reviews, including the Daily Telegraph and the Guardian, but most others have been more mixed, with Indiewire paraphrasing Dr. Ian Malcolm quote from the first film “Your executives were so unpreoccupied with whether or not they should, they didn’t stop to think if they could.”
The problem with Jurassic Park is that all the sequels are repeating the events of the original film, with something else having survived. According to Jurassic Park Wiki, John Hammond leased seven islands from Costa Rica for 99 years. The script was written by David Koepp, who also adapted Michael Crichton’s book for the first film.
When Jurassic Park opened in 1993, Steven Spielberg demanded that all cinemas showing it had DTS installed and exhibitors installed it without increasing the price of cinema tickets The same summer Sony Pictures asked exhibitors to install SDDS for Last Action Hero, there wasn’t a similar takeup.
Opening Wednesday, Jurassic World Rebirth will likely take £2m+ from previews, opening with about £10m-£12m, much depends on how F1 holds in its second weekend.
After having a 5 day opening last week, F1 will drop about 60% taking between £2.8m-£3.2m
28 Years Later will drop about 50% in its third weekend, taking £1m-£1.3m, likely to switch places with HTTYD.
Cooler weather will likely see How To Train Your Dragon, Elio, and Lilo & Stitch have modest drops
It will be the highest weekend since Lilo & Stitch opened 6 weeks ago, with the top 10 taking £18m+, Jurassic World: Rebirth taking 65% of the weekend’s BO.
As with F1 and JW4, Superman opens on Wednesday
Opening in three weeks
- The Fantastic Four: First Steps – Disney
37th instalment of the MCU and the third version of the Fantastic Four film series. Starring Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Joseph Quinn, John Malkovich, Julia Garner, Paul Walter Hauser, and Ralph Ineson, and directed by Matt Shakman. (had been attached to direct the new Star Trek film)
Matt Shakman has directed many TV shows, including several episodes of WandaVision and only one film, a $5m budget indie film, Cut Bank in 2014; The Fantastic Four: First Steps has a $120m+ budget and $250m+ marketing campaign.
20th Century Fox previously made two versions of The Fantastic Four and was developing a third version when Disney acquired the studio in 2019; the two versions made by the studio were poorly received critically.
205’s Fantastic Four opened £3.54m/£6.1m (£414,852 previews) taking £11,782,585/£19,812,754; opened in the US $56.1m/$101m taking $154.7m/$277.8m and $333.53m/$600m worldwide
2007’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer opened £4.13m/£6.5m, taking £12,278,806/£19,257,058; opened in the US $58.1m/$97.2m, taking $131.9m/$270.7m and $301.9m/$505.1m
2015’s Fantastic Four opened £2.68m/£2.95m (£817,192 previews), taking £5,653,567/£6,210,298; it opened in the US $25.68m/$35.1m, taking $56.1m/$76.6m and $301.9m/$412.2m; it was directed by Josh Trank, who had previously directed the critically acclaimed low-budget sci-fi film Chronicle. Were many issues during production with the studio not liking the director’s version, taking control of the film, changing a lot of the plot and the ending. Year after it was released, Trank wrote, “A year ago, I had a fantastic version of this. And it would’ve received great reviews. You’ll never see it. That’s reality, though.”
This version of The Fantastic Four is set in the 60s and is the first film in Phase Six, which will bring the X-Men into the MCU in next year’s Avengers: Doomsday and 2027’s Avengers: Secret Wars.
Development of the MCU Fantastic Four started in July 2019, Jon Watts was attached to direct, opting to direct Wolfs instead for Apple Studios. John Krasinski appeared as Reed Richards in 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, leading to speculation that he had been cast in the Fantastic Four film.
Fantastic Four was originally dated for November 2024, then moved to February 2025, May 2025 finally to July 2025, hoping to replicate the success of Deadpool and Wolverine last year.
The first teaser trailer was released in February and viewed 202m times in its first 24 hours; MCU’s third most watched trailer after Deadpool & Wolverine 365m and 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home 355m. The second trailer was released in April, and a third was shown at CineEurope in June.
MCU films have underwhelmed both critically and at the box office recently, with Captain America: Brave New World opening £6,404,345 and Thunderbolts £5,979,242.
Last year, the same weekend Deadpool & Wolverine opened £17,276,621; The Fantastic Four: First Steps will likely open with £8m-£10m.
- The Bad Guys 2 – Universal Pictures
Animated heist comedy sequel made by DreamWorks Animation and sequel to 2022’s The Bad Guys based on children’s book series The Bad Guys by Aaron Blabey; featuring the voices of Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Craig Robinson, Anthony Ramos, Awkwafina, Richard Ayoade, Alex Borstein, Danielle Brooks, and Natasha Lyonne. Directed by Pierre Perifel. In June 2025, plans for a third film were announced.
The first trailer featuring Bad Guy by Billie Eilish was attached to Wicked in November.
2022’s The Bad Guys opened £2,279,074, taking £13,478,928; in 2022, The Bad Guys opened soon after Sonic the Hedgehog 2, while The Bad Guys 2 opens soon after Smurfs.
