- Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale £2,267,004 – £10,146,360
Down 48.4% in its second weekend
£670k 29.55% (-59.2% £1.64m) Fri; £855k 37.7% (-42.23% £1.48m) Sat; £742k 32.7% (-41.6% £1.27m) Sun
After 10 days tracking 32% ahead Downton Abbey: A New Era (£7.6m), but 23% behind Downton Abbey (£13.1m)
412th biggest second weekend between The Suicide Squad and Armageddon (close to Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie, Enchanted, Last Christmas and Catch Me If You Can) and 691st biggest inflated second weekend between Cliffhanger and Pokémon: The First Movie (close to While You Were Sleeping, Maid In Manhattan, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Rain-Man).
15th biggest 2025 second weekend between Thunderbolts and Snow White (close to Sinners, 28 Years Later, Snow White, Nosferatu and A Complete Unknown; Universal Pictures’ 4th biggest second weekend of 2025.
Downtown Abbey 3 took £7.86m over opening week; 55.9% Fri-Sun; Fri £1.64m; Sat £1.48m; Sun £1.27m; and £3.4m 44.1% Mon-Thurs; Mon £868k; Tues £850k; Weds £942k; Thurs £810k; normally would expect grey pound films to take more Mon-Thurs than the weekend as older audiences often prefer going to the cinema during the weekday when children are at school.
2022’s Downton Abbey: The New Era took Fri-Sun £3,072,762 (50%) and £3,045,470 Mon-Thurs (50%)
2019’s Downton Abbey took £9,882,483 in its opening week; 52.4% (£5,180,865) Fri-Sun and £4,701,618 Mon-Thurs.
Universal Pictures’ second film to remain #1 for more than a week this year after Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy in February; Universal Pictures films have been #1 for 10 weeks this year, with Wicked – Part 2 opening in November.
Downton Abbey: A New Era is part of the Gosford Park Cinematic Universe
2002’s Gosford Park up 8.6% £908,826/£1,688,425 and £2,480,506 20.15% of £12,311,330/£22,872,098. This led to the Downton Abbey TV series on ITV, launched in 2010 and ran for 52 episodes until 2015.
2019’s Downton Abbey dropped 37% £3,280,442 #1 and £13,162,925 46.61% of £28,242,871/£31,176,687, opening 7 days 52.4% (£5,180,865) Fri-Sun and £4,701,618 Mon-Thurs.
2022’s Downton Abbey: A New Era dropped 49.4% £1,553,503 #1 and £7,671,735 50.83% of £15,092,058
Other second weekend grey pound films include.
2015’s The Second-Best Exotic Marigold Hotel increased 5.4% second weekend, taking £2,342,095 and £7,014,101, 34.5% of the £20,308,480 total
2017’s Murder on the Orient Express took £8,612,958 in its opening 7 days, taking 42% of its box office (£3,627,358) Mon- Thurs; dropped second weekend 12.2% taking £4,376,429 and £12,989,387 54.3% of £23,900,453.
2013’s Philomena dropped 6.7% second weekend taking £1,407,318 and £4,762,182 45.4% of £10,470,225
2011 Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy took £4,819,507 in its opening 7 days 32% from Mon-Thurs (£2,004,647) and 58% Fri-Sun (£2,814,860) dropped 25% second weekend taking £2,104,762 #1 and £6,924,269 of £14,133,500
2006 The Queen increased 6.1% second weekend £908,295 taking £2,658,523 28.3% of £9,381,693
2003 Calendar Girls increased 5.3% second weekend £1,855,986 taking £5,679,683 28.1% of £20,174,133
736th biggest between Sleepers and Joker: Folie A Deux (close to East Is East, The Social Network, Tron Legacy and House of Gucci) and 1,185th biggest inflated between Save the Last Dance and Joker: Folie A Deux (close to The Madness Of King George, Mermaids, The Parent Trap and The Birdcage).
- 2. The Conjuring: Last Rites £1,509,630 – £14,980,905
Down 46.2% in its third weekend
£432k 28.6% (-50.2% £868k) Fri; £663k 43.94% (-43.8% £1.18m) Sat; £414k 27.44% (-44.95% £752k) Sun
379th biggest third weekend between Pocahontas and The Meg (close to Bruce Almighty, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Fifty Shades Darker and Flubber) and 642nd biggest inflated third weekend between Stuart Little 2 and The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen (close to Sommersby, T2 Trainspotting, Demolition Man and Total Recall (1990).
4th biggest horror third weekend between Van Helsing and Smile (close to Sinners, 28 Years Later, It: Chapter Two and The Others) and 12th biggest inflated horror third weekend between It: Chapter Two and Smile (close to White Noise, Saw, 28 Days Later and The Grudge).
It’s now the 2nd biggest horror film this year in the UK, ahead of Nosferatu (£13.0m) and 4% behind 28 Years Later (£15.5m). It’s about momentum, with success breeding success, not about the films themselves, as seen by the poor reviews the fourth film received; it was more about seeing the trailer with the other summer horror films and with the horrors in the news, a horror at the cinema is escapism.
Having seen it from Nosferatu in January, which had the trailer for Sinners before it, this led into Final Destination: Bloodlines with 28 Years Later trailer and then Weapons had The Conjuring: Last Rites trailer.
The Conjuring Film Series Third weekend
2023’s The Nun 2 dropped 37.9% £703,819 and £5,117,836 of £6.8m
2018’s The Nun dropped 44% £1,021,628 #5 and £9,497,601 of £11,302,155
2013’s The Conjuring dropped 39% £973,073 #5 and £8,121,962 of £9,337,626
2014’s Annabelle dropped 48% £749,621 #6 and £6,013,797 of £7,402,588
2016’s The Conjuring 2 dropped 51% £401,155 #8 and £10,312,076 of £10,896,992
2017’s Annabelle: Creation dropped 44% £666,181 #6 and £6,391,376 of £8,079,017
2019’s Annabelle Comes Home dropped 35% £496,373 #7 and £4,973,900 of £6,176,801
2021’s The Conjuring 3 dropped 36% £664,829 #4 and £6,780,373 of £9,367,720
14th biggest 2025 between 28 Years Later and Dog Man (close to Thunderbolts, Sinners, The Bad Guys 2 and Nosferatu; 5th biggest Warner Bros film in 2025.
478th biggest between Oz: The Great and Powerful and X-Men (close to Captain Phillips, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Stardust and Batman and Robin) and 789th biggest inflated between Bad Boys 2 and Kung Fu Panda 3 (close to Demolition Man, Labyrinth, Deep Blue Sea and Rocky III).
7th biggest horror between 28 Years Later and The Blair Witch Project (close to It Chapter 2, Sinners, What Lies Beneath and The Final Destination) and 19th biggest inflated horror between 28 Years Later and Final Destination 3 (close to The Ring, Scream (1997), Final Destination 3 and Paranormal Activity).
- 3. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle £906,832 – £5,514,780
Down 73.8% in its second weekend
£222k 24.5% (-83.1% £1.31m) Friday; £389k 42.9% (-67.6% £1.2m) Sat; £295k 32.56% (-69.1% £954k) Sun
1,245th biggest second weekend between The Hunchback Of Notre Dame and The King’s Man (close to 12 Monkeys, Bullet Train, The Naked Gun 2 ½: The Smell Of Fear and Predators) and 1,816th inflated second weekend between Birdman and Buster (close to I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Déjà Vu and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2).
31st biggest 2025 second weekend between Freakier Friday and The Amateur (close to Karate Kid, M3GAN 2.0, Babygirl and Black Bag).
174th biggest animation second weekend between The Hunchback Of Notre Dame and The Little Mermaid (1990) (close to Horton Hears a Who, Corpse Bride, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut and The Boy And The Heron) and 194th biggest inflated animated second weekend between Toy Story 2 (Digital 3-D) and Pixels (close to The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Rescuers Down Under, Piglet’s Big Movie and Monsters, Inc. 3D).
It’s impossible to compare the opening of No Yaiba Infinity Castle with other previous Demon Slayer films released over recent years, including 2024’s Kimetsu No Yaiba – To The Hashira Training and 2021’s Demon Slayer: Mugen Train, as they didn’t have IMAX/PLF screens.
Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle likely took a large percentage of BO from IMAX/PLF screens and was also likely boosted by Kpop Demon Hunters released in cinemas at the end of August, while Netflix didn’t report BO from exhibitors’ reports; it performed strongly and has been seen on Netflix over 314.2m times within two week (accumulated over 500m viewing hours). It is Netflix most most-watched film ever.
Overtook the previous biggest anime in the UK, 2024’s The Boy And The Heron, which opened £1,640,667, taking £4,412,633; 2000’s Pokémon: The First Movie took £10,976,174/£19,757,113.
1,359th biggest between Arachnophobia and Ride Along 2 (close to Dick Tracy, Ghost in the Shell, Skyscraper and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) and 1,928th biggest inflated between Six The Musical (Musical) and Karate Kid: Legends (close to Need for Speed, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, The Shawshank Redemption and My Stepmother is an Alien).
183rd biggest animated film between Smurfs: The Lost Village and Tinker Bell And The Pirate Fairy (close to ParaNorman, The Book of Life, The Angry Birds Movie 2 and Anastasia) and 208th biggest inflated animated film between Igor and The Rescuers Down Under (close to Return to Neverland, The Aristocats (1994 RE), The Land Before Time and Beavis and Butthead Do America).
- 4. The Long Walk £820,555 – £2,649,547
Dropped 29% in its second weekend.
£225K 27.4% (-35.9% £351k) Friday; £334K 40.73% (-21.8% £427k) Sat: £261K 31.8% (-30.95% £378k) Sun
1,370TH biggest second weekend between Hanna and The Princess Diaries (close to Birdman, Sea of Love, Speak No Evil and The Purge: Anarchy) and 1,929th biggest inflated second weekend between The Mothman Prophecies and Man Called Otto (close to Courage Under Fire, Man On Fire, Unlawful Entry and Internal Affairs).
33rd biggest 2025 second weekend between The Amateur and Elio (close to M3GAN 2.0, Freakier Friday, Babygirl and Black Bag).
The second lowest drop in the top 10 after The Bad Guys 2 and under 30% showing it has strong word of mouth, but will it be able to hold the screens over the coming weeks?
It’s Mark Hamill’s second Stephen King film that he has starred in this year, after the Life of Chuck.
2,236th biggest between Hannah and Her Sisters and Superhero Movie (close to Pan’s Labyrinth, Predator (1988), Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare and Carlito’s Way) and 2,723rd biggest inflated between Howard – A New Breed of Hero and Dark Waters (close to Spaceballs, Anaconda, Anchorman Man and The Hard Way).
Other Stephen King non-horror adaptations
1988’s The Running Man dropped 45.8% £313,241/£1,078,639 and £1,281,236 50.6% of £2,530,062/£8,712,213
1995’s The Shawshank Redemption dropped 27.3% £196,843/£447,988 and £524,212 21.7 of £2,414,776/£5,495,697
2000’s The Green Mile dropped 17% £953,824/£1,716,883 and £2,880,241 44.6% of £6,448,988/£11,608,178
Other non-horror adaptations include 1995’s Dolores Claiborne, 1986’s Stand by Me, 2008’s The Mist, 2001’s Hearts in Atlantis, 1998’s Apt Pupil and 2025’s The Life of Chuck.
While the first two The Purge films
2013’s The Purge dropped 46.9% £541,859/£657,201 and £2,236,252 54.9% of £3,365,209
2014’s The Purge: Anarchy dropped 30.4% £811,444/£956,345 and £3,101,005 70% of £4,430,522
Stephen King’s horror was never about monsters—It Was About Us. And in 2025, We’ve Become His Stories. From killer trucks to cursed toys, King’s tales seemed like campy B-movie scares when first published. But today, they read as bone-chillingly prophetic.
Here’s how 12 of his most “outlandish” stories morphed into mirrors of modern dystopia—and why Hollywood won’t stop remaking them.
- The Running Man (1982) → Deepfake Bloodsport
- Cell (2006) → Algorithmic Zombies
- The Monkey (1980) → AI Death Predictions
- Trucks (1973) → The Self-Driving Apocalypse
- The Mangler (1972) → Automation’s Body Count
- The Jaunt (1981) → VR Hell
- The Lawnmower Man (1975) → AI God Complex
- The Ten O’clock People (1993) → Conspiracy Vapes
- The Man Who Loved Flowers (1977) → Deepfake Love
- The Mist (1985) → Algorithmic Mobs
- Under the Dome (2009) → Lockdown Extremism
- The Stand (1978) → Pandemic 2.0
Stephen King’s Horrors Keep Being Remade as..
1. Tech Fulfils His Prophecies: AI, deepfakes, and automation made his metaphors literal.
2. Audiences Recognise Themselves: We’re now the chaotic mobs, algorithm addicts, and lonely delusionists he wrote about.
3.Hollywood Trusts His Brand: His name = built-in audience + endless thematic relevance.
Stephen King authored these stories as escapism—but in 2025, they’re field guides to surviving the modern world. If The Shawshank Redemption were written today, Andy would tunnel out of prison using a smuggled ChatGPT jailbreak.
Stephen King didn’t predict the future—he predicted us. And in 2025, we’re living his darkest drafts.
In November comes the reboot of The Running Man and the TV prequel series It: Welcome to Derry, and the miniseries Carrie TV miniseries next year.
- 5. The Roses £602,555 – £8,521,151
Down 44% in its fourth weekend
673rd biggest fourth weekend between Limitless and The 40 Year-Old Virgin (close to Ticket To Paradise, Don’t Worry Darling, Get Out, and We’re The Millers) and 791st biggest inflated fourth weekend between Mannequins and Father of the Bride 22 (close to There Will Be Blood, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, Natural Born Killers and The Usual Suspects
The Roses have only stayed in the top 5 for the last two weeks due to the Brit boost of Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch, and the soft opening of Spinal Tap II: The End Continues and A Big Bold Beautiful Journey over the last two weeks.
24th biggest 2025 between Freakier Friday and We Live In Time (close to Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, The Salt Road, The Naked Gun and Mickey 17); 8th biggest Disney film in 2025.
The Roses is the latest Disney reimagination of 20th Century Fox’s 1990s War of the Roses took £5,795,818/£16,335,544.
Third-highest grossing comedy of 2025 ahead of The Naked Gun (£7.6m) and behind Freakier Friday (£8.5m).
Fourth weekend
2024’s Wicked Little Lies dropped 34.4% £589,610 and £7,352,495 76.92% of £9,558,513
2003’s Intolerable Cruelty dropped 24.4% £520,176/£933,739 and £5,740,976 88.8% of £6,465,278/£11,532,658
2005’s Mr & Mrs Smith dropped 49.5% £727,703/£1,231,379 and £11,515,104 85.46% of £13,375,272/£22,490,903
2005’s Closer dropped 43.8% £513,241/£868,478 and £6,775,404 80.83% of £8,330,847/£14,008,558
2006’s The Break-Up dropped 29.5% £554,633/£907,685 and £8,887,257 88.43% of £10,049,790/£16,343,806
2010’s It’s Complicated dropped 25.5% £849,416/£1,137,789 and £7,093,321 80.26% of £8,838,051/£11,764,263
2000’s Meet the Parents took £15,107,452/£27,193,414.
1996’s The First Wives Club took £5,634,022/£12,059,852
888th biggest between Goosebumps and Total Recall (1990) (close to We Live In Time, The World’s End, The Pursuit of Happyness and My Best Friend’s Wedding) and 1,424th biggest inflated between SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water and Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde (close to The Color of Money, Malice, Boogie Nights and End of Days).
———-
Also Opened
• A Big Bold Beautiful Journey – Sony Pictures
Opened £533,931 #6 from 638 screens.
Sony Pictures marketing campaign for A Big Bold Beautiful Journey felt like it was inspired by The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, while the film itself felt like it was a musical without music. While the characters going back in time to key moments of their life has been done so much better in many films including Peggy Sue Got Married, The Family Man and even 17 Again and Hot Tub Time Machine.
Sony Pictures acquired world rights in February 2024 for $50m. It’s Margot Robbie’s first film since 2023’s Barbie; it was originally set to be released in May but was delayed to September. It was expected to premiere at the Toronto/Venice Film Festivals, but didn’t premiere at any film festival. It must mean Sony Pictures doesn’t have much faith in the film, or they are concerned about what has happened with recent studio films premiering at film festivals, as they didn’t premiere Caught Stealing either at Venice/Toronto Film Festivals.
It would have liked to be compared to 2004’s Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind opened £1,045,501/£1,855,822, taking £4,874,405/£8,652,340.
2004’s Big Fish opened £1,644,011/£2,468,432 taking £5,918,505/£10,439,768
But instead opened similar to 2025’s The Life of Chuck opened £486,294 #6 from 623 screens (including £173,284 previews), rather than 2025’s We Live In Time opened £2,843,516, taking £8,737,854
Sight unseen made me think of Danny Boyle’s 1997’s A Life Less Ordinary opened £795,206/£1,547,428, taking £3,376,442/£6,570,374; A Life Less Ordinary was Danny Boyle’s follow-up to 1996’s Trainspotting and had huge hype surrounding it ahead of its opening. Starring Ewan McGregor, Cameron Diaz, Holly Hunter, Delroy Lindo, Ian Holm and Dan Hedaya.
Directed by Kogonada (who had final cut) and written by Seth Reiss (The Menu); The script was on the 2020 Blacklist, so it must have been rejected by all studios before Margot Robbie was attached.
Margot Robbie next stars in Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights with Jacob Elordi out next \February and Colin Farrell stars in Edward Berger’s Netflix title Ballad of a Small Player.
The Hills Are Still Alive (and So Are the Box Office Receipts)
- The Sound Of Music (60th Anniversary) – Trafalgar
Also opening this frame, The Sound of Music returned for its 60th anniversary, landing at #9 £178,556 #9 from 335 screens. Its legacy dwarfs most modern blockbusters: the 1965 classic played at London’s Dominion Theatre from 1965–1968, the longest continuous run of any film worldwide. By 1966 it had become post-war Britain’s highest-grossing film, taking over £6m (£240m today) on more than 30 million admissions — more than Star Wars, Avatar, Skyfall, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Grease, Jaws, Jurassic Park and Fellowship of the Ring.
Its cultural grip was such that the BBC paid $4.1m in 1978 for TV rights, even lining it up as part of nuclear contingency programming. And for 25 years, London’s Prince Charles Cinema hosted the cult-favourite Sing-Along Sound of Music. Six decades later, Maria and the Von Trapps can still draw a crowd — proof that in the UK, this musical is never out of tune.
—–
Year-to-date, 2025 is 10% ahead of 2024.
The weekend’s top 10 box office took £7,412,219, dropped 45.9% from last weekend’s £13,715,898: 944,175 admissions, down 46.5% from 1,763,291 admissions.
The 43rd biggest weekend of the last 52 weeks between 07 February 2025 #1 Dog Man £3,252,536 (41.77%) and 07 March 2025 #1 Mickey 17 £2,132,080 (29.82%)
178th biggest since cinemas reopened out of 253 weeks between 17 March 2023 #1 Shazam! Fury Of The Gods £2,397,953 (32.32%) and 29 September 2023 #1 The Creator £2,255,034 (30.88%)
957th biggest top 10 of the last 24 years (out of 1,224) between 21 November 2008 #1 Quantum of Solace £2,884,789 (38.89%) and 07 December 2012 #1 Rise of the Guardians £1,602,689 (21.70%) and 1,120th biggest inflated between 17 March 2023 #1 Shazam! Fury Of The Gods £2,397,953 (32.32%) and 14 May 2004 #1 Van Helsing £2,403,036 (57.41%)
The top 3 took £4,683,466 (63.2%) of the top 10; Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale 30.58% (£2,267,004); The Conjuring: Last Rites 20.37% (£1,509,630). Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle 12.23% (£906,832).
732nd biggest percentage share #1 (30.58%) between 25 February 2022 #1 Uncharted £3,084,102 (30.61%) and 18 September 2020 #1 Tenet £796,309 (30.58%)
1,037th biggest admissions (292,895) between 29 August 2014 #1 Lucy £1,972,039 (293,458) and 08 April 2005 #1 Sahara £1,370,577 (290,993)
Up 20.10% from 2024; (£6,171,771); The Substance (£591,247); Interstellar (10th Anniversary) (£453,921); 200% Wolf (£237,038); Miss Saigon: 25th Anniversary (Re: 2024) (£176,314); The Dark Knight (Re: 2024) (£117,463); Batman Begins (Re: 2024) (£54,472); The Dark Knight Rises (Re: 2024) (£33,733); The Batman (Re: 2024) (£8,950); #1 Beetlejuice 2 £2,458,216 3rd week dropped 42% 729 screens (39.83% of top 10).
Up 43.63% from 2023; (£5,160,786); Expend4bles (£761,444); Dumb Money (£506,095); Beauty And The Beast (1991) (Re: 2012) (£145,428); The Canterville Ghost (£137,137); The Lesson (£55,050); #1 A Haunting in Venice £1,472,237 2nd week 33% drop 727 screens (28.53% of top 10)
Down 14.25% 2022 (£8,643,800); Ticket to Paradise (£2,805,615); Don’t Worry Darling (£2,771,935); Avatar (Re: 2022) (£1,218,693); #1 Ticket to Paradise £2,805,615 1st week 687 screens (32.46% of top 10)
Up 62.58% 2021 (£4,559,204); The Many Saints of Newark (£945,319); Oasis Knebworth 1996 (£344,833); The Green Knight (£166,118); Dune (1984) (Re: 2021) (£39,582); #1 Shangi-Chi £1,558,002 4th week (34.2% of top 10)
Up 184.69% 2020; (£2,603,624); Bill and Ted Face the Music (£462,051); Andre Rieu’s Magical Maastricht: Together In Music (£124,101); Rocks (£75,478); #1 Tenet £796,309 616 screens 45% drop 4th week 30.6% of top 10)
Down 30.02% 2019; (£10,591,749); Ad Astra (£2,265,387); Rambo: Last Blood (£1,075,071); The Farewell (£207,356); The Kitchen (£107,929); #1 Downton Abbey £3,280,442 2nd week down 37% 736 screens (31% of the top 10)
Down 32.08% 2018: (£10,913,234); The House with a Clock in its Walls (£3,370,591); A Simple Favour (£1,621,900); Mile 22 (£795,888); The Little Stranger (£300,089); #1 The House with a Clock in its Walls £3,370,591 1st week 541 screens (30.8% of top 10)
Down 48.62% 2017: (£14,426,113); Kingsman: The Golden Circle (£8,525,664); Maze (£123,985); Borg vs. McEnroe (£101,918); Lawrence of Arabia – 70mm (Re: 2017) (£9,359); #1 Kingsman: The Golden Circle £8,525,664 1st week 602 down (59.1% of the top 10)
Down 33.59% 2016: (£11,647,518); The Magnificent Seven (£2,132,609); The Girl with All the Gifts (£432,529); The Rolling Stones: Havana Moon (£56,666); #1 Bridget Jones’s Baby £6,453,799 2nd week 648 screens 20% drop (55.4% of the top 10)
Down 13.07% 2015; (£9,319,305); Everest (£3,160,154); A Walk in the Woods (£252,175); The Battle Of Britain At 75 (Concert) (£225,942); Bill (£221,807); The D Train (£8,516); #1 Everest £3,160,154 1st week 567 screens (37.06% of top 10)
Up 21.32% 2014: (£6,109,464); A Walk Among the Tombstones (£1,317,948); The Riot Club (£496,647); 20,000 Days on Earth (£356,467); Magic in the Moonlight (£273,998); The Giver (£186,989); Think Like a Man too (£131,138); Wish I Was Here (£27,739); #1 The Boxtrolls £1,333,137 2nd week 509 screens (33% drop (21.8% of top 10)
Up 12.54% 2013: (£6,586,232); Diana (£623,051); R.I.P.D. (£506,521); The Call (£409,975); Cold Comes the Night (£4,833); #1 Rush £2,099,308 2nd week (1st #1) 464 screens (31.87% of top 10)
Up 14.44% 2012: (£6,476,971); Killing Them Softly (£955,506); The House at the End of the Street (£796,041); Savages (£379,898); Now is Good (£317,451); Intouchables (£109,328); Raiders of the Lost Ark (Re: 2012) (£73,558); Tower Block (£36,371); Hysteria (£9,903); #1 ParaNorman £1,219,194 2nd week (1st #1) 484 screens 12% drop (18.8% of top 10)
Down -0.26% 2011; (£7,431,246); Crazy, Stupid, Love (£860,112); Warrior (£808,410); Drive (£607,454); Killer Elite (£481,143); Jurassic Park (Re: 2011) (£245,422); Soul Surfer (£47,293); Page One: Inside the New York Times (£6,757); #1 Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy £2,104,762 2nd week 422 screens 25% drop (28.3% of top 10)
Up 12.10% from 2010: (£6,612,218); Eat Pray Love (£1,165,234); The Town (£1,005,039); 3-D The Hole (£906,722); #1 The Other Guys £1,292,144 2nd week 444 screens 35% drop (19.5% of top 10)
Up 28.52% 2009; (£5,767,172); Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (£1,583,544); Gamer (£641,568); The Firm (£310,060); Away We Go (£250,211); #1 Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs £1,583,544 1st week 438 screens (27.4% of top 10)
Up 11.39% 2008; (£6,654,546); Tropic Thunder (£2,483,271); Linha De Passe (£34,156); The Wave (£27,981); #1 Tropic Thunder £2,483,271 1st week 460 screens (37.3% of top 10)
Up 14.58% 2007: (£6,468,802); I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (£1,090,831); Death Proof (£407,525); A Mighty Heart (£153,028); As You Like It (£9,444); Evening (£20,836); Clubland (£1,808); #1 Run, Fat Boy, Run £1,206,177 3rd week 401 screens 22% drop (18.6% of top 10)
Up 41.85% 2006; (£5,225,385); The Children of Men (£1,284,254); Trust the Man (£280,929); Dirty Sanchez (£257,034); Clerks II (£223,046); #1 The Children of Men £1,284,254 1st week 370 screens (24.5% of top 10)
Up 21% 2005: (£6,125,984); Revolver (£882,814); Land of the Dead (870,285); Howl’s Moving Castle (212,628); #1 Pride and Prejudice £1,934,083 2nd week 402 screens 24% drop (31.5% of top 10)
Up 18.09% 2004; (£6,276,762); Collateral (£2,238,200); Trauma (£144,148); Ae Fond Kiss (£106,366); #1 Collateral £2,238,200 1st week 450 screens (35.6% of top 10)
Down 3.87% 2003 ((£7,710,363); The Italian Job (£2,294,027); Underworld (£1,487,839); Le Divorce (£93,061); Raising Victor Vargas (£50,672); #1 The Italian Job £2,294,027 1st week 428 screens (29.7% of top 10)
Up 6.90% from 2002: (£6,934,104); My Big Fat Greek Wedding (£1,503,436); Swimfan (£396,425); Road To Perdition (platform) (£256,035); #1 Signs £2,657,379 2nd week 440 screens 29% drop (38.3% of top 10)
Up 7.52% from 2001 (£6,893,581); A.I. (£2,285,786); Crazy/Beautiful (£137,017); #1 A.I. £2,285,786 1st week 428 screens (33.1% of top 10).
2024 Next week: (£5,506,669); The Outrun (£449,591); Devara Part 1 (£440,626); Megalopolis (£357,191); Shaun Of The Dead (20th Anniversary) (£314,482); Never Let Go (£306,665); Dragonkeeper (£127,573); Terrifier & Terrifier 2 – Double Bill (£91,215); Mean Girls (20th Anniversary) (£22,385); #1 Beetlejuice 2 £1,822,715 4th weekend 703 screens down 26% (33.10% of top 10).
US Box Office
- Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle –
Dropped 75% its second weekend $17.3m and $104.73m
607th biggest second weekend between Fifty Shades Freed and Trainwreck (close to Interview with the Vampire, Scream VI, Birds of Prey and Saw II).
118th biggest animated between The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part and The Princess and the Frog; 776th biggest between Pitch Perfect 3 and Phenomenon; 1,746th biggest inflated between It Could Happen To You and Dinner for Schmucks; 15th biggest 2025 between Final Destination: Bloodlines and Dog Man; 93rd biggest comic/graphic novel between 300: Rise of an Empire and Road to Perdition; 95th biggest Sony Pictures between Captain Phillips and Daddy Day Care.
Took 44% from IMAX/PLF
Took $70m worldwide from IMAX, including $13m internationally.
EntTelligence reported an average ticket price of $14.56 and $17.91 for PLF.
Impossible to compare it with previous Demon Slayer films, including Kimetsu No Yaiba – To the Swordsmith Village and 2024’s Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba – To the Hashira Training.
Infinity Castle has over 200m followers in the social media universe across TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X, according to RelishMix.
Took $36m from 62 territories $164.3m total, and $559m worldwide; Mexico $15.1m; Hong Kong $12.4m; France $8.6m; Germany $8.2m; India $8.1m; UK $7.5m; Indonesia $7.3m.
- The Conjuring: Last Rites – Warner Bros
Dropped 52% in its third weekend $12.28m and $150.5m
503rd biggest third weekend between The Fast and the Furious and A Christmas Carol (close to The Grudge, Smile, Super 8 and A Quiet Place Part II.
436th biggest between Divergent and Rambo: First Blood Part II (close to Mad Max: Fury Road, Gremlins, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Weapons); 1,105th biggest inflated between Boyz n the Hood and Devil’s Advocate; 12th biggest 2025 between F1: The Movie and Weapons; 11th biggest horror between Halloween and Weapons; 76th biggest Warner Bros film between Elvis and We’re the Millers.
The Conjuring Universe 8 films have taken $800m in the US and $2.3bn since 2013.
Third weekends
2023’s The Nun 2 dropped 41.2% $8.55m #1 and $69.37m of $86.26m and $269.66m worldwide
2021’s The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It dropped 51.5% $5m #4 and $53.46m of $65.63m and $206.43m WW
2019’s Annabelle Comes Home dropped 40.5% $5.62 #7 and $60.83m of $74.15m and $228.51m worldwide
2019’s The Curse of La Llorona dropped 54% $8.04m #3 and $41.83m of $54.73m and $121.66m worldwide
2018’s The Nun dropped 45.4% $9.96m #3 and $100.61m of $117.45m and $36.39m worldwide
2017’s Annabelle: Creation 50.8% $7.68m #2 and $78.21m of $102.1m and $305.38m worldwide
2016’s The Conjuring 2 dropped 48.2% $7.7m #5 and $86.9m of $102.47m and $310.2m worldwide
2014’s Annabelle dropped 50.3% $7.87m #8 and $74.08m of $84.27m and $256.86m worldwide
2013’s The Conjuring dropped 41.3% $13.02m #4 and $107.95m of $137.4m and $317.78m worldwide
Took $28.3m internationally from 76 territories $248.8m total, and $400m worldwide; Mexico $26.4m; UK $20.3m; Brazil $15.3m; France $14.6m; Germany $12.7m.
383rd biggest worldwide between Mission: Impossible III and Meg 2: The Trench; 13th biggest worldwide between Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts; 4th biggest horror worldwide between The Exorcist and Sinners; 73rd biggest Warner Bros between Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore and Meg 2: The Trench.
- Him – Universal Pictures
Opened $11m; received poor reviews (28% Rotten Tomatoes) and C- CinemaScore
Took $2m from Thursday midnights; more than The Long Walk ($1.3m) and Speak No Evil ($1.3m); Split $2m; Smile $2m; Candyman $1.9m; The Monkey $1.9m; Get Out $1.8m.
37% from PLF
Opened $362k from 25 territories.
- A Big Bold Beautiful Journey – Sony Pictures
Opened $3.5m; received poor reviews (38% Rotten Tomatoes) and a B CinemaScore
Took $400k from Thursday midnights.
12% from PLF
It’s not the lowest opening for either Margot Robbie or Colin Farrell; For Margot Robbie it was 2022’s Babylon $3.6m taking $15.68m and $65.26m worldwide and 2022’s Amsterdam $6.4m taking $14.97m and $31.24m worldwide and Colin Farrell’s 2012’s Seven Psychopaths $4.2m taking $15.04m and $29.34m worldwide.
A Big Bold Beautiful Journey had a social media reach of 266m across TikTok, Instagram, X, Facebook, and YouTube; 21% less than It Ends With Us, which hit over 377 million on social.
Sony Pictures delaying the film’s release from May to September (in March) and not going to Venice/Toronto Film Festivals showed they had no faith in the film. The problem is it’s an indie film with a studio budget, which happens when studios acquire films like this. Sony acquired it in early 2024 for $50m, but the Seth Reiss script was on 2020’s Blacklist, so it must have been rejected by studios until it was packaged up with Margot Robbie attached, being her first film since Barbie.
The film (unseen) reminds me of Danny Boyle’s A Life Less Ordinary, his follow-up to Trainspotting, which had huge hype ahead of opening but was so different to Trainspotting that it failed both critically and at the box office. Also, think of Robin Williams’ film, What Dreams May Come, again, a misunderstood film 27 years ago.
1998’s What Dreams May Come opened $15.83m, taking $55.38m
1997’s A Life Less Ordinary opened $2m, taking $4.36m
While of course it was trying to be 2004’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind opened $8.17m, taking $34m.4m and £73.06m worldwide, but instead it opened closer to this year’s The Life of Chuck (expansion) $2.31m, taking $6.71m and $17.23m worldwide.
Opened $4.5m internationally from 42 territories.
- Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale – Focus Features
Dropped 65% in its second weekend $6.4m and $31.73m
2019’s Downton Abbey dropped 53.8% $14.34m and $58.34m of $96.85m and $194.69m worldwide
2022’s Downton Abbey: A New Era dropped 63.8% $5.78m and $28.36m of $44.14m and $92.65m worldwide
Took $8.3m from 35 territories $27.9m total, and $59.5m worldwide; UK $13.9m; France $2.6m; Australia $2.4m; Holland $1.9m; Finland $1.2m.
- The Long Walk – Lionsgate
Down 47% in its second weekend $6.22m and $22.64m
Recent Stephen King adaptations,
2025’s The Monkey dropped 54.2% $6.41m and $24.65m of $39.72m and $68.87m and
2019’s Doctor Sleep dropped 57.4% $6m and $24.86m of $31.58m and $72.38m worldwide.
2025’s The Life of Chuck dropped 56.8% $1m and $4.67m of $6.71m and $17.23m worldwide.
UK Box Office Top 10
Box Office Preview
Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another received the predictable critical acclaim as his other films have received, but struggles to play to audiences beyond cinephiles. This is why most of his previous films have opened early in the year after they have received BAFTA/Oscar nominations.
1998’s Boogie Nights opened £805,839/£1.583,684m taking £4,325,540/£8,500,813
2000’s Magnolia opened £371,023/£667,841 taking £997,977/£1,796,358
2002’s Punch-Drunk Love opened £151,494 opening, £322,921 total
2008’s There Will Be Blood opened £540,472/£823,180 on 121 screens, taking £4,392,471/£6,690,071
2012’s The Master opened £65,701 (1 screen), expanded to £1.21m total
2014’s Inherent Vice opened £363,133, taking £739k
2017’s Phantom Thread £727,104 taking £2,708,717
2022’s Liquorice Pizza opened £879,373, taking £2,294,561
Since Leonardo DiCaprio won Best Actor Oscar for 2016’s The Revenant (opened £5,235,851 taking £23,257,319 he has starred in three films; 2019’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (opened £7,544,445 taking £20,851,025); 2021’s Don’t Look Up (watched by 171.4m on Netflix) and 2023’s Killers Of The Flower Moon (opened £2,531,393 taking £9,886,049) would expect One Battle After Another to open close to Killers Of The Flower Moon than Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
One Battle After Another will have all IMAX/PLF/Dolby screens for a week and plays in 35mm VistaVision at the Odeon Leicester Square. With Avatar: The Way of Water re-released next weekend taking IMAX/3D screens and Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl taking the biggest screens, One Battle After Another will surely be relegated to the small screens after only a week.
After Warner Bros mistake of Joker: Folie à Deux having its world premiere at Venice Film Festival last year they opted not to have One Battle After Another world premiere at Venice or Toronto Film Festival even though the film would have received widespread critical acclaim as all of Paul Thomas Anderson’s previous films and Leonardo DiCaprio would also guarantee red-carpet buzz. Instead, the marketing has been slow to get through the gears with a surprising Fortnite promotion targetting younger audience who would never see the film.
In the US One Battle After Another is expected to open between $15m-$20m taking 40%+ from IMAX/PLF; which surely means UK opening of £2m+.
It never makes any sense when most Paul Thomas Anderson’s films have opened on a platform release around Christmas in the US and opening in the UK in January ahead of award recognition that its being released in September, as for PTA films to play beyond cinephiles it needs BAFTA/Oscar nominations. While Warner have had success over recent years opening Joker, Gravity and A Star Is Born early October, and release Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Judy starring Tom Cruise next October, One Battle After Another can’t be compared to those films.
Also opening Hamilton (10th Anniversary) 10 years after the show opened on Broadway and five years after Disney acquired world rights for $75m to a filmed version of the musical shot in 2016. Disney planned to give it a theatrical release in October 2021, but due to COVID and, more likely, the launch of Disney+, opted to send it straight to streaming in July 2020.
Hamilton’s stage show has taken $1.5bn+ in the US; about $400m in the UK, with about £1m in weekly sales since 2017 and over $2.2bn worldwide since its debut in January 2015. Normally Event Cinema screenings give audiences a chance to experience something they would only get to experience paying £100+ live but the difference with Hamilton is its been available to watch on Disney+ for the last 5 years, but brits love their musicals and with the normal Event Cinema surcharges only needs 40k cinemagoers to open with £600k+.
Billy Elliot (25th Anniversary Reissue); Billy Elliot: The Musical Live opened in April £295,143 #8 from 373 screens; Billy Elliott The Musical – Live was previously released in 2014, opening £1,904,000 #1
It’s the 25th anniversary of the film, the musical was based on opened £1,541,109/£2,890,033, taking £18,409,373/£31,828,488.
Lionsgate originally had plans to open a trilogy of The Strangers films last year, but after The Strangers: Chapter 1 opened £452,506, The Strangers: Chapter 2 opens 18 months later and is likely to open much lower.
The holdovers Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, The Conjuring: Last Rites, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle and The Long Walk will drop about 50%.
Coming Soon
- Roofman – Paramount Pictures
Crime comedy-drama starring Channing Tatum, Kirsten Dunst, Ben Mendelsohn, LaKeith Stanfield, Juno Temple and Peter Dinklage and directed by Derek Cianfrance.
Had its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, receiving positive reviews (83% Rotten Tomatoes); had a six-minute standing ovation.
Derek Cianfrance previously directed 2010’s Blue Valentine, 2012’s The Place Beyond the Pines and 2017’s The Light Between Oceans.
Roofman is Channing Tatum’s first film since last year’s Blink Twice, Fly Me to the Moon and cameo in Deadpool & Wolverine.
Similar films include Catch Me If You Can, Inside Man and also made me think of 1991’s Career Opportunities.
- After The Hunt – Sony Pictures
Psychological thriller starring Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri, Andrew Garfield, Michael Stuhlbarg and Chloë Sevigny and directed by Luca Guadagnino.
Had world premiere at the Venice International Festival, receiving mixed reviews (49% Rotten Tomatoes). Had a six-minute standing ovation.
It’s Julia Roberts’ first leading role in a cinema release since 2022’s Ticket to Paradise. She most recently starred in 2023’s Leave the World Behind for Netflix. Leave the World Behind is one of Netflix’s 10 most-watched films ever, 143.3m views in its first 91 days (Most watched KPop Demon Hunters 314.2m in less than 30 days).
Luca Guadagnino previously directed 215’s A Bigger Splash, 2017’s Call Me by Your Name, 2018’s Suspiria, 2022’s Bones and All and 2024’s Challengers and Queer.
The film generated a lot of controversy at the press conference with questions asked about the #MeToo movement and cancel culture, and Julia Roberts said, “We’re not making statements; we are portraying these people in this moment in time. ”.. “I don’t know about controversy, per se, but we are challenging people to have a conversation. To be excited or infuriated about it is up to you. If making this movie does anything, getting everybody to talk to each other is the most exciting thing that I think we could accomplish.”
It’s the first MGM film to be released internationally by Sony Pictures after a year-long distribution deal with Warner Bros, and previously with Universal Pictures, who will still release the next James Bond film internationally probably in 2027.
Comparison films include Spotlight, Bombshell, She Said, Wind River, Promising Young Woman and The Accused. These films often struggle to find an audience in cinemas unless they have award recognition, as with Spotlight and The Accused.
- Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie – Universal Pictures#
Musical fantasy comedy live-action/animated based on the Netflix series Gabby’s Dollhouse starring Laila Lockhart Kraner, Thomas Lennon, Gloria Estefan, and Kristen Wiig and directed by Ryan Crego.
It’s the second live-action DreamWorks Animation film after this year’s How to Train Your Dragon reimagination and DreamWorks Animation’s first live-action film that is not a remake.
Gabby’s Dollhouse is a hugely popular show on Netflix with average weekly minutes viewed in the US (170m in 2021 and 180m in 2022) and in the Netflix Top 10 in many countries, and its YouTube channel has over 700m views, but will fans opt to go to the cinema to see it?
- The Black Phone 2 – Universal Pictures
Supernatural horror sequel to 2023’s The Black Phone starring Ethan Hawke, Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Miguel Mora, and Jeremy Davies and directed by Scott Derrickson.
It premiered at the Fantastic Fest on September 20 recieving positive reviews
The first film received positive reviews and took $161m worldwide ($16m budget) but Blumhouse production films since 2023’s Five Nights at Freddy’s have struggled to find audiences in cinemas, Night Swim, Speak No Evil, Wolf Man, The Woman in the Yard, Drop and M3GAN 2.0 (Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 opens in December).
2022’s The Black Phone opened £1,384,344, taking £4,452,398; as with most Blumhouse Productions films, it performed stronger in the US than internationally, opening $23.63m, taking $90.12m, and $161.44m. The Black Phone benefits from being trailed with Weapons and The Conjuring: Last Rites and opening two weeks before Halloween.
- Good Fortune – Lionsgate
Comedy starring Seth Rogen, Aziz Ansari, Keke Palmer, Sandra Oh, and Keanu Reeves and directed by Aziz Ansari in his feature directorial debut.
Premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, receiving positive reviews.
