- Bugonia £986,194– NE
Includes £218,276 from previews
Took £245k 24.87% Friday; £275k 27.92% Saturday; £265k 26.90% Sunday
1,796th biggest opening between Meet Joe Black and Life As We Know It (close to The Death of Stalin, A Real Pain, Sea of Love and Fool’s Gold) and 2,419th biggest inflated opening between True Identity and Safe Haven (close to Arlington Road, Steve Jobs, Teen Wolf Too and Catwoman).
45th biggest 2025 opening between A Real Pain and Elio (close to The Monkey, The Penguin Lessons, I Know What You Did Last Summer and Black Bag).
Yorgos Lanthimos’s Bugonia opened at the top of the UK box office, but the victory came with a sting — its debut marks the lowest-grossing #1 film in over three years. For a filmmaker known for dissecting human behaviour with surgical precision, this weekend’s anatomy lesson might be about audience appetite: arthouse irony simply doesn’t multiply like Marvel once did.
A year ago, Yorgos Lanthimos looked untouchable. Poor Things danced through awards season, took £9 million in the UK, and convinced distributors that prestige absurdism could play to the multiplex crowd. Bugonia was meant to extend that run — a “spiritual cousin” with a bigger cast, brighter palette, and another Emma Stone performance designed for memes and monologues.
But timing matters. After eighteen months of maximalist auteur fare — Asteroid City, The Zone of Interest, Beau Is Afraid, Challengers — the arthouse audience may finally be saturated. Even die-hard cinephiles can only afford so many Q&As. The irony isn’t lost on anyone: Lanthimos, the master of social dissection, has fallen victim to the very cultural fatigue he once skewered.
Still, Bugonia’s modest start shouldn’t be mistaken for indifference. The film’s reviews (polarised, naturally) and its strange comic tone make it a likely slow-burner through awards chatter. Lanthimos films have never been about instant gratification; they ferment. If Poor Things was champagne, Bugonia might be vermouth — complex, dry, and waiting for the right bar to rediscover it.
It was the first weekend since September 2022 (See How They Run £984,779), no film took £1m+ over the weekend; over the last 24 years have been only 43 films taken less than £1m #1 over half were after cinemas reopened after COVID.
400th widest opening in 564 cinemas similar to Blink Twice and King Arthur (close to The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, Dumb Money, Ferdinand and M3gan; 744th 500+ opening since 2002’s Monsters, Inc.
Yorgos Lanthimos’s Bugonia had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, receiving positive reviews (90% Rotten Tomatoes) and UK premiere at the London Film Festival and had previews across the country as part of LFF on tour. It also had paid previews across the UK over the week before opening in the UK, including screenings at the Barbican in 35mm. And played in 35mm at the Picturehouse Central. Yorgos Lanthimos shot the film with VistaVision cameras as One Battle After Another and The Brutalist.
Yorgos Lanthimos’s previous films
2024’s Kinds Of Kindness opened £322,142 from 474 screens; £113k 35.09% Friday; £107k 33.23% Saturday; £102k 31.68% Sunday taking £1,069,086
2024’s Poor Things £1,819,563 (Includes £254,972 previews) taking £7,566,251
2019’s The Favourite opened £3,973,975 including £1,775,372 previews) £2,198,603 (Fri-Sun) #2 538 screens taking £16,972,417.
2017’s The Killing of a Sacred Deer opened £286,448 #10 from 100 screens taking £862,085
2015’s The Lobster opened £229,619 #9 from 75 screens taking £1,521,066
2009’s Dogtooth opened £26,149 from 16 screens taking £189,815
After Poor Things and The Favourite also had their UK premieres at the London Film Festival opened in January and received award recognition, it was surprising Bugonia opened in October, as similar to One Battle After Another, it’s likely to receive Oscar/BAFTA nominations, but cinema release won’t benefit from them, unlike Poor Things and The Favourite. Without award nominations, Bugonia and taking 20% of its opening from previews, it’s likely to drop 50%+ in its second weekend
- 2. Regretting You £907,655 -£3,854,462
Dropped 28.9% (24% without previews) in its second weekend
£231k 25.5% (-37.4% £369k) Friday; £363k 40% (-10.15% £404k) Sat; £313k 34.5% (-53.8% £416k) Sun
1,245th biggest second weekend between The Queen and The Hunchback Of Notre Dame (close to Sweet Home Alabama, The First Wives Club, You’ve Got Mail and Three Men And A Baby) and 1,817th biggest inflated second weekend between Birdman and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle (close to Forces of Nature, The Whole Nine Yards, Déjà Vu and Wall Street)
31st biggest 2025 second weekend between Freakier Friday and The Amateur (close to The Naked Gun, M3GAN 2.0, Babygirl and Black Bag).
After the success of the adaption of Colleen Hoover It Ends With Us, Regretting You is one of several other film versions of her books including Verity (MGM), Reminders of Him (Universal) and Sony Pictures will be hoping that It Ends With Us sequel It Starts with Us could get made after the legal issues are dealt with between Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively; It Ends With Us dropped 37.2% £2,834,201 and £11,384,454 52.95% of £21,241,321).
This was similar to a decade ago, when several of John Green’s novels were adapted into films. Regretting You director Josh Boone previously directed John Green’s 2014’s The Fault in Our Stars dropped 50.5% £1,699,690/£1,828,142 and £6,697,519 60.85% of £11,006,752.
Half-term last week saw Regretting You hold strongly through the week, and its second weekend was the only film targeting teenagers and generating strong buzz on social media, but it won’t have the legs of It Ends With Us.
1,782nd biggest between Jackass: The Movie and Housesitter (close to Coyote Ugly, The Princess Diaries 2, Clueless and Date Night) and 2,347th biggest inflated between Midnight Run and Where the Wild Things Are (close to Pretty in Pink, Definitely, Maybe, Now and Then and Paper Towns).
- 3. Back To The Future (40th Anniversary) £867,368 – NE
Took £277k 31.95% Friday; £310k 35.76% Saturday; £280k 32.30% Sunday
1,970th biggest opening between The French Dispatch and Old (close to Titanic (Re: 2023), Out of Sight, The Smashing Machine, and Fly Me To The Moon) and 2,584th biggest inflated opening between Triple 9 and Man on a Ledge (close to I Love Trouble, Showgirls, Cinderella (1986 RE) and Peter’s Friends).
50th biggest 2025 opening between The Accountant 2 and Flight Risk (close to Elio, Black Bag, Warfare and Companion).
648th widest opening in 586 cinemas, similar to Ant-Man and The Wasp and Fifty Shades of Grey (close to Bumblebee, Skyfall, Tomb Raider, and Get Out); 744th 500+ opening since 2002’s Monsters, Inc.
Opened similar to the Jaws (50th Anniversary Re-Issue) in August (opened £1,104,471; Friday £439k (39.8%), Saturday £354k (32.1%), Sunday £311k (28.2%).
Back To The Future was originally released in December 1985 £739,670/£3,445,992, 231 screens, taking £12,170,000/£56,697,882 and took $385,053,307/$1,248,440,440 worldwide.
Back to the Future Part II and Back To The Future Part III followed in 1989 and 1990, taking £10,650,295/£36,201,861 and £7,996,334/£22,537,710.
Back to the Future was re-released in 2010 for its 25th anniversary, but the opposite way round with the cinema re-release (opened £461,194 #7 273 screens); it was also re-released in 2015 and 2024 on Back to the Future Day (October 21st)
In April, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (20th Anniversary) opened £1,762,623, and last year Coraline (15th Anniversary) opened £1,260,124.
In August The Rocky Horror Picture Show (50th Anniversary) opened £161,523 #13 502 screens
In September The Sound Of Music (60th Anniversary) opened £178,556 #9 335 screens
In October, Avatar: The Way of Water opened £254,394 #10 418 screens
Ahead of the re-release of Avatar, James Cameron said that “Young film fans never had the opportunity to see the film in a movie theatre,” and “Even though they think they may have seen the film, they really haven’t seen it.” Sounding like he was quoting from the 1997 Star Wars re-release trailer, ‘for an entire generation people have experienced Avatar the only way it’s been possible on the TV screen, but if you’ve only seen it this way you haven’t seen it at all.”
Other wide re-releases include.
2012’s Titanic 3D opened £2,856,540 taking £10,964,978; 3.85x opening
2011’s The Lion King 3D opened £2,746,763 taking £12,154,600; 4.45x opening
1998’s The Exorcist opened £2,186,977 (£4,384,807 inflation inflated) #1 249 screens taking £7,143,595 (£14,322,642 inflation inflated) 3.3x opening.
2000’s A Clockwork Orange opened £618,615 (£1,207,345 inflation inflated) taking £1,694,263 (£3,306,678 inflation inflated) 2.75x opening
The most successful re-releases was 28 years ago, the Star Wars trilogy 1997 re-release; Star Wars: A New Hope Special Edition opened £3,770,206 (£7,484,832 inflation inflated); The Empire Strikes Back £2,023,379 (£3,949,010 inflation inflated); Return of the Jedi £1,695,114 (£3,308,338).
Disney will re-release Star Wars: A New Hope in April 2027 for its 50th anniversary, ahead of the release of their latest spinoff, Star Wars: Starfighter, in May 2027.
The 1997 Star Wars re-release trailer is probably the best trailer as it does many things, including showing how the cinema experience can never be replicated at home. A similar trailer should have been used when cinemas reopened after COVID in July 2020, showing audiences that the streaming experience at home was not comparable to the cinema experience.
The Re-Release Renaissance (and How the Majors Missed the Moment)
Cinema re-releases have been part of the theatrical ecosystem for decades. Companies like Park Circus and the BFI have kept classic films alive, usually in selective, one-off runs that catered to cinephiles. For years, Disney mastered the art form—rolling out a few of its animated favourites annually so a new generation could experience Snow White or The Lion King on the big screen. In the 1990s, that strategy dovetailed with the home-video boom: a theatrical re-release was followed by a limited VHS run, turning nostalgia into a multi-format event.
When cinemas finally reopened after the first lockdown, the industry was sitting on a golden opportunity to rebuild audience confidence through familiarity. Distributors made available a vast catalogue of around 450 classic titles for exhibitors to choose from. Independent chains such as Everyman seized it—playing everything from The Greatest Showman and Dirty Dancing to Grease, Fight Club, The Terminator, and Back to the Future (2010 reissue).
The major exhibitors, however, fumbled the comeback. Rather than inviting audiences to celebrate cinema’s history, they simply resumed the titles that had been running when the doors closed in March 2020: Onward, Trolls World Tour, Bad Boys for Life, 1917. It was a strategic own goal. The public didn’t need new releases—they needed reassurance, excitement, and a reason to fall in love with the big screen again. By aiming squarely at cinephiles instead of broad nostalgia, the multiplex chains squandered a once-in-a-generation reset. Five years on, UK admissions still haven’t recovered to pre-Covid levels—and that hesitation can be traced back to that misread moment.
- 4. Springsteen Deliver Me From Nowhere £608,886 – £2,862,133
Down 53.4% (51% without previews) in the second weekend
£183k 30.1% (-56.32% £419k) Friday; £233k 38.3% (-45.4% £427k) Sat; £192k 31.58% (-76.3% £381k) Sun.
1,740th biggest second weekend between Contact and Boogie Nights (close to Cruel Intentions, War of the Roses, Dead Poets Society and Clueless) and 2,308th biggest inflated second weekend between Shattered and E.T. (20th Anniversary) (close to West Side Story, Malcolm X, The Bucket List and The Color Purple (2024).
38th biggest 2025 second weekend between The Black Phone 2 and The Monkey (close to Black Bag, The Brutalist, Ballerina and Marching Powder)
Deliver Me From Nowhere was directed by Scott Cooper. His first film was 2010’s Crazy Heart, Jeff Bridges won a Best Actor Oscar playing Otis ‘Bad’ Blake, but the film struggled to find an audience, taking £1.2m. All of his films since have also struggled to find a mainstream audience: 2013’s Out of the Furnace, 2015’s Black Mass, 2017’s Hostiles, 2021’s Antlers and 2022’s The Pale Blue Eye.
2015’s Black Mass dropped 62.6% £475,400/£522,215 and £2,382,913 75.18% of £3,169,656/£3,481,786
Once the safest genre in Hollywood, the musician biopic now feels like a record caught on repeat. Deliver Me From Nowhere marks Bruce Springsteen’s first big-screen turn since 2010’s concert film The Promise, yet even with strong word-of-mouth, it opened far below the heights of the late-2010s hit-maker cycle.
For Deliver Me From Nowhere, that approach yields authenticity but little electricity. Where Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman built theatricality into catharsis, Cooper keeps the camera close, the performances inward, and the emotion muted. It’s a portrait, not a party — and while the faithful leaned in, casual viewers stayed home. In short: the right director for the man, perhaps, but the wrong tempo for the multiplex.
Bruce Springsteen has sold about 6.2m albums in the UK; Greatest Hits was certified 4x platinum in the UK over 1.2m albums sold. Worldwide, he has sold over 140m albums, almost half (65.5m) in the US.
Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere is the latest Biographical musician drama after Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen), Walk the Line (Johnny Cash), Ray (Ray Charles), Elvis, Straight Outta Compton (N.W.A), A Complete Unknown (bob Dylan) and Rocketman (Elton John); Upcoming musician biopics include Micheal (Micheal Jackson), Sam Mendes’s four Beatles films, and Ridley Scott directed Bee Gees biopic.
2025’s A Complete Unknown dropped 36.2% £1,667,821 and £5,916,730 49.8% of £11,887,982
2006’s Walk The Line up 3.5% £1,150,472/£1,882,805 and £3,024,681 31.1% of £9,737,493/£15,835,923.
Recent musician biopics’ second weekends
2024’s Bob Marley: One Love dropped 65.6% £2,387,019 and £11,313,026, 65.8% of £17,126,572
2022’s Elvis dropped 26.3% £2,963,292 and £10,197,943, 37.1% of £27,492,430; it had long legs, staying in the top 5 for 7 weeks and top 10 for 11 weeks.
2019’s Rocketman dropped 53.8% £2,486,043 and £11,957,794, 50.9% of £23,502,881: top 5 for 5 weeks and top 10 for 7 weeks
2018’s Bohemian Rhapsody dropped 39.7% £5,750,267 and £20,427,866 37.2% of £55,376,188.
2024’s Back To Black dropped 31.6% £1,897,014 and £6,398,157 52.1% of £12,326,656
Disney have had a mixed 2025 so far taking about £150m from 14 films, third biggest studio in the UK after Universal Pictures £170m from 16 films and Warner Bros £185m 14 films #1, but of course Zootopia 2 and Avatar: Fire and Ash swill take £100m+ in November/December which will see Disney becoming #1 studio again in the UK. This will cover up the huge disappointments this year of Snow White, Tron: Ares and Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere and that Disney still have an original film Achilles heel, which is crazy as they used to have huge success from original films about 15 years ago.
- 5. Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie £598,183 – £5,246,517
Down 30.9% in its third weekend
£149k 24.9% (-25.1% £199k) Friday; £230k 38.46% (-32.35% £340k) Sat; £219k 36.6% (-54.7% £324k) Sun
1,091st biggest third weekend between Big Fish and Scream VI (close to Muppets Most Wanted, Ghostbusters (2016), Captain America: The First Avenger and Mean Girls (2004) and 1,411th biggest inflated third weekend between Importance Of Being Earnest and Bringing Down The House (close to The Princess Diaries 2, Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, The Paw Patrol Movie and Garfield 2).
40th biggest Dreamworks Animation third weekend between The Boss Baby 2 and Megamind (close to Abominable, Penguins Of Madagascar, Captain Underpants and Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken).
Being the first of two weeks of half-term holidays, would have expected Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie to hold better over the weekend, especially with the lack of other family films, which saw The Bad Guys 2 have exceptionally long legs in the top 10 for 12 weeks, overtaking the previous biggest 2025 animated film Dog Man. That said, Lilo & Stitch took £36.5m while Disney call it live-action, it is photo-realistic animation.
2025 has been a soft year for animated films after last year’s Moana 2, Despicable Me 4, Inside Out 2, Kung Fu Panda 4 and Migration all taking more than The Bad Guys 2. Of course, Zootopia 2 opens next month and is likely to take £30m+. (original film took £23.5m in 2016).
———-
Year-to-date, 2025 is 8% ahead of 2024.
The weekend’s top 10 box office took £5,661,022, down 23.4% from last weekend’s £7,393,984: 731,398 admissions, down 23.4% from 955,295 admissions.
The 50th biggest weekend of the last 52 weeks between 10 October 2025 #1 Tron: Ares £1,790,651 (29.16%) and 09 May 2025 #1 Thunderbolts* £2,362,481 (43.42%)
216th biggest since cinemas reopened out of 259 weeks between 19 August 2022 #1 Nope £1,147,638 (19.39%) and 16 July 2021 #1 Black Widow £1,801,017 (32.06%)
1,140th biggest top 10 of the last 24 years (out of 1,230) between 05 October 2007 #1 The Heartbreak Kid £1,236,288 (21.74%) and 16 July 2021 #1 Black Widow £1,801,017 (32.06%) and 1,186th biggest inflated between 27 August 2021 #1 Free Guy £1,607,761 213,798 (29.62%) and 24 December 2004 #1 The Polar Express £688,859 (21.66%)
The top 3 took £2,760,642 (48.8%) of the top 10; Bugonia 17.41% (£985,619); Regretting You 16.03% (£907,655); Back To The Future (40th Anniversary) 15.32% (£867,368)
1,191st biggest percentage share #1 (17.41%) between 02 February 2007 #1 Dreamgirls £1,329,817 (17.48%) and 24 February 2006 #1 Date Movie £1,288,089 (17.31%)
1,207th biggest admissions (127,341) between 16 September 2022 #1 See How They Run £984,779 (128,060) and 18 December 2020 #1 Wonder Woman 1984 £846,435 (125,398)
Down 42.40% from 2024; (£9,827,429); Heretic (£1,979,339); Small Things Like These (£890,105); Anora (£509,005); Juror #2 (£334,827); The Phantom Of The Opera At The Royal Albert Hall (Re: 2024) (£318,892); Blitz (£163,124); Saw (20th Anniversary 4K Restoration) (£71,637); #1 The Wild Robot £2,179,601 3rd week #1 over 3 weeks split 714 screens (22.18% of top 10)
Down 17.26% from 2023; (£6,841,865); Bottoms (£226,585); How To Have Sex (£134,090); The Royal Hotel (£78,469); Dance First (£27,805); #1 Trolls Band Together £1,829,764 3rd week 2nd #1 split over 3 weeks 28% drop 667 screens (26.74% of top 10).
Down 12.88% 2022 (£6,497,741); Living (£670,206); One Piece Film: Red (£559,623); Watcher (£140,396); The Bodyguard (30th Anniversary) (£24,074); #1 Black Adam £2,006,821 3rd week dropped 43% 650 screens (30.9% of top 10)
Down 53.06% 2021 (£12,060,491); Eternals (£5,456,577); Spencer (£492,643); The Card Counter (£48,989); Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory (Re: 2021) (£12,303); #1 Eternals £5,456,577 1st week 642 screens (45.2% of top 10)
Up 384.15% 2020; (£1,169,275); Blumhouse’s The Craft: Legacy (£119,680); Halloween (Re: 2020) (£71,264); The Nightmare Before Christmas (Re) (£43,172); Burnt Orange Heresy (£14,546); V For Vendetta (Re: 2020) (£5,346); #1 Two By Two: Overboard! £190,761 2nd week down 42% 332 screens
Down 53.13% 2019; (£12,078,831); Stephen King’s Doctor Sleep (£1,460,643); Sorry We Missed You (£364,849); #1 Joker £2,446,199 5th weekend #1 29.4% drop (20.2% of top 10)
Down 60.67% 2018: (£14,405,189); The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (£1,733,235); Slaughterhouse Rulez (£397,792); Peterloo (£348,697); Juliet, Naked (£51,813); #1 Bohemian Rhapsody £5,750,267 2nd week 681 screens 40% drop (39.9% of top 10)
Down 60.83% 2017: (£14,453,653); Murder on the Orient Express (£4,985,600); A Bad Moms Christmas (£1,781,738); The Killing of a Sacred Deer (£286,448); The Son of Bigfoot (£23,213); The Silence of the Lambs (Re: 2017) (£8,383); #1 Murder on the Orient Express £4,985,600 1st week 618 screens 1st week 611 screens (34.5% of the top 10)
Down 50.47% 2016: (£11,430,004); The Accountant (£1,623,866); A Street Cat Named Bob (£985,557); Nocturnal Animals (£755,427); The Light Between Oceans (£733,421); #1 Doctor Strange £3,445,203 2nd week 599 screens 63% drop (30.1% of the top 10)
Down 87.99% 2015; (£47,258,977); Spectre (£41,299,090); Tannhauser – Met Opera 2015 (£162,876); #1 Spectre £41,299,090 1st week 651 screens (87.4% of top 10)
Down 41.77% 2014: (£9,722,282); Ouija (£1,373,907); Nightcrawler (£1,003,822); Mr Turner (£904,947); Horns (£396,042); Carmen – Met Opera 2014 (£326,430); Aliens (Re: 2014) (£27,134); The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman (£12,180); The Woman in Black (Re: 2014) (£4,743); #1 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles £1,429,159 3rd-week 2nd #1 over 3 weeks 514 screens 26% drop (14.7% of top 10)
Down 67.85% 2013: (£17,605,847); Thor: The Dark World (£8,668,172); Philomena (£1,509,726); Krrish 3 (£408,624); Haunting in Connecticut 2: The Ghosts of Georgia (£102,955); Drinking Buddies (£18,379); #1 Thor: The Dark World £8,668,172 1,327,438 1st week 510 screens (49.23% of top 10)
Down 75.38% 2012: (£22,991,689); Silent Hill: Revelation 3D (£1,043,068); Fun Size (£410,028); Rust and Bone (£252,099); The Shining (Re: 2012) (£132,470); The Master (£65,701); For a Good Time, Call… (£43,882); #1 Skyfall £16,107,687 2nd week 593 screens 20% drop (70.1% of top 10)
Down 40.28% 2011; (£9,478,695); In Time (£1,882,365); Tower Heist (£1,451,029); Machine Gun Preacher (£331,578); Straw Dogs (£41,912); Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (£4,895); #1 The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn £2,199,171 2nd week 510 screens 67% drop (23.2% of top 10)
Down 39.07% 2010: (£9,291,445); Due Date (£2,346,089); 3D Jackass (£1,696,909); Let Me In (£488,402); Another Year (£355,626); #1 Due Date £2,346,089 1st week 449 screens (25.2% of top 10)
Down 57.24% 2009; (£13,240,462); Michael Jackson’s This Is It (£4,877,255); 9 (£468,455); An Education (£399,122); Dead Man Running (£198,442); An American Werewolf in London (re) (£35,151); #1 Up Michael Jackson’s This Is It £4,877,255 1st week 498 screens (36.8% of top 10)
Down 73.55% 2008; (£21,398,860); Quantum of Solace (£15,384,217); Hunger (£136,413); Midnight Meat Train (£20,444); #1 Quantum of Solace £15,384,217 1st week 540 screens (71.9% of top 10)
Down 30.02% 2007: (£8,089,452); 30 Days of Night (£1,532,976); Elizabeth: The Golden Age (£1,348,440); Death at a Funeral (£357,212); The Lookout (£33,833); Brothers Solomon (£21,231); Man of the Year (£2,391); #1 Ratatouille £1,551,332 4th week 498 screens 57% drop (19.2% of top 10)
Down 47.31% 2006; (£10,744,444); Borat (£6,242,344); Sixty-Six (£292,295); Little Children (£158,012); #1 Borat £6,242,344 1st week 428 screens (58.1% of top 10)
Down 28.97% 2005: (£7,969,627); The Brothers Grimm (£919,713); Elizabethtown (£668,604); Murderball (£14,335); #1 Nanny McPhee £1,656,113 3rd week 1st #1 421 screens 46% drop (20.7% of top 10)
Down 25.02% 2004; (£7,550,271); Finding Neverland (£776,124); Exorcist: The Beginning (577,128); House of the Dead (£107,045); Saved! (£80,772)#1 Shark Tale £2,435,188 3rd week 503 screens 24% drop (32.2% of top 10)
Down 38.21% 2003 (£9,161,054); The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (£1,357,534); In America (£284,259); In the Cut (£279,068); Alien – Director’s Cut (£208,081); #1 Finding Nemo £3,393,575 5th week 4th #1 501 screens 13% drop (37.1% of top 10)
Down 20.67% 2002 (£7,135,820); 28 Days Later (£1,500,079); Mr Deeds (£879,441); Changing Lanes (£808,268); They (£225,867); #1 28 Days Later £1,500,079 1st week 318 screens (21.1% of top 10)
Down 20.08% from 2001 (£7,083,187); The Others (£2,259,538); The Animal (£345,651); #1 The Others £2,259,538 1st week 385 screens (31.9% of top 10).
2024 Next week: (£16,336,256); Paddington In Peru £9,649,984; Red One (£2,403,829); Piece By Piece (£186,978); Bird (£138,890); Point Break (4K Restoration) (£51,880); #1 Paddington In Peru £9,649,984 1st week 731 screens (59.07% of top 10).
US Box Office
It was the fourth worst weekend of the year taking $49m Fri-Sun, the last time Halloween weekend BO was lower was in 1993 $49.2m; The Nightmare Before Christmas #1 $8.2m; October BO was $425m the lowest since October 1997 with $385m, but with average ticket prices up 150% since and with 60% of BO from premium formats its probably close to early 80s levels.
The industry will be hoping audiences will start returning to cinemas this weekend with Predator: Badlands, The Running Man, Wicked: For Good, Zootopia 2, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 and Avatar: Fire and Ash.
- The Black Phone 2 – Universal Pictures
Dropped 35% in its third weekend $8.32m and $61.77m
932nd biggest third weekend between Life of Pi and The Mask of Zorro (close to Nope, Paranormal Activity 3, Don’t Breathe and The Nightmare Before Christmas).
23rd biggest Blumhouse Production film between Halloween Ends and Tooth Fairy (close to The Invisible Man, The Purge, Happy Death Day and Insidious).
1,518th biggest between Dog and Ender’s Game; 2,835th biggest inflated between Guilty as Sin and Thunderheart; 25th biggest 2025 between The Accountant 2 and The King of Kings; 91st biggest horror film between The Wolfman (2010) and Flatliners; 217th biggest Universal Pictures between The Wolfman (2010) and Cinderella Man.
2021’s The Black Phone dropped 36.5% $7.78m and $62.43m from $90.12m and $161.44m worldwide
It’s the highest-grossing Blumhouse film of 2025 ahead of Wolf Man ($34m), The Woman in the Yard ($23m), Drop ($28m), and M3GAN 2.0 ($39m).
The Black Phone is the best-performing Blumhouse film since 2023’s Five Nights at Freddy’s; the sequel opens in December.
Took $7.3m from 78 territories $43.3m total, and $104.7m worldwide; Mexico $9.8m; UK $4.3m; Brazil $3m; Australia $2.3m; France $1.7m.
- Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc – Sony Pictures
Dropped 66% in its second weekend $6.21m and $27.25m
Had a lower second weekend drop than Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie – Infinity Castle dropped 75.5% ($16.3m and $104.73m of $133.05m) despite the return of Netflix’s Kpop Demon Hunters taking about $6.3m and $24.9m to date.
Took $16.6m IMAX worldwide; US $4.7m and $11.9m international
Chainsaw Man was trailed with Demon Slayer, Him, One Battle After Another, and Tron: Ares
Took $8.4m from 63 territories and $108.2m total and $139m worldwide; Korea $20.9m; UK $2.8m; Germany $2.7m; France $2.6m; Mexico $2.1m.
- Regretting You – Paramount Pictures
Dropped 41% in its second weekend $8.1m and $27.54m
80% of the audience were female, and 80% were under 35.
2022’s Ticket to Paradise dropped 40.3% $9.85m and $33.58m from $68.27m and $168.77m worldwide.
Colleen Hoover’s 2024’s It Ends with Us dropped 52.4% $23.8m and $97.59m of $148.51m and $351.44m worldwide, while Josh Boone previously directed the adaptation of John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars dropped 69.2% $14.79m and $80.76m of $124.87m and $307.17m worldwide.
Took $8.2m $23.3m total and $50.8m worldwide; UK $5.1m; Germany $3.3m; Australia $2.6m; Mexico $2.2m; Brazil $1.4m.
- Bugonia – Focus Features
Up 608% $5.02m and $6.04m; received positive reviews (90% Rotten Tomatoes) and B CinemaScore
Expanded slightly better than expected, making it Yorgos Lanthimos’s biggest opening in the US.
Audience breakdown males 61% and 24 to 34 39
Yorgos Lanthimos’s previous films
2024’s Kinds Of Kindness expanded from 3 screens to 490, up 317.9% $.57m and $2.9m of $5.03 m and $16.39m worldwide
2024’s Poor Things expanded from 9 screens to 2,300 over 8 weeks, taking $2.9m (widest) and $24.65m of $34.55m and $117.62m worldwide
2019’s The Favourite expanded from 4 screens to 1,550 over 10 weeks, taking $2.54m (widest) and $26.1m of $34.36m and $95.91m worldwide
Yorgos Lanthimos previously directed 2017’s The Killing of a Sacred Deer opened in $115,120 from 4 screens (expanded into 238 screens after 4 weeks); taking $2.29m and $6.93m worldwide.
2016’s The Lobster had a limited release in only maximum of 6 screens, taking $376,871 and $6.65m WW
2010’s Dogtooth had a limited release in only maximum of 5 screens, taking $110,248 and $425,679 WW
Opened $4.4m from 46 territories and $11.1 worldwide; UK $1.2m
- Back To The Future (40th Anniversary) –Universal Pictures
Opened $4.9m in its “2,105th” week and $221.7m
Took $650k from Thursday previews
It was expected to open with about $3.5m.
Jaws (2025 Re-release (50th Anniversary) opened $8.23m in August, taking $12.81m.
- Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere – 20th Century Studios
Dropped 58% in its second weekend $3.76m #6 and $16.23m
Second weekend similar to 2021’s Respect dropped 57.3% $3.76m and $15.72m of $24.27m and $32.88m worldwide.
Scott Cooper previously directed.
2009’s Crazy Heart opened platform $82,664 on 4 screens; expanding into 1,000+ screens in the 9th weekend, taking $39.46m and $47.4m worldwide
2013’s Out of the Furnace dropped 53.5% $2.42m and $9.57m of $11.33m and $15.66m worldwide
2015’s Black Mass dropped 51.3% $11.03m and $42.12m of $62.57m and $99.97m worldwide
2017’s Hostiles opened $22,849 on platform 3 screens, took 6 weeks to expand into 2,000+ screens, taking $29.81m and $35.66m worldwide.
2021’s Antlers dropped 53.8% $1.97m and $7.57m of $10.61m, and $18.86m worldwide; 2022’s The Pale Blue Eye was released on Netflix.
Most recent biopic, 2024’s A Complete Unknown, dropped 29.8% $8.18m and $41.81m of $75m and $140.5m worldwide.
Other biopics‘ second weekends
2024’s Bob Marley: One Love dropped 45% $13.45m and $71.14m of $96.98m and $181.02m worldwide
2015’s Straight Outta Compton dropped 56.2% $26.36m and $111.08m of $161.19m and $201.63m worldwide
2005’s Walk the Line dropped 14% $19.21m and $54m of $119.51m and $186.79m worldwide
2022’s Elvis dropped 40.9% $18.45m and $66.77m of $151.04m and $288.67m worldwide
2018’s Bohemian Rhapsody dropped 38.9% $31.2m and $100.36m of $216.66m and $910.8m worldwide
2019’s Rocketman dropped 46.3% $13.81m and $50.31m of $96.36m and $195.32m worldwide
2004’s Ray dropped 31.9% $13.64m and $39.64m of $75.3m and $123.97m worldwide
Social media for Springsteen was 160m below A Complete Unknown (187.4m) and Bob Marley: One Love (193.6m).
Took $4m from 28 territories $14.3m total, and $30.6m worldwide;
UK Box Office Top 10
Box Office Preview
After no films took over £1m last weekend, two very different films, Predator: Badlands and The Choral, will open with £1m+ this weekend.
Predator: Badlands is the seventh instalment in the Predator franchise, starring Elle Fanning and Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi and directed by Dan Trachtenberg (previously directed 2022’s Prey and 2025’s Predator: Killer of Killers.
1988’s Predator opened £598,537/£2,074,061 taking £2,664,237/£9,232,160
1990s Predator 2 opened £936,057/£2,446,723, taking £2,010,600/£5,255,430.
2010’s Predators opened £2,203,193/£2,951,168 taking £5,767,854/£7,726,016
2018’s The Predator opened £2,394,163/£2,626,284, taking £4,569,791/£5,012,846
2022’s Prey and 2025’s Predator: Killer of Killers were both released straight to Disney+
Dan Trachtenberg previously directed 2016’s 10 Cloverfield Lane opened £1,601,161, taking £5,029,725.
The first two Predator films were given 18 certificates for their cinema release; they were reclassified years after as 15s, but Predator: Badlands is a 12A (PG-13) certificate, which will surely frustrate fans as it’s not what they expect from the Predator film series.
Presales for Predator: Badlands have been very soft, and reviews have been mixed (one review called it the Disneyfication of 20th Century Fox films, making it feel more like an Avatar film with a baby Yoda sidekick)
So it’s unlikely to open close to either Predators or The Predator, but it will open in IMAX/PLF screens until The Running Man opens on November 12th.
Predator: Badlands is expected to open with $60m worldwide with about $25m from the US; this would be a similar opening as the last two films of the series: 2018’s The Predator $24.62m, and 2010’s Predators $24.76m. The 1987 original film opened $12.03m/$33.7m, taking $59.73m/$167.3m and $98.3m/$275.2m worldwide.
As similar films, it will take 40%+ from IMAX/PLF screens, losing them after a week to The Running Man next weekend.
Historical comedy drama The Choral, starring Ralph Fiennes, directed by Nicholas Hytner and written by Alan Bennett, received mixed reviews but will likely attract the grey pound.
Nicholas Hytner previously directed.
1994’s The Madness of King George opened £308,417/£701,915 on 13 screens, taking £4,531,966/£10,314,130
1997’s The Crucible opened £380,748/£740,915 175 screens taking £1,410,350/£2,744,464
1998’s The Object of My Affection opened £353,236/£694,201 200 screens, taking £1,882,318/£3,699,245
2006’s The History Boys opened £794,672/£1,292,362 292 screens taking £4,024,741/£6,545,369
2015’s The Lady in the Van opened £2,256,121 on 523 screens, taking £12,660,028/£13,906,716
Ralph Fiennes most recently starred in 2025’s 28 Years Later and 2024’s Conclave opened £1,065,847, taking £9,249,452.
With Bugonia likely to drop about 50% in its second weekend as its opening was inflated with previews taking 20% of its opening, Regretting You will likely be the best holdover, down about 40% in its third weekend. With Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere and Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie fighting it out for fifth place, both will likely drop 50%+.
Anemone, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Sean Bean and Samantha Morton, will likely struggle to find an audience after receiving mixed reviews, but will likely find an audience in Ireland. It’s Daniel Day-Lewis’s first acting role since he retired from acting in 2017 after starring in Phantom Thread 2017.
Coming Soon
- Wicked: For Good – Universal Pictures
Musical fantasy sequel to last year’s Wicked, based on the 2003 stage musical starring Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang, Marissa Bode, Michelle Yeoh, and Jeff Goldblum and directed by Jon M. Chu.
The popularity of the stage show Wicked in the UK is similar to Mamma Mia! In April 2024, the stage musical became the 10th-longest-running stage show in London’s West End, seen by over 13 million people, having over 7,407 shows and generating over £115m in ticket sales since its premiere in 2006; the Broadway show has taken over $1bn.
Universal Pictures announced plans to adapt the stage musical in 2012 after long development and with several directors attached, including Rob Marshall, James Mangold, and Ryan Murphy. In 2015, Universal Pictures announced Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot) was directing the film with a December 20th, 2019, release date, but left in 2020 due to “scheduling conflicts”; Cats was instead released, while it underperformed, Cats still opened £3,207,471, taking £11,987,192, as British audiences love their film musicals.
Production of the two Wicked films started in December 2022 at Sky Studios Elstree.
Had its world premiere in Brazil on November 4 and then several premieres across the world: Paris, London, Singapore and New York City before opening on November 21st.
The first trailer was released in February, and the second trailer in June after screening at CinemaCon in April. The second trailer was seen 113m times in its first 24 hours compared to 75m in the first q24 hours for the first film’s trailer.
Early reactions say it’s better than the first film, but these reactions have to be taken with a pinch of salt, as the film received similar acclaim from its early reactions, but reviews and audience reactions were slightly less favourable, especially about the washed-out grading of the film.
2024’s Wicked Part 1 opened £13,696,056; £3.84m (28.04%) Friday; £5.17m (37.75%) Sat; £4.68m (34.21%) Sun and then Monday £1.59m; £1.58m Tues.
Wicked had the biggest opening for a musical in the UK topping Wicked will have the biggest musical opening in the UK, topping Mamma Mia 2 (£9,735,930); Bohemian Rhapsody (£9,530,463), Wonka (£8,904,750); High School Musical 3 (£8,409,375/£12,888,984); Les Misérables (£8,127,991/£9,920,381); La La Land (£6,596,256) and Mamma Mia! (£6,594,058/£10,106,662).
Would have expected the second film to open bigger and similar to Frozen 2 (£15,088,012); Fantastic Beasts (£15,333,146); The Lion King (£16,671,764); Barbie (£18,509,236), and Beauty and the Beast (£19,700,000).
There seems to be a north/south divide with presales for Wicked: For Good, with strong sales in many London cinemas like Odeon Leicester Square and BFI IMAX, but other cinema sales aren’t as strong.
Last year, Wicked opened with two strong holdovers: Gladiator II £4,736,971 and Paddington In Peru £4,218,383, while Wicked: For Good has only male-targeted holdovers Predator: Badlands and The Running Man, which won’t have any impact and will mean Wicked 2 should open much bigger. (£15m+)
Advance bookings opened on October 31st in the UK, three weeks after they went on sale in the US (October 8th), becoming Fandango’s Biggest first-day ticket pre-seller of 2025 and among Fandango’s top 10 best all-time first-day ticket pre-sellers.
In October 2024, Wicked was estimated to open with $80m+, three weeks later opened with $112.5m, taking $473.23m and $756.44m worldwide; Wicked: For Good is currently tracking to open with $115m opening, so it will open with about $140m+ similar to Lilo & Stitch $146m.
The sequel is 20 mins shorter than the first film (2h 18 mins); the stage musical is 2hr 30 mins, but the film adaptation will be twice as long, over two films.
Wicked Part 1 dropped 39% in its second weekend, £8,371,251 and £28,530,258; £2.2m 26.4% (-42.7 £3.84m) Friday; £3.3m 40% (-36% £5.17m) Saturday; £2.79m 33.5% (-40.4% £4.68m) Sunday; £924k Monday. Moana 2 opened #1 £12,021,342; £2.8m 23.4% Friday: £4.93m 41.2% Saturday; £4.21m 35.2% Sunday; £748k Monday; Wicked 2 could hold #1 against Zootopia 2.
- Sisu: Road To Revenge – Sony Pictures
Action film starring Jorma Tommila, Stephen Lang, Richard Brake, and directed by Jalmari Helander.
Road to Revenge premiered at the Fantastic Fest in September, receiving positive reviews.
It’s counter-programming targeting males who saw the trailers with male-targeted Predator: Badlands and The Running Man opening earlier in the month, not interested in seeing Wicked 2; that said, 2023’s Sisu opened £144,567 #6 from 282 screens as counter-programming for The Little Mermaid.
