- 1. Disclosure Day £5,504,987 – NE
Took £1,612,199 previews (Weds/Thurs)
Took £1.2m 21.80% Friday; £1.57m 28.52% Saturday; £1.114m 20.24% Sunday
284th biggest opening between American Pie 2 and Iron Man (Dune, Joker: Folie A Deux, Planet of the Apes and Interstellar) and 437th biggest inflated opening between Ant-Man and The Wasp and Trainspotting 2 (close to Alien Resurrection, World War Z, Independence Day: Resurgence and Cloverfield).
6th biggest 2026 opening between Project Hail Mary and The Mandalorian & Grogu and 15th biggest opening over the last 52 weeks between Zootropolis 2 and The Mandalorian & Grogu (close to F1, Superman, 28 Years Later and The Housemaid).
5th biggest Steven Spielberg opening between The Lost World: Jurassic Park and The BFG (close to Ready Player One, Jurassic Park, Minority Report and War Horse) and 14th biggest inflated Steven Spielberg opening between E.T and Raiders of the Lost Ark (close to Catch Me If You Can, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, War Horse and A.I. Artificial Intelligence).
Opened in 724 cinemas (1,500+ screens) 16th widest opening similar to The Little Mermaid (close to Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Joker: Folie A Deux, Barbie and Avatar: The Way of Water); 51st 700+ cinema opening since 2017’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Opening was 12.46% of US opening including previews and 8.74% without previews; taking £3,892,788 Fri-Sun.
The BFI IMAX was the biggest cinema over the 5-day opening, selling out evening shows; IMAX took about 11%, with BFI IMAX taking 20%; it’s reduced to evening shows only in its second weekend as Toy Story 5 takes the rest of the shows; performed strongly at Odeon and Everyman cinemas.
Universal Pictures ran a media roadblock on June 10th between 8 am and 9 am across the UK with over 3,500 digital billboard advertising screens, and with TikTok and IMDb takedowns to feel like a nationwide emergency alert displaying the ” Today is Disclosure Day” message.
The world premiere was in Paris on June 2nd, with the UK premiere the day after, which saw Steven Spielberg making a surprise appearance at the Devonshire in Soho, having a Steven Spielberg pub quiz.
Disclosure Day is Steven Spielberg’s first film since 2022’s The Fabelmans and his first sci‑fi since 2018’s Ready Player One. It is also his first fully Universal‑financed film as director since 1997’s The Lost World: Jurassic Park (he has directed several films since that Universal released through distribution deals).
The film stars Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth, Eve Hewson, and Colman Domingo, from a screenplay by David Koepp (who has written many Spielberg scripts). Many have said it’s his best for over 20 years, while others have compared it to an X-Files episode.
In April 2024, it was reported that Spielberg’s next film would be about UFOs. Amblin has a first‑look deal with Universal Pictures, and when Spielberg signed the deal in 2023, he said, “Universal is my ancestral studio home”, having made many films there over the last 50 years.
The film has been described as a spiritual successor to Close Encounters of the Third Kind, but with a darker, more paranoid tone.
The Box Office Context
33 years ago, this month in the US (July in the UK), Jurassic Park opened. It had a similar opening, but didn’t need any gimmicks to get audiences to see it. And despite exhibitors being forced to install DTS in all screens showing the film (a demand by Spielberg), none of the exhibitors passed the costs on to cinemagoers, as they have done since.
It has been 10 years since Spielberg released a summer film. The BFG opened to £5,288,529. Disclosure Day opened similarly to his last sci‑fi, 2018’s Ready Player One (opening £5,113,041), which was seen as disappointing at the time.
Sadly, the industry has lowered expectations for the opening of the father of the summer tentpole. 51 years ago, Jaws changed the way the industry saw summer and how they opened films. Before Jaws, the summer was the dumping ground; who wants to go to the cinema when it’s hot and sunny?
Steven Spielberg films have taken over £400m at the UK box office for 27 of his films (missing the BO for Jaws and a few of his other smaller release) taking about £900m inflated,, showing how huge his films were in the UK; 2016’s The BFG was his last massive hit in the UK taking over £30m.
The Competition and Premium Screens
Like Project Hail Mary, Disclosure Day benefits from real‑world space news: ahead of its opening, the Pentagon released declassified UFO files.
The film is targeting adults and older audiences and likely took about 50% from IMAX and PLF screens. But with Toy Story 5 opening on Thursday, it only has them for a week. It still plays exclusively in 70mm at the Odeon Leicester Square for another week, until Supergirl opens.
Disclosure Day should have kept IMAX screens. Toy Story 5 is unlikely to be strong with IMAX, as it is unlikely IMAX will add anything to the experience, while it does with Disclosure Day.
Growing up in the 80s, a Steven Spielberg film was always an event. I have seen almost all of the films he has directed, and most of those he produced in cinemas since E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial in 1982.
I remember seeing Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade at the end of June 1989 at the recently refurbished Empire Leicester Square, the day I finished my GCSEs.
Years later, with Minority Report, I spent several days at Pinewood Studios Theatre 6, quality‑checking half a dozen Italian showprints for its premiere.
I have seen Spielberg’s films from every angle: as a child in the audience, as a projectionist, quality checking in a screening room and as an adult.
Over the last decade, his films have been overshadowed by the likes of Christopher Nolan. Disclosure Day is the lead‑in for Universal’s summer slate, ahead of the more highly anticipated The Odyssey in July.
It is 21 years since Spielberg directed his biggest film this century, War of the Worlds, which opened to £8.64m/£14.7m and took £30.4m/£51.6m.
Like Project Hail Mary, Disclosure Day benefits from real‑world space news: ahead of its opening, the Pentagon has released declassified UFO files.
With Toy Story 5 opening on Thursday, Disclosure Day will drop 60%+ in its second weekend, but should still be along with Obsession, the two films that don’t completely capitulate. All other holdovers will lose far more screens and shows, and with the addition of a hot sunny weekend, could see many others dropping much more.
- 2. Obsession £1,517,066 – £13,335,721
Down 21.2% in its fifth weekend.
£516k 34% (-6.9% £554k) Fri; £561k 36.98% (-26.6% £764k) Sat; £440k 29% (-18.7% £541k) Sun
86th biggest fifth weekend between Despicable Me 4 and Finding Dory (close to Les Misérables, Slumdog Millionaire, The Dark Knight Rises and Quantum of Solace) and 187th biggest inflated fifth weekend between The Minority Report and Life of Pi (close to Signs, What Lies Beneath, Lethal Weapon 2 and Ghostbusters 2).
A 21.2% drop in its fifth weekend is remarkable by any measure. But the real story is not the number. It is what the number represents: a film that has found an audience beyond horror, beyond genre, beyond the typical Blumhouse crowd.
557th biggest between Dog Man and The Beach (close to Jumanji, Mr and Mrs Smith, Crocodile Dundee II and Wedding Crashers) and 924th biggest inflated between Parasite and Inside Man (close to The Pursuit of Happyness, A Knight’s Tale, Green Card and 12 Monkeys).
Beyond Horror: A Genre of Its Own
It is now impossible to compare Obsession with horror films. That has not stopped analysts from doing so, despite the fact that after its second weekend, it was already clear that it could not be compared to other horror films.
Obsession also has not performed like most Blumhouse films. They normally play strongly in the US, but do not travel internationally in the same way. 2017’s Get Out was a cultural phenomenon in the US, but its UK gross (£11.7m) was modest by comparison.
The one film that was performing as strongly internationally as the US was 2020’s The Invisible Man. It was a similarly themed female-led social horror, a woman trapped by a man who refuses to let her go, rendered invisible not by technology but by the system that protects him.
But The Invisible Man’s release was cut short to only three weeks due to COVID. We never got to see how leggy it could have been. Obsession is the film The Invisible Man might have become, if the pandemic had not stolen its run.
That is the parallel the analysts are missing. They are comparing Obsession to Smile and Five Nights at Freddy’s. They should be comparing it to what The Invisible Man could have been.
Why, for weeks, my comparison titles have been rom-coms from 20+ years ago, and The Devil Wears Prada.
To understand why, you have to look back at the rom-coms of the 1990s and 2000s, and see how differently they play now.
It might seem strange to include these rom-coms. But they are all about the power and control that male characters have over female characters, often without the women realising it. These men are seen as “nice guys.” But they are manipulating the women they claim to love.
Now watch Hitch again. It is about a man who helps other men manipulate women into falling in love with them.
Watch What Women Want. It is about a man who can hear what women are thinking and uses that knowledge to manipulate them.
Twenty-five years ago, these films seemed sweet. Now, they feel twisted. (What Women Want has the added discomfort of Mel Gibson in the lead.)
Listen to this line from You’ve Got Mail (1998):
“Timing is everything. He waited until you were primed. Until you knew there was no other man you could ever love.”
In 1998, that was romance. In 2026, it feels like a warning sign. He is doing this via the internet. He is hiding behind a screen. He is controlling her without her knowledge.
The When Harry Met Sally Line That Predicted Everything
There is a moment in When Harry Met Sally (1989) when Harry, played by Billy Crystal, lays out his theory of male-female friendship: “No man can be friends with a woman he finds attractive. He always wants to have sex with her.”
In 1989, that line was played for laughs. It was a knowing wink from the writer, Nora Ephron, about the inconvenient truths of male desire. The audience laughed because they recognised it, but also because they dismissed it as exaggerated. Harry was a cynic. Sally was a romantic. The film ended with them falling in love. The cynicism was revealed as a mask for vulnerability.
Now watch that scene again in 2026. It is not funny. It is a diagnosis.
Harry is not being honest. He is stating the premise of the “nice guy” entitlement that Obsession literalises. He finds a woman attractive. Therefore, he cannot be her friend. Therefore, his “friendship” is always a strategy. Therefore, her trust is always a trap.
Obsession takes that line and removes the laugh track. Bear is Harry without the redemption arc. He does not fall in love. He does not learn. He just wants. And the horror is that the film gives him everything he wants, and he still cannot be happy.
When Harry Met Sally played the line for laughs. Obsession plays it for horror, because thirty years later, women stopped laughing.
These films have to be seen as the films they were at the time. You cannot judge them by today’s standards. But you can ask what those standards say about us now. And you can see how a film like Obsession could only have emerged after a generation of women grew up watching these “nice guys” and started asking: what if he is not so nice?
Obsession hold is like going back to the future to the cinema almost 25 years ago, as seen with Obsession having a similar inflated fifth weekend as 2000’s What Lies Beneath, 2002’s Signs, 2000’s What Women Want, 2002’s About A Boy and 1994’s True Lies. All those films could be metaphors
The Fifth Weekend Club: What Obsession Has in Common with the 1990s
| Film (Year) | Genre | Central Dynamic |
|---|---|---|
| What Lies Beneath (2000) | Supernatural thriller | A wife suspects her husband of murder — the monster is the man she trusted |
| Signs (2002) | Sci-fi / family drama | A man of lost faith must protect his family from an unknowable threat |
| What Women Want (2000) | Rom-com | A man hears women’s thoughts — and uses that knowledge to manipulate them |
| About a Boy (2002) | Dramedy | A selfish man learns connection and vulnerability |
| True Lies (1994) | Action comedy | A spy’s lies catch up with him; his family sees who he really is |
| Stardust (2007) | Fantasy romance | A man goes on a quest for love — and becomes worthy of it |
| Sense and Sensibility (1995) | Period drama | Men who promise and do not deliver |
| Sliding Doors (1998) | Rom-com / drama | Two parallel timelines show how small moments change everything |
| Indecent Proposal (1993) | Drama / thriller | The price of trust; a bargain that breaks everything |
| American Beauty (1999) | Drama | The “nice guy” who is not so nice; the fantasy that destroys |
| Cast Away (2000) | Survival drama | Isolation as transformation; what is left when the mask is gone |
| Mission: Impossible (1996) | Action thriller | Trust is a weapon; the villain is the man you trusted |
What do these films have in common?
Men who are not who they seem. The mask of the “nice guy.” The husband is a monster. The spy who lies. The father who fails.
The cost of trust. Characters who trust the wrong person and pay for it.
The fantasy that becomes a nightmare. Wishes granted, then twisted. The bargain that breaks everything.
The woman who sees clearly. Female protagonists who recognise the truth, but often too late.
Obsession belongs in their company. Not just at the box office, but thematically. It is the 2026 version of a story audiences have always needed to hear.
These films were all considered mainstream hits. They were not niche. They were not arthouse. They were the middle-class cinema that has since disappeared, films for adults, about adult themes, that still found wide audiences.
Obsession is not a horror film. It is a spiritual sequel to these films, the dark side of the rom-com, the thriller that asks the questions the 1990s comedies ignored.
The Trojan Horse: What Most Analysts Will Miss
This is what most analysts are failing to understand about Obsession.
The film was originally marketed as a horror, and analysts still see it as a horror, but when women saw it. And they realised it was not really a fantasy horror, because many of them have experienced this behaviour from “nice guys” regularly.
For women, Obsession is not a fantasy. It is a documentary. The horror is not supernatural. It is normal. That is what women are recognising. And that is why they are showing up in week four.
The men came for the horror. The women came for the recognition. And then the women told their friends.
A Note on Perspective
Of course, I am wary that, as a man saying this, it might seem like mansplaining. I try to imagine what women really think, but that is impossible for me to do. I have never walked a mile in their shoes. I have never experienced those supposedly friendly glances from a stranger, or felt the weight of not knowing whether a smile is a greeting or a threat.
The Bournemouth Football Club campaign gave me a new perspective. It showed the difference between a man walking home from a match and a woman doing the same. Things men do without thinking — crossing the street, walking a little too close, offering a “friendly” smile- can feel very different to a woman on her own.
I have probably done some of those things without thinking. That is the point. I did not know. The campaign helped me see it.
Obsession does the same thing. It takes the “nice guy” persona, the one I might have thought was harmless, the one Harry in When Harry Met Sally played for laughs, and shows what it looks like from the other side.
I cannot know what it feels like to be Andy. But I can recognise Bear. And that recognition is the first step.
- 3. Scary Movie £1,442,602 – £1,442,602
Dropped 65.6% in its second weekend
£491k 34% (-67.7% £1.52m) Friday; £596k 41.3% (-63% £1.61m) Sat; £356k 24.6% (-66.4% £1.06m) Sun.
743rd biggest second weekend between The Smurfs and Wish (close to A Haunting In Venice, Scary Movie (2000), Joker: Folie A Deux and Tomb of the Dragon Emperor) and 1,214th biggest inflated second weekend between Horton Hears a Who and Munich (close to Green Lantern, Me Myself and Irene, Freddy’s Dead The Final Nightmare and Groundhog Day).
28th biggest second weekend over the last 52 weeks between The Roses and The Sheep Detectives (close to The Drama, Weapons, Obsession and 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple).
Scary Movie had a similar second weekend drop as Scream 7 earlier this year 65% (70% with previews) taking £1,161,628 and £6,142,533 78.4% of £7,831,514 showing the parody is as front-loaded as the parody, as it has always just been a paradox, while hype gets audience to see it over opening weekend they quickly loose interest, that said Paramount will still announce a Scary Movie 2 as they will Scream 8 despite both feeling outdated and tired.
The Dated Jokes: SNL and TikTok Are Faster
Parody films face an existential problem in 2026. When Scary Movie was released in 2000, it took 18 months to get a theatrical parody. That felt fast. Now, weekly comedy shows like Saturday Night Live can parody a film within days. TikTok creators do it within hours.
2000’s Scary Movie dropped 54% £1,460,710/£2,753,009 and £5,431,730 54.5% of £9,955,478/£18,763,148
2001’s Scary Movie 2 dropped 60.2% £618,186/£1,196,056 and £2,830,982 65.4% of £4,327,602/£8,372,969
2004’s Scary Movie 3 dropped 45.7% £1,894,077/£3,378,966 and £6,459,214 72.5% of £8,907,831/£15,891,253
2006’s Scary Movie 4 dropped 52.4% £929,019/£1,528,017 -and £4,213,375 72.7% of £5,795,802/£9,532,726
2013’s Scary Movie 5 dropped 58.3% £453,099/£555,792 and £1,983,601 84.6% of £2,344,473/£2,875,839
- 4. Backrooms – £968,197 – £10,700,066
Down 57% in its third weekend
£296k 30.6% (-53.2% £633k) Fri; £384k 39.7% (-59.9% £958k) Sat; £288k 29.7% (-56.5% £662k) Sun
697th biggest third weekend between Prisoners and Nativity 2: Danger In The Manger! (close to The Conjuring, The Meg 2, Venom: The Last Dance and Insidious) and 1,025th biggest inflated third weekend between The Artist and Star Trek Beyond (close to Layer Cake, Limitless, Malice and Wolf).
After having a strong second weekend hold, Backrooms is performing more like a typical horror film in its third weekend. 2026 has seen a lot of horror films released, but it was only Obsession and Backrooms that found a wide audience, along with receiving positive reviews. It will be interesting to see if audiences react to upcoming horror films any differently, or if they will be as was the case before these two back to being front-loaded.
As Miramax did 30 years ago, A24 over recent years has found its identity within the film industry, and one of the reasons given for seeing Backrooms in post surveys was that it was an A24 film. Independent studios over the decades have had success making certain genres of films, like New Line Cinema making horrors in the 80s and 90s, but then when they try to make other genres of films, they struggle.
Backrooms third weekend was close to 1999’s The Blair Witch Project dropped 62.8% £851,628/£1,620,318 and £13,629,017 91% of £14,971,525/£28,485,015; it had a similar marketing campaign but Blair Witch Project didn’t have the massive fanbase and was built up of months of build-up opening in the UK four months after opening in the US and 10 months after it terrified Sundance Film Festival audiences who believed the events were real.
Backrooms also had a similar third weekend as 2009’s Paranormal Activity dropped 58.7% £758,704/£1,117,136 and £8,703,396 87.6% of £9,935,165/£14,628,800
The Warning: What Comes Next
As was the case after the success of The Blair Witch Project, studios made dozens of cheap found‑footage films. Most were terrible. Most lost money.
The same will happen now. Studio executives will scour YouTube for other creators’ content that they think could be the next Backrooms. But the challenge is finding another Kane Parsons or Markiplier. They are not assembly‑line products. They are anomalies.
This is like the post‑Sundance bidding wars of the 1990s. Studios would acquire films that had received strong buzz during the festival, convinced they had the next Blair Witch or Reservoir Dogs. Many months later, those films struggled to find an audience when they were given a theatrical release. The buzz had faded. The moment had passed.
The Netflix Warning
Netflix warned in March that YouTube was its biggest competitor, not legacy studios, not other streaming services. YouTube generated $60bn in revenue last year, a third more than Netflix’s $45bn, with $15bn coming from premium content alone.
- 5. Masters Of The Universe £869,468 – £4,255,535
Dropped 67.2% in its second weekend (59% without previews)
£179k 20.6% (-60.5% £453k) Friday; £390k 44.8% (-60% £976k) Sat; £300k 34.5% (-58.6% £725k) Sun.
1,328th biggest second weekend between Dangerous Minds and Underworld (close to Wild Wild West, Ghost Rider, Power Rangers and Unstoppable) and 1,910th biggest inflated second weekend between Grimsby and Brooklyn (close to Coyote Ugly, Galaxy Quest, Pete’s Dragon and Zathura).
43rd biggest second weekend over the last 52 weeks between Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie and Send Help (close to Freakier Friday, Predator: Badlands, Elio and Crime 101).
After a film opens lower than expected, the same questions are asked: was it the marketing or the wrong date? Another one should be asked if theatrical window be shortened as 45-days for Masters Of The Universe and Star Wars: The Mandalorian And Grogu are both far too long as their shows will be dramatically reduced on Thursday for Toy Story 5. If Amazon/MGM and Universal Pictures can delay windows for Project Hail Mary, Obsession and Michael, the windows should be able to be shortened too.
2009’s G.I Joe dropped 51.6% £827,389/£1,218,269 and £3,867,004 61.4% of £6,293,469/£9,266,670)
2017’s Power Rangers dropped 45.1% £864,591/£934,598 and £3,055,495 67.5% of £4,525,180
Comparisons are also with 1998’s Small Soldiers, which dropped 1% £1,130,015/£2,223,936 and £3,801,662, 59.5% of £6,389,337/£12,574,592.
The issues with Masters of the Universe were similar to The Mandalorian & Grogu. Grogu was a children’s film sold as a Star Wars event, promising depth and delivering fluff. Masters was a toy commercial sold as a nostalgic fantasy, promising adventure and delivering corny. One pretended to be for everyone but was really for children. The other admitted it was for children, but audiences wanted more. Both disappointed. Neither learned the lesson. Masters tried to be clever for nostalgic adults and simple for children. It ended up being neither.
The original film was made by Cannon Films and was more like a B movie, never reached anything more, dropped 50.5% £169,665/£632,101 and £1,591,702, 72.4% of £2,198,857/£8,192,021; it came out soon after the popular animated TV series was released, which ran a few years earlier.
The Flash Gordon Comparison
Masters of the Universe is playing to the same audience as 1980’s Flash Gordon, took £14m/£79.5m) and became a cult hit. Masters will likely have a similar success on Amazon when it is released on the platform in a few months.
With Toy Story 5 opening Thursday, Masters Of The Universe and Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu, as well as Michael and The Devil Wears Prada 2 screens and shows will dramatically reduce, and all of them will likely drop 70%+.
Also released
- Boogie Nights (4K Restoration) – £21,712 #18 from 130 screens
Re-released in cinemas after Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another won Best Film and Director at the Oscars earlier this year, next year will be its 30th anniversary (US); it will be a year later in the UK, as it originally opened in January 1998. (opened £805,839/£1,601,680 from 145 screens taking £4,325,540/£8,597,413.
Further down the list of new openings was FIFA World Cup (2026) #92, taking £10 from 1 cinema.
Over the years, cinemas have broadcast World Cup/European Championship games, especially England, and some cinemas will broadcast the England vs Croatia game on Wednesday as they will be showing England vs Ghana next Tuesday and Panama on Saturday, 27th June. As with 20m likely watching the games at home and pubs, cinemas will be less busy, so it makes sense to show them. The screenings are “free”, but tickets are £10, and they include a drink.
So, going back to that FIFA World Cup (2026) taking £10 from 1 cinema, does that mean at the one cinema that showed World Cup matches over the last weekend, only one person attended?
Over the last decade, studios have brought forward film openings as well as delayed them to avoid them opening during the World Cup/European Championship. This was due to happen in 2020, had COVID not happened and Top Gun: Maverick would have been delayed opening the same weekend as Tenet.
Before this, studios would delay summer films, and they would date female-friendly films to play in cinemas over the four weeks, as it had an impact on box office. With the time difference, it’s unlikely to have a similar impact apart from next Saturday with the Panama game. If England were to get to the quarter finals, it would be Saturday, July 11th at 10 pm, possibly against Brazil, and then the final is Sunday, July 19th at 8 pm, the weekend The Odyssey opens.
——————–
BO is currently up 11% from 2025.
The weekend’s top 10 box office took £12,295,288, down 31.6% from last weekend’s £17,979,549: 1,410,852 admissions, down 32.4% from 2,088,217 admissions.
26th biggest weekend of the last 52 weeks between 15 May 2026 #1 Micheal £4,432,922 (34.86%) and 22 May 2026 #1 Star Wars: The Mandalorian And Grogu £5,291,385 (45.35%)
88th biggest since cinemas reopened out of 291 weeks between 14 April 2023 #1 Super Mario Bros £7,568,523 (61.32%) and 31 December 2021 #1 Spider-Man No Way Home £6,055,345 (49.61%)
460th biggest top 10 of the last 25 years (out of 1,262) between 30 March 2007 #1 Mr Beans Holiday £6,440,093 (52.37%) and 18 May 2012 #1 The Dictator £4,963,745 (40.43%) and 833rd biggest inflated between 05 May 2017 #1 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 £6,097,082 (56.90%) and 21 November 2008 #1 Quantum of Solace £2,884,789 (38.89%)
The top 3 took £8,464,655 (68.8%) of the top 10; Disclosure Day 40.76% (£5,504,987); Obsession 11.23% (£1,517,066); Scary Movie 10.68% (£1,442,602);
384th biggest percentage share #1 (40.76%) between 13 March 2009 #1 Marley & Me £4,414,169 (44.79%) and 21 March 2025 #1 Snow White £3,856,173 (44.74%) )
547th biggest admissions (639,371) between 01 July 2016 #1 The Secret Life of Pets £4,739,295 (639,581) and 20 February 2015 #1 Fifty Shades of Grey £4,597,092 (637,599)
Down 7.41% from 2025; (£13,279,653); How To Train Your Dragon (£8,145,188); Tornado (£70,185); 28 Days Later (Re: 2025) (£53,394); #1 How To Train Your Dragon £8,145,188 661 screens 1st week (61.34% of top 10)
Down 18.72% from 2024; (£15,127,051); Inside Out 2 (£11,321,387); Wilding (£127,191); Freud’s Last Session (£72,989); Star Trek III: The Search For Spock (40th Anniversary 4K Re-Issue) (£63,802); The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (4K Restoration) (£36,983); The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert (30th Anniversary) (£7,634); #1 Inside Out 2 £11,321,387 1st week 685 screens (74.84% of top 10)
Up 13.24% from 2023; (£10,857,760); The Flash (£4,252,532); Greatest Days (£536,955); Fleabag – NT Live 2019 (Re: 2023) (£86,597); SUGA: Road To D-DAY (£35,909); #1 The Flash £4,252,532 1st week 660 screens (39.17%)
Down 35.2% from 2022 (£18,965,681); Jurassic World: Dominion (£12,121,728); #1 Jurassic World: Dominion £12,121,728 1st week 707 screens (63.9% of top 10)
Up 79.70% 2021 from (£6,842,018) The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard (£1,636,128); In the Heights (£1,073,68); Monster Hunter (£150,078); In The Earth (£58,538); #1 The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard £1,636,128 1st week 522 screens (23.91% of top 10)
2020 Lockdown
Up 6.57% from 2019; (£11,536,988); Men In Black International (£2,823,117); Diego Maradona (£284,949); Romeo And Juliet – ROH, 2018/19 (£62,756); The Italian Job (50th Anniversary) (£38,640); #1 Aladdin £2,881,535 27% drop 656 screens 4th week (24.98% of top 10)
Down 7.8% from 2018: (£13,335,853); Hereditary (£1,863,913); The Happy Prince (£107,178); Super Troopers 2 (£101,881); Swan Lake – ROH, London 2017/18 (£71,257); #1 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom 2nd week £7,220,952 50% drop 667 screens (54.1% of top 10)
Up 0.5% from 2017 (£12,227,826); The Mummy (£3,343,650); Take That: Wonderland Live from the O2 2017 (£1,004,918); My Cousin Rachel (£637,704); Peter Pan – NT Live 2017 (£119,127); #1 Wonder Woman £3,480,956 2nd week 45% drop 613 screens (28.47% of top 10)
Up 70.61% from 2016: (£7,206,704); The Boss (£594,672); Mother’s Day (£419,532); When Marnie Was There (£99,352); Miracles from Heaven (£20,420); #1 Me Before You £1,453,859 529 screens 1st week (2nd week on release) 19% drop.
Down 48.79% from 2015; (£24,008,316); Jurassic World (£19,350,727); London Road (£216,248); Gascoigne (£47,455); Queen and Country (£31,966); #1 Jurassic World £19,350,727 605 screens 1st week (80.6% of top 10)
Up 78.45% from 2014: (£6,889,969); Oculus (£413,578); Belle (£407,120); Devil’s Knot (£122,892); The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet (£44,777); The Hooligan Factory (£6,518); The Food Guide to Love (£1,293); #1 22 Jump Street £2,255,100 477 screens 2nd week (32.7% of top 10)
Down 26.1% from 2013: (£16,628,964); Man Of Steel (£11,198,786); Much Ado About Nothing (£68,265); Admission (£33,557); #1 Man Of Steel £11,198,786 1st week 572 screens 67.3% of top 10)
Up 54% from 2012 (£11,422,558); The Pact (£932,325); Ill Manors (£256,288); Red Tails (£193,420); A Fantastic Fear of Everything (£35,400); #1 Prometheus £3,135,504 2nd week 536 screens 50% drop (27.4% of top 10)
Down 15.7% from 2011; (£14,590,776); Kung Fu Panda 2 (£6,188,897); Honey 2 (£520,654); Mother’s Day (£94,385); #1 Kung Fu Panda 2 £6,188,897 1st week 514 screens (42.4% of top 10)
Up 126.5% from 2010: (£5,427,181); Letters to Juliet (£793,425); Brooklyn’s Finest (£468,279); Greenberg (£118,804); #1 Sex and the City 2 £1,489,833 3rd week 542 screens 40% drop (27.3% of top 10)
Up 38.6% from 2009; (£8,867,112); The Hangover (£3,193,806); The Last House on the Left (£392,163); Looking for Eric (£366,242); Red Cliff (£153,288); #1 The Hangover £3,193,806 1st week 422 screens (36.1% of top 10)
Up 25.1% from 2008; (£9,828,672); The Incredible Hulk (£3,253,723); The Happening (£1,632,055); Priceless (£125,433); #1 The Incredible Hulk £3,253,723 1st weeks 484 screens (33.1% of top 10)
Up 25.2% from 2007: (£9,816,017); Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (£4,137,169); Vacancy (£565,936); #1 Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer £4,137,169 1st week 475 screens (42.1% of top 10)
Up 112.6% from 2006; (£5,781,153); The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (£1,813,359); Hard Candy (£527,910); Thank You for Smoking (£188,676); Imagine Me and You (£39,950); #1 The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift £1,813,359 1st week 415 screens (31.3% of top 10)
Up 54.13% from 2005: (£7,979,378); Mr and Mrs Smith (£3,943,422); #1 Mr and Mrs Smith £3,943,422 1st week 450 screens (49.4% of top 10)
Up 62.3% from 2004 (£7,575,851); Connie and Carla (£155,374); I’m Not Scared (£41,407); #1 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban £4,391,262 2nd week 536 screens (57.9% of top 10)
Up 179% from 2003 (£4,406,684); Identity (£719,468); Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry (£673,202); A Guy Thing (£134,956); Iggy Goes Down (£86,581); #1 The Matrix Reloaded £1,071,551 4th week 457 screens 57% drop (24.3% of top 10
Down 2.5% from 2002 (£12,613,797); Spider-Man: The Movie (£9,426,969); #1 Spider-Man: The Movie £9,426,969 1st week 509 screens (74.74% of top 10)
2025 Next week: (£10,835,871); 28 Years Later (£4,780,374); Elio (£971,169); #1 28 Years Later £4,780,374 1st week 707 screens (44.12% of top 10)
US Box Office
- Disclosure Day – Universal Pictures
Opened $44.53m; received positive reviews (82% Rotten Tomatoes) and a B CinemaScore
Received a similar CinemaScore as Minority Report and War of the Worlds, which received a B+
Took $6.5m from Thursday previews; Star Trek $7m; A Quiet Place: Day One $6.8m; Weapons $5.7m;
384th biggest opening between The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes and xXx (close to The Hangover, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Tron: Legacy).
6th biggest Steven Spielberg opening between Jurassic Park and Minority Report (close to War of the Worlds, Ready Player One, Saving Private Ryan, and Catch Me If You Can) and 13th biggest inflated opening between E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial and Jaws (close to A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Hook, Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Terminal).
Took almost 50% from IMAX/PLF (only has them for a week, with Toy Story 5 taking most of them)
40% of the audience was over 45; 24% was 25-34
Ahead of opening, it was tracking to open with $35m
Entelligence said it had 2.8m admissions; average price was $14.97; average IMAX/PLF was $18.40.
It’s Steven Spielberg’s popcorn film since 2018’s Ready Player One; since then, he has directed more adult films, including West Side Story, The Post and The Fabelmans.
Disclosure Day was the 6th biggest Steven Spielberg opening between Jurassic Park and Minority Report, close to War of the Worlds, Ready Player One, Saving Private Ryan, and Catch Me If You Can.
And the 13th biggest inflated opening between E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial and Jaws, close to A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Hook, Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Terminal.
These numbers show it is impossible to compare Disclosure Day’s opening with other summer films. Steven Spielberg films are very different to the tentpoles of the last 20 years that open so big due to hype and FOMO.
Spielberg’s films were understated blockbusters.
Think of James Donovan in Bridge of Spies. He does not make a big deal of what he is doing. He negotiates the prisoner swap. He does his job. He comes home. He sits down with his family. And only then, watching the news, do his wife and children discover what he has done. He did not need to announce it. He did not need the recognition. The work spoke for itself.
That could be a metaphor for Spielberg’s films themselves. They do not scream for attention. They do not rely on hype. They do not need FOMO to fill seats. They just are. And even an average Spielberg film is vastly superior to those surrounded with hype, FOMO and no sustenance.
Disclosure Day is not a tentpole. It is a Spielberg film. That is the difference. And that is why the numbers should be read differently.
Social media across YouTube, Instagram, X, Facebook and TikTok was 490.9m ahead of opening, higher than other sci-fi films and more than 2018’s Ready Player One (195.4m).
Disclosure Day trailers were seen over 700m worldwide ahead of opening, not including the millions who saw them in cinemas since December and watching the Super Bowl. The first teaser was seen over 300m times.
The 34 films Steven Spielberg has directed have taken $4.6bn over the last 52 years in the US; over 1.1bn admissions and taking almost $14bn, showing how big his successes were over his first 19 years. They took half of the total BO $2.3bn and $10bn, respectively, inflated.
Took $13.8m worldwide from IMAX; $7.3m US and $$6.5m internationally
Opened $48.9m internationally from 73 territories and $92.9m worldwide in 25,685 screens; UK $7.6m; Mexico $3.9m; China $3m; France $2.9m; Australia $2.9m; Brazil $2.7m; Spain $2.7m; Italy $2.2m.
Similar international openings include Blade Runner 2049 ($40m), Oblivion ($38.3m), Edge of Tomorrow ($38.2m), Twisters ($26.9m) and One Battle After Another ($25.5m).
- Scary Movie – Paramount Pictures
Dropped 73.9% in its second weekend, $14.2m and $84.29m
833rd biggest second weekend between We Were Soldiers and Power Rangers (close to Snow White, Freakier Friday, Look Who’s Talking and Dumb and Dumber To).
After last week’s headlines, Scary Movie had the biggest opening for Scary Movie. This weekend was the predictable Scary Movie has the biggest second weekend drop of all the films, as it was always going to be very front-loaded.
2000’s Scary Movie dropped 38% $26.19m and $89.09m of $157.1m/$363.9m and $278.1m/$645m WW
2001’s Scary Movie 2 dropped 53% $9.55m and $52.97m of $71.3m/$157.3m and $141.2m/$311.7m WW
2004’s Sary Movie 3 dropped 57% $21m and $78.6m of $110m/$221.3m and $220.7m/$443.9m WW
2006’s Scary Movie 4 dropped 58% $16.81m and $44.19m of $90.7m/$173m and $178.3m/$340m WW
2013’s Scary Movie 5 dropped 56.6% $6.15m and $22.79m of $32.1m/$49.2m and $78.4m/$120.5m WW
Opened $50.5m internationally from 53 territories and $105.5m worldwide; Mexico $6.7m; Germany $5.5m; UK $5.5m, and Brazil $5.1m
- Masters of the Universe – Amazon/MGM
Dropped 69.7% in its second weekend, $8.92m and $46.98m
Similar films
2023’s Dungeons & Dragons dropped 62.7% $13.88m and $61.65m of $93.54m and $205.46m worldwide
2025’s Tron: Ares dropped 66.6% $11.11m and $54.55m of $73.16m and $142.24m worldwide
2009’s G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra dropped 59.2% $22.32m and $98.57m of $150.2m and $302.4m WW
2017’s Power Rangers dropped 64.8% $14.2m and $64.72m of $85.36m and $142.33m worldwide
When a film has been in development since 2009, started at Warner Bros, then Sony Pictures, then rights were moved to Netflix (cancelled after spending $30m on development) and then to Amazon/MGM, surely there are issues at the heart of the film. The key problem was similar to Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu; it was made for a different audience, and they marketed the film.
When films like Masters Of The Universe and The Mandalorian and Grogu come short of expectations, and their screens and shows will be drastically cut back with Toy Story 5 opening, surely they should have shortened the theatrical window, as it benefits no one that they still hold to their existing window.
Took $8.4m internationally, $39.4m total and $86.1m worldwide; Brazil $4.5m; UK $3.6m; Mexico $2.8m
- Backrooms – A24
Down 56.1% in its third weekend, $11.52m and $160.52m
The Cycle of Overreaction
Some analysts will point to Backrooms and Obsession as proof that the market has changed. They are not wrong, but they are not entirely right, either.
These were unique films that caught specific cultural moments. There will be others like them. But the problem is what comes next.
The studios will now seek them out. They will chase the formula. And there will be a lot of crap, just as there was after The Blair Witch Project (dozens of awful found footage films) and after Cloverfield (shaky-cam monster movies nobody asked for).
In 1999, The Blair Witch Project took $14.5m in its third weekend wide (after 2 weeks of limited opening) and $107.27m of $140.53m and $248.63m worldwide. The Blair Witch Project was followed by many found footage films, most of which were inferior, as were the Blair Witch sequels. A24 has already announced sequels to Backrooms, but will they be able to repeat the success of the first film, as this has often been the case when directors have a breakout original success, their next film can’t repeat, as lightning doesn’t strike twice?
The cycle is predictable. The only question is whether anyone learns from it. They won’t, as William Goldman famously said, “Not one person in the entire motion picture field knows for a certainty what’s going to work. Every time out it’s a guess and, if you’re lucky, an educated one”.
Took $50.1m internationally from 52 territories, $77.6m total, and $212.6 worldwide; UK $11.6m; Australia $7.9m; South Korea $5.7m; Italy $2m.
- Obsession – Focus Features
Down 25.1% in its fifth weekend, $19m and $188.39m
21st biggest fifth weekend between Zootopia and Moana 2 (close to The Avengers, Project Hail Mary, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace and Jurassic World).
As with my analysis for Obsession UK performance, it’s even harder to make comparisons with any other horror, as the only possible one would be The Sixth Sense, taking $22.89m and $176.24 of $293.5m and $672.8m worldwide, but of course it opened 27 years ago and ticket inflation since is 150%.
That’s of course not saying the hold of Obsession is very strong, but it just highlights how the industry has undervalued its audience with the films they have made, as the first six months of the year has seen a wider mix of films finding a much wider audience than they have done for probably 20 years, the question is will the industry have learnt anything from this especially as the next six months will be a return to tentpole to tentpole hype and FOMO.
The Real Story: The Industry Has Undervalued Its Audience
That is not to say Obsession‘s hold is not strong. It is.
But it highlights something more important: the industry has undervalued its audience with the films they have made.
The first six months of 2026 have seen a wider mix of films finding a much wider audience than they have done for probably 20 years.
| Film | Genre | Audience | What It Proved |
| The Housemaid | Thriller | Women, older audiences | There is an audience for adult thrillers |
| Send Help | Social horror | Women, younger audiences | Social horror can cross over |
| Obsession | Social horror | Women, older teens | Horror can be for people who don’t like horror |
| The Drama | Drama | Young women | A24 can find mainstream audiences |
| Backrooms | Horror | Under-35 | YouTube fanbases can translate to cinemas |
These films did not cannibalise each other. They complemented each other. They brought different audiences to the cinema. They grew the market.
Will the Industry Have Learned?
The question is: will the industry have learned anything from this?
The next six months will be a return to tentpole-to-tentpole with Toy Story 5, Minions 4, The Odyssey, Avengers: Doomsday and Spider-Man: Brand New Day all having their predictable huge openings and all taking $1bn, while not being as profitable as many of the films that opened in the first six months of the year.
Took $15.1m from 59 territories, $98.1m total, and $286.5m worldwide; UK $17.6m; Mexico $6.8m; Australia $5.5m; France $4.3m.
- Michael – Lionsgate
Dropped 44.8% in its eighth weekend, $4.21m and $362.84m
EntTelligence Michael’s basic price was $15.01.
150th biggest eighth weekend between The Wild Robot and Elf (close to Toy Story 4, The Jungle Book, The Grinch and Happy Feet).
72nd biggest between Deadpool and Despicable Me 4 (close to Minions: The Rise of Gru, Despicable Me 2, Inside Out and Aladdin)
It was released on VOD on June 9th,
After eight weeks, it’s impossible to compare Michael with any musician biopics, as it’s a unique film, and despite many making the comparison with Bohemian Rhapsody, they are very different films, as the fanbase of the two films is very different.
Has taken $63.3m worldwide from IMAX worldwide; $30.1m US and $30.3m internationally.
79th biggest worldwide between Minions: The Rise of Gru and Shrek 2 (close to Finding Nemo, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Bohemian Rhapsody and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith).
Took $17.6m (including $6.7m opening in Japan) from 84 territories, $569.4m total, and $932.2m worldwide; UK $68.1m; Germany $34.3m; Australia $30.7m; Brazil $32,2m; France $54.3m; Mexico $30.6m
As Japan was the biggest international territory for Bohemian Rhapsody, taking $115.6m Micheal should take a similar.
- The Furious – Lionsgate
Opened $2.75m from 1,251 screens; received positive reviews (97% Rotten Tomatoes) and A CinemaScore
The Furious had its world premiere last year at the Toronto Film Festival, receiving critical acclaim, and Lionsgate acquired world rights not including China; In China opened #1 with $13.9 m ahead of Disclosure Day
UK Box Office Top 10
Box Office Preview
Toy Story 5 arrives with massive anticipation, as the previous sequels have done. For the last 30 years, audiences have loved the adventures of Woody and Buzz, and Toy Story 5 will be no different to all those that came before it (and to those that will surely come).
The four films have taken over £200m at the UK box office, and over £300m inflation-adjusted.
Reviews have been predictably nostalgic. As the sequels go on, there are now more critics saying it is “enjoyable but completely unnecessary.” But that has been the case with Disney for the last decade, extending film series long after their natural endings.
As with Lilo & Stitch last year, it is not about the film. It is about the merchandising. The four Toy Story films have taken over $3bn worldwide since 1995, but over $16bn from merchandising. Lilo & Stitch took $1bn at the box office last year and $4bn from merchandising. Disney will do the same with their summer films: Toy Story 5, Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu, and Moana.
The 26 Pixar films have taken over £800m since 1996; over 140m admissions and over £1.1bn inflated
UK Box Office History
| Film | Opening/Inflated) | Total/Inflated) |
| 1996’s Toy Story | £3,387,160/£6,666,131 | £22,297,733/£43,883,253 |
| 2000’s Toy Story 2 | £7,758,936/£14,623,312 | £43,491,021/£81,967,783 |
| 2010’s Toy Story 3 | £21,187,264/£28,522,686 | £73,405,113/£98,819,320 |
| 2019’s Toy Story 4 | £13,300,000/£14,755,263 | £66,030,065/£73,254,961 |
Toy Story 5 opens on Thursday, so it will surely open bigger than Toy Story 4. But Toy Story 3‘s opening was inflated by £9.6m from previews, boosted by opening at the start of the summer holidays. Toy Story 4 and Toy Story 5 open during term-time, so the opening will be centred on Saturday and Sunday.
Toy Story 5 Capacity estimates
Cinemas 750
Screens per cinema (est.) 4
Total screens 3,000
Shows per screen per day (est.) 6
Total shows per day 18,000
Seats per screen (est.) 100
Total seats per day 1.8 million
4-day opening 7.2 million seats available
Attendance
Opening gross (est.) £15m
Average ticket price (UK 2026) £8.61
Estimated tickets sold 1.74 million
Sold 24.2%
These are lowball estimates, as many cinemas like Vue Westfield, it’s playing in 8 screens and with IMAX/PLF/3D and other premium and recliner seating, the real average price will be £12.50+.
What This Means
£8.61 Average £12.50 Average
Tickets sold 1.74 million 1.2 million
Capacity utilised 24.2% 16.7%
With a 4-day weekend will surely open with about £15m; two years ago, also in June Inside Out 2 opened £11,321,387 (3 days) and in 2018 Incredibles 2 opened £9,650,000 with limited previews.
Would expected Toy Story 5 to take £60m+ and be one of the biggest films of the year, but the question is how Minions & Monsters will impact its longer box office performance as the Minions sequel opens only 13 days later, previously the gap between major animated films was at least three weeks and during school holidays.
Those in their 40s and 50s, who grew up watching the original trilogy in the cinema, believe that, like the Star Wars prequels and Disney Star Wars films, these sequels are also for us. But they are for the next generation.
Those who grew up with the first two films saw the third as the end of the series. Pixar at the time did too. But the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth will be for the next generation, and the generation afterwards.
In the 1940s to 1990s, Disney would re-release a classic animated film in cinemas for the next generation. This is their new way, along with their “reimaginings.” The plot of Toy Story 5 is no different to the first four: a new toy arrives (this time a tablet), and Woody gets jealous. It is very easy to predict what the sequels will be about.
Does it ask the question: what happened to the toy Woody replaced 30+ years ago?
Disney know that people will moan about yet another sequel. But those people will still get caught up in the hype, FOMO, and love of the film series. They will see the sequel this time with their children or grandchildren, and buy the merchandise, including the popcorn tub.
The Same Plot, Recycled
The plots of Toy Story have all been the same since the first film:
- Toy Story 1: A new toy (Buzz) arrives, destabilising Woody’s world.
- Toy Story 2: The “new toy” is a concept — fame and museum immortality with Jessie and the Prospector.
- Toy Story 3: The “new toy” is the entire daycare environment and its ruler, Lotso.
- Toy Story 4: The “new toy” is Forky, but the core conflict shifts to Woody’s purpose.
If they simply rehash this, the plot would indeed be new: a toy threatens the status quo, jealousy, and a misguided attempt to exile/remove it → a crisis reveals the importance of friendship and inclusion, and everyone learns to live together.
The Jessie Factor
The one positive change for Toy Story 5 is that it becomes Jessie’s story, her relationship with Bonnie and dealing with the abandonment issues that were felt in Toy Story 2 with the song “When She Loved Me,” when Jessie remembers Emily, who used to play with her every day.
Woody and Buzz have smaller roles. But that also asks the question: why did Woody need to return? In Toy Story 4, he had his ending.
30 years ago, toys were what children played with. But would they still be playing with the toys their parents and grandparents played with?
As Toy Story will open in over 740 cinemas and about 3,000 screens, it means the holdovers that have held so strongly will all drop heavily against it. The weather for the weekend is also expected to be hot and sunny.
When Toy Story 4 opened, it took over 70% of the top 10 with Aladdin #2 £1,201,337 and Men In Black International #3 £1,005,221, both dropping about 60%. Disclosure Day will drop about 60%, it will still take £2.3m-£2.6m. The top two films will likely take over 85% of the weekend’s top 10.
Similarly, as Obsession is an 18 its unlikely to be affected that much by Toy Story 5 dropping about 40%, taking about £1m in its sixth weekend.
But all other holdovers will likely drop over 60%, Scary Movie, Backrooms, Masters Of The Universe, Michael and Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu, as they will all have their screen numbers and shows dramatically released.
In the US, a few weeks ago, Toy Story 5 was tracking to open with $150m, which will be the biggest opening of the film series ahead of 2019’s Toy Story 4‘s $120.9m and this year’s Super Mario Galaxy Movie $131.7m
2019’s Toy Story 4’s inflated opening was $164.5m, taking $434m/$640m.
2010’s Toy Story 3’s $110.3m opening was inflated to $175 m, taking $415m/$667m
1999’s Toy Story 2 opened $70.5m/$164.5m, taking $245.8m/$570m
1995’s Toy Story opened $29.1m/$82.5m, taking $223.3m/$630.9m
So, Toy Story 5 was always going to open $180m+ between Incredibles 2 $182m and The Lion King $191m
The Bottom Line
Toy Story 5 will make a billion dollars. The Taylor Swift song will be number one. The toys will fly off the shelves. The parents will cry. The children will cheer. The cycle will continue.
But the magic is gone. The original was a film that happened to be successful. The sequel is a product designed to be successful. It’s not a tribute; it’s a cash grab. It’s not a celebration; it’s a concession.
The franchise has become a self-licking ice cream cone. The films exist to sell toys. The toys exist to promote the films. And the audience is caught in the middle, paying for both.
The Lunchbox is the film. The toy is the product. The nostalgia is the bait. And we’re all still biting.
Toy Story 5 is the embodiment of the “Field of Dreams Fallacy” as a business model. Disney knows we are nostalgic. They know we will pay the price of admission, both financial and emotional, for a chance to reconnect with that feeling. And they know that, crucially, the new generation (the “grandchildren”) provides a perpetual justification to keep the cycle going.
Director Andrew Stanton has said they have no plans yet for Toy Story 6, but it will surely be announced soon after the fifth is released; surely the sequels will feature…
Toy Story 6: The Digital Menace. Bonnie’s new “toy” is an AI subscription. The villain is a smooth-talking, all-knowing AI assistant that makes the physical toys feel obsolete. The lesson: “Real play is better than screen time!” (Sponsored by Disney on your iPad).
Toy Story 7: The NFT. A limited-edition Buzz Lightyear NFT is minted on the blockchain. The physical Buzz has to journey into the internet to confront his digital twin, who claims to be the “true, verified” Buzz.
Toy Story 8: The Subscription Box. A new toy arrives every month, making the old toys feel like they’re in a constant state of replacement anxiety. The plot becomes a commentary on consumerism and planned obsolescence.
Toy Story 9: The Meta-Sequel. The toys discover they are characters in a long-running film franchise. Woody has an existential crisis about his own nostalgia-based irrelevance. The villain is a slick Hollywood executive toy who wants to “reboot” the nursery.
The most meta part of Toy Story 5 is this: many more children will watch the film on their tablets on Disney+ in a few months than will see it in the cinema.
The film warns about the dangers of screen time. It features a tablet called Lilypad that threatens to replace physical toys. It teaches children about the importance of real play.
But the film also, as critics have noted, “doesn’t outright demonise devices”. The tablet isn’t the villain. It is a cautionary tale. It is, in the words of one review, “capable of sentimental self-sacrificial heroism”. The film points out the dangers of screens, but also recognises the utility of tablets.
So, the film will lecture children about the perils of technology, while Disney sells it to them on the same device. A real-world Lilypad tablet is already available at Walmart, “inspired by Bonnie’s new toy from the film”.
The film does not have a villain. But it does have a business model. And that business model depends on children watching it on the very technology it critiques.
Toy Story 5 is not a critique of technology. It is a product. And the product is designed to be consumed on the very technology it claims to critique.
Toy Story 5 opens in the UK just days after Keir Starmer’s government announced a ban on social media for under-16s, but the film’s central drama is about a tablet that threatens to replace physical play. So, the film and the politics are saying the same thing, in different ways: you can’t ban technology out of existence. The tablet isn’t the enemy. The platforms aren’t going away. You have to learn to live with them.
Perhaps that is the real lesson of Toy Story 5. Not that screens are bad, but the real challenge is teaching children and adults how to navigate them safely. And as the Australian data shows, that’s a far harder problem than passing a law.
With the arrival of Toy Story 5, Disclosure Day will have a heavy second weekend drop that could be up to 70% due to taking £1.62m from previews and will be hurt more by the hot weather and the World Cup (Scotland playing Friday night).
All other holdover will drop heavily most of them over 60% with Toy Story 5 taking about 78% of the top 10 weekend
Coming Soon
- Minions & Monsters – Universal Pictures
Animated comedy, the third instalment of the Minions prequel series and seven instalments of the Despicable Me series and the 17th Illumination film featuring the voices of Pierre Coffin, Allison Janney, Christoph Waltz, Jeff Bridges, Jesse Eisenberg, Zoey Deutch and Trey Parker and directed by Pierre Coffin
It’s set about 40 years before 2015’s Minions as they try to make a monster movie, which sounds similar to what Universal Pictures has been trying to do for over a decade and Minions & Monsters will succeed where the Dark Universe failed to launch.
The film was announced in 2024 after Despicable Me 4 opened, and after Minions & Monsters open, they will surely announce Despicable Me 5 for 2028.
Minions & Monsters will premiere at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on June 21.
The entire audio of the film was leaked online in October from a test screening.
2022’s Minions: The Rise of Gru opened £10,424,758 (£2.7m Friday and £4.2m Saturday and £3.52m on Sunday; 7% from 3D (£729,432 from 142 screens (compared to 28% of Minions BO coming from 3D in 2015 taking £45,764,546
2024’s Despicable Me 4 opened £8,856,183 (£2.43m Friday; £3.99m Saturday: £2.436m Sunday) taking £48,001,206
2017’s Despicable Me 3 opened £11,154,904, taking £47,562,575
2015’s Minions opened £11,556,856 (3D took £3,194,166) taking £47,091,449
2013’s Despicable Me 2 opened £14,822,427 (£4,868,323 previews 33%) taking £46,815,412
2010’s Despicable Me opened £3,664,376, taking £19,750,505
In the days leading up to the opening of Minions: The Rise of Gru, the Minions Cult went viral on TikTok; the hashtag #MinionsCult had been viewed over 6.1m times by Thursday on TikTok and by Monday lunchtime had over 311.7m views (366m views on Tuesday); many fans dressed in suits went to the cinema. While seen as a bit of fun, some took it too far and ruined the cinema experience for other cinemagoers.
Minions & Monsters opens only 13 days after Toy Story 5; it’s the first time Illumination and Pixar have gone head-to-head with their biggest animated tentpole, and while it’s Independence Day holidays in the US, it’s still school term for most of the UK (apart from Scotland), so both films will be taking a large percentage of their box office over the weekend. Toy Story films have long legs, so it will be interesting to see how these two films perform against each other. Toy Story 5 will play to a wider audience, and the Minions & Monsters will play to a younger audience.
Minions: The Rise of Gru opened three weeks after Lightyear in 2022, but Lightyear underperformed. In 2015, Minions opened three weeks before Inside Out, but that weekend was the start of the summer holidays; the summer holidays don’t start in the UK for another three weeks.
Minions & Monsters will likely be a U as all the other films of the series, while Toy Story 5 is a PG, its he first time Toy Story films haven’t been U.
- The Invite – Black Bear
Comedy English language remake of the Spanish film The People Upstairs, starring Seth Rogen, Olivia Wilde, Penélope Cruz and Edward Norton and directed by Olivia Wilde.
Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, receiving positive reviews; following the screening, several studios were bidding to acquire the film; A24 acquired US rights, and Black Bear acquired UK rights.
Olivia Wilde previously directed 2019’s Booksmart and 2022’s Don’t Worry Darling.
Rereleased as counter-programming to summer tentpoles and boosted by A24 marketing influence, even though it’s being released by Black Bear in the UK.
2022’s Don’t Worry Darling opened £2,771,935 (£967,320 Friday; £923,390 Saturday and £770,717 Sunday) taking £9,995,806
2019’s Booksmart opened £632,363 (Fri- Sun £324,917 with £307,446 from previews Mon-Thurs). It opened unusually on a Monday why its opening was so broken up. It also opened wide in 408 screens, which was surprising for a film like this that was about word of mouth, and because of its soft opening, didn’t last that long in cinemas; Booksmart became much more popular on video and steaming and 7 years later has become a cult classic as it’s a female Superbad.
After Don’t Worry Darling opened so strongly after screening at Toronto/Venice Film Festivals its surprising that ” The Invite is opening at the start of July, as it’s surely going to get lost within all the tentpoles.
