- Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood – £7,544,445– NE
Took £2.4m from previews on Wednesday/Thursday 32% of its opening weekend similar to American Hustle, Fifty Shades Darker and Venom)
Had the 142nd biggest opening in the UK between Shark Tale and Finding Nemo (close to Jason Bourne, Fifty Shades Darker, Taken 2 and Mission Impossible: Fallout) and 201st biggest inflation inflated between Minority Report and Godzilla (close to Mission: Impossible II, I, Robot, Goldeneye and Die Hard 4.0)
Had Sony Pictures UK 14th biggest opening in the UK between Venom and Peter Rabbit (close to Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Blade Runner 2049) and 17th biggest inflation inflated between Jumanji and Peter Rabbit (close to 2012 and Angels and Demons).
6th biggest opening this year (after Avengers: Endgame, The Lion King, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Toy Story 4 and Captain Marvel) and biggest opening for an original film since Bohemian Rhapsody.
Had Quentin Tarantino, Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio’s biggest UK openings ahead of their previous highs (Inglourious Basterds £3,596,415) Ocean’s Eleven (£5,095,062) and Inception (£5,912,814).
Was also the third biggest 18 film opening in the UK after Fifty Shades of Grey £13,550,290 and Fifty Shades Darker (£7,906,468).
Opened 64% more than Kill Bill Vol. 1; 63%+ Kill Bill Vol. 2; 53%+ Inglourious Basterds; 62%+ Django Unchained and 63%+ The Hateful Eight.
Removing previews opened similar to 2016’s The Revenant (£5,235,851); 2014’s Interstellar (£5,378,220) and 2010’s Inception (£5,912,814); but its impossible to remove preview box office and make that comparison as the Friday audience for Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood will be different to The Revenant as many who would go on Friday go instead on Wednesday. The Angry Birds Movie 2 opened last Wednesday in the US but unlike the UK its preview box office wasn’t included in its opening. While Screen Daily will often remove preview box office from films UK openings until the industry removes all previews from films opening weekend it must be included.
Sony Pictures reported that Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood opened 76% more than 2016’s Django Unchained but hard to make direct comparisons as Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood is a much more accessible film than Django Unchained (£2,801,312) also had much tougher competition with Les Miserables #1 £4,406,828 and Life of Pi #3 £1,201,163. The current marketplace might be crowded but Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood lead the marketplace this week with Hobbs & Shaw dropping almost 60% in its third weekend.
In November 2017 Sony Pictures acquired distribution rights agreeing to all of Quentin Tarantino demands which included final cut, $95m budget and 25% of first-dollar gross and the film, rights revert back to him after 10 to 20 years. With these terms many wondered if Sony Pictures could make money from the film as Once Upon A Time In Hollywood would need to be more successful than any previous Quentin Tarantino film.
Was originally set to be released on August 9 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Tate–LaBianca murders but was seen as poor taste so was brought forward two weeks in the US but opened days after in the UK.
Had world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival May 21, 2019; received positive reviews from critics (92% Rotten Tomatoes score); Quentin Tarantino asked the audience nit to reveal spillers for the film “The cast and crew have worked so hard to create something original, and I only ask that everyone avoids revealing anything that would prevent later audiences from experiencing the film in the same way,”;
The film received much controversy including Oscar-nominated actress Margot Robbie barely getting any screen time compared to the two male leads. A reporter asked Quentin Tarantino at the Cannes press conference why her cast Margot Robbie but then gave her a few lines with his response “I reject your hypothesis,” Margot Robbie said, “I think the moments I was on screen gave a moment to honour Sharon,”… “I think the tragedy was the loss of innocence. To show the wonderful sides of her could be done without speaking. I did feel like I got a lot of time to explore the character without dialogue, which is an interesting thing. Rarely do I get an opportunity to spend so much time on my own as a character.”
Quentin Tarantino did say later than lots of characters in the film had longer scenes but were cut, that might appear in a future cut, but as he had final cut in the film he didn’t think they were worth including?
Are rumours Quentin Tarantino will release an extended 4-hour version of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood later this year on Netflix.
Roman Polanski’s wife Emmanuelle Seigner sparked more controversy for the film including a dramatized version of her husband without asking him “I am just saying that it doesn’t bother them [in Hollywood] to make a film which takes Roman and his tragic story… while at the same time they have made him a pariah. And all without consulting him of course,”
Bruce Lee’s daughter was saddened by the way Quentin Tarantino depicted her father in Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood saying that “He comes across as an arrogant asshole who was full of hot air,”…. “And not someone who had to fight triple as hard as any of those people did to accomplish what was naturally given to so many others.”… “It was really uncomfortable to sit in the theatre and listen to people laugh at my father,”
In response Quentin Tarantino said “Bruce Lee was kind of an arrogant guy”… “The way he was talking, I didn’t just make a lot of that up,”
The nine Quentin Tarantino films have taken almost $650m at the US box office and $1.47bn worldwide and over £86m in the UK and over £135m inflation inflated.
As with 2015’s The Hateful Eight one of Quentin Tarantino demands is that the film had selective release on 35mm opening at the Odeon Leicester Square and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood had its UK premiere at the cinema showing a 35mmm its release at the cinema will also be on 35mm. While many directors still want to shoot on film Quentin Tarantino and Christopher Nolan are the only two studios will give in to their request that their films should also be available on film. Audiences reacted positively to the 35mm print screened at the premiere as 35mm to many is still vastly superior to digital.
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood was released in 6 cinemas across London on 35mm, there were reports of some screenings breaking down and cinemas reverting back to digital this id probably due to the 35mm projectors not being maintained properly and the cinemas not having the staff onsite with the knowledge to run 35mm.
Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood opened without any of the baggage as The Hateful Eight three years ago when Cineworld, Picturehouse and Curzon refused to book it over its opening weekend. As with the Vue refusing to book A Star is Born last October had little impact on its £2.78m opening in January 2016 similar to 2013’s Django Unchained £2.8m.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood opened similar to 2009’s Inglourious Basterds in the US three weeks ago and has done similar to it in the UK.
By delaying Once Upon a Time in Hollywood three weeks it now doesn’t have any major competition until It: Chapter Two opens in three weeks’ time, Angel Has Fallen opens on Wednesday but is unlikely to be as successful as London Has Fallen.
Inglourious Basterds and The Hateful Eight both dropped about 60% in their second weekend and with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood opening inflated with two days of previews it will drop similar this weekend but will probably stay #1 until It: Chapter Two opens.
- The Lion King – £2,486,795– £65,977,991
Down 43.1% in its fifth weekend;
14th biggest film in the UK between Star Wars: Rogue One and Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! and 39th biggest inflation inflated between Men in Black and Monsters, Inc..
8th biggest Disney film in the UK after Star Wars: The Force Awakens; Avengers: Endgame; Star Wars: The Last Jedi; Toy Story 3; Beauty and the Beast; Avengers: Infinity War and Star Wars: Rogue One
Last week The Lion King and Toy Story 4 became the 19th and 20th film since 1998’s Titanic to join the £60m club (Disney have 9 members 2010’s Toy Story 3 was Disney’s first member (includes 3 Star Wars films (Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Rogue One) 2 MCU films (Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War) 2 Pixar (Toy Story 3, Toy Story 4) and 2 Disney reimaginations (Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King).
Became the 21st film to take £2m+ in its 5th weekend
Had the 12th biggest 5th weekend after (-55.01% Avatar (£5,527,039); -34.73% Skyfall (£3,809,893); -32% Titanic (£3,657,613); -24.11% The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings (£3,276,912); -20.73% Star Wars: The Force Awakens (£3,137,258); -14.92% Frozen (£2,922,721); -11.29% Mamma Mia! (£2,803,272); -9.21% The Kings Speech (£2,739,204); -8.04% Toy Story 4 (£2,704,238); -4.29% , Beauty and the Beast (£2,598,163) and -2.79% Paddington (£2,558,263).
While more than Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (£2,403,388); Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (£2,391,251); Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (£2,377,268); Mamma Mia 2 (£2,241,507); Bohemian Rhapsody (£2,211,454); Spectre (£2,179,154); The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (£2,132,346); Toy Story 3 (£2,107,815); The Greatest Showman (£2,042,450).
After 5 weeks The Lion King has taken 3.23%+ than Toy Story 3 (£63,848,415); 1.41%+ Beauty and the Beast (£65,048,372); 13.38%+ Jurassic World (£57,148,254); 17.36%+ Mamma Mia 2 (£54,523,054); 21.38%+ Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (£51,871,207). But 72.72% less than Star Wars: The Force Awakens (£113,955,827); 33.95% Spectre (£88,374,402); 29.73% Avengers: Endgame (£85,594,376); 35.83% Skyfall (£89,620,677); 21.05% Star Wars: The Last Jedi (£79,867,006). Holding similar to both Avenger Infinity War (£66,138,820) and Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows Part 2 (£66,511,926).
As The Lion King opened at the start of the summer holidays was always likely to be leggier than all the other Disney imaginations this year as it was given the prime summer release date as Jungle Cruise has got next summer. The Lion King is the most beloved animated film of all time and Disney pulled out all the stops for the reimagination and ahead of release expected it to take £100m+ but will end taking about £80m.
The original animated film was the biggest film of 1994 taking over £24m (over £80m today) more than double the original Beauty and the Beast animated film took £10.4m two years earlier.
While Aladdin and The Lion King were always expected to perform strongly this year as they are reimaginations of the most beloved Disney animated films, but next year’s reimaginations Mulan and Cruella aren’t likely to be as successful. Mulan was one of Disney’s lowest grossing animated films in the UK opening with £1,648,488 taking £9,454,609 and their 33rd biggest inflation inflated (£16,938,530) taking similar box office to Moana, Coco, The Emperor’s New Groove and The Good Dinosaur. In the US its 93rd biggest animated film and 464th worldwide.
Many believe the reimagination is being made primarily for China, the teaser trailer released last month had several changes to the film to make it more friendly to Chinese audiences. While Cruella will be a reimagination of a reimagination of 101 Dalmatians previously made in 1996 (#431 biggest film worldwide).
12 Disney reimaginations have taken almost £375m since 2010 and £380m inflation inflated; Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is Disney’s fourth reimagination opens in October sequel to Maleficent opened May 2014 with £6,590,071 taking £19,292,000.
- Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw – £1,435,377 – £16,259,367
Dropped 51.1% in its third weekend;
Has become the 5th biggest Fast & Furious film (after Fast & Furious 7, The Fate of the Furious, Fast & Furious 6 and Fast & Furious 5) and could overtake Fast & Furious 5 (£18,368,657) by next weekend.
Universal Pictures 39th biggest film in the UK between Nanny McPhee & the Big Bang and Bad Neighbours (close to Johnny English Strikes Back and Lucy)
The 9 Fast and Furious films have taken over £161m at the box office since 2001 and almost £184m inflation inflated.
Fast and Furious 9 is currently shooting for release next May and then Fast and Furious 10 set for release in April 2021 was expected to be the final film of the series but after Hobbs & Shaw has taken almost $440m worldwide before opening in China this week there will surely be a Hobbs & Shaw 2 opening in 2022.
Hobbs & Shaw is Universal Pictures 3rd biggest film of 2019 (after How to Train Your Dragon 3 and The Secret Life of Pets 2and biggest live action film of the year ahead of Yesterday. With Downtown Abbey: The Movie opens next month and Cats in December they should end the year strongly.
In 2020 have the triple whammy of No Time to Die (Bond 25), Fast & Furious 9 and Minions: The Rise of Gru which should be see Disney won’t have it all their own way in 2020.
- Dora And The Lost City Of Gold – £1,165,865 – NE
The poor performance of The Angry Birds Movie 2 Playmobil: The Movie and Uglydolls saw Dora And The Lost City Of Gold open bigger than expected targetting pre-teens and it was a nice change from boy lead children action adventure films like Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.
Hard to find comparisons with girl pre-teen films away from Harry Potter, Hunger Games and The Chronicles of Narnia apart from 2007’s Nancy Drew opened with £135,753
Pre-school Indiana Jones/National Treasure received positive reviews described as an old school family adventure (for pre-teens) similar to 1980s films like The Goonies, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.
The Hollywood Reporter review went viral for all the wrong reasons when he said “The director seems to be trying to keep the hormones at bay, but there are some things you just can’t disguise, perhaps human nature first and foremost. Dora seems committed to projecting a pre-sexualized version of youth, while throbbing unacknowledged beneath the surface is something a bit more real, its presence rigorously ignored.”
- Toy Story 4 – £1,023,453 – £61,239,938
Down 37.1% in its ninth weekend; with the other animated films underwhelming might have expected Toy Story 4 to hold better in its ninth weekend as it did the previous couple of weeks.
Toy Story 3 took £583,013 in its 9h weekend in 2010 (£711,275 inflation inflated comparisons are difficult as its 9th weekend was mid-September was more limited to weekend box office) taking 15% more £71.8m. As Toy Story 3 had advance weekend previews better comparison would be its 8th weekend taking £756,575 (£923,021 inflation inflated) has the two films taking similar box office in their 8th/9th weekend.
9th weekend was 4.46%+ (£968,387) The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings 17.21% (£839,164); Casino Royale; 23.27% (£777,670) Frozen and 26.14% (£748,628) Paddington
But less than Avatar 177.93% (£2,817,009); 97.41% (£2,000,922) The Greatest Showman; 92.69% (£1,953,082) Titanic; 27.18% (£1,289,094) Slumdog Millionaire; 6.20% (£1,076,381) The Kings Speech and 4.49% (£1,059,102) Mamma Mia!
Almost exactly the 9th weekend of 2001’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone £1,013,564 Vs £1,023,453.
Toy Story 4 is now 19th biggest film in the UK between LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring and LOTR: The Return of the King and 49th biggest inflation inflated film between Love Actually and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason; Disney’s 9th biggest between The Lion King and Incredibles 2
It was 37th film since The Full Monty in 1997 to take over £50m at the UK box office and Disney’s 12th since 2006’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest and the 20th film to take £60m+ since Titanic in 1998.
Since 2010 88 films have taken over £30m and Disney now have 34 (40%); 67 films have taken over £40m Disney 23 (31%); 36 films taken over £50m Disney 13 (+5 from Fox).
As Toy Story 3 took £73.4m in 2010 (£93.3m inflation inflated) should have expected the fourth film to take about £20m more than it has done and would have thought the same for both Avengers: Endgame and The Lion King.
2019 was always going to be the year of Disney with Avengers: Endgame, Toy Story 4, and The Lion King taking over £50m at the UK box office and Frozen 2 and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker also doing so by the end of the year. While rival distributors won’t have any films taking over £40m at the box office.
2020 has many more sequels it’s hard to see what other films might take £50m+ next year even from Disney apart from Bond 25 as there are many £30m+ films including Peter Rabbit 2, Onward, Mulan, Trolls World Tour, Black Widow, Fast & Furious 9, Wonder Woman 1984, Soul, Top Gun Maverick, Minions: The Rise of Gru, Tenet, Jungle Cruise, The Eternals, Dune and Cruella.
In 2010 Toy Story 3 was Disney’s biggest ever film in the UK (until Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015) previous highest was 2006’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (£51,998,590); it is now Disney’s fourth biggest film in the UK after Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Avengers: Endgame and Star Wars: The Last Jedi and 8th biggest in the UK.
Toy Story 4 been in the top 5 as Toy Story 3 did in 2010 taking £1m+ for 9 weeks (Toy Story took £1m+ for 6 weeks) with few major releases until It Chapter 2 in three weeks’ time Toy Story 4 will probably also repeat the 12 weeks Toy Story 3 remained in the top 10.
21 Pixar films have taken almost £680m in the UK and almost £880m inflation inflated.
After four of Pixar’s last five films were sequels (Finding Dory, Cars 3, Incredibles 2 and Toy Story 4) Pixar have said they aren’t working on anymore sequels; Onward opens in March; Soul opens in June and have three untitled dated for June 2021 and then March and June 2022.
UK box office in detail
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £16,071,094 up 27.2% from last weekend £12,630,381
The weekend admissions 2,098,106 up 29.2% from last weekend 1,623,572; average ticket £7.56 up 5% from last year’s £7.22 and Applaudience estimate ticket price of £10.28
12 films opened at weekend taking (£10,147,171); Once Upon A Time In Hollywood 74.3% (£7,544,445); Dora And The Lost City Of Gold 11.5% (£1,165,865); Good Boys 8.3% (£844,169) remaining 9 films shared 5.8% (£592,692)
Top three took 71.3% (£11,466,617) of the top 10; Once Upon A Time In Hollywood 46.9% (£7,544,445); The Lion King 16.5% (£2,486,795); Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw 8.9% (££1,435,377);
The weekend up 0.5% from 2018: (£15,986,556); Disney’s Christopher Robin (£2,553,810); The Equalizer 2 (£1,980,754); The Festival (£1,423,410); #1 Disney’s Christopher Robin £2,553,810 1st week 649 screens (15.9% of top 10)
Up 67.4% from 2017: (£9,602,351); The Hitman’s Bodyguard (£1,982,951); The Dark Tower (£910,529); Everything, Everything (£453,401); An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power (£201,130); #1 The Hitman’s Bodyguard £1,982,951 1st week 467 screens (20.6% of the top 10)
Up 17.5% from 2016: (£13,670,811); Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (£1,068,522); Pete’s Dragon (£844,090); Nerve (£803,457); The Shallows (£800,963); Wiener-Dog (£86,423); #1 Suicide Squad £4,241,508 2nd week 587 screens 62% drop (31.1% of the top 10)
Up 42.6% from 2015; (£11,265,417); Pixels (£2,660,772); The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (£1,448,298); Trainwreck (£931,981); Absolutely Anything (£487,147); Mistress America (£164,691); Precinct Seven Five (£21,441); #1 Pixels £2,660,772 1st week 511 screens (23.6% of top 10)
Up 38.1% from 2014: (£11,641,259); The Expendables 3 (£1,689,927); Hector and the Search for Happiness (£240,222); The Rover (£73,696); Blood Ties (£20,258); #1 The Inbetweeners 2 £4,309,832 2nd week 509 screens 66% drop (37.1% of top 10)
Up 34.8% from 2013: (£11,919,587); Kick-Ass 2 (£2,482,187); Planes (£1,735,940); 2 Guns (£1,423,738); Bachelorette (£19,396); #1 Kick-Ass 2 £2,482,187 1st week 483 screens (20.8% of top 10)
Down 8.1% from 2012 (£17,483,535); Brave (UK expansion) (£5,269,402); The Bourne Legacy (£4,620,289); The Expendables 2 (£1,985,082); The Wedding Video (£333,079); Take this Waltz (£70,358); #1 Brave £5,269,402 3rd week (1st #1) 553 screens 818% increase (30.1% of top 10)
Down 27.1% from 2011 (£22,058,353); The Inbetweeners Movie (£13,216,736); Cowboys & Aliens (£1,777,320); Spy Kids: All the Time in the World 4D (£703,078); Glee: The 3D Concert Movie (£356,271); The Guard (UK release) (£163,751); #1 The Inbetweeners Movie £13,216,736 1st week 453 (59.9% of top 10)
Up 23.1% from 2010: (£12,550,727); The Last Airbender (£1,653,776); The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (£1,140,532); Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue (£288,544); The Secret in Their Eyes (£85,467); Black Dynamite (£6,400); #1 Toy Story 3 £4,666,021 4th week 569 screens 32% drop (25.2% of top 10)
Up 94.8% from 2009; (£8,247,544); The Time Traveller’s Wife (£1,410,333); Aliens in the Attic (£1,323,575); Bandslam (£628,957); A Perfect Getaway (£418,703); Imagine That (£109,722); #1 The Time Traveller’s Wife £1,410,333 1st week 425 screens (17.1% of top 10)
Up 46.7% from 2008; (£10,950,396); You Don’t Mess with the Zohan (£1,520,637); Wild Child (£1,177,472); Star Wars: The Clone Wars (£895,300); Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (£90,878); #1 The Dark Knight £2,302,866 4th week 499 screens (3rd week #1) 44% drop (21.1% of top 10)
Up 10.6% from 2007: (£14,527,913); The Bourne Ultimatum (£6,553,704); Bratz: The Movie (£1,247,588); Eagle vs. Shark (£47,845); #1 The Bourne Ultimatum £6,553,704 1st week 458 screens (45.1% of top 10)
Up 138.9% from 2006; (£6,725,494); Snakes on a Plane (£1,069,608); John Tucker Must Die (£845,633); Harsh Times (£281,609); A Scanner Darkly (£242,990); #1 Snakes on a Plane £1,069,608 1st week 354 screens (15.9% of top 10)
Up 89.8% from 2005 (£8,464,617); The Island (£1,481,647); Crash (£818,604); The Perfect Catch (£272,285); The Bad News Bears (£45,514); #1 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory £2,886,352 3rd week 523 screens 35% drop (34.1% of top 10)
Up 74.6% from 2004 (£9,205,066); The Bourne Supremacy (£2,720,016); Catwoman (£557,583); Yu-Gi-Oh (£112,980); #1 The Bourne Supremacy £2,720,016 1st week 418 screens (29.5% of top 10)
Up 52.7% from 2003 (£10,523,339); American Pie: The Wedding (£4,151,788); Freddy vs. Jason (£785,870); #1 American Pie: The Wedding £4,151,788 1st 426 screens (39.4% of top 10)
Up 150.2% from 2002 (£6,423,296); The Sum Of All Fears (£1,144,501); Spy Kids 2 (£1,069,090); #1 Men In Black 2 £3,106,105 3rd week 489 screens 55% drop (21.8% of top 10)
Up 44.9% from 2001 (£11,086,365); Planet of the Apes (£5,445,983); #1 Planet of the Apes £5,445,983 1st week 446 screens (49.1% of top 10);
Next weekend in 2018: (£12,788,350); BlacKkKlansman (£1,234,214); The Spy Who Dumped Me (£1,057,211); The Children Act (£517,378); Slender Man (£389,339); Alpha (£225,606); Luis and the Aliens (£218,248); #1 Disney’s Christopher Robin £2,138,824 2nd week 673 screens 16% drop (16.7% of top 10)
Also opened
- Good Boys – Universal Pictures
Opened with £844,169 from 475 screens
Normally mainstream films will open between 8%-12% of their US opening but Good Boys opened with only 4% due to the pre-teen comedy receiving a15 certificate. So many films suffer in the UK with the 15 certificate as the audience the film is aimed at can’t see the film legally, it will be similarly the case with Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark opening this week.
30 years ago this month Batman became the first 12 film in the UK (previously would have received a 15 certificate) and in 2002 The Bourne Identity was the first 12A was similar to the PG-13 certificate in the US which meant children under 12 could watch the film if they had an adult with them (which has boosted their box office, but have been many questionable decision over films receiving 12A certificates including The Woman in Black). The problem with BBFC opening to go a year younger than the US has seen some PG-13 films receiving a 12A and then others getting a 15 which has seen many films underperform in the UK compared to their US performance.
Good Boys received an R rating in the US so children could go with an adult but received a 15 in the UK being a about pre-teens it was always likely to underperform in the UK as Blockers did last year
Likely to perform similar to last year’s Blockers opened with £1,349,627 (6.4% of US opening) taking £4,239,132.
1999’s American Pie was different opening with 11.2% of its US opening weekend £2,094,122 Vs $18,709,680 as it was an older teen comedy and opening three months after US had generated a lot of strong word of mouth took £13,833,890 13.5% of its US box office of $102,561,004.
2007’s Superbad (a similar good-natured teen gross-out comedy) opened similar to Good Boys with £1,484,456 4.5% of its $33,052,411US opening taking £6,064,632 5% of its $121,463,226 US total.
Do often wonder if distributors should release a cutdown 12A version of these films alongside the uncut version as the 15 certificate cuts their potential box office by half and probably many who are paying are probably underage.
- Uglydolls – STX Entertainment
Opened with £266,074
After flopping in the US in May Uglydolls is unlikely to do much better in the UK opening a week after Playmobil: The Movie and two weeks after The Angry Birds Movie 2 marketplace is very crowded with pre-teens films
STX must have hoped Uglydolls would perform similar to Trolls but will more likely perform similar to 2017’s My Little Pony £916,123 taking £3,433,973 and last week’s Playmobil: The Movie £376,296.
These inferior animation films used to find a limited audience a decade ago but as the quality of animation has improved alongside Pixar and Disney with Illumination Entertainment and Dreamworks Animation Uglydolls like Playmobil: The Movie are small screen films now.
UK Box Office Top 10
US Box office
- Good Boys – Universal Pictures
Opened with $21.4m; received positive reviews (80% Rotten Tomatoes score) and B+ CinemaScore; (one review described it as the live-action South Park film you didn’t think you needed).
Good Boys is the first original film to become #1 in the US but while it might not be a sequel, prequel, part of an extended universe or reimagination its not really a new IP as teen sex comedies have been successful at the box office for over 40 years including Superbad, Blockers, American Pie, Porky’s, Bachelor Party, The Sure Thing, Road Trip, Risky Business, Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Good Boys was just the same film targeting a younger audience?
Opened 20 years after American Pie and the same weekend 12 years ago Superbad opened with $33.05m taking $121.46m as did The 40-Year-Old Virgin in 2005 and Sausage Party in 2016.
Good Boys was expected to open low teens but saw comparisons with last year’s Blockers opening with $20.55m taking $60.31m.
Good Boys received its world premiere at SXSW in March as Blockers did last year.
Universal Pictures this week will top $1bn at the box office this year in the US it is the 9th year running have taken over $1bn in the US, Abominable, Last Christmas, Queen & Slim, Black Christmas, Cats and 1917 are their remaining films this year having pulled The Hunt from their release schedule last week.
Opened with $2.1m from 13 territories
- Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw – Universal Pictures
Dropped 43.9% in its third weekend taking $14.17m and $133.78m
Dwayne Johnson’s films have taken $3.54bn in the US and $10.23bn worldwide; Jumanji: The Next Level opens in December followed by Jungle Cruise next July.
The nine Fast and Furious films have taken $1.65bn in the US and $5.57bn worldwide; Fast & Furious 9 is set for release May 22nd, 2020 and Fast & Furious 10 2nd April 2021.
Took $45.7m from 63 territories internationally and $437m worldwide; #257 biggest film worldwide between Terminator: Genisys and The Greatest Showman.
- The Angry Birds Movie 2 – Sony Pictures
Opened with $10.35m and $16.09m total since Wednesday; received positive reviews (76% Rotten Tomatoes score) and B+ CinemaScore
August is the 10th anniversary of the release of the original computer game
2016’s The Angry Birds Movie opened May 13th $38.15m taking $107.5m and $352.3m worldwide.
Took $19.4m from 29 territories and $30.2m total
- 47 Meters Down: Uncaged – Entertainment Studios
Opened with $8.42m; received mixed reviews (50% Rotten Tomatoes score) and C+ CinemaScore
Sequel to 2017’s 47 Meters Down opened with $11.2m taking $44.3m
The original film was based at Dimension Films titled In the Deep with US rights sold to Entertainment Studios but not before they had released screeners online.
- Dora and the Lost City of Gold – Paramount Pictures
Dropped 50.9% in its second weekend taking $8.56m and $33.97m
Pre-school Indiana Jones/National Treasure received positive reviews described as an old school family adventure similar to 1980s films like The Goonies, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.
Took $6.6m from 24 territories and $10.7m total
- The Lion King – Disney
Dropped 39% in its fifth weekend taking $12.33m and $496.54m total
14th biggest film in the US between 2017’s Beauty and the Beast and Finding Dory
51st biggest fifth weekend in the US between Twister and Star Wars: The Last Jedi; #14 The Jungle Book ($17.11m); #18 Incredibles 2 ($16.26m); #27 Aladdin ($13.24m); #32 Beauty and the Beast ($13.7m); #63 Finding Dory ($11.28m)
Ahead of release expected The Lion King to become one of the biggest films ever in the US and the world instead holding close to Incredibles 2 which took $440.6m after 3 weeks 72.4% of $608.58m total which will see it take $600m+.
The Lion King took 10.1% less than Aladdin in its fourth weekend $13.24m Vs $11.9m.
20 years ago when a film took $100m at the box office was the sign of a films success but have been 749 films taking over $100m. (In 1970 Airport became one of the first films to take over $100m at the US box office will be over $500m today). Have been 211 films taking $200m+; 85 films have taken over $300m and 37 over $400m should now be the sign of a film’s success at the box office.
Disney have 119 films taking over $100m (1987’s Good Morning, Vietnam its 1st); 60 films taking over $200m (1998’s Armageddon its 1st) and 19 films taking over $400m (2006’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest its 1st).
The originally film took $422.78m (24th biggest film in the US between Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and $803.2m Inflation inflated (20th biggest film in the US between Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace and The Sting).
The Lion King took over $1m at the US box office for 35 weeks (till February 1995) taking $31285m; re-released in IMAX in 2002 taking $15.68m and in 2011 in 3D taking $94.24m with $422.78m total;
Globally took $968.5m 42nd biggest film worldwide between Despicable Me 2 and 2016’s The Jungle Book; would be about $2.5bn worldwide inflation inflated.
Ten years ago Sean Parker said “A million dollars isn’t cool. You know what’s cool? A billion dollars,” the same could be said about global BO with 42 $1bn+ films since 1993 need to take $2bn+ globally now
Decade or more ago $1bn worldwide was cool but with China inflating global BO now 42 members since 1993 as with $100m used to being sign of success both need to be doubled as should really be $1bn US and $3bn+ global club that Avengers Endgame and The Lion King should be members?
2019 was always the year of Disney but 2020 has many questions for Disney without Star Wars or Pixar sequels have 2 original Pixar 2 original films 2 smaller MCU films and 2 smaller reimaginations one being a reimagination of a reimagination won’t have it all their own way? While rival studios have upped their game from 2019 but it is sequel heavy and as seen over recent years they can go either way.
14 Disney reimaginations have taken $3.24bn in the US and $8.82bn worldwide
Toy Story 4 became Disney’s fifth film this year to take over $1bn worldwide but at the start of the year Captain Marvel, (Avengers: Endgame, Aladdin, Toy Story 4, The Lion King, Frozen 2 and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker were all expected to take at least $1b with several over $2bn. After Disney announced their slate for 2019 it was always expected to be their biggest ever year worldwide taking up to $12bn worldwide.
The question has always been how will Disney do in 2020 without Pixar sequels, Star Wars, Avengers and reimaginations of their most beloved animated films as its doubtful Onward (original Pixar), Mulan (reimagination), Black Widow, Artemis Fowl (original Disney film), Soul (original Pixar), Jungle Cruise (based on theme park ride), The One and Only Ivan (original Disney film), The Eternals and Cruella (animated reimagination of a reimagination) will be nearly as successful.
If Wall Street was disappointed with Disney’s performance this year taking over $8bn worldwide how will they react to half as much next year and Disney won’t have the excuse of poorly performing 20th Century Fox films. While Disney have had huge success from properties over the last decade original live-action films have been their Achilles heel with their biggest original film success worldwide still The Sixth Sense. Next year they release two original films Artemis Fowl (delayed from 2019 switching it with Maleficent: Mistress of Evil) and The One and Only Ivan.
While it made some sense to remake previous Disney animated films as original films were all hugely successful when they were first released Mulan was the 13th biggest film of 1998 and 7th worldwide beaten by Pixar’s A Bug’s Life (Disney’s biggest film of the year was Armageddon taking $554m worldwide). Only possibly reason why Disney choose to remake Mulan was the growth of the Chinese box office over the years since, but it was then surprising the teaser trailer released last month generated much criticism in China for many historical inaccuracies. Last week the Chinese American actor Liu Yifei playing Mulan supported the Hong Kong Police Force on Wednesday which saw #BoycottMulan trending.
Might seem to be overly critical about Disney’s reliance on properties that is only because of their success with original films prior to before they moved into the comic-book business as seen with their original success still with animated films including Coo, Moana, Zootopia and Inside Out and growing up with their Touchstone Pictures films including Pretty Woman, Three Men and a Baby, The Rock, Good Morning, Vietnam and Dead Poets Society.
It’s understandable why their rivals are making so many sequels and remakes as they need to make them to try to stay competitive with Disney but surely alongside all of these properties Disney could make original films, it was the hope that 20th Century Fox would become Disney’s new Touchstone Pictures as over recent year 20th Century Fox had a lot of success making adult targeted films (Gone Girl, Deadpool, The Martian, Logan, Bohemian Rhapsody, The Greatest Showman and The Revenant) offering audiences something different.
Took $45.7m from 54 territories and $939.1m total and $1.435bn worldwide #9 biggest between Furious 7 and Avengers: Age of Ultron; China $120.3m; UK $81.1m; France $67.7m; Brazil $64m; Mexico $50.5m; Germany $46m; Russia $44.1m; Australia $40.4m; Spain $36m; Korea $34.9m; Japan $31.7m; Netherlands $26.7m.
Bob Iger was surprised by the poor performance of Fox’s films in 2019 but The Art of Racing in the Rain has taken more than Disney’s original films have taken in 2019: Disney has taken $2.74bn in the US in 2019 but only 0.3% from original films.
It’s easy to criticise decisions made by rival studios when comparing their BO but let’s see how Disney do in 2020 without Pixar sequels, Avengers or Star War instead with 2 original Pixar, 2 smaller MCU, 2 smaller reimaginations and 2 original films while rivals upped their game
- Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark – Lionsgate
Dropped 52.1% in its second weekend taking $10.01m and $40.17m
Based on the short horror stories written by Alvin Schwartz (1981’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark 1984’s More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and 1991’s Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones.
similar to 1998’s Urban Legend opened with $10.51m taking $38.07m and 2000’s Urban Legends: Final Cut opened with $8.5m taking $21.46m.
Opened with $4m internationally
- Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – Sony Pictures
Dropped 34.1% in its fourth weekend taking $7.68m and $114.42m
Holding similar to Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds took $6.14m in its fourth weekend 10 years ago and $103.9m 86.2% of $120.54m and 2012’s Django Unchained $7.55m and $137.87m 84.7% of $162.8m
The nine Quentin Tarantino films have taken almost $764m at the US box office and $1bn inflation inflated and almost $1.6bn worldwide
Opened with $53.7m from 46 territories $66.2m total internationally and $180.5m worldwide;
- Blinded By the Light – Warner Bros
Opened with $4.33m; received positive reviews (90% Rotten Tomatoes score) and A- CinemaScore
The curse of Sundance strikes again when will studios learn not to spend big bucks acquiring these films as the paying audience is very different to the Sundance audience as they were probably films previously rejected but seeing with an audience get caught up in the hype?
Every year studio executives get caught up in the hype acquiring films they probably rejected previously at the Sundance Film Festival. Blinded by the Light was one of many films acquired this year (Warner Bros paid $15m) but as with Light Night Amazon acquired for $13m failed to find an audience when it was released several months later. These were two of many acquisitions from Sundance that failed to find an audience this year with Amazon also spent $14m on Brittany Runs a Marathon opening next weekend.
The one successful Sundance Film Festival acquisition this year was The Farewell acquired by A24 for $6m has taken almost $13m to date in the US opens in the UK in September.
Have been some films studios acquired that have been successful including 1989’s sex, lies and videotape, 1994’s Clerks, 1996’s Shine, 2001’s Memento, 2004’s Garden State and Napoleon Dynamite, 2006’s Little Miss Sunshine and 2007’s Once. Have been many more failures including 1992’s In The Soup, 1996’s The Spitfire Grill, 1998’s Next Stop Wonderland 2000’s Girlfight and 2007’s Son Of Rambow. 2016’s The Birth of a Nation was the most expensive Sundance acquisition Fox Searchlight paid $17.5m but only took $16m in the US its release was overshadowed by non-film related issues ahead of its release it was seen as a potential awards contender.
Warner Bros have had a disappointing year so far with The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part taking 60% less than The Lego Movie, Annabelle Comes Home taking 30% less than Annabelle: Creation and Godzilla: King of the Monsters taking 35% less than Kong: Skull Island. With Pokemon Detective Pikachu and Shazam! Their only major successes.
Up to 2013 Warner Bros and Disney would battle it out for supremacy but this year have taken 67% less than Disney $913.9 Vs $2.74bn but their slate was riskier compared to Disney’s full of propertied it should be different in 2020 with Birds of Prey, Godzilla vs. Kong, Scooby, Wonder Woman 1984, Tenet, The Conjuring 3, The Witches and Dune Disney won’t have it all their own way.
While Warner Bros also end this year with It: Chapter Two and Joker which should see them replace Universal Pictures as the #2 biggest studio in the US in 2019.
- Where’d You Go, Bernadette – United Artists
Opened with $3.46m; received poor reviews (43% Rotten Tomatoes score) and B CinemaScore
Had the lowest opening for a Richard Linklater directed film since 1998’s The Newton Boys $4.01m; in 1998 it had the 106th biggest opening of the year between Living Out Loud and Why Do Fools Fall in Love? 9% of the biggest opener of the year Godzilla $44.04m.
Where’d You Go, Bernadette had the 74th biggest opening of the year between Anna (2019) and Captive State 1% of the biggest opener of the year Avengers: Endgame $357.11m.
The film was originally set for release May 11, 2018 but was delayed to October 19, 2018, March 22, 2019, August 9 and then August 16, 2019.
Many were surprised Where’d You Go, Bernadette and Blinded By the Light both opened in over 2,000 screens especially after Booksmart performed poorly despite positive reviews opening in May, as normally these films would open more slowly as A24 did with The Farewell.
The last Richard Linklater directed film to open wide was 2005’s Bad News Bears with $11.38m taking $32.86m.
While Richard Linklater had success with 2014’s Boyhood taking over $25m his films might be critically acclaimed they rarely are as successful at the box office with 2003’s School of Rock his biggest film in the US taking $81m almost half of the total ox office the 19 films he has directed $207.4m. While internationally his films rarely find an audience with School of Rock taking two thirds of the international box office of all his films.
The slowly release is a massive gamble as if a film underwhelms on limited release it has little chance to expand further, but then many films will open strongly on platform but then expand far too quickly losing their momentum. After the disappointing opening of Booksmart in May Amazon decided to open Late Night on limited release for a week in June taking $246,305 from 4 screens adding 2,216 screens in its second weekend taking a disappointing $5.2m and 415.46m to date.
In June Universal Pictures opened Danny Boyle’s Yesterday wide opening with $17m taking $71.65m to date while it might have not had a recognisable lead the film was sold on it being Danny Boyle and Richard Curtis film along with the popularity of The Beatles. Blinded By the Light might have had Bruce Springsteen but didn’t have much else as its 17 years ago since Bend It Like Beckham which wasn’t nearly as successful as previous Danny Boyle and Richard Curtis films.
As these films are targetting older audiences they perform stronger during the week than weekend in the UK but they are also the films that have been squeezed the most as audiences have become much more selective with the films they pay to see and those they wait to see since the loss of Moviepass and the increased ticket prices.
UK Box Office Predictions
Summer holidays come to a close this weekend with the August Bank Holiday weekend and the last weekend in August is often a dumping ground the weekend before school’s return has the fewest £1m+ earners over the last 18 years in 2017 American Made had the lowest #1 for the final weekend in August since 2001 with films including Grown Ups and The Guru both shockingly bad films but they still managed to open bigger. It wasn’t always this way as 22 years ago The Full Monty opened with £1.6m (£2.83m today) and went on to become the biggest film in the UK until Titanic .
2018: Disney’s Christopher Robin £1,173,235
2017: American Made £1,067,075
2016: Finding Dory £1,510,744, Bad Moms £1,471,466, Suicide Squad £1,272,331.
2015: Straight Outta Compton £2,498,231 and Inside Out £1,199,103
2014: Lucy £3,076,997, The Inbetweeners 2 £2,366,161, Guardians of the Galaxy £1,259,998, Into the Storm £1,147,657.
2013: Elysium £3,127,005, We’re The Millers £1,508,326, Planes £1,165,315, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones £1,143,385.
2012: Brave took £2,371,691 Ted £1,692,883 9both in their fourth weekends) The Bourne Legacy £1,596,289, The Dark Knight Rises £1,378,717, Keith Lemon: The Movie £1,196,310
2011: The Inbetweeners Movie £5,696,848, One Day £2,208,724, Rise of the Planet of the Apes £1,659,572, The Smurfs £1,478,650 and Final Destination 5 £1,450,464.
2010: Grown Ups £2,006,945, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World £1,604,545, Toy Story 3 £1,499,524 and The Expendables £1,311,381.
2009: The Final Destination £3,633,395 and Inglourious Basterds £1,276,012
2008: Hellboy 2: The Golden Army £2,969,602, Mamma Mia! £1,837,577, Get Smart £1,542,005 and The Dark Knight £1,454,847
2007: The Bourne Ultimatum £2,864,804 and Knocked Up £1,583,998
2006: You, Me and Depree £1,636,249
2005: The Dukes of Hazzard £1,720,754 and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory £ 1,116,172
2004: Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story £2,200,271, The Village £1,570,369 and The Bourne Supremacy £1,089,750.
2003: American Pie: The Wedding £2,180,783, The Pirates of the Caribbean £2,091,524 and Tomb Raider 2 £1,524,676
2002: The Guru £1,521,984
2001: Planet of the Apes £ 2,364,945 and Cats and Dogs £1,073,361
This year Angel Has Fallen opens Wednesday but is unlikely to open anywhere near London Has Fallen opened March 2016 with £3,229,675 (including £511,336 previews) taking £10,831,576.
Crawl and Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark are unlikely to attract wide appeal despite both receiving positive reviews
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood will drop 60% (due to previews) taking £3.5m+ giving August Bank Holiday its biggest #1 since 2011’s The Inbetweeners Movie £5,696,848.
Weekend box office is likely to be affected with the hottest Bank Holiday weekend for several years as people choose to end their summer holidays in the garden with a barbecue watching the Ashes than the cinema
Opening in UK Next Week
The week after August Bank Holiday and the end of the summer holidays is normal a dumping weekend with all four releases likely to have limited cinema release and limited cinema appeal.
- A Million Little Pieces – eOne
Drama starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Billy Bob Thornton, Odessa Young, Giovanni Ribisi, Juliette Lewis, Charlie Hunnam and directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson based on the book of the same name by James Frey; received mixed reviews
The film was originally developed at Warner Bros, but they shelved the project when it was revealed Frey’s drug addiction was faked.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Sam Taylor-Johnson previously worked together on 2009’s Nowhere Boy opened with £148,157 taking £1,148,712.
- The Informer – Warner Bros
Action crime thriller starring Joel Kinnaman, Rosamund Pike, Common, Ana de Armas, and Clive Owen and directed by Andrea Di Stefano based on the novel Three Seconds by Roslund/Hellström.
Warner Bros acquired UK rights and Aviron Pictures acquired US rights, the film was due to be released in March, then delayed to August and was then moved to January 2020.
- The Mustang – Universal Pictures
Drama starring Matthias Schoenaerts, Jason Mitchell, Gideon Adlon, Connie Britton and Bruce Dern and directed by Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre; had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival receiving positive reviews (94% Rotten Tomatoes score) and was released in the US in March opened with $71,657 in 4 screens slowly expanding and took $5,043,620.
- The Souvenir – Curzon
Drama starring Honor Swinton Byrne, Tom Burke and Tilda Swinton and written and directed by Joanna Hogg; had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival receiving critical acclaim (90% Rotten Tomatoes score). $78,400
Was released in the US in May opened on limited release with $78,400 taking $1,036,737
Opening in US Next Week
- No major releases