- Despicable Me 4 £4,925,773 – £17,438,373
Took £972k 19.74% (-60% £2.43m) Friday; £2.25m 45.69% (-43.61% £3.99m) Saturday: £1.703m 34.58% (-30.09% £2.436m) Sunday.
Dropped 44.4% in the second weekend
92nd biggest second weekend between Avatar: The Way of Water and The Da Vinci Code (close to Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Shrek The Third, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 and Aladdin) and 186th biggest second weekend inflated between Twilight and Batman Begins (close to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Back to the Future Part II, Crocodile Dundee and Batman).
17th biggest animated second weekend between Shrek The Third and Ice Age III (close to Despicable Me 3, Sing 2, The Secret Life of Pets and Shrek Forever After) and the 34th biggest animated second weekend between The Secret Life of Pets and Despicable Me 2 (close to Toy Story, Frozen, Ratatouille and The LEGO Batman Movie).
Second weekends
2022’s Minions: The Rise of Gru dropped 59% £4,327,537 #2 654 screens and £18,491,693 of £45,764,546
2017’s Despicable Me 3 dropped 53% £5,275,120 #2 625 screens and £19,578,209 of £47,562,575
2015’s Minions dropped 46% £6,238,498 #1 and £20,973,912 586 screens of £47,091,449
2013’s Despicable Me 2 dropped 73% (60% without previews) £3,996,837 #1 539 screens and £22,914,407 of £46,815,412
2010’s Despicable Me dropped 29% £2,589,170 #2 549 screens and £7,585,348 of £19,750,505
The 14 Illumination Entertainment films have taken over £460m (£5005m inflated) since the first Despicable Me opened in 2010; upcoming Super Mario Bros 2 April 2026, Minions 3 June 2027 and Despicable Me 5 in July 2028.
In June released a parody multi-verse trailer with Steve Carell saying Illumination would release 100 years’ worth of films, television series, and stage productions starring the Mega Minions including Mega Minions: The Tax Write-Off and an untitled Mega Minions spin-off series spoofing the cancellation of Warner Bros. films like Batgirl and Coyote vs. Acme.
The 76th biggest animated film between Tarzan and Ralph Breaks The Internet (close to Elemental, Coco, How to Train Your Dragon and The Smurfs) and the 105th biggest inflated animated film between Flushed Away and Rio (close to Mulan, The Little Mermaid, The Jungle Book (1993 re-issue) and The Lion King 3D).
365th biggest between The Mummy (1999) and Justice League (close to Tenet, John Wick: Chapter 4, The Mask and The Matrix) and 649th biggest inflated between Flushed Away and Lost in Translation (close to The Rock, Red Dragon, JFK and Santa Claus The Movie).
- 2. Twisters – £4,149,210 – NE
Took £1,009,704 from previews £565k Wednesday/£440k Thursday (24.02%)
Took £754k 18.17% Friday; £1.38m 33.26% Saturday; £965k 23.26% Sunday
379th biggest opening American Pie: The Wedding and Starsky & Hutch (close to Godzilla, Mission: Impossible, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer and Rampage) and 571st biggest inflated between The Naked Gun 2 ½: The Smell Of Fear and Bad Boys For Life (close to Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983), Crocodile Dundee, X-Men: Dark Phoenix and Mars Attacks)
7th biggest 2024 opening between Kung Fu Panda 4 and Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire (close to Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, Bad Boys: Ride or Die, Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes and The Fall Guy).
70th widest opening 675 cinemas close to Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse, Nope and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (2024); 222nd 600+ cinema opening since 2015’s Jurassic World.
Twisters received positive reviews and stars Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell his first cinema release since Anyone But You (recently starred in Netflix’s Hit Man).
UK opening was 5.11% (including previews) and 3.86% of US opening similar to Beverly Hills Cop II, The Blind Side, Us, The Lost Boys, Power Rangers and Moana.
Glen Powell is the man of the moment attached to so many other upcoming films including 90s reboot 1991’s Backdraft and 80s reboot The Running Man but he rejected starring in the upcoming Bourne Identity and Jurassic World films. Starred in Top Gun: Maverick (opened £15,931,497 taking £83,280,268), Anyone But You (opened £1,253,694 taking £11,364,012) and recently Netflix’s Hit Man.
Glen Powell only had a small role in Top Gun: Maverick and was unknown to most he had little to do with its success. Glen Powell said in an interview Top Gun 3 could be made in 2025 with release in summer 2026. While Top Gun: Maverick took $1.5bn worldwide to many it was the perfect sequel, but a third film could never reach similar heights as was the case with Toy Story 4 after the perfect Toy Story 3 ending.
Daisy Edgar-Jones starred in the hugely popular 2020 BBC TV drama Normal People and also in 2022’s Where The Crawdads Sing (opened £1,395,704 taking £8,115,231)
28 years after 1996’s Twister opened £3,044,033 (including £681,365 previews) (£6,515,876 inflated) taking £15,004,691 (£32,118,149 inflated); Twister was the 6th biggest film of 1996 after Independence Day £36.86m; Toy Story £22.16m; Babe £20.29m; Seven £19.51m; Mission Impossible £18.61m; the top 10 featured only one sequel Goldeneye.
2004’s The Day After Tomorrow opened £7,321,633 #1 (£14,626,959 inflated 429 screens taking £25,049,442 (£50,043,095 inflated)
Other natural disaster films include
2000’s The Perfect Storm opened £2,181,194 (£4,090,380) taking £8,857,917/£16,611,200 inflated
2011’s Contagion opened £1,463,638 (£1,924,950 inflated) taking £5,337,350/£7,019,584 inflated
2013’s The Impossible opened £4.03m/£4.89m inflated #1 372 screens taking £12.75m/£15.46m inflated
2015’s San Andreas opened £4,628,394 (£5,116,269 inflated) taking £11,316,171
2009’s 2012 opened £6,489,809 (£9,508,047 inflated) taking £19,354,774/£28,356,167 inflated
1998’s Armageddon opened £2,768,975 (£5,476,112 inflated) taking £17,806,147/£35,214,638 inflated.
1998’s Godzilla opened £4,176,960/£8,208,815 inflated taking £17,195,077/£33,792,806 inflated
2017’s Geostorm opened £1,625,895 taking £4,217,525
Natural disaster films were hugely popular in the 70s including Earthquake, The Poseidon Adventure, Airport, The China Syndrome, Meteor, The Towering Inferno, Rollercoaster and The Swarm bringing audiences back to cinemas, they often had big star casts as The Towering Inferno Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, Faye Dunaway, William Holden and Fred Astaire and as Twisters were mad by two studios. Many of them were released in special formats like Sensurround which gave audiences different experiences in cinemas, similar to 4DX/ScreenX today.
The 1970s disaster films felt very real as 12 days after The China Syndrome opened was a nuclear accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania. This is probably the reason why Twisters performed far stronger in the US and Middle America than internationally as they have experienced tornados.
- 3. Inside Out 2 – £1,547,817 – £47,239,957
Took £291k 18.81% (-41.80% £500k) Friday; £713k 46.09% (-33.98% £1.08m) Saturday; £543k 35.10% (-15.81% £645k) Sunday
Down 30.4% in its fifth weekend
30th biggest sixth weekend between LOTR: Return of the King and A Christmas Carol (close to Oppenheimer, Jurassic Park, Bohemian Rhapsody and Die Another Day) and the 81st biggest inflated sixth weekend between Seven and Home Alone (close to Ocean’s 11, The Jungle Book (2016), A Fish Called Wanda and Top Gun).
2nd biggest Pixar sixth weekend between Toy Story 4 and Toy Story 3 (close to Finding Dory, Incredibles 2, Incredibles and Finding Nemo) and 8th biggest inflated between Finding Dory and Incredibles 2 (close to Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., Ratatouille and Up)
Inside Out 2 has overtaken Dune Part 2 to become the biggest film of 2024 and has overtaken the total BO of 2015’s Inside Out.
Pixar sequel’s fifth weekends
2019’s Toy Story 4 dropped 7.1% £2,525,048 #2 and £51,622,538 675 screens of £65,802,558: #1 The Lion King £10,660,287
2018’s Incredibles 2 dropped 42% £1,359,602 #6 and £48,579,752 617 screens of £56.1m; #1 Disney’s Christopher Robin £2,553,810
2016’s Finding Dory dropped 1% £1,496,628 #3 and £38,866,816 580 screens of £46,258,802: #1 Sausage Party £2,690,156
2013’s Monsters University dropped 26% £892,945 #6 and £26,251,949 491 screens of £30,554,711: #1 Kick-Ass 2 £2,482,187
2015’s Inside Out dropped 13% £1,199,103 #1 and £33,718,635 594 screens and £33,718,635 of £39,114,257: #1 Straight Outta Compton £2,498,231
The 25 Pixar films have taken over £775m in the UK BO since Toy Story in 1996 and almost £1.1bn inflated.
4th biggest Pixar film between Incredibles 2 and Finding Dory (close to Toy Story 4, Incredibles 2, Toy Story 2 and Monsters, Inc.).
60th biggest between Despicable Me 2 and Minions The Rise of Gru (close to Shrek 2, Jurassic Park, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and The Jungle Book) and 141st biggest inflated between Terminator 2: Judgement Day and Spider-Man 2 (close to Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Ice Age II, The Sixth Sense and Babe).
10th biggest animated film between Despicable Me 2 and Minions The Rise of Gru (close to Frozen 2, Shrek 2, Toy Story 2 and Finding Dory) and the 27th biggest inflated animated film between Toy Story and Finding Dory (close to Chicken Run, Frozen, Inside Out and Shark Tale).
- 4. Longlegs – £1,309,011 – £3,957,945
Dropped 4.5% in its second weekend
Took £378k 28.88% (-30.77% £546k) Friday; £541k 41.33% (-8.15% £589k) Saturday: £390k 29.79% (+65.25% £236k) Sunday.
Longlegs increased its Sunday BO as it was one of the most affected films last Sunday with the European Football Championship final.
791st biggest second weekend between The Grand Budapest Hotel and The Divergent Series: Insurgent (close to Focus, The Expendables, It’s Complicated and Inferno) and 1,288th inflated biggest second weekend between The Fighter and The Island (close to Predator, Malice, The Monuments Men and The Banshees Of Inisherin).
37th biggest horror second weekend between A Quiet Place Part II and Drag Me to Hell (close to Five Nights At Freddy’s, M3gan, Final Destination and Scream (2022) and 71st biggest horror second weekend between I Know What You Did Last Summer and Insidious 2 (close to Freddy’s Dead The Final Nightmare, 28 Weeks Later, Poltergeist 2 and Stigmata).
25th biggest 2024 opening between Challengers and Priscilla (close to Poor Things, Wicked Litle Letters, All Of Us Strangers and The Bikeriders).
Compared to 1991’s The Silence of Lambs dropped 13.3% £2,014,337 #1 (£5,298,438 inflated) and £6,565,764 of £17,119,333/£45,030,061 inflated) and has also been compared to 1996’s Seven dropped 1.7% £2,672,896 #1 (£5,234,148 inflated) and £7,213,059 of 19,516,175/£41,775,164 inflated
In the US it has been compared to 1999’s The Blair Witch Project dropped 61% by £2,290,106 (£4,335,426 inflated) and £7,202,110 of £14,971,525/£28,342,768 inflated as it was one of the biggest indie horror films since and was also low budget acquisition.
103rd biggest horror between Hostel and The Happening (close to The Black Phone, The Purge, Poltergeist (2015) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and 145th biggest inflated between Don’t Breathe and The Possession (close to The Fly II, Evil Dead (2013), The Frighteners and The Menu).
Down 45.7% in its fourth weekend
Took £111k 24.78% (-59.64% £275k) Friday; £204k 45.54% (-51.54% £421k) Saturday; £133k 29.69% (+3.1% £129k) Sunday.
Despite dropping heavily on Fri/Sat A Quiet Place: Day One increased its Sunday BO as Longlegs was one of the most affected films last Sunday with the European Football Championship final.
872nd biggest fourth weekend between Dragonheart and The Other Woman (close to Insidious, The Perfect Storm, Fast & Furious 9 and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider) and 1,147th inflated biggest between America’s Sweethearts and Paranormal Activity (close to Rocky V, Law Abiding Citizen, The A-Team and Paranormal Activity 3).
18th biggest 2024 between Mean Girls and Garfield (close to Wicked Litle Letters, One Life, Furiosa and Challengers).
Fourth weekends
2018’s A Quiet Place dropped 10% £920,235 #3 527 screens and £9,871,073 of £11,801,912
2021’s A Quiet Place Part II dropped 42% £595,834 #4 539 screens and £9,568,499 of £11,547,774
A Quiet Place was originally conceived as a Cloverfield movie; 2008’s Cloverfield dropped 50% £358,047 #9 333 screens and £9,120,932; 2016’s 10 Cloverfield Lane dropped 48% £250,035 #8 285 screens and £5,029,725; The Cloverfield Paradox was sold to Netflix. As with A Quiet Place, these two films weren’t originally conceived at Cloverfield Films, (10 Cloverfield Lane was called The Cellar and The Cloverfield Paradox was God Particle). Had the two films been more successful than A Quiet Place would have been a Cloverfield film, as they do feel they share the same universe.
817th biggest between Blade 2 and A Fish Called Wanda (close to Cloverfield, Kill Bill – Volume 2, Scary Movie 3 and District 9) and 1,318th biggest inflated between The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie and Jack the Giant Slayer (close to Dangerous Liaisons, 300: Rise of An Empire, The Lawnmower Man and The Fly).
28th biggest horror between Us and Final Destination 3 (close to The Conjuring, The Ring, Final Destination 3 and Scream 2) and 53rd biggest inflated between Insidious and Halloween (close to Saw V, Gothika, The Lawnmower Man and The Fly).
Also opened.
- blur: To The End (Altitude Film Distribution) £147,981 #8 from 310 screens
- Thelma (Universal Pictures) £65,175 #12 from 193 screens
- Forrest Gump (30th Anniversary 4K Re-Issue) (Paramount) £39,750 #14 from 228 screens
Re-released is Robert Zemeckis’s Forrest Gump for its 30th anniversary, the film was originally released in October 1994 £1,897,804/£4,653,999 inflated taking £16,064,449/£39,394,972 inflated; took $330.45m/$875m inflated in the US and $678.22m/£1.8bn inflated worldwide and won six Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Screenplay. Director Robert Zemeckis, writer Eric Roth, Tom Hanks and Robin Wright are reunited in drama Here opening at the end of the year.
UK box office in detail
The weekend’s top 10 box office took £13,134,444 down 11.9% from last weekend’s £14,900,553: 1,658,389 admissions down 11.9% from 1,881,383 admissions.
14th biggest weekend of the last 52 weeks between 05 January 2024 #1 Wonka £3,779,636 (28.5%) and 22 December 2023 #1 Wonka £7,214,019 ( 55.58%)
39th biggest since cinemas reopened out of 192 weeks between 05 January 2024 #1 Wonka £3,779,636 (28.5%) and 22 December 2023 #1 Wonka £7,214,019 (55.58%)
353rd biggest top 10 of the last 22 years (out of 1,163) between 28 October 2005 #1 WOG: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit £3,593,266 (27.3%) and 28 November 2003 #1 Love Actually £4,660,595 (35.6%) and 639th inflated between 05 May 2006 #1 Mission: Impossible III £5,378,013 (66.96%) and 10 October 2014 #1 Gone Girl £3,064,545 (27.68%)
The top 3 took (£10,622,800) 80.9% of the top 10; Despicable Me 4 37.5% (£4,925,773); Twisters 31.59% (£4,149,210); Inside Out 2 11.78% (£1,547,817).
488th highest #1 percentage (37.50%) between 22 June 2007 #1 Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (37.53%) and 14 July 2017 #1 War for the Planet of the Apes (37.47%)
17 February 2023 #1 Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (59.61%) and 15 March 2024 #1 Dune Part 2 (59.39%)
530th biggest admissions #1 (621,941) between 04 January 2013 #1 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (624,162) and 24 June 2005 #1 Batman Begins (621,240)
01 May 2009 #1 X-Men Origins: Wolverine (1,119,156) and 15 October 2021 #1 No Time To Die (1,117,575)
Down 63% from 2023; (£35,475,322); Barbie (£18,509,235); Oppenheimer (£10,891,486); #1 Barbie £18,509,235 1st week 721 screens (52.17%)
Up 35.2% 2022 (£9,715,916); The Railway Children Return (£365,481); #1 Thor: Love and Thunder £4,063,773 2nd week 67% drop (56% without previews) 701 screens (41.83% of top 10)
Up 133.8% 2021 (£5,617,410); Space Jam: A New Legacy (£1,363,556); The Forever Purge (£720,032); The Croods 2: A New Age (£696,563); Summer of Soul (£62,562); #1 Black Widow £1,801,017 2nd week 649 screens (32.1% of top 10)
Up 6,685% 2020: (£193,567); Dreambuilders (£12,407); #1 Onward £49,271 4th week #1 split over 5 months 123 screens (16%)
Down 46.5% from 2019; (£24,533,644); The Lion King (£16,671,764); #1 The Lion King £16,671,764 1st week 713 screens (67.95% of top 10)
Down 33.1% from 2018: (£19,632,861); Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! (£9,735,930); Hotel Artemis (£357,261); Spitfire (£211,464); Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures! The Movie (£125,081); Escape Plan 2 (£6,737); #1 Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! £9,735,931 1st week 702 screens (49.6% of top 10)
Down 40.5% from 2017: (£22,066,254); Dunkirk (£10,023,720); Andre Rieu’s 2017 Maastricht Concert (£1,439,604); #1 Dunkirk £10,023,720 1st week 638 screens (45.4% of top 10)
Down 22.3% from 2016: (£16,914,463); The BFG (£5,288,529); Star Trek Beyond (£4,740,040); Andre Rieu’s 2016 Maastricht Concert (£1,414,075); #1 The BFG £5,288,529 1st week 680 screens (31.2% of the top 10)
Up 0.5% from 2015; (£13,074,413); Ant-Man (£4,011,345); Andre Rieu’s 2015 Maastricht Concert (£1,107,000); The Gallows (£335,875); Self/Less (£215,247); Thomas & Friends: Sodor’s Legend of the Lost Treasure (£155,354); True Story (£137,463); 13 Minutes (£12,572); #1 Ant-Man £4,011,345 1st week 555 screens (30.6% of top 10)
Down 18.9% from 2014: (£16,203,729); Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (£8,705,995); Monty Python Live (Mostly) – O2 London 2014 (£1,178,091); Andre Rieu’s 2014 Maastricht Concert (£830,586); Pudsey the Dog: The Movie (£446,450); Some Like It Hot (Re: 2014) (£12,869); #1 Dawn of the Planet of the Apes 1st week 561 screens (53.7% of top 10)
Up 34.2% from 2013: (£9,787,596); The World’s End (£2,123,576); The Frozen Ground (£89,515); Breathe In (£26,910); Easy Money (£21,346); Roman Holiday (Re: 2013) (£12,701); #1 Monsters University £2,791,078 2nd week 532 screens 19% drop (28.5% of top 10)
Down 30% from 2012 (£18,751,675); The Dark Knight Rises (£14,362,443); Lola Versus (£348); #1 The Dark Knight Rises £14,362,443 1st week 594 screens (76.6% of top 10)
Down 55.3% from 2011; (£29,355,666); Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (£23,753,171); Cell 211 (£21,479); #1 Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 £23,753,171 1st week 582 screens (80.9% of top 10)
Down 13.1% from 2010: (£15,116,235); Inception (£5,912,814); The Concert (£38,053); #1 Inception £5,912,814 1st week 452 screens (39.1% of top 10)
Down 52.4% from 2009; (£27,606,395); Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (£19,784,924); Moon (£157,867); The Informers (£6,149); #1 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince £19,784,924 1st week 584 screens (71.6% of top 10)
Down 11.5% from 2008; (£14,835,085); Wall·E (£4,253,736); Meet Dave (£681,584); Donkey Punch (£144,953); City of Men (£17,000); Standard Operating Procedure (£3,539); #1 Mamma Mia! £4,561,109 2nd week 435 screens 31% drop (30.7% of top 10)
Up 9.7% from 2007: (£11,971,119); Hairspray (£2,045,912); Firehouse Dog (£90,730); #1 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix £6,639,973 2nd week 566 screens 60% drop (55.4% of top 10)
Up 14.5% from 2006; (£11,474,975); The Break-up (£2,412,097); Stormbreaker (£1,244,892); Garfield 2 (£739,560); #1 Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest £3,868,216 3rd week 36% drop 520 screens (33.71% of top 10)
Up 10.8% from 2005: (£11,856,897); Fantastic Four (£3,541,391); Dark Water (£480,199); Kicking and Screaming (£240,452); #1 Fantastic Four £3,541,391 1st week 406 screens (29.9% of top 10)
Down 10.2% from 2004 (£14,628,009); Spider-Man 2 (£8,766,902); The Prince and Me (£366,942); Nathalie (£39,084); #1 Spider-Man 2 £8,766,902 1st week 504 screens (59.9% of top 10)
Up 67.7% from 2003 (£7,829,988); The Hulk (£3,529,440); Buffalo Soldiers (£113,664); Brown Sugar (£90,877); Four Feathers (£61,800); #1 The Hulk £3,529,440 1st 500 screens (45.1% of top 10)
Up 66.3% from 2002 (£7,900,053); Stuart Little 2 (£1,343,398); Jason X (£233,090); Monster’s Ball (£40,132); #1 Scooby-Doo £2,513,564 2nd week 50% drop 474 screens (31.8% of top 10)
2023 Next week: (£26,586,491); Talk To Me (£643,547); #1 Barbie 2nd week £13,226,848 29% drop 745 screens (49.75%)
UK Box Office News
UK and Ireland BO was down 7% for the first six months of 2024 (Jan-June) taking £451.6m compared to £486.6m in 2023.
1st quarter (January – March) was up 9% but 2nd quarter (April- June) was down 21%.
June 2024 BO was up 7% from 2023 (£71.4m vs. £66.6m).
US Box Office
- Twisters – Universal Pictures
Opened $81.25m; received positive reviews (77% Rotten Tomatoes) and A- CinemaScore.
Three weeks ago, Twisters was tracked to open between $40m-$55m but as with several other films tracking has come short; NRG expected $40m- $45m; The Quorom $54m-$61m
Took $11.7m from Thursday midnights; Dune: Part Two $12m; Oppenheimer $10.5m; Godzilla $9.3m; Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes $6.6m; Bad Boys: Ride or Die $5.87m; Hobbs & Shaw $5.8m.
116th biggest opening between Monsters University and Black Widow (close to Dune: Part Two, Oppenheimer, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones and I Am Legend)
The third biggest 2024 opening after Inside Out 2 ($154.2m) and Dune: Part Two ($82.5m) and ahead of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire ($80m).
IMAX/PLF took about 43% of the opening this is the norm for tentpoles.
Twisters took $2.1m from 4DX screens 30% more than the previous highest film The Super Mario Bros Movie $1.57m.
Since Top Gun: Maverick Glen Powell has been a wanted man despite not having a major role in the film, he had many small roles prior including The Dark Knight Rises, Everybody Wants Some!, Scream Queens TV and Hidden Figures. His breakthrough role was in Netflix’s 2018’s Set It Up he had great chemistry with Zoey Deutch as he did with Sydney Sweeney in Anyone But You. He is attached to so many upcoming films and starts filming on another remake The Running Man directed by Edgar Wright (originally starred Arnold Schwarzenegger) and has recently been attached to a remake of 1991’s Backdraft.
Twisters faces a similar issue Mission Impossible: dead Reckoning had last year that its film to be seen in IMAX/PLF but will lose those screens in its second weekend to Deadpool and Wolverine as Dead Reckoning did with Oppenheimer.
1996’s Twister opened $41.05m/$100.5m inflated taking $241.83m/$590m inflated and $494.58m/$1.2bn inflated
2004’s The Day After Tomorrow opened $68.74m/$119.32m inflated taking $186.74m /$324.16m inflated and $552.63m/$959.33m worldwide inflated
2009’s 2012 opened $65.23m/$93.8m inflated taking $166.12m/$238.75m inflated and $791.21m/ $1.14bn inflated worldwide
2000’s The Perfect Storm opened $41.32m/$82.65m taking $182.61m/$365.23m inflated and $328.71m/$657.43m inflated worldwide
1998’s Armageddon opened $36.1m/$82.95m inflated taking $201.6m/$463.32m inflated and 553.71m/$1.27m inflated worldwide.
More recent tornado films include
2014’s Into The Storm opened $17.34m and $47.61m taking $161.51m worldwide
2017’s Geostorm opened $13.7m and $33.7m taking $221.9m worldwide
Disaster films were hugely popular at the start of the 70s, including The Towering Inferno, Earthquake, The Poseidon Adventure and Airport, they had star-studded casts, and many of them received Oscar nominations and gave audiences different kinds of cinema experiences as Earthquake with Sensurround.
Popularity for disaster films dropped off at the end of the ’70s due to the arrival of Star Wars, but they returned in the ’90s with Twister, Daylight, Independence Day, Deep Impact, Armageddon, Dante’s Peak, Volcano, Outbreak, Waterworld, Deep Blue Sea and Titanic. The 00s saw Poseidon, The Core, 2012, The Day After Tomorrow, The Perfect Storm and Snakes on a Plane. More recent disaster films include Contagion, Deepwater Horizon, Geostorm, The Impossible, San Andreas, Into the Storm and Moonfall as well as the straight-to-video Sharknado and Netflix’s Don’t Look Up.
While legacy sequels/reboots may open close to their original BO they are far from their inflated BO. 1996’s Twister had a budget of $92m while Twister’s budget was $200m. In 1996 average ticket price was $4.42 and wasn’t IMAX/PLF or other premium formats inflating ticket prices as there are for Twisters?
Comparisons could be made with 1996’s Independence Day opening $50.2m/$122.5m taking $306,169,268/$746,720,522 inflated and $817.4m worldwide/$2bn inflated.
And 2016’s Independence Day: Resurgence opened $41.03m/$51.14m taking $103.14m/$128.54m and $389.68m worldwide/$485.63m inflated.
Took $12m from IMAX; $9m US and $3m international.
Opened $27.1m from 76 territories; UK $5.5m; Mexico $2.5m; Australia $2m; France $1.9m; China $1.5m.
- Despicable Me 4 – Universal Pictures
Dropped 44% in its third weekend taking $24.43m #2 and $260.9m
105th biggest third weekend between Aladdin and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (close to Despicable Me 2, Puss in Boots, The Princess and the Frog and Despicable Me).
28th biggest animated film between The Incredibles and The Lego Movie; 136th biggest between The Incredibles and Captain America: The Winter Soldier; 422nd biggest inflated between Sleeping with the Enemy and You’ve Got Mail; 19th biggest Universal Pictures between How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Despicable Me).
Third weekends
2022’s Minions: The Rise of Gru dropped 41.8% $26.83m #2 and $263.4m of $370.28m and $940.2m worldwide; 60.6% internationally $569.93m; (70% Rotten Tomatoes) #1 Thor: Love and Thunder $46.63m
2015’s Minions dropped 53.5% $22.93m #3 and $262.45m of $336.04m and $1.15bn worldwide 71% $823.39m internationally; (55% Rotten Tomatoes) #1 Ant-Man $24.9m
2017’s Despicable Me 3 dropped 42.4% $19.35m #3 and $188.39m of $264.62m and $1.03bn worldwide 74% $770.17m internationally; (75% Rotten Tomatoes); #1 War for the Planet of the Apes $56.26m
2013’s Despicable Me 2 dropped 43.3% $24.9m #2 and $276m of $368.06m and $970.76m worldwide 62% internationally $602.7m; (59% Rotten Tomatoes) #1 The Conjuring $41.85m
2010’s Despicable Me dropped 27.8% $23.68m #3 and $161.28m of $251.55m and $543.15m worldwide 53% internationally $291.6m; (81% Rotten Tomatoes); #1 Inception $42.75m.
Took $52m from 78 territories $315m total and $577.2m worldwide; Mexico $32.1m; China $31.5m; Australia $25.8m; UK $23.2m; Brazil $18.3m; Germany $14.8m; France $14.4m; Spain $13.1m; Argentina $11.8m.
In 2022 the second weekend of Minions: The Rise of Guru took $56.4m (down 41%) from 64 territories and $189.8m and $399.9m worldwide; UK $22.1m; Mexico $22.1m; Australia $20.2m; Germany $10.4m; Brazil $7.3m
40th biggest animated worldwide between Tangled and The Croods; 196th biggest between Ready Player One and The Croods; 23rd biggest Universal Pictures between Mamma Mia! And Fifty Shades of Grey.
- Inside Out 2 – Disney
Down 36% in the sixth weekend taking $12.82m #3 and $596.4m
28th biggest sixth weekend between E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and The Revenant (close to Forrest Gump, The Lion King (1994), The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Incredibles 2).
2nd biggest animated film between Incredibles 2 and The Super Mario Bros. Movie; 15th biggest between Incredibles 2 and The Super Mario Bros. Movie; 55th biggest inflated between The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and Twister; 8th biggest Disney between Incredibles 2 and The Lion King (2019).
Inside Out 2 has a 100-day window despite this it will take about 75% of BO within 21 days and 85%+ after 45 days.
Recent Pixar sequel’s sixth weekends
2019’s Toy Story 4 dropped 32.8% $10.45m #4 and $396.21m of $434.03m and $1.073bn worldwide
2013’s Monsters University dropped 44.3% $2.85m #12 and $255.46m of $268.49m and $743.55m WW
2016’s Finding Dory dropped 35.9% $7.23m #6 and $460.21m of $486.29m and $1.029bn WW
2018’s Incredibles 2 dropped 26.9% $11.89m #5 and $357.71m of $608.58m and $1.243bn WW
2015’s Inside Out dropped 35.8% $7.41m #7 and $320.39m of $356.92m and $858.85m WW
Took $34.2m in 47 territories $846.9m total and $1.443bn worldwide; Mexico $98m; Brazil $72.8m; UK $60m; S. Korea $56.1m; France $50.6m; Italy $45.4m; China $44.6m; Spain $41.3m; Germany $39.8m; Australia $33.9m; Argentina $27.3m.
2nd biggest animated worldwide between Frozen II and The Super Mario Bros. Movie; 14th biggest worldwide between Frozen II and Barbie; Biggest 2024 worldwide ahead of Dune: Part Two $711.2m; 7th biggest Disney between Frozen II and Avengers: Age of Ultron.
- Fly Me To The Moon – Sony Pictures
Dropped 65% in its second weekend $3.31m #6 and $16.33m
The plot is similar to the political satire 1997’s Wag The Dog (took $43.06m) when a Hollywood producer fakes a war with Albania to distract voters from a presidential sex scandal.
Despite Scarlett Johansson’s films taking over $15bn worldwide, 2017’s Rough Night was her last non-tentpole leading film opening $8m taking $22.1m and $47.34m worldwide.
Greg Berlanti directed the film in his previous 2018, Love Simon dropped 35.3% $7.6m and $23.5m of $40.82m and $66.71m worldwide.
Anyone But You was the last major rom-com up 45.9% $8.75m and $24.83m of $88.31m and $220.12m worldwide.
Other recent rom-coms second weekends include.
2022’s Ticket To Paradise dropped 40.3% $9.85m and $33.58m of $68.27m and $168.77m worldwide
2019’s Last Christmas dropped 43.2% $6.49m and $22.36m of $35.15m and $123.44m worldwide
2018’s Crazy Rich Asians dropped 6.4% $ 24.8m and $76.61m of $174.83m and $239.345m worldwide
2016’s How To Be Single dropped 54.1% $8.2m and $31.74m of $46.84m and $112.54m worldwide
2003’s Down With Love dropped 42.2% $4.04m and $13.57m of $20.3m and $39.46m worldwide.
The biggest rom-coms in the US are My Big Fat Greek Wedding $241.43m; What Women Want $182.8m; Pretty Woman $178.4m; Hitch $177.78m
Opened $3.8m from 58 territories and $30.7m worldwide.
- A Quiet Place: Day One – Paramount Pictures
Dropped 44% in the fourth weekend $6.33m #5 and $127.86m.
763rd biggest fourth weekend between New Year’s Eve and Phenomenon (close to Inside Man, Jungle Cruise, Entrapment and Glass).
Fourth weekends
2018’s A Quiet Place dropped 47.4% $11m #2 and $148.52m of $188.02m and $340.95m worldwide
2021’s A Quiet Place Part II dropped 24.4% $9.08m #2 and $124.94m of $160.07m and $297.37m worldwide.
548th biggest between Rocky IV and Enchanted; 1,273rd biggest inflated between Christmas with the Kranks and Dressed to Kill; 8th biggest 2024 between Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire; 16th biggest horror between The Ring and Nope; 70th biggest Paramount Pictures between Shutter Island and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Took $5.2m from 67 territories $113.8m total and $241.4m worldwide; China $17.6m; Mexico $12.7m; UK $11.7m; Australia $7.55m; France $5.7m.
732nd biggest worldwide Paddington 2 and Daddy’s Home; 13th biggest 2024 between The Garfield Movie and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire; 23rd biggest horror between The Ring and Resident Evil: Retribution; 84th biggest Paramount Pictures between Hercules and Daddy’s Home.
- Longlegs – Neon
Dropped 47% in the second weekend taking $11.97m and $44.92m
Comparisons have been made with
1991’s The Silence of the Lambs dropped 11.1% $10.61m #1 and $45.45m of $130.74m/$334.8m inflated and $272.74m/$698.4m inflated worldwide
1995’s Se7en dropped 11.3% $12.37m #1 and $30.8m of $100.12m/$244.2m inflated and $327.33m/$798.4m inflated worldwide
Comparisons have also been made with 2022’s Smile dropping 18% $18.54m #1 and $50.83m of $105.93m and $217.4m worldwide; it had a similarly strong marketing campaign.
Many films receive critical acclaim but don’t find an audience so why did Longlegs? It also had a strong marketing campaign similar to Five Nights at Freddy’s last year, Neon released 11 videos over the last 90 days receiving over 30m views, helping Longlegs find an audience unlike many other horrors this year.
It’s hard to say Nicolas Cage was responsible for its strong opening as he has starred in many films over the last decade that struggled to find an audience 2023’s 2022Renfield opened $8.02m taking $17.29m and 2022’s The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent opened $7.13m taking $20.3m despite similarly having a strong marketing campaign as he was playing himself. All of his BO hits over the last decade have been animated films.
It’s Nicolas Cage’s biggest live-action opening since 2007’s National Treasure: Book of Secrets $44.78m (taking $219.96m and $459.24m worldwide). He has made a lot of films since, but they have struggled to find a wide audience. But before National Treasure 2 he had a lot of success with action films including The Rock, Con Air, Face/Off and Gone in 60 Seconds.
Neon compared its opening with The Blair Witch Project opening 25 years ago over the same weekend as an indie horror that over-performed and ‘came out of nowhere.’”; Blair Witch opened on platform release $1,512,054 from 31 screens and then expanded into 1,101 screens $29.2m and 2,142 screens $24.34m over the next two weeks taking $140.53m/$298.23m inflated and $240.63m/ $527.62m inflated worldwide Longlegs has a long way to go to match its success.
Longlegs premiered at SXSW as their other horror Immaculate (opened $5.3m).
UK Box Office Top 10
UK Box Office Preview
Deadpool and Wolverine have received massive hype over the last few months presales opened 8 weeks ago
2016’s Deadpool opened £13,729,803 (including £3,762,513 from 2 days of previews) £12,266,016 (89.4%) from 2D; £1,453,710 (10.59%) IMAX (£14,767,413 inflated inflated) 543 screens taking £37,616,432 (£40,459,239 inflation inflated)
It was 20th Century Fox’s second biggest-ever opening after 2005’s Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith £14,361,469
Deadpool held #1 for three weeks; 2nd weekend £5,694,280 59% drop/43% not including previews)
2018’s Deadpool 2 opened £12,974,669 (including £5,251,978 from 2.5 days of previews); 636 screens (£11.36m (87.55%) 2D; £933,143 (7.19%) IMAX; (£14,322,453 inflation inflated) taking £32,501,893 (£35,878,128 inflation inflated); Deadpool 2’s opening was more impressive as it also had to deal with the Royal Wedding, FA Cup and hot weather. The Royal Wedding had a TV audience of 18m on Saturday afternoon with the FA Cup Final watched by 9m in the evening.
Deadpool 2 was #1 for only 1 week as Solo: A Star Wars Story opened the following weekend at £6,061,231; Deadpool 2 was £3,771,293 (dropped 71%/51% not including previews)
Deadpool & Wolverine has a 4-day opening its opening has to be compared to other MCU films rather than 20th Century Fox X-Men film, instead similar to MCU’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse (£19,765,718); Avengers: Age of Ultron (£18,015,774); Black Panther (£17,700,000) and ahead of Avengers Assemble (£15,778,074); Captain America Civil War (£14,466,681); Spider-Man: Far From Home (£14,148,624) and Iron Man 3 (£13,711,048).
Presales in the US in the first 24 hours were $8m more than The Batman ($6.5m), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ($6m); 2016’s Deadpool opened $132.4m took $363m US and $782.8m worldwide; 2018’s Deadpool 2 opened $125.5m Deadpool 2 took $324.5m and $785.8m worldwide. The two films have taken $1.56bn worldwide but now it’s part of the MCU taking $11.8bn in the US and $29.7bn worldwide.
Deadline is predicting $360m+ global opening but it will likely be over $400m taking $200m+ internationally, with a large percentage from IMAX/PLF. Going by the few cinemas I’ve looked at sales are strong for IMAX screens but much softer for standard screens. What is surprising is despite tickets being on sale for over 8 weeks none of the key cinemas Odeon/Cineworld Leicester Square, BFI IMAX or Vue Westfield have any shows sold out. Ahead of the opening of Deadpool in 2016, there were many cinemas having sellouts.
There will be predictable headlines over the weekend in the media “What superhero fatigue”. Phase 4 including Blade Widow, Shang-Chi, Eternals, Thor: Love and Thunder, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and The Marvels was always going to come short of expectations of the heights of Phase 4 ending with Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home.
Deadpool 3 has been tracking to open between $160m-$165m but will be closer to $200m with over 50% from IMAX/PLF/3D/4DX/Dolby.
US advance ticket sales up to Friday was $35m 30% less than Doctor Strange 2 ($187.42m) and 5% less than Black Panther Wakanda Forever ($181.33m).
The top five US openings Spider-Man: No Way Home ($260.1m), Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ($187.4m, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ($181.3m), Barbie ($162m) and Inside Out 2 ($154.2m).
The biggest global openings post-COVID Spider-Man: No Way Home ($600.5m), Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ($452m), Avatar: The Way of Water ($441.7m), Jurassic World: Dominion ($386m), Super Mario Bros ($377.2m) and Barbie ($356.3m).
Has the widest IMAX opening of all time playing in 1,642 IMAX cinemas in 83 territories.
After the previous two Deadpool films opened so strongly and the hype surrounding the third film the size of the opening has been expected for many months, the key thing will be its second-weekend drop which is likely to be 60%-70%.
Deadpool 3 had its world premiere in New York on Monday and the social media embargo ended at 3 am UK time on Tuesday (the review embargo ended on Wednesday), received predictable reactions, best MCU ever … always have to take reactions with a pinch of salt as they are immediate. From the trailers and what has been teased it feels like Deadpool 3 will be like a Greatest Hits album of Fox’s X-Men films, following on from Deadpool 2 killing off the long-in-development X-Force spinoff it will end the Fox Marvel Universe (originally planned to introduce X-Force team in the post-credit scene) and then bringing the surviving characters into MCU.
Reviews have been mixed some predictably saying Marvel has its mojo back, but others were more mixed, and the Telegraph gave it one star. How it opens has been expected for over a year the key will be how big will it drop as it will likely be fan-centric.
In 2017 20th Century Fox was also making Dark Phoenix and The New Mutants and had plans for many other films including Gambit (was due to be made in 2015 but was delayed and then cancelled in May 2019). There were sequels planned for both Dark Phoenix and The New Mutants, X-23, Alpha Flight and Exiles, Kitty Pryde and X-Force.
In January 2021 Ryan Reynold tweeted “Before Disney bought Fox, Deadpool 3 was gonna be a road trip between Deadpool and Logan. Rashomon style. For real.” In X-Men Origins: Wolverine fought Deadpool
Deadpool 3 will surely set up Fantastic Four and X-Men in the MCU so there will surely be a lot in Deadpool 3 comic-book fans will love.
It used to be a film would open in one Leicester Square main cinema and the other cinemas would play different films in their main cinemas but Twisters and so many other films over the last decade have been pushed onto smaller screens on Thursdays in all of the cinemas in Leicester Square. This surely means there are few showings sold out over the opening weekend. With capacity reduced by half in these cinemas
As holdovers are playing to different demographics at the start of the summer holidays could see Despicable Me 4, Twisters, Inside Out 2 and Longlegs all dropping less than 50%.
Opening in two weeks
- Alien: Romulus – Disney
Sci-fi horror is the seventh instalment in the Alien franchise set between the events of 1979’s Alien and 1986’s Aliens starring Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, and Aileen Wu and directed by Fede Álvarez.
After Disney acquired 20th Century Fox in 2019 it was announced at CinemaCon that more Alien films were in development and in 2022 Fede Álvarez was signed to direct. It was originally due for streaming on Hulu but was switched to theatrical release before filming started.
It will have its UK premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on August 15, 2024
Fede Álvarez previously directed 2013’s Evil Dead (opened £1,375,842 taking £3,355,676), 2016’s Don’t Breathe (opened £1,028,938 taking £3,719,221) and 2018’s The Girl in the Spider’s Web (opened
1979’s Alien was the 5th biggest film of the year after Moonraker, Superman 2, Jaws and Every Which Way But Loose; Alien and Aliens had a long-exclusive run at the Odeon Leicester Square all others opened wide.
1986’s Aliens opened £345,754/£1,456,581 158 screens taking £4,298,142/£18,107,066 inflated
1992’s Alien3 opened £1,622,917/£4,004,206 313 screens taking £6,522,262/£16,092,310 inflated
1997’s Alien Resurrection opened £2,829,825/£5,506,686 376 screens taking £7,232,926/£14.074m
2012’s Prometheus opened £6,236,580/£7,754,115 514 screens taking £24,628,830/£30,621,716
2017’s Alien: Covenant opened £5,178,531/5,475,830 inflated 626 screens taking £12,913,468