Top 5 Breakdown

1. Venom – £8,031,342 – NE

Had 121^st biggest opening in the UK between The Lego Movie and The Boss Baby and the 200^th biggest inflation inflated opening between Kung Fu Panda 2 and Die Hard 4.0

Took £2,431,342 from previews on Wednesday and Thursday taking 30% of its opening weekend box office which was similar to 2015’s Fantastic Four, 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier and 2018’s The Predator.

Had the 151st biggest Fri-Sun taking £5.6m similar to Kong: Skull Island, Thor: The Dark World and Doctor Strange.

Having the 30^th biggest comic-book opening in the UK between 2002’s Spider-Man and 2013’s Thor: The Dark World and Iron Man 2 and the 37^th biggest inflation inflated between Iron Man and X-Men: Apocalypse and Justice League  (showing how comic-book movies have taken over the box office over the last 10 years). As Venom had two days of previews and 10 of the films didn’t have previews while all except Suicide Squad had 12A certificates it’s harder to make direct comparisons.

Venom opening was the lowest of Sony Pictures seven Spider-Man films (closest to 2004’s Spider-Man 2 £8,766,902 but its opening now would be £15,366,485 today)

Comparing Venom opening to Marvel Cinematic Universe it’s the 11^th biggest between Thor: The Dark World and Iron Man 2 and Iron-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy (inflation inflated).

Venom opening has several comparisons with 2015’s Fantastic Four and 2017’s Justice League so how it holds in its second weekend will be key as comic-book fans will rush out to see these films over the opening weekend or previews seen by 30% of its weekend box office taken Weds-Thurs. Venom is likely to drop 62%+ in its second weekend would be similar to X-Men: Apocalypse, The Amazing Spider-Man*, Thor, Blade: Trinity, Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Thor: Ragnarok, The Amazing Spider-Man 2* and Suicide Squad* (*no previews)

2015’s Fantastic Four had the biggest second-weekend drop for the comic-book movie down 73.89%, 2018’s Deadpool 2 down 70.93% and 2016’s Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice 68.1%.

Going into its opening weekend and the critical reaction to Venom thoughts was comparing its opening with.

Fantastic Four opened July 2015 with £2,686,176 including £414,852 previews

Justice League opened November 2017 with £7,264,784 including £2,990,474 previews

X-Men: Apocalypse opened May 2016 with £7,354,293 including £2,047,586 previews

Fantastic Four opened August 2005 with £3,541,391 including £817,192 previews

Batman and Robin opened June 1997 with £4,900,000 including £500,000 from previews (would be £9,474,939 inflation inflated)

Over recent years cinemas have dropped the amount of 3D screenings of films as audiences’ interest in 3D has waned partly due to the third extra charges and that it rarely adds anything to the cinema experience. IMAX used to show most films in 3D on their screens, but Venom isn’t available in 3D IMAX in the UK and other cinemas have only a couple of 3D screenings daily.

Venom did open close to the 10% guideline much use to predict UK box office but only with two extra days of previews without previews took 7% of its opening similar to Justice League, Wonder Woman Black Panther and Ant-Man and the Wasp highlighting again how previews are artificially inflating films openings.

2. Johnny English Strikes Back £4,117,692 – NE  

Opening 7 years to the day since the second film was released Johnny English Reborn Johnny English Strikes Back opened between the openings of Johnny English and Johnny English Reborn.

Opening 15 years after the first film was released and seven years after the second their openings need to be compared with their inflation inflated openings.

Johnny English opened 11th April 2003 – £3,435,342 (£6,089,221 inflation inflated) taking £19,209,597 (inflation inflated £34,049,443)

Johnny English Reborn opened 7th October 2011 – £4,965,000 (£6,447,946 inflation inflated) taking £20,632,010 (inflation inflated £26,794,376)

Rowan Atkinson’s characters Bean and Johnny English are loved by British audiences 

Bean opened August 1997 with £2,563,326 (£4,956,603 inflation inflated) taking £17,972,562 (£34,752,841 inflation inflated)

Mr Bean’s Holiday opened March 2007 with £6,440,093 (£10,036,343 inflation inflated) taking £21,781,782 (£33,945,074 inflation inflated)

Johnny English Strikes Back opened similar to 2014’s Mrs. Brown’s Boys d’Movie £4,301,306 taking £14,290,727; a similar total is likely for Johnny English Strikes Back.

Johnny English Strikes Back is Rowan Atkinson’s first film since 2011’s Johnny English Reborn in the years since has starred in several feature-length Maigret TV movies and put his voice to Mr Bean: The Animated Series and of course 6 years ago Bean appeared in the London Olympics: Opening Ceremony.

The film opened  in Asia three weeks ago was surprising as the key territory for the previous two films was the UK;  the film has received poor reviews but Johnny English and Johnny English Reborn received 33% and 38% Rotten Tomatoes scores and they still performed strongly in the UK but both films did poorly in the US and little is expected for the third film opening at the end of October in the US.

Johnny English opened #1 April 11th, 2003 with £3,435,342 was the 15th biggest opening of 2003 (biggest openings of the year were Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Finding Nemo, Bruce Almighty, X-Men 2, Love Actually and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. Only the first two had openings over £10m but now 15 years later all of them inflation inflated openings are £10m+; Johnny English dropped only 26.36% in its second weekend taking £2,529,665 and  £8,641,414

The film was originally based on 90s Barclaycard adverts starring Rowan Atkinson spoofing James Bond. Spy and Get Smart. Rowan Atkinson also starred in 1983’s Never Say Never Again remake of Thunderball was the only James Bond film not made by Eon and was part of a long legal battle.

The top three films took over £4m each but Johnny English Strikes Back was the only one of the three films to do so without previews. Have been a  couple of times there were three films opening with over £2m each; February 2016 Deadpool, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip and Zoolander 2 and October 2015, Hotel Transylvania 2, Suffragette and Pan all opened together but all three openings were inflated with previews.

3. A Star Is Born – £4,100,196   – NE

Took £952,000 from Wednesday – Thursday previews   

The film wasn’t showing in any Vue Cinemas in the UK despite having its UK premiere at the Vue West End last week due to “dispute” with Warner Bros according to their website.

Distributors and exhibitors have had issues in the past famously in 2010 when Odeon Cinemas threatened to boycott the release of Alice in Wonderland in 2010. Disney wanted to release the film after 12 weeks on DVD rather than the normal 17 weeks. As most films are played out of cinemas within 6-8 weeks it makes sense that distributors would want their films on DVD and if exhibitors would keep showing the films for the 17 weeks their claim would make sense but apart from The Greatest Showman few films released over the last decade have been still on wide release by the time they are released on DVD. 20 years ago it was regular that a film would still be on release by the time it was released on video.

Had the 312^th biggest opening weekend between Rampage and The Nun and close to 2014’s Gone Girl and 2013’s The Great Gatsby and 450^th biggest inflation inflated opening between Rampage and The Nun, close to 2015’s The Second-Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, 2014’s American Hustle and 2018’s Darkest Hour

Had A Star is Born opened as the leading film for the weekend was the case over recent years with Gravity, Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train and Blade Runner 2049 would have been easier to predict. Opening against Venom and Johnny English Strikes Back whilst targeting different demographics were still likely to affect each other.

The key demographic for A Star is Born is female and older audiences who don’t always rush out to see films on the opening weekend compared to under 25s males who would rush out to see Venom on opening weekend. The problem for A Star is Born is First Man opening this weekend, so its audience will be split between the two.

While Venom and Johnny English Strikes Back had their recognisable target audience comic-book fans and Rowan Atkinson despite box receiving poor reviews A Star is Born was much harder to predict as there weren’t really any films that could compare it directly with as like La La Land it’s a musical but it’s not all musical.

While musicals have performed well over the past year and The Greatest Showman had to deal with the similar issue when it opened at Christmas being the fourth wheel to Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Pitch Perfect 3 it had the advantage of opening during the lucrative Christmas holidays. The Greatest Showman had originally been due to open January 1st would have likely affected its box office. Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again opened bigger than Mamma Mia! but didn’t hold as strongly and wasn’t able to match its total box office.

Moulin Rouge opened September 2001 £2,403,378 (inflation inflated £4,568,740) holding strongly for several months taking £17,934,410 (inflation inflated £34,092,707)

Chicago opened wide January 2003 (after three weeks on limited release) £1,983,505 (inflation inflated £3,515,807) taking £15,927,431 (inflation inflated £28,231,730)

October has been a strong time in recent years to launch film targetting older audiences last year Blade Runner 2049 opened with  £6,071,625; in 2016 The Girl on the Train opened with £6,957,945; in 2015 The Martian opened with £6,531,734; in 2013 Gone Girl opened with £4,109,628;

2018 has been the year of the musical after the performance of The Greatest Showman while opening the end of last year is still one of the 10 biggest films of the year with 2018 box office and was followed by Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again performing similarly to the original film that was released 10 years ago.

Later this month the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody (early buzz has been very positive) ends the year with Mary Poppins Returns.   

Often film soundtracks are released before the film opens but as A Star Is Born has spoilers within it was released on October 5^th  and is #2 in the charts but leading the digital download charts. 2018 has been a massive year for film soundtracks with the huge success of The Greatest Showman. For the first 9 months of the year The Greatest Showman was the soundtrack people listened to on repeat but now it will be A star is Born.

The first song from the film’s soundtrack Shallow was released last week which sets the tone of the film has been viewed over 22.5m times.

4. The House with A Clock in Its Walls – £902,203  – £6,806,751

Down 41.7% in its third weekend

Comparisons originally made with 2016’s Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children but held stronger in its third weekend despite dropping down two further places to sixth taking £1,313,861 and £8,763,435 and £12,160,991 total.

Despite the books being written before Harry Potter the film feels similar to Percy Jackson films feels a poor imitation of them maybe had Tim Burton directed the film instead of Eli Roth would have been as spooky and fun as Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children was; the 12A also likely affected its performance as the books are read by tweens meaning its target audience wouldn’t be able to see it, while probably not being scary enough for the 12+ audience. 

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief in February 2010 took £853,859 in its third weekend taking £5,225,096 of £6,413,038 total

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters in August 2013 took £491,137 in its third weekend and £5,764,401 of £6,725,848 total

 Has overtaken Finding Your Feet to become eOne’s second biggest film of the year and still has a chance with half-term in two weeks to overtake The Post £9.1m to be their biggest film of the year.

The House with A Clock in Its Walls was performing similar to 2008’s The Spiderwick Chronicles but took less in its third weekend taking 826,099 and £7,450,892 and £10,530,519 total (£15,937,535 inflation inflated).

10 years ago, The Spiderwick Chronicles was the 14th biggest film of the year are currently 22 films that have taken over £10m released so far this year; its inflation total £15,937,535 would be the 15th biggest film of the year.

5. Night School – £860,262 – £3,122,918

Down 46.1% in its second weekend;

867th biggest second weekend in the UK between Hail, Caesar! And Unstoppable and  close to 2015’s Get Hard second weekend £845,040 taking £3,308,308

After Night School opening bigger than last year’s Girls Trip took 17% less (£1,036,842) in its second weekend

Holding similar to 2008’s You Don’t Mess with the Zohan taking £781,953 in its second weekend and £3,560,382 and £5,200,666 total

Kevin Hart will next be seen in the long-delayed The Upside opening in January and then heard in The Secret Life of Pets 2 along with her Night School co-star Tiffany Haddish and then stars in Jumanji 2 with Dwayne Johnson again opening next December

While in the US Kevin Hart is a big name on his own internationally he is still the Martin Lawrence to Will Smith he is great supporting the lead in films like Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Central Intelligence (both Dwayne Johnson) and Ride Along 2 (Ice Cube) and Get Hard (Will Ferrell) without he is still The Wedding Ringer (opened February 2015 with £990,445 taking £2,119,244).

UK box office in detail

This weekend’s top 10 box office took £19,552,429 up 161.78% from last weekend £7,468,933   

The weekend admissions 2,466,175 up 159.8% from last weekend 949,039; average ticket up 3.87% from last year’s £7.49 to £7.87 for 2018 according to six-month box office results.

20 films opened at weekend taking £16,472,620; Venom 47.88% (£16,472,620): A Star Is Born 24.44% (£4,100,196): Johnny English Strikes Back 24.54% (£4,117,692); remaining 17 films shared 3.1% (£525,532): Top three took 81.3% of the top 10; Venom 41.07%; Johnny English Strikes Back 21.05%; A Star is Born 20.97%

The weekend was up 71.9% from 2017 (£11,370,381); Blade Runner 2049 £6,071,625; The Mountain Between Us £777,646; Norma – Met Opera 2017 (Opera) £224,794; The Glass Castle £49,425

Up 34.03% from 2016: (£14,587,631): The Girl on the Train £6,957,945; War on Everyone £187,564; Tristan und Isolde – Met Opera 2016 (Opera) £178,283; My Scientology Movie £106,720; Blood Father £68,808;

Up 72.23% from 2015; (£11,352,036); The Martian £6,531,734; The Intern £758,713; Macbeth £746,642; Il Trovatore – Met Opera 2015 (Opera) £234,387;

Up 82.45% from 2014: (£10,716,576); Gone Girl £4,109,628; Dracula Untold £1,713,283; Bang Bang £602,193; Dolphin Tale 2 £536,766; Life After Beth £53,427; Draft Day £146;

Up 230.07% from 2013: (£5,923,584); Sunshine on Leith £770,239; How I Live Now £232,400; Thanks for Sharing £188,906; The to do List £13,512; Rurouni Kenshin £5,240;

Up 46.1% from 2012 (£13,375,585); Taken 2 £7,378,048; Sinister £1,435,722; The Perks of Being a Wallflower £827,983; The Knot £18,636; Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007 £13,391; Sparkle £15,911

Up 69.7% from 2011 (£11,517,788): Johnny English Reborn £4,965,000; The Lion King £2,746,763; Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark £495,734; Midnight in Paris £495,709; Tyrannosaur £81,790;

Up 194.4% from 2010: (£6,639,950): Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps £1,784,309; Life As We Know It £985,558; The Death and Life of Charlie St Cloud £643,368; Mr Nice £239,844;

Up 66.3% from 2009 (£11,750,437); Up £6,411,836; Zombieland £1,240,984; Love Happens £559,724; Halloween II £522,661;

Up 211.8% from 2008 (£6,269,596); How to Lose Friends and Alienate People £1,154,607; Brideshead Revisited £375,270; Fly Me to the Moon 3-D £311,791; 88 Minutes £92,761;

Up 243.79% from 2007 (£5,687,298); The Heartbreak Kid £1,236,288; The Kingdom £919,537; Control £252,426; And When Did You Last See Your Father £133,347; Daywatch £95,574; Feast of Love £38,463

Up 91.3% from 2006; (£10,215,688); The Devil Wears Prada £3,267,580; The Departed £2,298,313; Accepted £349,897;

Down 266.7% from 2005 (£5,332,334); Serenity £958,816; Oliver Twist £692,494; Kinky Boots £623,163; Night Watch £271,857; Tara Road £73,150;

Up 178.7% from 2004 (£7,015,008): Bride and Prejudice £1,667,616; Resident Evil: Apocalypse £801,171; Man On Fire £656,466;

Up 129.04% from 2003 (£8,536,497); Bad Boys 2 £3,175,258; Down with Love £599,047; Bright Young Things £327,293; Finding Nemo £152,793; House of 1000 Corpses £42,721

Up 147.2% from 2002 (£7,906,650): Lilo & Stitch £1,516,249; My Little Eye £893,633; Boat Trip £425,325; One Hour Photo £420,500; Sweet Sixteen £144,388;

Up 257.7% from 2001 (£5,465,628); Amelie £559,747; Driven £144,591; Original Sin £96,622;

Next weekend in 2017: (£12,090,714); The LEGO Ninjago Movie £3,642,038; The Snowman £1,377,909; The Ritual £424,352; Loving Vincent £274,036; Die Zauberflote – Met Opera 2017 (Opera) £213,605;

Also opened

• Blindspotting – Lionsgate

Opened with £28,231 from 33 screens

Other News

After admissions increased 32.8% in August to 19.22m the biggest August since 2011 21.41m with box office up 1% from 2017 the UK box office dropped 20% in September and box office is now down 1% from last year.

Were reports the industry believes admissions could finally increase this year for the first time since 2002 and have the highest admissions since 1971 176m. While this weekend was the biggest first weekend of October for over 17 years was inflated with £3.5m from previews for Venom and A Star is Born.

While UK box office has grown yearly admissions have been flat since 2002 and every year since there is hope that admissions will increase for the first year many experts thought this could happen in 2015 with Spectre and Star Wars: The Force Awakens taking over £220m.

Every year you look at the slate of films and think will it be this year that admissions will grow again, which has been the case for the last few years but if 2019 admissions don’t break the 200m admissions barrier it will be seen as a massive disappointment.

UK admissions grew strongly from 1985 onwards until 2002, in 1994 after Jurassic Park took over £47m experts were predicting admissions would top 200m by 2000 while they did continue to grow booted in 1996/97 by National Cinema Day they have yet to cross the 200m barrier which it last did in the 1960s. Do believe had exhibitors, not increased ticket prices as they did in the mid-00s admissions would be over 250m by now which would see a bigger box office than currently is.

 

UK Box Office Top 10

US Box office

• Venom – Sony Pictures

Opened with $80.25m; received 31% Rotten Tomatoes but audience reaction was better receiving B+ B+ CinemaScore similar to The Amazing Spider-Man 2 B+ opening with $91.6m; Justice League B+ $93.8m; Spider-Man 3 B+ $151.1m; Suicide Squad B+ $133.6m while Batman v. Superman received B $166m

Had the biggest October opening far more than Gravity $55.7m and Paranormal Activity 3‘s opening day of $26.3m.

The opening was bigger than first parts of Marvel Cinematic Universe solo films The Incredible Hulk $55.41m, Ant-Man $57.2m, Captain America: The First Avenger $65m and Thor $65.7m.

Venom is the first part of Sony Spider-Man Extended Universe; Sony Pictures started developing Venom spinoff in 20087 after he appeared in Spider-Man 3 but then Spider-Man 4 was shelved by the studio after Sam Raimi demanded that a fifth and sixth film would be developed at the same time. Instead, they opted to reboot the Spider-Man franchise with Marc Webb directing who had just made 500 Days of Summer, The Amazing Spider-Man was released in 2012 and sequel in 2014.

A year later Sony Pictures and Marvel announced a deal that would see Spider0Man join the Avengers whilst also seeing the third reboot of the series in just over 10 years. The deal would let Spider-Man feature in Marvel Cinematic Universe films (Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War) and see MCU characters in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Separately from that deal, Sony Pictures would still develop Marvel films from the Spider-Man characters they own totalling about 80 most are only known to comic-book fans. The deal with Marvel would allow Spider-Man to appear in Sony Extended Universe but no other Marvel Cinematic Universe characters.

Opened with $125.2m internationally from 58 territories ahead of industry projections of $110m and $205.2m worldwide having the biggest ever opening in October history worldwide, domestically and overseas.

• A Star is Born – Warner Bros

Opened with $42.9m; received critical acclaim 91% Rotten Tomatoes score and similar positive audience reaction with an A CinemaScore

Received 90% on PostTrak and 4.5 stars; 66% women 66% 34% of men receiving an A; over 50  42% gave it A; were less under 25s 14%,  but they gave the film an A+ and 86% over 25 who gave A Star Is Born an A. This should mean it will hold strongly this weekend against First Man.

Had its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival at the end of August receiving critical acclaim with praise for Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga’s performances and seen as an early award favourite.

Cannes Film Festival used to be the key film festival to launch films for award season but over the last decade, Venice and Toronto have seen many Oscar contenders receive their premiere.

Originally the film was to open in May would have likely seen it have the world premiere at Cannes Film Festival maybe that was part of the reason behind Warner Bros decision to delay the film from May to October as they saw had a commercial film was also an award contender.

By delaying the film’s release to October Warner Bros had a much lighter summer slate than they normally do Ocean’s 8, The Meg and Crazy Rich Asians very different to the films they normally release in the summer. But after an underwhelming start to the year (The 15:17 to Paris, Tomb Raider, Ready Player One and Rampage) those films performed much stronger than most expected.

Had A Star is Born opened May 18^th would have seen it sandwiched between Avengers: Infinity War and Solo: A Star Wars Story having a shorter release window as 2013’s The Great Gatsby (opened $50.8m taking $144.84m) and 2001’s Moulin Rouge (after a week opening on limited release opened wide with $13.71m taking $57.38m). Both films performed stronger internationally, received their world premieres at the Cannes Film Festival and also as A Star is Born release dates were delayed.

Normally when a studio delays a film it is a sign that they are concerned about the film and when they do release the film months later they rarely are successful there are of course notable exceptions like Titanic delayed 6 months to become the biggest film globally (21 years later is still the second biggest film worldwide). Warner Bros delayed regularly their Jungle Book reimagination made at the same time Disney made theirs, was originally due to be released in October 2016 but was delayed much more time and Warner Bros recently sod it to Netflix.

First week of October over the last five years has been a good date to open a film targetting older audiences 2013 Gravity opening $55,785,112 taking $274,092,705; 2014 Gone Girl opening $37,513,109 taking $167,767,189; 2015 The Martian opening $54,308,575 taking $228,433,663; 2016 The Girl on the Train opening $24,536,265 taking $75,395,035; 2017 Blade Runner 2049 opening $32,753,122 taking $92,054,159.

Similar films include

2016’s La La Land opened wide with $10,132,213 taking $151,101,803 – $446,092,357 WW

2013’s Les Miserables opened with $27,281,735 taking $148,809,770  – $441,809,770 WW

2017’s The Greatest Showman opened with $8,805,843 taking $174,340,174 – $434,993,183 WW

2005’s Walk The Line opened with $22,347,341 taking $119,519,402 – $186,438,883 WW

2006’s Dreamgirls opened limited wide with $8,953,734 taking $103,365,956 – $154,937,680      WW

2010’s Burlesque opened with $11,947,744 taking $39,440,655 – $89,519,773 WW

2007’s Hairspray opened with $27,476,745 taking $118,871,849 $202,548,575 WW

2001’s Moulin Rouge opened wide with $13,718,306 taking $57,386,607 –  $179,213,434 WW

2002’s Chicago opened wide with $10,786,533 taking $170,687,518 – $306,776,732 WW

1996’s Evita opened wide with $8,918,183 taking $50,047,179 – $141,047,179 WW

1992’s The Bodyguard opened with $16,611,793 taking $122,006,740 – $411,006,740 WW

Singers turned actors have had mixed success over the years including Madonna, Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez, Harry Connick Jr, Eminem, Mandy Moore, Dolly Parton,  Jennifer Hudson, Justin Timberlake, Barbra Streisand, Cher, Will Smith and Whitney Huston.

Who can forget Mariah Carey in 2001’s Glitter, Madonna in 2002’s Swept Away and Jennifer Lopez in 2003’s Gigli but unlike those performance Lady Gaga has received praise for her performance in A Star is Born

Opened with $14m from 31 territories slightly lower than projections was expected to open with $15-$20m

f

• Night School – Universal Pictures

Dropped 54.1% in its second weekend taking $12.51m and $46.99m

Originally looking towards an opening similar to 2016’s Central Intelligence $35.5m opening and $127.44m total and Ride Along 2 $35.2m opening and $91.22m

The comedy is a remake of the Adam Sandler 1995 film Billy Madison dropped 16.2% in its second weekend taking $5.63m and $13.77m of $25.58m total, opened 23 years ago when average ticket price was only $4.35 it’s up over 115% since so their box office totals are very similar.

Billy Madison was Adam Sandler’s first solo lead role having had small parts in various films before including Airheads and Mixed Nuts both took $6m. Kevin Hart has starred in more than a dozen films most recent Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Central Intelligence, Ride Along 2 and Get Hard have all performed strongly but benefited with the likes of Dwayne Johnson as co-stars.

Adam Sandler’s 2008 film You Don’t Mess with the Zohan was in a similar time of his career as Kevin Hart is a far better film to compare Night School opened with $38.53m dropping 57.5% in its second weekend taking $16.37m and $68.76m of the $100,01m total. Comparing Night School with 10-year-old You Don’t Mess with the Zohan highlights its disappointing performance and that Kevin Hart is still best as support and can’t open a major studio release.

Likewise much was made about Tiffany Haddish opening Girls Trip with $41.2m and taking $115.17m last year but again she wasn’t the lead and the film had generated strong buzz for weeks ahead of its release. On the back of Girls Trip has become the next big thing with five films due for release over the next year Nobody’s Fool, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, The Kitchen, The Secret Life of Pets 2 and Limited Partners

Took $3.4m from 21 territories and $15.7m total and $58.7m total

Opened with $5.5m internationally from 19 territories and $33.5m worldwide 

• Smallfoot – Warner Bros

Dropped 37.5% in its second weekend taking $14.4m and $42.26m  

Holding slightly stronger than 2016’s Storks taking $13.47m in its second weekend and $38.48m ($7267 total) and The Lego Ninjago Movie taking $11.64m and $35.2m ($59.28m total) and should take $80m+ depending on how Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween opens.

Of course, its performance is a long way from the box office Pixar and Illumination animated films take but even with The Lego Movie Warner Animation Group aren’t in the same league.

After The Lego Movie surprised everyone in 2014 when it was first announced sounded crazy especially after previous board game to films like Battleship but then the first teaser trailer was released in June 2013 and everything looks awesome.

Three years later came The Lego Batman Movie which was up to Wonder Woman the best DC comic-book film since The Dark Knight Rises

The Lego Ninjago Movie underwhelmed probably didn’t help to have two Lego films opening within 6 months of themselves. (Disney should have seen how this didn’t work for Lego, so it wouldn’t also work for Star Wars opening Solo: A Star Wars Story 5 months after Star Wars: The Last Jedi).

Four years on from The Lego Movie is much expectation now for the sequel that benefited from Phil Lord and Christopher Miller being fired from Solo as it allowed them to come back and do a rewrite on The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part script. While the first film was fresh and original a sequel being what it is a sequel can’t bring that to it but having the original writers on board will help it surely be as original a sequel can be.

Smallfoot took $11.7m from 57 territories and $32.5m total and $38.6m globally

• The House with A Clock in Its Walls – Universal Pictures

Down 41.8% in its third weekend $7.33m and $55.08m

As in the UK, the film is holding most closely to 2008’s The Spiderwick Chronicles dropped 33.6% $8.7m and $55.02m taking $71.19m and $162.93m worldwide

In September Tim Burton’s Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children dropped 40.8% $8.95m and $65.89m taking $87.24m and $296.48m worldwide

2015’s Goosebumps dropped 36.4% $9.96m and $56.76m taking $80.08m and $150.17m worldwide

it is interesting how so many films are performing similarly to their counterparts 10 years ago with, 2008 was the year Marvel Cinematic Universe launched but DC were still kings of the comic-book world with The Dark Knight being the biggest film of the year.

Having a quick scan of the top films of 2008 original comic-book movie Hancock fourth, Wall-e fifth, Sex and the City eleventh and Mamma Mia! thirteenth their 2018’s equivalents Black Panther, Incredibles 3, Crazy Rich Asians and Mamma Mia!! Here We Go Again. The difference with 2018’s films is there is now a much bigger divide between the top 5 films and the rest. In 2008 The Dark Knight took over $200m more than Iron Man and          Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and they both took $90m more than other films but then the next 16 films were separated by less than $100m.

This year Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War and Incredibles 2 took almost $200m more than Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom in fourth and almost $100m more than Deadpool 2 in fifth but then $100m separates Deadpool 2 with Mission: Impossible; Fallout.

Over the last 10 years, audiences have become much more selective with the films they pay to see and those they will wait to see which the biggest five films are why are distancing themselves from the rest. To me isn’t healthy, as someone who would go weekly to the cinema for many in the late 80s, 90s and early 00s over the last decade that has dropped off to half a dozen films a year, and unless you have subscription cinema I’m sure there are many more like me who aren’t going as often as they used to, this isn’t because of the films its more due to the cinemas, the behaviour of other cinemagoers, smelly food, mobile phones and the cost which is the biggest issue most people have had for the last decade. 

Took $2.2m from 43 territories (shared between Universal Pictures and Amblin) $21m total and $68.7m worldwide

• A Simple Favour – Lionsgate

Dropped 47.6% in its fourth weekend taking $3.42m and $49.01m total

A Simple Favour is one of 25 films that have taken between $40-60m at the box office this year so far, while the big films are taking more than ever all of the other films are being squeezed and it’s these mid-range films that most affected. Many of these films a decade or more ago would be seen as sleepers and take upwards of $100m but now they get stuck in the middle.

Most of these are films targeting female audiences Blockers, Tag, Life of the Party, Overboard, A Simple Favour, I Feel Pretty, Red Sparrow, Breaking In, Truth or Dare and Love, Simon, most of them received positive reviews and strong word of mouth that a decade or more ago would have seen them have a long theatrical release but despite the positivity around them don’t play in cinemas as long as they should. These are films that aren’t often people’s first choice and are films that people get to know about through word of mouth. But these films still play out of cinemas within 6-8 weeks but then aren’t available in cinemas or legally streaming for another 8 weeks.

Films like A Simple Favour are what breaks cinema away from being Groundhog Day as you go to the cinema and there are the same kinds of films always showing A Simple Favour might not be fantastic, but it was something fun and different and enjoyable and was the same reason why Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and The Greatest Showman was the huge successes they were.

Took $4.1m internationally from 36 territories total $27.4m and $76.4m worldwide

Australia and the UK are the two biggest territories for the film taking $6.1m and $5.9m as Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively are both very popular.

• The Nun – Warner Bros

Down 50.2% in its fifth weekend taking $2.7m and $113.46m  

Has overtaken all of the other parts of The Conjuring franchise apart from The Conjuring 2 $137.4m; The five Conjuring films have taken $539.69m in the US and $1.55bn worldwide; 

Took $7.2m internationally from 80 territories with $233.2m total and $346.70m worldwide; has become the highest grossing film of the series globally overtaking Annabelle $257m,  Annabelle: Creation $306.5m The Conjuring $319.5m; The Conjuring 2 $320.4m

In the UK it has become the highest grossing film of The Conjuring franchise.

• Crazy Rich Asians – Warner

Down 47.2% in its eighth weekend taking $2.16m and $169.24m  

Has dipped below 2011’s The Help for the first time on its release which took $3,015,995 in its eighth weekend and $159,373,023 but will shortly overtake its total box office of $169,705,587.

it is the 6^th biggest rom-com in the US overtaking 2009’s The Proposal with There’s Something About Mary and Pretty Woman in its sights but of course, as both were released over 20 years ago can’t be compared to Crazy Rich Asians current box office.  

Internationally took $1.6m from 38 territories with total of $56.8m; its best international territory has been Australia taking $16.5m; in the UK only taken $7m which must be a little disappointing after the positive reviews and strong word of mouth but probably having its release date brought forward 6 weeks was more a hindrance than a benefit as it affected the films marketing plans and probably extensive talker screening program.

• The Old Man & the Gun – Fox Searchlight

Up 184.2% in its second weekend adding 44 screens taking $403,928 and $594,383

Starting its slow expansion which will grow over the coming weeks but that screen average of $8,243 is a concern as would have expected it to be higher after it took more than three times that when it was on limited release on 5 screens.

• The Hate U Give – 20^th Century Fox

Opened with $512,035 from 36 screens

Received critical acclaim and is the latest film to have the label “film of the moment”

The day before the film was opened its screenwriter Audrey Wells died

Will expand over the next two weeks 

UK Box Office Predictions

After Venom opened with £8.01m last weekend all eyes will be on how it drops in its second weekend taking 30% of its opening from two days of previews a second-weekend drop of about 65% is likely taking £2.8m.

Johnny English Strikes Back faces off against Smallfoot opening this weekend and Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween having weekend previews added to its opening next weekend. If the third film holds similar to the last two films, likely drop 35-40% taking £2.6m

Smallfoot opens without the benefit of weekend previews helped 2016’s Storks opened with £2,247,038 (including £973,846 from previews) Fri-Sun £1,273,192 and Captain Underpants opened with £2,495,744 (including £1,228,837 from previews) Fri-Sun £1,266,907 a similar non-preview inflated opening is likely for Smallfoot £1.2m

In February 2016 Goosebumps took £1,004,560 from previews 37% of its opening weekend of £2,686,105 its sequel Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween benefits from previewing three weeks before Halloween but having previews the same weekend as Smallfoot opens both will likely cannibalize each other.

After A Star is Born opened with £4.1m (including £952,000 from previews) Fri-Sun £3,148,196 a 30-35% second weekend drop would be likely taking £2m-£2.2m but could be affected by the opening of First Man

Expected to open similar to 2015’s Bridge of Spies £1,682,392 and 2017’s Hidden Figures £1,448,214; don’t have figures for Apollo 13’s 1995 UK opening but its US opening was $25.3m so a similar £2.5m+ could be expected but the question is how A Star is Born will hold and if it will affect First Man opening.

Three years ago was expected to be a similar battle between two potential Oscar contenders The Walk and The Martian. The Martian opened with £6,531,734 (including £1,630,490 previews) taking £3,854,809 in its second weekend with The Walk opening in third with only £795,115.

Was surprising Universal Pictures opted to open First Man a week after A Star Is Born as audience demographic was likely to be similar but as they had Night School, Halloween, Johnny English Strikes Back and Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch opening within a month were few options available to them.

Was surprised when the two films were dated a week apart from one didn’t move a week forward to September 28^th or Universal didn’t switch Night School for First Man.

As seen by last weekend with Venom, Johnny English Strikes Back and A Star is Born on paper all three are targetting different demographics but all three cannibalized themselves as would have likely opened bigger it didn’t open against each other.

Young men will rush out to see Venom in its opening weekend why took 30% of its opening weekend from two days of previews but women and older audiences will see A Star is Born over the week or opening weeks as seen with the strong holdovers of Gravity, Gone Girl and The Martian.

Opening in the UK

• First Man – Universal Pictures

Biographical drama starring Ryan Gosling, Claire Foy, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler, Corey Stoll, Ciarán Hinds, Christopher Abbott, Patrick Fugit, and Lukas Haas and directed by Damien Chazelle based on the book First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong by James R. Hansen; had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival received critical acclaim, with praise for Gosling and Foy’s performances, the cinematography, Justin Hurwitz’s score, and Chazelle’s direction.

Strange coincidence that two films that originated as Clint Eastwood films are opening a week between each other. In 2003 Clint Eastwood brought the film rights to James R. Hansen’s First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong at Warner Bros. The film moved to Universal and DreamWorks in the mid-2010s. Damien Chazelle signed to direct the film after Whiplash but made 2016’s La La land before it.

Cinema today is all about extended universes from Marvel to DC but then there could be the Nixon Extended Universe (1976’s All The President’s Men, 2017’s The Post and 2008’s Frost/Nixon), the Elizabeth Extended Universe (1998’s Elizabeth, 2007’s Elizabeth: The Golden Age and 2018’s Mary Queen of Scots) and the Apollo Extended Universe First Man could be the middle film between Hidden Figures and Apollo 13.

Obviously, the comparison would be to 1995’s Apollo 13 but don’t have UK box office figures in the US was tracking similar to 2015’s Bridge of Spies which would see First Man opening with £1.8m;

Will be interesting to see how First Man df it does in IMAX as it was partly shot in the format but won’t be screened in the UK in 70mm IMAX as it was meant to be seen. When Gravity was released in 2013 critics said it needed to be seen in 3D and for First Man to see it on the biggest screen possible, which is IMAX.

The problem is there is real IMAX at BFI IMAX and Science Museum, but most IMAX cinemas are Digital IMAX as they have retrofitted conventional cinema screens in multiplexes into IMAX cinemas, but audiences aren’t experiencing the true IMAX experience, but they are paying IMAX prices.

• Bad Times at The El Royale – 20^th Century Fox

Thriller starring Jeff Bridges, Cynthia Erivo, Dakota Johnson, Jon Hamm, Cailee Spaeny, Lewis Pullman, Nick Offerman and Chris Hemsworth and written and directed by Drew Goddard; premiered at Fantastic Fest and the San Sebastián International Film Festival receiving positive reviews

Has been described as a mash-up between Clue and Room 104

Drew Goddard directed 2012’s The Cabin in the Woods and has written screenplays for  Cloverfield, The Martian and World War Z and upcoming scripts for Deadpool spinoff X-Force and the long in development Robopocalypse.

• Smallfoot – Warner Bros

Animated musical comedy adventure featuring the voices of Channing Tatum, James Corden, Zendaya, Common, LeBron James, Gina Rodriguez and Danny DeVito and directed by Karey Kirkpatrick and Jason Reisig, based on the book Yeti Tracks by Sergio Pablos.

It is the fifth film from Warner Animation Group after The Lego Movie, Storks, The Lego Batman Movie and The Lego Ninjago Movie and The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part is released next February.

Warner Bros animation have had mixed success The Lego Movie and The Lego Batman Movie were huge successes but then The Lego Ninjago Movie and Storks underwhelmed.

Reviews for Smallfoot have been positive but with Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween having previews over its opening weekend and Smallfoot not having weekend previews its opening will be less than Storks.

With half-term in two weeks’ time, Warner Bros will be hoping that it will play through targetting younger audiences as Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween and Johnny English Strikes Back are aimed at older children.

Storks opened with Fri-Sun £1,273,192 (not including £973,846 from previews) taking £6,703,174 and Captain Underpants opened with Fri-Sun £1,266,907 (not including £1,228,837 from previews) taking £8,100,263

 

Opening in the US

• First Man – Universal Pictures

In the build-up to its release, there was some controversy over the planting of the American flag on the moon, the flag is visible in the background in later shots of the film. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin unfurled the flag less than 25 minutes after their first steps on the moon in July 1969 watched live by hundreds of millions of people on earth live.

This sparked up a row saying that film-makers were being selective with the truth; Ryan Gosling said the moon landing “transcended countries and borders”.

But if you’re making a historical film filmmaker shouldn’t change history and the film was based on the book First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong by James R. Hansen.

First Man was tracking to open with about $20m being compared to 2015’s Bridge of Spies opening with $15.37m taking $72.31m but if Apollo 13 opened with $25.35m 23 years ago (taking $173.83m) First Man should really be looking at a $40m+ opening?

• Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween – Sony Pictures

Horror comedy starring Jack Black, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Madison Iseman, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Caleel Harris, Chris Parnell, and Ken Jeong and directed by Ari Sandel; based on the children’s book by R. L. Stine and sequel to the 2015 film Goosebumps.

Was originally set for January 26, 2018 release date, was then moved to  September 21 taking the date from Hotel Transylvania 3 which was moved to the summer and then in December it was moved to October 12^th.

The first trailer was released on July 11, international trailer in August and the second trailer in September

Goosebumps opened October 2015 with $23,618,556 taking $80,080,379 and $150,170,815; with a budget of $60m was surprising a sequel was made so quickly it’s expected to open with $15-20m

• Bad Times at The El Royale – 20^th Century Fox

The thriller has received mostly positive reviews but its running time of 141mins might affect it as might have expected a shorted film; expected to open with $10-$15m.

• Beautiful Boy – Amazon Studios

Biographical drama starring stars Steve Carell, Timothée Chalamet, Maura Tierney and Amy Ryan and directed by Felix Van Groeningen based on the memoirs Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction by David Sheff and Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines by Nic Sheff; had world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival receiving positive reviews praising performances of Carell, Chalamet and Tierney.

The film was originally developed at Paramount Pictures by Plan B Entertainment in 2008 and Cameron Crowe was looking to direct after making Aloha but after the film flopped dropped from directing the film.