Top 5 Breakdown

1. Peter Rabbit – £7,273,207 – NE

Opening was bigger than UK openings of Paddington £5.13m, The BFG £5.3m, Coco £5.25m and Zootropolis £5.32m, and close to last year’s Paddington 2 £8.26m. (Paddington 2 still has 100% Rotten Tomatoes score while Peter Rabbit only has 59%).

As it opened during school term its box office was mostly from Saturday taking £3.3m and Sunday £2.9m compared with £960,000 from Friday and will be similarly limited to the weekend box office this weekend before schools break up for Easter on March 29^th.

Sony Pictures dated the film similar to last years The Boss Baby and will likely £25m+ continuing their hot streak that the box office over the last year with Hotel Transylvania 3 and Goosebumps 2 likely to continue their success with family films including Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and The Emoji Movie both of which will likely get sequels a few might of thought could have been made a year ago.

Unlike last Easter when The Smurfs: The Lost Village opened with £1.18m taking £6.01m, Peppa Pig: My First Cinema Experience with £1.05m and £3.62m and The Boss Baby with £8.02m (inflated with £5,227,582 from weekend previews) taking £29.11m all opened Peter Rabbit is the only major film targetting younger children opening this year. Paramount Picture’s Sherlock Gnomes opening this weekend in the US but chose to open in mid-May in the UK close to The Angry Birds Movie.

Over the last five years, my box office estimates have been good more times than they are not only a couple of times I have been completely out of the park with my estimates. Once was 2013’s This Is Us: One Direction concert movie after the premiere received millions of Tweets and the UK premiere had Leicester Square in melt-down thought would transfer into a huge opening weekend was completely wrong and now with Peter Rabbit.

As without weekend previews and negative reviews I thought after suffering The Emoji Movie last year opening with £2.7m they wouldn’t do it to themselves with Peter Rabbit. But animation and family films is a genre that isn’t normally affected by critic reviews as the critics are the 5-year-old who went to see it, saying that was very surprised how  Captain Underpants failed to find its audience but that was more because it was sandwiched between two far inferior animated films Despicable Me 3 and Cars 3 while Sony choose to delay The Emoji Movie which was a very lucrative taking £14.94m. 

After the film had received much negativity since the release of the first trailer last first trailer was released in September with negativity response from fans and critics calling it an insult to Beatrix Potter as they had turned the beloved children’s classic into something as bad as Yogi Bear and shockingly voiced by James Corden.

But the film did have a strong media campaign with James Corden, Daisy Ridley, Domhnall Gleeson, Elizabeth Debicki and Will Gluck all in the UK to promote the film. Was the UK premiere the weekend before release and premiere and James Corden appeared on ITV’s Ant And Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway and also with Daisy Ridley on Chris Evans’ BBC Radio 2 show while Ridley and Debicki were on This Morning among many other TV and radio shows. 

The UK is the films key territory being the home of Beatrix Potter and her books beloved children’s classics and Peter Rabbit is probably as beloved a children’s character as Winnie-the Pooh or Paddington. So it would be no surprise the film had opened so strongly had it been a good film but for months since the first trailer was recieved recieved much negativity with many saying that’s not my Peter Rabbit. 

But as we have seen with the equally shockingly terrible The Emoji Movie while critics and the parents who took their children to see it hated every second of it the target audience loved lapped it up having enjoyed the TV series which is always on CBeebies.

After opening in the US, a month ago it was surprising the film didn’t have the normal weekend previews last weekend to help inflate its opening. It did have its UL premiere last weekend but that hasn’t stopped other films hold weekend previews before its premiere. I remember looking after the UK premiere of Ice Age at the Odeon High Street Kensington the Sunday before opened and the same time the premiere was going on it was having paid preview screenings across the UK.

Maybe Sony was concerned after negative reaction to the film since opening in the US a month ago might have hurt it but despite the poor reviews it still has managed to take over $100m in the US.

While Harry Potter, James Bond and other British films often get the British boost wouldn’t have thought a children’s films would have also received. While the snowy weather probably hurt the box office of many other released it probably boosted Peter Rabbit as it was something parents could do to take their children to away from the cold.

 

2. Tomb Raider – £3,081,916 – NE

After taking £500,000 from previews on Wednesday 3D only (which Warner Bros are repeating for Ready Player One in two weeks’ time) and Thursday.

When Warner Bros announced embargo for 5pm Wednesday hours before the first UK screening many saw this as a negative sign while reviews were far from great they were far more positive than I was expected. Many calling it “the best video game adaption” which isn’t that hard to be given the quality of video game adaptions over the decades in May it will be the 25th anniversary of Super Mario Bros.

However, you spin its opening must be seen for what it is disappointing especially when you compare it to original film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider opened July 8th, 2001 with £3,846,592 taking £12,744,662 but with average ticket prices up over 80% since 2001 would be the equivalent of £7.5m opening taking £25m+ which is unlikely.

Predictably Alicia Vikander was trolled online for not having big enough boobs as she doesn’t have the boobs that featured in the video game but as the film is based on the latter games of the series she was younger and grittier than the original games.

When the video game was originally released in 1996 (two months after the Spice Girls released Wannabe) was both a feminist icon and sexist stereotype. Lara Croft is still one of a few female computer game characters that players control as in most games are token characters or as in games like Grand Theft Auto, women are just strippers and prostitutes. As Tomb Raider was created by men they created her as their fantasy cyberbabe which was highlighted in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle when Karen Gillan wore a similar outfit while the men were wearing more suitable clothes.

Daisy Ridley was originally attached to star in Tomb Raider before Alicia Vikander was cast to play Lara Croft in April 2016 and Daisy Ridley instead starred in Murder on the Orient Express and voiced Cotton Tail in Peter Rabbit

3. Black Panther – £1,881,691 – £42.78m

Down 36.1% in its fifth weekend becoming the biggest non=Avengers film in the UK topping Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 £40.83m.

 

 

Black Panther took more than double what almost all the previous seventeen Marvel Cinematic Universe films in its fifth weekend and 44% more than Avenger Assemble and Avengers: Age of Ultron.

As the film has played out of its comic-book audience it has cannibalized the marketplace with only Darkest Hour the only other film to take over £20m at the box office this year while Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and The Greatest Showman have also done but both were released last year. Coco and Fifty Shades Freed have taken over £15m and Three Billboards close to £15m and Early Man over £10m. Compares to Beauty and the Beast, La La Land, The Lego Batman Movie, Fifty Shades Darker, Logan and Sing taking over £20m last year and Trainspotting 2, Kong: Skull Island taking over £15m and Get Out, Split and Lion taking more than £10m.

With more than 35 million tweets Black Panther than any other film, before the film opened the previous record holders were previous Star Wars films The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi; the most-used Black Panther hashtags are #BlackPanther, #WakandaForever, and #Wakanda

4. The Greatest Showman – £1,059,983 – £38,904,203

Down 33% in its twelfth weekend overtaking Deadpool and The Simpsons: Movie to become 20th Century Fox’s sixth biggest film in the UK and will this week overtake Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith to become their fifth biggest film; will also shortly overtake Les Miserables £40,654,113 by next weekend.

The Greatest Showman has now taken £1m+ for the twelfth weekend in a row only Titanic has beaten it which took £1,373,363 in its twelfth weekend which would be at least £2.61m today over 90% more; The Greatest Showman 1998 12^th weekend box office would have been £550,325 almost 50% less.

Saying that in no way does this lower its achievement as in comparison Star Wars: The Last Jedi took £763 in its 12^th weekend two weeks ago 99.99% less that is after it opened with 489% more 12 weeks ago taking £28,080,141 compared to £4,754,049. Star Wars: The Last Jedi opened with a massive marketing campaign and received 90% Rotten Tomatoes while The Greatest Showman has 55% and was also overshadowed opening against Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Pitch Perfect 3. While Star Wars: The Force Awakens took £85,024 99.1% in its 12^th weekend.

The Greatest Showman has now taken 15.14x opening this compares to 14.29x opening for Titanic and 7.46x for Moulin Rouge and 3.62x opening for Star Wars: The Force Awakens and will take over £42m which will end u being over 16.7x opening. While it took only 6.6% of its final box office in its opening weekend this compares to 7.01% for Titanic, 9.68% Mamma Mia!, 9.11% Avatar, 13.56% Paddington and over 20% for Black Panther.

Over Mother’s Day weekend the singalong version of The Greatest Showman was re-released with almost 35,000 singing along to it in 110 screens. Sing-along versions of films started with The Sound of Music at the Prince Charles Cinema in 1999 selling out its eight-show run it has since toured the UK and the globally since.

Other classic musicals including Grease, Sound of Music, Rocky Horror, Dirty Dancing, Frozen, Hairspray and Moulin Rouge films audiences have seen countless times. While many fans of The Greatest Showman have seen the film several times in the cinema as they did 20 years ago with Titanic and listened on a loop the soundtrack for the last three months singing-along to the film only knowing the words to a couple of the songs to is probably best to be done in the comfort of your own home.

The Greatest Showman soundtrack held #1 for a tenth week (selling 46,000 copies twice that of #2 Ed Sheeran’s Divide having the most physically purchased, digitally downloaded and streamed for the tenth week) now the second longest #1 over the last 30 years only Adele 21 in 2011 has been longer with eleven weeks if it holds #1 next week it will be the joint longest. While This Is Me continued to sell strongly in the UK single charts up one to #6 with Rewrite the Stars #22 and The Greatest Show #23. The soundtrack is also the popular iTunes download in 7 countries.

Mid-week charts on Monday show The Greatest Showman soundtrack outselling Ed Sheeran’s Divide three two one so is expected to hold #1 for the eleventh weekend to become the joint longest #1 album for the past 30 years, if it holds on for one more week which is possible will become the longest ever #1 album for over 30 years which is an incredible achievement for a film soundtrack album.

In the 50s and 60s film, soundtracks were regularly in the top of the album chart the second album to ever top the chart was the soundtrack to Oklahoma! And the soundtrack to South Pacific was top for 70 weeks between 1958 – 1960. Over the last 40 years it’s become a rare occurrence with Ls La Land last year, Les Miserables for four weeks in 2013, also LL Manors Plan B in 2012, 2010 – Glee: The Music – Season 1 Vol. 1 also in 2010 Iron Man 2 – AD/DC, 1998 Titanic sold 1.02 million copies and was #1 for three weeks, 1996’s Evita selling 505,000 copies, 1982 Fame, 1978 Grease and Saturday Night Fever was UK #1 for 18 weeks.

With A Wrinkle in Time and Pacific Rim: Uprising opening this week will probably be The Greatest Showman’s last week in the top 5 but with Easter holidays starting next week should still perform strongly over the holidays with a final box office of about £43m becoming the biggest sleeper hit in the UK since The Full Monty 21 years ago; released on DVD in May.

5. Red Sparrow – £588,634 – £5,278,099

Down 49.9% in its third weekend with the arrival of female action film Tomb Raider along with mixed word of mouth was always likely to drop heavily in its third weekend.

It has performed slightly better than the US probably due to the current news headlines and Jennifer Lawrence strong fan-base in the UK currently taking 13.34% of its US box office.

For years many have said that UK equivalent box office is 10% of US but while it is the case for most comic-book films like Thor: Ragnarok, Spider-Man Homecoming and Logan its much more varied with many taking 15%+ but then others taking 5%+. For British films like Paddington 2, it’s over 138% while Darkest Hour was 42% and Dunkirk over 30%

Red Sparrow is holding close to last year’s Ghost in the Shell which took £366,564 in its third weekend and £5,133,473 and Atomic Blonde which took £3.56m.  But is a long way from older female action films including Salt taking £6.73m, Lucy opened August 2014 taking £14.5m and Wanted opened June 2008 taking £9.58m.

While Red Sparrow will of taking about 30% less than Jennifer Lawrence’s last mainstream film Passengers which also received mixed reviews. Most people probably forget Jennifer Lawrence is only 27 having won one Best Actor Oscar and nominated three more times and already starring in two massive franchises.

Since leaving The Hunger Games franchise in 2015 Joy underwhelmed as did X-Men: Apocalypse starring in probably her last X-Men film, Dark Phoenix out in November and mother! flopping last September will be interesting to see what she next chooses to do.

Emma Watson Jennifer Lawrence always generates huge media coverage and similar has starred in one massive franchise Harry Potter and one massive film Beauty and the Beast, but both need to get the film to do the talking rather than the media coverage which often overshadows them.

After receiving an award at BAFTAs this year, he said that he was available for work at the end of the year and it looks like he has found his next job after previously rumoured to be attached to Disney’s The Merlin Saga. He is expected direct Queen and Country based on graphic novel by Greg Rucka about British female spy. After Red Sparrow and The Rhythm Section starring Blake Lively and produced by Barbara Broccoli, Michael G. Wilson released next February.

Next to 20^th Century Fox include Steven Soderbergh’s Unsane opening this weekend and Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs and Love, Simon before Deadpool 2 opens in May their summer slate is surprisingly light this year. As in recent years have opted to delay some of their summer films to autumn last year successfully with Kingsman: The Golden Circle and hope to do similar with The Predator reboot opening in September.

 Also released

• Universal Pictures – Mary Magdalene

Opened with a disappointing £238,602 this weekend from 423 screens ahead of Easter. As with so many art-house films, Universal opted to go much too wide for the film with an average of only £564. As they did last weekend expanding Lady Bird to over 500 screens distributors keep opening their art-house films in far too many screens as Mary Magdalene will unlikely be playing on many of those screens by Easter Sunday.

UK box office in detail

This weekend’s top 10 box office took £15,554,372 up 61.8% from last weekend £9,613,318

The weekend admissions 2,011,385 up 56.6% from last weekend 1,283,636; as this is now 11th week of 2018 have increased by average ticket price by 2.34% the same as estimate increase in the US which would be £7.67 for 2018.

Everyman Cinemas announced their profits for last year with their average price up 3% to £11.38 their customers are more willing to pay a little more as they get far superior customer service and cinema experience; despite 3% inflation in the UK in 2017 UK Cinema Association/BFI are claiming average ticket prices in 2017 was up only 1% to £7.49; in the US inflation for 2017 was only 2% but their average price increased by 3.6%. 

14 films opened at weekend taking £10,716,942; Peter Rabbit took 67.5% (£7,237,207) Tomb Raider took 28.7% (£3,081,916); remaining 12 films shared 3.7% (£397,819):Peter Rabbit took 46.5%of the top 10.

The weekend was down 44.2% from last year (£27,866,587) Beauty and the Beast £19,700,000, Get Out £2,160,099, Personal Shopper £116,265, Wolves at the Door £3,542

Down Up 100% from 2016: (£7,752,500): 10 Cloverfield Lane £1,601,161, The Boy £726,003, High-Rise £542,788, Sing Street £166,226, Risen £69,909. Rock the Kasbah £3,804

Next weekend in 2017: (£18,777,727) Power Rangers £1,574,624, Life £743,281, The Lost City of Z £270,139, CHiPs: Law and Disorder £205,933, Idomeneo – Met Opera 2017 (Opera) £186,423, 

UK Box Office Top 10

 

US Box Office Top 10

US Box office

• Disney – Black Panther

Down 34.7% in its fifth weekend to $26.65m and $605.2m total;

It’s the first film since Avatar to stay at #1 for 5 weeks and is now the seventh biggest film in the US and will shortly overtake Star Wars: The Last Jedi $619.79m and Marvel’s The Avengers $623.35m; if it continues to hold as it is will also overtake Jurassic World and Titanic to become the third biggest film in the US behind Avatar and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Black Panther is only the eleventh film over the last 30 years to of held #1 for five weeks but in doing so the US box office is suffering as it did in 2010 with Avatar and 1998 Titanic as the films that opened against it are being squeezed.

This is very different to the other films that held #1 for five weeks 1988 Good Morning Vietnam in 1988/89 Rain Man in 1989 Look Who’s Talking in 1990 Home Alone in 1991 The Silence of the Lambs in 1992 Wayne’s World in 1993 The Fugitive in 1999 The Sixth Sense in 1999 and in 1987 Fatal Attraction, Stake Out and The Secret of My Success. As these films still let other films perform against them rather than doing sucking up the box office away from rival films which have happened in recent years.

Had the fourth biggest fifth weekend in the US after Avatar, Titanic and Frozen just ahead of Star Wars: The Force Awakens; after five weeks Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($852m) 91% of its final box office of $936m if Black Panther holds similar will end on $672m.

Took $30m over the weekend internationally $577.1m total internationally and $1.182bn worldwide currently #1 biggest film globally and fifth biggest Marvel Cinematic Universe film international.

Will be the first MCU film since Iron Man 2 in 2010 to take less internationally compared to the US. Black Panther will shortly overtake Iron Man 3 to become the biggest non-Avengers film globally taking $1.3bn+;

Marvel Cinematic Universe films have now taken almost $6bn in the US and $14.7bn over the last 10 years globally the latest trailer for Avengers: Infinity War was released last week, and bookings opened in the US that is already ahead of Black Panther and is likely to take over $1.5bn+ globally.

• Warner Bros – Tomb Raider

Opens with $23.71m; receiving average reviews and B CinemaScore.

15 years after Angelina Jolie starred in Lara Croft she returns in the reboot starring Alicia Vikander opening 50% less than the first film.

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider opened in 2003 with $47.73m taking $131.1m

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life opened in 2001 with $21.78m taking $102.4m

While Tomb Raider reboot was always going to be a hard sell to audiences today it was just another film that has been cannibalized at the box office since the arrival Black Panther.

This year only Peter Rabbit and shortly Fifty Shades Freed have squeezed past $100m at the box office this year with Black Panther taking almost 40% of 2018 box office to date. While last year Beauty and the Beast, Logan, Get Out, Split, The Lego Batman Movie, Fifty Shades Darker, Kong: Skull Island had all taken over $100m at the box office.

Last year seven films took over $100m taking a combined $1.019bn up to this weekend last year compared to $807m for three films this year. Black Panther might have attracted cinemagoers who don’t normally see comic-book movies, but it has also cannibalized the marketplace did also happen with Avatar in 2010 over the seven weeks it was #1 with only Alice in Wonderland, Shutter Island and Valentine’s Day taking over $100m over the first 12 weeks of 2010

Warner Bros will be hoping for better things with their next two films based on video games Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One has received positive reviews since premiering at SXSW last weeks opening next week and Rampage opening two weeks after, brought forward a week after Disney brought forward Avengers: Infinity War.

Took $84.5m internationally from 65 territories including $41m from China and $126m worldwide

• 20^th Century Fox – Love, Simon

Opens with $11.75m; received 92% Rotten Tomatoes score and A+ CinemaScore  

After the film received strong media coverage after being called the first mainstream studio gay rom-com opening on a wide release. The question for was like so many young adult films over recent years while they will talk about the film on social media will they go and pay to see it.

After its positive reviews and strong word of mouth and with Tomb Raider underwhelming there was room for Love, Simon to open much stronger and many thought it would open mid-teens. 20the Century Fox will be hoping for a stronghold in its second weekend but normally young adult films are very front-loaded.

• Disney – A Wrinkle In Time

Drops 50.9% in its second weekend taking $16.25m and $60.75m;

Holding better than Disney’s last original film The BFG which took %7.8m in its second weekend taking $38.94 of final of $55.48m and slightly better than 2015’s Tomorrowland which dropped 56.7% in its second weekend taking $14.3m and $63.68m going on to take $93.43m which is likely for A Wrinkle in Time.

2013’s The Lone Ranger dropped 60.9% taking $11.5m and $71.46m taking $89.3m

2012’s John Carter dropped 55% taking $13.568m and $53.22m taking $73.07m

2014’s Million Dollar Arm dropped 33.7% $6.96m and $20.5m taking $36.45m; in March at CinemaCon Disney’s Alan Horn said it as the highest tested film he has ever had at Warner Bros including Harry Potter and Disney but despite that still flopped.

For all of Disney’s success with Black Panther and all are properties it must be almost 15 years since Disney’s last original $100m+ budget film success must be 2004’s National Treasure but that was just an Indiana Jones rip-off. Steven Spielberg announced he will start shooting Indiana Jones 5 in April next year for release in July 2020.

It will be 10 years in May since Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was released after the original trilogy wear great films was a huge expectation on the fourth film walking out of the film hadn’t felt more disappointed about watching a film since Beverly Hills Cop 3. 

So, while it’s understandable why Disney wants a fifth film makes little sense for Steven Spielberg especially after making recent films including Bridge of Spies, The Post and Ready Player One while for Harrison Ford already being killed off once in Star Wars: The Force Awakens will surely be killed off again to launch an Indiana Junes spinoff.

• 20^th Century Fox – Red Sparrow

Down 49.6% in its third weekend taking $8.5m and $31.47m

Dropped slightly less than last year’s Atomic Blonde which dropped 45.1% taking $4.48m and $42.72m and Ghost in the Shell dropped 66.3% taking $2.46m and $37.08m.

Took $8.9m internationally and $66.6m total holding better internationally than the US.

• Warner Bros – Game Night

Down 28.8% in its fourth weekend taking $5.6m and $54.2m;   

Took $3.7m from 51 territories $30.5m total.

• Sony Pictures – Peter Rabbit

Down 23.2% in its sixth weekend taking $5.2m and $102.44m total;

Peter Rabbit is ahead of last years, The Emoji Movie which took $2.46m in its sixth weekend and $80.34m and Goosebumps taking $1.86m and $76.11m; The Angry Birds Movie took $343,961 and $104.943m;  

Peter Rabbit took $15.5m ($9.5m from UK) international total $42.7m.

Other Box Office News

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle has now taken $400.38m at the US box office only $3.5m away from overtaking Spider-Man to become Sony Pictures biggest film in the US but the film is released next week on digital which could hurt its chances; has taken $941.7m globally opening in Japan next month 

While The Greatest Showman has now taken $169.7m and will become the third biggest musical by the weekend overtaking Chicago $170.68m; it has also overtaken Gone Girl and Hidden Figures to become 20th Century Fox’s 39th biggest film in the US and taken over $400m worldwide. 

Opening UK

UK Box Office Predictions

After opening with £7.24m last weekend Peter Rabbit will hold top against new arrivals A Wrinkle in Time and Pacific Rim: Uprising

Peter Rabbit opening was compared to The Secret Life of Pets opened £5,949,995 in June 2016 (£9,580,039 including previews) dropped 20% not including previews in its second weekend and Zootropolis opened with £3,573,088 in March 2016 (including previews £5,306,726) dropping 24% in its second weekend taking £2,734,493 and Paddington opening with £5,125,519 in November 2014 dropping 25% in its second weekend taking £3,837,885. 

If Peter Rabbit was to drop similar would take about £5m in its second-weekend holding #1 with A Wrinkle in Time likely to open as many of Disney’s original films over recent years £1.6m+ and Pacific Rim: Uprising opening similarly while Tom Raider will drop about 50%.  

 

Opening March 23^rd  

Opening UK

• A Wrinkle in Time – Disney

Sci-fi fantasy adventure starring Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Michael Peña, Storm Reid, Zach Galifianakis, and Chris Pine and directed by Ava DuVernay based on the 1962 novel by Madeleine L’Engle.

The most surprising thing about A Wrinkle in Time is that it’s not the original Disney movie many believe it is as previously made in 2002 planned as a two-part miniseries but was postponed a year and cut into a 128min TV movie.

Disney acquired remake rights in 2010 and Ava DuVernay was confirmed to direct in February 2016; teaser was released in July and trailer released in November has been viewed 8.5m times on YouTube.

A Wrinkle in Time must be Disney’ riskiest project since 2015’s Tomorrowland while based on a best-selling novel featuring a very strong ensemble cast and Ava DuVernay directing the $100m+ budget film will be compared to Patty Jenkins who directed $150m budgeted Wonder Woman.

As with Patty Jenkins A Wrinkle in Time will be Ava DuVernay second film directed going from low budget Selma to $100m+ budget but of course, male directors do this regularly going from indie to $200m budgeted films.  If it fails to meet expectations failure will be on her shoulders likely to go MIA for years as Michael Lehmann after Hudson Hawk and Martin Brest after Gigli.

Despite an underwhelming opening in the US Ava DuVernay will direct DC’s New Gods for Warner Bros which is a surprise after she spent much time developing Black Panther. 

Disney original films are such a rarity now, so I really wanted to like the first trailer for A Wrinkle in Time buy found it a mess reminding me of Oz: The Great and Powerful opened in March 2013 with £3.71m taking £14.98m.

Disney is often called marketing experts but much easier to sell properties instead of films which they haven’t had the similar success their rivals have had over the last decade. So as Disney has done previously buying Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm are buying success acquiring 20th Century Fox which includes Fox Searchlight giving them the original film successes and the Oscar winners they have failed to make over the last decade.

A Wrinkle in Time was always going to be a hard sell internationally so was surprising Disney choose to open the film two weeks after its US opening in the UK.

2005’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was Disney’s last original film (based on a book)  to open with more than £2m taking £3,298,262 in May 2005 and £10,563,392 and 2004’s The Village opened in August 2004 with £2,945,763

Disney’s last original film was Tomorrowland: The World Beyond opened with £1,481,336 in May 2015 with £4,971,372 taking £9,980,280.

Previous original films include

The Lone Ranger opened August 2013 with £1,342,196 taking £4,090,415;

John Carter opened March 2012 with £1,960,414 taking £4,504,680;

Real Steel opened October 2011 with £1,337,491 taking £4,498,419;

The Help opened October 2011 with £896,597 taking £3,865,125;

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time opened May 2010 with £1,371,066 taking £8,829,805;

Surrogates opened September 2010 with £961,271 taking £3,021,803

Wild Hogs opened April 2007 with £1,691,797 taking £5,915,252

Déjà Vu opened November 2006 with £1,098,295 taking £4,948,886

• Pacific Rim: Uprising – Universal Pictures

Sci-Fi monster film starring John Boyega, Scott Eastwood, Cailee Spaeny, Jing Tian, and Adria Arjona, with Charlie Day, Burn Gorman, and Rinko Kikuchi and directed by Steven S. DeKnight.

Sequel to the 2013 film Pacific Rim released by Warner Bros Universal Pictures acquired it after they signed up to a five-year deal with Legendary Pictures in 2014 which ends next year.

Pacific Rim: Uprising is John Boyega’s first major film since starring in The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi having previously starred in The Circle and Detroit which both flopped while Daisy Ridley has already had success in the ensemble Murder on the Orient Express.

Pacific Rim opened in July 2013 with £2.19m opening third behind Monsters University and Despicable Me 2 taking only £8.5m; it took only $100m in the US and $411m worldwide including over $100m from China but with a budget of $190m was surprising a sequel was made; opens in the middle of both Tomb Raider and Read Player One.

The only possible reason why Legendary Pictures were so eager to make a sequel to Pacific Rim is that they are owned by Wanda Group and as original was a success the sequel will be too. But in the UK and US likely to do close to the original film opening with about £1.5m taking £7m+.

• Proud Mary – Sony Pictures

Action thriller starring Taraji P. Henson, Billy Brown, Danny Glover, Neal McDonough, Xander Berkeley, Margaret Avery, and Jahi Di’Allo Winston and directed by Babak Najafi.

After receiving negative reviews and underwhelming at the box office in the US when it was released in January it is getting a token release in the UK.

It’s showing in a handful of cinemas with one single show a day at the Odeon Haymarket Luxe the former Panton Street fleapit but with Odeon Leicester Square closed for refurbishment and the Odeon West End currently a building site it is currently Odeon’s premiere Leicester Square cinema.

Proud Mary is being released theatrically probably with screens brought by Sony for the film to qualify for its lucrative Sky TV deal. 

• Unsane – 20th Century Fox

Psychological horror-thriller starring Claire Foy, Joshua Leonard, Jay Pharoah, Juno Temple, Aimee Mullins and Amy Irving and directed by Steven Soderbergh was shot on an iPhone 7 Plus in 4K; had its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival in February receiving average reviews and a 74% Rotten Tomatoes score.

Opening in US

• Pacific Rim: Uprising – Universal Pictures

Early reviews say it doesn’t bring anything new from the original film so will likely only play to fans of the original film; Pacific Rim opened with $37,285,325 in July 2013 taking $101.8m with a budget of $190m while the sequel has a budget of $150m+.

The sequel was only likely made because was a much bigger success in China and Legendary Pictures are owned by Chinese company Wanda so it’s no surprise China has a much stronger role in the sequel.

Pacific Rim: Uprising will likely do what Tomb Raider failed to do replace Black Panther #1 opening with $25m+; since Black Panther opened the US box office has been dramatically down on last March and will be hoping after the positive reviews Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One has received will open a lot bigger than it was previously tracking to open to.    

• Sherlock Gnomes – Paramount Pictures

Animated romantic comedy mystery featuring voices of James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Mary J. Blige, and Johnny Depp and directed by John Stevenson and sequel to 2011’s Gnomeo & Juliet which was released by Disney in the US and through independent distributors internationally including eOne in the UK.

The first film from Paramount Animation to be entirely animated previously made 2015’s The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water and 2016’s Monster Trucks. Upcoming animated films include Amusement Park and Sonic the Hedgehog both set for release in 2019 and The Loud House Movie and The SpongeBob Movie sequel both set for release in 2020; it is also the first animated film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer since 2008’s Igor.

Gnomeo & Juliet opened in February 2011 with $25,356,909 taking $99,967,670.

With Peter Rabbit almost played out of cinemas Sherlock Gnomes is the only animated films targeting children to open until The Incredibles 2, stop-motion animated Isle of Dogs also opens on limited release but will be targetting a much older audience.

Gnomeo & Juliet is expected to open with about $15m

• Unsane – Bleecker Street

Steven Soderbergh shot the film at the same time he made Logan Lucky the film plays heavily on the current #MeToo revision of gender politics and gaslighting but its hard to tell if it is a film audiences will be interested to see.

• Midnight Sun – Open Road

Romantic drama starring Bella Thorne, Patrick Schwarzenegger, and Rob Riggle and directed by Scott Speer based on the 2006 Japanese film of the same name.

It will be hoping to attract the young adult audience who saw Love, Simon last weekend; but the film has been delayed many times so unlikely will find an audience.

• Isle of Dogs – Fox Searchlight

The stop-motion animated featuring ensemble voice cast of Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, and Bob Balaban and written and directed by Wes Anderson; had its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival in February receiving critical acclaim and 97% Rotten Tomatoes score. 

It was acquired by Fox Searchlight in December 2016 and is 20^th Century Fox/Fox Searchlight fourth film directed by Wes Anderson after The Darjeeling Limited, Fantastic Mr Fox and The Grand Budapest Hotel.

As with Wes Anderson’s other films, Isle of Dogs opens on limited release in 27 screens before expanding over the weeks ahead.

Fantastic Mr Fox opened with $265,900 from 4 screens in November 2009 before going wide after two weeks on limited release taking $6,965,267 and a total of $21,002,919.

The Grand Budapest Hotel opened March 2014 with $811,166 from 4 screens before slowly expanding over 6 weeks taking $4,069,245 in its widest expansion weekend taking $59,301,324.

Moonrise Kingdom opened in May 2012 with $522,996 from 4 screens slowly expanding over 8 weeks never expanding past 924 screens taking $45,512,466.

The Darjeeling Limited opened September 2007 with $134,938 from 2 screens again with a slow expansion over several weeks to a maximum of 698 screens taking $11,902,715.

Other recent stop-motion films include Early Man released in January and My Life as a Courgette and Kubo and the Two Strings released in 2016.

The new video from Honest Trailers highlights the similarities of all Wes Anderson’s films. 

• Paul, Apostle of Christ – Sony Pictures

Biblical drama starring James Faulkner, and Jim Caviezel and directed by Andrew Hyatt.

After the strong opening of Lionsgate faith-based film, I Can Only Imagine opening with $17m from 1,629 screens and received an A+ CinemaScore will the market be strong enough for two.

Faith-based films have been lucrative at the box office over the years being low budget films but having a strong and loyal fan-base. Mary Magdalene opened in the UK last weekend is still awaiting US release but has been delayed due to Weinstein Company owning US rights but while they sold rights to many of their upcoming films haven’t yet so the rights for it.

Sony Pictures have had success with faith-based films over the years with films including Heaven is for Real. Miracles from Heaven, Risen, When the Game Stands Tall, Jumping the Broom and Soul Surfer.