1. Joker  – £1,668,466– £54,331,476

Dropped 31.8% in its sixth weekend holding #1 for as many weeks as Avatar 9 years ago; has become the joint 4^th longest #1 (along with 1999’s The World’s Not Enough and 2009’s Avatar) in the UK after 1998’s Titanic was the longest ever #1 with 13 consecutive weekends; 2000’s Toy Story 2 and Gladiator 7 weeks

Shows how front-loaded films have become over the last decade as all of the biggest films in the UK (Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Skyfall, Spectre, Avengers: Endgame, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, The Lion King and Toy Story 3) stayed at #1 for a maximum of 4 weeks.

13^th biggest 6^th weekend in the UK (17^th film to take over £1.5m over 6^th weekend) between Mamma Mia Where We Go Again and Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

4^th biggest comic-book movie after Avengers: Endgame (£88.69m); Avengers: Infinity War (£70.8m); The Dark Knight Rises (£56.23m) overtaking Marvel’s Avengers Assemble (£51.87m).

30^th biggest film in the UK between Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 and 7^th biggest Warner Bros film in the UK; Warner Bros 10th film to take over £50m at the box office since 2001’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and first film since 2017’s Dunkirk and Warner Bros second biggest comic-book film in the UK after The Dark Knight Rises (£56,237,758); 64^th biggest inflation inflated film between Despicable Me 2 and Notting Hill

4^th biggest film of 2019 after Avengers: Endgame, The Lion King and Toy Story 4 overtaking Captain Marvel, Aladdin and Spider-Man Far From Home; Disney currently have 6 of the top 10 biggest films of 2019; Frozen 2 and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will join Avengers: Endgame, The Lion King, Toy Story 4, Captain Marvel, Aladdin next month with Joker, Spider-Man Far From Home and either Jumanji: The Next Level or Cats being the three non-Disney films in the top 10 biggest films of the year.

The UK industry often use the 10% of US box office to predict box office of US Vs UK which is normally the case with general blockbusters (Aladdin, Avengers: Endgame) but Joker (currently 17.3%) is close to Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (15%); films often attract an older audience in the UK as Dunkirk was similarly much strong (but had the Brit boost) so maybe that explains why Joker has performed much stronger in the UK than the US.

October has also been a very lucrative time in recent years to launch a grown-up drama including Gone Girl, The Martian and A Star Is Born as well as The Girl On The Train and Blade Runner 2049 (both performed much stronger in the UK than the US), this year Tom Hank’s sci-fi drama Bios opens and then in 2021 also starring Tom Hanks is Baz Luhrmann’s untitled Elvis film.

Joker should take upwards of £60m and could overtake The Dark Knight Rises and Dunkirk by next weekend.

After the success of Joker and recently Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Shazam next years DC Vs MCU looks like it will be a more even battle DC have Bird of Prey and Wonder Woman: 1984 and  Marvel has Black Widow and Externals.

2. The Aeronauts – £1,042,337  – NE

Took £420,000 from previews Mon-Thurs in mostly IMAX screens (the film was shot in IMAX) and then expanded wider on Friday in regular screens whilst dropping many of their IMAX screens; without previews, The Aeronauts would have opened 6^th after Midway.

Only £81,801 separated The Aeronauts in second and The Good Liar in fifth showing how congested the marketplace is at the moment and that almost all films since Joker opened have cannibalized each other, the same happened in the weeks after Black panther opens and Avatar when a film holds strongly the films that open afterwards will often underperform.

There is also the Star War factor that after advance bookings opened two years ago for The Last Jedi most of the film’s opening afterwards and before its opening failed to open as strongly, as cinemagoers seem to be waiting to see Frozen 2 and Rise of Skywalker as cinemagoers have become much more selective with the films they see in cinemas.

Had the 54^th biggest opening of 2019 between Rambo: Last Blood and The Hustle and eOne’s fourth-biggest opening of the year after Stan and Ollie, Green Book and Vice, that was of course only due to previews had the 69^th biggest opening between The Curse of La Llorona and The Aftermath.

The film reunited Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne who previously starred in awards nominee 2015’s The Theory of Everything (opened with £3,749,293 taking £21,411,313).

The Aeronauts had been seen as an award contender having its world premiere at Telluride Film Festival receiving positive reviews (90% Rotten Tomatoes) and also screened at the Toronto and the London Film Festivals.

Amazon Studios acquired world rights to the film apart from UK which eOne acquired, originally planned to release the film exclusively in IMAX for one week in October, but after disappointing performances of several films Amazon released theatrically Amazon in September decided to scale back its theatrical release. eOne said in September the film would still have a full theatrical release despite it being released on Amazon Prime Video on December 20^th worldwide except for UK.

After The Aeronauts disappointing opening it will likely be out of cinemas within weeks, which does make eOne planning to keep the films theatrical window a costly decision. Have always thought that if a film underwhelms at the box office its theatrical window should be voided as exhibitors will put the film from cinemas within weeks so surely the distributor should be able to bring its VoD release forward. It seems illogical to me that once a film has been pulled by exhibitors it’s not going to come back so why do these films still have to keep to the window despite the films not being legally available in cinemas as this surely just plays into the hands of piracy?

The Aeronauts is eOne’s last release of 2019, they released 20 films this year taking £42m as often eOne started the year strongly with award contenders Stan & Ollie (£10.2m), Green Book £10m), If Beale Street Could Talk (£1.5m), On the Basis of Sex (£1.6m) and Vice (£4m) taking more than half of their years box office, but their remaining films underperformed including Booksmart, Late Night, Wild Rose and Blinded By the Light all expected to be sleepers.

eOne start 2020 with three award contenders Sam Mendes 1917 (the Royal Film Performance in December), Dark Waters and Queen & Slim. Thanks to their output deal they will probably release sci-fi drama Bios starring Tom Hanks opening the lucrative first weekend of October.

3. Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil – £1,025,043 – £13,074,572

Dropped 45.5% in its fourth weekend

Held similar to Disney reimaginations 4^th weekends

2015’s Cinderella took £1,083,245 and £17.4m 83% of £20.96m

2013’s Oz: The Great and Powerful took £975,577 and £11.86m 79.2% of £14.98m

2014’s Maleficent took £970,381 and £15,230,777 79% of £19.29m

2019’s Dumbo took £927,804 and £21.31m 38% less of £25.13m;

2018’s Christopher Robin took £883,916 and £12.36m 83.2% of £14.86m

2015’s Into the Woods took £734,370 and £8.41m 87.2% of £9.64m

if Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil holds similar will take about £16m.

424^th biggest film in the UK between The Beach and Wedding Crashers (close to G-Force, Dinosaur, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events and Lilo & Stitch); 81^st biggest Disney film (close to Christopher Robin, Oz: The Great and Powerful, The Lion King 3D and 102 Dalmatians).

Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil had the advantage of half-term holidays over two weeks and Halloween this weekend while Maleficent only had one half-term week when it opened in May 2014 will face competition for teenage girls with Last Christmas this weekend and then Frozen 2 next weekend.

The 13 Disney reimaginations have taken £400m in the UK and over £407m inflation inflated; the four Disney reimaginations released this year (Dumbo, Aladdin, The Lion King and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil) have taken over £150m at the UK box office.

4. The Addams Family – £1,013,919   -£8,278,062

Down 54.6% in its third weekend due to Halloween over interest has waned over the weekend, this was different to Hotel Transylvania which held strongly over the weeks after Halloween. That said The Addams Family has held strong in a crowded marketplace of family films for half-term/Halloween with Shaun The Sheep Movie 2, Abominable and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil also on release.

2015’s Hotel Transylvania 2 dropped a similar 54% in the weekend after Halloween taking similar £1,105,023 in its fourth weekend and £17,510,007 87.2% of £20,080,060 if The Addams Family holds similarly will take £9m+.

2012’s Hotel Transylvania took £810,821 weekend after Halloween and £6,833,768 88.5% of £7,722,310.

30^th biggest film of 2019 between Godzilla: King Of The Monsters and Judy and 8^th biggest Universal Pictures film between Mary Queen of Scots and Abominable;

119th biggest animated film in the UK between Pixels and Captain Underpants (close to The Boxtrolls, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Hotel Transylvania and Coraline) and 126th biggest inflation inflated animated film between Pixels and The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.

The Addams Family was previously made into a film in 1991 taking £10.4m (£24.78m inflation inflated); the sequel Addams Family Values in 1993 took £6.5m (£14.61m inflation inflated)

Universal Pictures has had a strong 2019 with their 21 films taking over £150m with Last Christmas and Cats still to open could take upwards of £190m would be down 20% £232m from 2018 but against the might of Disney’s slate this year it’s positive, especially as it was from a mix of films and genres, including Downtown Abbey, Hobbs & Shaw, The Secret Life of Pets 2, Yesterday and Us unlike Disney.

Universal Pictures has a much stronger 2020 slate including the next James Bond Never Time to Die, Fast & Furious 9, Minions 2, Legally Blonde 3, Emma, Halloween Kills and Last Night in Soho, which could see Universal Pictures overtake Disney for the first time since 2015.

5. The Good Liar – £960,536   –  NE  

Opened 69% bigger than 2017’s Going In Style opened with £569,392 (held very strongly down only 12% in its second weekend) taking £2,773,860

Had the 56^th biggest opening of 2019 between Blinded by the Light and Ready or Not and Warner Bros 9^th biggest opening of the year between Doctor Sleep and The Mule; as with 2017’s Going in Style and many films targetting older demographic The Good Liar will perform much more strongly during the week rather than weekend (was #1 on Monday) and will likely hold better than other releases, but with Last Christmas and Le Man’s 66 unlikely to stay in the top 5 for more than a week.

Other Helen Mirren films

2016’s Eye in the Sky opened £1,110,959 taking £4,928,830

2015’s Woman in Good opened £494,512 taking £2,732,806

2010’s RED opened £1,662,472 taking £6,840,646

2013’s RED 2 opened £1,023,349 taking £2,829,627

Helen Mirren used to be best known for starring in 2006’s The Queen (£9.4m) and 2004’s Calendar Girls (£20.4m) but recently it’s starring in the Fast and Furious films as Magdalene Shaw starring in Fast & Furious 9 next year.

Ian McKellen previously starred in Bill Condon 2015’s Hr Holmes opened £741,080 taking £2.7m but is best known to younger audiences starring as Gandalf in The Lord Of The Rings and Hobbit and in the X-Men films as Magneto.

Director Bill Condon has had a lot of success over recent years most recently 2017’s Beauty And The Beast (opened £19.7m taking £72.4m); The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 and Part 2 taking  £31.1m and £37.9m and directed 2006’s Oscar-winning Dreamgirls.

The Good Liar generated a lot of media coverage ahead of release with Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen heavily promoting the film; Helen Mirren appearance on The one Show generated a lot of media coverage after she found it insulting being described as “feisty” who said “I have to say I don’t like the word feisty. I don’t know why. I think it’s because it’s always related to women.” The actress made similar comments in 2015 when she said sassy was insulting “We need new words for female power and funniness and smartness.”

Similar conman/hustler films include

2003’s Matchstick Men (opened £564,481 taking £1,163,698) and 2003’s Confidence (opened £325,685 taking £829,671) as well as 1989’s Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (taking £1,411,626); 1991’s The Grifters (taking £343,012.

While the book was compared to The Talented Mr Ripley, the film opened in 2000 with £1,267,833 taking £6,598,782 (sequel 2003’s Ripley’s Game opened £244,457 taking £999,305);

The Good Liar is Warner Bros last major release of the year, next month release Motherless Brooklyn (after its disappointing opening it will have a small release in the UK as The Goldfinch and The Kitchen also had) they also have Friends 25th: The One With The Anniversary and re-release Gremlins.

Warner Bros has had a mixed 2019 with the massive highs of Joker’s incredible success but then The Lego Movie 2, Godzilla: King Of The Monsters and Doctor Sleep disappointing their 14 2019 releases have taken about £140m;

Warner Bros has a strong 2020 slate including Birds of Prey, Godzilla Vs. Kong, Scooby, Wonder Woman 1984, Tenet, Bill And Ted Face The Music, The Conjuring 3, The Witches, Dune and Tom & Jerry The Movie. With Disney not having as strong a slate as this year, Warner Bros have a hood chance to get close to Disney especially as their comic-book movies Birds of Prey and Wonder Woman 1984 are more high profile than MCU’s Black Widow and The Eternals.

UK box office in detail

This weekend’s top 10 box office took £8,534,914 down 29.3% from last weekend £12,078,831

The weekend admissions 1,099,194 down 30.6% from last weekend 1,584,108

18 films opened at weekend taking (£4,040,043); The Aeronauts 25.8% (£1,042,337); The Good Liar 23.7% (£960,536); Midway 18.7% (£755,181); remaining 15 films shared 31.7% (£1,281,989);

Top three took 43.7% (£3,735,846) of the top 10; Joker 19.5% (£1,668,466); The Aeronauts 12.2% (£1,042,337); Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil 12 (£1,025,043);

Down 48.7% from 2018: (£16,637,613); The Grinch (£5,019,677); Widows (£2,409,112); Overlord (£677,844); They Shall Not Grow Old (With Recorded Q&A) (£271,302); #1 The Grinch £5,019,677 1st week 559 screens (30.2% of top 10)

Down 54.1% from 2017: (£18,610,649); Paddington 2 (£8,260,160); Only the Brave (£268,680); The Florida Project (£241,490); Predator (30th Anniversary) (£99,689); Professor Marston and the Wonder Women (£9,148); #1 Paddington 2 £8,260,160 1^st week 607 screens 1^st week (44.3% of the top 10)

Down 22.3% from 2016: (£10,984,043); Arrival (£2,924,059); American Pastoral (£56,832); #1 Arrival £2,924,059 1^st week 561 screens (26.6% of the top 10)

Down 52.2% from 2015; (£17,844,077); Brooklyn (£1,041,278); Burnt (£445,777); Scout’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (£297,263); Kill Your Friends (£102,221); #1 SPECTRE £13,145,138  2^nd week 660 screens 68% drop (73.6% of top 10)

Down 22.9% from 2014: (£11,071,565); Interstellar (£5,378,220); Say When (AKA Laggies) (£93,259); The Skeleton Twins (£19,204); November Man (£4,980); #1 Interstellar £5,378,220 1^st week 574 screens (48.5% of top 10)

Down 40.5% from 2013: (£14,343,283); Gravity (£6,238,375); #1 Gravity £6,238,375 1^st week 539 screens (43.5% of top 10)

Down 43.8% from 2012 (£15,185,020); Argo (£1,287,770); Here Comes the Boom (£433,052); The Sapphires (£337,641); Love Bite (£73,129); People Like Us (£19,981); #1 Skyfall £10,447,385 3^rd week 589 screens 35% drop (68.8% of top 10)

Down 9.9% from 2011 (£9,478,695); In Time (£1,882,365); Tower Heist (£1,451,029); Machine Gun Preacher (£331,578); Straw Dogs (£41,912); Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (£4,895); #1 The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn £2,199,171 2^nd week 510 screens 67% drop (23.2% of top 10)

Down 8.1% from 2010: (£9,291,445); Due Date (£2,346,089); 3-D Jackass (£1,696,909); Let Me In (£488,402); Another Year (£355,626); #1 Due Date £2,346,089 1^st week 449 screens (25.2% of top 10)

Down 5.1% from 2009; (£8,993,624); A Christmas Carol (£1,917,539); The Men Who Stare at Goats (£1,211,791); The Fourth Kind (£851,476); Bright Star (£207,881); #1 A Christmas Carol £1,917,539 1^st week 446 screens (21.3% of top 10)

Down 38.1% from 2008; (£13,780,120); Pride and Glory (£396,691); W (£367,512); Easy Virtue (£341,099); #1 Quantum of Solace £9,221,744 2^nd week 541 screens 40% drop (66.9% of top 10)

Up 11.2% from 2007: (£7,673,228); Good Luck Chuck (£1,316,325); Lions for Lambs (£658,282); Into the Wild (£196,994); Planet Terror (£80,894); The Band’s Visit (£18,704); Silk (£15,880); #1 Good Luck Chuck £1,316,325 1^st week 379 screens (17.1% of top 10)

Down 20.5% from 2006; (£10,744,444); Borat (£6,242,344); Sixty-Six (£292,295); Little Children (£158,012); #1 Borat £6,242,344 1^st week 428 screens (58.1% of top 10)

Up 7.1% from 2005 (£7,969,627); The Brothers Grimm (£919,713); Elizabethtown (£668,604); Murderball (£14,335); #1 Nanny McPhee £1,656,113 3^rd week 1^st #1 421 screens 46% drop (20.7% of top 10)

Up 44.1% from 2004 (£5,920,822); The Grudge (£2,261,710); Bad Santa (£474,450); Birth (£421,758); Look At Me (£88,161); #1 The Grudge £2,261,710 1^st week 362 screens (38.2% of top 10)

Down 39.7% from 2003 (£14,166,002); The Matrix Revolutions (£8,712,350); Seabiscuit (expansion) (£767,371); #1 The Matrix Revolutions £8,712,350 1^st week 467 screens (61.5% of top 10)

Up 95.8% from 2002 (£4,357,114); Rabbit Proof Fence (£221,758); Orange County (£167,051); #1 28 Days Later £1,073,042 2^nd week 320 screens 28% drop (24.6% of top 10)

Up 79,3% from 2001 (£4,758,297); Kiss of the Dragon (£478,811); The Piano Teacher (£71,911); #1 The Others £1,687,041 2^nd week 386 screens 25% drop (35.4% of top 10);

Next weekend in 2018: (£22,674,299); Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (£12,318,966); Burn the Stage: The Movie (£644,308); Suspiria (£166,257); Hell Fest (£78,116); 9 To 5 (Re: 2018) (£7,514); #1 Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald £12,318,966 1^st week 674 screens (54.3% of top 10)

Other Box Office News

This weekend was the fifth worst weekend of the year and worst week since the end of August (£7,501,394) is normally a poor weekend as it’s the end of the summer holidays, the difference is this weekend has been very lucrative launch date over the years with The Grinch, Paddington 2, Interstellar, Gravity and Borat opening strongly over the last decade.

Instead with the exception of Joker the box office has been congested over recent weeks with many films underperforming including Gemini Man, Terminator: Dark Fate and Doctor Sleep, Its unlikely the UK box office will wake from its slumber until two weeks’ time with Frozen 2 as this weekends Le Man’s 66 and Last Christmas aren’t likely to light up the box office.

October box office was 3% down on last year and last November started with the stronghold of Bohemian Rhapsody, The Grinch (this weekend) and Fantastic Beasts 2 (next weekend) this year its all on Frozen 2 will open bigger than 2013’s Frozen and take more than it did, with Jumanji: The Next Level and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker opening next month but cinema used to be about more than the top 20 films, but despite industry claims of otherwise people are seeing fewer films in cinemas.

With Disney+ launching in March, next year and Comcast and HBO Max also launching there will be extra pressure next year on cinemagoers wallets, especially after many long gap sequels have underperformed this year. After the highs of 2019, it should have easily beaten last years box office instead it will be very close.

• Midway – Lionsgate

Opened with £755,181 from 495 screens

Underwhelming opening for the Roland Emmerich World War 2 film

Roland Emmerich is famous for directing action films including 1994’s Stargate, 1996’s Independence Day, 1998’s Godzilla, the 2000s The Patriot, 2004’s The Day After Tomorrow, 2009’s 2012, 2013’s White House Down and 2016’s Independence Day: Resurgence.

In the 90s and early 00s, they were hugely successful at the box office but his most recent White House Down and Independence Day: Resurgence wasn’t nearly as successful. It’s surprising that Roland Emmerich is making a film based on real events as his previous attempts of making those films 2011’s Anonymous and 2015’s Stonewall were poorly received both critically and at the box office.

Recent second world war films include

2017’s Dunkirk opened £10,023,720 taking £56,585,035

2017’s Hacksaw Rudge opened £1,490,158 taking £4,945,211

2014’s Fury opened £2,692,786 taking £8,135,654

2014’s The Monuments Men opened £1,616,625 taking £5,800,101

2009’s Valkyrie opened £1,854,195 taking £6,346,645

2009’s Inglorious Basterds opened £3,596,415 taking £9,477,051

2002’ Windtalkers opened £388,212 taking £761,276

2001’s Pearl Harbour opened £3,075,147 taking £12,733,469

1998’s Saving Private Ryan opened £2,704,522 taking £18,740,016

As often what seems to be an original film is actually a retelling of 1976 film also called Midway (in the UK Battle of Midway) that featured ensemble star-studded cast including Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, James Coburn, Glenn Ford, Robert Mitchum, Robert and Wagner. Despite mixed reviews, it was the 10th biggest film of the year.

The film was one of only four films released in Sensurround sound; other Sensurround films were 1974’s Earthquake, 1977’s Rollercoaster and 1978’s Battlestar Galactica.

The film industry launched formats like Sensurround sound in the 70s and also 50s to get people back to cinemas, similar formats like Screen X, 4DX, PLF, 3D are the modern-day equivalents that all have surcharges to the already expensive ticket prices. Did cinemas in the 50s and 70s increase ticket prices for cinemas showing films in these different formats as they must have been costly for cinemas to install as today’s versions are?

• The Irishman – Netflix

Netflix didn’t report box office for The Irishman but had many sell-out screenings in Everyman cinemas across the weekend as the film has a limited theatrical release before its released on Netflix at the end of the month.

Last week The Irishman had many sell-out screenings in New York and Los Angeles, but Netflix didn’t report box office but Indiewire estimated it grossed $350,000 with an average $43,750 per cinema.

UK Box Office Top 10

US Box office

• Midway – Lionsgate

Opened with $17.89m; received mixed reviews (40% Rotten Tomatoes) and A CinemaScore

Had the lowest #1 this weekend for 20 years since The Bone Collector ($16.71m) over the years since its been a launch date for many Pixar, Marvel and James Bond films including 2012’s Skyfall ($88.3m); 2013’s Thor: Dark World ($85.75m); 2014’s Big Hero 6 ($56.21m); 2015’s Spectre ($70.4m); 2016’s Doctor Strange ($86.05m); 2018’s The Grinch ($67.5m).

Opening the same weekend as 2016’s Hacksaw Ridge (opened with $15.19m taking $67.2m and $168.9m worldwide)

Roland Emmerich films have taken $1.29bn in the US (27th highest-grossing director between Todd Phillips and Bill Condon) and $3.83bn worldwide (15th biggest between Chris Columbus and Pierre Coffin).

Majority of this box office was from the big action disaster films he directed in the late 90s to early 00s one of the most popular film genres at the time;

1996’s Independence Day opened $50.22m taking $306.1m and $817.4m worldwide

1998’s Godzilla opened $44.04m taking $136.31m and %376m worldwide

2000’s The Patriot opened $22.41m taking $113.33m and $215.3m worldwide

2004’s The Day After Tomorrow opened $60.74m and $186.74m and $556.31m worldwide

2009’s 2012 opened $65.23m  taking $66.11m and $757.67m worldwide

Since 2012 his films haven’t performed as well with 2013’s White House Down opening with $24.85m (overshadowed by Olympus Has Fallen) taking $73.1m and $205.44m worldwide and 2016’s Independence Day: Resurgence opening with $41.03m taking $103.14m and $384.16m worldwide; opened 20 years after the first film but taking less than half despite ticket inflation of over 100%.

The 1976 film Midway took $42.2m; was the 9th biggest film of the year after Rocky ($117.23m); To Fly! ($86.6m); A Star is Born ($63.12m); King Kong ($52.61m); Silver Streak ($51.07m); All the President’s Men ($51.04m); The Omen ($48.5m); The Enforcer ($46.2m).

Roland Emmerich got investment from China to fiancé Midway after being turned down by Sony in 2012 with Bona Film Group putting up the majority of the films $100m budget with Lionsgate acquiring US and UK rights. Roland Emmerich has done similar with his next project $150m space disaster film Moonfall due to start filming in April.

Roland Emmerich said recently he wished he hadn’t made Independence Day: Resurgence after Will Smith left the film. The sequel released 20 years after the original film was poorly received critically and at the box office taking less than half of Independence Day. Will Smith dropped out to star in Suicide Squad, which saw Roland Emmerich replace him with his son in the sequel.

Opened with $24m internationally

• Doctor Sleep – Warner Bros

Opened with $14.11m; received positive reviews (73% Rotten Tomatoes) and B+ CinemaScore

Took $1.5m from Thursday midnights

Ahead of release was tracking to open with up to $30m but as with Terminator: Dark Fate last weekend had an underwhelming opening in the US after a soft early international opening it was always likely Doctor Sleep would do similarly after having a soft international opening last weekend. What I find crazy is studios don’t seem to learn that opening international early almost always will hurt the films US opening despite the US opening still being vital for a film’s success.

Stephen King has published 54 novels including 7 under the name Richard Bachman, 6 non-fiction books and almost 200 short stories. Over 40 have been adapted into films taking over $1.8bn in the US and $2.3bn worldwide.

Took $13m from 68 territories total $20m and $34.1m worldwide; UK: $23.1m; Mexico: $21.5m; Germany: $21m; Russia: $17.4m; France: $12.6m; Brazil: $11.6m; Italy: $10.58m; Australia: $10.57m; Spain: $9.8m; Japan: $8.1m; Indonesia: $5.5m; Colombia: $4.3m

• Last Christmas – Universal Pictures

Opened with $11.44m; received mixed reviews (49% Rotten Tomatoes) and B- CinemaScore

Took $500,000 from previews; earlier this year Yesterday took $1.3m and Paul Feig’s Spy opening with $1.5m.

When the first trailer was released in August comparisons were made with Love Actually which also starred Emma Thompson who also co-wrote Last Christmas screenplay so is predictably twee.  

2003’s Love Actually opened $6,886,080 taking $59,696,144 and $244,931,766 worldwide

2006’s The Holiday opened $12,778,913 taking $63,224,849 and $205,135,175 worldwide

2008’s Four Christmases opened $31,069,826 taking $120,146,040 and $163,733,697 worldwide

2001’s Serendipity opened $13,309,241 taking $50,294,317 and $77,516,304 worldwide

2000’s The Family Man opened $10,554,960 taking $75,793,305 and $124,745,083 worldwide

The rom-com genre has underperformed over the last decade with audiences going to Netflix for their rom-com fix so will cinemagoers come back to see Last Christmas.

1989 is the 30th anniversary of the classic rom-com When Harry Met Sally (opened with taking $92,823,546) and the 25th anniversary of Miracle on 34th Street remake (opened $2,753,208 taking $17,320,136).

Paul Feig

2018’s A Simple Favor opened $16,011,689 taking $53,548,586 and $97,628,717 worldwide

2017’s Snatched opened $19,542,248 taking $45,852,178 and $57,852,177 worldwide

2015’s Spy opened $29,085,719 taking $110,825,712 and $232,585,748 worldwide

2013’s The Heat opened $39,115,043 taking $159,581,587 and $229,727,774 worldwide

2011’s Bridesmaids opened $26,247,410 taking $169,211,718 and $289,632,023 worldwide

Took $3.1m from 10 territories internationally and $14.7m worldwide; expands into 10 more territories this weekend including the UK.

• Terminator: Dark Fate – Paramount Pictures

Dropped 62.7% in its second weekend taking $10.8m and $48.46m

2^nd weekends

Took 156.15% more than 1985’s Terminator

But 48% less than  T2: Judgment Day; 44% less than Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines; 34% less than Terminator Salvation and 22% less than Terminator: Genisys

45^th biggest film of 2019 between Isn’t it Romantic and Gemini Man; 1,778^th biggest film in the US between The Dilemma and Peter Pan: Return to Neverland; 2,716^th biggest inflation inflated between Resident Evil: Retribution and Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates; 233^rd biggest Paramount Pictures film in the US between Planes, Trains & Automobiles and Gemini Man.

Terminator; Dark Fate had a budget of over $185m needed to take over $450m to break even which was always unlikely as none of the previous films has taken as much. Instead, it will take less than half between $180m-$200m worldwide and could lose over $100m. Paramount, Skydance and 20^th Century Fox put up 30% of the budget each and China’s Tencent 10%.

1991’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day took 60.5% of its worldwide box office ($520.88m) internationally ($315m)

2003’s Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines took 65% of its worldwide box office ($433.37m) internationally ($283m)

2009’s Terminator Salvation took 66% of its worldwide box office ($371.35m) internationally ($246.03m)

2015’s Terminator Genisys took 80% of its worldwide box office ($440.6m) internationally ($350.84m)

2003’s Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines took 65% of its worldwide box office ($433.37m) internationally ($283m)

One of the reasons why Terminator: Dark Fate has done so poorly was it came far too soon after Terminator: Genisys, while James Cameron was of understandably eager to get back to the Terminator franchise after taking back ownership he should have waited longer before making another film.

Took $29.9m from 53 territories and $150.9m total and $199.4m worldwide; China $44.8m; Korea $14.9m; UK $8.3m; Russia $7.4m; France $6.9m; Japan $6m; Indonesia $5.2m; Mexico $5m; Australia $4.3m; Germany $3.9m; Brazil $3.1m

33^rd biggest 2019 international film between Annabelle Comes Home and Glass; 602^nd biggest film internationally between Hercules and The Proposal; 811^th biggest film worldwide between The BFG and Two Weeks’ Notice; 32^nd biggest film worldwide between Annabelle Comes Home and The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part; 91^st biggest Paramount Pictures worldwide between The Hunt for Red October and Beowulf.

• Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil – Disney

Took $8.41m in its fourth weekend down 35.7% and $97.71m

2014’s Maleficent dropped similar 30.2% in its fourth weekend took $12.91m and  $185.87m (77% of $241.4m) 47.6% more than Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil.

2014’s Maleficent took $8.37m in its fifth weekend and $202.01m; if Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil holds similar will take about $110m.

130^th biggest Disney film in the US between Inspector Gadget and Dead Poets Society; 23^rd biggest 2019 film between Hustlers and Rocketman.

770^th biggest film between Inspector Gadget Public Enemies and 1,391h inflation inflated between The Expendables 2 and The Wedding Planner.

Disney’s 15 reimaginations have taken $3.47bn in the US and $9.4bn worldwide this year Dumbo took $353.3m; Aladdin $1.05bn and The Lion King $1.65bn worldwide:

This weekend was the Anna Kendrick comedy Noelle was due to be released before Disney moved it to their streaming service Disney+ launching in the US next week but not in the UK until the end of March. Disney+ launches with a lot of new content including the Star Wars spinoff The Mandalorian which Star Wars fans won’t wait 5 months to see which will see it become the most pirated TV show ever overtaking The Walking Dead.

Took $19.9m from 57 territories and $333m total and $430.3m worldwide; China $48.4m; Russia $31.6m; Mexico $22m; France $17.5m; UK $16.8m; Brazil $16.3m; Italy $13.3m; Spain $11.9m; Japan $11.2m; Korea $10.3m; Indonesia $10.3m; Germany $9.8m; Philippines $8.8m

67^th biggest Disney film worldwide between Pretty Woman and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian; 272^nd biggest film worldwide between Pokémon: Detective Pikachu and The Exorcist and 206^th biggest film internationally between The Hangover Part II and Lucy and 13^th biggest film of 2019 between Pokémon: Detective Pikachu and Alita: Battle Angel.

• Joker – Warner Bros

Dropped 31.6% in its sixth weekend taking $9.22m and $313.51m;

76th biggest film in the US between Thor: Ragnarok and Iron Man 2 and 194^th biggest inflation inflated between The Amityville Horror and Star Trek; 11th biggest Warner Bros film in the US between Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

Warner Bros biggest film of 2019 overtaking It Chapter Two ($209.6m);

Took $20.3m from 79 territories and $671.2m internationally and $984.7m worldwide; 7^th biggest film worldwide in 2019 between Aladdin and Hobbs & Shaw.

45^th biggest film worldwide between The Lion King (1994) and Despicable Me 2; 10^th biggest comic-book film worldwide between Captain Marvel and Black Panther.

6^th biggest Warner Bros film worldwide between The Dark Knight and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone; 6^th biggest Warner Bros film internationally between The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I.

4^th biggest DC film worldwide after Aquaman, The Dark Knight Rises and The Dark Knight will shortly overtake The Dark Knight; 7th biggest worldwide of 2019 between Aladdin and Hobbs & Shaw

UK: $67.7m; Mexico: $42.8m; Japan: $40.9m; France: $39.9m; Korea: $37.8m; Germany: $35.9m; Brazil: $35.1m; Italy: $31.4m; Russia: $29.6m; Spain: $29.5m; Australia: $25.3m; Indonesia: $13.5m

• Playing with Fire – Paramount Pictures

Opened with $12.72m; received poor reviews (25% Rotten Tomatoes) and B+ CinemaScore

Paramount Pictures brought forward its release from March after having to delay Sonic the Hedgehog and were probably hoping for a similar opening as last years Instant Family (414.5m taking $67.36m).

John Cena has been slowly following in Dwayne Johnson footsteps starring in comedies Daddy’s Home, Daddy’s Home 2, Blockers and Fighting with My Family and then Transformers prequel Bumblebee. Next year stars in Dolittle and Fast & Furious 9 next year and then The Suicide Squad in 2021 which will see him crossover into possibly similar action star was Dwayne Johnson.

• The Addams Family – United Artists

Dropped 50% in its fifth weekend taking $4.16m and $91.42m

With Halloween now oversaw The Addams Family drop its heaviest and down five spots in the top 10.

The Addams Family was previously made as a live-action film in 1991  taking $113.5m and $191.5m worldwide. The sequel Addams Family Values released two years later wasn’t nearly as successful taking $48.9m.

Took $19.3m from 32 territories and $35.8m total and $129.3m worldwide

• Jojo Rabbit – Fox Searchlight

Expanded into 802 screens adding 546 screens in its fourth weekend up 69% taking $3.95m and $9.12m

JoJo Rabbit is holding similar to 2014’s Birdman after four strong weekends the question is how wide will JoJo Rabbit’s expansion be in its fourth weekend, will it expand beyond 800 screens. The problem with so many films is they perform strongly on platform but then the film expands too quickly, so will be interesting to see if Fox Searchlight open JoJo Rabbit any wider before Thanksgiving.

Since then Fox Searchlight has won Best Picture Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire, 12 Years a Slave, Birdman, and The Shape of Water and won 15 other Oscars and The Full Monty, Sideways, Little Miss Sunshine, Juno, Black Swan, 127 Hours, The Tree of Life, The Descendants, Beasts of the Southern Wild, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Brooklyn, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and The Favourite have also been nominated for Best Picture.

Over the last 25 years, Fox Searchlight has released 186 films taking $2.66bn in the US.

Jojo Rabbit had a similar platform as previous Fox Searchlight award winners

4th-weekend expansions

2018’s The Favourite added 350 screens to 441 taking $2,605,484 #13 and $6,775,387 expanded into 790 screens in the fifth weekend taking $2,085,123 20% drop; took 11 weeks to expand into its widest 1,554 screens going on to take $34,366,783 and played in cinemas for over 16 weeks.

2017’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri added 816 screens to 1,430 screens taking $4,396,537 #7 and $13,537,057 expanded into 1,620 screens in fifth weekend taking $2,862,109 34.9% drop; took 5 weeks to expand into widest 1,620 screens going on to take $54,513,740 and played in cinemas for over 20 weeks.

2017’s The Shape of Water added 568 screens to 726 taking $3,000,490 #10 and $7,566,155 expanded into 756 screens in the fifth weekend taking $3,530,022; took 10 weeks to expand into widest 2,341 screens going on to take $63,859,435 and played in cinemas for over 18 weeks.

2015’s Brooklyn added 734 screens to 845 taking $3,946,667 #9 and $7,395,144 expanded into 906 screens in fifth weekend $2,439,470; taking 6 weeks to expand into 947 screens going on to take $38,322,743 and played in cinemas for over 20 weeks.

2014’s Birdman added 229 screens to 460 taking $2,311,866 #11 and $8,098,118 expanded into 857 screens in fifth weekend $2,471,471; took 8 weeks to expand into 738 screens (expanded into 1,213 screens after Oscar win) going on to take $42,340,598 and played in cinemas for over 20 weeks.

2013’s 12 Years A Slave added 734 screens to 1,144 taking $6,675,731 #7 and $17,421,312 expanded into 1,411 screens in fifth weekend $4,604,706; took 6 weeks to expand into widest 1,474 screens going on to take $56,671,993 and played in cinemas for over 25 weeks.

Fox Searchlight has had many successful Oscar winners that also started on platform, but they had a much wider target demographic before opening (Juno, Slumdog Millionaire, Black Swan, The Descendants, Sideways and The Full Monty) JoJo Rabbit’s not yet that must-see Oscar contender receiving a polarised critical reaction.

• Parasite – Neon

Expanded into 603 screens in its fifth weekend up 2% taking $2.59m and $11.31m

Has overtaken Bong Joon Ho’s 2013’s Snowpiercer ($4.56m) to become the directors biggest film in the US and has become the biggest foreign-language film of the year with many box office analysts predicting it could take $20m.

Parasite will shortly be overtaking original Swedish version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo ($12.7m), and Alfonso Cuaron’s Y Tu Tambien ($13.6m).

Parasite has taken over $109m worldwide with over 90% internationally 67% from South Korea

Parasite has already expanded wider than Snowpiercer expanding into 356 screens in its third weekend but lost many of those screens within weeks despite critical acclaim (95% Rotten Tomatoes).

At the Cannes Film Festival Curzon acquired UK rights to the film giving it a full theatrical release in February, rather than their limited cinema/VoD release they do with many of their films and Netflix titles.

• Honey Boy – Amazon

Opened with $301,065 from 4 screens

Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival where Amazon acquired rights receiving positive reviews 97% Rotten Tomatoes.

2019 has been Shia LaBeouf’s comeback year with Honey Boy following the critical acclaim The Peanut Butter Falcon.

Shia LaBeouf’s career had many twists and turns since starring in Holes in 2003, starring in the Transformers franchise and prestigious films and then some controversies (wearing a paper bag on his head on the red carpet at the 2014’s Cannes Film Festival for the Nymphomaniac premiere saying “I am not famous anymore”), legal issues and political protest and two years ago his thriller Man Down opened in the UK with only £7 playing in one screen.

UK Box Office Predictions

The rom-com was a hugely popular genre in cinemas for more than a century, this year is the 30tg anniversary of When Harry Met Sally, but in recent years they have failed to find the same audience they used to get and have more success on streaming services.

When trailers were released for Last Christmas many were making comparisons to 2003’s Love Actually and 2006’s The Holiday, but reviews make it sound like a remake of 1947’s Down to Earth/Meet Joe Black (remade in 1980 as Xanadu and then 2001 as Down to Earth) and 1988’s Chances Are, with a predictably twee Emma Thompson script.

Ahead of its US release many expected the pairing of Emilia Clarke and Henry Golding would give female audiences something different this Christmas away from all the sequels and with the addition of George Michael songs Last Christmas and become this year The Holiday (opened £2,826,520 taking £12,097,597).

While the film underwhelmed in the US it will likely get a Brit boost bur still come short to the films like Love Actually it’s trying to imitate; Love Actually opened £6,657,479 (£10,825,901 inflation inflated) taking £36,026,147 (£58,583,059 inflation inflated).

Filmmakers took issue with people spoiling the film, but its title Last Christmas is the biggest spoiler as from the Wham song and its next lyrics are “! gave you my heart”…

The film received very poor reviews in the US including Rolling Stone review ““There are god-awful holiday movies…and then there’s Last Christmas. Our one-star review.” Paul Feig responded on Twitter “As a lifelong Rolling Stone reader, I sincerely thank you for your opinion. We can’t win everybody over, but we will continue to try! I swear all of our hearts were in the right place. Can our one star at least be a really really big star?

Other Christmas rom-coms 2008’s Four Christmases opened £2,275,585 taking £10,222,998 and 2001’s Serendipity opened £635,042 (£1,107,489 inflation inflated) taking £1,986,773 (£3,464,855 inflation inflated).

Emilia Clarke starred in Terminator Genisys and Solo: A Star Wars Story along with TV series Game of Thrones but 2016’s Me Before You was her previous leading film role (opened with £1,790,657 taking £9,588,072).

Henry Golding starred previously in last years Crazy Rich Asians, the film was a huge hit in the US but wasn’t as successful in the UK opening with £1,599,858 taking £5,624,525;

Director Paul Feig directed probably one of the best recent rom-coms 2011’s Bridesmaids (opened with £3,445,395 taking £22,318,130).

Opening against Last Christmas is Le Mans ’66 aka Ford v Ferrari, the film has generated strong buzz since premiering at Telluride Film Festival as Ford v Ferrari and then premiered at the London Film Festival as Le Mans ’66, causing much confusion.

After Joker has held #1 for the last two weeks Le Mans ’66 should replace it but probably as last weekend neither Le Mans ’66 or Last Christmas will break away from the pack behind it.

Do think Ford v Ferrari title change will see it not open as strongly as the US as Le Mans ’66 makes the film sound like a racing film. Ending what will be an Annus horribilis for 20^th Century Fox after being acquired by Disney earlier this year with the studios being incorporated within Disney with the studio heritage disappearing as films like Miracle on 34^th Street now Disney’s Miracle on 34^th Street.

Le Mans ’66 will probably be the last 20^th Century Fox film released by Fox as Disney will take over control of release the studio’s films in the new year with 20^th Century House no more in Soho where the studio had been based for almost 90 years in the UK.

Le Mans ’66 is likely to open similar to 2013’s Rush opened with £2,099,308 taking £9,793,677

James Mangold recently directed action films Logan, The Wolverine and Knight and Day have to go back to 2015’s Walk the Line opened with £1,111,142 taking £9,737,493

 

Opening in the UK Next Week

• Frozen 2 – Disney

Animated musical fantasy sequel to 2013’s Frozen made by Walt Disney Animation Studios and the 58th film made by the studio and second sequel after last year’s Ralph Breaks the Internet.

Featuring the voices of Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad, Santino Fontana, Sterling K. Brown, Evan Rachel Wood, Alfred Molina, Martha Plimpton, Rachel Matthews, and Jason Ritter and directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee.

The original film was based on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen which Disney had developed since 1937 after many false starts finally started production in 2011 but in 2012 they weren’t happy with how the film was turning out and started production again only 17 months before release.

After the first film was released there were no immediate plans for a sequel as the studio said in 2014 their priority was the stage show, but a year later they announced the sequel

Screened footage at Annecy International Animated Film Festival in June 2019 with more footage shown at D23 Expo; the first teaser was released in February viewed 116.4 million times in its first 24 hours (the second most-watched animated trailer after Incredibles 2), second trailer was released in June with Toy Story 4 and a third in September.

Disney Animations biggest opening in the UK was 2008’s Bolt with £5,457,438 taking £17,745,776 and 2016’s Zootropolis £5,306,726 (had previews of £1,733,638) taking £23,461,047

Toy Story 3 (£21,187,264) is the biggest animation opening in the UK but was inflated with £9,693,440 from previews; without previews 2007’s Shrek The Third (£16,671,727) The Simpsons (£13,626,853) and Toy Story 4 (£13,300,000) third.

2013’s Frozen (£4,704,940) is currently 49^th biggest animated opening in the UK in 2013 Frozen had the 29^th biggest animated opening between How to Train Your Dragon and Shrek.

2013’s Frozen was beloved by young girls who saw the film countless times in cinemas

Let It Go video has been seen on YouTube over 1bn times on YouTube and the singalong over 1.8bn times since December 2013

Disney released two Frozen shorts Frozen Fever with 2015’s Cinderella

2017’s Olaf’s Frozen Adventure was released with Coco in the US but as Coco UK release was moved to January in the UK Disney released the short with Frozen in November 2017 with tickets only £1 opening with £1,115,689

Frozen took £42,976,318 was the 10^th biggest animated film; in 2013 Frozen was the 5^th biggest animated film after Toy Story 3, Shrek 2, Despicable Me 2 and Toy Story 2.

Frozen is currently the 284^th biggest opening in the UK between Star Trek Beyond and Batman Forever; in 2013 Frozen was the 164^th biggest opening between I, Robot and Batman Forever.

Hard to make comparisons with other animated films with their sequels as many were inflated with previews and opened during school holidays while also none of them was as beloved as Frozen became as soon as it was released.

Despicable Me 3 took 12% more (not including previews than Despicable Me 2 while Toy Story 3 took 48% more than Toy Story 3 which would see Frozen 2 open with £7m-£8m. In the US Frozen 2 was tracking to open with $100m+ which would be a similar 48% increase from original.

Another comparison would be 2017’s Paddington 2 opening 61% more (£8,260,160) than 2014’s Paddington (£5,125,519).

• 21 Bridges – STX International

Action thriller starring Chadwick Boseman, J. K. Simmons, Sienna Miller, Taylor Kitsch, Stephan James, and Keith David and directed by Brian Kirk and produced by Joe and Anthony Russo.

Was originally set to be released in July and September before they added 4 bridges as it was previously called 17 Bridges.

Studios seem to be obsessed opening films day and date with the US but for a film like 21 Bridges there seems no need to do so.

Likely to open similar to Mile 22 £0.79m taking £1.6m and Den of Thieves opened with £1.08m taking £2.8m. 

• Harriet – Universal Pictures

Biographical drama starring Cynthia Erivo, Leslie Odom Jr., Joe Alwyn, and Janelle Monáe and directed by Kasi Lemmons; had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival receiving mixed reviews but praised Erivo’s performance.

Trailers have been viewed over 7m times on YouTube

• Them That Follow – Sony Pictures

Thriller starring Olivia Colman, Kaitlyn Dever, Alice Englert, Jim Gaffigan, Walton Goggins, Thomas Mann and Lewis Pullman and written and directed by Britt Poulton; had its world premiere in at the Sundance Film Festival receiving mixed reviews and were Sony Pictures acquired international rights.

Its Olivia Colman’s first film released since winning Best Actress Oscar for The Favourite earlier this year; Olivia Colman is currently appearing on the small screen in series three of The Crown.

The film opened in the US in August on limited release taking $158,973 and will have a limited release in the UK.

Opening in the US Next Week

• Frozen 2 – Disney

Early tracking Frozen 2 was looking to open with $100m; tickets went on sale on November 4^th selling the greatest number of tickets in 24 hours than any animated film.

Frozen opened in one screen in November 2013 taking $243,390 (as many Disney animated films used to do open at El Capitan Theatre exclusively for a week) taking $67.39m I its expansion going on to take $400.73m in the US and $1.274bn worldwide; in 2013 Frozen overtook Toy Story 3 to become the highest-grossing animated film of all time but was surpassed this year by The Lion King reimagination.

Frozen opened second behind The Hunger Games: Catching Fire moving #1 in its second weekend having far less competition only The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug opening two weeks later but that targeted an older male audience; held in #1 and #2 for 7 weeks of its release

Animated sequels have underperformed this year including The LEGO Movie 2, The Secret Life of Pets 2, and The Angry Birds Movie 2 while Disney releases The Incredibles 2, Toy Story 4, and Ralph Breaks the Internet did better but not vastly more than previous instalments

Frozen 2 is unlikely to have the legs of the first film and faces much tougher competition with Jumanji: The Next Level, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and Spies In Disguise opening over the next few weeks. Frozen 2 will open up to 50% bigger than Frozen but will drop off much heavier.

Early reaction has been positive on social media being described as more mature but less magical and doesn’t reach the levels of the original, that said the fanbase is huge for Frozen who have grown up and the sequel has grown up with them playing to an older audience than the original.

The big question is will Into the Unknown become this year’s Let It Go

• 21 Bridges – STX

21 Bridges is Chadwick Boseman first film since starring as Black Panther in three Marvel Cinematic Universe films (Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame) will be counter-programming to Disney and award contenders as has been with other STX film releases.

STX have had success recently with action thrillers including Mile 22 opening with $13.71m taking $36.1m; Den of Thieves opening $15.2m taking $44.97m; Peppermint opening $13.42m taking $35.41m; The Foreigner opening $13.11m taking $34.39m.

After Terminator: Dark Fate and Gemini Man underperformed there is space in the market.

21 Bridges is tracking to open with about $13m similar to previous STX action films.

• A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood – Sony Pictures

Biographical drama starring Tom Hanks, Matthew Rhys, Susan Kelechi Watson, and Chris Cooper and directed by Marielle Heller inspired by the 1998 article “Can You Say… Hero?” by Tom Junod, published in Esquire.

Had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival receiving critical acclaim (96% Rotten Tomatoes) and praise for Hanks and Rhys performance, which could see Tom Hanks win his third Best Actor Oscar finally after so many attempts since winning two in two years with Philadelphia and Forrest Gump.

It’s incredible that performances for Jim Lovell (Apollo 13), Captain Miller (Saving Private Ryan), Chuck Noland (Cast Away), Michael Sullivan (Road to Perdition); Carl Hanratty (Catch Me If You Can), Captain Richard Phillips (Captain Phillips), Walt Disney (Saving Mr. Banks), James B. Donovan (Bridge of Spies), Chesley ‘Sully’ Sullenberger (Sully) and Ben Bradlee (The Post) didn’t win him his third Oscar; stars next in News of the World directed by Paul Greengrass and Elvis Presley film directed by Baz Luhrmann.

Documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbour? about Fred Rogers performed strongly taking $22.84m last year.  

Was originally set to open in October but in May was pushed back to November tracking to open with $25m.

• Dark Waters – Focus Features

Legal thriller starring Mark Ruffalo, Anne Hathaway, Tim Robbins, Victor Garber, Mare Winningham, William Jackson Harper, and Bill Pullman and directed by Todd Haynes based on the 2016 article “The Lawyer Who Became DuPont’s Worst Nightmare” by Nathaniel Rich, published in The New York Times Magazine.