Top 5 Breakdown

1. The Hitman’s Bodyguard £1,982,951 – NE

The Hitman’s Bodyguard squeezes past the fifth weekend of Dunkirk with its Thursday previews of £364,919 helping it open top without the previews would have opened with £1.62m Fri-Sun second to Dunkirk which would have been the first film since Avatar in in January 2010 to be top for five weekends Avatar held top for 8 weeks.

Many have declared Dunkirk as the real winner but until weekend box office figures are calculated by their Fri-Sun box office only The Hitman’s Bodyguard is #1 opening beat director Patrick Hughes previous opening 2014’s The Expendables 3’s £1.69m.

The Hitman’s Bodyguard opened close to This Mean’s War (many have confused the two) opened March 2012 £1,821,698 which took £4,826,653

The Transporter opened January 2003 with £338,420 taking £623,493

Transporter 2 opened November 2005 with £414,400 taking £991,940

Transporter 3 opened December 2008 with £958,615 taking £2,446,717

The Bodyguard opened £2.48m December 1992 taking £16.83m

Despite poor reviews The Hitman’s Bodyguard was helped with its strong marketing campaign with the pairing of Deadpool meets Nick Fury with Samuel L Jackson and Ryan Reynolds and the first red-band trailer released in April parodying 1992’s The Bodyguard with Whitney Houston I Will Always Love You featuring on the trailer and its poster Samuel L Jackson being carried by Ryan Reynolds.

The Hitman’s Bodyguard was helped with the films marketing campaign using Ryan Reynolds to replicate marketing for Deadpool breaking the fourth wall with a TV spot voiced by Jon Bailey who does the excellent Honest Trailers replacing positive review quote with comments from Reynolds and Jackson about each other. Paramount tried to do similar with Baywatch marketing but while its marketing was strong the film was poor.

Many films over the years have broken the fourth wall with characters talking directly to the audience including American Psycho, Fight Club, Spaceballs, High Fidelity, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Trading Places, Annie Hall, Blazing Saddles and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

2. Dunkirk – £1,938,125 – £ 49,101,623

Down 27.1% in its fifth weekend just missing out being #1 for five weeks n a r

Dunkirk will shortly overtake Christopher Nolan’s 2008’s The Dark Knight £48.68m and likely to also overtake 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises £56.24m;

But of course, these films were released over 5 years ago their admissions tell a different story with when Dunkirk does overtake The Dark Knight Rises would have done it with 7,391,590 admissions 21% less than The Dark Knight 9,362,532 and 16% less than The Dark Knight Rises 8,830,070. As Dunkirk admissions are calculated using UK Cinema Association/BFI claimed average for the year rather than real average of £10.50 if this was used Inception would have taken £62.32m, The Dark Knight Rises £92.71m and The Dark Knight £98.3m.

Saving Private Ryan took £931,140 in its fifth weekend in October 1998 taking £13.898,774 going on to take £18,740,016 (4.604m admissions); can’t make direct comparisons with Dunkirk as benefited from opening during summer holidays and average ticket prices almost three times what they were in 1998 (£4.07) along with the 40 IMAX screens. By comparing admissions Saving Private Ryan would have taken £22.75m on its way to £35.04m if using the claimed £7.61 average from UK Cinema Association and BFI. But as average for Dunkirk with IMAX surcharges are nearer £12.50 would be £37.37m going on to take £57,55m which will be close to the final box office for Dunkirk.

On Sunday night after Deadline were reporting Dunkirk held top for a fifth weekend wrote Doing something not any Harry Potter film could do, Star Wars The Force Awakens, Toy Story 3 or The Kings Speech being the first film since Avatar in January 2010 to be #1 for five weeks in a row. But The Hitman’s Bodyguard stopped Dunkirk from topping the chart with only £60,000 between them despite having an four day opening.

Avatar stayed #1 for eight weeks and the difference was that all of Avatar’s eight weeks at #1 were far ahead of its competition the only reason why Dunkirk has head top these past two weeks is because of the very disappointing performances of the new releases.

Avatar and Dunkirk’s box office after 5 weekends is very similar £49.37m Vs £49.35 but Avatar went on to rake £94m (2017 would be £131m) Dunkirk will take about £58m. While many would say comparisons can’t be made as Avatar was always expected to be a mega-hit while Dunkirk was more of a risk it was always likely Dunkirk with its huge hype would get the ‘Brit boost’ that Harry Potter, James Bond and Bridget Jones’s films get in the UK when critics go completely OTT with their reviews;

20 years ago next Friday a British film opened which received that ‘Brit boost’ The Full Monty which helped it become the biggest British film in the UK until the first Harry Potter film in 2001. The Full Monty was helped by a country in mourning opening the weekend Princess Diana died.

3. Annabelle: Creation £1,193,210 – £ 4,754,102

Down 39.3% in its second weekend holding well with second weekend drop close to Get Out 37% despite the arrival of The Hitman’s Bodyguard and The Dark Tower targeting similar demographics why it had the second biggest drop of the franchise.

Annabelle: Creation took £3.55m in its opening week up 14% from 2014’s Annabelle £3.11m and total after 10 days up 3.8% from £4.58m Vs £4.74m.

Despite being a crowded marketplace Annabelle: Creation is the only horror until It opens in two weekends so should beat Annabelle’s £7.51m total.

Early tracking for Stephen King’s It is expecting an opening of $50-60m+ in two weeks’ time with a £5m+ opening in the UK.

4. The Emoji Movie £ 1,028,182 – £8,644,036

Down only 15.9% in its third weekend (the lowest drop of all films in the top 10) words can’t express why shock and amazement at how parents must be taking their children to see this film but saying that they are probably the same people who took their children to see The Angry Birds Movie last year and Despicable Me 3 and Cars 3 over the infinitely better Captain Underpants. 

On Monday The Emoji Movie climbed up to second behind The Hitman’s Bodyguard.

The Emoji Movie is currently the 27^th biggest film of the year having taken almost double of the box office of Captain Underpants and will shortly overtake Cars 3 to be the fourth biggest animated film of the year in the UK.

As I’ve said before makes some sense why Emoji Movie had a decent opening in the US as it was the only children’s film on major release but no sense why two weeks after opening in the US after hearing all the negativity surrounding the film people chose to pay to see it and are still doing so.

Many have blamed Rotten Tomatoes algorithms for being the reason why many films flopped this summer but Emoji Movie success in the UK proves beyond a doubt this was just an excuse by studios and exhibitors over sequels and remakes that were unwanted. But despite Emoji Movie’s success in the US it’s still doubtful after its worse performance in the US we are likely to see a sequel anytime soon.

The Emoji Movie is expected to take over £10m at the box office which will be Sony Pictures UK fourth film of 2017 to take over £10m after Spider-Man: Homecoming, T2: Trainspotting and Baby Driver with Blade Runner 2049 and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle both expected to take £10m.

5. The Dark Tower £910,529 – NE

After flopping in US three weeks ago The Dark Tower did similar in the US;

The Dark Tower as Emoji Movie and Rough Night opening this weekend were all originally set to open day and date with US but all three were then given delayed openings. All three films were expected to do poorly after negative buzz while made some sense to delay The Emoji Movie away from Cars 3 and Captain Underpants and was successful was no reason at all to delay both The Dark Tower and Rough Night.

Sony Pictures remaining films of 2017 after Rough Night opening Friday, is the faith film All Saints (not what I originally thought it was a biopic of the 90s girl band All Saints and a behind the scenes on the making of their film Honest).

Flatliners reboot 27 years after the original do we really need a reboot? Blade Runner 2049 has received much hype and much expectation but after the original film flopped 35 years ago who will be seeing the sequel as teens then are now in their 60s will they be watching the sequel with millennials or will they prefer to see Kingsman: The Golden Circle? Call Me By Your Name and Professor Marston & the Wonder Women both expected to premier at London Film Festival in October which Sony will be hoping will make them cross over into mainstream audiences as they will hope Denzel Washington’s Roman Israel Esq. will do Brigsby Bear has received very positive reviews but unlikely to find an audience in the UK.

Jumanji: Welcome to Jungle was massive outcry when Sony Pictures announced the reboot of Jumanji so soon after Robin Williams death will the teaming of Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart and a body-switch make audience get past it.

Sony Pictures used the John Hughes twist on Spider-Man: Homecoming can they do similar with Jumanji or will it become this year’s Point Break with audiences not being able to get past it being reboot of the Robin Williams 1996 film as 2015 audiences were willing to do with 2015 remake of Keanu Reeves 1991 dumb but fun classic action film with Patrick Swayze.

Also released

An Inconvenient Sequel – Paramount – £201,130 from 98 screens; An Inconvenient Truth opened with £63,742 from only 18 screens taking £806,000; after the sequel generated huge media coverage over the past 10 days as with the US opening would have expected a far bigger opening.

UK Box Office News

July admissions 17.8m highest since July 2011; UK cinema admissions 102m box office of £777.4m (using £7.62 as the claimed average ticket price) up 6.6% to the end of July from last year and the best since 2009 taking 103.5m went on to take 173.5m for the year the highest since 2002 175.9m; but after having the best March/April for 15 years many were predicting admissions would finally grow for the first time since 2002 instead are probably going to be close to 2015.

Last year admissions were 168.3m had a strong autumn with Bridget Jones’s Baby, The Girl on the Train, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Star Wars: Rogue One while this year early autumn has some strong films but unlikely to match Bridget Jones’s Baby, The Girl on the Train but Thor: Ragnarok, Paddington 2, Justice League and Star Wars: The Last Jedi are expected to take over £200m between them.

U.K. Cinema Association Phil Clapp said exhibitors shouldn’t be complacent with those figures but have been for decades as admissions this year should have easily topped 2002 and be the highest since 1970 193m or even top 200m which experts in Screen International were predicting in 1994 would happen in 2000 but hasn’t done since 1969. Have said before I do believe had growth continued to grow as it did in the 90s and early 00s admissions would be over 260m by now which would be close to how they were in 1967.

Phil Clapp also said the results being a “dividend of significant investment of cinema exhibitors in customer experience” and “There is an underlying effect we’ve seen in the past that cinema can offer escapism that is affordable,” both comments make me think he hasn’t paid to go to the cinema in a very long time

UK box office in detail

This weekend’s top 10 box office took £9,602,352 down 9.9% from last weekend £10,664,265    

The weekend admissions 999,921 down 28.6% from last weekend 1,401,349 (average price £7.62 by UK Cinema Association/BFI for 2017).

14 films opened at weekend taking £3,784,967 The Hitman’s Bodyguard 52.3% (£1,982,951); The Dark Tower took 24.5% (£910,529); Everything, Everything 11.9% (£453,401) with the remaining 11 films sharing £438,086 (11.5%)

Weekend was down 26.2% from last year (£13,012,003): David Brent: Life on the Road £1,460,290, Lights Out £1,126,543, Swallows and Amazons £676,175, Nine Lives £636,804

Up 2.2% from 2015: (£9,389,554): Paper Towns £2,072,789, Sinister £1,069,261, Vacation £608,748, The Bad Education Movie £594,861 opened.

Next weekend in 2016: (£9,034,593) Bad Moms £1,471,466, War Dogs £1,005,133, The Purge: Election Year £807,803, Mechanic: Resurrection £508,715, Julieta £356,191, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping £31,128

 

UK Box Office Top 10

 

US Box Office Top 10

 

US Box office

Lionsgate – The Hitman’s Bodyguard – opens $21.38m opening slightly bigger than expected despite poor reviews and only B+ CinemaScore audiences preferred to see The Hitman’s Bodyguard over Logan Lucky which received far better reviews.

Opening was bigger than the directors previous film 2014’s The Expendables 3 $15.87m taking $39.32m; The Transporter Refueled $7.35m taking $16.02m, Transporter 3 $12.06m taking $31.71m; Transporter 2 $16.54m taking $43.09m; The Transporter $9.1m taking $25.29m; Mechanic: Resurrection $7.45m taking $21.21m and 2012’s This Mean’s War $17.4m taking $54.76m.

And the film marketing was inspired by 1992’s The Bodyguard opened with $16.61m taking $122m.

Despite a lack of new releases on Friday The Hitman’s Bodyguard is likely to drop over 50% which could see faith film All Saints open top at the weekend. Faith films have been very lucrative to the studios especially Sony Pictures in recent years. 

Warner Bros – Annabelle: Creation – drops 55.4% in its second weekend taking $15.61m and $64.04m

The three previous films have taken over $388m in the US and over $1 billion globally Annabelle: Creation. As the total budget for all four films is less than $100m the franchise is very profitable for Warner Bros and New Line with The Nun set for release next summer and The Conjuring 3 currently in development likely released in 2019.

The Conjuring film series is close to Paranormal Activity franchise which had six films released over 6 years. The final film Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension released in October 2015 was overshadowed by Paramount Pictures plans for early VOD release which saw many exhibitors boycott the film.

Last week it was announced Warner Bros and Universal Pictures and other studios are in talks with Apple and others for PVOD releases of theatrical within a month of release. Was reported on Tuesday studios plan to start this early in 2018 with or without exhibitors. After this summer is expected to have the lowest admissions for 25 years the industry must change the way they distribute films as the current theatrical window doesn’t work for all films it needs to be flexible.

Warner Bros have extended the gap between theatrical and DVD release for Wonder Woman giving it an encore IMAX release next weekend before released on Digital at the end of the month with DVD in mid-September. The other films which disappoint at the box office should be allowed to be released within weeks of theatrical release as does the film no good not being legally available anywhere as people will seek out illegal ways to see the film.

Annabelle Creation took $42m from international total $96.7m and $162.7m globally; the first film took $84.27m in the US (Annabelle: Creation should match its box office) and $172.6m internationally taking $256.87m.

Bleecker Street – Logan Lucky – opens $7.6m; despite receiving 93% Rotten Tomatoes score it was not much of a shock given that Logan Lucky opened against similar audience demographic The Hitman’s Bodyguard that it disappointed at the box office; received B CinemaScore.

Logan Lucky had the lowest for a wide release directed by Steven Soderbergh since the $6.7 million opening for 2002’s Solaris; it’s the lowest opening for a wide release for Channing Tatum since the $4.5 million debut for Stop-Loss in 2008 and for Daniel Craig his lowest wide opening since the $5.9 million debut for The Invasion in 2007.

In the build, up to Logan Lucky, much was talked about it being a new way to finance and distribute films without using a studio.  Steven Soderbergh used foreign pre-sales to find the production cost and sold streaming rights to Amazon to pay for its marketing. Instead of paying Bleecker Street a distribution fee which is normally up to 10% they were paid a fixed rate fee which gave Bleecker Street what looked to be a potential hit after receiving positive reviews for little cost to them. But after Logan Lucky disappointed the big winner were studios which could have been at risk for other filmmakers to look at similar options to release their films.

Bleecker Street must be very frustrated with Daniel Craig as the films promo tour was overshadowed by the will he or won’t he star in Bond 25. The failure of Logan Lucky also shows why Daniel Craig signed on for Bond 25 despite saying after Spectre he would prefer to slash his wrists. As Logan Lucky is Daniel Craig’s ninth non-James Bond film since his first James Bond was released in 2006 Casino Royale. The films he made before the next Quantum of Solace all flopped The Invasion, The Golden Compass (had been planned to be the first of a series flopped and was the reason why Warner Bros brought New Line studios in-house), and Flashbacks of a Fool.

The one successful film before Skyfall was The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo remake but Sony Pictures are currently making the sequel and he won’t feature, while Defiance, Cowboy’s & Aliens, Dream House and Adventure of Tintin flopped. Between Skyfall and Spectre, he didn’t appear in any films. For Pierce Brosnan, since he was fired from James Bond he has appeared in 21 films all have disappointed at the box office apart from Mama Mia! and he will likely return in the sequel released next summer Mamma Mia Here We Go Again.

Similar was the case for Roger Moore career after Bond with Sean Connery the only actor who had a career after playing James Bond starring in almost 40 films after starring in Diamonds Are Forever including The Untouchables, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Hunt for Red October and The Rock his final film was 14 years ago The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

 

Warner Bros- Dunkirk dropped 39.2% in its fifth weekend $6.61m taking $165.42m;

Comparing with previous Christopher Nolan film 2014’s Interstellar took $7.78m in its fifth weekend and $158.44m (84.2% of the final box office of $188.02m) while 2010’s Inception took $11.28m and $248.46m. (84.9% of final box office of $292.57m)

If Dunkirk continues to hold as it is currently it will likely match Saving Private Ryan’s $216.54m box office showing how much the ‘Brit effect’ has inflated its UK box office

As Saving Private Ryan took $10.14m dropping only 22.9% taking $142.74m; but of course, was released 19 years ago when average ticket price was $4.69 compared to $8.95 and was no IMAX surcharges; Saving Private Ryan admissions 22.11m (2017 box office would be 91% more $197.88m) Vs Dunkirk 14.92m (1998 box office would be 48% less $69.98m).

Dunkirk took $8.5m internationally $227.2m total with global box office of $372.76m overtaking the worldwide total of Batman Begins to be the directors fifth biggest worldwide but has a long way to overtake Interstellar $675.1m; currently the fourteenth biggest film of the year and will overtake The Mummy in the next week; Dunkirk is #256 biggest film in the world and will shortly overtake Snow White and the Huntsman, Mission: Impossible III, Tron Legacy and Gone with the Wind.

In 2014 Interstellar took $675.12m and in 2010 Inception took $825.53m globally while Saving Private Ryan took $481.84m globally which would be about $919.5m total.

Wonder Woman has now taken $800.1m worldwide is #64; depending on how it does in Japan a country famous for loving female fantasy films Frozen in the third biggest film in Japan behind Titanic and Spirited Away if Warner sold it similarly it will shortly overtake Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, Independence Day, Spider-Man, Inception and maybe even Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2; in the US Wonder Woman has taken $404m #23 biggest film overtaking Spider-Man becoming the highest grossing superhero origin film;

Warner Bros gives the film an encore releases this weekend in IMAX screens could it possibly overtake Captain America: Civil War and Iron Man 3 to be briefly in the top 20 biggest films. Star Wars: The Last Jedi will be the only film other than Beauty and the Beast to beat it this year all three films having strong female leads.

Weinstein Co- Wind River expands into 694 screens up 386% taking $2.97m taking $4.08m; Wind River opens September 8th in the UK and is STX first release in the UK.

On limited release

Neon – Ingrid Goes West – adds 23 screens $267,385 up 97.6% and $440,503     

Fox Searchlight – Patti Cake$ – opens with $67,599 from 14 screens with a lower than would expected opening after received positive buzz since premiering at Sundance was probably expected to open strong; expands this weekend before going limited wide over Labor Day weekend.

Sony Pictures Classics – Brigsby Bear expand into 371 screens taking a disappointing $142,218 up 178.2% from 408 screens taking $337,985; after receiving very positive reviews compared to independent films like Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Be Kind Rewind and Son of Rambow which also failed to find the cinema audiences they deserved. As Patti Cake$ Brigsby Bear premiered at Sundance Film festival receiving positive reviews.

After a disappointing summer of films many overrated and unwanted Ingrid Goes West, Patti Cake$ and Brigsby Bear are films that make you excited about going to the cinema again as they are original stories told differently but the sad thing is they are unlikely to be seen to a wider audience they deserve to be as these are the kinds of films that make you want to go back to the cinema again.

Opened August 25^th  

Opening UK

Last week Daniel Craig was on the promotion tour for Logan Lucky in the US but journalists were more interested in if he was to star in Bond 25. Similarly, Tom Cruise was generating much media coverage after failed stunt on Mission Impossible 6 saw him break two bones delaying production for several weeks.

• Logan Lucky – Studiocanal

Heist comedy featuring ensemble cast Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Riley Keough, Daniel Craig, Seth MacFarlane, Katie Holmes, Hilary Swank, Katherine Waterston and Sebastian Stan and directed, shot and edited by Steven Soderbergh and written by Rebecca Blunt (Soderbergh claims is a real person but many believe its pseudonym for Soderbergh’s wife Jules Asner or Soderbergh himself).

In 2013 Steven Soderbergh announced Side Effects would be his final film he made Behind the Candelabra as a TV movie immediately after which had a theatrical release after premiering at the Cannes Film Festival.

But in February 2016 Logan Lucky was announced Steven Soderbergh choosing to independently fund the film himself selling international rights to find the film and then streaming rights to pay for marketing while paying a flat distribution fee to Bleecker Street rather than a percentage of box office that normally happens. This was announced as a new approach to film making but international pre-sales have been regular for films for decades only difference is the flat fee distribution charge.

Reviews have been positive with many describing it as Ocean’s 14 but the films promo tour was overshadowed by the announcement in July Bond 25 would be released and all the questions were will Daniel Craig return. Rumours where he was but then last Tuesday morning Daniel Craig gave an interview saying nothing had been confirmed but then a few hours later The Late Show with Stephen Colbert he said he was to return.

Would normally expect after Logan Lucky disappointed in the US and opening against a new Tom Cruise film Logan Lucky would have little chance but thanks to UK premiere on Monday has generated much more media coverage than a Tom Cruise film both films have received positive reviews Logan Lucky is likely to open similar to 2013’s Side Effects £904,747 went on to take £3.4m.

• American Made – Universal Pictures

Biographical crime action starring Tom Cruise and directed by Doug Liman; early reviews have been positive but marketing has been very low key for a Tom Cruise film which used to be events but American Made is likely to be overshadowed by Logan Lucky had its UK premiere on Monday.

While Universal Pictures cancelled The Mummy premiere after the terrorist attack at the end of the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester it must be the first Tom Cruise film to open in the UK without a UK premiere since The Firm in 1993; Tom Cruise films used to be major events always having big London premieres it’s just very strange how the release of American Made is being handled. As if it’s opening internationally this weekend why is Universal Pictures not opening it in the US preferring it to sandwich it between Kingsman: The Golden Circle and Blade Runner 2049.

Films production was overshadowed by a plane crash on September 11^th, 2015 killing two people which were carrying crew members.

The film was originally set for release January 6^th, 2017 but was pushed back to September 29^th surprisingly being released month earlier in the UK due to Cross Creek Pictures who previously made Rush and Legend both were also released earlier in the UK but because they were based on British subjects or people. But American Made is as American as its title from Tom Cruise to be the true story based on the life of Barry Seal.

Tom Cruise was currently shooting Mission Impossible 6 before the stunt accident last week which is due for release next July he then starts shooting Top Gun: Maverick the sequel to his classic 1986 film opening 33-years after the first film in July 2019.

American Made opening against Logan Lucky with The Hitman’s Bodyguard also showing it’s likely all three will cannibalize each other as American Made isn’t getting the same marketing blitz would expect from a Tom Cruise film and is likely to open close Edge of Tomorrow which was also directed by Doug Liman.

Similar to American Made Warner Bros decided to open the film a week before the US in the UK to avoid the World Cup but in doing so opened against Maleficent with £6.59m and second weekend of X-Men: Days of Future Past with £3.51m having one of the lowest openings for a Tom Cruise film in the UK for many years £1.88m. Edge of Tomorrow received positive reviews and held strongly but similar to Wonder Woman’s disappointing opening in the UK while it might hold strongly it’s never going to be enough opening as low as it did.

In the build, up to Edge of Tomorrow’s release, many trade media were concerned about the film’s lack of media coverage and buzz against the other films and despite Tom Cruise having three premieres in 24 hours that wasn’t enough to generate enough media coverage to get audiences away from Maleficent. Tom Cruise and Doug Liman are currently developing an Edge of Tomorrow sequel which would be one I would like to see before Mission Impossible 6 or Top Gun 2 but it is a shame that after the incredible career Tom Cruise has had he seems to be reliant on sequels as his last non-sequel success is now 12 years ago War of the Worlds.

• Rough Night – Sony Pictures

Comedy starring Scarlett Johansson, Zoë Kravitz, Kate McKinnon, Jillian Bell and Ilana Glazer and directed by Lucia Aniello.

Rough Night started as the script Move That Body on 2015’s Black List the list of most liked unproduced scripts. The film’s title changed to Rock That Body before ending with the generic Rough Night. The film opened in June received mixed reviews described by many as The Hangover meets Weekend at Bernie’s/Very Bad Things.

Was expected to open with about $14m instead opened with almost half. Was originally set to open in the UK the week after its US opening but was moved to give room to Baby Driver after it was brought forward from August to June.

Was expected to open with about $14m instead opened with almost half. Was originally set to open in the UK the week after its US opening but was moved to give room to Baby Driver after it was brought forward from August to June.

Three years ago after flopping in the US Sex Tape opened in the UK a few months later over the first week of September opening #1 with £1.43m taking £4.32m unlikely Sony Pictures will have similar success with Rough Night. 

• Detroit – eOne

Crime drama starring John Boyega, Will Poulter, Algee Smith, Jason Mitchell, John Krasinski and Anthony Mackie and directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by Mark Boal.

The film received positive reviews praising Kathryn Bigelow directing and performances by Will Poulter and Algee Smith. After opening well on limited release in the US in July was expected to open with up to $15m weekend the second weekend but opened with half as much and then the second weekend dropped almost 60%.

After disappointing in the US unlikely to find an audience in the UK opening against several films also opening wide which are going to perform similarly. 

The film generated controversy being told by white filmmakers but screenwriter Mark Boal told Vanity Fair he wrote the story “because I went and talked to the people who were involved, and they told me what happened to them, and that’s what made me want to write it. I felt moved by their experiences, and I thought other people might find it moving too. I suppose if I have some tiny bit of influence in Hollywood, this is how I chose to deploy it”.

Kathryn Bigelow has directed many great films from Point Break, to Oscar winning The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty but it’s her underrated 1995 film Strange Days which is my favorite an incredible visual experience set December 31^st, 1999 featuring a great score by Peter Gabriel & Deep Forest. Was one of the films I really enjoyed screening during my days at a projectionist; 

In 1992 20^th Century Fox signed a $500m deal with Lightstorm Entertainment to distributing 12 films over 5 years but only two films were ever made Strange Days and True Lies but was expected to include The Crowded Room starring John Cusack which has been in development hell ever since. Two years ago, was announced Leonardo DiCaprio was developing the film again.

Opening in US

• All Saints – Sony Pictures

A faith-based feature film from Sony-owned AFFIRM Films; faith based films have been very lucrative in recent years low budgets that apart from Ben Hur have been successful at the box office; 2016’s Miracles from Heaven (opened $14.8m took $61.7m), Risen (opened $11.8m taking $36.8m) 2015’s War Room, 2014’s Heaven’s is for Real (opened $22.5m in April 2014 taking $91.4m).

Over a quiet weekend for films All Saints could have a strong opening with little competition opening with $12m+ could see it open second. 

• Leap! – Weinstein Co

Animated musical comedy featuring voices of Elle Fanning, Dane DeHaan, Maddie Ziegler, Kate McKinnon and Mel Brooks and Carly Rae Jepsen; was released in France and the UK last December as Ballerina but its US release date was moved several times which is often the case with Weinstein Co originally set for March, then April and to its final date of August 25^th.

The film received positive reviews and performed well at the box office playing well to young girls. Carly Rae Jepsen’s song Cut to the Feeling feature on the soundtrack was released as a single in May and many music journalists called it one of the best songs of the year and Carly Rae Jepsen best song since 2011’s Call Me Maybe but the song wasn’t nearly as successful in the charts. As seen with Justin Timberlake’s Can’t stop the feeling from Trolls and Pharrell Williams Happy, from the Despicable Me 2 a hit song released earlier in the year can help turn a film released a few months later into a hit which was expected with Cut to the Feeling but never was.