- The Marvels £3,465,783 – NE
Took £1.09m Friday (29.1%); £1.39m Saturday (40.1%); £1.06m Sunday (31.6%) similar to The Flash in June £818k Friday (19.5%); £1.23m Saturday (29.2%); £1.05m Sunday (25%); taking an additional £1.07m from 2 days of previews £4.25m opening.
464th biggest opening between American Hustle and Monsters University (close to Dungeons & Dragons, Cloverfield, Sherlock Holmes and The Matrix) and 712th inflated between Beowulf and Nanny McPhee & the Big Bang (close to Edward Scissorhands, Under Siege, Dumb and Dumber and Demolition Man).
31st biggest MCU opening between Ant-Man and Captain America: The First Avenger; Lowest opening for a Disney MCU film.
74th biggest comic-book opening between The Hulk and Morbius (close to X-Men: Dark Phoenix, Fantastic Four (2005), The Suicide Squad and Watchmen) and 86th inflated between Daredevil and Morbius (close to Shazam! Men in Black 3, Green Lantern and Blade).
20th biggest 2023 opening between Dungeons & Dragons and Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie (close to The Flash £4.25m, Meg 2: The Trench, Trolls Band Together and Scream VI)
Opened in 662 cinemas 64th widest opening between Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Mrs Harris Goes to Paris; 182nd 600+ cinema opening since 2015’s Jurassic World; opened in 2 more screens than The Flash
Opened in fewer cinemas than recent MCU films in 662 cinemas (1,500+ screens) compared to 665 Guardians Oofthe Galaxy Vol. 3 (708), Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (680) and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (704).
The 33 MCU films have taken £1.08bn in the UK since 2008 and over £1.2bn inflated; after releasing three MCU films over the last two years but with Captain America: Brave New World delayed to 2025 only as Deadpool 3 set for release in 2024, but there are many more TV shows set for release.
As with The Flash in June, The Marvels was fait accompli long before the opening, due to extensive reshoots after a poor test screening in June, yet another film set around the multi-verse and not learning anything from Star Wars. Kevin Feige has previously said they always put in at least two weeks of reshoots In every MCU film, but surely by now being the 33rd MCU, they should be able to determine what’s working as they shoot.
A year ago, Black Panther Wakanda Forever opened the same weekend with £12,363,870; £4.18m (33.8%) Friday; £4.75m (38.4%) Saturday; £3.44m (27.8%) Sunday; 2D 84.27% (£10,417,335); 3D 9.40% (£1,162,014); 61 IMAX 3.89% (£480,876) and IMAX/3D 2.44% (£301,629).
As with comic-book films like X-Men: Dark Phoenix it probably doesn’t deserve the negativity as films like Hellboy, Fantastic Four, Morbius, Catwoman and Ghost Rider got but it just had the focused anger against it in how disappointing Phase 4 has been and none of it been misogynistic hate?
There is often one film of a franchise fans target their anger and frustration this was seen with Solo: A Star Wars Story opening six months after the polarised response to Star Wars: The Last Jedi which followed the positive response to Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. This year The Flash received a lot of negative coverage, a lot of which it didn’t deserve as there are far worse comic-book films that have received better reviews and have taken far more at the box office.
The Marvels is probably not a bad film, the problem is more what came before it over the last few years with Phase 4 of the MCU with Blade Widow, Shang-Chi, Eternals, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse, Thor: Love and Thunder, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, were all hype little substance by the numbers MCU films.
Despite the huge success of 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home the problem dates back to 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, what should have followed was a new slate of films based on new Marvel characters instead the first film was Black Widow which should have been made 4 years earlier after Captain America: Civil War if not earlier as Black Widow’s first appearance in the MCU was in 2010’s Iron Man 2.
This has been where one of the issues with the MCU has been as despite all the praise and BO it took them 10 years and 17 films to diversify from white arrogant male-led films with Black Panther and 11 years and 20 films for Captain Marvel. While DC has received much-deserved negativity for their films 2017’s Wonder Woman was the fourth DC Extended Universe film released only a year after appearing in Batman Vs Superman and appeared again in Justice League opening 5 months later.
The Marvels also shows Disney hasn’t learnt anything from their Star Wars films as it features characters from TV spinoff shows making it not as accessible to non-fans as pre-Endgame MCU films. The upcoming slate is more sequels and unnecessary remakes of Fox and New Line Marvel films that will be MCU by the numbers not giving audiences anything new despite the Marvel library having 80,000+ characters.
While presales have been soft since advance booking opened over a month ago and similar is the case internationally as presales data is rarely available for the UK it’s much harder to predict, but looking at key cinemas like BFI IMAX, Odeon Leicester Square and Vue Westfield advance sales are incredibly soft.
The social media embargo ended on Tuesday evening in the US receiving mostly positive reactions but always have to take social media reactions with a pinch of salt as immediate reactions are always far more positive than actual reviews days later… As seen with BvS’s still so giddy. Im totaaaaallllyy going to be seeing this again” … “That was f-coking awesome!” but then a few days later received poor reviews.
On Wednesday reviews were very mixed The Times and Telegraph both gave it one/two stars while the Independent gave it four stars. Wednesday was also the start of its international release in many European territories. It was surprising The Marvels didn’t open on Weds/Thurs in the UK as 20 MCUs have had extended openings in the UK as did Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 taking £2.84m The Marvels opens Friday as Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
The Marvels received mixed reactions from critics and many of those that gave it positive reviews gave it negative reviews for similar reasons as it starts where the Ms. Marvel TV series end credit scenes so audiences would have needed to do their homework before seeing it.
This is the problem with most recent MCU films. Now audiences would need to see all earlier films and TV shows (117 hours) to understand it, this was similarly the issue with all Disney Star Wars films apart from The Force Awakens.
It was different from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3, and it is what made Ant-Man far more enjoyable than its two sequels which were part of the MCU. Makes these films only for the existing fanbase instead of Captain Marvel which is what made it much more enjoyable and rewatchable.
Showing Disney had little faith in the film as Shang-Chi (Mandarin) teased a surprise cameo in the trailers, as audiences would have wanted to see t.
What went wrong was Disney didn’t learn from Star Wars films as it featured many characters from TV spinoffs and even followed at once on Ms Marvel, after the fun and accessibility of Captain Marvel why not make it Captain Marvel 2?
Another issue is Phase 4 has underwhelmed due to lazy writers adding multi-universe which has been overused and becoming tiresome as it means there are no consequences to actions, which was my issue with No Way Home, I know it was a massive hit but while multi-universe worked for that it then also featured it Doctor Strange and Ant-Man sequels. Multi-universe is similar to when time travel is added, time travel works well in some films of course like BTTF and Star Trek 4 but when it’s added as it was in Endgame to bring back characters audiences shed tears over it means no one ever actually dies in MCU which just makes them tiresome and exhausting… That said for me the tiresome and exhausting for MCU started with Captain America Civil War.
Just think that is the problem with Disney they are always looking for the easy choice, but while easy choice worked well a few years ago audiences have tired of it as it all by the numbers using the formula they used in earlier films.
Why Deadpool 3 will be interesting to see how much it’s MCU and how much Fox Marvel is left, as unlikely to mock the MCU when Deadpool will be part of the new Avengers alongside reboots of Blade, Fantastic Four and X-Men, just thinking about reboots of those is tiresome as none of them need to be rebooted.
Surely simple reason it has underwhelmed was it was a cinema sequel to Ms Marvel following on from events in a TV spinoff rather than being Captain Marvel 2, had it been simply Captain Marvel 2 and audiences didn’t need to watch 125 hours of MCU to understand it would have performed far stronger, but that’s been the problem with all of Phase 4 (as with Disney’s Star Wars films) Marvel needs to stop with the multi-universe as it’s tiresome and has been overused by lazy writers as it means there are no consequences to actions as comic-book characters never die, it’s like when writers add a twist of time-travel plot twist like Dial of Destiny.
The post-credits set up the arrival of The X-Men into the MCU with Kelsey Grammer as Dr. Hank McCoy after Patrick Stewart also appeared as Prof. Charles Xavier in last year’s Doctor Strange 2. It looks like Fox’s X-Men are trapped in a different universe the MCU has been in for the last 20+ years, it all sounds far too exhausting and tiresome, as everything to do with the multi-verse has been. While Ms Marvel invites the young Hawkeye to join the ream similar to what Nick Fury did at the end of Iron Man, it looks like Marvel is planning a young Avengers film. This was what Fox had planned with The New Mutants which had been planned to start a new series of younger X-Men films, but never happened after Disney brought Fox.
Bob Iger has said quantity over quality is to blame for the recent poor performance by Marvel, but it was his idea during his previous time at Disney as he said in December 2021 “I think Disney+ needs more volume”.., “And there probably needs to be more dimensionality, meaning, basically, more programming or more content for more people, different demographic But, CEO Bob Chapek] is aware of that and is addressing those issues.” He also said Disney were in a building phase.
The budget for The Marvels was $274.8m but Disney received a 25% tax break shooting the film in the UK bringing the budget to $220m, this is the reason why US studios are making many films in the UK as it is cheaper to make them here than the US due to tax breaks.
The Marvels Suite surprisingly premiered at the Last Night of the Proms in September.
Much has been written that this is the beginning of the end of Marvel, in 9 months when Deadpool 3 opens with $150m+ it will be what crisis, that said reports are Captain America: Brave New World test screened badly and is having extensive reshoots early next year.
The Marvels is likely to drop over 50% in its second weekend with The Hunger Games taking IMAX screens from it while also playing to a similar female audience.
- 2 Trolls Band Together – £959,193 – £13,950,141
Down 47.6% in the fourth weekend.
Took £53k 5.5% (89.3% drop £497k); Friday; £466k 48.6% (41.4% drop £796k) Saturday; £440k 45.9% (17.3% drop £532k) Sunday.
357th biggest fourth weekend between Three Men and a Little Lady and Free Guy (close to Maleficent, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, Transformers and Sonic The Hedgehog) and 615th biggest inflated between G-Force and Fantastic Four (2005) (close to Good Morning Vietnam, Judge Dredd, Streetdance and Freaky Friday).
78th biggest animated fourth weekend between Hotel Transylvania 3: A Monster Vacation and Ice Age (close to Tarzan (1999), Shaun the Sheep Movie, Cars and Sherlock Gnomes) and 105th biggest animated inflated between The Pirates! In An Adventure with Scientists and Kung Fu Panda 2 (close to The Good Dinosaur, Over the Hedge, Rio 2 and Garfield).
19th biggest Dreamworks Animation fourth weekend between Antz and Shark Tale (close to Rise of the Guardians, Monsters Vs. Aliens, The Croods 2: A New Age and Bee Movie); 2016’s Trolls dropped 8% £1,820,578 #3 588 screens and £19,327,276 of £24,228,850.
Trolls Band Together has taken 28% less than Trolls but Troll’s opening was inflated with £2.4m from previews and will face competition from Wish opening next week.
The 42 Dreamworks Animation films have taken over £715m and over £1bn inflation inflated since 1998’s Antz.
Despite being released on VOD when cinemas reopened in July 2020, Trolls World Tour had a limited cinema release taking £948,876.
477th biggest between 300 and Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (close to Evita, Flash Gordon, Home Alone 2: Lost In New York and True Lies) and 822nd inflated between Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb and Along Came Polly (close to Dragonheart, Death Becomes Her, The Fifth Element and Mars Attacks).
90th biggest animated film between Kung Fu Panda 3 and Shaun the Sheep Movie (close to Aladdin (1993), Ice Age, The Bad Guys and The Rugrats Movie) and 121st biggest inflated between The Bad Guys and The Jungle Book (re-release) (close to Kung Fu Panda 3, Bee Movie, Fantastic Mr Fox and Turbo).
23rd biggest Dreamworks Animation between Kung Fu Panda 3 and Mr Peabody and Sherman (close to How to Train Your Dragon, Puss in Boots, Rise Of The Guardians and Over the Hedge) and 32nd biggest inflated between The Bad Guys and The Croods 2: A New Age (close to Megamind, Bee Movie, Abominable and Captain Underpants).
- 3 Killers of the Flower Moon £663,115 – £9,012,445
Down 42% in the fourth weekend
Took £185k 27.9% (41.3% drop £315k) Friday; £279k 42.1% (45.3% drop) Saturday; £199k 30% (36.4% drop £313k) Sunday.
513th biggest third weekend between Streetdance and It’s Complicated (close to Mission Impossible, Shutter Island, Erin Brockovich and Interview with the Vampire) and 816th biggest inflated between The Wolverine and Dangerous Minds (close to Get Out, Romeo & Juliet, True Grit and Misery)
Has become Martin Scorsese’s sixth-biggest film in the UK (not including inflation) ahead of The Aviator (£7,885,636); Hugo (£5,580,092); Casino (£4,721,460) and The Color of Money (£2,333,875) Should overtake in the coming weeks Shutter Island (£10,599,763); Gangs Of New York (£10,438,674) and Cape Fear (£10,396,215).
Martin Scorsese’s fourth weekend
2014’s The Wolf of Wall Street dropped 32% £1,604,519 #3 482 screens and £17,762,017 of £22,267,066
2003’s Gangs Of New York dropped 39% £675,887 #5 340 screens and £9,120,028 of £10,438,674
2006’s The Departed dropped 28% £1,036,275 #3 376 screens and £10,154,840 of £12,576,260
2010’s Shutter Island dropped 38% £705,499 #8 307 screens and £9,160,010 of £10,599,763
1992’s Cape Fear dropped 22.1% £670,524 (£1,664,821 inflated) #1 and £7,349,874 of £10,396,215 (£25,812,409 inflated)
2004’s The Aviator dropped 31% £625,383 #4 322 screens and £5,821,350 of £7,885,636
2011’s Hugo dropped 25% £289,795 #7 385 screens and £3,980,024 of £5,580,092
1996’s Casino dropped 32.5% £224,722 (£440,058 inflated) and £3,821,203 of £4,721,460 (£9,245,709 inflated)
1987’s The Color of Money dropped 45.1% £122,301 (£453,367 inflated) and £1,967,819 of £2,333,875 (£8,651,620 inflated)
1993’s The Age of Innocence took £2,359,098 (£5,785,234 inflated)
1990’s Goodfellas took £1,236,512 (£4,229,614 inflated)
917th biggest between Quartet and Edge of Tomorrow (close to The Aviator, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Angelas Ashes and Gandhi) and 1,470th inflated between Mona Lisa Smile and The Children of Men (close to The Godfather Part III, Layer Cake, Jagged Edge and Analyze This).
- 4 Five Nights at Freddy’s – £637,969 – £9,870,466
Down 53.6% in the third weekend
Took £175k 27.4% (60.3% drop £441k) Friday; £281k 44.1% (51.1% drop £575k); Saturday; £181k 28.3% (49% drop £355k) Sunday.
According to research from Movio, 71% of its audience was under 25.
944th biggest third weekend between The Mummy: Tomb of The Dragon Emperor and Encanto (close to The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, Straight Outta Compton and The Expendables) and 1,194th inflated between Mannequin and Anna Karenina (close to The King’s Man, Red Sparrow, Sin City and The Hunt For Red October).
31st biggest horror third weekend between Paranormal Activity 2 and The Exorcist: Believer (close to Arachnophobia, M3gan, Insidious 2 and 28 Weeks Later) and 40th biggest inflated between The Ring Two (2005) and Nope (close to Wolf, Underworld, The Exorcist: Believer and Insidious: The Red Door).
808th biggest between The World’s End and Birds of Prey (close to The Flash, Prince of Persia, Rampage and Yogi Bear) and 1,345th biggest inflated between Scent of a Woman and Clueless (close to The Running Man, Jingle All the Way, The Color of Money and Captain Underpants).
28th biggest horror between Final Destination 3 and Saw III (close to Sleepy Hollow, The Ring (2003), Scream (1997) and Halloween) and 58th inflated between The Ring Two and Annabelle: Creation (close to The Lawnmower Man, The Fly, Nightmare on Elm Steet III and Poltergeist 2).
- 5. Anatomy of a Fall £412,751 – NE
Includes £121,793 from previews.
The 2023 Palme d’Or winner opened similar to last year’s winner Triangle Of Sadness £308,950 #10 from 125 screens taking £1,726,407.
Earlier winners 2021’s Titane opened £121,920 #9 from 81 screens taking £196,171 and the most successful 2019’s Parasite opened £1,397,387 #4 from 137 screens taking £11,971,951.
2018’s Shoplifters took £117,555; 2018’s The Square £221,256; 2016’s I, Daniel Blake opened £444,800 #9 from 94 screens taking £3,293,046; 2015’s Dheepan £139,546; 2014’s Winter Sleep £19,822; 2013’s Blue Is the Warmest Colour £324,352; 2012’s Amour £287,839
Also opened.
Dream Scenario – Entertainment Films
Opened #6 £384,560
Includes £38,965 from previews
Dream Scenario has received positive reviews and has been called one of Nicolas Cage’s best recent films, his last film was 2022’s The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent £516,697 #7 from 556 screens taking £1,355,388.
Nicolas Cage has made a wide range of films over his career he started with art-house but then became an action star with The Rock, Con Air, Face/Off/Snake Eyes in the mid-90s but after some big budget flops his biggest recent hits have been The Croods animated films, and over the last decade his films have had limited release.
The film is produced by Ari Aster; he previously directed 2018’s Hereditary opening £1,863,913 taking £5,498,016; 2019’s Midsommar opened £812,052 taking £2,360,060 and 2023’s Beau Is Afraid opened £231,370 taking £429,104.
UK box office in detail
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £7,279,587 up 6.4% from last weekend’s £6,841,865: 894,187 up 13.8% from 785,514 admissions.
40th biggest weekend of the year out of 45 weeks between 29 September 2023 #1 The Creator (£2,255,034) and 03 November 2023 #1 Trolls Band Together (£1,829,764).
101st biggest since cinemas reopened out of 156 weeks between #1 #1 The Creator £2,255,034 and 07 October 2022 #1 Smile (£1,715,678).
884th biggest top 10 of the last 21 years (out of 1,128) between 12 December 2003 #1 Love Actually £2,273,706 (31.19% of top 10) and 25 October 2002 #1 XXX £2,044,850 (28.1% of top 10) and 1,046th biggest inflated between 29 September 2023 #1 The Creator £2,255,034 (30.88% of top 10) and 11 June 2010 #1 Sex and the City 2 £1,272,405 (23.45% of top 10)
The top 3 took (£5,088,091) 69.9% of the top 10; The Marvels 47.61% (£3,465,783); Trolls Band Together 13.18% (£959,193); Killers Of The Flower Moon 9.1% (£663,115).
292nd highest #1 percentage (47.61%) between 23 December 2005 the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (603,684) and 04 July 2008 Hancock (47.58%)
735th biggest admissions #1 (434,854) between 18 March 2022 The Batman (435,798) and 26 March 2010 Nanny McPhee & the Big Bang (434,750).
Down 52.9% from 2022 (£15,472,862); Black Panther Wakanda Forever (£12,363,870); #1 Black Panther Wakanda Forever £12,363,870 1st week 699 screens (79.91% of top 10)
Down 14.5% from 2021 (£8,515,063); Mothering Sunday (£156,940); Cry Macho (£72,131); West Side Story (1961) (60th Anniversary) (£8,725); #1 Eternals £2,918,585 2nd week 649 screens 47% drop (34.3% of top 10)
2020 COVID Second Lockdown
Down 14.7% 2019 (£8,534,914); The Aeronauts (£1,042,337); The Good Liar (£960,536); Midway (£755,181); 42nd Street – The Musical (£560,680); Madama Butterfly – Met Opera 2019 (£270,363); Luce (£116,098); #1 Joker £1,668,466 32% drop 601 screens 6th week (19.6% of top 10)
Up 7.4% 2018:(£14,405,189); The Grinch (£5,019,677); Widows (£2,409,112); Overlord (£677,844); They Shall Not Grow Old (£271,302); #1 The Grinch £5,019,677 1st week 559 screens 30.3% of the top 10)
Down 49.5% 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 1st week 607 screens 1st week (44.3% of the top 10)
Down 33.7% 2016: (£10,984,043); Arrival (£2,924,059); American Pastoral (£56,832); #1 Arrival £2,924,059 1st week 561 screens (26.6% of the top 10)
Down 50.9% 2015; (£14,812,116); The Lady in the Van (£2,256,121); Steve Jobs (£903,214); The Hallow (£51,742); Fathers and Daughters (£25,199); #1 SPECTRE £7,833,891 3rd week 617 screens 40% drop (52.8% of top 10)
Down 37.8% 2014: (£11,703,689); The Imitation Game (£2,742,725); Nativity 3: Dude, Where’s My Donkey? (£1,800,419); The Drop (£637,867); Third Person (£2,294); #1 Interstellar £3,777,804 2nd week 576 screens 30% drop (32.3% of top 10)
Down 49.2% 2013: (£14,343,283); Gravity (£6,238,375); #1 Gravity £6,238,375 1st week 539 screens (43.5% of top 10)
Down 51.1% 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 3rd week 589 screens 35% drop (68.8% of top 10)
Down 24.8% 2011 (£9,676,951); Immortals (£2,166,432); Arthur Christmas (£2,112,516); The Rum Diary (£608,055); The Awakening (£273,083); Trespass (£247,957); Wuthering Heights (£156,931); Tabloid (£4,618); #1 Immortals £2,166,432 1st week 428 screens (22.4% of top 10)
Down 5.6% 2010: (£7,711,855); Skyline (£1,206,207); You Again (£145,034); #1 Due Date £1,898,324 2nd week 452 screens 19% drop (24.6% of top 10)
Down 48.1% 2009; (£14,013,567); 2012 (£6,489,809); Harry Brown (£1,271,814); The White Ribbon (£72,226); Amelia (£49,224); Taking Woodstock (£41,348); #1 2012 £6,489,809 1st week 480 screens (46.3% of top 10)
Down 25.7% 2008; (£9,795,141); Max Payne (£1,004,995); Zack and Miri Make a Porno (£798,205); The Baader-Meinhof Complex (£108,791); #1 Quantum of Solace £5,164,182 3rd week 549 screens 44% drop (52.7% of top 10)
Down 5.1% 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 1st week 379 screens (17.1% of top 10)
Down 22.1% 2006; (£9,349,640); The Prestige (£1,184,996); Breaking & Entering (£364,886); Starter for Ten (£207,345); #1 Borat £4,510,657 2nd week 430 screens 28% drop (48.2% of top 10)
Down 4.6% 2005 (£7,626,912); In Her Shoes (£1,337,176); The Constant Gardener (£1,004,641); Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (£458,826); #1 In Her Shoes £1,337,176 1st week 325 screens (17.5% of top 10)
Down 52.4% from 2004 (£15,300,361); Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (£10,435,193); Ladies in Lavender (£423,313); Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid (£194,597); #1 Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason £10,435,193 1st week 504 screens (68.2% of top 10)
Up 9.7% from 2003 (£6,633,990); The Medallion (£106,797); The Mother (£59,077); Octane (£9,910); #1 The Matrix Revolutions £2,575,595 2nd week 466 screens 70% drop (38,8% of top 10)
Up 67.1% 2002 (£4,357,114); Rabbit Proof Fence (£221,758); Orange County (£167,051); #1 28 Days Later £1,073,042 2nd week 320 screens 28% drop (24.6% of top 10)
Up 53% 2001 (£4,758,297); Kiss of the Dragon (£478,811); The Piano Teacher (£71,911); #1 The Others £1,687,041 2nd week 386 screens 25% drop (35.4% of top 10).
Next week: (£9,511,327): The Menu (£932,029); Aftersun (£230,334); Armageddon Time (£67,043); Confess, Fletch (£56,000); #1 Black Panther Wakanda Forever £6,190,594 2nd weekend dropped 49% 702 screens (65.1% of top 10)
Film News
October BO was £75.6m up 3% from 2022; 2023 BO is currently up 10% from last year but last year had Avatar 2 (£76.92m); Black Panther 2 (£33.24m); Matilda (£27.9m); I Wanna Dance with Somebody (£11.38m) opening in Nov/Dec which will perform far stronger than this year The Marvels, The Ballard of Songbirds and Snakes, Napoleon, Wish, Wonka and Aquaman 2.
Top 10 films in October where Trolls Band Together took £10.94m; Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour £10.72m; Five Nights at Freddy’s £7.33m; Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie £6.62m; Killers of The Flower Moon £6.61m; The Exorcist: Believer £5.69m; The Great Escaper £4.22m; The Creator £3.57m; Saw X £2.96m and A Haunting in Venice £2.24m
UK September admission 7,444,987; to put September admissions into perspective the first week of Barbenheimer had 7,332,592 admissions.
If Oct-Dec admissions are similar to last year they will add about 25m, that said Marvels is expected to open similarly to The Flash, while Wish will do much better than Strange World and Wonka will take more than Matilda, Aquaman 2 will take about a quarter of Avatar 2. Would see admissions at about 124m similar to 1996, about a 5% increase from 2022 and BO of £1bn+ up 11% from £902m.
With several films already delayed due to the SAG strike that should have never happened will see a soft first 6 months of 2024, pushing back recovery even further.
US Box Office
- The Marvels – Disney
Opened with $46.11m; received mixed reviews (62% Rotten Tomatoes) and B CinemaScore
This was less than The Flash opened in June ($55.04m taking $108.13m and $270.63m worldwide); 2008’s The Incredible Hulk was previously the lowest opening of an MCU film $55.4m but wasn’t released by Disney.
Disney underestimates openings on Sunday and then on Monday they open with a few million more, but that wasn’t the case with The Marvels Sunday estimate was $47m but opened with $46.1m, the lowest Disney released MCU was 2015’s Ant-Man $57.2m.
Doctor Strange 2 B+; Thor Love & Thunder B+; Eternals B and Ant-Man 3 B.
Took $6.5m from Thursday previews; Ant-Man $6.4m; $57.2m opening); The Eternals ($9.5m/ $71.2m); Thor: Dark World ($7.1m/$85.7m); Iron Man 2 ($7.5m/$128.12m).
The other films that have had similar-sized previews Spider-Man $7m/$114.84m). F9 ($7.1m/$70.04m); Bad Boys for Life ($6.36m/$62.5m); Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ($6.3m/$102.68m).
Tracking a month ago had The Marvels opening between $75m-$80m but unlike all other MCUs estimates dropped over the following weeks as presales have been incredibly soft.
20219’s Captain Marvel opened $153.43m taking $426.82m and $1.13bn worldwide; the average opening of MCU film was $135.48m
323rd biggest opening between Meet the Fockers and Ghostbusters (2016) close to Jurassic Park, Bad Boys II, Batman Returns and Mad Max: Fury Road.
MCU films have taken $11.78bn in the US and $29,62bn worldwide.
EntTelligence reported it had 3.3m admissions compared to The Flash 3.9m and Eternals 5.5m.
The Marvel audience was 65% male; 45% men 25+; 22% women 25+; males under 25 20%, and women under 25 14%; 38% from IMAX/PLF with IMAX taking $4.5m.
19% were 18-24 compared to 40% for Captain Marvel (was even worse for 13-17 8%) highlighting the problem with MCU films that are spinoffs of TV shows as they aren’t accessible to new audiences as they will need to see 125 hours (7,490 minutes) of MCU homework to fully understand the plots and all the inside jokes.
24% of Marvel’s audience for its six Phase 2 aged 18-24; 30% for Phase 3; 32% for Phase 4 and then 29% before The Marvels. While the 25-34 audience has grown from 18% (Phase 2) to 24% (Phase 5). Under-25s 47% and over 25 53% while female audiences have stayed the same across each phase Showing that the MCU is attracting the same audience each time but not finding new audiences, why these films are taking similar BO.
Due to the SAG strike ending on Wednesday, the cast wasn’t able to do any publicity for the film, but Brie Larson did appear on The Tonight Show on Friday, MCU film doesn’t need a promotional tour as the films generate huge media coverage and of course, have a huge fanbase built over the last 15 year since iron Man opened.
Opened with $63.3m from 51 territories and $110.3m worldwide; China $11.7m; UK $4.3m; Indonesia $3.7m; S. Korea $3.5m; France $3.1m; Mexico $3m; Germany $2.3m; Japan $2.2m; Australia $2.1m; Italy $2m; Brazil $1.8m.
IMAX made $10m worldwide including $3.6m internationally.
Black Panther 2 opened $150m from 50 territories and $330m worldwide; UK $15m; France $13.7m; Mexico $12.8m; Korea $8.9m; Brazil $7.1m; Australia $6.8m; India $6.4m; Germany $6.1m; took $22.6m globally from IMAX including $8.4m internationally.
Other recent MCU international openings include Thor: Love & Thunder ($163m); Jurassic World Dominion ($152m); The Batman ($114m); Doctor Strange 2 ($242m); Black Panther $144m.
- Five Nights at Freddy’s – Universal Pictures
Dropped 53% in the third weekend $8.99m and $127.2m.
793rd biggest third weekend between Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (close to Saw II, Scream 2, The Expendables 2 and Disturbia.
4th biggest Blumhouse Film between Split and Glass
543rd biggest between Sweet Home Alabama and Bumblebee; 1,238th biggest inflated between Last Action Hero and Madea Goes to Jail; 17th biggest 2023 film between Fast X and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem; 15th biggest horror between The Ring and Nope; 75th biggest Universal Pictures between The Nutty Professor and 2 Fast 2 Furious.
Blumhouse Production films have taken $3.12bn in the US and $5.92bn worldwide.
Recent third Blumhouse weekends
2023’s The Exorcist: Believer dropped 48.1% $5.69m and $54.3m of $64.98m and $109.5m worldwide
2023’s Insidious: The Red Door dropped 49% $6.63m and $71.13m of $82.15m and $186.25m worldwide
2023’s M3gan dropped 47% $9.7m and $73.19m of $95.04m and $181.01m
2022’s Halloween Ends dropped 49.3% $4.05m and $60.55m of $64.08m and $105.4m worldwide
2019’s Halloween dropped 65.5% $10.83m and $150.22m of $159.36m and $255.41m worldwide
2021’s Halloween Kills dropped 39.5% $8.74m and $85.87m of $92m and $130.85m worldwide
2019’s Glass dropped 49.4% $9.54m and $86.66m of $111.04m and $246.9m worldwide
2018’s Split dropped 43.8% $14.42m and $98.54m of $138.29m and $278.54m worldwide
Took $15.4m (62% drop) from 76 territories and $124.7m and $251.9m worldwide; Mexico $19.5m; UK $11.9m; Brazil -$9.2m; Australia $7.8m; Spain $6.5m; Germany $5.6m; Italy $5.2m; Argentina $4.8m; Poland $3.8m; France $3.7m; Chile $3.4m.
- Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour – AMC
Dropped 55% in the fifth weekend taking $6.09m #3 and $172.74m.
407th biggest fifth weekend between The Meg and Transformers: Dark of the Moon (close to The Flintstones, Mamma Mia!, How to Train Your Dragon 2 and No Time to Die)
318th biggest between Rain Man and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales; 814th biggest inflated between Ride Along and Panic Room; 11th biggest 2023 between Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One.
Eras Tour was originally booked for four weeks but it has been extended to 8 weeks, with itis dropping 55% this week it should have kept to the four-week run.
It’s impossible to compare it with any other concert film due to the standard price of $19.89, but that hasn’t stopped the industry from doing so.
2009’s Michael Jackson: This Is It took $72.09m and $261.18m worldwide; 2011’s Justin Bieber: Never Say Never $73.01m and $99.03m worldwide; 2012’s Katy Perry’s Part of Me $25.32m and $32.72m worldwide; 2013’s One Direction: This Is Us $28.87m and $68.56m worldwide
While Eras Tour might be the biggest concert film it’s taken a fraction of what should have done as taking $165m in the US had about 8m admissions with all tickets $19.89/$23.89/$13.13 plus taxes and $65m internationally about 3m admissions less than 5% of internationally Swifties.
Took $2.5m from 65 territories $68.4m total and $240.9m worldwide.
- Killers of the Flower Moon – Paramount Pictures
Dropped 33% in the fourth weekend $4.58m #5 and $59.87m.
1,506th biggest between Pacific Rim: Uprising and The Benchwarmers; 2,662nd biggest inflated between Here Comes the Boom and Hall Pass; 34th biggest 2023 between A Man Called Otto and Shazam! Fury of the Gods; 206th biggest Paramount Pictures between Snow Day and The Dictator.
Martin Scorsese has directed 26 films, received 13 Oscar nominations, winning only 1 Best Director for 2006’s The Departed. His films have taken $1.095bn in the US and $2.29bn worldwide,
Killers of the Flower Moon is Martin Scorsese’s first theatrical release since 2016’s Silence which flopped at the BO taking $7.1m in the US and $23.7m worldwide.
Fourth weekends include.
2013’s The Wolf of Wall Street dropped 20% $7.06m and $89.84m of $1116.94m and $389.81m worldwide
2011’s Hugo dropped 38.7% $3.7m and $39.15m of $73.86m and $180.04m worldwide
2010’s Shutter Island dropped 38.4% $8.14m and $108.01m of $128.01m and $299.46m worldwide
2006’s The Departed dropped 26.8% $9.84m and $91.09m of $132.38m and $289.66m worldwide
2004’s The Aviator dropped 36.8% $4.8m and $50m of $102.61m and $213.71m worldwide
2002’s Gangs of New York dropped 32.4% $5m and $55.1m of $77.73m and $183.12m worldwide
1995’s Casino dropped 45.6% $2.06m and $32.82m of $42.43m and $110.4m worldwide
1991’s Cape Fear dropped 47.6% $4.85m and $46.04m of $79.09m and $182.29m worldwide
1990’s Goodfellas dropped 23% $3,.69m and $27.09m of $46.74m worldwide n/a
Ridley Scott’s Napoleon is currently expected to open similar to Killers of the Flower Moon between $16m-$20m taking a similar BO of $60m, the problem is audiences aren’t coming out to see these epic films as they did 20+ years ago as will be about half of the opening of 2000’s Gladiator $34.81m taking $187.7m and $503.16m worldwide with a budget of $103m compared with $130m+ for Napoleon and Killers of the Flower Moon $200m+. Both are financed by Apple having previously both been developed at studios as they won’t make these kinds of films anymore.
Gladiator 2 received a tax break of $50m to film in Malta of its $103m budget, this has been similarly the case for US films shooting in the UK with films receiving a 25% tax break, The Marvels received tax break of $55m from $274.8m budget.
Took $6m down 47% from 65 territories and $77.2m and $137.1m worldwide; UK $11m; France $10.1m; Germany $6.5m; Italy $5.2m; Spain $4.8m.
- Pricilla – A24
Down 5% in its fourth weekend (despite adding 1,002 screens) taking $4.79m and $12.72m
Priscilla is Sofia Coppola’s eighth film, which took almost $100m in the US and $252.33m worldwide; winning Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Lost in Translation.
2000’s The Virgin Suicides increased 101% after expansion taking $349,998 from 100 screens and $919,429 of $4.9m and $10.4m worldwide
2003’s Lost in Translation increased 202.7% after expansion taking $4.1m and $44.58m and $118.68m worldwide
2006’s Marie Antoinette opened $5.36m wide taking $15.96m and $60.91m worldwide
2010’s Somewhere didn’t expand beyond 83 screens taking $1.78m and $14.78m worldwide
2013’s The Bling Ring increased 833.7% after expansion taking $2m and $2.34m of $5.84m and $20.04m
2017’s The Beguiled increased 1,279.7% after expansion taking $3.16m from 674 screens and $3.48m of $10.7m and $27.86m worldwide
2020’s On the Rocks didn’t have a US theatrical release opened UK with $121,373 taking $598,627
- The Holdovers – Focus Features
Up 467% in its third weekend adding 714 screens taking $3.22m and $4.29n
The Holdover is the ninth film from Oscar-winning director Alexander Payne, his films have taken $286m in the US and almost $500m worldwide.
2017’s Downsizing opened $4.95m taking $24.44m and $55m worldwide
2013’s Nebraska took $1.55m (widest expansion into 968 screens) taking $17.65m and $27.68m WW
2011’s The Descendants $6.4m (widest expansion into 2,001 screens) taking $82.58m and $177.24m WW
2004’s Sideways $6.43m (widest expansion into 1,694 screens) taking $71.5m and $109.7m WW
2002’s About Schmidt expanded $8.8m into 816 screens taking $65.01m and $105.83m WW
1999’s Election expanded $3.16m into 827 screens taking $14.9m
UK Box Office Top 10
UK Box Office Preview
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes prequel comes 8 years after Mockingjay Part 2 opened £11,255,566.
As with previous prequels to Harry Potter (Fantastic Beasts), Lord of the Rings (The Hobbit) Star Wars: A New Hope (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Solo: A Star Wars Story) The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is unlikely to perform similar to the later instalments of The Hunger Games but rather the first films as it 11 years since the last film was released, 2012’s The Hunger Games opened £4,900,177.
The Hunger Games’ success came from the popularity of the books but also Jennifer Lawrence, it is different with Rachel Zegler as she has generated a lot of negative media coverage shooting the Disney reimagination of Snow White. It had its world premiere at BFI IMAX last week with the cast in attendance as the film signed the SAG waiver and was arranged before the SAG strike ended.
As The Hunger Games prequel targets female audiences The Marvels will likely drop 50%-60% in its second weekend taking £1.3m-£1.7m; opens in 1,450 IMAX cinemas in 75 territories.
Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn is harder to predict as while the thriller has received positive reviews her earlier Oscar-nominated Promising Young Woman wasn’t given a cinema release in the UK due to COVID lockdown it was acquired by Sky Cinema.
Emerald Fennell has compared Saltburn to films including Dangerous Liaisons, Cruel Intentions (opened £898,118 taking £5,129,562) and The Bling Ring (opened £141,425 taking £468,949), while critics have compared it to The Talent Mr Ripley (opened £1,267,833 taking £6,598,782) and Six Degrees of Separation. The most recent eat-the-rich films include last year’s The Menu opening £932,029 #2 from 605 screens taking £3,866,701 and 2020’s Parasite opening £1,397,387 #4 from 137 screens taking £11,971,951 and 2017’s The Handmaiden opening £474,752 #6 from 94 screens taking £817,153.
The film will open wide in the UK but as with Dream Scenario opens on platform release in the US.
Thanksgiving is an 18-rated horror, the genre has performed well at the box office over recent years and the 10 major horror movies this year have taken in about £65m.
Thanksgiving is directed by Eli Roth. The last horror film he directed was 2015’s Knock Knock opening at £250,825 #7 taking £471,766. He most recently directed 2018’s The House with a Clock in its Walls.
With three new releases, the other holdovers including Trolls Band Together, Killers Of The Flower Moon and Five Nights at Freddy’s all will drop upwards of 50%.
Also released is May December, it is released by Studiocanal on behalf of Sky Cinema, the latest film from director Todd Haynes, the film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival receiving critical acclaim (92% Rotten Tomatoes) but as it’s a Sky Cinema acquisition will have a limited opening in Picturehouse and independent cinemas.
Todd Haynes previously directed 2015’s Carol opening £540,632 #7 from 2p06 screens taking £2,794,201; 2020’s Dark Waters opened £860,942 #4 from 425 screens taking £2,411,637; 2018’s Wonderstruck opened £30,642 from 18 screens; 2003’s Far from Heaven opened with £460k taking £1.9m.
After Tiger 3 took £420k from previews last weekend it has an 8-day opening weekend so could have a similar £1m+ opening as Leo (£1,157,367) and Jawan (£1,346,689) but Leo was very front-loaded taking almost 50% from previews.