- The Batman – £7,406,390 – £26,541,848
Dropped 45.3% in its second weekend similar to Pokemon Detective Pikachu, After Earth, Straight Outta Compton and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
30th biggest second weekend between Mary Poppins Returns and Alice In Wonderland (close to Marvel Avengers Assemble, Dunkirk, The Dark Knight Rises and Black Panther); 65th biggest inflation inflated between Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the WereRabbit and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (close to Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Spider-Man, Iron Man 3 and Incredibles 2).
6th biggest comic-book second weekend between Marvel Avengers Assemble and The Dark Knight Rises (close to Avengers Age of Ultron, Marvel Avengers Assemble, Captain Marvel and Iron Man 3 and 11th inflation inflated second-weekend comic-book movie between Spider-Man and Iron Man 3 (close to Spider-Man 3, Men In Black, Spider-Man 2 and Deadpool).
£130,832 more than 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises £7,275,558 (18.1% ticket inflation since)
£538,252 more than 2008’s The Dark Knight £6,737,306 (44.7% ticket inflation since)
£4,349,516 more than 2005’s Batman Begins £2,926,042 60% ticket inflation since)
£2,491,050 less than 2019’s Joker £9,766,608
12th highest grossing comic-book movie after 10 days between Captain America: Civil War and Deadpool (Batman Vs Superman #9 £27,829,127; The Dark Knight Rises #5 £30,551,765; Joker #6
£30,030,142; The Dark Knight #14 £25,374,829)
45th biggest film after 10 days on release between Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest and Fast & Furious 7 (close to Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, Dunkirk, Deadpool and Fifty Shades of Grey).
DCM reported on Wednesday The Batman had taken £16.5m after 5 days and had 1.7m admissions this would see the average being £9.71
Took £19.13m in its opening 7 days similar to Joker (£20,263,534); Deadpool (£20,172,211); Casino Royale (£19,387,562); Spider-Man 3 (£18,811,070); Dunkirk (£18,782,192); Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (£18,735,708); Twilight Saga: Eclipse (£18,709,404); The Dark Knight (£18,637,523); iron Man 3 (£18,261,765); The Matrix Reloaded (£18,194,296); Spider-Man: Far From Home (£18,153,675); Suicide Squad (£17,972,735).
The Batman stayed added 9 cinemas from 706 to 715 for its second weekend but lost 337 screens from opening weekend down from 2,658 to 2,321.
In 1989 Batman opened in 400 cinemas took £12,034,291 inflation inflated £38,840,287); Batman was the second-biggest film of the year after Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
1992’s Batman Returns took £10,979,599 and £25,721,677 inflation inflated; 7th biggest film of 1992
1995’s Batman Forever opened £4,714,153 (£10,186,905 inflation inflated) taking £20,015,001 and £43,250,807 inflation inflated; 2nd biggest film of 1995
1997’s Batman and Robin took £14,676,429 £27,117,137 inflation inflated; 7th biggest film of 1997
2005’s Batman Begins dropped 34% (18% not including previews) 2nd weekend taking £2,926,042 and £9,388,835; #1 for two weeks and was in the top 10 for 8 weeks taking £16,179,376; 11th biggest film of 2005 (between Hitch and Nanny McPhee)
2008’s The Dark Knight dropped 40% (22% not including previews) 2nd weekend taking £6,737,306 and £25,374,829) #1 for two weeks and was in the top 10 for 8 weeks taking £48,586,304.
2012’s The Dark Knight Rises dropped 49% 2nd weekend taking £7,275,558 and £30,551,765 #1 for 2 weeks and was in the top 10 for 8 weeks taking £56,257,144.
Would be interesting to see how The Batman performed at the legacy cinemas Odeon Leicester Square, Cineworld Leicester Sq. and Vue West End Vs Westfield Shepard’s Bush as the latter cinema must now be the busiest cinema in the UK. 30 years ago a tentpole at Odeon Leicester Square and Empire Cineworld Leicester Sq. would take about £100k in its second weekend, this was when these cinemas had more than twice the capacity they do now and prices a quarter they are now. Then a major tentpole would open at only one Leicester Sq. cinema but now they open in all of them which never makes any sense.
Always find it a strange coincidence when a film like The Batman performs so closely to similar films The Dark Knight Rises, but of course, there’s a 10-year gap between them and films now take a much larger share of box office from IMAX/PLF screens with over a third coming from those formats
The major advantage for The Batman has no real competition for the next three weeks until Morbius. Two British comedies are opening this week but they aren’t likely to have much impact as Michael Bay’s Ambulance opening in two weeks.
2. Uncharted – £1,059,861 – £21,762,317
Down 17.6% in its fifth weekend;
Uncharted has overtaken Aquaman £21.4m), Shang-Chi (£21.2m), The Mummy Returns (£20.4m), Big Hero 6 (£20.2m), Clash of the Titans (£20.1m), Night at the Museum (£20.02m), Batman Forever (£20.01m), Night at the Museum 2 (£19.6m).
As with last year’s Free Guy many have said Uncharted performance was a surprise but timing was the perfect opening weekend before half-term with Spider-Man No Way Home dropping off the Tom Holland fans were eager to watch it over half-term and probable then went to see Spider-Man No Way Home again.
So not a surprise it performed similarly to Sonic The Hedgehog which opened a month before the first lockdown in 2020 why it’s box office dropped off heavily over its fourth and fifth weekend before cinemas closed the week after. While taking more than Pokémon Detective Pikachu as it opened in a much more crowded marketplace between Avengers: Endgame and Aladdin. While Free Guy performed similar to Night at the Museum and probably could have done similar to The Lego Movie had audiences felt more comfortable returning to cinemas sooner.
222nd biggest film in the UK (272nd film to take £20m+) between Mr Beans Holiday and The Revenant (close to Men In Black 2, Toy Story, Men in Black 3 and E.T) and 433rd biggest inflation inflated between Lethal Weapon 2 and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (close to Stardust, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Twins and Back To The Future Part III).
While Uncharted might have received poor reviews (calling it a Tomb Raider, National Treasure (took £7,054,178) and Raiders of the Lost Ark (£13.9m/£64.5m inflation inflated) rip-off) its target demographic won’t read them and also attracted Tom Holland’s tween/teen girl fanbase who had to seem Spider-Man No Way Home.
Recent video game fifth weekends
2020’s Sonic The Hedgehog down #6 58% £397,171 579 screens and £18,986,844 98.4% of £19,280,822 (dropped heavily due to COVID affecting BO with first lockdown days after)
2010’s Prince of Persia #4 dropped 23% £389,715 402 screens and £8,035,706 91% of £8,829,805
2019’s Pokémon Detective Pikachu #10 dropped 45% £368,441 462 screens and £13,076,396 97.8% of £13,368,175
Sonic The Hedgehog (sequel opening in April) with sequels for Mortal Kombat and Tomb Raider in development.
While a similarly themed film based on a fictional video game
2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle #5 dropped 25% £1,840,248 541 screens and £32,478,009 87.8% of £36,968,605
2019’s Jumanji: The Next Level #5 down 45% £1,691,901 589 screens and £30,988,078 85.9% of £36,079,399
3. BTS Permission To Dance On Stage – Seoul: Live Viewing- £899,127 – NE
Broadcast live in cinemas globally on Saturday at 8.45 am UK time with encore screenings a few hours after with ticket prices between £15-£25.
It took $32.6m from 3,711 cinemas in 75 territories including $6.84m from 803 theatres in the US with tickets up to $35.
Burn the Stage: Movie #6 opened 17th November 2018 taking £644,308 from 212 screens
In 2019 Love Yourself In Seoul – BTS World Tour 2019 #10 £518,810 from 519 screens.
And in 2020 Break the Silence: The Movie #3 £374,060 from 363 screens (including Taking £124,063 from previews); it suffered opening in cinemas a few weeks after they reopened for the first time after lockdown with Tenet #1 taking £1,233,090 in its third weekend.
As with all Event Cinema and Secret Cinema screenings they can’t be compared to normal cinemas ticket prices are about 100% more for Event Cinema and many more times than for Secret Cinema. Both have been a great addition to cinema giving cinemagoers a chance to experience concerts, musicals and other events on the big screen that they wouldn’t normally be able to see. They also artificially inflate box office and admissions.
As most Event Cinema screenings target older demographics they have been slow to get back to pre-lockdown levels as in the year before lockdown in 2019 Event Cinema took £50m 4% of the BO with £41.4m in 2018 and £35m from 2017 while in 2021 took £4.7m and £4m in 2020.
4. Sing 2 – £819,153 – £31,301,966
Down 20.9% in its seventh weekend; took ££360,172 more than Sing in its fifth weekend and has taken -£3,278,438 more than Sing £28,023,528 after 7 weeks; but the first film had competition from The LEGO Batman Movie taking £26.78m Sing 2 didn’t have any major children’s film competition.
Holding strongly in its seventh weekend despite being released on VOD two weeks ago showing again as with Onward, Trolls World Tour and Encanto audiences will still go to see children’s films in cinemas despite being available to watch at home cheaper.
Sing 2 is the 121st biggest film between Slumdog Millionaire and Gladiator (close to Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the WereRabbit, Incredibles, Shrek Forever After and The BFG) and 249th biggest inflation inflated between Billy Elliot and Tarzan (close to Three Men And A Baby, Wall·E, Hook and Stuart Little).
3rd film is to take £30m+ since cinemas reopened after No Time to Die and Spider-Man: No Way Home and the 3rd biggest film since cinemas reopened and the biggest animated film since Frozen 2.
Sing 2 is Illumination Entertainment’s 11th film and second biggest seventh weekend after 2013’s Despicable Me 2 £922,390 #11 down 28% taking £40,819,971 500 screens 86.1% of £47,436,199;
2017’s Despicable Me 3 £751,380 #5 down 37% 586 screens £41,630,395 87.5% of £47,562,575;
2015’s Minions £516,174 #7 down 49% taking £41,803,599 559 screens 87.7% of £47,645,626
2017’s Sing £458,981 #6 down 43% taking £28,023,528 545 screens 95.3% of £29.4m);
2016’s The Secret Life of Pets £449,472 #6 down 39% taking £32,070,805 481 screens 89.5% of £35,825,195;
2010’s Despicable Me £241,944 #6 down 7% 487 screens taking £19,394,633 98.6% of £19,670,786;
2019’s The Secret Life of Pets 2 £159,385 #12 down 47% 385 screens taking £18,265,863 98% of £18,638,365;
23rd biggest animated film between Incredibles and Shrek Forever After (close to Up, The Lego Movie, Monsters University and Chicken Run) and 39th biggest animated film inflation inflated between Wall·E and Tarzan (close to Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, The Secret Life of Pets, The Croods and Monsters vs. Aliens).
The next Illumination Entertainment film opens in July only a couple of weeks after Pixar’s Lightyear, the first time Pixar and Illumination Entertainment have gone head-to-head with two major franchises out of school holidays) and Mario opening December 23rd (based on Super Mario Bros video game previously made in a live-action film in 1993 both a critical and box office flop)
With no children’s films released now until The Bad Guys have previews over March 26th/27th before opening April 1st against Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Sing 2 will continue to hold well over the next two weeks being the only children’s film on release.
5. The Duke – £500,749 – £3,866,162
Down 26.6% in its third weekend; was #2 Mon-Thurs and was #2 Mon-Tues this week
Third weekends; normally films playing to older audiences have longer legs as older demographics don’t rush out to see films over opening weekend and the box office is shared more across the week.
1,378th biggest film in the UK between Poltergeist and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (close to Buster, Shooting Fish, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Scandal, The Krays, The Good Liar and Molly’s Game).
2017’s Murder on the Orient Express #3 dropped 48% (Justice League opened) £2,279,200 (from 617 screens) taking £17,753,371 73.3% of £24,224,914; stayed in the top 10 for 7 weeks (taking £196,186 in its 7th).
2021’s House of Gucci #3 £635,387 dropped 50% and £4,217,850 43.3% of £9,964,144
2012’s The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel #2 £1,787,352 down 24% 499 screens and £10,855,596 53.4% of £20,308,480.
2015’s The Lady in the Van #6 £950,961 down 41% 548 screens and £9,047,439 71.5% of £12,660,028.
2015’s The Second-Best Marigold Hotel #1 £1,409,311 down 29% 592 screens and £11,731,915 75.3% of £15,575,797.
2015’s Suffragette #5 £594,930 down 56% (SPECTRE opened) 441 screens and £7,447,800 70.2% of £10,600,616
2019’s The Good Liar #7 £263,002 down 57% and £3,223,157 83.4% of £3,844,314
2015’s Woman In Gold £281,230 down 24% #6 from 255 screens and £1,868,910 65.5% of £2,851,499
The Duke received strong media coverage due to its cast Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren as much as its subject matter telling the story of a man who stole a Goya painting from the National Portrait Gallery in the 1960 and ransomed it for pensioners to get free TV licence.
Also Opened
Red Rocket – Universal Pictures
Opened #12 with £74,709 from 171 screens
Universal Pictures heavily advertising Red Rocket on TV and has received positive reviews it’s directed by Sean Baker who previously directed 2017’s The Florida Project opened 8th with £241,490 from 100 screens taking £941,029 and 2015’s Tangerine opened #29 with £18,611 from 15 screens taking £88,849.
Other Box Office News
After Belfast won Best British Film on Sunday at the BAFA award when Kenneth Branagh said “All hail the streaming revolution – but all hail the big screen too” as exhibitors need to realise streaming isn’t the enemy of cinema climbed from #10 Fri-Sun taking £141,280 down 20% from 434 screens and £14,838,065 to fourth on Monday and Tuesday.
The big winners at the BAFTAs were The Power of the Dog and CODA released by Netflix and Apple both had very limited cinema releases in the UK.
Some questioned BAFTA’s decision to award The Power of the Dog but surely the question to ask is it was developed by See-Saw and BBC Films, British production companies why as with the other 14 British Best Picture BAFTA winners over the last 31 years it needed US funding to be made. As the British Film Industry should be self-supportive by now after the hundreds of millions of investments from the Lottery and government funding over the last 30+ years?
As I go back to the failure of the National Lottery film franchises in the early 90s as had those been developed properly they would be self-sufficient by now.
TV ratings for the BAFTAs were slightly higher from last year’s low of 2m with 2.4m but a long way from the recent high of 5.7m in 2004, with may hoping Rebel Wilson was right when said ‘welcome to the 75th and final EE British Academy Film Awards’ as aren’t working in their current form for TV, like the Oscars and most other award shows.
Three weeks ago The Godfather: 50th Anniversary #10 opened with £267,096 from 466 screens; two weeks ago The Godfather: Part II (Re: 2022) #13 opened with £45,151 from 202 screens and last weekend The Godfather: Part III under the title Mario Puzo’s The Godfather, Coda: The Death Of Michael Corleone (Re: 2022) #21 opened with £22,184 from 194 screens
UK box office in detail
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £11,727,453 down 33.9% from last weekend’s £17,731,344
The weekend admissions were 1,559,502 down 33.8% 2,357,891 from last week; using the average price of £7.52 calculated by CAA 2021 admissions 74m with UK BO of £556.9m; This is up 11.4% from 2020 (£6.75)
Top 3 took £9,365,378 79.9% of the top 10; The Batman 63.2% (£7,406,390); Uncharted 9% (£1,059,861); BTS 7.7% (£899,126);
2021 n/a cinemas closed
Up 132.4% from 2020 (£5,045,549); The Hunt (£542,475); Bloodshot (£444,917); Misbehaviour (£347,643); My Spy (£345,575); #1 Onward £1,272,748 2nd week 636 screens 63% drop (25.2% of top 10)
Up 1.6% from 2019; (£11,537,481); Fisherman’s Friends (£1,154,865); What Men Want (£836,612); The Prodigy (£96,905); Ben Is Back (£82,204); #1 Captain Marvel £6,643,217 2nd week 652 screens 48% drop (57.6% of top 10)
Down 24.6% from 2018: (£15,554,372); Peter Rabbit (£7,273,207); Tomb Raider (£3,081,916); My Generation (£259,990); Mary Magdalene (£238,924); The Square (£221,256); #1 Peter Rabbit £7,273,207 1st week 599 screens (46.8% of top 10)
Down 14.9% from 2017: (£13,776,935); Kong: Skull Island (£6,230,997); La Traviata – Met Opera 2017 (Opera) (£323,284); Elle (£253,619); The Love Witch (£14,244); #1 Kong: Skull Island £6,230,997 1st week 567 screens (45.2% of top 10)
Down 2.4% from 2016: (£12,014,397); Kung Fu Panda 3 (£4,771,131); The Divergent Series: Allegiant (£1,838,019); The Witch (£447,626); Anomalisa (£223,387); The Ones Below (£6,971); #1 Kung Fu Panda 3 £4,771,131 1st week 583 screens (39.7% of top 10)
Up 100.8% from 2015; (£5,840,701); Run All Night (£823,833); Suite Francaise (£503,928); X+Y (£154,374); The Sound Of Music 50th Anniversary (Re 2015) (£25,089); #1 The Second-Best Exotic Marigold Hotel £1,409,311 3rd week 592 screens 29% drop (24.1% of top 10)
Up 48.6% from 2014: (£7,889,493); Need for Speed (£2,011,249); Under the Skin (£238,694); The Zero Theorem (£50,860); Veronica Mars (£33,769); Ironclad 2: Battle for Blood (£887); #1 Need for Speed £2,011,249 1st week 469 screens (25.5% of top 10)
Up 103.2% from 2013 (£5,770,139); Welcome to the Punch (£460,250); Red Dawn (£255,448); The Paperboy (£141,881); The Spirit of ’45 (£75,146); #1 Oz: The Great and Powerful £2,609,475 2nd week 530 screens 30% drop (45.2% of top 10)
Up 37.1% from 2012 (£8,558,124); John Carter (£1,960,414); The Raven (£299,254); Bel Ami (£296,341); Cleanskin (£27,405); #1 John Carter £1,960,414 1st week 456 screens (22.9% of top 10)
Up 37.3% from 2011 (£8,539,922); Battle: Los Angeles (£1,792,913); Hall Pass (£900,936); Fair Game (£304,297); The Resident (£139,088); The Company Men (£36,785); #1 Battle: Los Angeles £1,792,913 1st week 420 screens (21% of top 10)
Down 17.1% from 2010: (£14,154,973); Shutter Island (£2,250,178); Green Zone (£2,087,368); Hachi: A Dog’s Tale (£442,753); The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (£378,434); #1 Alice in Wonderland £7,343,506 2nd week 533 screens (51.9% of top 10)
Up 19% from 2009; (£9,854,831); Marley & Me (£4,414,169); Bronson (£258,360); The Burning Plain (£4,038); #1 Marley & Me £4,414,169 £4,414,169 1st week 467 screens (44.8% of top 10)
Up 93.5% from 2008; (£6,060,351); 10,000B.C. (£1,932,539); The Cottage (£303,072); Hannah Montana 3-D (£241,119); #1 10,000B.C. £1,932,539 1st week 431 screens (31.9% of top 10)
Up 135.7% from 2007: (£4,975,450); Premonition (£1,021,882); Stomp the Yard (£191,716); Factory Girl (£156,779); #1 Norbit £1,069,030 2nd week 371 screens 46% drop (21.5% of top 10)
Up 103.5% from 2006; (£5,762,109); The Hills Have Eyes (£1,126,575); The Proposition (£205,594); Two for the Money (£165,003); #1 The Hills Have Eyes £1,126,575 1st week 331 screens (19.5% of top 10)
Up 71.5% from 2005 (£6,835,834); Hitch (expansion) (£4,230,857); Hostage (£807,171); The Chorus (£132,636); #1 Hitch £4,230,857 2nd week 1st #1 7,894% increase 448 screens (61.9% of top 10)
Up 111.4% from 2004 (£5,547,158); Mona Lisa Smile (£1,190,923); Honey (£1,064,398); Starsky & Hutch (limited) (£412,326); The Passion of the Christ (limited) (£229,426); #1 Mona Lisa Smile £1,190,923 1st week 414 screens (21.5% of top 10)
Up 129.7% from 2003 (£5,105,380); The Life of David Gale (£725,698); Equilibrium (£548,043); Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (£356,623); Barbershop (£145,741); #1 Maid In Manhattan £1,281,755 2nd week 422 screens 47% drop (25.1% of top 10)
Up 89.9% from 2002 (£6,175,130); 13 Ghosts (£738,210); The Royal Tenenbaums (£700,025); #1 Ocean’s Eleven £1,357,063 4-week #1 split 5th week 439 screens 27% drop (22% of top 10)
Next weekend in 2020 – Closed Lockdown
US Box Office
- The Batman – Warner Bros
Dropped 50% in its second weekend taking $66.51m and $239.03m
143rd biggest film in the US between Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Shrek Forever After; 353rd biggest inflation inflated between Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs and Shark Tale; 32nd biggest Warner Bros film between Twister and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
As has been the case with all tentpoles post-pandemic 26%+ came from IMAX/PLF while AMC openly admitted what cinemagoers had known for more than a decade that they increased the prices for the film by $1.50.
According to research by EntTelligence The Batman took over 80% of all tickets sold on Friday (in the UK it was 89%) 22% from IMAX/PLF and 8 out of 10 moviegoers who went over the weekend to the cinema in the US saw it and 23% saw it in IMAX/PLF
Batman BO
1989’s Batman dropped 25.7% $30.07m and $100.21m 39.9% of $251.34m Int $160.16m $411.5m WW
1992’s Batman Returns dropped 44.3% $25.42m and $96.77m 59.4% $162.9m Int $103.99m $266.89m WW
1995’s Batman Forever dropped 44.7% $29.21m and $106.61m 57.9% of $184.07m Int $152.5m WW $336.56m
1997’s Batman and Robin dropped 63.3% $15.73m and $75.2m 70.1% of $107.35m Int $130.88m WW $238.23m
2005’s Batman Begins dropped 43.4% $27.58m and $122.51m 59.2% of $206.85m Int $166.8m WW $373.66m
2008’s The Dark Knight dropped 52.5% $75.16m and $313.78m 58.6% of $534.85m Int $471.11m WW $1.005bn
2012’s The Dark Knight Rises dropped 61.4% $62.1m and $287.11m 64.1% of $448.14m Int $633m WW $1,081bn
2016’s Batman Vs Superman dropped 69.1% $51.33m and $260.4m 78.8% of $330.36m Int $543.27m WW $873.63m
2017’s Justice League dropped 56.2% $41.09m and $171.9m 75.1% of $229.02m Int $428.9m WW $657.92m
2019’s Joker dropped 41.9% $55.86m and $193.59m 57.7% of $335.45m int $738.8m WW $1.74bn
Took $66.6m (down 44.5%) from 76 territories taking $226.7m and $463.2m worldwide; UK $35.2m; Mexico $20.2m; Australia $16.7m; Brazil $14.6m; France $13.6m;
253rd biggest film worldwide between The Matrix and The Hangover; 45th biggest comic-book movie between Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and X-Men: The Last Stand; 46th biggest Warner Bros film worldwide between The Matrix and The Hangover;
Took $38.7m worldwide from IMAX taking $4.4m from 320 IMAX screens internationally
- Uncharted – Sony Pictures
Down 17% in its fourth weekend taking $9.25m and $113.35m
625th biggest in the US between The Addams Family and The Patriot; 1,181st biggest inflation inflated between Bull Durham and 102 Dalmatians; 79th biggest Sony Pictures film between The Karate Kid Part II and The Patriot.
EntTelligence estimated an average of $13.48 due to about a third of BO from IMAX/PLF
Video games fourth weekends include
2001’s Tomb Raider dropped 34.1% $6.72m and $115.54m 88.1% of $131.16m and $274.7m WW
2010’s Prince of Persia dropped 14.2% $5.56m and $80.8m 89.1% of $90.75m and $336.36m worldwide
2019’s Pokémon Detective Pikachu dropped 48.2% $6.95m and $130.89m 90.8% of $144.1m and $433.51m worldwide
2020’s Sonic The Hedgehog dropped 52.8% $7.7m and $140.52m 94.3% of $148.97m and $319.71m worldwide;
2018’s Rampage dropped 35.6% $4.63m and $84.8m 83.9% of $101.02m and $428.02m worldwide
While a similarly themed film based on a fictional video game
2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle down 24.5% $28.1m and $284.23m 70.2% of $404.54m and $962.54m worldwide
2019’s Jumanji: The Next Level down 25.6% $26.22m and $235.93m 73.6% of $320.31m and $800.05m worldwide
Took $11.2m from 64 territories and $187.9m total and $301.3m worldwide; UK $29.3m; France $16.5m; Spain $11.4m; Germany $11m.
511th biggest film worldwide between Passengers and Hook; 46th biggest Sony Pictures film worldwide between Passengers and Hook.
- Spider-Man No Way Home – Sony Pictures
Dropped 10% in its thirtieth weekend taking $4.05m and $792.26m
3rd biggest film in the US between Avengers Endgame and Avatar and Black Panther (the 5th film to take over $700m since Avatar in 2009) and the 2nd biggest comic-book movie between Avengers Endgame and Black Panther; 12th biggest inflation inflated between Star Wars Ep. I: The Phantom Menace and Forrest Gump.
Was released on VOD on March 15th a week early due to a high-quality pirate version leaked online
Thirtieth weekends
2019’s Avengers Endgame #11 down 28% taking $1.51m and $854.53m 99.5% of $858.37m
2009’s Avatar #7 down 19.6% taking $6.52m and $730.27m 97.4% of $749.76m
2015’s Star Wars The Force Awakens #14 dropped 30.4% taking $1.29m and $930.75m 99.4% of $936.6m
2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle #12 dropped 40.8% taking $1.62m and $400.24m 98.9% of $404.54m
Historical thirtieth weekends
1982’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial #1 dropped 9.2% taking $6.02m and $236.99m 65.9% of $359.19m
1982’s Tootsie #1 dropped 7% taking $4.04m and $133.97m 75.6% of $177.2m
1984’s Beverly Hills Cop #1 dropped 12.7% taking $5.11m and $174.56m 74.3% of $234.76m
1985’s Back to the Future #1 dropped 46.4% taking $1.91m and $34.49m 16.3% of $210.6m
1986’s Top Gun #5 dropped 1.3% taking $3.42m and $113.55m 64.2% of $176.78m
1987’s Three Men and a Baby #5 dropped 32% taking $3.53m and $136.58m 81.4% of $167.78m
1989’s Batman #10 dropped 22% taking $1.47m and $243.13m 96.8% of $251.18m
1990’s Home Alone #3 dropped 27% taking $6m and $221.18m 77.4% of $285.76m
Inflation inflated box office to compare these films with Spider-Man No Way Home they would need to be tripled
Took $2.4m from 41 territories $1.083bn total and $1.876bn worldwide; 6th biggest film worldwide between Avengers: Infinity War and Jurassic World (46th film to take over $1bn worldwide since Jurassic Park in 1993);
UK Box Office Top 10
UK Box Office Preview
The Batman will hold #1 for a third weekend down about 40% taking £4m-£5.5m and £35m+
similar to Joker (£5,489,716); Dunkirk (£4,624,570); Avengers: Endgame (£4,414,015), The Dark Knight Rises (£4,290,605); Avengers Assemble (£4,169,087); The Dark Knight (£4,090,024); Black Panther (£3,919,280); Captain Marvel (£3,378,582).
Films often get described as the film we need now and after the horrific events in Ukraine over the last few weeks what many probably need is a daft silly comedy and that’s what audiences will get with the two British films opening this weekend, The Nan Movie spin-off of The Catherine Tate Show TV series and The Phantom of the Open about an underdog golfer.
There have been many films spinoff based on British TV shows over the years having mixed success in cinemas, feel would have imagined 2014’s Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie would have opened £4,301,306 taking £14,290,727 and even the dreadful 2012’s Keith Lemon: The Film opened £1,196,310 taking £2,900,378. While despite the huge popularity of The Office 2016’s David Brent: Life on the Road opened for £1,460,290 taking only £3,639,605.
Most recently 2021’s People Just Do Nothing: Big In Japan opened £896,992 taking £2,346,614
Others include Guest House Paradiso, Absolutely Fabulous The Movie, Ali Gi Indahouse, Borat, Bruno, The Bad Education Movie, Kevin & Perry Go Large, The League of Gentlemen’s Apocalypse, Bean, Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa and The Inbetweeners Movie.
Underdog sports comedy The Phantom of the Open has received positive reviews since having its world premiere at the London Film Festival in October. Underdog films used to be very popular at the cinema and used to have long legs as they took time to find their audiences, 2016’s Eddie the Eagle opened with £2,828,427 taking £8,613,352. These films normally have a heavy talker screening program to build up awareness and word of mouth but this doesn’t always translate into box office anymore.
eOne is heavily promoting the film on TV with the song Make Me Smile running through the TV spot, the song also featured in The Full Monty which all these feel-good underdog comedies have tried to imitate ever since, but nowadays these films don’t get a chance to find their audience in cinemas.
After a film like The Batman opens there is a gap in the market for a couple of weeks but the problem is the two weeks after these two films open Easter films start opening and this Easter is more crowded than ever with Morbius, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, The Bad Guys, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore and The Lost City opening over three weeks.
Have been many great American under-dog feel-good sporting films over the years based on real events including Rudy, Invincible, Seabiscuit along with fictional ones like Rocky and The Mighty Ducks.
Also released is slasher horror comedy X a horror set behind the scenes on a 70s porno which could spark some interest as the director Ti West’s previous horrors The House of the Devil, V/H/S and The Innkeepers have done. The film received positive reviews premiering at SXSW this week
Opening next week
- Ambulance – Universal Pictures
Action thriller based on the 2005 Danish film of the same name starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and Eiza González and directed by Michael Bay.
Opens in the UK two weeks ahead of the US
Ambulance is the first theatrical made film directed by Michael Bay since 2017’s Transformers: The Last Knight, the last film he directed was 2019’s 6 Underground for Netflix.
Michael Bay is of course famous for his big-budget action films including Bad Boys, The Rock, Armageddon, Pearl Harbour, The Island and four Transformers films, also directed the smaller scale Pain & Gain and 13 Hours in 2016.
- Umma – Sony Pictures
Supernatural horror starring Sandra Oh, Fivel Stewart, Dermot Mulroney, Odeya Rush, MeeWha Alana Lee and Tom Yi and directed by Iris K. Shim.
Sandra Oh is currently everywhere with the fourth and final series of Killing Eve on BBC1 Saturdays and also in Pixar’s Turning Red which was recently released on Disney+
Sony is advertising it as exclusively in cinemas but it’s unlikely to last long in cinemas with all the films opening over the next few weeks
The Bad Guys also have previews over the weekend on Saturday/Sunday ahead of the opening on April 1st which will see it open against Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Morbius next weekend. Surprising to see Universal opening The Bad Guys against Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and opening it two weeks before the US as the two-family films will likely cannibalize each other, but it does me it opens ahead of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore opening April 8th.
It used to be rival studios kept their distance from Harry Potter films but after the second Fantastic Beasts film in 2018 took almost half of the first film £34,010,232 Vs £54,690,221 after opening with a third less £12,318,966 and £15,333,146 they believe there is room in the market. While Daniel Radcliffe stars in The Lost City opening the weekend after Fantastic Beasts 3.