Top 5 Breakdown

1. It – £10,002,443 – NE

It was a film unlike any other as normally have some idea how a film might perform but while It was a horror the film played to a much wider audience probably most comparable to Blair Witch Project which took £5,875,318 on wide release (397 screens) after taking £750,822 (36 screens); inflation inflated box office would be £10.3m which is very close to Its UK opening; Blair Witch Project went on to take £18.74m which would be close to about £32m for It today.

It had the fifth biggest Fri-Sun opening of the UK of 2017 and the six biggest opening of the year behind Beauty and the Beast, The Fate of the Furious, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, Despicable Me 3, Sing overtaking Dunkirk to be Warner Bros biggest opening of the year and biggest since last year’s Fantastic Beasts.

UK Cinema Association will claim It was seen by 1,312,657 people over the weekend as the average ticket was claimed £7.62 but I like many believe that average figure is closer to £10.50 (my local Vue Cinemas are over £12 and that’s just standard ticket, not 3D or IMAX) so admissions are really 952,614 which is still very impressive but just highlights the issue over admissions Vs box office.

Of course, became the biggest horror opening of the year and became the biggest September opening of all time overtaking last year’s Bridget Jones’s Baby’s £8.11m.

With strong word of mouth, It is likely to hold far stronger than normal horrors but still unlikely to hold as strong as Get Out and Split earlier this year; last year Bridget Jones’s Baby dropping only 20% taking £6.45m in its second weekend It could take similar but the big question is how mother and American Assassin might affect It as mother has had very marmite reviews and will be a real test for Jennifer Lawrence.

Depending on how It holds will likely become Warner Bros second biggest film of 2017 with Justice League still to come and Lego Ninjago which benefits from being the first animated film released for half-term and its only competition My Little Pony: The Movie which will be playing much younger.

When the teaser trailer was released in March no-one could have possibly imagined would have become the most-watched teaser trailer viewed over 197m. Over the following months, awareness was high building up to the trailer release in July (I can’t find any figures for views in its first 24 hours is strange given the media coverage it received and that trailers will normally be seen more than their teasers).

In August Warner Bros attached the first 4 minutes of It to Annabelle: Creation.at that same time first tracking figures were released predicting $50m opening. Since then as the remaining summer films underwhelmed everyone was looking ahead to It early Twitter reaction was positive but as it has been positive for many films like Batman Vs Superman and Suicide Squad but reviews were poor must take those comments for what they are audiences on a high coming out from just watching it. There were slight concerns despite being based on book embargo was an embargo until September 5th three days before opening (mother reviews have published the date before but opens the week after). Reviews were positive if not as strong as the Tweets which was always going to be the way and then

Warner Bros have had such an up and down year starting with massive flop Live by Night Warner Bros brought forward a year after liking what they saw in an early cut. But instead, the Ben Affleck directed film felt rushed to meet its Christmas Day release and what was seen months before as a potential Oscar nominated follow-up to Argo was a flop which saw Ben Affleck replaced as director of The Batman. Warner Bros had a long and strong relationship with Ben Affleck from The Town to starring as Batman in Batman Vs Superman, Suicide Squad and Justice League but will now direct his next film for Sony Pictures and the rumours that won’t go away that he is going to quit The Batman.

After the massive success both critically and at the box office for The Lego Movie in 2014 with one of the best support characters being Batman was no surprise the first spin-off film was The Lego Batman Movie. As with The Lego Movie, it’s marketing and trailers were fantastically received positive reviews but then opened two weeks after Sing. The Lego Movie had little competition opening February half term but with Sing opening first the first children film always has an advantage seen this summer with Despicable Me 3 opening three weeks before Cars 3 and Captain Underpants while The Lego Batman Movie did far better than those two taking £27m must be slightly disappointing. Kong: Skull Island opened in the shadows of Logan took £15.61m which was close to 2014’s Godzilla reboot. While Fist Fight, Chips, Unforgettable and The House underwhelmed. Going I Style had a decent performance having the best second-weekend hold for a major release in the UK this year.

After being delayed from last July King Arthur was always likely to underwhelm at the box office and wasn’t helped in the UK opening a week after the US due to Alien: Covenant opening the week before. Problem with King Arthur was producers were too busy trying to set up a franchise close to The Mummy forgot that to start a franchise it needed a good first film. In the weeks, ahead of Wonder Woman’s release it was generating very strong buzz close to Dunkirk and It and everything was going so well but then the terrorist attack at the end of the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester and this understandably saw Warner Bros cancel Wonder Woman UK premiere. In recent years UK premieres don’t get much media coverage but Wonder Woman was received massive awareness and media coverage that its UK premiere would have been the focal point of its marketing campaign but with its premiere and The Mummy both films lost their momentum. For Wonder Woman opening weekend was also affected by London terrorist attack on Saturday and then the Ariana Grande One Love Manchester Concert on the Sunday which saw 12m watch the concert watching their real-life Wonder Woman perform on stage many of them would probably have gone to see Wonder Woman; Wonder Woman opened with a disappointing £6.17m and then was hurt the following weekend by the hottest temperatures of the year while it held strongly in the weeks after similar to Tom Cruise’s Edge of Tomorrow in 2014 the damage was already done.

Patty Jenkins officially signed for Wonder Woman 2 which was dated 13th December 2019 but then Disney yesterday moved Star Wars Episode IX from May 24th to December 20th which could see it move. As currently have Untitled DC Film, Bond 25, Untitled Marvel Film, Frozen 2, Wonder Woman 2 and Star Wars IX all with 6 weeks of each other. 

But Warner then had huge success in the UK with Dunkirk helped by the “Brit Boost” which British based films like Spectre, Fantastic Beasts, Harry Potter, Bridget Jones’s Baby all perform far stronger in the UK than elsewhere. As Dunkirk in the US will fall short of match the box office of 1998’s Saving Private Ryan and it will just over take Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar but in the UK, will become his highest grossing film. Dunkirk became the must-see film of the year. Was followed by Annabelle: Creation which had the first four minutes of It which saw the film take similar box office to the first film.

2. American Made £674,106 – £ 4,332,237

Down 30.3% in its third weekend has held well despite having a disappointing debut which shows that had it been given a decent release date and a premiere it could have performed far better.

Instead, American Made will be Tom Cruise’s worse performing action film in the UK which is telling as The Mummy and Jack Reacher: Never Go Back are far worse films.

Next year Tom Cruise faces a Mission Impossible opening Mission Impossible 6 against Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again after the first film took £6.59m 10 years ago taking £68.6m and Hotel Transylvania 3. Top Gun: Maverick has July 19^th to itself but is still sandwiched between Toy Story 4 and The Lion King.

3. Dunkirk – £629,435 – £55,046,949

Down 32.7% in its eighth weekend; has overtaken Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secret and Fantastic Beasts Where the Find Them to become the 19^th biggest film in the UK and will overtake Casino Royale, The Dark Knight Rises and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace over the next few weeks.

Saving Private Ryan took £281,502 in its eighth weekend in October 1998 taking £16,612,495 (88.64%) going on to take £18,740,016 (4.604m admissions); comparing admissions Saving Private Ryan would have taken £29.87m on its way to £35.08m if using the claimed £7.62 average. But as the average for Dunkirk with IMAX surcharges is nearer £12.50 would be £37.37m going on to take £57.55m which will be close to the final box office for Dunkirk.

To celebrate the 50^th anniversary of IMAX on Sunday Dunkirk was screened at the Toronto Film Festival in IMAX which included an introduction by director Christopher Nolan who said he avoided the use of green screen shooting the film when the explosions are on the beaches they were all real.

Dunkirk recently opened in China taking $46.4m the film came under criticism from critics who believed the film who said a “disastrous retreat” does not conform with “Chinese values”.

Chinese magazine New Weekly compared Dunkirk to Wolf Warrior 2 saying “Wolf Warrior 2 depicts complete victory,” “Whereas Dunkirk is about a disastrous retreat, which is very different from traditional Chinese values so it will not perform very well at the box office.” Wolf Warrior 2 has taken $848,349,872 in China

4. The Emoji Movie £546,248 – £13,286,015

Down 23.7% in its sixth weekend while many have pointed at the reason why It opened so well was that audiences were waiting for quality then what is the reason for The Emoji Movie to be still in the top five after six weeks on release?

The Emoji Movie has become the 18^th biggest films of 2017 overtaking Baby Driver and Alien: Covenant having taken almost double Captain Underpants and almost 25% more than Cars 3;

Rather than quality timing is what is so important with film releasing Despicable Me 3 is far from a good film but opening first always gives it the advantage why Universal brought forward the release of The Secret Life of Pets 2 in June 2019 to open two weeks before Toy Story 4 rather than two weeks after. Sony held back The Emoji Movie a week from its US opening to avoid opening close to Cars 3 and Captain Underpants both opened three weeks after Despicable Me 3 rather than the normal four weeks which cannibalized both of those films. 20^th Century Fox thought opening Captain Underpants on the Monday the summer holidays began would give it a head start but instead, as it was only three days after Cars 3 both films cannibalized each other.

Despite receiving very poor reviews opening the week after The Emoji Movie had a decent opening and has held strong over its following weekends as it’s the only children’s film on wide release until Lego Ninjago opens in a months’ time for half-term.

Spider-Man: Homecoming will shortly overtake La La Land to become the fifth biggest film in the UK behind Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, Despicable Me 3, Dunkirk and Beauty and the Beast taking £30.4m. After Wonder Woman, disappointed in the UK can Thor: Ragnarok or Justice League overtake Spider-Man: Homecoming which is the sixth biggest Marvel Cinematic Universe film behind Avengers Assemble, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, Captain America: Civil War and Iron Man 3. It has overtaken all bar Spider-Man 3 UK box office but inflation inflated box office will have only beaten The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

Globally Spider-Man: Homecoming is the second biggest Spider-Man film taking $823m behind Spider-Man 3 $890.9m.

5. The Hitman’s Bodyguard £484,936 – £6,599,321

Down 32.4% in its third weekend; after overtaking Hacksaw Ridge last weekend overtook John Wick 2 this weekend to become #32 biggest film of the year

Also released

Wind River – STX – opened with £434,369 from 163 screens; last week was revealed Icon Films were looking for a buyer three year after their relaunch. The independent film market in the UK is very tough to crack so many companies have tried and failed over the years.

In 2013 Koch Media had plans to release 25 films a year but after several disappointing performances two years later closed theatrical. While others have either been sold to foreign companies including Optimum, Redbus Film Distributors and Electric Pictures so while it’s great STX has launched UK distribution need strong slate to survive Home Again opens September 27^th after disappointing in the US this weekend likely to do similar in the UK while Breathe opens the London Film Festival but will it find a wide audience after being described as ‘fusty’ by Variety and The Hollywood Reporter  ‘crude copy Theory of Everything with trite script’ so likely to perform similarly to last year’s opening and closing film A United Kingdom and Free Fire. STX Entertainments first major release is Ridley Scott’s All the Money in the World starring Michelle Williams, Kevin Spacey and Mark Wahlberg opening in January. But as I’ve written before the last indie Ridley Scott film wewas0 years ago White Squall and G.I Jane both acquired by First Independent Film Vestron Film reborn but after both films disappointed at the box office closed shortly after.

UK box office in detail

This weekend’s top 10 box office took £13,995,694 up 125.97% from last weekend £6,193,483      

The weekend admissions 1,836,705 up 125.9% from last weekend 812,793 (average price £7.62 by UK Cinema Association/BFI for 2017).

It took 71.46% of the top 10; 17 films opened at weekend taking £10,558,096; It took 94.7% (£10,002,443); Wind River took 4.1% (£437,899) with the remaining 15 films shared £117,754 (1.1%); was the 29^th biggest film of the last 52 weeks

Weekend was up 6.17% from last year (£13,181,394): Bridget Jones’s Baby £8,111,077, Blair Witch £959,401, The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years £654,726, The Infiltrator £370,439.

Up 27.06% from 2015: (£11,014,615): Legend £5,189,074, The Maze Runner: Scorch Trials £2,799,428, The Visit £1,031,292, Irrational Man £197,188

Next weekend in 2016: (£11,647,518) The Magnificent Seven £2,132,609 and he Girl with All the Gifts £432,529.

 

UK Box Office Top 10

 

US Box Office Top 10

US Box office

Warner Bros – It opens with $123.1m; having the biggest ever September opening, largest Fall opening and biggest opening for an R-rated horror film; previous biggest openers were Hotel Transylvania 2 $48.5 million and Gravity’s $55.7 million and the previous biggest R-rated horror was Paranormal Activity 3’s $52.5 million;

After taking $13.5m from Thursday midnights took $51m from Friday $44.98 on Saturday down only 9.8% and 27.9m on Sunday down 37.8%

It is already the fifth biggest R-rated horror film all-time and will overtake The Conjuring, The Blair Witch Project and Get Out over the next week to be second behind The Exorcist $232.9m but of course was released 44 years ago and has had several re-issues; It could take upwards of $300m+ depending on how it holds over the coming weeks; currently has 86% Rotten Tomatoes score and B+ CinemaScore in comparison the first two Conjuring films received A- (The Conjuring dropped 46.9%,  The Conjuring 2 63.2%, Anabelle 57.3%, and Annabelle: Creation 55.4% while Get Out only 15.4% and Split 35.9%); audience was split 51% female vs. 49% male with 10% of the audience under the age of 18 65% over the age of 25.

Sunday estimates had It coming in at $117.15m but Warner Bros regularly underestimate weekend box office as they have done recently with Wonder Woman and Dunkirk. It could of opening 5-6% bigger but due to Hurricane Irma 200 cinemas in Florida were shut for most of Saturday and Sunday which could have seen it beat Deadpool’s opening. Do wonder if Warner Bros screened their weather disaster Geostorm trailer before It?

Social horror Get Out earlier this year was called ‘Invasion of the Black Body Snatchers’ for the Trump era opening in cinemas shortly after Donald Trump become president. Of course, Director Jordan Peele and Universal Pictures like most never thought Trump could win had Hilary Clinton become President would it have been as big a success we will of course never know. Many are suggesting It success is close to Get Out as it is a parable for a tormented nation director Andy Muschietti told EW “Everyone needs reassurance that it’s good to be part of a group, and it’s great to come together against division and fear,” “Fear is used as a tool these days to divide and control and conquer. And hate is a tool. And that’s something Pennywise does, so that’s something resonating in our society right now.”

While It is a horror it is also close to Stephen King’s coming-of-age story “The Body,” which became Rob Reiner’s classic film Stand By Me. In Stand By Me, the off-screen adults were the monsters as is in It with Pennywise.

Stephen King joked in a speech at the Women’s March in Sarasota, Fla. In January “We just elected Pennywise as president.”

Ever since the teaser trailer launched in March watched 197m times in the first 24 hours there has been huge awareness for the film but it was always unknown how far this would take its cinema appeal. Strange Things and the nostalgia to everything of the 80s. Stephen King has published 54 novels including 7 under the name Richard Bachman, 6 nonfiction books and almost 200 short stories. Over 40 have been adapted into films taking over $2.259m at the US box office. The highest grossing Stephen King film is 1999’s The Green Mile taking over $136m.

Disney is currently #1 studio in the US taking $1,401.1m but after It opening Warmer Bros were only $8m behind on Sunday $1,393.4m but have since gone above Disney with It taking $8m on Monday. Disney doesn’t release their next film until November with Thor: Ragnarok Coco and then Star Wars: The Last Jedi in December will end the year as #1 studio again. But after Warner Bros will likely be #1 studio for at least the next two months.

IT is likely to take $300m+ probably double was expected to be their second biggest film of the year.

In two weeks Lego Ninjago opens over the years September 22nd weekend has been very lucrative for children’s films with Cloud with the Chance of Meatballs and Hotel Transylvania and their sequels opening strongly after huge success of The Lego Movie and The Lego Batman Movie Ninjago from the trailers looks to have the similar charm and fun being the only children’s film until My Little Pony which will play much younger Ninjago could have a strong opening of $40m+ but does open against Kingsman: The Golden Circle which could squeeze into its audience while It third weekend could still be over $30m which could affect both.

Bladerunner 2049 opens October 6^th the film has had huge awareness very strong marketing campaign but opening 35 years after the original which is a masterpiece now after flopping in 1982 are huge questions on who is the audience for the film is it the teens that saw it in the 80s now close to 60 or Millennials despite starring in La La Land and many of films Ryan Gosling still hasn’t positioned himself as a box office star. Last years The Nice Guys despite great reviews disappointed and all his other successes have been part of ensembles or were indie films Half Nelson Drive and Blue Valentine but his starring him The Idles of March and Gangster Squad failed to find audiences.

The long delayed Geostorm opens in October has a great trailer but will audiences want to watch a film after experiencing recently the real thing.

Justice League opens in November after the huge success both critically and at the box office for Wonder Woman is hope Justice League will be similar rather than like other DC films Batman Vs Superman and Suicide Squad after Zack Snyder had to leave the production after a family tragedy Joss Whedon came on board to deal with the reshoots depending on what you read the film is undergoing a tonal shift with Wonder Woman getting a far bigger role in the reshoots. Comedy Bastards ends the year was originally set to open at the start of the year.

With It opening with $123.1m but wasn’t expected to open nearly as big Fall is more crowded than summer how will it affect upcoming films targeting similar demographics mother American Assassin and Kingsman. With the strong buzz and word of mouth It is unlikely to drop 60%+ so has second weekend of $60m and third of $30m could impact upcoming releases. When studios believe a film will open with $100m+ at the box office they will not open films targeting similar audience the following weekend as will expect them to be cannibalized which makes Paramount’s decision in June to bring forward mother a month from a strong October 13^th release date to open a week after It a very strange decision. Even before It opened with $123.1m but now even more so.

The film adaption avoided controversy, not including the book most controversial scene when Beverly decodes she needs to have sex with the six boys. In 2013 King commented on the scene expressing an understanding of how it’s aged. “I wasn’t really thinking of the sexual aspect of it,” “The book dealt with childhood and adulthood 1958 and Grown Ups. The grownups don’t remember their childhood. None of us remember what we did as children—we think we do, but we don’t remember it as it really happened. Intuitively, the Losers knew they had to be together again. The sexual act connected childhood and adulthood. It’s another version of the glass tunnel that connects the children’s library and the adult library. Times have changed since I wrote that scene and there is now more sensitivity to those issues.”

Writer Gary Dauberman told EW “Besides Georgie in the sewer, I think it’s the one scene that everybody kind of brings up and it’s such a shame,” he says. “While it’s an important scene, it doesn’t define the book in any way I don’t think and it shouldn’t. We know what the intent was of that scene and why he put it in there, and we tried to accomplish what the intent was in a different way.”

The 2014 draft of the script included a softer version of the scene. The original scene generated much debate ever since the book was published in 1986 the removal of the scene avoided it from overshadowing the film as many would feel uncomfortable watching that scene today.

Fans of President Donald Trump called for a boycott of the film after Donald Trump blocked Stephen King on Twitter and then he blocked Trump from seeing IT or MR. MERCEDES. No clowns for you, Donald. Go float yourself.

The sequel which will see the children as adults is expected to be released in 2019.

It took $62m internationally from 46 territories and $179m globally with the UK the biggest international territory.

Open Road – Home Again – opens $8.56m which was close to Bridget Jones’s Baby, opened with $8.6 million last September; received B CinemaScore and 35% rotten Tomatoes so will drop heavily this weekend.

Reese Witherspoon is one of many actresses that have been struck by the Best Actress winning curse. Before winning Best Actress for Walk the Line in 2005 had big success at the box office with films including Legally Blonde and Sweet Home Alabama but after winning the Oscar has had limited success at the box office apart from comedy Four Christmases her biggest hits have been animated films Monsters Vs Aliens and Sing.

But Home Again always seemed a step backward for Reese Witherspoon after starring earlier this year alongside Nicole Kidman in the excellent Big Little Lies that she also produced. She was responsible for getting Good Girl to producers having been given the script before it was published originally considered for the female lead before Rosamund Pike replaced her who also replaced her for Miranda Frost in Die Another Day. Reese Witherspoon also turned down the female lead in Fight Club and Sydney Prescott in Scream.

Reese Witherspoon next stars in Alexander Payne ensemble comedy Downsizing after recently premiering at Venice the comedy/drama starring Matt Damon and Alec Baldwin opens at Christmas and is expected to be nominated for Oscars. Alexander Payne previously directed 1999’s Election which Reese also starred in and directed About Schmidt, Sideways, The Descendants (his biggest hit to date) and Nebraska.

But the failure of Home Again sees another death nail to the rom-com genre which used to be very successful over the decades but now more gross-out than comedy. The 80s and 90s rom-coms were a mainstay at cinemas with films including When Harry Met Sally, Pretty Woman, Sleepless in Seattle, Love, Notting Hill, Four Weddings and a Funeral, The Princess Bride, Groundhog Day, Say Anything, While You Were Sleeping but in recent years US audiences have preferred Bad Moms to Bridget Jones’s Baby and Crazy Stupid Love, Easy A and Friends with Benefits which are my favourite rom-com in recent years.

These films were often sleeper hits which built up an audience over weeks and months The Big Sick was meant to be that film this summer but after being hyped as the best rom-com since Four Weddings and a Funeral wasn’t as big a success as many expected after it premiered at Sundance Film Festival in January.  

Lionsgate – The Hitman’s Bodyguard – drops 54% in its fourth weekend taking $4.80m and $64.87m; 

The Hitman’s Bodyguard is the 24^th biggest Lionsgate film overtaking last year’s Deepwater Horizon and will shortly overtake Hacksaw Ridge becoming one of their biggest 20 films over its 22-year history.

Took $7.8m international and has taken $60.2m internationally and $125.1m globally to date. Which will see it come short of London Has Fallen globally box office of $205.7m but could match the box office of Olympus Has Fallen $170.2m. But as it was released in some territories including Japan on Netflix pirate copies are online. 

Warner Bros – Annabelle: Creation – drops 46.7% in its fifth weekend taking $4m and $96.27m; The three previous films have taken over $413m in the US and over $1.15 billion globally; The fifth part of the franchise The Nun will be released next July with The Conjuring 3 expected probably in 2019.

Annabelle Creation took $8.6m from international total $184m and $280.2m globally overtaking global box office of the original films $256.87m.

Weinstein Co- Wind River add 288 screens down 48.5% taking $3.13m taking $24.9m; expanding much quicker than last year’s Hell of High Water which suffered from expanding too fast.  

Warner Bros- Dunkirk down 55.4% in its eighth weekend $1.86m taking $183.02m;

Comparing with previous Christopher Nolan film 2014’s Interstellar took $3m in its eighth weekend and $177.38m 94.34% of final box office of $188.02m while 2010’s Inception took $4.57m and $277.14m 94.72% of final box office of $292.57m.

If Dunkirk continues to hold as it is currently will likely now take less $194.8m less than Saving Private Ryan’s $216.54m 1998 box office showing how much the ‘Brit effect’ has inflated its UK box office.

As Saving Private Ryan took $4.5m dropping only 33.7% taking $173.07m (79.9% of final box office of $216.54m; if Dunkirk held as strongly it would have ended with $229.22m) 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 $13.5m internationally $309.1m total with global box office of $492.2m #182 biggest film in the world overtaking Saving Private Ryan, Home Alone, Return of the Jedi and Angels & Demons and will shortly overtake Twister, Toy Story 2, Troy and The Boss Baby.

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.

Opened September 15^th

Opening UK

• Mother – Paramount Pictures

Psychological horror starring Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer and written and directed by Darren Aronofsky; had premiere at the Venice International Film Festival receiving a mixed reaction with cheers and boos currently has a 76% Rotten Tomatoes score. The posters looked close to Rosemary’s Baby which many critics compared the film to.

When I first heard of mother being called psychological horror co-starring Michelle Pfeiffer immediately thought of her 2000 film What Lies Beneath starring Harrison Ford directed by Robert Zemeckis opened October 2000 with £2,258,893 taking £13,392,428.

Darren Aronofsky previous films Noah opened with £2,511,397 April 2014 taking £9,851,448; Black Swan opened January 2011 with £2,762,429 taking £15.7m; The Wrestler opened January 2009 £802,046 taking £1,592,098; The Fountain opened January 2007 £80,506 taking £235,315 and Requiem for a Dream took £84,189 in January 2001.

Since starring in The Hunger Games films Jennifer Lawrence generates huge media coverage as she’s a female actress woman can relate to in 2012 she told Elle Magazine she was considered a fat actress by Hollywood standards taking a stand on body positivity redefining what it meant to have a normal body shape. Jennifer Lawrence is friends with Amy Schumer and at the premiere of IMAX film A Beautiful Planet she talked about her friendship and trying to change the way the media talks about women’s body types as they are both called curvy plus-sized actresses. In Harper’s Bazaar May 2016, she talked more about body image and that she’s just had a normal body shape.

Since the final The Hunger Games film was released in 2015 has starred in David O> Russell ensemble Joy and X-Men: Apocalypse and Passengers last December starring with Chris Pratt which despite receiving poor reviews opened with £2,418,976 and took over £10m showing that audience doesn’t care what critics say but mother is a very different film. Her next film spy thriller she re-teams with director Francis Lawrence who directed the final three Hunger Games films. Red Sparrow was originally set for release in November but pushed back to March 2018 after mother was dated and 20^th Century Fox had great success this year with Logan opening the same weekend this year.

For a studio like Paramount famous for not taking risks it was surprising they made 2014’s Noah with a $130m budget as the film was in development for over a decade at different studios before New Regency came on board and then Paramount followed.

But when you think of psychological horror most will immediately think of The Shinning or Misery both based on Stephen King novels which asked the question which has been asked on repeat by everyone to Paramount since July when they brought forward the release of mother by a month to open the week after It. Of course, no one knew It would have opened as big as it did but it doesn’t make any sense to open two similar films a week after each other as all it does is cannibalize each other. Mother had a far stronger October release date while closer to Happy Death Day and Jigsaw both played to a much younger audience.

• Victoria and Abdul – Universal Pictures

Biographical drama starring Judi Dench, Ali Fazal, Eddie Izzard, Tim Pigott-Smith and Adeel Akhtar and directed by Stephen Frears had the world premiere at Venice Film Festival and then UK premierelast week.

20 years after playing Queen Victoria in Mrs Brown (winning Best Actress Bafta and nominated for Best Actress Oscar) she back in Mrs Brown 2; Mrs Brown was made by BBC originally as a TV drama but was acquired by Miramax who released it in the US and was released by Buena Vista in the UK opening September 5^th, 1997 after premiering at the Cannes Film Festival; took £2.54m at the UK box office #48 biggest film of the year and the seventh biggest British film of 1997 behind The Full Monty, Bean, The English Patient, Fierce Creature, Shooting Fish and A Life Less Ordinary

Stephen Frears last directed Florence Foster Jenkins opened with £710,099 his fourth biggest opening in the UK; previously directed The Program opened October 2016 with £144,181, Philomena opened November 2013 with £1.44m; The Queen in September 2006 £856,273 went on to take £9,009,127, Mrs. Henderson Presents opened November 2005 with £752,394 taking £2,910,006 and High Fidelity opened with £696,812 in July 2000 taking £4,696,042.

Victoria and Abdul trailer played with Dunkirk while and will likely play strongly to the older audience close to films like Viceroy’s House opening with £0.92m taking £4.07m and Their Finest £0.85m taking £4.02m and will perform far stronger mid-week than the weekend. While the marketplace is crowded over the next few weeks as it will play to an older audience its next direct competition won’t be until the end of the month with the eagerly awaited Goodbye Christopher Robin about author A.A. Milne creator of the classic Winnie the Pooh books.(Disney have just announced August 2018 release date for their own telling of the Christopher Robin story)

• American Assassin – Lionsgate

Action thriller starring Dylan O’Brien, Michael Keaton, Sanaa Lathan, Shiva Negar and Taylor Kitsch and directed by Michael Cuesta based on the novels by Vince Flynn’s novels American Assassin is the eleventh novel of the series but the first chronologically.

Dylan O’Brien is best known for starring in The Maze Runner trilogy the final part Maze Runner: The Death Cure was delayed a year to January 2018 after Dylan O’Brien was injured on set.

With It likely to stay #1 with £6m and mother likely to open with £2m+ in second American Assassin will likely open third but opening so close to The Hitman’s Bodyguard and Wind River could find it hard to find an audience as otherwise would compare it to Sicario opened with £1,596,734 October 2015 but will more likely similar to last years Hell or High Water.

• The Jungle Bunch – eOne

Based on the animated French TV series which won an International Emmy Award in Category Kids which previously was shown in the UK on Boomerang first series in 2014 and second series in 2016.

After the recent success of Zootropolis, Sing and The Secret Life of Pets and the trailer shown with Despicable Me 3 and The Emoji Movie The Jungle Bunch could attract younger children being the only new children’s film released until Lego Ninjago opens in a months’ time. With schools back will be limited to weekend matinees.

• Close Encounters of the Third Kind – Park Circus

Celebrating the 40th anniversary of Steven Spielberg’s classic Close Encounters of The Third Kind Sony Pictures gave their 4K restoration a theatrical release for one week before being released on 4K Ultra HD.  The re-released version is a re-edited version of the 1997 version which without the scenes inside the mothership. The problem for the film restoration team was the 1980 special edition was created from the original negative and some of the material was lost in labs in the 70s but when Metrocolor closed in 80s they came across some of the missing footage.

Opening in US

• Mother – Paramount Pictures

Mother is a major test for Jennifer Lawrence star power while she generates huge media coverage as she did last week with the premiere at the Venice Film Festival, London premiere and screening at Deauville Film Festival but mother is a very different film to her fanbase.

Passengers was the last film she starred in which received mixed reviews but still managed to squeeze past $100m. mother is a very different film targeting a very different demographic to The Hunger Games or X-Men.  The David O. Russell films Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle and Joy she had the support of a strong ensemble while mother also stars Javier Bardem, Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer it is Jennifer Lawrence’s film. She next stars in spy thriller Red Sparrow opening next March and is currently shooting X-Men: Dark Phoenix west for release November 2018.

Darren Aronofsky’s biggest opening was Noah in March 2014 with $43.73m and was his most commercial film starring Russell Crowe and Emma Watson who as Jennifer Lawrence generated huge media coverage (opened against Divergent and Muppets Most Wanted second weekends taking $25.6m and $11.2m). Despite Natalie Portman winning Best Actress for Black Swan and nominated for Best Film and Director it still had a mixed critical reaction close to his previous films The Fountain, Requiem for a Dream and Pi

It is likely to take about $60m the audience for mother would be the same as It so makes no sense at all why Paramount bought the film forward a month apart from having its premiere at Venice.

The film had been shrouded in secrecy until the trailer was released in August and even then, was still unclear. Reviews have compared mother to Rosemary’s Baby, Get Out and Under the Skin. Normally a studio will ask critics for their reaction to a film but they needed time to get their thoughts across which was close to David Cronenberg 1996 film Crash critics came out of screenings with shock and amazement in what they had just watched. When I was a projectionist at Rank Film Distributors would often hear critics talk about the film they just watched but there was silence when the critics came out after seeing Crash which I guess was similar after seeing mother.

Paramount surprised everyone in July bring the release forward a month from a strong October 13^th opening against Happy Death Day, The Foreigner, Marshall, and Professor Marston & the Wonder Women which was a crowded weekend. But would think opening against a PG-13 teen horror would be far easier than opening the second weekend of It which would be targeting similar demographics.

Originally Paramount had Friday 13^th dated for 13^th October; in June 2013 Warner Bros gave Paramount their rights for sequels to Friday the 13^th and South Park for five years in exchange to co-produce Interstellar but after many attempts to make Friday the 13^th films next year they return to Warner. Which is similar to Terminator rights that expire next year before returning to James Cameron in 2019 who is already talking about rebooting the franchise.

• American Assassin – Lionsgate

Well received action thriller opening mid-September would normally be looking for a decent debut but after It’s huge opening last weekend likely to hold strongly and mother opening against American Assassin it is likely to be cannibalized by the two despite receiving good reviews. The one thing that could save American Assassin is The Hitman’s Bodyguard with the trailer played before it and mother gets cannibalized instead by It which is more its target audience.

The Hitman’s Bodyguard opened with $21.38m but American Assassin is likely to open close to 2014’s Sicario $12.14m and 2014’s Nightcrawler $10.44 and 2012’s End of Watch $13.15m

Director Michael Cuesta previously directed episodes of excellent TV thriller Homeland and the underrated thriller Kill the Messenger which Focus Features dumped in October 2014 on a limited wide release opening with $941,809      taking $2,450,846  

• Brad’s Status – Annapurna Pictures

Comedy drama starring Ben Stiller, Michael Sheen, Jenna Fischer, Luke Wilson, and Austin Abrams and directed by Mike White; premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival;

The film was produced by Plan B Entertainment in October 2016 Amazon Studios came on board in to co-finance and distribute the film and in May 2017 was announced Annapurna Pictures would release the film in the US being the second film they distribute in the US after Kathryn Bigelow’s Detroit.

In April Plan B Entertainment moved from Paramount Pictures to Annapurna Pictures; Plan B Production previously made The Big Short, 12 Years a Slave, The Departed, World War Z, War Machine, Beautiful Boy, Okja and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.