Top 5 Breakdown

1. Darkest Hour – £2,672,022 – £15,224,229

Down 18.92% and returning #1 Darkest Hour has become this year’s must-see Oscar nominee recently years have been The Theory of Everything, The Revenant and La La Land. Away from a very powerful performance from Gary Oldman the film itself fails to match up to the hype which is probably while it’s performing strongly in the UK thanks to the Brit boost than the US where it has been overshadowed by Lady Bird and The Shape of Water, but those two films don’t open in the UK until next month.

Took £2.4m Mon-Thurs as Darkest Hour plays to an older audience weekday box office is often as strong as weekends I went to see The Post on Tuesday early afternoon show at Everyman Barnet and half fall saying that it was in one of their smaller screens but Coco and Early Man performances would a lot emptier with The Post moving into second on Monday with Coco and Early Man out of the top 5.

After three weeks previous biggest box office Oscar films 

Les Miserables in January 2013 took £4,016,611 and total £24,618,896 -80.6% of final box office of £40.63m

12 Years a Slave in January 2014 took £2,235,837 and total £11,039,927 -55.1% of final box office of £20.15m

The Theory of Everything in January 2015 took £2,326,539 and total of £11,942,161 -55.6% of final box office of £21.46m

The Revenant in January 2016 took £2,278,262 and total £16,094,354 – 70% of final box office of £23.1m

La La Land in January 2017 took £3.10m and total of £20.95m – 69% of final box office of £30.42m

If Darkest Hour continues to hold as it is final box office with the Brit boost could to £25m; with none of this weekend’s new releases unlikely to crack the top 10 it Darkest Hour will hold #1 till Fifty Shades Freed and then Black Panther.

My biggest issue with Darkest Hour is why they have added fictional scenes within the film added to make the film more heart-warming including the tube scene which the writer admitted never happened. In the film, Churchill struggle over if its ok to twist the truth to boost the spirits of the population but instead fiddles the truth to make the film to be more inspirational.

When seeing a film about a historical person or event you expect it to be factually correct in the end as you know so much didn’t happen or didn’t happen as the film presented it feels lesser the quality movie it’s trying to be. While Darkest Hour and Dunkirk received the media attention Brian Cox’s Churchill and Lone Scherfig’s Their Finest are far better films about Churchill while he is heard but not seen in Dunkirk.

German ambassador said this week that the image of Britain standing alone in the second world war against German domination has fed Euroscepticism in the UK. This also explains why films like Darkest Hour and Dunkirk have also been far more successful in the UK than elsewhere as playing up how strong and powerful Britain used to be and can be again alone.

2. Coco – £2,315,450 – £8,165,400

Down 55.5% in its second weekend including previews but only 30% from its Fri-Sun opening compares to only 13% second-weekend drop for Moana but had less direct competition than Coco having Early Man while Moana had a fourth weekend of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and eighth weekend for Trolls.

As Disney open Black Panther in two weeks and Coco was held over from last year to avoid Paddington 2 it had to open last weekend. Its second-weekend box office was affected by the opening weekend of Early Man and both will be limited to the weekend box office for the next two weeks before half term holidays.

As Coco had weekend previews can’t compare its second weekend with Moana which took £4,773,161 without previews.

After 10 days of release has already overtaken the final box office for 2014’s Book of Life opened in October 2014 taking £5,813,909 was similarly themed and very underrated.

Unless Coco or Early Man have a huge box office boost during half-term holidays in two weeks’ time neither film will get close to either of last years half-term films Sing taking £29.17m and The Lego Batman Movie taking £27.43m but was never likely to do so their box office is more likely in the £15-20m levels.

3. Maze Runner: The Death Cure – £2,247,915 – NE

The first film The Maze Runner opened October 2014 £2,041,229 taking £8,840,387 and the sequel opened only a year after The Maze Runner: Scorch Trials in September 2015 £2,799,428 taking £8,669,049 as young adult films have very short windows.

When the release of the third film was delayed a year after Dylan O’Brien was injured on set in March 2016 there was concern that the extra year gap could hurt its box office but instead opening in the middle of the first and second film was a good opening for the film.

Helping the film was trailers have been played with Jumanji and while the marketplace s very crowded with Jumanji playing out there is a gap in the market for teen films until Black Panther opens in two weeks.

The first film received positive reviews and held surprising strong in its following weeks, but the sequel was much more front-loaded, and the third film will be similar but the lack of new releases this weekend might mean it will hold a little better.

Over the years studios have been eager to make film adaptations of films based on young adult novels as they already have an inbuilt audience having he success with Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Twilight, The Fault in Our Stars and the first Divergent film but also many disappointments including The Giver, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, Ender’s Game, Paper Towns, City of Embers, The Golden Compass. Upcoming young adult adaptations include Why We Broke Up, Looking For Alaska, Red Queen, The Knife of Never Letting Go, A Wrinkle in Time, The Darkest Minds and Ready Player One.

The Maze Runner: Scorch Trials dropped 38% in its second weekend Maze Runner: The Death Cure will likely drop similar taking £1.5m+

 

4. The Greatest Showman – £2,042,450 – £19,965,506

Down 3.02% in its fifth weekend; it is the first film since Despicable Me 3 and Beauty and the Beast to take £2m+ for five weekends, not even Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Dunkirk and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle could do that; over the weekend the sing-along version was released in UK cinemas and it will be released on IMAX screens for one week.

What more can be said about the incredibly holding power of The Greatest Showman I have said so many times that critics were very condescending to the film describing it as fake while swooning over La La Land is ‘inspired’ by classic Hollywood musicals so faker. The Greatest Showman doesn’t try to be something it’s not as Jumanji is just a perfect family popcorn movie 105mins long come out of the cinema humming the songs.

Five weeks ago, The Greatest Showman opened third with £2,575,147 taking £2,178,902 from three days of previews while Star Wars: The Last Jedi as #1 with £7,975,174 and took only £325,000 this weekend and of the top 10.

Last week The Greatest Showman overtook box office of 2003’s Chicago and this weekend overtook 2001’s Moulin Rouge took £17,047,358; while of course, as Chicago it won’t get anywhere near their 2018 equivalent box office; Moulin Rouge had 4.18m admissions in 2001 be £31.45m (more than last year’s La La Land opened with £6.59m taking £6.59m) today while Chicago had 3.62m admissions in 2003 be £27.72m.

The soundtrack held #1 in the UK despite the release of Craig David’s new album with This is Me #8, Rewrite the Stars #19, The Greatest Show #23

20^th Century Fox three films Maze Runner: The Death Cure, The Greatest Showman and Three Billboards took 32% of the top 10 box office which is important to now after it was announced in December Disney were to buy the studio. In recent years 20^th Century Fox has had strong box office success last year also with Murder on the Orient Express, Hidden Figures, Logan and Kingsman: The Golden Circle targeting older audiences and award success with The Shape of Water and Three Billboards favourite to win major Oscar awards this year.  This is of course very important in what the future for 20^th Century Fox might be being part of Disney will it become a similar label as Touchstone Pictures used to be to make half a dozen films.

Before Disney got into the comic-book business Touchstone Pictures (launched in 1984 with Splash followed by Down and Out in Beverly Hills (their first R rated film) and Hollywood Pictures (launched in 1988) would make their live-action films with Walt Disney for family films. In recent years they have cut back on the films they make and release concentrating more on properties than films incorporating 20^th Century Fox as a label as Fox Searchlight to make and release half a dozen films a year each would give them the films they have been lacking in recent years and the films they had great success with previously.

Disney has spent over $117bn over the last 22 years to create their empire in 1996 Disney bought ABC for $19bn, 2001 Fox Family $5bn, 2006 Pixar $7bn, 2009 Marvel $4bn, 2012 Lucasfilm $4bn and $66bn for 20^th Century Fox, will Fox run independently as most of their other purchases.

Before La La Land in 2016 studios made few musicals with Jersey Boys, Annie and Rock of Ages flopping Into the Woods and Les Miserables were the biggest hits since Mamma Mia in 2008 this year has the sequel, Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again and the long in development A Star is Born remake starring Lady Gaga and directed by Bradley Cooper was previously to star Beyoncé with Clint Eastwood directing. 

After La La Land in 2016 and The Greatest Showman in 2017, this year have Mary Poppins Returns and Queen bio-pic Bohemian Rhapsody and Steven Spielberg is currently casting his long in development West Side Story remake and 2019 also sees the film version of Wicked: The Musical.

5. Early Man – £2,020,653 – NE

After receiving strong media coverage over the last few weeks and positive reviews 93% Rotten Tomatoes score would have expected a stronger opening but opening only a week after Coco was always likely to cannibalize each other with both aimed at boys as the plot for Early Man centres around football while Coco has a male lead. While both are surprisingly PG films as normally would expect Aardman Animation to play to a younger audience and be a U.

Early Man was first announced in 2007 as a Nick Park Untitled film along with The Cat Burglars which were going to be part of their three-year development deal they signed in 2007 but The Cat Burglars was cancelled and Nick Park Untitled was delayed until Studiocanal announced in 2015 they would finance the $50m film.

Three years ago, Studiocanal released Shaun The Sheep Movie opened third with a similar £2,095,061 against the second weekend of Big Hero 6 #1 with £2,540,116; Shaun The Sheep Movie took £13.76m while Big Hero 6 £19.34m both films are likely to perform similarly with two weeks still until half-term.

Surprising with three weeks until half-term Studiocanal opened Early Man a week after Coco as opening children’s films so close together normally cannibalize them. Last year Universal Pictures opening Sing this weekend taking £29.17m and Warner Bros opened The Lego Batman Movie two weeks later taking £27.34m that week between allowed both films to have weekend previews which Coco did but Early Man didn’t.

Aardman Animations normally have very long legs Arthur Christmas opened November 2011 with £2,112,516 opening #2 taking a very impressive £20,838,301 being Christmas #1 in week 7 while The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists opened in March 2012 with £2,176,195 taking £16,007,789.

Aardman Animations biggest film in the UK was for Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit opened October 2005 with £9.34m taking £32m but was of course based on beloved characters which BBC News called “some of the best-known and best-loved stars to come out of the UK”. Shaun The Sheep was a 2007 spin-off and Shaun The Sheep Movie 2 opens Easter 2019.

Aardman Animations follow-up 2006’s Flushed Away wasn’t so successful opened with £3,106,874 in December 2006 taking £11,095,363 which saw them move from Dreamworks Pictures to Sony Pictures. While Arthur Christmas and The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists were successful in the UK

also released

Downsizing – Paramount Pictures – opened with £1,131,687 from 391 screens; after flopping in the US at Christmas the Alexander Payne directed film opened surprisingly strongly in a crowded marketplace. It was the directors second biggest opener behind 2012’s The Descendants opened with £1.8m and took £8.2m in a very crowded market unlikely to last long in cinemas.

12 Strong – Entertainment Film Distributors – opened with £421,514

UK box office in detail

ComScore reported it was the biggest January since 2013 the box office has been shared across more films than normal, but January is always a very crowded month. But this weekend was down on the same weekend last year as will be this weekend with a lack of major releases before Fifty Shades Freed and Black Panther open in two weeks’ time premiere reaction for Black Panther was the predictable best Marvel film ever but never get real audience reaction from premiere audience as they are all hyped up.

The top five films took over £2m with just over £600k between #1 and #5 shows how congested it is as last year Sing and T2: Trainspotting was way ahead of the rest. Nine films took £1m+ which hasn’t happened before.

This weekend’s top 10 box office took £17,354,267 down 32.77% from last weekend £25,816,418

The weekend admissions xxx down xx% from last weekend 2,629,288; despite 3% inflation in the UK in 2017 UK Cinema Association/BFI are claiming average ticket prices in 2017 was up only 1% to £7.49; in the US inflation for 2017 was only 2% but their average price increased by 3.6%. Ahead of the release of The Last Jedi, I checked the price of over 230 major exhibitor’s cinemas first 2D screening and average was £11.61 less than 10% had tickets of £7.49 or under.

While I might seem to be overly critical of my comments about the industry it is due to the industry’s own fake news which was like ComScore reporting UK and Ireland box office for 2017 was up 3.6% the key part of that was the inclusion of Ireland as UK box office alone was only up 2.48% from £1.246bn to £1.277bn.

8 films opened at weekend taking £6,702,424; Maze Runner: The Death Cure 33.53% (£2,247,915); Early Man 30.14% (£2,020,653); Downsizing 16.88% (£1,131,687); remaining 5 films shared 19.42% (£1,302,169)

The weekend was down 32.77% from last year (£25,816,418): Sing £10,487,380, T2 Trainspotting £5,146,791, Hacksaw Ridge £1,490,158, Denial £229,067

Up 58.37% from 2016: (£10,957,523): Dirty Grandpa £2,047,207, Spotlight £1,060,435, Capture the Flag £774,885, Youth £265,217, 13 Hours £238,231, The 33 £26,208

Next weekend in 2017: (£13,491,421) Rings £812,267, Resident Evil 6 £463,691, Gold £406,399, Loving £236,147, Toni Erdmann £157,688

 

UK Box Office Top 10

US Box Office Top 10

US Box office

20^th Century Fox – Maze Runner: The Death Cure opened with $24.16m; received B+ CinemaScore the same as The Scorch Trials while the first received an A-.

The first two Maze Runner films opened strongly; The Maze Runner opened with $32.51m in September 20154 taking $102.4m and the sequel Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials opened the year after in September 2015 with $30.31m taking $81.69m.

Took $62.6m international with the total of $82m surprisingly outpacing The Scorch Trials by 7.6% and the original movie by 49.2% so far as would have expected the enforced extended gap between films would have hurt the third film’s performance. 

Sony Pictures – Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle down 17.2% in its sixth weekend taking $16.14m and $337.8m;

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle has overtaken Spider-Man: Homecoming $334.2m and Spider-Man 3 $336.53m to become Sony Pictures third biggest film in the US and has become their biggest film that is not Spider-Man film; Jumanji should take over $400m which will see it overtake Spider-Man 2 $373.58m and Spider-Man $403.7m to become their biggest ever fil at the US box office.  

Jumanji took $17.7m internationally $484m total and $822.1m worldwide; Jumanji is now the #65 biggest film globally having overtaken Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, Independence Fay, Spider-Man, Wonder Woman and Deadpool and will shortly overtake Inception and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 climbing into the top 60;

Jumanji is Sony Pictures 5^th biggest film worldwide overtaking Spider-Man 1 & 2 and could overtake Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spectre.

Sony Pictures have announced the sequel to Jumanji to be released two days before Star Wars: Episode IX Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle opened five days after Star Wars: The Last Jedi. The Last Jedi opening box office was 35% of is final box office while Jumanji was only 9% showing how strong the film has performed with great word of mouth compared with The Last Jedi being very front-loaded. The two films had a completely different critical reaction with Jumanji receiving average reviews while critics swooned over the film as they did with Blade Runner 2049.

Entertainment Studios – Hostiles expanded from 119 screens to 2,697 up 1,658% taking $10.11m and $11.95m; receiving B CinemaScore and 72% Rotten Tomatoes score opened far bigger than many expected helped to be very different to everything else currently on release; after premiering at Telluride Film Festival it was acquired a few weeks later by Entertainment Studios. 

20th Century Fox – The Greatest Showman dropped only 10.3% in its sixth weekend taking $9.55m and $126.52m

It is now the ninth biggest musical film in the US overtaking The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Hairspray and will shortly overtake Enchanted, Into the Woods, Mamma Mia, Les Miserables and will probably overtake La La Land. As Jumanji: The Greatest Showman received very snobby reviews from critics

It’s holding close to last year’s La La Land but of course hasn’t had the award recognition after 5 weeks of La La Land going wide it took $7.37m and $118.22m; if The Greatest Showman held similarly would overtake its box office and broke the fourth biggest musical behind Beauty and the Beast. Grease and Chicago becoming the highest grossing original musical at the US box office.

The weekend declines of The Greatest Showman are incredibly comparable to Titanic wk. 2 +76.7% (+23.8%) wk. 3 -11.3% (-6%) wk. 4 -9.5% (-13.8%) wk. 5 -14.6% (+4.5%) wk. 6 -10.8% (-15.9%).

After being rejected for weeks by critics are many articled now being written about why it has been the success it was and held so strongly? 20^th Century Fox screened the film early for critics but then had a late embargo, so its success is as much a surprise to them. The late embargo allowed critics more thinking the time to write up their reviews which is probably why they were harsher than they would have been.

The Greatest Showman took $101m internationally taking over $256m worldwide

Warner Bros – 12 Strong down 45.1% in its second weekend taking $8.68m and $29.77m;  

STX – Den of Thieves down 43.2% in its second weekend taking $8.63m and $28.77m;  

20th Century Fox – The Post – dropped 22.3% in its sixth weekend taking $9.1m and $58.79m;

After three weeks wide is holding close to 2015’s Bridge of Spies third weekend taking $8.38m and $45.53m total; if it continues to hold close to The Post could top $100m which will be Steven Spielberg’s biggest film since 2010’s Lincoln.

The Post is a very strong powerful film about recent history is as important then as it is now with a free press, fake news and President Trump and sexism Meryl Streep as always give a strong performance as does Tom Hanks. After it was an Oscar favourite when it was first announced was very surprised it received so few nominees as most of the films that received more nominations could have opened anytime but The Post is a far more important film. Tom Hanks gives another strong performance based on a real person as he has done so many times in Sully, Bridge of Spies, Saving Mr Banks, Captain Philips, Catch Me if You Can and Apollo 13. All of them being Oscar-worthy do wonder when he will win an Oscar again after winning Best Actor two years in a row for Philadelphia and Forrest Gump.

The Post is almost a prequel to All The President’s Men with the end scene of the film the security guard calling in the break-in at the Watergate Hotel.  Last week some of the cast of The West Wing including Bradley Whitford, Richard Schiff, Joshua Malina, and Ed Begley Jr came together for a live reading of William Goldman’s All the President’s Men which happened a year after The Pentagon Papers also featuring Washington Post.

While Watergate is well known The Pentagon Papers is less well known but both events incredibly happened at the Washington Post over a couple of years.

Steven Spielberg is currently casting his long in development West Side Story remake which he is likely to make before Indiana Jones 5 with Harrison Ford which will start shooting in 2019 for a July 2020 release for Disney. It is 10 years ago since the very disappointing Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was released will as so often happens these days it is ignored, and the film continues straight after The Last Crusade. 

Disney – Star Wars: The Last Jedi – down 35.1% in its seventh weekend $4.25m taking $610.79m; in its seventh weekend Star Wars: The Force Awakens dropped to #3 taking $11.11m down 21% and $895.76m taking 95.63% of its final box office of $936.6m.

After The Last Jedi opened with $220m it was expected to take over $750m at the US box office the Wall Street Journal reported this week that it has taken over $200m that was expected to take after also flopping in China. It has of course taken over $1.3bn globally but after The Force Awakens too over $2bn globally it should have taken closer to $1.6bn.

While critics swooned over the film audience reaction was far more mixed seen by the audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes and then with the arrival of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle opening 5 days after it took over $200m more than many expected which was likely taken from The Last Jedi.

After seven weeks it is still $13m away from Marvel’s Avengers which it should overtake over the next 10 days.

The Last Jedi box office after seven weeks has dropped below to Jurassic World $610.72m Vs $624.08m but Jurassic World took 42% more than The Last Jedi in its seventh weekend (taking 95.6% of its final box office) will see The Last Jedi take $635m less than Jurassic World’s $652.27m.

The Last Jedi took $4.8m internationally taking total $700.7m; has now taken $1.311bn worldwide; it is still $40m away from overtaking Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 globally $1.341bn but should have overtaken Jurassic World to be the fourth biggest film globally.

There are many questions about Star Wars as when The Force Awakens opened in 2015 many expected it to top Avatar and be the biggest film globally as well as the US but while t performed strongly throughout most of the world it underperformed In China. Which saw Lucasfilm add Donnie Yen to the casting of Rogue One which didn’t do any better and then Kelly Marie Tran in The Last Jedi.

The problem, of course, is China is the sequels are heavy on the nostalgia of the original films which Chinese audiences only recently got to see so hard for Chinese audience to start from episode seven.  So, if The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi underwhelmed in China is there any point to open Solo in China especially it had no Asian actors would it be best to give Solo and Star Wars IX low key releases and then start big with Rian Johnson’s new Star Wars trilogy that will be released from 2021. There are reports that Disney has retitled Solo to in China.

Focus Features – Darkest Hour up 5.8% in its tenth weekend dropping 8 screens taking $2.88m and $45.19m; despite receiving 6 Oscar nominations including Best Film and Best Actor for Gary Oldman the film didn’t expand unlike the other Oscar nominees

Fox Searchlight – The Shape of Water up 170.9% taking $5.92m adding 1,001 screens in its ninth weekend and $37.9m total;

The film has expanded slowly over the past eight weeks getting very close to the top 10 but after being nominated for 13 Oscars will expand this weekend has finally done so.  

On limited release

Focus Features – Phantom Thread – down 8.2% with $2.98m from 1,021 screens adding 125 screens taking $10.71m; after receiving 6 Oscar nominations including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor Daniel Day Lewis and supporting Actress Lesley Manville would expect box office to increase but didn’t showing the divide between critical and Oscar love for Paul Thomas Anderson films but cinemagoers aren’t so interested.

Neon – I, Tonya up 5.9% taking $2.98m from 960 screens (adding 161 screens) in its seventh weekend and $18.9m; received three Oscar nominations including Best Actress Margot Robbie and Supporting Actress Allison Janney.

A24 – Lady Bird up 58% adding 497 screens to 1,172 screens taking $1.88m and $41.61m in its thirteenth weekend; despite Saoirse Ronan favourite to win Best Actress Oscar and up 61.2% from last weekend the marketplace is so crowded with 23 films taking over $1m only managed to climb up three places to 19.

Fox Searchlight – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – up 100.3% adding 503 screens to 1,457 taking $3.84m and $37.25m in its twelfth weekend after receiving seven Oscar nominations.

 

Opening UK

It is the calm before the storm this weekend with four very different films but all having limited audience appeal and all competing for the bottom end of the top 10 as the holdover films hold strong with Greatest Showman possibly climbing up to second if it continues to hold as it has done. 

Next weekend the third and final? Part of the Fifty Shades Trilogy Fifty Shades Freed is released with far less hype around it than the first two films; Fifty Shades of Grey opened with £13.27m taking £35.01m while Fifty Shades Darker opened with £7.55m taking £23.07m Fifty Shades Freed likely to open similarly.

Have many issues with Fifty Shades films biggest being they are films aimed at a female audience so is it Dakota Johnson who has full frontal nudity, not Jamie Dornan which I’m sure female audiences would prefer to see?

Opening only five days later in Black Panther as Thor: Ragnarok and Doctor Strange had an extended opening weekend during lucrative half-term holidays early premiere reaction has been calling it “best Marvel film ever” but that was said after both Thor: Ragnarok and Doctor Strange too. Having the 7-day opening weekend will see it open £10m+ with a similar split as Doctor Strange 41% £3,796,170 from Tues-Thurs and £5,492,728 Fri-Sun of its £9,288,898 opening weekend. 

Much has been made of Black Panther being the first African American comic-book movie but twenty years ago Blade which was based on Marvel comics. While Marvel’s Black Panther has been in development for many years as was meant to be part of their first phase of films Marvel Studios announced in 2005. 

 

 

Opening February 2^nd

• Winchester – Lionsgate

Supernatural horror starring Helen Mirren, Jason Clarke, Sarah Snook and directed by Michael and Peter Spierig about the Winchester Mystery House is claimed to be the most haunted house in America.

While the market is very crowded is three weeks since the last horror film Insidious Chapter 4 opened with £1.84m so Winchester might generate some interest but more likely perform close to The Limehouse Golem £0.36m and have a very short stay in cinemas.

• Phantom Thread – Universal Pictures

Drama film starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Lesley Manville, Vicky Krieps and written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson it is his first film not made in the US and his second film with Day-Lewis 2007’s There Will Be Blood won Daniel Day-Lewis an Oscar and was one of his most successful films at the box office.

In June announced was to be Daniel Day-Lewis’s last film role expected to be favourite to win him his final Best Actor Oscar. But just as The Post in June was favourite to win Oscars this was then overshadowed by Dunkirk but then Lady Bird, Three Billboards and The Shape of Water became the films to beat and even though The Post and Phantom Thread were screened in late November this was already too late.

Received two Golden Globe nomination, four BAFTA nominations and six Oscar nominations but will be unlikely win any awards.

Inherent Vice opened January 2015 with £360k The Master opened ‘wide’ in November 2012 with £372k and his Oscar-winning There Will Be Blood opened ‘wide’ in February 2008 with £540k; Paul Thomas Anderson films receive critical acclaim but find it much harder to find a mainstream audience Phantom Thread will likely open between The Master and There Will be Blood opening with £500k+ helped by opening over quiet weekend for new releases will manage to squeeze into the top 10 but unlikely to hang along for long.

Phantom Thread had a special preview screening m January 31^st at the Royal Festival Hall with tickets from £20-45 featuring soundtrack performed live by the London Contemporary Orchestra.

Paul Thomas Anderson shot Phantom Thread in 65mm and will be screened exclusively in 70mm at the Picturehouse Central. Many filmmakers still prefer shooting their film on film, but few cinemagoers often get the chance to see the fil how it was shot. Last year Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk was released in 70mm IMAX, Kenneth Branagh’s Murder on the Orient Express was shown in 70mm at the Odeon Leicester Square (he also shot Thor and Cinderella on 35mm), but Steven Spielberg shot The Post in 35mm but was only released in digital. Star Wars The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi were both filmed on 35mm and had selective 70mm IMAX screenings and it is rumoured Star Wars Episode IX will also be shot in 65mm.

• Journey’s End – Lionsgate

Starring Sam Claflin, Asa Butterfield, Paul Bettany, Tom Sturridge and Toby Jones and directed by Saul Dibb and the fifth film adaptation of the play by R. C. Sherriff; received its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

The film was first announced in 2014 as part of the commemoration of the First World War centenary but it was delayed over rights issues to the play first performed at the Apollo Theatre in London, December 1928. Opens 100 years after the events of the Spring Offensive launched by the Germans on March 21, 1918, at St Quentin, France, their last advance of the War. Journey’s End is set in the trenches as 2011’s War Horse and 1999’s The Trench was.

The producer’s cast wish list was Benedict Cumberbatch, Eddie Redmayne and Tom Hiddleston but the performances of the actual cast are strong but the film itself feels not as strong as it might have been given the important part of history powerful subject matter it depicts. Trailered with Darkest Hour and opening almost 100 years to the day.

Despite strong reviews, it will be hard for Journey’s End to find an audience in cinemas with a film like this more at home as a TV drama nowadays being a more intimate media for this kind of film. 

Saul Dibb’s last film was Suite Française opened March 2015 with £500,850 and Journey’s End will likely open similarly.

• Den of Thieves – STX International

Heist action thriller starring Gerard Butler, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Pablo Schreiber, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Evan Jones, Dawn Olivieri, Mo McRae, and Max Holloway and directed by Christian Gudegast.

Received average reviews trying to pay homage to classic heist films but ends up being a poor man’s Heat remake with a shocking long 2hr 20mn running time. Den of Thieves is the third average action film opening over three years The Commuter being the best performing but all three underwhelming.  Den of Thieves always felt like it was a 90s film opening 20 years too late which would be a better suited as being straight to VOD than having a theatrical release. For upstart STX it will be the fourth average opener and performer after Wind River, Home Again and Breathe.

Gerard Butler mist recently starred in Geostorm and London Has Fallen which surprisingly performed strongly at the UK box office two years ago.

It’s surprising that studios decided to release four action films over two weeks as they would all be targeting similar audiences last week The Commuter and Proud Mary and this weekend 12 Strong and Den of Thieves which looks like a 90s action film opening 20 years too late; 12 Strong opened with £421k last weekend and Den of Thieves likely to do similar; the three main releases Phantom Thread, Winchester and Den of Thieves all likely to take similar box office as they battle out for 9/10 in the chart as the holding films will likely hold steady.

• Roman Israel Esq. – Sony Pictures

Legal drama starring Denzel Washington, Colin Farrell, and Carmen Ejogo written and directed by Dan Gilroy; premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival after receiving mixed reviews the film was re-edited with a dozen minutes removed receiving similarly mixed reviews, but Denzel Washington’s performance was praised receiving Best Actor Golden Globe and Oscar nomination.

The film had disappointed at the US box office when it opened in November and will get a limited release in the UK and unlikely to find an audience in the UK as last years also Oscar-nominated fences directed by Denzel Washington he next stars in his first ever sequel The Equalizer 2 opening in August. 

Opening in the US

• Winchester – Lionsgate

Being the only wide release opening over Super Bowl weekend opening in a very congested marketplace it is expected to open in $6-8m and be very front-loaded as last year’s Super bowl horror Rings opened with.