- Tenet – £296,049 – £16,563,616
2D took £264,533 (92.7%) of £14,700,964 (88.8%); IMAX took £20,834 (7.3%) of £1,846,021 (11.2%)
Down 52.8% in its seventh weekend; the first film since Avatar in 2010 to remain #1 for 7 weeks took £4,865,081 29th January 2010; Avatar was #1 for 11 weeks which Tenet will likely overtake, but taking a fraction of the £2,260,319 Avatar took in its #1) before Avatar 1998’s Titanic the longest ever #1 with 13 consecutive weekends; also staying #1 for 7 weeks 1995’s Star Trek Generations, 1999’s A Bugs Life and 1999’s The World’s Not Enough; 2000’s Toy Story 2 and Gladiator.
The War on Grandpa this weekend or The Secret Garden in two weeks could replace Tenet #1; Saint Maud replaced Tenet as #1 on Monday,
Had Tenet opened on it’s original July 17th date Tenet might have never opened #1 as it was due to open against Top Gun: Maverick, the week after Ghostbuster, two weeks after Minions: The Rise of Gru and a week before Jungle Cruise. When Tenet was delayed would have only lasted one-week #1 with Mulan opening weekend after, three weeks if The King’s Man had not been delayed and five weeks if Wonder Woman 1984 had opened last weekend.
Lowest #1 since Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (30th November 1990 3rd weekend) £313,60 taking slightly more than The Hunt For Red October (May 1990 4th weekend) £330,98; 1999’s The World is Not Enough £336,718 5th weekend (short Christmas Day weekend December 24th-26th); Darkman (9th November 1990) £405,440; 1999’s Force of Nature took £493,897 (2nd weekend May 1999); Beethoven’s 2nd £548,597 (April 1994); next week it will be the lowest #1 since The Hunt For Red October (May 1990 5th weekend) £206,863 and Mississippi Burning (May 1989 3rd weekend) £242,420
Dunkirk #1 for 4 weeks; Interstellar #1 for 2 weeks; The Dark Knight Rises #1 for 2 weeks; Inception #1 for 1 week; The Dark Knight #1 for 2 weeks (returned #1 in 5th week); Batman Begins #1 for 2 weeks; Insomnia #1 for 1 week
7th weekend
Batman Begins £141,036 #9 dropped 51.9% (6 films took more than Tenet) #1 Charlie And The Chocolate Factory (£7,972,168); Madagascar (£1,702,122; Fantastic Four (£1,618,683); Wedding Crashers (£1,248,992); War of the Worlds (£1,012,442); The Skeleton Key (£769,698);
The Dark Knight £586,944 #7 dropped 35% in 328 screens; (10 films took more than Tenet) #1 Rocknrolla (£1,565,439); Mamma Mia! (£1,431,775); The Duchess (£1,402,200); Step Brothers (£1,105,342); Disaster Movie (£925,655); The Strangers (£746,507); Hellboy 2: The Golden Army (£507,908); Get Smart (£350,456); Bangkok Dangerous (£307,420)
Inception £699,041 #7 dropping 35% in 339 screens; (13 films took more than Tenet) #1 Grown Ups (£2,006,945); Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (£1,604,545); Toy Story 3 (£1,499,524; The Expendables (£1,311,381); Salt (£967,883); Piranha 3-D (£886,495); Diary of a Wimpy Kid (£671,161); Avatar (£624,106); Marmaduke (£586,715); Knight & Day (£415,015); The Girl who Played with Fire (£404,896); The Last Airbender (£317,523);
The Dark Knight Rises #6 45% drop in 339 screens; (9 films took more than Tenet); #1 Total Recall (£2,493,230); The Watch (£2,235,933); Brave (£1,604,163); Ted (£990,842); The Possession (£979,192); The Dark Knight Rises (£759,838); The Bourne Legacy (£714,020); The Expendables 2 (£376,319); Keith Lemon The Film (£370,735);;
Interstellar #14 dropping 44% in 130 screens (11 films took more than Tenet); The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (£5,409,312); Paddington (£2,513,675); Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (£1,851,424); Dumb & Dumber To (£1,807,059); Penguins of Madagascar (£723,939); The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 (£673,220); P.K. (£649,812); Nativity 3: Dude, Where’s My Donkey? (£443,173); The Imitation Game (£370,324); Get Santa (£366,310); The Nutcracker – Bolshoi 2014 (Ballet) (£293,192)
Dunkirk #2 £935,980 dropped 7% in 545 screens (9 films took more than Tenet); #1 American Made (£968,068); Dunkirk (£935,980); The Hitman’s Bodyguard (£718,328); The Emoji Movie (£716,139); Logan Lucky (£632,648); Annabelle: Creation (£572,226); Despicable Me 3 (£515,332); Detroit (£491,311). The Limehouse Golem (£371,412)
Had a similar 7th weekend close to Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith; Star Wars: The Last Jedi; Gravity; Quantum of Solace; Little Women; The Martian; Avengers: Endgame and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Took more than +390.33% Blade Runner 2049 (£60,377);+146% Interstellar (£120,355); + 0.15% The Martian (£295,607); +21.2% Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (£244,141);
But less than -9.8% Gravity (£328,292); -14.1% Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith (£344,882); 49.5% The Dark Knight (£586,944); -60.3% A Star Is Born (£746,986); The Dark Knight Rises -61.1% (£759,838); Dunkirk -68.3% (£935,980); -69.7% Bohemian Rhapsody (£978,075); -70.6% Joker (£1,009,308); -71.6% Black Panther (£1,044,075); -72.6% 1917 (£1,083,286); -77.9% Star Wars: The Force Awakens (£1,342,877); 82.4% The King’s Speech (£1,685,180);; -84.6% The Greatest Showman (£1,925,895); Titanic -90.1% (£3,010,921); 93.9% Avatar (£4,865,081).
Had the 4th biggest 7th weekend of 2020 after 1917 (£1,083,286 #6); Jumanji: The Next Level (£921,225 #5); Little Women (£305,033 #10 ahead of Bad Boys For Life (£249,692 #10); Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (£244,141 #15); The Gentlemen (£238,781 #10); Slumdog Millionaire -81.1% (£1,561,139)
Toy Story 4 (£1,357,910 #3); The Lion King (£1,226,965 #12); Joker (£1,009,309 #3); Aladdin (£435,750 #7); 2019’s Avengers: Endgame (£273,006 #12);
In normal circumstance would expected Tenet to take similar to 1917 and Joker in it’s 7th weekend taking about £1m+.
341st biggest film in the UK between Venom and The Pirates! In an Adventure With Scientists (close to Batman Begins, Mad Max: Fury Road, Armageddon, and Kingsman: The Secret Service) and 543rd biggest inflation inflated between School of Rock and Thor (close to Captain Phillips, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Red Dragon and Sleepy Hollow).
55th biggest Warner Bros opening between Batman Begins and Aladdin (close to Mad Max: Fury Road, The Matrix, Ready Player One and The Great Gatsby) 82nd the biggest inflation inflated between The Final Destination and Disclosure (close to Justice League, The Last Samurai, the Perfect Storm and Sweeney Todd).
First, 12 days took 60.4% of its current box office similar to The Day After Tomorrow, A.I. Interstellar and Kick-Ass; Tenet has currently taken 3.1x opening similar to The Accountant, First Man, Blade Runner 2049, and Arrival.
After 7 weeks
-11.99% Blade Runner 2049 (£18,821,157); -12.5% The Greatest Showman (£26,106,298); -17.4% Interstellar (£20,066,636); -28.3% The Martian (£23,106,801); -37.5% Gravity (£26,510,772);
-38.9% A Star Is Born (£27,107,688); -60.2% 1917 (£41,616,330); -64.5% The Dark Knight (£46,711,648); -69.6% The Dark Knight Rises (£54,535,548); -70.5% Joker (£56,104,382); -74.5% Avatar (£65,070,599);
China closed cinemas 189 days while the UK closed for 109 days, opening 13 weeks earlier all because of Tenet, but despite his delusion of grandeur it wasn’t big enough to ‘save cinema’ needed to open alongside several similar-sized films (originally it was to open against Top Gun: Maverick and between Ghostbusters and Jungle Cruise in the UK).
While studios will be blamed for delaying films it’s the fault of the industry having no plan apart from Tenet, no strategy apart from Tenet since before lockdown and has always been reactive never proactive. Predictably this will cause long-term damage to cinema that won’t get back to pre-lockdown levels before 2022, with China replacing the US as the world’s highest-grossing cinema country.
Tenet was comparable to Blade Runner 2049 as both films were critical darlings but regularly cinemagoers would see Tenet as pretentious style over substance film, while positive reviews often help films find their audience as soon as critics called Tenet the film for Nolan fans this probably turned off many; Blade Runner 2049 took £18,820,009 and Tenet will take similar BO.
Tenet is the 3rd biggest film of the year after 1917 and Sonic the Hedgehog; at the start of the year most people would have expected Tenet to be one of the biggest films of the year which it still will be but taking less than half many expected, about £18m slightly less than Interstellar.
Showing Tenet was never going to be the saviour of cinema that the industry believing it would the only Christopher Nolan film other than Tenet to be #1 for four weeks was Dunkirk. All other Christopher Nolan films opened in crowded marketplaces and that helped them attract a wide audience.
Opening No Time To Die would have received a lot of media coverage, James Bond saves cinema, which was the similar headlines Tenet received but those didn’t turn the admissions most expected.
No Time To Die director Cary Joji Fukunaga said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal Magazine when he first heard the news “there were a couple of hours of F—, it’s not happening,”…. “And then pretty quickly, I mentally moved on… I was at peace with it.” The decision was made by the producers and the studio executives, which suited Fukunaga just fine. “I think they made a very smart decision to be one of the first to say out loud, ‘This is a big thing. We’re moving the film,’”… “Because a lot of people were in denial. Some still are.”
With the recent delay, he said “I look at it unemotionally right now…. There are so many bigger things happening. I have friends who are losing businesses, restaurants, and other friends who have lost family members.”… “The film will come out when it’s right,” … “and it will perform in the context of this new world, in which no one really can define what success or failure means.”
Exhibitors want studios to gamble with their biggest movies, but the exhibitors close their cinemas despite there being plenty of other content to fill the screens if exhibitors willing to work with exhibitors.. but they are pig-headed over not booking the biggest films that are available to them last week The Trial of the Chicago 7, next week the remake of Rebecca and then a week after The Secret Garden.
Warner has announced they have released The Witches on October 26th straight to PVOD despite originally planning to give the film cinema release in the UK, but with Cineworld closed and Odeon and Vue cinemas closed part-time it’s not worth the gamble for Warner Bros.
Roald Dahl’s film adaptations Roald Dahl perform far stronger internationally than in the US (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The BFG, Fantastic Mr Fox, James and the Giant Peach and Matilda), Warner Bros UK released HBO Max’s An American Pickle in August and Sony Pictures are releasing Netflix’s reimagination of Matilda next year in cinemas going straight to Netflix everywhere else.
Tenet was meant to open July 16th against Top Gun: Maverick a week after Ghostbusters, two weeks after Minions: The Rise of Gru and a week before Jungle Cruise, which would have likely seen it open #1 but as with Inception be replaced from #1 by Jungle Cruise as inception was with Toy Story 3.
The problem was UK cinemas were having an extraordinarily strong start of the year in January/February with industry ignoring what was happening in China and other countries who closed cinemas down.
Cinema industry had a once in a lifetime chance to relaunch cinema to the world China has seen attendance almost return to normal after two months, but the US and UK won’t get back to pre-lockdown levels before 2022 due to their bull in a china shop rush to reopen far too soon.
Unlike Asia, the reopening of cinemas has been poorly handled in the UK and the US with exhibitors behaving like a bull in a china shop despite all the research telling them it could be 6 months or more for before the majority return and cinemas should be for the many, not the few.
There doesn’t seem to have been any planning as soon as China closed cinemas in January before their most lucrative time of the year the rest of the world should have been concerned but it was business as normal until mid-March. 6th March ‘not seeing any discernible impact in terms of cinema admissions’ despite Pixar having the worst opening that weekend in the UK for Onward.
To quote the great Ian Malcolm Warner were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should release Tenet now. If Warner had any sense they would announce Tenet going PVOD in the next few weeks alongside theatrical to avoid many watching it illegally online over the next few months, as the 80% not willing to return to the cinema anytime soon a chance to see it legally.
Cinemas have been reportedly been losing £5.7m a day over the last 24 weeks and over the last four weeks have probably taken about a quarter of this. With Wonder Woman 1984, Connected, Death On the Nile, No Time To Die and Black Widow also delayed it’s unlikely the UK will see UK box office take more than £5.7m a day until Christmas. As Cineworld cinemas close on Thursday, Odeon will go weekend only and Vue will also follow.
The solution would have been reopening several months later when studios were willing to release several high-profile films close together as was idiocy for exhibitors to reopen cinemas on the back of one film. While Tenet received huge media coverage it was never going to be the saviour of cinema on its own.
The problem was Tenet was the wrong film to reopen cinema, while it might have been the film that generated huge media coverage after Christopher Nolan’s op-ed in the Washington Post in March this made the film’s release political and heralded by the industry as the saviour of cinema.
Tenet was never going to be the saviour of cinema on its own as most people didn’t want to go to the cinema to watch people running around wearing masks they wanted escapism from normality, What they needed was a brainless popcorn crowd-pleaser like Free Guy and Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.
Surely the rest of the world should have seen how Asia dealt with COVID-19 and done similar? The industry should have seen what happened in China in January and other Asian countries soon after and prepared for the worst-case scenario. Spanish Flu took a week to travel the globe in 1918 by boat COVID travelled the globe within 24 hours by plane. Cinema industry should have been far better-prepared industry knowing what was coming if they had done their homework watching Contagion to The Rise of Planet of the Apes, that what was happening in China would spread globally quickly and should have prepared.
As with every natural disaster, there has been a historical document made about it first so surely the answer is if an impending disaster is coming to learn from them?
The 9 Christopher Nolan films have taken £258m at the UK box office (£300m inflation inflated).
- Saint Maud- £263,433 – NE
Took £78,423 from previews on Thursday and £175,111 Fri-Sun
The British psychological horror had its world premiere at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival receiving positive reviews (93% Rotten Tomatoes) and received a special commendation in the official competition section of the London Film Festival and as originally due for release in April in the US and May in the UK, in June it was moved to October.
Saint Maud plot was about a young care nurse suffered mental health problems and believing she believes hears the voice of God, the film opened the day before World Mental Health Day.
As seen by Saint Maud-and Akira are still films being released that people will go to the cinema to see but these are films they need to work with distributors to find audiences for them, Cineworld closing all of their cinemas last week and Odeon and Vue leaving closing them part-time doesn’t help the situation.
There was a complete lack of imagination over the relaunch of cinema the Film Distributors Association gave exhibitors a library of 450+ films but cinemas on July 4th in major exhibitors cinemas looked as they did on March 17th.
The whole relaunch of cinema was poorly handled, and cinema is predictably suffering now for this mismanagement. As soon as cinemas went dark on March 17th exhibitors and studios should have planned the reopening of cinema as it gave them a once in a lifetime chance to relaunch cinema and it likely to get huge free media coverage.
Cinemas should have reopened with classics over the last 50 years with all seats £5 and the Meerkat Movies 2for1 should have run 7 days a week from July to the end of the year.
Despite Christopher Nolan and exhibitors belief Tenet was never going to be the film that was right to relaunch cinema on its own, studios should have worked together all putting up one or more high-profile release to open during a mega-movie month having films like Free Guy and Everybody’s Talking About Jamie comedies, popcorn movies and feel-good films not a pretentious film about people wearing masks.
- Akira – £201,124 – NE
4K re-release of the classic 1988 Japanese Manga animated film originally released in the UK in 1991; the film had a screening at Cineworld IMAX Leicester Square the day before Cineworld closed their cinemas again; Akira had planned to open in up to 300 screens but with Cineworld/Picturehouse closing their 127 cinemas opened in a third less than planned.
Warner Bros has been developing a live-action film based on the Japanese Manga animated film since 2002 with many directors attached most recently Taika Waititi who planned to start production in 2019 with May 21, 2021 release date, with Asian-American teenagers in the lead roles but left to direct Thor: Love and Thunder for Marvel Studios.
There were two long-term issues with the film the fear of whitewashing casting an American actor (as was the case with 2017’s Ghost in the Shell remake starring Scarlett Johansson, which received a lot of negative media coverage not casting an Asian actress in the lead) and the story which is based around Japan’s role in World War 2.
There has been a mixed success over the years with American remakes of Japanese films including The Ring, Godzilla, Dark Water and One Missed Call.
There was a complete lack of imagination behind the reopening of cinema in July as while the Film Distributors’ Association gave exhibitors a library of 450+ films to choose from the majority of cinemas schedules looked on July 4th exactly as they did on March 17th.
All of the biggest films over the last 50+ years should have been available and cinemas showing the biggest movies again on their biggest screens. Always loved Odeon Marble Arch 70mm film seasons as got to see dozens of classic films had only been seen at home on 27-inch Nicam stereo TV.
Independent cinemas as independent distributors have to lead the way since the reopening of cinemas booking a much wider range of films why they have been far more successful than many major cinemas, being smaller venues they felt much safer.
- After We Collided – £194,277 – £3,574,188
Down 50.2% in its sixth weekend; While most films have underperformed since cinemas reopened 14 weeks ago the two genres of films that have performed well are children’s films (Onward, 100% Wolf, Trolls World Tour and Pinocchio) all held well over the weeks from their low starting points and pre-teen/young teen films as they are a demographic who have been happy to return to the cinema since they reopened in July.
After We Collided is the 14th biggest film of 2020 between The Personal History Of David Copperfield and The Call of the Wild and the 2nd biggest film since cinemas reopened between Tenet and Unhinged
Over the years studios have released many films based on young adult novels, they have received strong marketing and generate strong coverage on social media but this rarely becomes bums on seats and after the first film went to Netflix might have expected that the fans would then wait to see the sequel also on Netflix, but there was a lot of disappointment from the fanbase that the original film wasn’t released in cinemas which fuelled the demand for the sequel.
Away from breakout franchises including The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Twilight and Maze Runner most other young adult films have taken similar between 2015’s Paper Towns £3.4m and 2012’s The Perks Of Being A Wallflower £2.1m
Anna Todd One Direction fanfiction has been compared to 50 Shades of Grey fanfiction of Twilight and described as a PG-13 rated version of 50 Shades of Grey. After the first film went straight to Netflix in the UK last July after soft box office in the US in April 2019 the sequel was off the radar of all major exhibitors and distributors as neither saw much box office potential for the film.
There is a small but very loyal fanbase for After books in the UK and they were disappointed original film didn’t get a cinema release. While most films since the reopening have underperformed After We Collided has probably done as it would have done in normal circumstances as if it’s a film people want to see they will see it no matter what’s happening.
Always go back to the film Big and Josh saying he doesn’t get it, despite being told if he read the industry breakdown their success in the action figure has climbed from 27% to 45%, while industry algorisms might see this, cinemagoer doesn’t choose their films by algorithms, why William Goldman’s famous quote from his 1983 book Adventures in the Screen Trade still rings true today “Nobody knows anything…… Not one person in the entire motion picture field knows for a certainty what’s going to work. Every time out it’s a guess and, if you’re lucky, an educated one.”
When After We Collided opened far stronger than many expected taking £256k from 42 screens three weeks ago, major exhibitors took notice and immediately booked into 336 more screens taking £442,661 up 72% from 378 last weekend. In its third weekend increased another 30% and is expected to play in over 500 screens next weekend.
The sequel After We Collided was directed by Roger Kumble best known for directing 1999’s Cruel Intentions (took £4,080,631) and The Sweetest Thing (took £2,163,344) but in the years since is best known for directed many TV series including Pretty Little Liars and Suits.
After We Collided will be released in cinemas and on VOD in the US in October; After opened in April 2019 with $6m taking $12.13m but took $57.59m internationally and $69.73m worldwide; After We Collided has taken $30m from 18 territories over the last three weeks.
- Cats & Dogs: Paws Unite! – £184,395 – £715,297
Dropping 59.6% in its second weekend
Had the 23rd biggest second weekend of the year between New Mutants and Brahms: The Boy II and the 5th biggest second weekend since cinemas reopened between The New Mutants and Unhinged.
The third part of the Cats and Dog’s film series-opening 19 years after the first film was released, in normal circumstances, it would go straight to DVD as it did in the US on digital in September and on DVD in October. `
Cats and Dogs opened in August 2001 took £23,013,391 (£40,134,464 inflation inflated); despite poor reviews, the film performed strongly and played for 14 weeks in the top 15 and was one of the biggest films of 2001.
Cats & Dogs: Revenge of Kitty Galore in August 2010 took £3,972,149 (£4,819,986 inflation inflated).
Films about cats and dogs have immensely popular over the years in cinemas with films including om 2009’s Marley And Me opening with £4.4m taking £15.4m; 1992’s Beethoven taking £6.8m; 1993’s Beethoven’s 2nd taking £5.8m; 2017’s A Dog’s Purpose opened £1,300,097 (including £667,168 previews) taking £3.2m and 2010’s Hachi: A Dog’s Tale opened £442,753 taking £1,048,876 and also the two The Secret Life of Pets films, the first opened with £9,580,039 in 2016 taking £35,825,195, the second in £3,490,598 taking £18,638,365.
Children’s films have been the one genre that has done well over the last 14 weeks since cinemas reopened, of course, this summer should have seen Pixar and Illumination battle for animation supremacy with Soul and Minions: The Rise of Gru opening in June/July, with Soul, delayed to November and Minions: The Rise of Gru to next July.
The one genre of films that have performed well over the last 15 weeks has been children’s films. Disney re-releasing Onward despite being released on digital and DVD it has performed well over the last 14 weeks taking over £2m. Similarly, Universal Pictures released Trolls World Tour in cinemas and again despite it being released on digital and DVD during lockdown still taken £900k since cinemas reopened.
The first new children’s film Dreambuilders opened July 17 taking £12,407 from 51 cinemas released by Signature Entertainment went on to take £358,188 over 8 weeks. Followed by 100% Wolf opening two weeks later with £33,130 from 146 screens from Vertigo taking £1.4m after 10 weeks. Pinocchio opened 2 weeks later with £108,626 from 272 screens also released by Vertigo taking £829,967 after 8 weeks.
These box office numbers are a long way from what Minions: The Rise of Gru was expected to take this summer and what Trolls World Tour would have taken in April if cinemas hadn’t closed but it does show there has been steady growth over the last 15 weeks from these smaller films that would normally have one week and out and Cineworld and Odeon are doing a disservice to those independent distributors who took a massive gamble opening these films in cinemas for them to say if No Time To Die doesn’t open we are closing out cinemas.
The rebuilding of confidence with people going to the cinema will belong as while exhibitors have talked a lot about the safety measures they come short of the far stricter safety measures seen in Asian countries that helped boost confidence with cinemagoers much quicker and with a mix of local films and smaller releases admissions in many of those countries are slowly getting back to normal.
Over the last 14 weeks, it has been films released by independent distributors including Vertigo, Signature Entertainment, Trafalgar, and Altitude have released the majority of new releases. They took the gamble to release films ahead of the major studios and many of the films have been steady performers with films like 100% Wolf in the top 10 for 10 weeks. In normal circumstances, Vertigo would be lucky if it lasted more than a week in the top 10.
While to top 5 films dropped about 50% from last weekend the top 10 dropped about 30% which is the percentage Cineworld/Picturehouse cinemas take from the box office, while UK box office isn’t growing as quickly as many expected box office has remained steady.
Also released
- Hocus Pocus – Park Circus
Took £20,490 from 89 cinemas
The Kenny Ortega 1993 comedy was re-released last weekend in the US opening #2 behind Tenet taking $1.92m from 2,570 screens.
Hocus Pocus originally opened in October 1993 with £1,317,157 taking £3,209,085; over the years since received a cult following on video. Earlier this year it was announced Disney will make a sequel for Disney+ with the original cast (Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy) expected to star directed by Adam Shankman (previously directed musicals Hairspray and Rock of Ages).
- Kajillionaire – Universal Pictures
Opened with £44,275 from 220 cinemas
Was originally acquired by A24 but then Focus Features acquired US rights having already acquired internationally; released in selected US cinemas on September 25 and will be released on VOD on October 16th.
40 years ago Debra Winger starred in Urban Cowboy and was followed by An Officer and a Gentleman, Terms of Endearment, Legal Eagles and Black Widow and her career was on the up but then she got labelled as a difficult actress to work with and the acting roles were harder to come by over the following decades last seen on the cinema screen in 2007’s Rachel Getting Married.
Evan Rachel Wood is best known for 2003’s Thirteen and more recently Dolores Abernathy in TV series Westworld.
UK box office in detail
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £1,406,295 down 36.3% from last weekend (£2,206,665)
The weekend admissions 197,791 down 35.5% from last week (306,628); admissions last year this week was 2,502,042 (xx% down)
My latest estimate for 2020 box office is £400m about a third of last year’s £1.227bn; UK BO was only £294m after 37 weeks; with Black Widow, Death on the Nile and No Time To Die delayed box office is likely to be the lowest annual box office since 1995 (£383m)
Top 3 took £760,606 54.1% of £1,406,295; Tenet 38.9% (£296,049); Saint Maud 34.6% (£263,433); Akira 26.4% (£201,124);
Down 89.7% from 2019 Top three took 81.1% (£13,626,375) of the top 10; Joker 58.2% (£9,766,608); Abominable 12.7% (£2,141,256); Gemini Man 10.2% (£1,718,511); #1 Joker 2nd week £9,766,608
Down 91.8% from 2018: (£17,103,615); First Man (£2,415,330); Smallfoot (£2,324,189); Cliff Richard Live: 60th Anniversary Tour (£1,123,885); Bad Times at the el Royale (£491,878); #1 A Star is Born £3,083,089 2nd week 1st #1 612 screens (18.1% of top 10)
Down 88.4% from 2017: (£12,090,714); The LEGO Ninjago Movie (£3,642,038); The Snowman (£1,377,909); The Ritual (£424,352); Loving Vincent (£274,036); The Party (£234,985); Die Zauberflote – Met Opera 2017 (£213,605); #1 The LEGO Ninjago Movie £3,642,038 1st week 613 screens (30.1% of the top 10)
Down 90.4% from 2016: (£14,587,631); The Girl on the Train (£6,957,945); War on Everyone (£187,564); Tristan und Isolde – Met Opera 2016 (£178,283); My Scientology Movie (£106,720); Blood Father (£68,808); #1 The Girl on the Train £6,957,945 1st week 612 screens (47.7% of the top 10)
Down 84.6% from 2015; (£9,148,818); Sicario (£1,596,734); The Walk (£795,115); Regression (£214,742); Giselle – Bolshoi 2015 (£128,875); #1 The Martian £3,854,809 2nd week 582 screens 41% drop (42.1% of top 10)
Down 87.3% from 2014: (£11,071,974); The Maze Runner (£2,041,229); Annabelle (£1,939,963); One Direction: Where We Are – The Concert Film (£1,021,527); The Rewrite (£324,889); Macbeth – Met Opera 2014 (£205,937); ’71 (£205,116); Effie Gray (£67,339); Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (£20,689); The Calling (£8,112); #1 Gone Girl £3,064,545 2nd week 563 screens 25% drop (33% drop (27.7% of top 10)
Down 71.9% from 2013: (£5,001,792); The Fifth Estate (£502,495); Le Weekend (£324,488); Machete Kills (£165,586); Baggage Claim (£156,159); Romeo and Juliet (£137,448); #1 Prisoners £968,990 3rd week 449 screens 123 drop (19.3% of top 10)
Down 85% from 2012 (£9,355,419); Hotel Transylvania (£1,734,231); Ruby Sparks (£299,382); On the Road (£218,738); #1 Taken 2 £3,743,046 2nd week 510 screens 49% drop (40.1% of top 10)
Down 87.8% from 2011 (£11,517,788); Johnny English Reborn (£4,965,000); The Lion King 3D (£2,746,763); Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (£495,734); Midnight in Paris (£495,709); Tyrannosaur (£81,790); #1 Johnny English Reborn £4,965,000 1sr week 524 screens (43.1% of top 10)
Down 78.8% from 2010: (£6,639,950); Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (£1,784,309); Life As We Know It (£985,558); The Death and Life of Charlie St Cloud (£643,368); Mr Nice (£239,844); #1 Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps £1,784,309 1st week 444 screens (26.8% of top 10)
Down 88.1% from 2009; (£11,750,437); Up (£6,411,836); Zombieland (£1,240,984); Love Happens (£559,724); Halloween II (£522,661); #1 Up £6,411,836 1st week 511 screens (54.5% of top 10)
Down 74.6% from 2008; (£5,542,578); The House Bunny (£894,188); Mirrors (£834,092); City of Ember (£496,909); Nights in Rodanthe (£193,318); Gomorrah (£171,348); The Mutant Chronicles (£74,788); #1 The House Bunny £894,188 1st week 346 screens (16.1% of top 10)
Down 83.5% from 2007: (£8,548,001); Ratatouille (£4,444,384); Resident Evil 3 (£931,991); Black Sheep (£246,135); The Invasion (£232,994); Mr. Brooks (£169,664); The Nanny Diaries (£101,794); #1 Ratatouille £4,444,384 1st week 503 screens (51.9% of top 10)
Down 84.9% from 2006; (£9,304,316); Open Season (£1,666,750); History Boys (£794,672); Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (£669,760); Stick It (£131,043); #1 The Departed £1,957,646 2nd week 1sr #1 364 screens 14% drop (21.1% of top 10)
Down 73.6% from 2005 (£5,332,334); Serenity (£958,816); Oliver Twist (£692,494); Kinky Boots (£623,163); Night Watch (£271,857); Tara Road (£73,150); #1 Serenity £958,816 1st week 355 screens (18% of top 10)
Down 80% from 2004 (£7,015,008); Bride and Prejudice (£1,667,616); Resident Evil: Apocalypse (£801,171); Man On Fire (£656,466); #1 Bride and Prejudice £1,667,616 1st week 376 screens (23.7% of top 10)
Down 89.1% from 2003 (£12,858,833); Cabin Fever (£1,056,338); Kill Bill (£162,857) (platform) (£152,793); #1 Finding Nemo £7,381,962 2nd week 1sr #1 453 screens (57.4% of top 10)
Down 84.8% from 2002 (£9,258,248); Red Dragon (£3,180,493); Clockstoppers (£196,802); #1 Red Dragon £3,180,493 1st week 428 screens (34.3% of top 10)
Down 84.8% from 2001 (£9,219,269); American Pie 2 (£5,508,709); The Pledge (£142,100); Atlantis (£79,695) (platform) #1 American Pie 2 £5,508,709 1st week #1 3rd week 420 screens (59.7% of top 10);
Next weekend in 2019: Top three took 68.6% (£10,095,227) of the top 10; Joker 37.3% (£5,489,716); Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil 22.4% (£3,300,000); A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon 8.8% (£1,305,511); 18 films opened at weekend taking (£6,684,526); Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil 49.3% (£3,300,000); A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon 19.5% (£1,305,511); Zombieland: Double Tap 18.5% (£1,242,352); Official Secrets 8.04% (£537,990); remaining 14 films shared 4.4% (£298,673);
UK Box Office since the restart
848 cinemas were reopened before lockdown last weekend, with the closure of 127 Cineworld and Picturehouse cinemas (1,180+ screens) drops the number down to 532 cinemas open, independent cinemas continue to reopen thanks to BFI grants over the next few weeks
UK cinemas have now been open for 15 weeks with box office up 644.1% from £189,000 to £1,406,295 but with a similar increase in the percentage of screens opened than the first weekend (from 42 cinemas+ drive-ins (460 screens) to 670 cinemas+ drive-ins (5,564 screens up 1,075%) last weekend) (Tenet took 21.1% of the weekend’s box office, last year #1 58.2% (£9,766,608);
Week 1 £189,000 from 460 screens (73 cinemas) 141 films on release
Week 2; Up 76.2% £333,002 (182 films) from 1,059 screens (123 cinemas 85 from the UK the rest from Ireland and drive-ins) up 130.2%; The Empire Strikes Back (40th Anniversary opening with £50,406 from 1012 screens)
Week 3: Down 7.5% £308,154 (191 films) from 151 cinemas and 1,286 screens up 21.4%
Week 4: Up 30.7% £402,752 (214 films) from 185 cinemas and 1,734 screens Up 34.8%
Week 5: Up 61.8% £651,914 (218 films) from 3,016 screens (326 cinemas reopened) up 74%; Unhinged opened with £175,263 from 243 screens)
Week 6: Down 17.4% £538,716 (236 films) from 338 cinemas and 3,393 screens up 12.5%: American Pickle opened with £27,732 from 162 screens
Week 7: Up 85.2% £997,837 (269 films) from 366 cinemas; Inception: 10th Anniversary opened £207,675 from 313 screens
Week 8: Up 10.9% £1,107,153 (264 films) from 3,889 screens (491 cinemas) up 21.5%
Week 9: Up 462.2% £6,224,288 (204 films) from 3, 856 (629 cinemas); Tenet opened with 85.7% (£5,335,654)
Week 10: Down 39.8% £3,746,637 (198 films) 658 cinemas (198 films on release; 487 England
Week 11: Down 25% £2,812,496 from 5,522 screens
Week 12: Down 7.4% £2,603,624 from 5,401 screens; 613 cinemas
Week 13: Down 18.9% £2,112,443 from 5,564 screens 620 cinemas
Week 14: Up 14.8% £2,425,745 from 5,113
Week 15: Down 42.1% £2,425,745 from 4,034 screens
This time last year UK box office was 592.2% more taking £16,790,889; Joker 58.2% (£9,766,608); Abominable 12.7% (£2,141,256); Gemini Man 10.2% (£1,718,511);
UK cinema admissions will drop to between 40m-45m which will be the lowest since 53.8m in 1984, this would see 2020 box office drop almost 75% from £1.25bn to £334m, the lowest total since 1992, but with 150% ticket inflation since really have to go back to 1984 box office levels of £102.22m (£382.52m inflation inflated).
The following year was British Film Year which started the renaissance of cinema in the UK and the launch of the first multiplex cinemas in the UK. Over the years that followed from 1985 to 2002 admissions grew steadily in the UK, they were boosted in 1996 with National Cinema Day (repeated the following year) when all cinemas across the UK were £1 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of cinema, Ever since cinemas closed in March I have been suggesting a similar-sized event was needed to relaunch cinema and get people back into the cinema habit again, it’s the 125th anniversary next year and this could have been part of a celebration of British cinema.
Vue Cinema’s chief executive said, “It is just going to be a difficult, challenging two or three months in the lead-up to Christmas,” he said. “If you look at the film line-up for next year, a good year, together with nine months of delayed films from this year, you suddenly get an amazing 2021.”
There might be an amazing 2021 with all the films that were delayed from this year along with many 2021 films, but most analysts expect 2021 box office also to be down on 2019 levels and admissions not likely to get back to normal until 2022… he said “By 2022, we are going to be firing on all cylinders again as an industry,” Richards said. “And by 2023 we are going to be setting records again, particularly given the film slate. Once the Corvid lid is lifted you are going to see record-breaking numbers come out because we know there is pent-up demand.”
In many articles, Tim Richards talks about pent-up demand film fans have but this doesn’t ever seem to be ever released. Vue Cinemas announced they were closing 21 cinemas Tues- Thurs, surprising they opted to keep cinemas open on Monday as Mondays are normally the lowest days for cinema attendance, but also interesting they opted to close Tues/Weds as they are Meerkat Cinema days. Odeon Cinemas will also close a quarter of their 120 cinemas during the week. It’s also interesting that these same exhibitors suggested that demand to go to the cinema when they reopened in July that people would go to the cinema throughout the week and not concentrate their attendance over weekends.
Tim Richards also spoke of being open to discuss theatrical windows in the future, while they don’t agree with AMC/Universal Pictures 17-day window, they do agree of having a more flexible window.
Disney announced on Friday they were moving their Pixar November release to Disney+ on Christmas Day, this predictable caused much anger with exhibitors as it’s the fifth theatrical release they have moved to Disney+.
A few days after announcing they were moving Soul to Disney+ they announced a reorganisation of the company pushing the importance of streaming in their future, but this was more Disney flexing their muscles at those exhibitors who dared criticise them for moving films to Disney+ as they are still a long way from being self-sufficient with subscribers, as the majority of their upcoming slate is still to be made for movie theatres first.
After breaking global BO records last year Disney’s slate for this year was much softer and this year was all about D+ and ramping up subscribers. This is similar to what happened in February 2010 when Disney tried to shorten theatrical window with Alice In Wonderland, the UK majors threatened to ban it, can just switch D+ with what Bob Chapek said about home video in 2010?
“We feel that it’s important for us to maintain a healthy business on the exhibition side and a healthy business on the home video side,” Chapek said. “We think this is in the best interest of theatre owners because a healthy movie business is good for them and allows us to invest in high quality, innovative content.”
Mooky Greidinger said the decision to close US and UK cinemas was due to NY Governor Andrew Cuomo’s “Inflexibility” but knew this before Cineworld reopened cinemas in other states. Cuomo told exhibitors in June what has required MERV 13 filters in all cinemas, the problem is 4 months later many still haven’t been fitted as AMC safety video says they have been upgraded but in the small text says, ‘wherever possible”.
He also said in the Deadline interview. ‘But in the U.S. and the UK, what we call local product is Hollywood product. Without movies, it simply isn’t feasible to operate. ‘The problem is major exhibitors dependency on studio content and a lack of imagination from the bookers of those chains, saw it when FDA made available 450+ films but the majority of cinemas schedules on July 4 looked almost exactly the same as March 17.
As soon as lockdown happened exhibitors and distributors should have worked together on a restart plan with multiple scenarios including the one if UK cinemas reopened before the US working with distributors and seeing what films they could release as many British films have been delayed since lockdown. Films like Dream Horse and Our Ladies could have been part of a keep up and carry on the campaign.
Always loved Odeon Marble Arch 70mm film seasons seeing dozens of classic films had only been seen on the small screen instead of on the biggest screen in Europe…as the 1997 Star Wars re-release trailer said… “for an entire generation, people have experienced Star Wars the only way it’s been possible on the TV screen, but if you have only seen it this way, you haven’t seen it at all”… “See it again for the first time”
Always thought a similar trailer would be the best way to sell cinema experience again to get people off their phones and tablets, ‘for the last six months you have seen films the only way possible on the on-TV screen.. but you haven’t seen them all.’
UK cinemas should have extended Meerkat Movies to 7 days and offered 2for1 to everyone or as some exhibitors did in July all seats £5 all the time until November. As the key part of this was to get people back to the cinema feeling safe and get them into the cinemagoing habit again as once they do they will be back many times over those months for £5 people will take a chance on seeing films they might not normally see at the cinema.
Problem is it must feel like studios are knocking their heads against a brick wall as exhibitors aren’t willing to change despite being desperate for content, as Charles Gant wrote last week in the Telegraph ‘In an ideal world, they could come together and agree to temporarily suspend the theatrical window policy during the pandemic, but UK Cinema Association chief executive Phil Clapp believes such a move would breach guidelines: “Competition considerations are always uppermost in the minds of individual studios and exhibitors, so the notion of some collective agreement is not really viable.”
But surely as Hamish Moseley, managing director of Altitude Film Entertainment said: “There doesn’t need to be a wholesale change to business practice, just a bit of pandemic pragmatism.
Problem with exhibitors is they complain a lot but don’t come up with any solution and then blame everything and everyone when things go bad but it’s never their fault There is a lack of content as everyone knows cinemas reopened far too soon, all the research shows the majority of people won’t return to the cinema for the next 6+ months so why would any studio apart from Warner release any major films over the next few months.
Warner’s hands were tied to open Tenet in the summer after Nolan’s op-ed in March it became political propaganda for cinema, but opening it was always likely to do long-term damage as it was never going to be the film exhibitors believed it would be. As soon as cinemas went into lockdown exhibitors and studios should have come together and put a plan together with each studio put a film up as part of its relaunch campaign.
What happened instead was predictable, the two sides even further apart antagonizing each other making the situation much worse. Jurassic World: Dominion and The Batman along with all films currently in production and soon to be in production until is a vaccine release dates are in pencil, but all the films have been moved from 2020 to 2021 release dates are now in pen, with the files on studio computers waiting for the man from Del Monte to say yes.
Major exhibitors have complained about the lack of studio releases but we are in a chicken and egg situation as after the soft performance of Tenet it’s now down to exhibitors to show studios that there is the audience going to cinemas now that will justify them risking another tentpole release, this was always likely to happen if the first film failed to be as big as expected.
The problem with the UK exhibitors has been dependent on US films to fill their cinemas and many ‘British’ films that are made by the US studios. The countries that have had success relaunches have had strong success from local releases including China and South Korea. China, Korea & Japan are now stable because unlike other countries including the USA and UK government demanded far stricter safety measures when cinemas reopened, and exhibitors are now reaping the benefits.
The short-term loss for long-term gain only need to see how China implemented far stricter safety measures when they reopened, and people returned at far higher numbers than the US or UK and capacity is being increased to 75% now.
I have followed the Coronavirus outbreak and how it has affected the cinema industry since January, so my comments are in hindsight I believed in late January when China shut their cinemas days before their New Year, the most lucrative time of the year for cinema in China, that the west should have prepared for the worst then, but I believe as cinema attendance was very strong in January and February the industry was in denial of the incoming pandemic, the fault must go with the industry bodies who weren’t prepared and have been reacting to issues ever since.
I have been a broken record since before lockdown when I said cinemas shouldn’t have reopened before October and reopening cinemas in July would cause long-term damage, this has happened with the news Cineworld is to close their cinemas on Thursday and Odeon cinemas will only be open Fri-Sun.
As the countries that have had successful relaunches of cinema have had strong local successes including The Eight Hundred, Peninsula and Father There is Only One 2 opening alongside US films, why aren’t the UK releasing Dream Horse, Our Ladies and Blithe Spirit now?
It’s easy for exhibitors to blame US studios not to release their films but are many more British films that could be released and have the support of exhibitors to promote and marketing them as part of a feel-good British your country needs you to go back to the cinema campaign?
US Box Office
- The War With Grandpa – 101 Studios
Opened with $3.62m (taking $1m from Friday) from 2,250 screens
It’s a good performance of the film with only 7 of Regal’s 536 movie theatres are open and New York, Los Angeles, and New Mexico movie theatres still close.
The film was made in 2017 and was originally due for release in February 2018 by Weinstein Company and delayed several times before rights were reclaimed by producers and US rights were sold again to 101 Studios in June.
On Friday Regal Cinemas reprimand New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on the front of their movie theatres saying “48 states have reopened theatres safely. Why not New York, Governor Cuomo?”
This was so childish, all it will do is make the situation worse as Gov Cuomo told exhibitors in June what was needed install MERV 13 filters, but many still haven’t been fitted; AMC safety video says been upgraded but in small text ‘wherever possible”.
If exhibitors continue to antagonize Gov. Andrew Cuomo he will probably make the same announcement over when movie theatres can reopen in New York as Broadway theatres take similar BO as movie theatres annually and on Friday he announced Broadway wouldn’t reopen before May 2021.
What Gov. Cuomo could call exhibitor’s bluff, can open your movie theatres but as with San Francisco no concessions are allowed to be sold and masks are mandatory for all at all times. Exhibitors were allowed to reopen movie theatres last week in San Francisco with strict safety measures including no concession sales, but they didn’t reopen showing that exhibitors care much more about concession sales than they do their customers safety, as the countries that have seen admissions increase steadily since the restart were ones that had concession sales ban when they first opened.
The problem with exhibitors is they will always blame others for their failing, it is never them it’s the lack of content, the wrong kind of content, it’s too hot, it’s too cold, too wet, too dry, and the day ends with a y.
- Tenet – Warner Bros
Down 22.2% in its sixth weekend taking $2.1m and $48.3m total (14% of total worldwide box office) Tenet is expected to take about $65m just a little bit more than inception opened with 10 years ago and less than it was expected to open with at the start of the year; took $355k down 25% from IMAX taking $5.1m (12.4% of US BO).
NATO showed again how slow they have been in dealing with Coronavirus sending a letter to Congress on Wednesday saying, “Movie theatres may not survive”, the letter was signed by exhibitors, filmmakers, Directors Guild of America, and the Motion Picture Association. This letter should surely have been sent over 3 months ago, but at that time NATO believed that Christopher Nolan would be the saviour of cinema, but Tenet was never going to “save” cinema on its own.
Problem was there was no plan no strategy behind the reopening, soon as cinemas shut in March all films release dates should have been TBC and exhibitors and studios made a reopening plan consisting of a slate of films, the problem as always exhibitors are reactive, not proactive. Much of the blame has to go on Christopher Nolan as had he not been adamant Tenet had to open this summer then cinemas wouldn’t have reopened as quickly and not been in this predictable position with no new major releases for almost 2 months.
8th biggest film of 2020 between Onward and The Gentlemen; 1,802nd biggest film in the US between Just Like Heaven and The Game; 294th biggest Warner Bros film between Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous and Malcolm X; 2,741st biggest inflation inflated between Take the Lead and Spotlight.
Dunkirk took $520m WW; Interstellar $654m WW: The Dark Knight Rises $1.08bn WW; Inception $834m WW; The Dark Knight $1bn WW: Batman Begins $359m WW; Insomnia $114m WW.
Took $9.8m from 62 territories (down 31% from last weekend) $275m total and $323.3m worldwide; China $66.2m; UK $21.8m; France $21.4m; Japan $19.2m; Germany $17.2m;; Korea $14.6m
Took $1.2m in IMAX in 43 markets from 446 screens taking $37m globally worldwide from IMAX 11.3% of the total global box office and 32% of its box office came from PLF/Premium Large Formats including IMAX and Dolby Cinema.
Tenet is the 3rd biggest film of the year in the world between Bad Boys For Life $424.61m and Sonic the Hedgehog $306.76m.
292nd biggest international film between Sex and the City and The Mummy; 2nd biggest film internationally in 2020 between The Eight Hundred and Bad Boys For Life; 53rd biggest Warner Bros film internationally between Sex and the City and It: Chapter Two.
440th biggest film worldwide between The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Robin Hood; 78th biggest Warner Bros film worldwide between The Perfect Storm and Lethal Weapon 3; (Batman Begins #71; Dunkirk #26; Inception #21; The Dark Knight #6; The Dark Knight Rises
UK Box Office Top 10
The UK this weekend
The biggest film opening will be Netflix’s Rebecca remake starring Lily James, Armie Hammer, Kristin Scott Thomas, Keeley Hawes, and Sam Riley, and directed by Ben Wheatley from a screenplay by Jane Goldman based on the 1938 novel of the same name by Daphne du Maurier.
The film will be released in Everyman, Curzon, and many other independent cinemas but Netflix won’t report box office, the film has generated strong media coverage as The Trial of the Chicago 7 a few weeks ago and probably would be #1 film this weekend if major exhibitors didn’t refuse to book it.
If the issue really was about lack of content to major exhibitors they would book films like Rebecca, The Trial of the Chicago 7 and The Secret Garden next week and ask Warner Bros if they could also book The Witches as seen by how films like onward and Trolls World Tour there is an audience out there that will still go to the cinema to see these films even if they are on streaming, digital and home video, all they are doing is harming themselves.
The Wear on Grandpa was due to open this weekend but seems to be delayed despite it opening #1 in the US last weekend.
UK Coming Soon
- The Secret Garden – Sky Cinema
Fantasy drama starring Colin Firth, Julie Walters, Dixie Egerickx, Edan Hayhurst and Amir Wilson and y Frances Hodgson Burnett and Directed by Marc Munden and produced by David Heyman; the fourth film adaptation of the novel; received positive reviews (65% Rotten Tomatoes) calling it a faithful adaption of the book
The previous version of The Secret Garden was released in 1994 taking £3.82m (£8.5m+ inflation inflated).
After Studiocanal and Heyday Films had huge success with Paddington announced plans in 2016 to make a remake of another children’s favourite Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden, the book was first published in 1911 has been hailed ever since as a classic 20th-century literary children’s book.
It was originally set to be released by Studiocanal in April but its release date was delayed to August after cinema lockdown and US rights which previously were sold to Global Road Entertainment was sold on to STX who then released it on VOD in August.
Sky Cinema acquired UK rights in August and set an October 23rd for their hybrid Sky Cinema and theatrical release which sees major exhibitors refuse to book the film. Never makes any sense why major exhibitors refuse to book Sky Cinema films as only a quarter of the country subscribe to Sky Cinema, so they are just biting off their nose to smite their face refusing to book it especially while they are crying out for studio content.
- Cinema Paradiso 4K Restoration – Arrow
The Oscar-winning drama has been re-released many times since it’s originally released in 1990 and was a critical and global box office success; it was ranked #27 on Empire magazine’s “The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema” in 2010.
The version of Cinema Paradiso re-released in cinemas is the 124-minute theatrical cut with the 174-minute director’s cut being released on Blu-ray only; Everyman Cinemas screened Cinema Paradiso in April as part of their weekly House Party series
- Pixie – Paramount Pictures
Comedy thriller starring Olivia Cooke, Ben Hardy, Daryl McCormack, Colm Meaney, Alec Baldwin and directed by Barnaby Thompson (previously directed 2007’s St Trinian’s and 2009’s St Trinian’s 2: The Legend of Fritton’s Gold) he produced several films for Paramount P9ictures in the early 90s (Wayne’s World, Coneheads, Wayne’s World 2 and Lassie) and Spice World, Kevin & Perry Go Large and Fisherman’s Friend; Paramount Pictures acquired UK rights
- Two By Two: Overboard! – eOne
Sequel to 2015’s Two by Tow which was a cheap European Ice Age rip-off, children’s films has been the genre of films that have found their audience since cinemas reopened in July with Cats & Dogs: Paws Unite! Opening with £456,531 last weekend, with half-term very soon and if cinemas stay open it will find a small audience.
Two By Two opened May 2015 with £566,871 from 427 screens opening seventh behind Avengers: The Age Of Ultron (£8,591,670); Far From The Madding Crowd (£1,450,297); Unfriended (£1,346,952); Fast & Furious 7 (£1,113,888); Home (£732,514); Cinderella (£675,425) taking £2,212,100.
- All My Life – Universal Pictures
Drama starring Jessica Rothe, Harry Shum Jr., Michael Masini, Chrissie Fit, Greg Vrotsos, and Jay Pharoah and directed by Marc Meyers (My Friend Dahmer) and based on Todd Rosenberg’s 2017 Black List script (based on the true story of Solomon Chau and Jennifer Carter).
- The Climb – Sony Pictures
Comedy starring Michael Angelo Covino, Kyle Marvin, Gayle Rankin, Talia Balsam, George Wendt, and Judith Godrèche and directed by Michael Angelo Covino; had a world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival last year receiving critical acclaim (91% Rotten Tomatoes) and acquired by Sony Pictures Classics (also screened at Telluride, Toronto, and Sundance Film Festival).
Was originally due to be released in the US in March, then July, October and now November.
- Honest Thief – Signature Entertainment
Action thriller starring Liam Neeson, Kate Walsh, Robert Patrick, Anthony Ramos, Jeffrey Donovan, and Jai Courtney and directed by Mark Williams (producer of Netflix’s Ozark). Aiming to attract the same audience who saw Unhinged.
Signature Entertainment acquired UK rights in February, and it will be their widest release in the UK opening in over 300 cinemas including several IMAX screens, with Tenet likely to drop 30% over the next two weekends should open bigger than Unhinged in July.
In normal circumstances Honest Thief would have a far smaller release as Unhinged and many other films that have been released by independent distributors since July; Dreambuilders took £500K and The Elfkins, taken £200K+
In 2017 Liam Neeson said he wasn’t going to make any more action films, but then two years later he said he will keep starring in them as ling as audiences stop watching them, but since Taken in 2014 they have gotten less successful at the box office; Open Road release Honest Thief this week in the US opening it in 180+ IMAX theatres.
- The Craft; Legacy – Sony Pictures (October 28th)
supernatural horror sequel to 1996’s The Craft starring Cailee Spaeny, Gideon Adlon, Lovie Simone, Zoey Luna, Michelle Monaghan and David Duchovny; the film was produced by Blumhouse Productions and directed by Zoe Lister-Jones.
It’s released on VOD the same day as in the US.
1996’s The Craft was a surprise hit in 1996 starring Neve Campbell was one of her first films starred in whilst starring in the Party of Five, she is better known as Sidney Prescott in the Scream films.
The Craft opened in November 1996 with £1,160,915 taking £2,765,491; has since become a cult favourite on video.
Sony will release it in up to 300 screens