1. Aladdin – £4,888,931 –  £19,783,972

30.8% drop in its second weekend (15% without previews) thanks to half-term holidays

Has become the sixth biggest Disney reimagination overtaking Maleficent, Oz the Great and Powerful, Christopher Robin, Into the Woods and Though the Looking Glass and will shortly overtake Cinderella and Dumbo.

Unlikely to get close to either The Jungle Book or Alice In Wonderland due to the crowded marketplace over the next three weeks with X-Men: Dark Phoenix this weekend, then Men in lack International next weekend and Toy Story 4 the week after while also having to compete against The Secret Life of Pets 2 as both are limited to mostly weekend box office. Cooler wetter weather next weekend could mean Aladdin won’t drop as much.

Took £13.58m in its opening 7 days thanks to half-term holidays in comparison Incredibles 2 took £15.62m from 7 days from last July went on to take £54.6m. The difference was that was the start of the 6 week summer holidays while schools went back on Monday and won’t go on holiday again for another 8 weeks, so Aladdin will be reliant on strong weekend box office over the next few weeks if it is to get close and faces off against Toy Story 4 in three weeks’ time.  

74^nd biggest second weekend between The Junger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 and Gravity (close to Up, Shrek The Third, Toy Story and Titanic) and 133^rd biggest inflation inflated second weekend between Cats and Dogs and Les Miserables (close to Madagascar, Despicable Me 3, Frozen  and Peter Rabbit).

4^th biggest Disney reimagination second weekend after Beauty and the Beast, The Jungle Book and Alice in Wonderland (Dumbo 5^th with £3,508,551).

24^th biggest Disney second weekend between Up and Captain America: Civil War (close to Monsters, Inc, Finding Nemo, The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe and Tangled) and 34^th biggest inflation inflated second weekend between Tarzan and Captain America: Civil War (close to Tangled, Incredibles, Frozen and Ratatouille).  

Aladdin’s gold may seem to be impressive but need to compare it to 1992 animated film which was the second biggest film of the year after Jurassic Park despite opening in 1992. Aladdin took £16,115,822 would be over £52m today, the reimagination is unlikely to get close to that.

Disney’s next reimagination The Lion King was the biggest film of 1994 taking over £34,077,997 (Four Weddings and a Funeral was second with £27,762,650) would be £108,944,735 today (seventh biggest film ever between Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and Jurassic Park. Many expect the reimagination to take a similar amount which would be Disney’s biggest film of 2019.

The 11 Disney reimaginations have taken over £300m at the box of office and over £340m inflation inflated.

2. Godzilla: King of the Monsters –  £3,507,717 – NE

Took £660k Wednesday £552k Wednesday £1.21m from previews and then £767k on Friday

393^rd biggest opening weekend between The King’s Speech and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 (close to The Hulk, Fantastic Four, Cloverfield and Monsters University) and 509^th biggest  inflation inflated opening between Gnomeo and Juliet and Cheaper By The Dozen 2 (close to Warcraft: The Beginning, The Lego Ninjago Movie, Twilight and The Legend of Tarzan).

69rd biggest Warner Bros opening in the UK between Scooby-Doo Too and Sherlock Holmes (close to The Final Destination, The Meg, The Matrix and The Hangover) and the 85^th biggest inflation inflated Warner Bros opening between The Lego Ninjago Movie and The Legend of Tarzan (close to the Perfect Storm, The Lego Movie: The Second Part, Demolition Man and Constantine).

Was Godzilla: King of the Monsters opening affected by the hottest temperatures of the year, the Champions League Final or just people weren’t that interested in big creatures fighting each other in a similar way the Transformers movies have massive robots fighting each other and humans are just collateral damage.

Warner Bros were similarly affected two years ago with the release of Wonder Woman, the difference was the film received positive reviews but suffered with sunny weather and the One Love Manchester Concert which happened after the terrorist attack at the end of Ariana Grande concert. Warner Bros cancelled Wonder Woman’s UK premiere in respect but in doing so stopped its marketing campaign in the middle as normally the premiere is the final stage of a films marketing campaign.

Godzilla opened May 2016 with £6,385,483 (including £1,185,844 previews) taking £17,074,621

Kong: Skull Island opened March 2017 with £6,230,997 (including £615,360 previews) taking £15,616,015

While the 1998 Godzilla film opened with £4,176,960 (£7,483,288 inflation inflated) taking £15,920,578 (£28,522,723 inflation inflated)

Immediately after many critics watched Godzilla: King of the Monsters social media reaction was positive with many saying it was more fun than Avengers: Endgame but having a late embargo it allowed critics to take time putting their thoughts together and in doing so reviews were poor.

Do believe is a correlation between critics reviewing films immediately after seeing the film being much more positive than those that have an embargo.

Do believe critics get more caught up in the hype of the film watching it with passionate fans which skews the reactions they get from the films which will then be very different from how regular audiences see the films.

This is very noticeable with Spectre, the embargo broke immediately after it was screened in the UK and the early reviews were all very positive and many were 5 stars. The US reaction and audience reaction to the film was much more mixed. This is also the case with many of the MCU and Star Wars films, but then with a film like Godzilla

From the 1970s to the 2000s disaster movies were the mainstay of cinema were regularly the biggest films of the year; boats (from The Poseidon Adventure to Titanic), airplanes crash (from Airport to Snakes on a Plane), skyscrapers (from The Towering Inferno to Die Hard), earthquakes (from Earthquake to San Andreas). Volcano (from Krakatoa, East of Java to Dante’s Peak), epidemics (from The Omega Man to 28 Days Later), asteroids (from Meteor to Armageddon), tornados.

Over the last decade they have been replaced by comic-book movies which feature more chaos and destruction that any of the natural disaster films could have possibly created apart from 2012. Since Iron Man was released in 2008 only 2012 released in 2009 has had a strong opening (£6,489,809). Over the last decade Into The Storm, San Andreas, Independence Day: Resurgence, Geostorm, Rampage

Maybe part of the reason is that events that featured in these disaster films was fictional but with extreme weather becoming a regular occurrence people don’t want to go to the cinema to experience a film about their journey to the cinema.

Disaster films used to be much more successful but are one of many genres of films that have been squeezed at the box office over the last decade; Independence Day (£37m), The Day After Tomorrow (£25.1m), 2012 (£19.2m) and Armageddon (£16.4m) more recently Geostorm (£4.21m) and Rampage (£8.6m).

As with Pokemon Detective Pikachu, Godzilla: King of the Monsters was produced by Legendary Pictures and was originally to be a joint Universal Pictures/Warner Bros film, but Warner Bros took world rights to along with Kong: Skull Island and Godzilla vs. Kong.

Sequel, Godzilla vs. Kong, is scheduled to be released on March 13, 2020.

After receiving mixed reviews and with X-Men: Dark Phoenix opening on Wednesday and then Men In Black International the week after Godzilla: King Of The Monsters is likely to be as front-0loaded as Godzilla and Kong: Skill Island.

3. The Secret Life of Pets 2 – £2,940,835  –  £11,899,549

Down only 5% in its second weekends due to half-term holidays and not having previews inflating its opening unlike so many other Illumination Entertainment films.

Took £8.95m from its opening 7 days similar to Peter Rabbit last year (£9.04m) and Dumbo this year (£8.58m).

211^th biggest second weekend between Night at the Museum and Trainspotting 2 (close to Cinderella, Bolt, Monsters vs. Aliens and Kung Fu Panda) and 309^th biggest inflation inflated second weekend between The Others and Godzilla (close to Cinderella, Happy Feet, Oz: The Great and Powerful and Wall·E).

88^th biggest animated film between Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 and Rise of the Guardians (close to Rio, Lilo & Stitch, Over the Hedge and The Princess And The Frog) and 104^th biggest inflation between Fantastic Mr. Fox and Horton Hears a Who (close to Megamind, Bee Movie, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut and Angry Birds)

Had the 7^th biggest second weekend Illumination Entertainment film slightly about 2010’s Despicable Me (£2,589,170); WHILE Aladdin is performing as expected The Secret Life of Pets 2 is performing similar to The Grinch;

The Secret Life of Pets 2 has taken

76% less than Minions; 65% Despicable Me 3; 40% The Secret Life of Pets; 93% Despicable Me 2; 29% Sing taking 78% more than Hop; 16% The Grinch

As many of the films had previews hard to make direct comparisons and to see how opening against Aladdin has affected The Secret Life of Pets 2 box office but this will be more noticeable next weekend when both are limited to mostly weekend box office.

The 9 Illumination Entertainment films have taken almost £265m since 2010 The Secret Life of Pets 2 will have to hold well over the coming weeks if it will match the original films total

4. Rocketman –  £2,486,043 – £11,957,794

Down 53.8% in its second weekend (37.5% without previews)

266^th biggest second weekend between Troy and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (close to Mission: Impossible II, 8 Mile, The Theory of Everything and Captain Phillips and 393^rd biggest inflation inflated second weekend between Red Dragon and Fantastic Four (close to Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Erin Brockovich, The Pursuit of Happyness and 22 Jump Street.

14th biggest Paramount Pictures second weekend between Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (close to Paranormal Activity 2, Daddy’s Home, Mission Impossible: Fallout and Transformers) and 23^rd biggest inflation inflated second weekend between Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn and Mission Impossible: Fallout (close to Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, World War Z, Thor and Cloverfield)

After 13 days on release Rocketman has taken

295% more than Walk the Line (£3,024,681); 161.5% Billy Elliot (£4,571,955); 110.9% Moulin Rouge (£5,668,964); 24.6% A Star Is Born (£9,595,670); 19.5% The Greatest Showman (£9,998,783);

55.7% less than Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again; 48.5% Mary Poppins Returns (£23,243,909); 41.4% Bohemian Rhapsody (£20,427,866); 29.1% Mamma Mia! (£16,851,641); 19.7% La La Land (£14,907,148);

Second weekends

Comparisons have been made with 2017’s The Greatest Showman dropping 49% taking £2,409,143 (6% without previews) and £9,998,783 20.7% of £48,300,000;  

2018’s A Star Is Born dropped 25% (0% without previews) taking £3,083,089 and £9,595,670 32.7% of £29,299,129;

2018’s Bohemian Rhapsody dropped 40% (11% without previews) taking £5,750,267 and £20,427,866 37.2% £54,947,598;

if Rocketman holds similar to both A Star Is Born and Bohemian Rhapsody could take £30m+ becoming Paramount Pictures first film to do so since Shrek Forever After in 2010 and their third biggest film in the UK after Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Shrek The Third.

Rocketman received positive reviews but the review for Mumsnet went viral “I’m having a s*** time atm, went to pictures to see Rocketman yesterday and found the sex scene between Taron Egerton and Richard Madden the hottest thing I’ve ever seen,” “Seriously, if you’re a menopausal old hound looking for a boost in the fanjo, go and watch this on a loop.” Taron Egerton responded in an interview “That’s the best review I’ve ever gotten’.”

The films soundtrack is 5^th on the album chart with Elton John’s Diamonds album 6^th and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road 62^nd; while The Greatest Showman climbed up to 3^rd in its 75^th week on release and Bohemian Rhapsody is 7^th in its 32^nd week on release; over the last year soundtracks have been very popular with Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again and also A Star Is Born, the only musical that wasn’t successful in the charts was Mary Poppins Returns.

Elton John songs have featured in many films over the years two of my favourites was Your Song in Moulin Rouge and Tiny Dancer in Almost Famous; Cameron Crowe’s 2000 Almost Famous was underrated at the time flopped.

Taron Egerton also sung Elton John’s I’m Still Standing in 2016’s animated film Sing

While Elton John’s Can You Feel The Love Tonight featured in 1994’s The Lion King and will also feature in the live-action animated remake opening in July.

Next up musically is Danny Boyle’s new film Yesterday in a world where the Beatles never existed opening at the end of the month; Danny Boyle has had had huge success with Trainspotting, 28 Days Later and Slumdog Millionaire. Yesterday is his follow up to T2 Trainspotting, 22 years ago A Life Less Ordinary was his follow-up to the original film and was a flop, early reviews fore Yesterday have been mixed.

Blinded by the Light is a Bruce Springsteen version of Bend if Like Beckham about a teen obsessed with Bruce Springsteen as Bend it like Beckham featured a teen obsessed about David Beckham.

In October Renée Zellweger stars in the Judy Garland biopic Judy; recently have been rumours of a Boy George biopic and was again talk of a Madonna biopic, but that was shutdown two years ago by Madonna who said only she knows her story, was also a David Bowie biopic Stardust but his estate won’t allow his music. Are also plans for Aretha Franklin, Céline Dion and Prince.

Rocketman has a lot of similarities to Bohemian Rhapsody and The Greatest Showman as Freddie Mercury says in Bohemian Rhapsody Tell you what it is, Mr. Reid. Now we’re four misfits who don’t belong together, we’re playing for other misfits. They’re the outcasts right at the back of the room. We’re pretty sure they don’t belong either. We belong to them.

While in The Greatest Showman when the journalist tells Barnum “I never liked your show, but I always thought the people did”… “Putting people of all Shapes, Sizes, Colours. Putting them on stage together and presenting them as equals, another critic might have even called it a celebration of humanity.”… Tell me, Mr. Barnum, does it bother you that everything you’re selling is fake? Barnum replies “Do these smiles seem fake? It doesn’t matter where they come from. The joy is real.”

In Rocketman Elton John asks, “So how does a fat boy from nowhere get to be a soul man?”… man replies, “You got to kill the person you were born to be in order to become the person you want to be.”…

5. Pokemon: Detective Pikachu – £664,469 –  £12,492,311

Dropped 34.2% in its fourth weekend; holding strong in its fourth weekend despite the arrival of both Aladdin and The Secret Life of Pets thanks again to half-term holidays, but will have the biggest drop of the three films this weekend.

After the dreadful Pokemon films released at the start of the century was surprising how well Pokemon: Detective Pikachu was received critically and at the box office a lot of this has to do with Ryan Reynolds who made it Deadpool for children.

Ryan Reynolds released a video in February how he lived and breathed it becoming the character spending the entire year as Detective Pikachu.

A few days before it was due to be released Ryan Reynolds leaked the whole film on YouTube, the film has been viewed almost 19 million times.

What also helped Pokemon: Detective Pikachu was being shot on was shot on 35mm as the cinematographer wanted it to look like Bladerunner; a parody video was made last year comparing it to the Ridley Scott film and for the film to look more than just a children’s film. Shooting on film gave the film more vibrant colour palette, the shame is as most of the films today shot on film no one will get to see the film as it was shot. 

Horror sequels are a key part of Warner Bros remaining films of the year, the sixth film in the Conjuring Universe and third Annabelle film Annabelle Comes Home, It: Chapter 2,  The Shining sequel Doctor Sleep (released 39 years after The Shining was released) and The Joker the first spin-off film from the DC Extended Universe

UK box office in detail

This weekend’s top 10 box office took £16,880,406 down 14.8% from last weekend £19,827,784

The weekend admissions 2,338,006 down 14.8% from last weekend 2,746,230; average ticket £7.22 down from last year’s £7.49 but Applaudience estimate ticket price of £10.28

11 films opened at weekend taking (£4,779,909); Godzilla: King Of The Monster 73.4% (£3,507,717); Booksmart 13.2% (£632,452); Ma 10.6% (£509,624); remaining 9 films shared 2.7% (£130,116)

Top three took 67.2% (£11,337,483) of the top 10; Aladdin 28.9% (£4,888,931); Godzilla: King Of The Monster 20.8% (£3,507,717); The Secret Life of Pets 2 17.4% (£2,940,835;   

The weekend was up 72.2% from 2018: (£9,802,656); Book Club (£720,858); My Friend Dahmer (£37,940); #1 Solo: A Star Wars Story £3,147,338 684 screens 48% drop (32.1% of top 10)

Up 4.8% from 2017: (£16,108,699); Wonder Woman (£6,179,616); Baywatch (£4,631,244); My Life as a Courgette (£55,566); Dough (£51,426); #1 Wonder Woman £6,179,616 1^st week 599 screens (38.3% of top 10)

Up 15.8% from 2016: (£14,572,147); Warcraft: The Beginning (£3,623,725); Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (£3,495,445); Me Before You (£1,790,657); The Nice Guys (£1,004,622); Race (£39,990); #1 Warcraft: The Beginning £3,623,725 500 screens 1^st week (24.8% of top 10)

Up 36.3% from 2015; (£12,383,288); San Andreas (£4,628,394); Man Up (£528,748); Danny Collins (£225,308); The Connection (£82,486); #1 San Andreas £4,628,394 505 screens 1^st week (37.3% of top 10)

Up 6.6% from 2014: (£15,825,863); Maleficent (£6,590,071); Edge of Tomorrow (£1,886,096); A Million Ways to Die in the West (£1,240,465); Jimmy’s Hall (£131,703); Heaven is for Real (£7,762); #1 Maleficent £6,590,071 486 screens 1^st week (41.6% of top 10)

Up 38.9% from 2013: (£12,145,608); The Purge (£1,019,877); The Big Wedding (£595,956); Byzantium (£114,339); Populaire (£106,192); #1 The Hangover Part III £2,917,887 498 screens 51% drop 2^nd week (24.1% of top 10)

Up 3.6% from 2012 (£16,285,480); Prometheus (£6,236,580); Snow White and the Huntsman (£3,589,027); Top Cat – The Movie (£457,287); The Angels’ Share (£256,446); LOL (£114,545); #1 Prometheus £6,236,580 1^st week 514 screens (38.2% of top 10)

Up 26.3% from 2011 (£13,361,869); X-Men: First Class (£5,438,386); Eyes Wide Open 3D (£463,914); Senna (£375,173); Last Night (£51,245); Prom (£34,885); Screwed (£9,297); #1 X-Men: First Class £5,438,386 1^st week 507 screens (40.7% of top 10)

Up 23.8% from 2010: (£13,625,923); Sex and the City 2 (£6,142,718); The Tooth Fairy (£844,889); Space Chimps 2 (£434,883); The Losers (£391,938); Rec 2 (£70,367); #1 Sex and the City 2 £6,142,718 1^st week 530 screens (45.1% of top 10)

Up 133.5% from 2009; (£7,228,664); Drag Me to Hell (£1,907,731); 12 Rounds (£326,804); Obsessed (£154,344); Jonas Brothers 3D Concert Experience (£117,060); Fireflies in the Garden (£20,828); #1 Night at the Museum 2 £2,054,769 520 screens 51% drop 2^nd week (28.4% of top 10)

Up 2.8% from 2008; (£16,421,392); Sex and the City (£8,767,265); Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (£265,346); Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins (£40,380); #1 Sex and the City £8,767,265 460 screens 1^st weeks (53.4% of top 10)

Up 106.5% from 2007:(£8,174,672); Wedding Daze (£803,471); Paradise Lost (£406,822); The Hitcher (£217,973); Flyboys (£38,531); #1 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End £5,381,920 2^nd  week 550 screens 60% drop (65.8% of top 10)

Up 121.2% from 2006; (£7,629,707); Poseidon (£1,349,080); United 93 (£616,882); Wah-Wah (£46,159); Benchwarmers (£40,366); #1 X-Men: The Last Stand £ 2,310,683 2^nd week 448 screens 67% drop (30.3% of top 10)

Up 88.3% from 2005 (£8,963,845); Sin City (£2,452,299); The League of Gentlemen’s Apocalypse (£555,996); #1 Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith £3,313,328 3^rd week 490 screens 39% drop (36.9% of top 10)

Up 46.1% from 2004 (£11,556,263); The Day After Tomorrow (£7,321,633); #1 The Day After Tomorrow £7,321,633 1^st 429 screens (63.3% of top 10)

Up 161.8% from 2003 (£6,447,499); Bringing Down the House (£1,133,139); Ripley’s Game (£244,457); #1 The Matrix Reloaded £3,783,905 2^nd week 481 screens 69% drop  (58.6% of top 10)

Up 180.9% from 2002 (£6,007,556); 40 Days and 40 Nights (£1,027,578); The Time Machine (£808,389); Snow Dogs (£331,432); #1 Star Wars Ep II – Attack of the Clones £2,442,698 471 screens 3^rd week 40.6% drop (61.9% of top 10)

Next weekend in 2018: (£18,642,162); Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (£14,334,894); McQueen (£131,278); Coppelia – Bolshoi 2018 (£96,840); The Boy Downstairs (£12,823); #1 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom £14,334,894 663 screens 1^st week (76.9% of top 10)

Also opened

• Ma – Universal Pictures

Opened with £509,624 from 398 screens

While opened much less than the US ($18.1m) these kinds of films don’t open as strongly in the UK as US Opening similar to last year’s Breaking In £424,675

The second film starring Octavia Spencer directed by Tate Taylor after 2011’s The Help (opened with £896,597 taking £3,577,665 also taking much less than the US opening with $26.04m taking $169.7m

While Tate Taylor’s last film 2016’s The Girl on the Train performed much stronger in the UK than US opening with £6,957,945 taking £23,372,415 (opened with $24.53m in the US taking $75.39m) even though it was an inferior Gone Girl and A Simple Favour.

• Booksmart – eOne

Opened with £632,363 from 408 screens

Taking Fri- Sun £324,917 (£307,446 from previews Mon-Thurs)

Booksmart opened on Monday 27^th May had limited evening screenings until Friday but despite receiving critical acclaim and strong buzz after an extensive talker screening program predictably failed to find an audience in the very crowded marketplace  during half-term.

Many questions to ask about its release why a Monday opening, as Monday openings don’t work, distributors have opening many films on Monday/Tuesday most of the time during school holidays, but they often do more damage than good as they don’t expand film opening just share the box office over 7 days rather than three.

Also why open May 27^th three days after Aladdin, Rocketman and The Secret Life of Pets 2 opened as while Booksmart was targetting a different demographic when several films open the same weekend they will still cannibalize each other.

The final question is why open on over 400 screens, United Artists opened Booksmart  in over 2,500 rather than platform. eOne opened The Death of Stalin in 138 screens over another crowded weekend in October 2017 opened with £995,458, expanded into 314 in its second weekend taking £812,288 and £2,469,700 and then 376 screens in its third weekend taking £520,275.

The reason why eOne went so wide with Booksmart was probably because they also release Late Night this weekend again day and date with the US, but these kinds of films don’t need to open day and date as US release date isn’t always suitable, this was more so due to Rocketman and The Secret Life of Pets 2 opening ahead of the US. As with the US Booksmart would be far better suited to a late summer release date rather than early summer when are so many new releases opening week after week and exhibitors will pull underperforming films much quitter.

Comparison have been made with 2007’s Superbad (being a female version) even its marketing campaign is similar; Superbad opened in the UK in August 2007 with £1,484,456 taking £6,064,632

eOne open Booksmart and Late Night within two weeks both have generated strong buzz and positive reviews and seen as original films, but both have similarities with older films Booksmart with Superbad and Late Night with The Devil Wears Prada despite this are that need to be a success if UK cinema is really healthy as industry claims it is.

These films would be the summer sleepers a decade or more ago, two years ago The Big Sick generated similar positive buzz from its Sundance Film Festival premiere and positive reviews but only managed to open tenth in the UK with £488,718 (from 160 screens) in July 2017, added 49 screens in its second weekend taking £276,107 and £1,080,038. These films used to play all summer now they are pulled within weeks.

While industry celebrates the success of Avengers: Endgame its films like Booksmart it should be championing and needs to be a success if cinema is really the success it claims it to be. Over the last decade people have become much more selective in the films they pay to see and those they wait to see. While Meerkat Movies and subscription cinema from Cineworld and Odeon has increased their cinema attendance for everyone else it has dropped off and its films like Booksmart that suffer the most.

Other Box Office News

• Avengers: Endgame – Disney

With another three new releases opening last weekend Avengers: Endgame is dropping down the charts quickly after having the biggest opening ever in the UK (£43.4m taking almost 50% of its total in its opening 4 days) only managed to hold #1 for two weeks before Pokemon Detective Pikachu opened.

Compare this to Avatar opening 11 years ago with £8,509,050 its opening was only 9% of its total £94,025,474; some will say a large amount of its box office came from 3D but as ticket prices are up 33% ticket inflation covers that, while Avengers: Endgame was released in 3D, IMAX, 4SX, ScreenX with majority of cinemas charging more than twice industry average of £7.22 with many more than three times (Odeon Leicester Square top price seats are almost 6 times industry average).

Avengers: Endgame took 55% less than Avengers: Infinity War last year £1,058,425 #3 after Solo: A Star Wars Story and Deadpool 2) and was in the top 10 for 9 weeks; 2012’s Marvel Avengers Assemble took 76% more than Avengers: Endgame in its 6^th week (taking £847,598) and was also in the top 10 for 9 weeks.

In comparison Avengers: Endgame was in the top 5 for only 4 weeks and this weekend could be its final week in the top 10 after only 6 weeks with the release of X-Men: Dark Phoenix on Wednesday, Late Night on Friday and Take That – Greatest Hits Live on Saturday (in 2015 and 2017 the Event Cinema broadcast of Take That concert took £1m+ and this year will likely take similar).

Whatever anyone says after opening with £43.4m in 4 days Avengers: Endgame should of become the biggest film in the UK toppling  Star Wars: The Force Awakens in the UK as well as the US after its record breaking opening and for it to compare short of both and not beat Avatar as the biggest film worldwide is disappointing.

Of course Disney won’t care as they have taken $5,147bn worldwide in  2019 to date; $1,638bn US and $3,509bn International adding 20^th Century Fox 2019 grosses grows to $1,841bn US and $4,284bn International box office and $6,125bn worldwide.

With Toy Story 4, The Lion King, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, Frozen 2 and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and from Fox Dark Phoenix, Stuber, The Art of Racing in the Rain, Ad Astra, The Woman in the Window, Ford v. Ferrari and Spies in Disguise still to be released they could double that box office.

In the UK Disney have taken over £210m in the first 5 months of 2019 over 40% share of the box office add 20^th Century Fox box office its over £260m over 50% of the years box office and could take over £600m for the year which will be almost 50% share of 2019 box office.

Disney won’t have it all their own way next year as rivals have many big guns too and with Indiana Jones 5 and Avatar 2 delayed to 2021 it’s a much lighter slate than the last few years, saying that still has two Marvel films, two Pixar films and two more Disney reimaginations.

May Box Office

May 2019 was 11% stronger than last year which has helped reduce the 24% drop the first quarter of 2019 was comparable with last year, this has now dropped to 11% down from last year similar to the US. As with the US the UK will likely go ahead of 2018 in July after the release of The Lion King.

 

UK Box Office Top 10

US Box office

• Godzilla: King of the Monsters – Warner Bros

Opened with $47.77m received mixed reviews (41% Rotten Tomatoes)  and B+- CinemaScore (similar score as 2014’s Godzilla and 2017’s Kong: Skull Island while 1998’s Godzilla was a B- and 2005’s King Kong A-)

Took $6.3m from Thursday previews more than $3.7m Kong: Skull Island but $3m less than 2014’s Godzilla; also comparable to $5.9m Shazam!; $5.7m Detective Pokemon; $5.9m John Wick: Chapter 3

Opened 20% less than 2017’s Kong: Skull Island ($61.02m); 48% less than 2014’s Godzilla ($93.18m); 2.2% less than 2005’s King Kong ($50.13m) and 11% more than 1998’s Godzilla ($44.04m)

2017’s Kong: Skull Island opened with $61.02m taking $168.02m and $566.62m worldwide 

2014’s Godzilla opened with $93.18m taking $200.67m and $529m worldwide

1998’s Godzilla opened with $44.04m taking $136.31m and $379.01m worldwide

At the start of May 2019’s box office was 11.7% down from 2018 and at the end of May has dropped to 9.4% down from last year. As I said a month ago after Avengers: Endgame had a huge opening 2019 won’t get to 2018 levels until July. While this week and next weekend will be higher than last year June 14 will be down from 2018 as will the following two weekends. Spider-Man: Homecoming and The Lion King will see box office move ahead from last year.

Opened with $130m from 75 territories (including $70m from China) and $179m worldwide

• Aladdin – Disney

Dropped 53.2% in its second weekend taking $42.84m and $185.53m

With Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Rocketman opened slightly lower than expected Aladdin held slightly better than expected holding better than 64% Fast & Furious 6 and X-Men: Days of Future Past and 61.5% Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End

Had the 3^rd biggest Disney reimagination second weekend after Alice in Wonderland and The Jungle Book and is the 6^th biggest Disney reimagination after 10 days on release after The Jungle Book, Alice in Wonderland, Maleficent, Oz the Great and Powerful and Cinderella.

83^rd biggest second weekend between Shrek and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

It’s not a surprise Aladdin is performing as well as the original animated film was the biggest film in 1992 taking $217.35m in the US (#169 biggest film in the US between The Da Vinci Code and Alvin and the Chipmunks) and $504.1m worldwide;

Adjusted for inflation Aladdin is 102^nd biggest film in the US taking $472.5m a similar box office to Mrs Doubtfire which opened the following year #202 biggest worldwide between Ghost and Rio 2.

27 years ago Aladdin had two weeks of platform release before expanding first into 1,131 screens in its third weekend (#2 to Home Alone 2: Lost in New York #1) and then 2,255 screens in its 7^th weekend (#2 to A Few Good Men #1) taking $19.28m and $13.88m. Aladdin didn’t  become #1 until its 8^th weekend (#1 for 4 out of 5 weeks of January having minimal drops until end of February 16^th week).

Took $78.3m from 54 territories and $260.9m total and $445.9m worldwide #246 biggest film worldwide between La La Land and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel overtaking Les Miserables $441.8m; The Greatest Showman $435m; A Star is Born $434.2m; Mary Poppins Returns $349.5m; China $39.4m; UK $24.2m; Mexico $19.2m; Korea $15.2m; Italy $12.7m; Russia $12.2m; Indonesia $11.5m; Australia $10.8m; Spain $10.5m; Brazil $10.1m; France $8m; Germany $7.7m; Philippines $7.3m.

• Rocketman – Paramount Pictures

Opened with $25.72m; received positive reviews (89% Rotten Tomatoes score) A- CinemaScore (Bohemian Rhapsody/Star is Born/The Greatest Showman  A; Almost Famous/Mamma Mia/Maia Mia Here We Go Again A-

Took $1.75m from Thursday previews (took $580k from Fandango.com previews on May 18) $2.3m total; Bohemian Rhapsody took $3.9m $7.6% of $51m opening and  A Star is Born $4.55m (also included extra two days of previews $1.35m) 10.6% of $42.9m opening.

Rocketman is in a similar position as The Greatest Showman was in opened December 2017 fourth behind Star Wars: The Last Jedi #1 second weekend ($71.56m);Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle ($36.16m) and Pitch Perfect 3 ($19.92m); The Greatest Showman ($8.8m). The Greatest Showman had very long legs in the top 10 for 11 weeks one less than Jumanji but 5 weeks more than Star Wars: The Last Jedi and 7 weeks longer than Pitch Perfect 3.

A month ago Rocketman was tracking to open with $30m+ less than $40m+ Bohemian Rhapsody was tracking to open with (opening with $51.06m taking $216.42m and $903.17m worldwide); that was of course before the films marketing campaign kicked into fifth gear with its premiere at Cannes Film Festival generating huge global publicity.

A Star is Born opened October 2018  $42.9m taking $215.28m and %434.18m worldwide

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again opened July 2018 $34.95m taking $120.53m and $394.74m worldwide

The Greatest Showman opened December 2017 $8.8m taking $174,34m and $434.99m worldwide

While The Great Gatsby opened in May 2013 $50.08m taking $144.84m and $353.64m worldwide; as with Rocketman it was counterprogramming to the megamovies Iron Man 3 #1 $72.52m (2nd weekend) with Star Trek Into Darkness opening in its second weekend.

In March Paramount screened footage from Rocketman which received positive this was similar to 20th Century fox screening footage of Bohemian Rhapsody a few months ahead of release, this has become the norm for studios wanting to generate buzz but not able to screen the completed film.

10 years ago Paramount Pictures were in a completely different place than they are today. They were #1 studio in 2007 and 2011 and #2 in the years between thanks to Dreamworks Pictures, Dreamworks Animation and Marvel.

Due to poor management at the studio and Viacom refusal to buy Marvel they lost Marvel to Disney in 2012 (Disney brought Marvel in 2009 after Viacom turned down the studios request to buy it). Dreamworks Pictures moved to Disney and Dreamworks Animation to 20th Century Fox (before was acquired by Comcast/Universal). This saw Paramount go from #1 studio in 2011 to #7 in 2012 and they have stayed between 6th/7th since (are 6th now due to poor performance of 20th Century Fox films this year.

Other poor decisions Paramount Pictures made was not holding onto Blumhouse Productions (43 Blumhouse Productions films have taken over $2.1bn in the US and $4.1bn worldwide; Blumhouse Productions had huge success with the Paranormal Activity films taking $400m in the US and $890m worldwide. All were very low budget films under $5m but were very profitable, Blumhouse Productions repeating this low budget success at Universal P:ictures when he moved from Paramount in 2013.

Lastly in 2013 Paramount Pictures swapped Indiana Jones rights for Jerry Bruckheimer, who was in his final year at Disney, only now 6 years later are Paramount Pictures seeing the first films from his production deal Ang Lee’s Gemini Man starring Will Smith opening in October and Top Gun: Maverick opening next summer 34 years after the first film was released.

Took $19.2m from 40 territories and $31.2m total (almost 50% from the UK $15.3m)

Opens in Russia this week were the gay scenes have been cut

• Ma – Universal Pictures

Opened with $18.09m; received mixed reviews (62% Rotten Tomatoes) and B+ CinemaScore

Took $1.4m from Thursday previews; Escape Room took $2.3m; Truth or Dare $750k; The Intruder $865k; The Visit $1m.

Opening similar to 2019’s Escape Room $18.2m; 2018’s Breaking In $17.6m; Truth or Dare $18.6m

Octavia Spencer compared the tone of Ma to 1990’s Misery (opened $10.07m taking $61.27m) and classic 80s teen films.

While Tate Taylor calls the film a “cautionary tale” about the mistreatment of women. “Don’t brush them under the rug and think there won’t be repercussions,” he teases. “Not with Ma!” Audiences could get behind the film after the controversial new abortion bill recently passed in Alabama.

Third Blumhouse Production film of 2019 after Happy Death Day 2U and Us with The Hunt opening in October. The 41 films he has produced since 2009 (Paranormal Activity) have taken over $2.2bn in the US and $4.21bn worldwide.

Opened with $2.8m from 31 territories and $21.1m worldwide

• John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum – Lionsgate

Dropped 54.9% in its third weekend taking $11.08m and $125.73m

Third weekends

2014’s John Wick dropped 48.2% taking $4.13m and $34.8m 80.8% of $43.03m total and $88.76m worldwide

2017’s John Wick: Chapter Two dropped 42.3% taking $9.35m and $74.77m 81.2% of $92.02m and $171.53m worldwide

After 17 days on release John Wick: Chapter 3 has become Lionsgate 10^th biggest film in the US between The Divergent Series: Insurgent and Fahrenheit 9/11 and will shorty become their biggest film since La La Land.

So was no wonder they were quick to announce John Wick 4 for 2021 and surely John Wick 5 and 6 will follow soon after, as over the last few years since the Hunger Games franchise ended in 2015 they have been trying to find their next franchise recent attempts with Power Rangers and My Little Pony failed at the box office, why are also rebooting Saw franchise next year only three years after Jigsaw.

In August they release the Angel Has Fallen the third Olympus Has Fallen film and in September release the fifth Rambo film (Rambo: Last Blood) 37 tears after the first film opened.  

Keanu Reeves has made a wide range of genres over the years; his 48 films have taken over $2.1bn over the last 33 years and $4.41bn worldwide.

Took $12.7m from 77 territories and $95.9m internationally and $221.7m worldwide; UK $10.2m; Australia $7.5m; Russia $7m; Germany $6.7m; Mexico $5.9m.

• Avengers: Endgame – Disney

Dropped 53.3% in its sixth weekend taking $8.03m and $815.72m

Six weeks ago when Avengers: Endgame opened with $357.11m in the US and $1.3bn worldwide in its opening weekend it was only a matter of time according to most box office analysts for the film to become the biggest film in the US and the world.

Ahead of opening many expected Avengers: Endgame to have long legs as they did previously with Star Wars: The Last Jedi but while the film played strongly to fans it wasn’t as accessible to non-fans who enjoyed Black Panther and Captain Marvel.

Avengers: Endgame will have the third worst opening to total after Iron Man 3 and Captain America: Civil War, this compares to Marvel’s The Avengers 5^th best with 3.01x opening; Avengers Infinity War 14^th 2.63x opening and Avengers: Age of Ultron 19^th 2.4x opening; the best are Guardians of the Galaxy 3.53x; Black  Panther 3.47x; Iron Man 3.23x.

If Avengers: Endgame holds similar to Avengers: Infinity War it would have taken 95% of its total box office in its first 6 weeks and will end with $855m.

Avengers: Endgame will likely drop 50%+ again this weekend and next weekend against X-Men: Dark Phoenix and Men in Black International both direct competition for Avengers: Endgame unlike last year when Ocean’s 8 and Incredibles 2 but could get a boost as Captain Marvel did when Spider-Man: Far From Home opens in July.

But after having the biggest opening weekend, second biggest second weekend, fourth biggest third weekend and fifth biggest fourth weekend dropped down to 77^th biggest sixth weekend (between Fatal Attraction and Meet the Fockers) less than Captain Marvel ($8.61m); Wonder Woman ($9.82m); Guardians of the Galaxy ($10.35m); Avengers: Infinity War ($10.5m); The Dark Knight ($10.54m); Marvel’s The Avengers ($11.24m); Black Panther($17.09m).

Avengers: Endgame is the 2^nd biggest film in the US after Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($936.66m)

Took $8.6m from 51 territories and $1.897bn and $2.713bn worldwide; China $629.1m; UK $112.7m; Korea $104.5m; Brazil $83.9m; Mexico $76.2m; Germany $61.5m; India $61.3m; France $58.1m; Australia $57.5m; Japan $52.2m

2^nd biggest film worldwide between Avatar and Titanic taking $2.61bn; Disney now have 7 of the top 10 (6 from Disney, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Marvel’s The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Avatar from 20th Century Fox).

Avengers: Endgame is now $74m away from overtaking Avatar; took $16.4m globally at the weekend half of last weekend $32.1m) with X-Men: Dark Phoenix and The Secret Life of Pets 2 opening this weekend will drop again 50%+ this weekend looking now very unlikely for it to overtake Avatar.

While of course taking over $2.7bn (25% from China; 31% from US and 4% from the UK) is a massive achievement Avengers: Endgame is the culmination of 22 films over the last 11 years and should have become the world’s biggest film along with the US and UK but will come short of all three;

After opening with $1.3bn worldwide $3bn+ globally should have been expected as it should have been for Star Wars: The Force Awakens but despite all the hype, critical acclaim and strong buzz the problem is these films aren’t as good as the hype and audiences are now fickle and will move on to the next shinny new film opening a few weeks later.

After Avengers: Endgame came short of taking over Avatar worldwide now will The Lion King, if it performs as the original film did 25 years ago taking $423m in the US and $546m international it should come close as inflation inflated US BO $803m and internationally $2bn+ the original film didn’t open in China.

In four weeks’ time Spider-Man: Far From Home opens and then Marvel will probably announce their two currently untitled films for next year one of which is expected to be Black Widow expected to start filming next month.

22 Marvel Cinematic Universe films have now taken $8.11bn in the US and $21.37bn worldwide

• Booksmart – United Artists

Dropped 52.4% in its second weekend taking $3.3m and $14.33m

While Booksmart dropped over 50% in its second weekend it still had the second-best drop in the top 10 after Pokemon Detective Pikachu, but after receiving critical acclaim (97% Rotten Tomatoes) and with much social media chatter with the likes of Taylor Swift, Ryan Reynolds, Jason Reitman and many more demanding their followers go see Booksmart now.

While director Olivia Wilde tweeted last week “Anyone out there saving @Booksmart for another day, consider making that day TODAY. We are getting creamed by the big dogs out there and need your support. Don’t give studios an excuse not to green-light movies made by and about women.”

The problem is despite much talk from audiences saying they want new original films and they are bored to sequels, remakes and reboots they are still preferring to see Aladdin, The Secret Life of Pets 2, Pokemon Detective Pikachu and Avengers: Endgame over original films like Booksmart, Brightburn and Long Shot.

Many questioned the studios releasing strategy for Booksmart opening wide instead of platform, the problem with platform is that it doesn’t always work and in the very crowded marketplace of late May/June it might have not played as wide after expansion.

Booksmart will be pulled from many screens this weekend by exhibitors replacing it with X-Men: Dark Phoenix and The Secret Life of Pets 2. After seeing Booksmart’s disappointing wide opening Amazon have opted to open Late Night on platform this weekend before going wide next weekend, but despite this will likely meet a similar fate at the box office.

Sadly films like Booksmart now belong on Netflix rather than in cinemas, this us because audiences have become much more selective in the films they pay to see in cinemas and those they wait to see due to the cost of going to the cinemas today. While he industry hated Moviepass it boosted attendance for smaller films like Booksmart as people would give these films a chance as they used to a decade or more ago when it wasn’t so expensive to go to the cinema.

While critics compared Booksmart to Superbad was never going to perform as strongly as Superbad (opened $33.05m taking $121.64m) had a recognisable cast, was produced by Judd Apatow who had directed Knocked Up (opened with similar $30.69m taking $146.78m earlier in the summer).

Had Booksmart opened in August might of performed better, but United Artists might have been forced to open Booksmart in May due to it being released in selective countries on Netflix in May.

UK Box Office Predictions

X-Men: Dark Phoenix is the penultimate X-Men film made by 20^th Century Fox (New Mutant will be released in April 2020 after extensive reshoots and delays to get the cast together). The film received much negative coverage online due to being delayed and having reshoots as was original due be released last November.

Disney have yet to announce how or when they will incorporate X-Men into the Marvel Extended Universe, but there have been rumours that they might star in the Spider-Man films first (released by Sony but made by Marvel).

19 years ago the first X-Men film was released opened with £4,749,241 (taking £14,889,766) received positive reviews but was quite a similar film most of the film was taken up introducing the characters but that was needed as it allowed the film to be accessible to non-fans.

19 years later the fan-base is still strong for X-Men thanks more to the success of Logan and Deadpool as the previous X-Men film 2016’s Apocalypse opened close to Batman Vs Superman and Captain America: Civil War and all three felt far too similar to non-comic-book fans.

13 Marvel 20th Century Fox films (including Daredevil) have taken over £243m in the UK over £290m inflation inflated;

11 X-Men films have taken almost £237m and £279m inflation inflated

Fox screened 15 minutes of footage in March that was positively received with many saying it’s the best X-Men film since First Class, but the embargo ends on Wednesday hours before opening in the UK, but that could be for spoilers.

There have been rumours the marketing of the film has changed since Disney took over Fox with the tone of trailers more like MCU trailers.

Director Simon Kinberg said at WonderCon “From the beginning of conceiving what we were going to do with this film and writing it, which was three plus years ago, so long before there was a Disney merger, I felt like this was the natural culmination for this cycle of X-Men movies,”.. “Because it is seeing this family that you’ve come to love and know for however many films, and if you count the originals almost 20 years now, you see that family tested in a whole new way. You see that family start to fall apart in a real way for the first time, ultimately come back together.”….

“That felt like the culmination of a storyline or a cycle of these films. And for me, and for most of the fans … Dark Phoenix is the ultimate and most iconic storyline in the X-Men universe.”… “And so I didn’t know how we would top Dark Phoenix within this cycle. This felt like we had to earn our way back to Dark Phoenix. And I feel like we did hopefully, and beyond that felt like we’d want to sort of create an ending and the possibility of a new beginning. And that’s what we do on this film.”

Dark Phoenix has a 5-day opening with cooler wetter weather will open similar to the first films 2000’s X-Men (£4,749,241) and 2011’s X-Men First Class (£5,438,386).

Aladdin and The Secret Life of Pets 2 will have decent holds again thanks to the cooler wetter weather as will Rocketman.

Take That Live will likely take similar to previous two Event Cinema screenings of Take That concerts; Take That: Wonderland Live from the O2 2017 took £1,004,918 from 481 screens and in June 2015 Take That Live 2015 took £965,000

Event Cinema screenings normally have over 100% surcharges but strangely the Vue West End are only £10 over 50% cheaper than regular prices but a month later Westlife: The Twenty Tour Live a are £26.24 (26% more than regular prices).

eOne should do better with Late Night this week thanks to Emma Thompson and Mindy Kaling recently being in the UK to promote the film, as with Booksmart eOne had a strong talker screening program but has less competition this weekend to deal with; comparisons have been made with The Devil Wears Prada opened in July 2006 £3,267,580 (£1,057,535 previews) taking £13,681,185 (£20,282,989 inflation inflated)

As previous Godzilla films Godzilla: King of the Monsters will have a heavy second-week drop up to 70% (due to the two days of previews)

Opening in UK Next Week

• Men In Black International – Sony Pictures

Sci-Fi action comedy starring Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, and Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson, Rebecca Ferguson, Kumail Nanjiani, Rafe Spall, and Les Twins and directed by F. Gary Gray a sidequel to the Men in Black film series.

Rumours of a fourth Men in Black film started after the release of the third film in 2012 with ideas of a Men In Black Jump Street crossover but they had script issues as the tone of the two films was very different. Instead they moved forward with an international Men in Black film set in London.

 In February 2018 Chris Hemsworth was cast and F. Gary Gray was signed to directed.

Men in Black 3 opened May 2012 £2,935,736 (opening was hurt by hottest temperatures of the year increasing its box office in its second weekend by 3% £3,032,053 (very rarely happen) taking £7,958,460 after 10 days and £21,750,343 total.

1997’s Men in Black opened £7.07m (including £800k previews) £12.54m inflation inflated and £36.2m total (£64.21m inflation inflated)

2002’s Men in Black 2 opened £6.19m (including £1.3m previews) £10.42m inflation inflated and £22.01m total (£37.05m inflation inflated)

The first three films starred Will Smith at the peak of his stardom while Men In Black International while Chris Hemsworth has had limited success away from MCU films.

Will non film events surrounding both Liam Neeson and Emma Thompson earlier this year have any affect on the films box office.

While the first three films had Will Smith while the casting for Men In Black International feels ;like the B team.

While recent franchise reboots Ghostbusters and Terminator: Genisys failed to have similar success of the original films ad it is 22 years since the first film opened. While fourth parts of franchises often underperform Shrek Forever After, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and Transformers: Age of Extinction.

• Diego Maradona – Altitude

Documentary directed by Asif Kapadia featuring never before seen archival footage; was screened out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival receiving positive reviews.

Asif Kapadia previously directed 2010’s Senna opened with £375,000 from 67 screens taking £3.17m; 2015’s Amy opened with £397,000 from 133 screens (including £127,000 previews) taking £3.73m.

Opening in US Next Week

• Men In Black International – Sony Pictures

22 years after the first Men in Black film Men In Black International is expected to open similar to the previous three films

1997’s Men in Black opened $51.1m taking $250.69m and $589.29m worldwide

2002’s Men in Black opened $52.14m taking $190.41m and $441.81m worldwide

2012’s MIV 3 opened $54.59m taking $179.02m and $624.02m worldwide

The three films have taken $620.13m in the US and $1.65bn worldwide

Sony Pictures will be hoping the Marvel Cinematic Universe will rub off on Men In Black International with Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson reteaming again after starring in several Avengers films together.

Director F. Gary Gray films have taken $756m in the US and $1.94bn worldwide directed many great action films including The Fate of the Furious, The Italian Job and The Negotiator

Expected to open with $50m+

• Shaft – Warner Bros

Action comedy starring Samuel L. Jackson, Jessie T. Usher, and Richard Roundtree and directed by Tim Story; the fifth film in the Shaft film series and sequel to the 2000 film.

While the 2000 film was released by Paramount Pictures Warner Bros own the rights to the other three films and TV series as they are part of pre-1986 MGM library they acquired when they brought Turner Entertainment in 1996.

The film will be released in the US theatrically by Warner Bros but internationally two weeks later by Netflix (Netflix acquired international rights in October 2018; It is the second 2019 Warner Bros film Netflix acquired international rights for after a similar deal earlier this year with Isn’t It Romantic.

These deals are likely to become more common as Netflix want to acquired theatrical release and studios want to cut the risks on the films they make, this was similar to when studios would often sell off international rights to their films.

2000’s Shaft opened with $21.71m taking $70.33m taking $107.19m worldwide

Shaft is currently tracking to open similar to the 2000 film between $20m-$25m

• The Dead Don’t Die – Focus Features

Zombie comedy starring Adam Driver, Bill Murray, Selena Gomez, Chloë Sevigny, Steve Buscemi, Austin Butler, RZA, Tilda Swinton, Tom Waits, Danny Glover, Caleb Landry Jones, Rosie Perez and Carol Kane and written and directed by Jim Jarmusch; had world premiere opening the Cannes Film Festival last month receiving mixed reviews (51% Rotten Tomatoes)

It is the first of two zombie comedies starring Bill Murray Zombieland: Double Tap, the long-awaited sequel to 2009’s Zombieland opens in October (on the 10^th anniversary of the original film)

• American Woman – Roadside Attractions

Drama starring Sienna Miller, Aaron Paul and Christina Hendricks and directed by Jake Scott; had world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.