1. See How They Run   – £984,779   – £2,831,230

Down 15.4% in the second weekend  

1,013th biggest second weekend between The Aviator and Just Go With it (close to The Talented Mr Ripley, Hidden Figures, Fisherman’s Friends and Father of the Bride) and 1,489th biggest inflation inflated between G.I Jane and Around the World in 80 Days (close to Zodiac, Widows, The Royal Tenenbaums and The Bridges Of Madison County).

Holding strongly in its second weekend but it started from a lower-than-expected opening last weekend compared with other recent murder mystery films like Knives Out and Murder on the Orient Express.

While the film had a lower-than-expected opening in the UK it was still far stronger than in the US but that was always expected as critics’ reviews were far more positive in the UK than in the US as these films get a ‘Brit boost’. While these films often hold strongly in their following weekends as films playing to an older demographic as they don’t rush out to see them over the opening weekend as other films do and often have much longer legs.

Despite See How They Run holding well the weekend was the third lowest for the last 21 years, not including post-first lockdown weeks, the one positive is this often happens the weekend before a major film opens so there could be a massive boost in cinemagoing this weekend with the release of three new films and as people move onwards after they mourn the Queen.

Searchlight premiered The Banshees of Inisherin and Empire of Light at Venice and Toronto Film Festivals and The Menu and Chevalier at Toronto Film Festival so were surprised that See How They Run didn’t screen at a film festival, that said the only film festival it would have premiered would have been London. But as Disney has brought David O Russell’s Amsterdam forward a similar period murder mystery comedy probably felt the two films were too similar as would be targetting the same audience.

Knives Out dropped 44.2% in the second weekend taking £1,637,525 and £6,042,446 57.1% of £10,573,381; Murder on the Orient Express dropped 12.2% taking £4,376,429 and £12,989,387 and Death on the Nile 29% (taking £1,349,395 and £4,738,119.

Mid-September has been a lucrative time to open British-based films over recent years including 2019 Downton Abbey; 2017 Victoria and Abdul; 2016 Bridget Jones’s Baby; 2015 Legend; 2014 Pride; 2013 Rush.

Had a similar second weekend as

2017’s Hidden Figures £986,288 -31.90% and £3,348,278 58.43% of £5,730,368; 3.96x opening

2018’s The Shape of Water £900,402 -63.49% and £4,427,458 60.5% of £7,312,082; 2.96x opening

1997’s The English Patient £958,601 -23.53% and £3,161,290 25.67% of £12,317,121; 9.83x opening (£24,452,663 inflation inflated)

And curiously several Royalty films

2007’s Elizabeth: The Golden Age £929,536 -31.1% and £3,137,766 62.1% of £5,054,647; 3.75x opening (£8,087,435 inflation inflated)

2002’s Gosford Park £908,826 +8.56% and £2,480,506 20.2% of £12,259,248; 14.64x opening; (£23,926,262 inflation inflated)

2006’s The Queen £908,295 up 6.08% and £2,658,523 28.2% of £9,414,401; 10.99x opening; (£15,619,786 inflation inflated)

While other Brit-based films targetting similar demographic second weekends (including several other September opening)

2011’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy £2,104,762 -25.2% and 6,924,269 48.7% of £14,202,942

2015’s The Second-Best Exotic Marigold Hotel £1,957,256 -48.1% and £8,640,646 55.5% of £15,575,797

2005’s Pride and Prejudice £1,934,083 -23.5% and £6,406,188 44% of £14,562,448 (£24,981,864 inflation inflated)               

2003’s Calendar Girls £1,855,986 up 5.3% and £5,679,683 27.8% of £20,427,788 (£37,174,893 inflation inflated)

1999’s Shakespeare In Love £1,679,818  -7.6% and £4,827,618 23.2% of £20,814,996 (£39,948,971 inflation inflated)

2015’s The Lady in the Van £1,609,943 -28.6% and £6,437,140     50.8% of £12,660,028

2022’s Downton Abbey: A New Era £1,553,503 -49.4% and £7,671,735     51.1% of £15,024,203     

2013’s Philomena £1,407,318 -6.78% and £4,762,182 45.5% of £10,470,225          

2015’s Suffragette £1,343,819 -54.27% and £5,806,295 54.8%of £10,600,616       

2014’s The Grand Budapest Hotel £1,309,103 -14.6% and £4,115,618 38.9% of    £10,577,014

2017’s Victoria and Abdul £1,239,085 -32.9% and £4,831,777 49.1% of £9,828,274             

While

2022’s The Duke took £682,096  -31.3% and £2,740,233 51.9% of £5,283,515

2022’s Death on the Nile took £1,349,395 -28.9% and £4,738,119 59.1% of £3,228,094

2021’s The French Despatch took £531,526 -38.74% and £1,440,670 52.5% of £2,068,519

2019’s Knives Out took £1,637,525 -44.25% and £6,042,446 57.1% of £10,573,381

2017’s Murder on the Orient Express took £4,376,429 -12.22% and £12,989,387 53.6% of £24,224,914

While See How They Run had a great second-weekend hold as many films targetting older audiences the problem was it was starting from a much lower than expected opening weekend as cinemagoing was affected by the Queen’s death on September 8^th. Cinemagoing was affected within hours of her death with the cancellation of the special preview screening of the film at Everyman Muswell Hill and was muted across the last two weekends.

• 2. Bullet Train – £325,252 – £10,350,578

Down 6.9% in the seventh weekend up from #8 last weekend

70th biggest action film between Ocean’s Eight and Rush Hour 3 (close to London Has Fallen, Speed, 21 Jump Street and Wanted) and 120^th biggest inflation inflated between Wrath of the Titans and Baywatch (close to Con Air, Die Hard, The Long Kiss Goodnight and Taken).

Hard to compare with the 7^th weekends of other action films as they don’t normally play as long in cinemas, Bullet Train was on its way out of the top 10 last weekend but only returned #2 due to all-over films dropping more.

Took a 3.62x opening similar to The Fast and the Furious, Collateral, Eraser, Rising Sun, Contagion, Out of Sight, The Gentlemen, Baby Driver, The Bourne Identity, The Hitman’s Bodyguard and Hot Fuzz.

638^th biggest film between East Is East and The Social Network (close to For Your Eyes Only, Cape Fear, Rush Hour 3 and The Spy Who Loved Me) and 1,070^th biggest inflation inflated between Born on the Fourth of July and Falling Down (close to The Lost City, Flatliners (1990), Natural Born Killers and Alita: Battle Angel).

A very unusual weekend that has seen the films in 2^nd to 5^th all climb up the charts due to the lack of new releases and the soft weekend as going to the cinema was the last thought on most people’s minds being the weekend before the Queen’s funeral on Monday. It was then o surprise that the weekend was one of the lowest ever (not including post-COVID) over the last 21 years (probably much longer but don’t have access to the data).

This is even more surprising as there were four new releases last weekend in the top 5 but only one of them remained in the second weekend

• 3         Minions: The Rise of Gru  – £321,746  – £45,144,695

Down 17.1% in twelfth weekend up from #5 last weekend

Has taken 4.33x opening similar to George and the Jungle, Alvin And The Chipmunks II, The Polar Express, The Cat in the Hat, The Smurfs, Trolls and Ralph Breaks The Internet

9th biggest animation film between Despicable Me 2 and Toy Story 2 (close to Despicable Me 3, Minions, Finding Dory and Frozen) and 26th biggest inflation inflated between Finding Dory and Inside Out (close to Ice Age II, Toy Story, Shark Tale and The Lego Movie).

58th biggest film in the UK between The King’s Speech and The Inbetweeners Movie (close to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Jungle Book, Frozen and Paddington 2) and 146th  biggest inflation between Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 and The Day After Tomorrow (close to Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Batman Forever, Crocodile Dundee II and The Mask).

The 11 Illumination Entertainment films have taken over £360m since Despicable Me in 2010 and almost £400m inflation inflated.

Minions: The Rise of Gru has currently taken £1,670,717 less than Despicable Me 2 (£46,815,412) £1,946,754 less than Minions (£47,091,449) and £2,417,880 less than Despicable Me 3 (£47,562,575) after Lightyear disappointed and only DC League of Super-Pets as competition over the last 12 weeks Minions: The Rise of Gru should have overtaken all of those films. Might seem to be overly critical as a film taking £45m+ is a strong BO, but as these franchises get bigger and ticket prices continue to increase the latest film needs to take more than the previous instalment, as when you live by the sword you die by the sword.

Exhibitors will surely say the reason is the shortened theatrical window, but it has performed strongly for weeks since its VOD release a month ago.

• 4         Top Gun: Maverick – £320,963     – £82,884,781

Up 1.4% in its seventeenth weekend up from #9 last weekend

Taken 5.2x opening similar to Gravity, In the Line of Fire, Tomorrow Never Dies, Uncharted, Waterworld, The Matrix, Men In Black, Skyfall, Die Hard and Lethal Weapon 2

8^th biggest film between Avengers: Endgame and Star Wars: The Last Jedi (close to Spectre, Avatar, Titanic and The Lion King) and 37^th biggest inflation inflated between Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Bridget Jones’s Diary (close to Superman, Crocodile Dundee, Independence Day and Flash Gordon).

• 5. DC League of Super-Pets   – £307,920 – £14,899,670

Down 15.7% in its eighth weekend up from #6 last weekend

Has taken 5.53x opening similar to Hotel Transylvania 3, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Ratatouille, Willow, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Dragonheart, Shaun the Sheep 2 and The Emoji Movie

Hard to make comparisons with other films as normally after 8 weeks there are other children’s films that have opened which is the reason why DC league of Super-Pets and Minions: Rise of Gru have lasted for much longer in the top 10 than they would normally do and after weeks of being released on VOD.

2022’s The Bad Guys dropped took £13,478,928; 5.91x opening

2021’s Space Jam: A New Legacy took £12,856,287; 9.43x opening

2021’s The Croods 2: A New Age took £10m; 14.36x opening

2018’s Smallfoot took £11,250,608; 4.84x opening

2001’s Cats and Dogs took £23,013,391 (£44,915,024 inflation inflated); 6.21x opening

81^st biggest animated film between Cars 2 and Ice Age (close to Kung Fu Panda 2, The Emoji Movie, The Bad Guys and The  Rugrats Movie) and 112^th biggest inflation inflated between The Princess And The Frog and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (close to Rise of the Guardians, Shaun The Sheep Movie, Bee Movie and Megamind).

429^th biggest film between The Blair Witch Project and Superman Returns (close to Rio 2, X-Men: First Class, Batman and Robin and Grease) and 742^nd biggest inflation inflated between The Princess And The Frog and Wanted (close to Labyrinth, The Golden Child, Dirty Dancing and The Haunted Mansion).

Also opened

• Moonage Daydream – Universal Pictures

Opened with £181,467 from 51 IMAX cinemas

The documentary will expand into regular cinemas this weekend losing IMAX screens to Avatar re-release. It was the first film to be authorized by the Bowie estate having access to 5 million items,  was a biopic of David Bowie Stardust made in 2020 which didn’t get approval from his estate so wasn’t allowed to use any of his music.

Moonage Daydream had its world premiere at Cannes Film Festival receiving positive reviews (90% on Rotten Tomatoes).

While See How They Run was way ahead of the rest in the last few weeks the rest of the box office has been very close with only £143,785 between Bullet Train #2 and Moonage Daydream #10.

22 films were released last weekend taking £590,429 with Moonage Daydream taking a third of the BO highlighting the problem that there will be over 900 films released this year but 90% of the BO will be from less than 5% with the top 10 taking 40% of the yeas BO, similar to the UK government policy the biggest films take more while the smaller films take far less.

•             Clerks III – Lionsgate

Opened #22 £47,712 from 89 screens

Clerks opened £14,562 from 5 screens in May 1995; while Clerks II opened £223,046 #10 from 245 screens in September 2006th; Silent Bob also appeared in 1999’s Dogma opened with £283,056 #5 from 200 screens taking £2.2m

Also released

• Tad The Lost Explorer And The Curse Of The Mummy – Paramount Pictures

After taking £818,525 last weekend #2 it dropped to #6 as opening as inflated with £568,372 from previews down 65.6% in its second weekend taking £281,501 and £1,152,514, its big drop allowed Minions: The Rise of Gru and DC League of Super-Pets to climb back up the chart. That said would Tad have taken as much had it not had previews that were on National Cinema Day as surely many saw it that wouldn’t have otherwise highlighted the benefit of screening previews on events like National Cinema Day? When the event was previously held in 1996-98 there were many previews of upcoming releases, they work like talker screenings building word of mouth to films that need to be discovered.

Returning for one final week was Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis in its 13^th weekend taking £204,599 and £27,371,961. While Top Gun: Maverick received huge media attention over its BO performance, Elvis BO is probably more impressive, while it might have had the star power of Tom Hanks and the music of Elvis it was still an original film, what it again highlights is how UK audiences enjoy biopics and films featuring music. Critical reaction was mixed (74% on Rotten Tomatoes) but the audience reaction was very strong at 94%.

Elvis as Minions: The Rise of Gru, Top Gun: Maverick and DC League of Super-Pets have all been available to watch at home for several weeks but audiences still have been waiting to see them in cinemas. Showing again if it’s a film people want to see in the cinema will see it in the cinema. While exhibitors have kept them playing on over 400 screens.

UK box office in detail

This weekend’s top 10 box office took £3,325,794 down 33.6% from last weekend’s £5,007,757; admissions 401,247 down 35.2% from 619,772 admissions

1,039^th biggest top 10 of the last 21 years (out of 1,066) between 04 September 2020 #1 Tenet £2,151,490 (57.4% of top 10) and 24 December 2004 #1 The Polar Express £688,859 21.7% of top 10); 3^rd lowest weekend of the last 21 years, (not including the weeks immediately after cinemas reopened after the first lockdown) 25 June 2010 #1 Get Him to the Greek £1,569,556 49.9% of top 10 was the lowest (don’t have access to data before 2001 so likely to be much more) and 1,042^nd biggest inflation inflated between 11 September 2020 #1 Tenet £1,233,090 43.8% of top 10) and 02 October 2020 #1 Tenet £628,247 (23.9% of top 10); all 23 weeks lower were weekends after cinemas reopened after the first lockdown and not all cinemas had reopened

Top 3 took £1,631,777 49.1% of the top 10; See How They Run 29.8% (£984,779); Bullet Train 9.8% (325,252); Minions: The Rise of Gru 9.7% (£321,746)

Down 30.9% from 2021 (£4,812,471); Gunpowder Milkshake (£35,578); 12 Mighty Orphans (£17,220); #1 Shangi-Chi £2,362,692 3rd week (49.1% of top 10)

Up 27.7% from 2020 (£2,603,624); Bill And Ted Face The Music (£462,051); Andre Rieu’s Magical Maastricht: Together In Music (£124,101); Rocks (£75,478); #1 Tenet £796,309 616 screens 4^th week 30.6% of top 10)

Down 72.6% from 2019 (£12,155,175); Downton Abbey (£5,180,865); Hustlers (£1,353,324); #1 Downton Abbey £5,180,865 1^st week 728 screens (42.6% of top 10)

Down 65.5% from 2018: (£9,647,148); The Predator (£2,394,163); Crazy Rich Asians (£1,599,858); King of Thieves (£1,535,876); #1 The Predator £2,394,163 1st week 553 screens (24.8% of top 10)

Down 71% from 2017: (£11,473,084); Victoria and Abdul (£1,846,970); mother! (£831,676); American Assassin (£768,951); Aces of the Jungle (£374,982); #1 It £6,070,542 2nd week 608 down 39% screens (52.9% of the top 10)

Down 74.8% from 2016: (£13,181,394); Bridget Jones’s Baby (£8,111,077); Blair Witch (£959,401); The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years (£654,726); The Infiltrator (£370,439); Hunt For the Wilderpeople (£167,646); #1 Bridget Jones’s Baby £8,111,077 1st week 641 screens (61.5% of the top 10)

Down 64.3% from 2015; (£9,319,305); Everest (£3,160,154); A Walk in the Woods (£252,175); The Battle Of Britain At 75 (Concert) (£225,942); Bill (£221,807); The D Train (£8,516); #1 Legend £2,446,860 2nd week 544 screens 53% drop (26.2% of top 10)

Down 45.6% from 2014: (£6,109,464); A Walk Among the Tombstones (£1,317,948); The Riot Club (£496,647); 20,000 Days on Earth (£356,467); Magic in the Moonlight (£273,998); The Giver (£186,989); Think Like a Man too (£131,138); Wish I Was Here (£27,739); #1 The Boxtrolls £1,333,137 2nd week 509 screens (33% drop (21.8% of top 10)

Down 68.5% from 2013: (£10,548,613); Insidious 2 (£2,877,742); Rush (£2,099,308); White House Down (£1,184,338); Justin and the Knights of Valour (£831,011); In a World… (£35,178); 42 (£3,797); #1 Insidious 2 £2,877,742 1st week 414 screens (27.2% of top 10)

Down 57.1% from 2012 (£7,760,490); The Sweeney (£1,545,294); ParaNorman (£1,393,123); Hope Springs (£728,689); To Rome with Love (£141,008); Premium Rush (£115,358); #1 The Sweeney £1,545,294 1st week 406 screens (19.9% of top 10)

Down 61.2% from 2011 (£8,582,687); Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (£2,814,860); The Change-Up (£727,497); I Don’t Know How She Does It (£562,609); 30 Minutes or Less (£260,337); You Instead (£6,770); #1 Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy £2,814,860 1st 382 screens 42% drop  (32.8% of top 10)

Down 45.7% from 2010: (£6,120,627); The Other Guys (£1,980,601); Devil (£807,292); Just Wright (£82,513); I’m Still Here (£22,730); Grease Sing-along (£15,701); #1 The Other Guys £1,980,601 1st week 441 screens (32.5% of top 10)

Down 42.3% from 2009; (£5,767,172); Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (£1,583,544); Gamer (£641,568); The Firm (£310,060); Away We Go (£250,211); #1 Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs £1,583,544 1st week 438 screens (27.4% of top 10)

Down 50.1% from 2008; (£6,654,546); Tropic Thunder (£2,483,271); Linha De Passe (£34,156); The Wave (£27,981); #1 Tropic Thunder £2,483,271 1st week 460 screens (37.3% of top 10)

Down 55.7% from 2007:(£7,504,924); Superbad (£1,484,456); Disturbia (£728,145); Shoot ‘Em Up (£374,770); 3:10 To Yuma (£368,510); December Boys (£23,145); #1 Run, Fat Boy, Run £1,543,836 2nd week 411 screens 23% drop (20.5% of top 10)

Down 32.1% from 2006; (£4,892,872); Talledega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (£1,033,759); The Queen (£856,273); The Night Listener (£314,078); DOA (£224,786); #1 Talledega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby £1,033,759 1st week 403 screens (21.2% of top 10)

Down 49.2% from 2005 (£6,549,677); Pride and Prejudice (£2,529,947); Wolf Creek (£554,618); Must Love Dogs (£142,199); #1 Pride and Prejudice £2,529,947 1st week 397 screens (38.6% of top 10)

Down 47.1% from 2004 (£6,276,762); Collateral (£2,238,200); Trauma (£144,148); Ae Fond Kiss (£106,366); #1 Collateral £2,238,200 1st week 450 screens (35.6% of top 10)

Down 56.9% from 2003 (£7,710,363); The Italian Job (£2,294,027); Underworld (£1,487,839); Le Divorce (£93,061); Raising Victor Vargas (£50,672); #1 The Italian Job £2,294,027 1st week 428 screens (29.7% of top 10)

Down 54.1% from 2002 (£7,251,582); Signs (£3,767,713); A Walk To Remember (£246,860); #1 Signs £3,767,713 1st week 443 screens (51.9% of top 10)

Down 49.5% from 2001 (£6,587,094); The Fast and the Furious (£1,763,020); The Martins (£310,600);  #1 Moulin Rouge £1,859,732 2nd week 314 screens 23% drop (28.2% of top 10);

Next weekend 2021 (£4,559,204); The Many Saints Of Newark (£945,319); Oasis Knebworth 1996 (£344,833); The Green Knight (£166,118); Dune (1984) (Re: 2021) (£39,582); #1 Shangi-Chi £1,558,002 4^th week (34.2% of top 10)

US Box Office

• The Woman King – Sony Pictures

Opened with $19.051m; received critical acclaim (93% Rotten Tomatoes) and A+ CinemaScore

Took $1.7m from Thursday previews

IMAX and PLF took 43% of the BO

It was surprising the comparison films were Harriet ($11.67m taking $43.08m) and Widows ($12.36m taking $42.4m) as neither are comparable and there aren’t any films The Woman King could be compared to why estimates were so wide.  

The film has historical inaccuracies which were picked up upon when the trailer was released but critics didn’t highlight them as they have on many other films based on historical events that have taken artistical licence that has been heavily criticised. Why is it acceptable for some film and TV shows but not for others?

Since receiving its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival on September 9^th the film has generated strong buzz. Sometimes films open immediately after premiering at film festivals like The Woman King and Sully in 2016 and that buzz helps the films open, but then others will world premiere at Venice/Toronto then open several months later as Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans opening in November and January in the UK. As studios want the films to be in cinemas and films opening in November/December are much more likely to be nominated as Academy members have short memories.

Of course, the advantage studios have opened a festival film in September is the lack of competition as the later in the year the more crowded the market gets.

• Pearl – A24

Opened with $3.12m; received positive reviews (87% Rotten Tomatoes and B- CinemaScore

It is the prequel to X opened with $4.27m in March taking $11.76m; received its world premiere at the Venice and Toronto Film Festivals. MaXXXine sequel to X is currently in production.

The film was shot in secret immediately after X was filmed with a budget of $1m.

• See How They Run – Disney

Opened with $3m; received positive reviews (72% Rotten Tomatoes) and B- CinemaScore

The film played best in the cities with only a third of cinemas taking over $500 on Friday showing the film opened far too wide (in 2,404 screens). 2021’s The French Dispatch opened $1.34m taking $16.12m

2022’s Death on the Nile opened $12.89m taking $45.63m

2017’s Murder on the Orient Express opened $28.68m taking $102.82m

2019’s Knives Out opened $26.76m taking $163.36m

2022’s Downton Abbey: A New Era opened $16m taking $43.89m

It’s seen as a positive that all Searchlight films will have a 45-day theatrical window but with a film like See How They Run that will be out of cinemas within three weeks films need to have a flexible window dependent on performance not fixed months before release.

Took $1.9m from 9 territories $4.5m total and $7.6m worldwide

• Barbarian – 20^th Century Studios/Disney

Down 38% in its second weekend taking $6.5m and $21.11m

Holding better than other horrors that normally drop 60%, especially critically acclaim horrors that audience reaction is poor. (Barbarian received C+ CinemaScore last weekend).

Took $500k from 12 international territories $1m total and $21.9m worldwide; opens in the UK on October 28^th

• Top Gun: Maverick – Paramount Pictures

Down 29% in 17th weekend taking $2.24m and $709.11m

1986’s Top Gun took $3.28m ($9.5m inflation inflated) in its 17th weekend and $135.63m ($352m inflation inflated) of $176.8m ($450m inflation inflated)

5th biggest film between Avatar and Black Panther; the 17th biggest inflation inflated between Jurassic World and Black Panther.

Top Gun Maverick has overtaken Titanic but impossible to compare the films as Titanic was released 25 years ago when the industry average ticket price was half of what it is now $4.59 Vs $9.18. The average price for Top Gun Maverick was close to $15 due to a large percentage of BO from IMAX/PLF/4DX/ScreenX so Titanic inflation inflated would be about $2bn.

Took $4.6m taking $752.51m and $1.463bn from 61 territories; UK $102m; Japan $93.6m; Korea $67.2m; Australia $64.3m; France $58.2m.

11th biggest film worldwide Furious 7 and Frozen II; 2nd biggest Paramount Pictures film between Titanic ($2.2bn) and Transformers: Dark of the Moon ($1.12bn)

Has taken $108m IMAX worldwide (10th biggest worldwide) and $50m worldwide from 4DX ($11m from the US)

The question now after the massive success of Top Gun Maverick can Tom Cruise follow it up next year with $1bn+ for Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1, the last film Fallout was released in 2018 taking $220.15m in the US and $787.17m worldwide and was the highest grossing film of the series to date, taking $1.15bn in the US and $3.57bn worldwide.

The difference is next year Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1 while it will weight expectations attached it will be one of a dozen big summer films and the timing of Top Gun Maverick opening was perfect as was the film that had the perfect mix of nostalgia and repeating what made the original film a success.

• Clerks III

Opened with $600k #15: received mixed reviews (67% Rotten Tomatoes)

1994’s Clerks opened with $31,665 from 2 screens going on to take $1.38m despite only playing on a maximum of 50 screens; the film cost $27,575 to make with an additional $230k for post-production after the film was acquired by Miramax. The film received critical acclaim and generated a cult following.

2006’s Clerks 2 opened $10.06m wide on 2,150 screens taking $24.14m; characters also appeared in 1999’s Dogma opened $6.66m taking $30.65m.

UK Box Office Top 10

UK Box Office Preview

Ticket To Paradise opened on Tuesday (20^th September) after being delayed from last Friday by Universal Pictures a few days earlier to avoid opening days before the Queen’s Funeral.

The film started its international release two weeks ago taking $12.1m in its second weekend from 46 territories and $14.8m, opens in the US on October 21^st. Two weeks ago George Clooney said at the UK premiere ‘The whole country was experiencing a “tough time”, and he was happy in his role as a dispenser of frothy cinematic delights to be “a ray of sunshine” for everyone.’

This was before the death of the Queen on September 8^th. Now opening after the funeral the film could be the right film at the right time, the feel-good film set in the summer sunshine being the perfect antidote to the outpouring of grief opening the day after the country ended its morning period. 25 years ago became that film after Princess Diana’s death and Moulin Rouge 21 years ago after the horrific 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Rom-coms have struggled at the box office over the last decade as they were 32 years ago when they were at their peak when Julia Roberts starred in Pretty Woman. A decade ago a romcom like Ticket To Paradise would open with £3m-£4m similar to About A Boy, Valentine’s Day, Bridesmaids, The Proposal, Confessions of a Shopaholic, The Holiday, The Other Woman, Two Weeks’ Notice, Maid In Manhattan and The Break-Up. But now more likely to open similar to Last Christmas (£2,654,354), Along Came Polly (£2,252,808), Yesterday (£2,212,380), One Day (£2,208,724), Forgetting Sarah Marshall (£2,144,038), Bend It Like Beckham (£2,001,795) despite having an extended opening with 4 days of previews.

George Clooney’s 1997’s One Fine Day opened £1,179,360 (£2,341,334 inflation inflated) taking £6,277,048 and (£12,461,560 inflation inflated) 5.32x opening. The film disappointed in the US opening the week after Jerry Maguire in December 1996 and opened in the UK 8 months later in July 1997.

While Julia Roberts 1990’s Pretty Woman opened £803,454 (£2,310,288 inflation inflated) taking £11,990,862 (£34,479,062 inflation inflated) 14.92x opening; 1997’s My Best Friend’s Wedding opened £1,424,928 (£2,828,850 inflation inflated) taking £8,488,511 (£16,851,884 inflation inflated) 5.96x opening

George Clooney and Julia Roberts previously worked together on 2001’s Ocean’s Eleven 2002’s Confessions of a Dangerous Mind 2004’s Ocean’s Twelve 2016’s Money Monster (2016). Only the Ocean’s films were successful at the box office but it was more about the ensemble cast that would have attracted audiences.

Julia Roberts was a massive global star in the 90s it’s been a while since she has had a hit film, have to go back to Mirror, Mirror in 2012 and Eat Pray Love in 2010. Similarly have to go back a decade for George Clooney as while he starred alongside Sandra Bullock in Gravity he wasn’t in for long so it’s going back to The Descendants and Up In the Air. That said films with both actors are very watchable.

The iconic scene from Notting Hill when Anna Scott says “I’m also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her”, could be used about the Royal Family as they might be surrounded by pomp and ceremony but the death of the Queen was the death of a mum, grandma and great grandma and they had to grief in public with millions watching, which makes that line even more strong.

The producers called Ticket To Paradise a sorta sequel to a film released about 20 years ago which would be 1999’s Notting Hill opened £4,323,678 (£8,298,175 inflation inflated) taking £30,765,273 (£59,045,940 inflation inflated) 7.12x opening or 1994’s Four Weddings and a Funeral opened £1,432,424 (£3,561,226 inflation inflated) taking £27,762,648 (£69,022,214 inflation inflated) 19.4x opening.

While Ol Parker previously directed 2018’s Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again and wrote screenplays for the two The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel films. Ticket To Paradise looks like Mamma Mia! without the music.

Delaying Ticket To Paradise a week sees it opening against Don’t Worry Darling, the film has generated a lot of media coverage both positive and negative at the Venice and Toronto Film Festivals. The film received film festival launch after her directorial debut Booksmart received critical acclaim, but was the film a film festival film as critics at film festivals are far harsher than regular critics as Dear Evan Hanson and Halloween Kills last year probably received far hasher reviews that they could have done.  

Don’t Worry Darling is expected to open similar to 2018’s A Simple Favour opened with £1,621,900 (£303,453 previews) taking £4,930,383

Avatar is re-released 12 years after it was originally released ahead of the opening of Avatar: The Way of Water in December, while the original film was a massive hit there are big questions over if the sequel can match the success of the original film as it hasn’t dated that well seen by many as Dances With Smurfs.

While there are big questions over if audiences will embrace 3D again as they did with the original film as a huge part of the film’s success came from 3D surcharges. James Cameron has talked a lot about 3D not being dead but when Avatar was released about 50% of its BO came from 3D as it did for films like Gravity but films released over recent years have taken far less from 3D. Surely if studios want audiences to embrace 3D again then shouldn’t be surcharged for Avatar re-release to get audiences back into favour of 3D.

Ahead of the re-release of Avatar James Cameron said that “Young film fans never had the opportunity to see the film in a movie theatre,” and “Even though they think they may have seen the film, they really haven’t seen it.” Sounding like he was quoting from the 1996 Star Wars re-release trailer ‘for an entire generation people have experienced Avatar the only way it’s been possible on the TV screen, but if you’ve only seen it this way you haven’t seen it at all.”

But the real question to ask is to quote from another James Cameron film ‘Are you ready to go back to Titanic‘ the re-release this week will show if audiences are interested in both Avatar and 3D again.

If the re-release was about building up interest for Avatar, then it’s about getting as many people into cinemas as possible to get them to see the film where it was made to be seen and in the formats, it was made to be seen in. So BO for the first Avatar film isn’t important as its o get already returned to being the #1 global film after a recent re-release in China, so why not cut prices for it and not have any difference in prices for the various formats it’s playing in?

Maybe even make 3D cheaper as surely looking longer term to the release of the sequel the more people who embrace 3D again could then embrace the sequel. The problem is the industry doesn’t think like that.

The question is what’s a successful re-release opening as over the last few weeks Spider-Man: No Way Home re-released opened with £469,309, E.T. (40th Anniversary) £438,715 (could say both were lower than they would have done due to National Cinema Day, but probably more people saw them again because of National Cinema Day) as E.T. (20th Anniversary) in 2002 opened with £465,048 when average tickets were £4.14, with 75p+ booking fee for National Cinema Day prices were very similar. While Jaws re-release last weekend opened with £524,233 from 447 screens.

Avatar re-release can only really be compared with the Star Wars trilogy 1997 re-release; Star Wars; A New Hope Special Edition opened £3,770,206 (£7,484,832 inflation inflated); The Empire Strikes Back £2,023,379 (£3,949,010 inflation inflated); Return of the Jedi £1,695,114 (£3,308,338) as Disney have heavily promoted Avatar re-release far more than the other recent re-releases, playing in 50 IMAX screens, along with 3D and

Opening next week

• Smile – Paramount Pictures

Psychological horror starring Sosie Bacon, Jessie T. Usher, Kyle Gallner, Caitlin Stasey, Kal Penn and Rob Morgan and written and directed by Parker Finn based on his 2020 short film Laura Hasn’t Slept.

Will have its world premiere at Fantastic Fest on September 22, 2022.

It was originally due to be released on Paramount+ but was given a theatrical release after strong test screenings and a lack of films

A teaser trailer was shown with Top Gun Maverick

• Mrs Harris Goes To Paris – Universal Pictures

Historical comedy-drama starring Lesley Manville, Isabelle Huppert, Lambert Wilson, Alba Baptista, Lucas Bravo, Ellen Thomas, Rose Williams, and Jason Isaacs and directed and produced by Anthony Fabian the third film adaptation of the 1958 novel Mrs Arris Goes to Paris by Paul Gallico.

Focus Features acquired world rights in March 2021.

Received positive reviews when it was released in the US in July with 95% Rotten Tomatoes opening with $2m from 980 screens going on to take $10.2m.