- Black Widow – £1,410,288 – £13,830,117
Dropped 22% in its third weekend as with all other films had a small drop due to the start of the summer holidays and cooler temperatures.
After having the second-worst second-weekend drop of the MCU it had the second smallest third weekend drop after Iron Man, this was still the 20th biggest third weekend between Thor and Ant-Man and the Wasp. But if you are to believe NATO’s excuses that the reason why Black Widow dropped so heavily in its second weekend in the US due to being released on Disney+ Premier and piracy then would have expected it to have a much heavily third weekend drop.
After 18 days Black Widow is the 18th MCU film similar to Captain America: Winter Soldier (£14,618,819); Ant-Man and the Wasp (£13,597,140); Iron Man (£12,996,686) and Ant-Man (£12,760,015.
Taking similar to Captain America: Winter Soldier (£1,782,201); Iron Man 2 (£1,595,612); Thor (£1,360,418); Ant-Man and the Wasp (£1,169,524)
56th biggest comic-book film in the UK between Thor and Shazam! (close to X-Men: First Class, X-Men, Batman and Kick-Ass); 64th biggest inflation inflated between Kick-Ass and The Hulk (close to Ant-Man, Blade 2, Superman IV and Captain America: The First Avenger).
433rd biggest film in the UK between Thor and Yesterday (close to Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Lucy, The Devil Wears Prada, and The Fugitive) and 664th biggest inflation inflated between The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Yesterday (close to Deep Blue Sea, A.I, The Bourne Identity and Wanted).
83rd biggest Disney film in the UK between Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil and Pearl Harbour (close to Signs, Armageddon, Ransom and Kill Bill Volume One) and 121st biggest inflation inflated between Good Will Hunting and The Princess And The Frog (close to Scream, Kill Bill – Volume 2, Tron Legacy and Starship Troopers).
The problem many had with Black Widow was it felt old, the film is of course older than it should have been as it was originally due for release in May 2020, but old because of films like Lucy and Red Sparrow (both were rated 15) and Wonder Woman.
Third weekends
2014’s Lucy #2 dropped 39% taking £1,197,432 and £10,445,937 73.9% of £14,129,734 (4.6x opening)
2018’s Red Sparrow #5 dropped 50% £588,634 and £5,278,099 82.5% of £6,395,074 (3.57x opening)
2017’s Wonder Woman #1 dropped 46% taking £1,868,607 and £16,297,127 73.8% of £22,086,045 (3.57x opening)
Black Widow also has similarities with the Bourne film series.
2002’s The Bourne Identity #3 dropped 22% £856,800 taking £5,640,368 73.1% of £7,717,876 (£13,459,677 inflation inflated) (3.6x)
2004’s The Bourne Supremacy #3 dropped 30% £1,089,750 taking £8,458,045 74.2% of £11,396,052 (4.2x)
2007’s The Bourne Ultimatum #1 dropped 22% £2,232,971 taking £17,744,164 75.2% of £23,586,781 (3.6x)
2012’s The Bourne Legacy #7 dropped 55% £714,020 taking £9,895,086 91.1% of £10,869,199 (2.3x)
2016’s Jason Bourne #3 dropped 40% £1,471,495 of £17,462,208 76.1% of £22,938,616 (3.02x)
Snake Eyes and Black Widow highlights the problem with these origin movies they have very limited appeal as for most they know enough of the back story of characters in previous films so seeing them do it is far less exciting than Han Solo doing the Kessel run in 12 parsecs in Solo. Likewise in previous MCU films, Natasha and Clint talk a lot about what happened in Budapest but seeing what happened in Black Widow is anticlimactic as it’s just exposition you don’t need to see just need to know it happened.
Of course, exhibitors had other reasons why Black Widow dropped much more heavily as they asked by a well-reviewed, the well-received film would drop so heavily in its second weekend, blaming it on being released on Disney+ and that generated huge piracy, but that wasn’t seemingly an issue with F9 that was illegally available online a month before being released in Asia in May.
Exhibitors will always make excuse over why films have underperformed as UKCA said in an interview in Screen Daily this week saying, “What has happened is that there have been catastrophic levels of piracy,” … “Black Widow is already the most pirated film of 2021. Income is being lost to the studio but also to exhibitors.” … “There are so many variables and influences outside of our control… what I will say is that since cinemas started to re-open from May 17, the box office has been challenging but strong. We’ve had the twin perils of good weather and British teams being European Championships. With all of those caveats, I think we are in a good place.”
But all of this was known and expected, why they are singling out Black Widow when F9 piracy was probably much worse and piracy doesn’t stop people going to see films as famously was the case with Taken, a film Fox dumped giving it a token release in February 2008 in France, but after many watched it illegally opened in the UK in September and the US in January 2009 and was hugely successful as were its two sequels. If it’s a film people want to see in the cinema they will see it in the cinema no matter if it’s available on other formats especially a film like Black Widow which many want to watch on the biggest screen possible.
Normally distributors won’t release big films due to either European Championships or the World Cup so opening both F9 and Black Widow during Euro’s was always a gamble, but the decision to open both on those dates wasn’t decided locally it was a global decision. Hot weather is the perennial excuse for cinemas but again it comes down to if you want to see a film you will go and see the film no matter the weather I remember going to the premieres of the first Pirates of the Caribbean and The Dark Knight Rises in Leicester Square both were the hottest days of the summer (to date) both premieres were packed despite the audience melting in the cinema.
Haven’t exhibitors said regularly over the last 15 months ‘There’s a huge amount of pent-up demand and we do know from the customer research we’ve done that people believe you can’t recreate that big-screen experience at home” so why would they opt to see Black Widow illegally at home on their phone than go to see it on the big screen in the cinema?
While UKCA said in May “It’s not a competition between us and the streaming sites,” …. “People with a voracious appetite for films use streaming and want to go to cinemas. We’re more worried about bars and restaurants. That, and the reinvention of golf and darts as shared communal experiences.” As seen with Godzilla Vs Kong and Black Widow if it’s a film people want to see in the cinema they will see it in the cinema and then probably watch it again at home before going to see it again in the cinema.
But that’s the age-old thing with exhibitors they are scared of change, they think as they have done it the same way for decades they don’t need to change but as seen with Blockbuster Video need to always be looking forward to seeing what your competitors are doing and being better.
Instead, exhibitors opted for short-term gimmicks as they did in the 50s like 3D and now 4DX and ScreenX rather than long-term solutions in how to build audiences again as did so successfully in the 80s and 90s especially as films are meant to be bigger and better now?
The issue is that the makeup of the majority of cinemagoers is 16-34. These are people who will rush out to see the latest film over the opening weekend but as there aren’t other demographics going as strongly films are opening big and then dropping as big as this demographic is fickle.
Despite being well-reviewed Black Widow was always going to be front-loaded as Star Wars Anthology films have a much smaller fanbase as most people already know enough about Black Widow’s past. The other issue is it came over 5 years too late and is just a female Bourne meets Red Sparrow meets Lucy.
The other was while it might have been two years since the last MCU film was released fans have just had WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki TV series on Disney+ as with the issue with too many Star Wars films being released a few years ago many non-fans would say the same about MCU.
Scarlett Johansson starred in the action film Lucy in 2014 taking $126.67m in the US and $457.5m worldwide which was released a few months after Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which is surely when Black Widow should have happened, but Marvel was more interested in Avengers: Age of Ultron and Captain America: Civil War.
Ahead of release Black Widow was surely expected to take upwards of £30m with F9 taking £25m+ but both will not get anywhere near Peter Rabbit 2 box office of almost £19m and as Peter Rabbit 2 tickets were mostly children’s tickets with no surcharges for IMAX, PLF, 3D, 4DX, ScreenX while it will take a third less than the first film it has done vastly better.
Black Widow will likely take similar to Captain America: Winter Soldier, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Iron Man, Ant-Man and Thor taking about £17.5m, the 19th biggest MCU film only Iron Man, Ant-Man, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger and The Incredible Hulk will have taken less, but impossible to compare with those earlier MCU films and Ant-Man.
Black Widow will be the first MCU film since Ant-Man and the Wasp in 2018 not to take over £20m, but as the first Ant-Man was a very different MCU film can’t compare Black Widow to either of them so will be the lowest-grossing MCU film since Captain America: Winter Soldier in 2014, Black Widow should have been made straight after Winter Soldier, instead, Marvel was focussed on Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War and introducing Spider-Man.
The 24 MCU films have taken almost £772m at the UK box office since 2008 and over £809m inflation inflated; Disney’s 18 MCU films since 2012 have taken over £6252m (removing the two Spider-Man films taking £68m+ and pre-Disney MCU films taking £70m.
After two years without any MCU films, there are four within 6 months with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Eternals and Spider-Man: No Way Home all due for release between September and December.
While there are big questions over both Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Eternals, Spider-Man: No Way Home will be another £30m+ box office hit and be one of the top 5 biggest films of the year.
With Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and The Marvels all set for 2022 MCU films could take over £1bn at the UK box office by the end of next year.
2. Space Jam: A New Legacy – £1,397,044 – £3,613,143
Up 2% in its second weekend with the start of the summer holidays and cooler temperatures, showing as with films like The Emoji Movie that films like these are critic-proof and that if it’s a film people want to see in the cinema they will see it in the cinema despite both Space Jam: A New Legacy and The Crood: A New Age widely available illegally online.
Warner and Disney were both claiming UK #1 this weekend with Space Jam 2 taking £35,690 more in estimates than Black Widow £1,404,462 Vs £1,368,772 when final figures were announced only £13,244 separated them but more people would have seen Space Jam: A New Legacy than Black Widow due to more children tickets sold.
Space Jam: A New Legacy played in 11 cinemas (1,114 screens) less than Black Widow having a slightly better screen average (£2,207 Vs £2,190).
626th biggest second weekend in the UK between Stuart Little and Hairspray (close to How to Train Your Dragon, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween and Yogi Bear) and 884th biggest inflation inflated between The Day the Earth Stood Still and South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (close to The Cat in the Hat, Smallfoot, Muppet Treasure Island and Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked).
While Warner Bros would hope comparisons were going to be made with The Lego Movie, Wreck-It Ralph, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Space Jam and Ready Player One.
Instead, many have compared it to
2017’s The Emoji Movie dropped 55.9% taking £1,189,438 (33.4% without previews) and £6,115,971 41.85% of £14,612,815; (29th biggest film of 2017 and the 7th biggest original film of the year).
It’s surprising Warner Bros made a sequel to Space Jam for many reasons, it is 25 years after the first film was released, while the film was a big hit (at that time) in 1996 in the US opening with $26.52m ($48m inflation inflated) taking $90.41m ($160m inflation inflated) and $230.51m worldwide $398m inflation inflated).
Was the 15th biggest film of 1996 in the US behind Independence Day, Twister, Mission: Impossible, The Rock, The Nutty Professor, Ransom, The Birdcage, A Time to Kill, 101 Dalmatians, The First Wives Club, Eraser, Phenomenon, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Star Trek: First Contact.
The problem with the film is that while the Looney Tunes are globally known basketball and the basketball players that are featured aren’t so well known outside of the US. While 25 years ago this was normal as US studios were making films primarily for the US market but now films need to play globally.
Space Jam opened in the UK 5 months after the US in March 1997 ahead of Easter the same weekend 20th Century Fox released Star Wars: A New Hope Special Edition (opening with £3.8m) opening with £1.46m (thanks to ComScore) and was the third biggest film in April 1997 after A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back special editions and ahead of The English Patient and Romeo & Juliet taking £11,648,511 (£20,663,943 inflation inflated) was the 11th biggest film of 1997 behind The Full Monty, Men In Black. The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Tomorrow Never Dies, Bean, Star Wars Special Edition, Batman and Robin, Evita, Ransom and Liar Liar.
Back in the 90s it was normal for studios to locally date films to dates that were better for the specific country rather than going global day and date, back then many Christmas films were often delayed a whole year or as with National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation opened 6 months later under a different title. In December 1996 101 Dalmatians, Jingle All the Way and Matilda and Disney had huge success earlier in the year doing the same with Toy Story, which also opened 5 months earlier in the US.
2003’s Looney Tunes: Back in Action increase 4.6% taking £969,555 and £3,272,766 63.5% taking £5,153,828 and £8,287,447 inflation inflated
2013’s Wreck It Ralph dropped 24.1% taking £3,436,400 and £10,516,665 44.5% of £23,607,542
2018’a Ready Player One dropped 53.1% taking £2,395,663 (40.6% without previews) taking £11,483,687 71.27% of £16,114,011
There was controversy surrounding the design of Lola Bunny she is much less sexualized than in Space Jam, she is wearing a full-length uniform instead of the crop top she wore in the first film.
Director Malcolm D. Lee said in the first film “Lola was very sexualized, like Betty Boop mix with Jessica Rabbit,”… “Lola was not politically correct…. This is a kids’ movie, why is she in a crop top? It just felt unnecessary, but at the same time there’s a long history of that in cartoons.”
3. The Crood: A New Age – £876,123 – £2,054,109
Up 26% in its second weekend after the start of the summer holidays and the return of cooler weather
Sunday estimates had it in fourth behind Old but final figures saw it climb up one place as both The Croods: A New Age and Space Jam: A New Legacy saw increases in their second weekends.
32nd biggest Dreamworks Animation second weekend (out of 36) between Bee Movie and Captain Underpants and 33rd biggest DWA film after 10 days between Penguins of Madagascar and Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (impossible to make any direct comparison with any other DWA film as many of them had weekend previews and we are in far from normal circumstances).
Second weekends
2013’s The Croods dropped 38.4% (down 6% without previews) taking £3,305,642 and £10,617,230 (2nd weekend was during Easter school holidays had the coldest weather since the 1960s) 40.33% of £26,328,511
The Crood: A New Age was Dreamworks Animations 38th film since 1998 (Spirit Untamed #39 and The Boss Baby: Family Business #40) the 38 Dreamworks Animation films have taken over £640m (over £83m inflation inflated) upcoming Spirit Untamed (July 30); The Boss Baby: Family Business (October 22) with The Bad Boys and Puss In Boots: The Last Wish opening in 2022
As with Freaky opening two weeks earlier, was surprising that Universal Pictures still decided to give The Croods 2: A New Age a theatrical release in the UK opening over 8 months after opening in the US especially after they brought forward the release of The Boss Baby: Family Business in the US to July 2, due for release 22 October.
It was surprising Universal Pictures opted to open The Croods: A New Age against Space Jam: A New Legacy as they could have opened it anytime but opening directly opposite to Space Jam: A New Legacy it was always likely the two films would cannibalize each other and the Croods 2 would lose the battle as it was completely overshadowed by Space Jam 2 marketing.
That said with school holidays starting this week both films should find audiences over the next 6 weeks due to limited competition from other family films, Jungle Cruise opens in two weeks to older children and The Paw Patrol Movie and Spirit Untamed to younger. Was surprising that Universal didn’t switch The Croods: A New Age with Spirit Untamed.
Exhibitors have gotten their knickers in a twist with Black Widow and piracy being the cause it is having a big second-weekend drop but The Croods: A New Age has been available illegally online since December. Likewise, despite Trolls World Tour being released on VOD in April last year it still took over £1m in cinemas over 3 months later when cinemas reopened in July.
4. Old – £866,860 – NE
Lowest opening for M. Night Shyamalan film since 2006’s Lady in the Water opened August 11th with £452,744 (£671,214 inflation inflated) #9 from 287 screens
M. Night Shyamalan films are famous for having their twists, while they were a surprise with The Sixth Sense in 2002 the novelty has worn off over the years since as audiences are expecting the twist.
After M. Night Shyamalan’s latest two films performed so well in January surprising Universal didn’t stick to the same formula for Old especially after they moved The Forever Purge for July being delayed from last year. This is similar to Jordan Peele’s next film Nope opening the same weekend next year despite his two previous films Get Out and Us performing well opening in March.
Other M. Night Shyamalan openings
Glass opened January 2019 with £3,423,380 35.5% of £9,646,964.
Split opened January 2017 with £2,548,516 23.1% of £11,018,069
The Visit opened September 2015 with £1,031,292 36.7% of £2,805,591.
After Earth opened June 2013 with £2,249,532 36.6% of £6,137,273
2010’s The Last Airbender opened £1,653,776 #3 39.1% of £4,225,793
The Happening opened June 2008 with £1,632,055 (£2,350,787 inflation inflated) 41.9% of £3,895,001 (£5,610,300 inflation inflated)
The Village opened August 2004 with £2,945,763 (£4,913,979 inflation inflated) 29.5% of £9,980,280 (£16,648,619 inflation inflated)
Signs opened September 2002 with £3,767,713 (£6,578,128 inflation inflated) 23.4% of £16,084,656 (£28,082,535 inflation inflated)
Unbreakable opened December 2000 with £2,004,890 (£3,412,870 inflation inflated) 17.8% of £11,222,712 (inflation inflated £19,563,228)
The Sixth Sense opened November 1999 with £4,792,296 (£8,730,858 inflation inflated) 18.6% of £25,407,279 (£46,288,321 inflation inflated).
M. Night Shyamalan’s next film is rumoured to be Labor of Love a film he had originally planned to make in 1994 with Harrison Ford and then Bruce Willis after selling the script to Fox in 1993 but has been in development hell ever since.
Old will likely be very front-loaded dropping heavily next week due to poor word of mouth (received C- CinemaScore in the US)
5. The Forever Purge – £598,803 – £1,800,785
Dropped 17% in its second having the smallest drop of all of The Purge films
Second weekends
2018’s The First Purge dropped 55.1% taking £798,455 and £3,367,946 55.34% of £6,085,402 total.
2013’s The Purge dropped 47% taking £541,859 and £2,236,252 66.4% of £3,365,209
2014’s The Purge: Anarchy dropped 30.4% taking £811,444 and £3,101,005 69.99% of £4,430,522
2016’s The Purge: Election Year dropped 46% taking £440,178 and £1,908,983 (was due for release on 15th July in the UK but was delayed 6 weeks only a couple of weeks before its release date).
2018’s The First Purge dropped 55% taking £798,455 and £3,367,946) 55.34% of £6,085,402 total.
As The Forever Purge and Escape Room: Tournament of Champions cannibalized each other last weekend this week The Forever Purge did the same with M. Night Shyamalan’s Old.
This was due to The Forever Purge not opening day and date with the US so didn’t have the same gap between the two films as they were in the US due to Universal Pictures opening Freaky on July 2nd delayed from November 13th.
As The Forever Purge didn’t open day and date with the US why did it open against another horror, the problem Universal have is they are releasing 21 films between June-December and there is no space in that schedule as The Purge films haven’t performed well in the past and they release the latest M. Night Shyamalan thriller Old in two weeks and then Candyman reboot in August and Halloween Kills in October with the small matter of No Time To Die in September.
As Universal also released Freaky two weeks earlier they couldn’t open The Forever Purge on any other date. In the end, both Freaky (dropped 91% in its third weekend taking £10k and £794k) and The Purge failed to find audiences as they were both overshadowed by A Quiet Place Part 2 and The Conjuring 3.
Other Box Office News
After dropped 84% last weekend Peter Rabbit 2 increased 79% this weekend in its 10th weekend due to school holidays taking £159,341 holding in 8th place with £18,882,487 total. Peter Rabbit 2 is still surprisingly the biggest film since cinemas reopened last July as it was expected that both F9 and Black Widow would have overtaken it by now but might hold out as the #1 film until No Time To Die in September.
With the school holidays starting, cooler temperatures and only one major release the biggest drop was Escape Room: Tournament of Champions 37% with single-digit drops for F9, A Quiet Place Part 2 and In The Heights. While the top 5 took 85% of the top 10 box office.
After flopping in the US In The Heights has done like so many musicals performed far better in the UK holding strongly over the last six weeks taking £4,286,073 dropping only 4% in its sixth weekend. After opening with £1,073,687 has taken almost 4x opening only Cruella and Peter Rabbit 2 have had better legs taking 6.3x and 4.3x opening, but children’s films are likely to have longer legs. Peter Rabbit 2 increase over the weekend was more impressive as it was available in the Sky Store for £13.99 this week.
Off the Rails opening #10 with £80,699 from 327 screens from Munro Films. Off the Rails was Kelly Preston’s final film before she sadly died in July 2020, Kelly Preston was probably best-known playing Avery Bishop in Jerry Maguire, starring in many films including Space Camp, Twins, For the Love of the Game, Jack Frost and Sky High but never had the break-out role as was the case with Renée Zellweger in Jerry Maguire.
This weekend is normally one of the most lucrative weekends of the summer with Mission: Impossible Fallout, Dunkirk, The BFG, Inside Out, Toy Story 3, The Dark Knight, The Simpsons, Transformers and Austin Powers in Goldmember all opening over recent years. Jungle Cruise was originally due to be released after it was delayed from last year instead opens next weekend against The Suicide Squad.
The box office was up 8.1% from last weekend but would have expected a much bigger increase after social distancing and 50% capacity ended in cinemas and exhibitors used that excuse for a softer box office over the last year.
Other Film News
Vue CEO Tim Richards has said many times since cinemas reopen that: ‘We’re about to embark on the second golden age of cinema’ also said from May 2020 that there will be a pent-up demand when cinemas reopen from audiences, but this has yet to be seen since cinemas reopened either in July 2020 or in May 2021. The box office was much stronger in May that was because there were new films audiences wanted to see rather than just Tenet that cinephiles were interested in seeing, but all films are still opening a third less than normal and taking a third less.
The first golden age of cinema was in the 40s with 30m+ weekly trips and 1.5bn+ a year. The second golden age started in 1985 with the British Film Year and the launch of multiplex cinemas in the UK which started 17 years of steady growth with admissions. But that growth stopped in 2002 and admissions only grew 1% between 2002 and 2017 despite box office almost doubling. In 1994 after the huge success of Jurassic Park analysts predicted UK admissions would top 200m by 2000 likewise in 2004 Dodona Research said cinema was on track to have 200m+ admissions and £1bn+ BO by 2008, In reality, it was 2011 until BO topped £1bn.
Neither happened due to industry taking the eye off the ball and instead thought the short-term way to boost box office was to increase ticket prices, had exhibitors, not increased ticket prices so much over the following years admissions would have been 250m+ by 2019 and that would have generated far more box office than they currently do, and more cinemagoers mean more of their highly profitable popcorn and drinks being sold.
While Vue rivals Odeon and Cineworld looked to buy into the US market Vue went East with their acquisitions and aren’t burdened with similar levels of debt and while Odeon and Cineworld went for subscription cinema, Vue decided to cut ticket prices for all with many of their cinemas now less than the industry average. The only issue I have with Vue is their obsession with recliners and that they split many of their larger screens in multiplexes.
On Thursday was announced Entertainment Film Distributors removed The Green Knight from its August 6th release date, this was shortly after Pathe had delayed the release of The Duke in September which made many speculate both films were removed due to concerns over COVID.
The problem has been since UK cinemas reopened the first time in July 2020 while attracting 16-34 audiences older audiences have been very slow to return. This was very predictable as the film industries own research has shown this was going to happen for over a year.
While many older cinemagoers have been doubled vaccinated the thought of being in a roomful of strangers breathing in the same recycled air for over two hours with many people who haven’t been vaccinated isn’t something many want to do.
Exhibitors might talk about the safety measures they have brought in and that there haven’t been any COVID cases traced back to cinemas in the UK, but this is more due to the poor track and trace as cinemas have long had hygiene issues.
While exhibitors can bring in these token safety measures can you really trust the person sitting next to do you has done the same when many don’t wash their hands after going to the toilet?
France, Italy, Greece and Singapore are among a few of the countries that have recently implemented COVID passports for entry to cinemas but the predictably UK exhibitors are vehemently opposing them as they have done since April as they only see the short-term picture.
I’m not being Mr Hindsight as expected this was going to happen, in early March 2020 when cinemas in Europe were social distancing and people were panic buying toilet paper and pasta in the UK. The UKCA response was “It’s definitely a developing picture, but we’re not seeing any discernible impact in terms of cinema admissions across the piece,” and they were waiting on guidance from the UK government if restrictions were needed.
The reason was obvious as the first two months of 2020 started very strongly compared to 2019, so they thought if they say there was nothing to see then this would continue. The problem was box office had already started to drop of the weekend before at the end of February when The Invisible Man opened with £2.16m and then the weekend before making that announcement Onward opened with £3.41m including £829,833 previews) having the worst open for Pixar in the UK without previews.
While Cineworld said it was “taking measures” to prepare the business, and “Should conditions relating to COVID-19 continue or worsen, we have measures at our disposal to reduce the impact on our business including, but not limited to, capex postponement and cost reduction.” We found out what these plans were two weeks later after Boris Johnson announced lockdown and that was to sack a large amount of their UK employees before the UK government announced their furlough scheme.
At that time UK politicians were even more clueless than they are now, and UK cinemas should have acted, but as always rather than being proactive, they are always reactive, a week later Omni Cinemas in Ireland were one of a few chains that brought in safety measures and a week after cinemas were forced to close.
It was always predictable exhibitors would rush the reopening of cinemas, they first wanted to reopen in May and June, but it wasn’t until July 4th before they were allowed to reopen, while covidiots and cinephiles were always going to rush back (would have kept going to the cinema in March-June had they stayed opened) but this was only 10% of the normal level.
We will never know if it was Christopher Nolan or Warner Bros who felt Tenet had to open in the summer, but that short-sighted decision caused long term damage, but after Christopher Nolan’s op-ed for the Washington Post in March Warner Bros’s hands were tied and they couldn’t delay it for months as they had done other films.
It was always likely if the reopening was rushed it would cause longer-term issues, as cinema should be for the many, not the few, but saying that this hasn’t been the case for a long time as many have been priced out from going as often as they used to and being pushed towards streaming and watching films illegally as can’t afford to watch them in cinemas or subscribe to all streaming services.
But surely after a year of much softer box office than normal and being 18 months since box office was normal you would have thought the industry would be looking at different options as what they are currently doing isn’t predictably working only attracting a fraction of cinemagoers to return.
After all, restrictions were lifted on Monday, July 19 some businesses kept social distancing and masks being required, the only problem was now if people didn’t do it wasn’t legally enforceable, so whilst many still did both many didn’t, and rumours started that these restrictions will need to return next month to control cases.
So, while cinema companies and the hospitality sector have rejected COVID passports since they were first mentioned in February other countries have brought them in, France has a Health passport for hospitality and travel. While in April James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli was amongst many leading arts figures calling for COVID passports, if cases continue to increase could she demand them to be implanted for the release of No Time To Die in September?
UKCA are against COVID passports saying “We are absolutely opposed to the mandatory imposition of Covid passports or passes for cinemas,”…“It brings with it a whole host of discrimination issues for people who cannot for reasons of disability or underlying health issues get a vaccination.” And that a significant proportion of the cinemagoing audience is 18 or under.
The problem is without some kind of passport scheme it’s going to be one or the other as since cinemas reopened in May the makeup of the audience has been mostly 16-34 who rush out to see the latest film over opening weekend, but older audiences have been far more hesitant to return and will be more so with the end of reduced capacity and social distancing.
While UKCA might see COVID as a barrier most people will plan their trip to the cinema, while COVID passports might not add in any significant way to the safety of customers what it is more visual than this cinema is thinking about their customers, which was also the reason for social distancing and seat separation, that said what never made sense was you could sit immediately behind someone in a cinema but have a seat empty on either side.
While this might work in the summer months in the autumn there are many films including No Time To Die, Dune, Ghostbusters: Afterlife and Top Gun: Maverick that will play to an older audience.
My issue since January 2020 has been the industry has always been reactive rather than proactive, as soon as China closed all cinemas days before their New Year the rest of the world should have prepared for the worst-case scenarios, don’t their homework watch movies like Contagion and Outbreak, as Steve Martin’s character says in Grand Canyon “That’s part of your problem, you haven’t seen enough movies. All of life’s riddles are answered in the movies.”
The film industry had an advantage over other industries as Hollywood has made movies about every possible and impossible natural and unnatural disaster so all they had to do is watch and as Matt Hancock did a few months later after watching Contagion use them as a guide to what needs to be done.
As soon as China went into lockdown in January it didn’t take a genius to think about the film Contagion and the end credits of Rise of the Planet of the Apes where the ill pilot coughs at the airport and it spreads the virus globally as what happens when patient zero went to the ski resort Europe in January 2020.
As the problem has been exhibitors have always been short-sighted thinking short-term never the bigger picture, seen by their rush to reopen cinemas in July last year which was obviously several months too soon and what happened was so predictable, as is their rush to remove all social distancing and reduced capacity as neither have much impact on cinemas as regular capacity is only about 20%.
Many exhibitors will be behaving like pubs on Monday removing all restrictions stopping track and trace and this is all short-termism which will force COVID passports to become law like France and other countries as personal responsibility doesn’t work in the UK. The problem as seen last week many selfish people won’t think of others because COVID 50k daily cases will become 100k+ cases and more within the next two weeks and the real figures will be a lot more as many won’t report.
Exhibitors need to think beyond the 16-34 audience as predictably The Father, Supernova and Another Round struggled to find an audience as older audiences still aren’t comfortable going back and this will be more so after social distancing and reduced capacity ends.
UK box office in detail
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £6,084,995 up 8.1% from last weekend £5,617,410 and up xx% from 2020 (£193,567)
The weekend admissions 853,781 up 8.1% 790,072 from last week; (admissions in 2020 this week was 2,401,131 (Down 64.4%)
Top 3 took £3,683,455 60.7% of the top 10; Black Widow 23.2% (£1,410,288); Space Jam: A New Legacy 23% (£1,397,044; The Croods: A New Age 14.4% (£876,123);
Top 5 was up 2.8% but surely should have had a stronger increase with cooler wetter weather, full capacity in cinemas and summer holidays starting on Friday.
Up 3,036% from 2020 (£193,567); Top three took 43.8% (£106,068) of the top 15); Onward 13.2% (£49,271) 20.3%; Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back 13.8% (£33,343); Trolls World Tour 9.7% (£23,454);
Down 59.3% from 2019 (£14,899,487) of the top 10; The Lion King 55.8% (£10,660,287); Toy Story 3 13.2%) (££2,525,047) Spider-Man: Far From Home 8.9% (£1,714,153)
Down 76.4% from 2018: (£25,665,576); Mission: Impossible Fallout (£7,300,103); Hotel Transylvania 3: A Monster Vacation (£3,449,876); Andre Rieu’s 2018 Maastricht Concert: Amore (£1,486,528); Apostasy (£66,002); #1 Mission: Impossible Fallout £7,300,103 1st week 584 screens (28.4% of top 10)
Down 72.5% from 2017: (£22,066,254); Dunkirk (£10,023,720); Andre Rieu’s 2017 Maastricht Concert (£1,439,604); #1 Dunkirk £10,023,720 1st week 638 screens (45.4% of top 10)
Down 64.1% from 2016: (£16,914,463); The BFG (£5,288,529); Star Trek Beyond (£4,740,040); Andre Rieu’s 2016 Maastricht Concert (£1,414,075); #1 The BFG £5,288,529 1st week 680 screens (31.2% of the top 10)
Down 64.4% from 2015; (£17,039,800); Inside Out (£7,376,513); Southpaw (£1,662,296); The Legend Of Barney Thomson (£163,395); #1 Inside Out £7,376,513 1st week 608 screens (43.3% of top 10)
Down 37.8% from 2014: (£9,750,537); Hercules (£1,449,120); The Purge: Anarchy (£1,165,143); Earth to Echo (£618,379); The House of Magic (£223,047); #1 Dawn of the Planet of the Apes £3,752,511 2nd week 574 screens 57% drop (38.5% of top 10)
Down 55.1% from 2013: (£13,514,255); The Wolverine (£4,694,092); Frances Ha (£150,689); #1 The Wolverine £4,694,092 1st week 522 screens (34.7% of top 10)
Down 50.1% from 2012 (£12,156,512); Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax (£1,853,294); Searching for Sugar Man (£68,857); #1 The Dark Knight Rises £7,275,558 2nd week 589 screens 49% drop (59.8% of top 10)
Down 64.2% from 2011 (£16,959,452); Cars 2 (£3,541,664); Horrible Bosses (£2,077,239); Beginners (£146,096); #1 Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 £8,523,417 2nd week 581 screens 64% drop (50.2% of top 10)
Down 79.2% from 2010: (£29,078,984); Toy Story 3 (£21,187,264); The Rebound (£360,015); Splice (£110,225); #1 Toy Story 3 £21,187,264 1st week 562 screens (72.8% of top 10)
Down 55.5% from 2009; (£13,633,561); The Proposal (£3,249,640); Antichrist (£99,092); #1 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince £5,176,950 2nd week 586 screens 74% drop (37.9% of top 10)
Down 67.9% from 2008; (£18,905,622); The Dark Knight (£11,191,824); Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (£929,246); Baby Mama (£111,945); #1 The Dark Knight £11,191,824 1st week 502 screens (59.2% of top 10)
Down 78.4% from 2007: (£28,049,335); The Simpsons (£13,626,853); Transformers (£8,718,561); Sherrybaby (£36,036); Lonely Hearts (£3,362); #1 The Simpsons £13,626,853 1st week 499 screens (48.6% of top 10)
Down 47.1% from 2006; (£11,474,975); The Break-Up (£2,412,097); Stormbreaker (£1,244,892); Garfield 2 (£739,560); #1 Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest £3,868,216 3rd week 520 screens 36% drop (33.7% of top 10)
Down 48.8% from 2005 (£11,856,897); Fantastic Four (£3,541,391); Dark Water (£480,199); Kicking and Screaming (£240,452); #1 Fantastic Four £3,541,391 1st week 406 screens (29.9% of top 10)
Down 32% from 2004 (£8,920,625); Thunderbirds (£1,350,974); Two Brothers (293,237); Before Sunset (£139,278); Cowboys and Angels (£18,806); #1 Spider-Man 2 £3,590,463 2nd week 503 screens 59% drop (40.2% of top 10)
Down 9.6% from 2003 (£6,716,741); Sinbad (£828,550); Agent Cody Banks (£534,312); Goodbye, Lenin! (£135,311) #1 The Hulk £1,384,426 2nd 500 screens 61% drop (20.6% of top 10)
Down 36.4% from 2002 (£9,549,998); Austin Powers in Goldmember (£5,585,978); The Crocodile Hunter (£266,803); Sunshine State (£25,888); #1 Austin Powers in Goldmember £5,585,978 1st week 446 screens (58.5% of top 10)
Down 13.9% from 2001 (£7,051,741); Swordfish (£1,615,206); Dr. Dolittle 2 (£1,610,907); Intimacy (£54,288); #1 Jurassic Park 3 £1,802,580 2nd week 462 screens 62% drop (25.5% of top 10)
Next weekend in 2019 (£15,821,627); Top three took 81.5% (£12,893,802) of the top 10; Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw 40.3% (£6,377,583); The Lion King 32.6% (£5,158,310x); Toy Story 4 8.6% (£1,357,909); #1); Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw £6,377,583 1st week
US Box Office
- Old – Universal Pictures
Opened with $16.85m; received mixed reviews (56% Rotten Tomatoes) and C+ CinemaScore
Took $1.5m from Thursday previews having similar previews as Escape Room 2 ($1.2m) The Forever Purge ($1.33m); with recent M. Night Shyamalan films bigger than 2015’s The Visit ($1m) but behind 2016’s Split ($2m) and 2019’s Glass ($3.7m).
M. Night Shyamalan’s last film 2019’s Glass opened with $42.8m; received poor reviews 35% Rotten Tomatoes score (Split received 76% Rotten Tomatoes score) and B CinemaScore (Unbreakable, The Last Airbender and The Village all received C’s, The Happening received a D and The Sixth Sense an A-) taking $111.04m in the US and $246.99m worldwide.
M. Night Shyamalan biggest opening in the US was 2002’s Signs $60.11m taking $227.96m and 2004’s The Village with $50.74m taking $114.19m; but of course, ticket inflation since Signs was released is over 60% so inflation inflated opening would be closer to $100m and a total of $370m.
Old was M. Night Shyamalan seventh film to open #1 but the lowest since The Lady in the Water $18m but did only have a budget of $18m.
2019 was the 20th anniversary of M. Night Shyamalan biggest film to date The Sixth Sense opened with $26.68m in August 1999 taking $293.5m and $672.8m worldwide would be $1.3bn inflation inflated.
2000’s Unbreakable opened with $30.33m taking $95.01m and 2017’s Split opened with $40.01m taking $138.29m and $250.11m worldwide
2017’s Split opened with $40,010,975 taking $138,291,365 and $278.45m worldwide
Opened with $6.5m from 23 territories and $23m worldwide; opened with $500k in France where BO has dropped over 60% blamed on cinemas now requiring vaccine passports, but they are probably attracting some back to cinemas that didn’t go in previous weeks.
- Space Jam: A New Legacy – Warner Bros
Dropped 69% in its second weekend taking $9.58m and $51.38m
1,702nd biggest film in the US between Enemy at the Gates and Hoodwinked; 2,615th biggest inflation inflated between Drag Me To Hell and Planet 51; 277th biggest Warner Bros film in the US between A Cinderella Story and Hooper.
As Black Widow two weeks ago it was predictable that Space Jam: A New Legacy would have a heavy second weekend as all other summer films have done and NATO will again likely use the HBO Max and piracy excuse but as most others know this is just an excuse.
The real reason they know all too well is that confidence is low as it has been since the spring and will be for the next few months as older audiences have been much slower to return to movie theatres in the same numbers like 16-34s.
Until exhibitors deal with this issue nothing will change and next weekend Old and Snake Eyes will have big second weekend drops when Jungle Cruise opens and then the following week it will drop heavily against The Suicide Squad and exhibitors will use the same excuse again.
But as SambaTV research show with 2.1m households watched Space Jam: A New Legacy on HBO Max over the weekend out of over 47m subscribers to HBO Max, these numbers are similar among today and date theatrical releases for Disney despite having double the number of subscribers. These films are being watched by a tiny fraction of subscribers.
All Warner Bros releases have dropped over 50% since movie theatres reopened last summer; 67% Tenet; 68% WW84; 56% The Little Things; 57% Judas and The Black Messiah; 54% Tom & Jerry; 73% Mortal Kombat; 57% Godzilla vs Kong; 69% Those Who Wish Me Dead; 57% Conjuring 3; 63% In the Heights and The Suicide Squad will do two in three weeks.
1996’s Space Jam dropped 41.1% in its second weekend taking $16.21m ($29.6m inflation inflated) taking $48.27m ($98.3m inflation inflated) taking $90.41m ($160m inflation inflated) and $230.51m worldwide $398m inflation inflated);
2027’s The Emoji Movie dropped 51.1% taking $12m and $49.1m 57.1% of $86.08m in the US and $217.77m worldwide.
2012’s Wreck-It Ralph dropped 32.7% taking $33.01m taking $93.64m taking $189.42m in the US and $471.2m worldwide; 2018’s Ralph Breaks the Internet dropped 54.4% taking $25.56m and $119.1m taking $201.09m in the US and $529.32m worldwide
2010’s Tron Legacy dropped 56.5% taking $19.15m taking $87.37m 50.8% of $172.06m and $4-00.06m worldwide.
2018’s Ready Player One dropped 41% taking $24.62m and $96.48m 70.1% of $137.69m taking $482.89m worldwide
It was surprising that Warner repeated the same things many took issue with Ready Player One adding far too many references and cameos of characters from Warner Bros franchises many of which don’t play to the demographic of the film or feel like they belong together in a film, which is what made Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Lego Movie, The Lego Batman Movie and Wreck-It Ralph work so well as they included characters from different franchises that could be part of the same universe.
Space Jam is the 851st biggest film in the US between Flashdance and Space Cowboys; 542nd biggest inflation inflated between The War of the Roses and The Sum of All Fears; 147th biggest Warner Bros between Blade Runner 2049 and Space Cowboys; 625th biggest worldwide between Terminator: Dark Fate and The Peanuts Movie; 10th biggest film worldwide in 1996 between Jerry Maguire and Eraser; 10th biggest Warner Bros film between You’ve Got Mail and Journey to the Centre of the Earth.
Took $12.6m from 66 territories (down 37%) $42.6m total and $94m worldwide; Australia $7.3m; Mexico $5.6m; UK $5m;; Russia $2.6m; Spain $1.3m; France $1m;
- Snake Eyes – Paramount Pictures
Opened with $13.4m; received poor reviews (40% Rotten Tomatoes) slightly better than G.I.: Rise of Cobra (34%) and 2013’s G.I. Joe: Retaliation (29%); and B- CinemaScore
Opened with $1.4m from Thursday previews
A spinoff of G.I Joe film series
2009’s G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra opened with $54,713,046 taking $150,201,498 and $302,469,017 worldwide
2013’s G.I. Joe: Retaliation opened with $40,501,814 taking $122,523,060 and $375,740,705 worldwide
The sequel took $28m less than G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra in the US but international BO took 67% compared to 50.3%.
Snake Eyes was hoped to relaunch the G.I Joe franchise for both paramount and Hasbro but the $88m budget film is unlikely to do that as with Jungle Cruise and The Suicide Squad opening over the next two weeks will likely drop heavily over the next few weeks, it will be released on Paramount+ in early September. (after 45 days)
One of the biggest issue with Snake Eyes is the title I must admit when it was first announced thought it was going to be a remake of the 1998 Nicolas Cage film, while I’ve seen the previous two G.I Joe films didn’t make the connection Snake Eyes was a character within it.
This was surely also the issue with Birds of Prey while DC fans knew exactly what Birds of Prey the film is needed to play beyond the fanbase that’s why some unofficially called it Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey. Tom Cruise’s Edge of Tomorrow was also called Live Die Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow but one could also ask why it wasn’t just called All You Need Is Kill the title of the novel it was based on.
It’s always surprising when the film title is changed from the book, but while made sense to change the title of The Body to Stand By Me removing (Rita Hayworth and the) Shawshank Redemption made many ask what’s a Shawshank harming its box office.
In 2017 Paramount Pictures announced a five-year exclusive production deal with Hasbro to make live-action and animated films based on Hasbro, the partnership began in 2007 making six Transformers films (the seventh Transformers: Rise of the Beasts set for release next year) and two G.I Joe films.
This was similar to the deal Paramount Pictures made with Marvel Entertainment 10 years earlier to release 10 MCU films but were gazumped by Disney buying Marvel in 2009 (after Viacom turned down Paramount’s plan to buy Marvel) Paramount have been gazumped again with Hasbro buying eOne in 2019 as will they extend the deal that ends in 2022 eOne will release in the UK and Canada Dungeons & Dragons in March 2023 which will be released by Paramount in the rest of the world.
Paramount went from #1 in 2011 studio in the world to #7 due to poor decisions had a chance to buy Marvel but Viacom refused then Disney acquired, also lost Dreamworks to Disney, Blumhouse to Universal and Dreamworks Animation to Fox in an alternative universe Paramount have been #1 studios for the decade.
Will new management be repeating the same mistakes a decade later losing Hasbro and Skydancer with their current deal ending this year and Skydancer making several films recently for Netflix and sold several to Amazon and Apple? If they do could see Paramount Pictures in play as a possible acquisition target as Lionsgate and A24 are rumoured to be along with Imagine Entertainment and Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine.
Opened with $4m from 37 territories smaller territories (29% of international market) except for Australia, its international release is being split in half with larger territories including the UK in mid-August to avoid The Suicide Squad
- Black Widow – Disney
Dropped 55% in its third weekend taking $11.61m and $154.82m.
Similar third-weekend drop as MCU films Thor: Ragnarok (-62%), Thor: Dark World (-61%), and Doctor Strange (-59%).
24th biggest MCU third weekend only The Incredible Hulk has a smaller third weekend ($9.57m) ut is the 20th biggest MCU film after 2 weeks only Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, Ant-Man and The Incredible Hulk have taken less.
Despite NATO blaming the big second-weekend drop last week for Black Widow on it being released on Disney Premier Black Widow only lost 24 screens in its third weekend and Jungle Cruise next week will still open in over 4,000 screens. Also, it had the 18th biggest drop of MCU with only Thor, The Incredible Hulk, Avengers: Endgame, Doctor Strange, Thor: The Dark World and Thor: Ragnarok having a bigger drop.
SambaTV reported 2m watched Black Widow In the US on Disney+ with 1.1m in its first weekend and 900k in its second weekend, these numbers are similar to those who watched the last episodes of Loki (1.9m); The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (1.7m) and WandaVision (1.4m) but this is only 5% of Disney+ 40m+ subscribers in the US so you do wonder what subscribers are watching.
359th biggest film in the US between Over the Hedge and Fantastic Four (2005) 752nd biggest inflation inflated between 3 Men and a Little Lady and The Conjuring and 83rd biggest Disney film between The Waterboy and Who Framed Roger Rabbit?.
The 24 MCU films have taken over $8.7bn in the US (By next year will have taken over $10bn) and $22.87bn worldwide.
Dropped 51.5% taking $14.5m from 48 territories $160.1m total and $314.9m worldwide; Korea $23.1m; UK $19m; France $12.9m; Mexico $8.9m; Australia $8.6m; Russia $8.5m; Japan $7.3m; Hong Kong $6m; Germany $5.8m; Brazil $5.6m; Spain $5.6m; Italy $5.1m
Took $475k from IMAX globally and $19.1m total.
462nd biggest film worldwide between Air Force One and The Proposal; 5th biggest film worldwide in 2021 between Godzilla vs. Kong and A Quiet Place: Part II; 91st biggest Disney film between Disney’s A Christmas Carol and The Proposal.
- Escape Room: Tournament of Champions – Sony Pictures
Dropped 60% taking $3.51m and $16.16m
2019’s Escape Room dropped 51% in its second weekend taking $9.92m and $32.46m taking $57m and $155.71m worldwide; the original film opened #2 in January against the third weekend of Aquaman but was surprising the sequel opened against Space Jam: A New Legacy and week after Black Widow.
Escape Room: Tournament of Champions should have benefited from having trailers with Spiral, A Quiet Place Parts 2, The Conjuring 3 and The Forever Purge and the horror genre has been the one genre performed steadily over the last few months.
Took $2m (down 39%) internationally from 18 territories and $4.5m total.
- F9 – Universal Pictures
Dropped 37% in its fifth weekend taking $4.82m and $163.51m.
322nd biggest film in the US between The Proposal and Big Daddy; 689th biggest film inflation inflated between The Prince of Tides and Beetlejuice; 39th biggest Universal Pictures film in the US between Fifty Shades of Grey and Jason Bourne.
$100m US box office for decades used to be a sign of a film’s success at the box office, A Quiet Place Part 2 was the 769th film to do so since Mary Poppins in 1964 took $102,272,727 ($888,106,669 today).
Fifth weekends
2001’s The Fast and the Furious dropped 34.1% taking $5.32m and $125.08m taking $144.51m in the US; $206.45m WW
2003’s 2 Fast 2 Furious dropped 57.6% taking $2.64m and $119.43m taking $127.12m in the US; $236.41m WW
2006’s FF: Tokyo Drift dropped 54.4% taking $1.16m and $59.85m taking $62.61m; $157.79m WW
2009’s Fast & Furious dropped 55.5% taking $2.76m and $149.8m taking $155.06m in the US; $359.34m WW
2011’s Fast Five dropped 39.4% taking $6.4m and $195.81m taking $210,03m in the US; $630.16m WW
2013’s Fast and Furious 6 dropped 48.5% taking $4.93m and $228.61m taking $238.67m in the US; $789.3m WW
2015’s Furious 7 dropped 62.7% taking $6.64m and $331.06m taking $353.1m in the US; $1.516bn WW
2017’s The Fate of the Furious dropped 37% taking $5.4m and $215.13m taking $225.76m in the US; $.1.236bn WW
2019’s Hobbs & Shaw dropped 19.9% taking $6.46m and $157.27m taking $173.95m in the US; $760.37m WW
The 10 Fast and the Furious films have taken over $1.85bn in the US and over $6.51bn worldwide.
Took $11.6m down 59.5% from 57 territories $457.9m total international and $621.3m worldwide; 37.6% of worldwide box office from China ($203.88m) showing how important it is to the franchise, and how concerning F9 took a third less than The Fate of the Furious as it’s been reported Chinese audiences are getting bored with the repetitive natural of US films.
155th biggest film worldwide between The Passion of the Christ and Iron Man 2; 3rd biggest film worldwide in 2021 between Tang Ren Jie Tan An 3 (Detective Chinatown 3) and Godzilla vs. Kong; 17th biggest Universal Pictures film worldwide between Fast Five and The Lost World: Jurassic Park.
F9 will just squeeze past 2011’s Fast Five taking $630.16m global box office. Many will use COVID as an excuse, but it took a third less than The Fate of the Furious in China which after a record-breaking Chinese New Year is close to normal.
UK Box Office Top 10
UK Box Office Preview
With cooler weather over the next week, capacity back at 100%, summer holidays and with Jungle Cruise and The Suicide Squad opening this weekend should be the best week for cinemas since January 2020 when Bad Boys For Life opened (top 10 £16.9m).
Jungle Cruise has been compared to Romancing of the Stone by both Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt with mystical Pirates of the Caribbean elements while others compared it to 1999’s The Mummy.
1999’s The Mummy opened £3,771,429 (£6,467,866 inflation inflated) taking £17,439,339 (£29,907,845 inflation inflated)
2001’s The Mummy Returns opened £5,929,146 (£10,340,201 inflation inflated) taking £20,390,060 (£35,559,477 inflation inflated)
2003’s The Pirates of the Caribbean opened £3,765,450 (£553,344 previews) (£6,123,097 inflation inflated) taking £28,171,721 (£45,810,772 inflation inflated).
2004’s The Haunted Mansion opened £1,677,927 (£2,698,137 inflation inflated) taking £8,078,765 (£12,990,798 inflation inflated)
2015’s Tomorrowland – A World Beyond opened £1,482,178 taking £4,971,372
It’s the sixth Disney film based on a theme park ride after the Pirates of the Caribbean five-film series (between 2003 and 2017); 2003’s The Haunted Mansion, 2000’s Mission to Mars, 2002’s The Country Bears and 2015’s Tomorrowland.
As with Cruella and Black Widow, Jungle Cruise is also available on Disney+ Premier for £19.99 but it will be a film people will want to see in the cinema, as with Black Widow it will be released in 3D
The Suicide Squad sequel to 2016’s Suicide Squad and the tenth film in the DC Extended Universe featuring an ensemble cast including Margot Robbie and Idris Elba and directed by James Gunn.
It’s opening in the UK a week earlier than the US where it will be released theatrically and on HBO Max as all of Warner Bros films this year.
It was a surprising decision for Warner to open it a week earlier in the UK as it meant opening against Jungle Cruise, but since cinemas reopened a year ago studios are making many strange dating decisions.
Maybe it’s because that was the same date Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 1 opened in 2014 or just because their AI system tells them that it’s the best date to open, it would be if it wasn’t for Jungle Cruise.
Despite receiving poor reviews 2016’s Suicide Squad opened with £11,209,442 having the sixth biggest opening of the year after Star Wars: Rogue One (£17,305,011); Fantastic Beasts (£15,333,146); Batman Vs Superman (£14,621,007); Captain America: Civil War (£14,466,681); Deadpool (£13,729,803) and the 5th biggest opening without previews behind Fantastic Beasts; Batman Vs Superman; Captain America: Civil War; Star Wars: Rogue One.
It was also the third biggest DC opening after Batman Vs Superman £14.62m and The Dark Knight Rises £14.36m opening similar to both Man of Steel and The Dark Knight.
Spirit Untamed spin-off of 2002’s Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (opened July with £719,681 (£1,255,096 inflation inflated) including £203,571 previews #3 behind The Minority Report #1 (£4,506,315) and Spider-Man (£1,452,348) taking £1,691,098 (£2,949,210 inflation inflated)
It was also based on its popular Netflix animated spin-off television series Spirit Riding Free. Will play to younger children through summer holidays along with The Paw Patrol Movie opening in two weeks.
Opening in two weeks
- Stillwater – eOne
Crime drama starring Matt Damon, Camille Cottin and Abigail Breslin and directed by Tom McCarthy; had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on July 8 receiving mixed reviews (84% Rotten Tomatoes)
No to be confused with Stillwater the band that features in Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous
Was originally set for release in November 2020 for award season but was delayed due to COVID, opening July 30th in the US and a week later in the UK feels like it’s being dumped. It’s a fictionalised film about the Amanda Knox case, she was acquitted having spent four years in an Italian prison for the murder in 2007 of her roommate in Perugia, the British exchange student Meredith Kercher.
Tom McCarthy is best known for directing 2016’s Oscar-winning Best Picture Spotlight opened with £1,060,435 #5 from 241 screens in January 2016 taking £5,851,006.
Stillwater had its New York premiere on Monday, on the ticket it had a warning, “attendees voluntarily assume all risks incident to attending this event, including the risks of exposure to communicable diseases, viruses, bacteria or illness which cause sickness. And hereby waives all potential claims relating to such risks. While Brillant Consulting Inc and Jazz at Lincoln Centre are taking measures to enhance the safety of our attendees, of exposure to infectious disease including COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present. By attending this event you voluntarily assume all risks relating to exposure to infectious disease.”
A similar warning was placed at the entrance of Disney World in May last year, do wonder if exhibitors have also hidden this in their terms and conditions when buying tickets for cinemas.
- Zola – Sony Pictures
Zola is a black comedy film based on a viral Twitter thread by Aziah “Zola” King and Rolling Stone article Zola Tells All: The Real Story Behind the Greatest Stripper Saga Ever Tweeted by David Kushner; had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.
Will the UK get a similar film in a few years based on the Wagatha Christie scandal currently in UK courts about Coleen Rooney’s Instagram scandal with Rebekah Vardy.
Opened with $1.23m in June from 3 days taking $4.27m; received positive reviews (87% Rotten Tomatoes) and was released on VOD on the US on July 22nd.
- The Last Letter From Your Lover – Studiocanal
Romantic drama based on Jojo Moyes’ 2012 novel starring Felicity Jones, Shailene Woodley, Callum Turner, Nabhaan Rizwan, Joe Alwyn, and Ncuti Gatwa and directed by Augustine Frizzell; was released on Netflix in selected territories on 23 July with Studiocanal releasing in UK, France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Scandinavia and China.
As with The Secret Garden and Gunpowder Milkshake why is The Last Letter From Your Lover being released in UK cinemas after being released on Netflix elsewhere in the world.
Films like The Last Letter From Your Lover and Gunpowder Milkshake were always going to struggle to find an audience now so why make it even harder for these films so why make it even harder to release them after VOD release in other countries?
Studiocanal is promoting the film on YouTube as “playing exclusively in cinemas in the UK and Ireland from August 6”.