1. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 – £12,079,820 – NE

Took £1.75m Wednesday (14.5%); £1.095m Thursday (9.1%) 23.57% of opening from previews; £2.45m Friday (20.3%); £3.65m Saturday (30.2%); £3.2m Sunday (26.5%) and took £3.78m on Bank Holiday Monday (£15.86m over 6 days)

72^nd biggest opening between Jurassic World Dominion and Spider-Man 3 (close to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, The Matrix Reloaded, Transformers: Age of Extinction and Star Wars: Attack of the Clones) and 124^th biggest inflated opening between Men in Black 2 and The World Is Not Enough (close to Night at the Museum, Jurassic Park, The Mummy Returns and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me).

83^rd biggest Fri-Sun opening (taking £9,233,040) between The Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 2 and Thor: Love and Thunder (close to Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, The Da Vinci Code, Super Mario Bros and Transformers); without previews, GOTG3 took only £398,605 more than Ant-Man 3, how can Ant-Man 3 opening be seen as disappointing but GOTG3 opening with £398,605 more seen as successful?

22^nd biggest comic-book opening between The Batman and Deadpool 2 (close to The Dark Knight Rises, Iron Man 3, The Dark Knight and Hancock) and 33^rd biggest inflated between Men In Black 2 and X-Men: The Last Stand (close to Men In Black, X-Men 2, Batman Forever and X-Men).

16^th biggest MCU opening between Thor: Love and Thunder and Spider-Man Homecoming (close to Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Doctor Strange and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania).

9^th biggest opening since cinemas reopened between Jurassic World Dominion and Avatar: The Way of Water.

18^th widest opening in the UK opening in 704 cinemas similar to Belfast (close to Jurassic World Dominion, The Batman, Black Panther Wakanda Forever and Star Wars: Rogue One); 19^th 700+ cinema opening since Star Wars: The Last Jedi, while opening in 704 cinemas it was probably playing in over 3,000 screens as showing in several screens in most cinemas playing every 30 mins.

The industry used 10% of the US opening as a guide for a strong UK opening and with previews it was 10.2% but without 7.8% showing again how previews affect openings and GOTG3 opening wasn’t nearly as impressive as it looked as GOTG2 was 8.94% without previews; GOTG was 6.75%.

2017’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 opened with £13,092,657 including Monday took £17.8m compared to 2016’s Captain America: Civil War opened with £14.46m and £18.88m Including Bank Holiday.

GOTG3 opened 90.2% more than GOTG (£6.35m) but 7.8% less than GOTG2 (£13.09m 3 days).

21 of the 31 MCU films had previews making it impossible to make direct comparisons with any of them, and it’s 6 years on from the second film which had a three-day opening. Preview BO doesn’t normally increase BO, it just spreads it across more days, as fans eager to avoid spoilers will be out seeing it on Wednesday instead of Friday.

As seen with MCU film openings since 2015

2015’s Avengers Age of Ultron Thursday took £3.66m

2016’s Doctor Strange Tues £1.49m; Weds £1.22m; Thurs £1.09m

2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming Weds £1.57m; Thurs £1.02m

2017’s Thor: Ragnarok Tues £2.04m; Weds £1.65m; Thurs £1.46m

2018’s Black Panther Tues £2.67m; Weds £2.49m; Thurs £2.04m

2018’s Avengers Infinity War Thurs £6.39m and 2019’s Avengers Endgame Thurs £11.96m

2019’s Spider-Man: Far from Home Tues £2.70m; Weds £1.72m; Thurs £1.31m

2021’s Black Widow Weds £1.23m; Thurs £1.05m

Spider-Man: No Way Home Weds £7.64m; Thurs £4.73m

2022’s Doctor Strange 2 Thurs £4.85m and 2022’s Thor: Love & Thunder Thurs £3.15m

Guardians Vol 3 had its European Gala on April 22nd immediate social media reaction was predictably very positive and the review embargo ended on April 28th after the US premiere, again reviews were as expected.  That said they weren’t all positive, as The Telegraph again gave it a 2-star review as they have with recent MCU films, but reviews have no impact on MCU films as they are fan led.

2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 1 opened £6,363,110 (including £1,372,109 previews) taking £28,326,152

2017’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 opened £13,092,657 (no previews) taking £40,839,462

The 32 MCU films have taken almost £1.05bn since 2008 and £1.2bn inflation inflated.

It was 4 years ago last weekend when Avengers Endgame opened with a massive £43.4m taking £88.69m but except 2012’s Spider-Man: No Way Home a unique one-off phenomenon opening with £31,899,232 (including £12,388,380 previews) taking £96,364,565, while Doctor Strange in the Multiverse was boosted by Spider-Man opening £19,765,718 (including £4.5m previews) taking £41,878,091, the MCUs that followed Thor: Love and Thunder (opened £12,283,719), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (opened £12,363,870) both taking similar £34.5m and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (opened £8,834,435) were by the numbers of performers. How solo MCU films have performed since Captain America: Civil War in 2016 opening £14,466,681 and taking £36,771,782 (£41,208,876 inflated). While it’s also impossible to compare many of these film openings as Civil War had a 3-day opening while Guardians 3 has 5 days

While surely expect 7 years on and 19 films later these films should be taking much more, especially as about 40% of their BO is coming from IMAX/PLF, as if they are taking similar BO, it means fewer are going to see them.

After the disappointing Phase 4, Phase 5 started also disappointingly with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania having the worst MCU opening since Eternals and despite opening with £8,834,435 more than double Ant-Man and almost double Ant-Man and the Wasp failed to take £20m+ at the UK BO. This was followed by Black Panther: Wakanda Forever taking a third less than the first film.

Was much speculation if the Coronation would have any effect on GOTG3 but as MCU openings are fan led nothing would stop them from seeing it over the weekend, that as the Coronation was on Saturday morning even though it was watched by 20m in the UK it was finished by 3 pm. Similarly, the Coronation Concert on Sunday night as last year with The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Concert was watched by 16.9m on BBC1 but still Top Gun: Maverick took £3.8m in its second weekend. More likely to affect BO is next weekend’s Eurovision Song Contest as being in the UK for the first time in 25 years ratings will likely be much more than last year’s 8.6m and similar to the 14.5m who watched the One Love Manchester Concert June 4^th in 2017 the weekend Wonder-Woman opened and affected its opening. Eurovision is also screened in about 600 cinemas, with tickets £20+ could be #2 behind GOTG3 next weekend.

GOTG3 will likely drop 65% (45% not including previews) taking £5.3m-£5.8m similar to Doctor Strange 2 as GOTG2 dropped 53% in its second weekend taking £6,097,082 and £27,419,501 and will likely take similar total as Doctor Strange 2.

• 2 Super Mario Bros – £1,309,546 – £49,062,732

Dropped 57.3% in the fifth weekend.

Took £182k Friday down 58.7% while doubling its BO from Friday its BO was down over 50% from the previous Saturday and Sunday.

94^th biggest fifth weekend between Love Actually and Up (close to Tangled, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Ralph Breaks the Internet and Ratatouille) and 214^th biggest inflated between Aladdin (2019) and The Secret Life of Pets (close to Trolls, The BFG, Johnny English and Spider-Man: The Movie).

49th biggest film between Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Avengers Age of Ultron (close to The Greatest Showman, The Dark Knight, Shrek 2 and Jurassic Park); (80th film to take £40m+ since 1993’s Jurassic Park) and 132^nd biggest inflated between Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies and Meet the Fockers (close to The Flintstones, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Toy Story and Terminator 2: Judgement Day).

Illumination’s 13th film since Despicable Me in 2010 taking over £400m at the UK BO and £425m inflated. Has overtaken Despicable Me 3 and Minions to become their biggest film in the UK. Next from Illumination Migration and Despicable Me 4 next year and will announce a Super Mario Bros sequel and spinoffs very soon.

5th biggest animated film between Frozen 2 and Shrek 2 (close to Incredibles 2, Minions, Despicable Me 3 and Despicable Me 2) and the 23^rd biggest inflated between Up and Ice Age II (close to The Lion King (1994), Chicken Run, Shark Tale and The Lego Movie).

• 3. Evil Dead Rises – £493,732 – £4,434,284

Dropped 53.4% in the third weekend.

Evil Dead Rises had the lowest drop in the top 10; 2013’s Evil Dead dropped 54% in the third weekend £243,113 #10 from 301 screens and £3,141,364 of £3,355,676; while 1993’s Army of Darkness took £559,298 and 1987’s Evil Dead II took £1,180,250 (£4,435,544 inflated).

82^nd biggest horror between Halloween Ends and The Purge: Anarchy (close to Saw VI, Dracula Untold, The Omen and The Faculty) and 125^th biggest inflated between Halloween Ends and The Crazies (close to Candyman (1993), Evil Dead II (1987), The Fly II and The Frighteners).

Horrors have performed strongly since cinemas reopened with many of them having longer legs than they used to do normally horrors would drop 50%+ in their second weekend but word of mouth has been strong with many of them as with Evil Dead Rises dropped much less.

1,492^nd biggest film between Big Daddy and The Purge: Anarchy (close to Beverly Hills Cop, Layer Cake, Natural Born Killers and Aliens) and 2,018^th biggest inflated between Halloween Ends and Alexander (close to No Way Out, Pan’s Labyrinth, Hocus Pocus and Jaws – The Revenge).

• 4. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry – £336,519 – £2,014,466

Dropped 57.1% in the second weekend.

Took £132k on Friday

These feel-good British films used to be the lifeblood of UK cinema but the audience for these films didn’t rush out to see them over the opening weekend they took time to find their audience, but films aren’t now allowed to do so anymore and The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry will see a big reduction of showtimes this weekend.

While exhibitors increase prices for tentpoles. surely should go the opposite way for smaller British films to try to get audiences into cinemas as Lionsgate’s Zygi Kamasa said in 2014 “Something drastic was needed” but nothing, of course, has been done since.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry could be compared to films like 2018’s The Guernsey Literary and Potato increased 18% in the second weekend to £968,681 #2 from 544 screens and £3,034,623 of £5,937,280; while 1989’s The Accidental Tourist took £55,561 and 1999’s The Straight Story £48,410…

Jim Broadbent’s last film The Duke dropped 31% in the second weekend £682,096 #4 from 651 screens and £2,740,233 taking £5,283,515 and 2015’s The Lady In The Van dropped 28% £1,609,943 #3 from 549 screens and £6,437,140 taking £13,237,194.

Harold Fry plays an older demographic who prefers going to the cinema during the week rather than the weekend and also doesn’t rush out to see them over the opening weekend.

The problem with both is they won’t film audiences rush out to see over the weekend so was always likely to drop similar to last year’s The Phantom of the Open at 52% taking £218,626 from 626 screens (many of them having far fewer shows) and £1,065,110 of £2,023,765

Recent films targetting older audiences include Allelujah dropped 35% £463,973 #5 and £2,029,756 of £3,393,983 and Man Called Otto dropped 26% £796,076 #6 and £2,575,470 of £4,780,386.

Exhibitors always talk about the need for more films to be released but it’s not more films they want but the right kind of films as they should be supporting films like Polite Society and Harold Fry and give them a chance to find their audience as similar feel-good British films 20+ years ago would.

There are already far too many films being released, what he means is the right kind of films, as last year 911 films were released in the UK, while 26 took over £10m, 59 didn’t take £1k and 254 didn’t take more than £10k.

• 5.      John Wick: Chapter Four – £195,158 – £17,122,806

Down 59.3% in the seventh weekend

Took £49k Friday dropped 52.5% and dropped more on both Saturday and Sunday but as other films dropped heavier including Dungeons and Dragons 70.4% and Ponniyin Selvan 2 87.5% John Wick 4 climbed up one place.

359^th biggest film between Iron Man and The Silence of the Lambs (close to Mission: Impossible II, The Matrix, The Bodyguard and Mad Max: Fury Road) and 662^nd biggest inflated between The Firm and Memphis Belle (close to Platoon, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Judge Dredd and Lucy).

6^th biggest Lionsgate film between The Hunger Games and Bend It Like Beckham (close to London Has Fallen, Knives Out, The Expendables and John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum) and 7^th biggest inflated between Bend It Like Beckham and Saw III.

Director Chad Stahelski has talked about a fifth film as he said that he plans to give John Wick a rest, as he felt they ended it with Chapter 4 and there is a TV released later this year and a spinoff set for release next year. As John Wick Chapter 4 is Lionsgate’s biggest film since 2015’s The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 they will surely want to extend the film series as they are doing with The Hunger Games 8 years after Mockingjay – Part 2 later this year with prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

Other Box office News

The first quarter of 2023 UK BO was £207.2m 2% more than in 2022 but 21% less than in 2019, this included December 2022 holdover box office; 2023 releases alone took £191.1m. The highest-grossing films Puss in Boots: The Last Wish £25.6m; Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania £19.2m; John Wick: Chapter 4 £15m; Creed III £14.2m; Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieve £10.8m; Scream VI £7.6m; M3GAN USA £7.2m; Shazam! Fury Of the Gods £5.9m; 9 Magic Mike’s Last Dance £5.8m; Cocaine Bear £5.6m.  

February had 9.2m admissions with Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania taking 40% of February BO highlighting the problem with these big films is they are taking a large share of the BO with hundreds of others fighting over scraps as there were 234 films released in the first quarter.

While BO increased admissions were 26 million down 6% from 2022 and 2019 and were the lowest since 2014 with average ticket price up 3.6% from 2022 (£7.69) to £7.97, of course, the real average is about a third more.

As I have asked countless times why did UK (and US) admissions stop growing in 2002 and after seeing admissions dropping off over the following years why didn’t the industry do anything about it? As surely after 17 years of steady growth between 1985 and 2002 and much positivity 200m admissions was likely before the end of the noughties industry should have been focused on growth as the long-term hope for UK admissions in the late 80s was to get to 300m. Instead, the growth was BO via ticket inflation and then 3D. There was a 1% increase in admissions in 2018 which saw admissions the highest for over 50 years, but while BO has grown from £754.61m in 2002 to £1,227bn in 2018 up 69.2% average ticket price was up 68.3% £4.29 to £7.22 (in 2018).

In October 2021 industry said it was going to be the start of the second golden age for cinema. The first golden age was the 40s with 1.5bn+ annual admissions, the previous second golden age was between 1985 and 2002 when admissions increased by 122m, so that would surely mean this golden age would see admissions top 300m. Analysts in the early noughties predicted admissions would top 200m by the end of the noughties and the longer-term aim in the late 80s was around 300m, had the growth continued past 2002 UK admissions would be 250m+ by now.

Admissions

2023 January 8.6m; February 9.2m; March 8.2m

2022 January 8.2m; February 11.1m; March 8.4m

2020 January 16.5m; February 14.5m; March 4.8m

2019 January 13.7m; February 12.2m; March 11.4m

2018 January 16.2m; February 16.1m; March 13.5m

2017 January 14.9m; February 16.5m; March 16.1m

2016 January 14.03m; February 15.3m; March 13.4m

2015 January 15.4m; February 15.2m; March 11.5m

2014 January 15.2m; February 14.3m; March 10.4m

2013 January 17.1m; February 13.9m; March 10.9m

UK box office in detail

This weekend’s top 10 box office took £14,988,771 up 91.3% from last weekend’s £7,835,588: 1,880,649 admissions up 84.6% from 1,018,932.

221^st biggest top 10 of the last 21 years (out of 1,101) between 26 May 2006 #1 X-Men: The Last Stand £7,091,820 (47.3% of top 10) and 01 May 2015 #1 Avengers: Age of Ultron £8,591,670 (57.33% of top 10) and 490^th biggest inflation inflated between 01 February 2008 #1 Cloverfield £3,485,956 (36.1% of top 10) and 15 May 2015 #1 Pitch Perfect 2 £5,005,394 37.5% of top 10).

The top 3 took £13,883,098 92.7% of the top 10; Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 80.6% (£12,079,820); Super Mario Bro 8.7% (£1,309,546); Evil Dead Rises 3.3% (£493,732);

The 22^nd highest percentage #1 between 12 June 2015 Jurassic World 80.6% and 16 December 2022 Avatar: The Way of Water (80.3%).

128^th biggest admissions #1 (1,515,661) between 05 August 2016 Suicide Squad (1,518,519) and 02 July 2010 Shrek Forever After (1,505,135).  

Down 36.8% from 2022 (£23,689,265); Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness (£19,765,718); Turandot – Met Opera 2022 (£110,203); Cabaret (50th Anniversary) (£19,238); Thunderball (Re: 2022) (£7,907); #1 Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness £19,765,718 1st week 684 screens (83.4% of top 10)

2021; Lockdown

2020; Lockdown

Down 14.1% from 2019; (£17,607,835); Long Shot (£856,333); The Curse of La Llorona (£609,745); Tolkien (£554,835); #1 Avengers: Endgame £14,331,192 67% drop 2nd week 677 screens (81.4% of top 10)

Up 13.2% from 2018: (£13,239,297); I Feel Pretty (£1,272,154); The Strangers: Prey at Night (£205,325); Tully (£138,674); Mary and the Witch’s Flower (£119,129); Lean on Pete (£85,597); 102 Not Out (£68,302); #1 Avengers: Infinity War £10,143,580 66% drop 652 screens 2nd week (76.6% of top 10)

Up 39.9% from 2017: (£10,714,932); A Dog’s Purpose (£1,300,097); Sleepless (£369,004); Mindhorn (£280,483); Unlocked (£258,452); Whisky Galore (£49,205); Lost in London (£25,248); #1 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 £6,097,082 2nd week 54% drop 634 screens (56.9% of top 10)

Up 41.3% from 2016: (£10,605,061): Bad Neighbours 2 (£1,691,699); Florence Foster Jenkins (£712,899); Robinson Crusoe (£575,321); I Saw the Light (£17,248); Knight of Cups (£10,323); #1 Captain America: Civil War £4,806,575 605 screens 2nd week (45.3% of top 10)

Up 72.4% from 2015; (£8,695,042); Spooks: The Greater Good (£1,010,363); The Age of Adaline (£570,386); Big Game (£535,905); Girlhood (£66,574); A Royal Night Out (£9,241); Top Five (£64,612); Rosewater (£11,838); #1 Avengers: The Age of Ultron £3,509,620 565 screens 3rd week 59% drop (40.3% of top 10)

Up 13.5% from 2014: (£13,200,641); Bad Neighbours (£8,446,240); Sabotage (£300,521); La Cenerentola – Met Opera 2014 (£285,597); Frank (£202,747); The Wind Rises (£199,598); Next Goal Wins (£17,145); #1 Bad Neighbours £8,446,240 506 screens 1st week (63.9% of top 10)

Up 46.4% from 2013: (£10,240,223); 21 and Over (£772,235); All Stars (£563,563); I’m So Excited (£310,908); Dead Man Down (£294,125); Chimpanzee (£54,780); #1 Iron Man 3 £6,307,191 2nd week 558 screens 54% drop (61.6% of top 10)

Down 19.9% from 2012 (£18,708,577); American Pie: Reunion (£6,334,539); The Lucky One (£1,159,435); Beauty and the Beast 3D (£685,024); Safe (£679,716); Silent House (£214,731); #1 Avengers Assemble £8,121,916 2nd week 523 screens 49% drop (43.4% of top 10)

Up 56.01% from 2011; (£9,607,222); Water for Elephants (£1,270,483); Hanna (£1,135,782); Something Borrowed (£707,863); 13 Assassins (£124,377); #1 Thor £1,946,695 64% drop 2nd week 503 screens (44.4% of top 10)

Up 49.3% from 2010: (£10,040,063); Furry Vengeance (£1,778,050); Nightmare on Elm Street (£1,342,837); Hot Tub Time Machine (£904,959); The Back-Up Plan (£710,201); Four Lions (£608,608); #1 Iron Man 2 £3,214,776 58% drop 2nd week 522 screens (32% of top 10)

Up 5.1% from 2009; (£14,256,881); Star Trek (£5,950,203); Coraline (£2,427,244); Cheri (£120,234); #1 Star Trek £5,950,203 499 screens 1st week (41.7% of top 10)

Up 182% from 2008; (£5,315,678); What Happens in Vegas… (£1,263,093); Speed Racer (£362,102); Doomsday (£311,383); Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden? (£26,550); #1 Iron Man £1,976,721 2nd week 499 screens 64% drop (37.2% of top 10)

Down 0.4% from 2007: (£15,039,874); Spider-Man 3 (£11,827,013); Bridge to Terabitha (£1,045,444); Goya’s Ghosts (£49,660); #1 Spider-Man 3 £11,827,013 1st week 522 screens (78.6% of top 10)

Up 86.6% from 2006; (£8,032,130); Mission: Impossible III (£5,378,013); Confetti (£635,072); #1 Mission: Impossible III £5,378,013 1st week 512 screens (66.9% of top 10)

Up 114.4% from 2005 (£6,989,592); Kingdom of Heaven (£2,530,445); Machuca (£15,148); #1 Kingdom of Heaven £2,530,445 1st week 447 screens (36.2% of top 10)

Up 65.6% from 2004 (£9,050,154); Van Helsing (£5,429,632); Laws of Attraction (£433,962); Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (£177,036); Van Helsing £5,429,632 1st week 458 screens (59.9% of top 10)

Up 34% from 2003 (£11,186,072); X-Men 2 (£7,037,861); The Heart of Me (£52,466); Half Past Dead (£45,708); #1 X-Men 2 £7,037,861 1^st week 449 screens (62.9% of top 10)

Up 107.1% from 2002 (£7,236,442); The Panic Room (£2,022,582); Showtime (£486,753); #1 About A Boy £2,239,288 4468 screens 2nd week (30.9% of top 10)

Next Week 2022 (£9,597,322); Everything Everywhere All at Once (£681,351); Little Mix Live – The Final Show (£361,909); Firestarter (£250,006); Father Stu (£60,844); Friday the 13th (1980) (Re: 2022) (£26,333); #1 Doctor Strange In the Multiverse Of Madness £5,690,351 2^nd week 71% drop 701 screens (59.3% of top 10)

US Box Office

• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 – Disney

Opened with $118.41m; received positive reviews (81% Rotten Tomatoes) and A CinemaScore (GOTG2 85%; GOTG 92% both A CinemaScore)

As often with Disney films they see a big increase from Sunday estimates ($114m) to final Monday figures ($118.41m) as it feels like Disney lowball their estimates, so the final BO looks more impressive than it is.

Took $17.5m from Thursday previews including IMAX previews on Wednesday (Ant-Man 3 also took $17.5m from Thursday previews) taking $48m from Friday like $46.43m Ant-Man 3.

Took $30.7m Friday without previews; $38.8m Saturday and $27m Sunday (will be higher when finals are reported).

Advance sales were $37m similar to Ant-Man 3 ($106.1m opening) less than half of 2022’s Doctor Strange 2 $60m ($187.4m opening).

Had IMAX previews in 100 cinemas and previews started at 3 pm on Thursday; GOTG2 took $17m from previews, $56m on Friday and $146m opening; GOTG took $11.2m from previews and $37.84 Friday at $94.2m opening.

GOTG3 opened in the US in 4,450+ cinemas including 400 IMAX; 960 PLF; 2,900 3D; 285 D-Box/4D and 85 ScreenX; took PLF: 18%; IMAX: 9%; 3D 10%; 4D and ScreenX 3%.

It used to be MCU films would open with about $20m more than tracking now they open much closer to tracking as they attracted a similar audience to the previous instalment, so it wasn’t a surprise GOTG3 opened similar to Ant-Man 3.

52^nd biggest opening between Toy Story 4 and Spider-Man: Homecoming (close to Deadpool 2, Thor: Ragnarok, Man of Steel and Spider-Man).

10^th biggest post-Covid ahead of Minions the Rise of Gru ($107m) #2 biggest of 2023 ahead of Ant-Man Quantumania $106.1m and 58^th biggest opening ahead of Toy Story 3 ($110.3m) but all of that was expected.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 opened with $106m internationally from 37 territories it was 64% more than Guardians of the Galaxy, and also 57% more than Captain America: The Winter Soldier and 24% more than Thor: The Dark World; UK $16.9m; Australia $11.8m; Germany $9.3m; France $7.9m; Mexico $8.2m; took $5m from 176 IMAX screens. As it opened in the US, South Korea and China the following weekend impossible to make direct comparisons with Vol 3.

2014’s GOTG took $333.7m US, $439.6m internationally and $773.3m worldwide; GOTG2 took $389.8m US, $473.09m internationally and $863.8m worldwide, so GOTG3 should take $1bn+ worldwide.

Opened with $168.1 from 52 territories and $282.1m worldwide; China $28.1m; UK $14.7m; Korea $13.6m; Mexico $13m; France $8.2m.

Took $25m worldwide from IMAX from 1,550 screens including $14.3m internationally from 1,150 screens.  

Ahead of the opening was expected to open with $140m internationally and $250m worldwide, but the post-COVID industry seems to be lowballing estimates, so openings look far more impressive than they are, as seen with early tracking for The Little Mermaid of $110m over 4 days compared to 2019’s Aladdin $116.8m ($91.5m 3 day).

• Super Mario Bros – Universal Pictures

Dropped 55% in the fifth weekend taking $18.55m and $518.41m

17^th biggest fifth weekend between Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace ($18.85m) and Jurassic World ($18.15m); Frozen #13 $19.64m; Zootopia #15 $19.32m; The Lion King (1994) #24 $16.88m; Incredibles 2 #26 $16.26m.

2^nd biggest animated film between Incredibles 2 and Finding Dory; the 17^th biggest film between Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker; the 48^th biggest inflated between Smokey and the Bandit and The Dark Knight Rises; 2^nd biggest Universal Pictures film between Jurassic World and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

Universal Pictures gave exhibitors two options when they booked Super Mario Bros either a flat fee of 63% rental for the entire run or 63% in the opening weekend and then a sliding scale dropping down to 35% after a few weeks. So, it’s in the exhibitors’ interest that the film has long legs as it used to be, that films would play for months rather than weeks and the longer films ran the lower the rental fee studios received.

17 Illumination Entertainment films have taken $3.64bn in the US and $9.09bn worldwide.

Took $50.3m from 80 territories and $637.2m and $1.155bn worldwide; Mexico $80.6m; UK $60.8m; France $52m; Japan $48.4m; Germany $47.9m.

After 4 years NATO has finally updated the average price, up 15% post-COVID to $10.53 but as IMAX/PLF has fuelled ‘growth’ need EntTelligence averages $15.76 and $17.80 from films like Avatar 2 (took 30%+ from premium).

4^th biggest animated worldwide between Incredibles 2 and Minions; 24^th biggest worldwide between Iron Man 3 and Minions; 5^th biggest Universal Pictures film between The Fate of the Furious and Minions.

Universal Pictures now have four of the 10 biggest studio films released since 2019 and five of them internationally.

• Love Again – Sony Pictures

Opened with $2.4m; received poor reviews (13% Rotten Tomatoes)

Took $240k from Thursday previews.

As with George Foreman opening last weekend, the studio seemed to struggle with the title, Love Again based on Sophie Cramer’s novel Text For You first adapted into the 2016 German film SMS für Dich. In April 2022 was retitled It’s All Coming Back to Me, after Celine Dion’s song “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now”, but in November was announced that it would be called Love Again.

Over the years many films have been retitled into a classic song, The Body became Stand by Me and 3000 became Pretty Woman. Always find it strange when book titles are changed as they already have an inbuilt audience, as it would have done so had it been called after Celine Dion’s song, instead Love Again feels generic.

It’s Priyanka Chopra Jonas’s first leading role in a film best known for starring in the TV show Quantico starring in films including Baywatch, Isn’t It Romantic and The Matrix Resurrections. Sam Heughan is also best known for TV roles and for starring in The Spy Who Dumped Me.

• Evil Dead Rises – Warner Bros

Dropped 52% in the third weekend $5.87m taking $54.25m

1,656 biggest between The Woman in Black and The Abyss; 2,581^st biggest inflated between Renaissance Man and The Brothers Grimm; 12^th biggest 2023 film between Shazam! Fury of the Gods and Jesus Revolution; 97^th biggest horror between The Woman in Black and Evil Dead; 271^st biggest Warner Bros film between Horrible Bosses 2 and TMNT.

The fifth movie in the Evil Dead film series started in 1981 with Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead starring Bruce Campbell. 2013’s Evil Dead dropped 56.7% in the third weekend taking $4.11m and $48.45m of $54.23m and $97.54m worldwide had a budget of $17m.

Took $9.1m from 63 territories and $60.7m and $114.8m worldwide; Mexico $4.3m; UK $4.1m; India $3.1m; Brazil $2.8m; France $2.7m; Spain $2.4m; Italy $2.3m; Australia $1.6m; Germany $1.5m.

1,560^th biggest worldwide between Saving Mr Banks and Warm Bodies; 14^th biggest 2023 worldwide between Shazam! Fury of the Gods and Pathaan; 88^th biggest horror between A Nightmare on Elm Street and Freddy vs. Jason; 236^th biggest Warner Bros film between Dennis the Menace and The Lake House.

UK Box Office Top 10

UK Box Office Preview

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 will hold #1 for a second weekend but will likely drop 60%+ (45%+ without previews) taking £5.5m-£6.2m, similar to Doctor Strange 2 second weekend last year.

Both new releases Love Again (opened Wednesday) and Book Club: The Next Chapter are likely to struggle to find an audience, but due to the low box office Evil Dead Rise, Harold Fry and John Wick: Chapter 4 could get into the top 5 alongside Eurovision Final Live playing on 600 screens in cinemas on Saturday and BBC1. Last year Eurovision was watched by 10.6m on BBC1 but this year will be seen by a much bigger younger audience.

25 years after Eurovision was last in the UK May 9th, 1998, when the top 5 was #1 Scream 2 £1,233,274; #2 Sliding Doors £950,180; #3 Breakdown £366,084; #4 Martha Meets Frank, Daniel & Lawrence £341,018 and #5 Titanic £297,605 16th week.

Opening in two weeks

• Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse – Sony Pictures

Animated superhero sequel to 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse featuring voices of Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Jake Johnson, Issa Rae, Daniel Kaluuya, Jason Schwartzman and Oscar Isaac and directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson.

Sony started developing the sequel soon after the release of the first film and was originally due to be released in April 2022 but delayed to June 2023 due to COVID with a third film set for release in March 2024.

2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse opened £2,279,995 (including £1.05m from 6 days of previews) #2 from 567 screens taking £10,040,340; #1 Aquaman £5,230,285 (including £1.4m previews). It opened the weekend before Christmas against The Grinch and Ralph Breaks the Internet, the sequel has less competition so should open far bigger.

The first film performed far stronger in the US opening with $35.36m taking $190.24m and $384.25m.

Opening soon after Super Mario Bros and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 and the huge success of Spider-Man: No Way Home should open far bigger despite not having previews but with Transformers: Rise of the Beasts opening the week after and The Flash the following weekend these three films are targeting the same demographic so could cannibalize each other.

• The Boogeyman – Disney

Supernatural Horror is based on the short story by Stephen King starring Sophie Thatcher, Chris Messina, Vivien Lyra Blair, and David Dastmalchian and directed by Rob Savage.

The film was first announced in 2018 by 20^th Century Fox but was cancelled along with many other films when Disney acquired the studio. In November 2021 it was revived as a film for Hulu, but after a positive test screening in December and a positive response from Stephen King, it was announced in January that it would have a theatrical release. Disney did the same last year with Barbarian (opening £380,812 taking £1,082,037) as did Paramount Pictures with Smile (opening £1,860,452 taking £11,584,505).

Horror has been a steady performing genre since cinemas re-opened after COVID with 18 horrors opening over the last two years taking over £100m; Evil Dead Rises, The Pope’s Exorcist, Scream VI, knock at the Cabin, M3gan, The Menu, Prey For The Devil, Halloween Ends, Smile, Nope, The Black Phone, Scream, Halloween Kills, Candyman, Old, The Forever Purge, A Quiet Place Part II and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.

• Thelma & Louise (4K Restoration) – Park Circus

Re-release of the classic 1991 comedy-drama starring Susan Sarandon, Geena Davis, Harvey Keitel, Michael Madsen, Christopher McDonald, and Brad Pitt and directed by Ridley Scott.

It was a critical and box office success receiving 6 Oscars winning Best Originally Screenplay

Opened £374,093 from 193 screens (£997,581 inflated) taking £3,161,118 (£8,429,648 inflated); was the 22^nd biggest film of 1991 between Point-Break and The Godfather Part III.