- Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness – £5,690,351 – £30,386,638
Down 71.2% in the second weekend
Down 68% on Friday (£1.55m) from opening Friday (£4.88m)
Took £24.8m over opening 8 days; £5m Mon-Thurs including £1.5m on Monday
Had the 60th biggest second weekend between Deadpool and Star Wars: Rogue One (close to Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, Spider-Man 3 and Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies) and the 120th biggest opening inflation inflated between Star Wars: Rogue One and Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (close to Transformers: Dark of the Moon, The Sixth Sense, Men In Black 2 and I am Legend).
9th biggest MCU second weekend between Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 and Captain America: Civil War and the 3rd biggest second-weekend drop after Spider-Man No Way Home (85.5%) and Black Widow (73.9%) but Doctor Strange 2 second weekend drop was higher due to Spider-Man No Way Home having a two-day second weekend after opening with 5 days and Black Widow the second weekend was also after 5-day opening and being also available on Disney+, but Doctor Strange 2 was the 5th biggest MCU film after 11 days.
Avengers: Endgame dropped 67%; Captain America: Civil War 66.8%; Thor: The Dark World`65.6%; Avenger Infinity War 65.5% and Thor 64.3%.
2nd biggest second weekend of 2022 between The Batman and Sing 2 and 3rd biggest second weekend since cinemas reopened between The Batman and Sing 2.
14th biggest comic-book second weekend between Deadpool and Spider-Man 3 (close to Captain Marvel, Iron Man 3, Spider-Man 3 and Men In Black) and 19th biggest inflation inflated between Deadpool and Men In Black 2 (close to Spider-Man 2, Hancock and X-Men 2).
129th biggest film in the UK between The BFG and The Da Vinci Code (close to Incredibles, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 and Man of Steel) and 269th biggest inflation inflated between The Amazing Spider-Man and The Croods (close to The Matrix, Superman III, X-Men: Days of Future Past and X-Men: The Last Stand).
23rd biggest comic-book movie between Thor: Ragnarok and Spider-Man Homecoming (close to Spider-Man 3, Deadpool 2, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 1 and Spider-Man) and 36th biggest inflation inflated between The Amazing Spider-Man and X-Men: Days of Future Past (close to Hancock, Suicide Squad, Batman and Robin and Batman Begins).
5th biggest film since cinemas reopened between Sing 2 and Sonic the Hedgehog 2
While those MCU films had positive reviews Doctor Strange in the Multiverse reviews was far more mixed away from the initial post-premiere reaction so it was always likely to be as front-loaded as previous Doctor Strange films and the three Thor films and likely be the same for Thor: Love and Thunder in July.
Doctor Strange 2 opening received plaudits from the industry but being the 28th MCU and immediately following events of Spider-Man No Way Home it was always going to have the third biggest post-pandemic opening.
Despite this Doctor Strange 2 opening was still “astonishing” to the industry, but one needs to remember that this is the 28th MCU film and the majority who rushed out to see the other would do similar for Doctor Strange and then add in the increase in prices and the substantial proportion of BO from IMAX/PLF/3D/4DX/ScreenX (due to ticket surcharges not by admissions) then it was always going to open as it did.
The 28 MCU films have taken over £950m and over £1bn inflation inflated; Thor: Love and Thunder opening in July will see the 29 MCU films taking over £1bn at the UK BO since 2008.
While Disney released three MCU films last year (Blade Widow, Shang-Chi and Eternals) they were always likely to perform similar to Ant-Man and the Wasp (£4,988,747) rather than other MCU films opened before lockdown (Thor: Ragnorok, Black Panther and Captain Marvel).
What all the reviews did pick up upon was that it was the film includes some scary moments and is more violent than most other MCU films with the BBFC rating information saying it featured “moderate horror, violence, threat, injury detail” asking the question how the film still got a 12A and PG-13, as other films would get higher certificates that feature similar scenes. BBFC and MPA’s excuse would be Doctor Strange 2 is a fantasy film not set in reality. This was also the reason 2012’s The Woman In Black was given a 12A scaring the pants off Harry Potter fans who came to see it as it was the first Daniel Radcliffe film released after the last Harry Potter film.
The problem is that when a comic book does get a deserved higher rating (Suicide Squad) it’s met by ‘outrage’ from parents whose underage children weren’t allowed to see the film as they have seen all of the other comic-book movies (despite being underage for those too).
- Downton Abbey: The New Era – £971,705- £10,383,398
Down 37.5% in its third weekend; 63.8% less than Downtown Abbey 3rd weekend (£2,682,080) and 57.4% less than Murder on the Orient Express (£2,279,200).
625th biggest film between Cape Fear and East Is East (close to Apollo 13, Philomena, The Social Network and The Spy Who Loved Me) and 926th biggest inflation inflated between Three Kings and She’s All That (close to Knives Out, Stan and Ollie, The Duchess and Get Out).
Had Downton Abbey: A New Era been an original drama it would be performing stronger than recent dramas House of Gucci and Belfast but it wasn’t as instead it was the latest instalment of the 21-year-old Gosford Park Cinematic Universe, similar to the other cinematic universe has a massive fanbase in the UK with almost 11m watching the final episode in 2015 on ITV and repeats still popular on ITV3.
But would have expected films like Belfast, Death on the Nile, The Duke and Operation Mincemeat should have helped Downton Abbey attract the audience of the original film as other cinematic universe films do on Thursday many of those who saw Spider-Man No Way Home will be seeing Doctor Strange 2, so why if they rushed out to see the first Downton Abbey film wasn’t there a similar rush for the sequel as it received similar reviews to the first film?
Downtown Abbey was originally conceived as a spinoff of 2001’s Gosford Park also written by Julian Fellowes took £12,259,248 and £22,268,006 inflation inflated.
7.6m watched the first episode of the first series in 2010 on ITV, 9m watched the first episodes of season two and season three, 9.2m watched the first episode of series 4 and 8.4m watched the first episode of series 5. The final episode of Downtown Abbey was broadcast on ITV1 on Christmas Day 2015 with an audience of 6.9m with another 4m watching on catchup with a total of 10.9m. Was the most-watched TV programme on Christmas Day, the first time ITV had managed to do so in 15 years.
Since the final episode was broadcast on ITV on Christmas Day 2015 had been rumours of a spinoff film, in July 2018 it was announced a film would be made and Universal Pictures would release the film worldwide.
Research at the UKCA Conference at the start of the month said 60%+ of cinemagoers who saw No Time To Die six months ago have yet to return to the cinema, this is despite films including Dune, House of Gucci, West Side Story, Belfast, Death on the Nile, The Duke and Operation Mincemeat all opening since. So how Downton Abbey: A New Era opens and holds over the coming few weeks is far more important than Doctor Strange 2 opening next week as its opening is far more predictable.
Julian Fellowes latest TV drama The Gilded Age first series was released on HBO and Sky Atlantic in January which has been seen as a prequel to Downton Abbey and a second will be shown next year.
Other third-weekend grey pound films include
2021’s Death on the Nile dropped 43.3% taking £764,438 and £6,455,215 taking £8,012,201
2019’s Downton Abbey dropped 18% taking £2,682,080 #1 from 722 screens and £19,379,606 68.6% of £28,248,361; took 5.45x opening; stayed #1 for 3 weeks.
2017’s Murder on the Orient Express #3 dropped 48% (Justice League opened) £2,279,200 (from 617 screens) taking £17,753,371 73.3% of £24,224,914; stayed in the top 10 for 7 weeks (taking £196,186 in its 7th)
2021’s House of Gucci #3 £635,387 dropped 50% and £4,217,850 43.3% of £9,964,144
2012’s The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel #2 £1,787,352 down 24% 499 screens and £10,855,596 53.4% of £20,308,480.
2015’s The Lady in the Van #6 £950,961 down 41% 548 screens and £9,047,439 71.5% of £12,660,028.
2015’s The Second-Best Marigold Hotel #1 £1,409,311 down 29% 592 screens and £11,731,915 75.3% of £15,575,797.
2015’s Suffragette #5 £594,930 down 56% (SPECTRE opened) 441 screens and £7,447,800 70.2% of £10,600,616
2013’s Philomena dropped 29% £1,006,356 #3 from 553 screens and £7,298,426 of £10,470,225
2011 Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy took dropped 49% £1,064,901 #1 465 screens and £9,097,048 of £14,133,500
2003 Calendar Girls increased 5% £1,855,986 #1 from 461 screens and £5,679,683 of £20,174,133
- 3 Everything Everywhere and All-Around – £681,351 – NE
Includes £123k from previews on 4th May from 308 screens including IMAX cinemas
Opened In only 150 screens about a quarter of the screens Doctor Strange 2, Downton Abbey 2 and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and about half the screens Little Minx played in.
While Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness hype Everything Everywhere and All-Around was a far superior multiverse film and is very much a word-of-mouth film which will be helped by opening in 150 screens as will expand further net weekend and then should hold is own against Top Gun Maverick as it as done in the US for the last 8 weeks.
It’s a rarity as it’s a film that it’s hard to make any comparison with especially a film that has been given a similar wide release playing in independent cinemas along with mainstream cinemas; the nearest film would be 2004’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind opening £1,045,501 (£1,751,040 inflation inflated taking £4,874,405 and £8,163,814 inflation inflated.
The creators of the film have said that there are many hidden Easter eggs in the film for audiences to discover with references from Pixar films to 2001: A Space Odyssey. While Jamie Lee Curtis joked on Twitter “Is it JUST me? Does it seem STRANGE that our tiny movie that could and did and continues to do #1movieinamerica and is TRULY MARVELOUS, out marvels any Marvel movie they put out there,” Curtis captioned, pointing out the alleged similarities between the promotional materials for the A24 film and MCU instalment, directed by Sam Raimi? “Is this one of those Internet feuds? All I’ll say is we would SLAY in a family feud contest @familyfeud with the Doctor Strange strangers.”
Director Guillermo del Toro tweeted “I loved it. And I believe that ‘Nothing Matters’ therefore everything does. And the notion of Pain and Prejudice is inherited from generation to generation unless we examine ourselves. Skilful, smart, beautifully shot and profoundly moving.”
Down 17.5% in its sixth weekend;
4th biggest film of 2022 was between Doctor Strange 2 and Uncharted; 6th biggest film since cinemas reopened between Doctor Strange 2 and Paramount’s biggest film since Mission Impossible: Fallout (£24.32m).
While many are surprised by Sonic the Hedgehog 2 but as it’s similar to both Uncharted and Wreck-It Ralph it’s not surprising at all as it would have attracted a similar audience as Uncharted.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 overtook the BO of the first film two weeks ago but it’s impossible to compare the two films as the first film opened at the start of COVID with cinema attendance slowing down in the weeks before the first lockdown and films in late February early March before lockdown weren’t attracting the audiences they would in normal conditions (despite industry saying at the time that everything was normal);
In 2020’s Sonic The Hedgehog was pulled from cinemas at its sixth weekend after the first lockdown taking £19,280,822 but had cinemas not closed as often with half-term films Sonic The Hedgehog would have played through to Easter and taking £22m+.
Uncharted dropped 43% in its sixth weekend taking £605,723 #3 from 558 screens and £22,704,081 96% of £23,641,476
186th biggest film in the UK between Murder on the Orient Express and Darkest Hour (close to Hancock, Mission Impossible: Fallout, Uncharted and Wreck-It Ralph) (274th film to take £20m+) and 375th biggest inflation inflated between A Fish Called Wanda and Dead Poets Society (close to Despicable Me, Bolt, Lilo & Stitch and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider).
8th biggest Paramount Pictures film between Mission Impossible: Fallout (+£163,988) and Rocketman (-£671,869) (close to Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Star Trek: Into Darkness, Transformers and Star Trek) and 15th biggest inflation inflated between Iron Man and Rocketman.
Paramount have yet to confirm a release date for a third film but that would be likely in April 2024 release with the spinoff series Knuckles set to be released on Paramount+ in 2023.
- Little Mix Live: The Last Show (For Now) – £361,908 – NE
Little Mix Live: The Last Show (For Now) was broadcast live from the O2 on Saturday night as with other Event Cinema screenings tickets were about £19.99 for the live screening of the sold-out concert.
Little Minx’s previous Event Cinema concert Little Mix: LM5 – The Tour Film was released in December 2020 #3 taking £83,519 from 129 cinemas but was just before the second lockdown with many cinemas closed and #1 Elf taking £98,157 the concert was shown on TV a few weeks after playing in cinemas.
In March BTS Permission To Dance Live #3 took £899,127 from 351 cinemas with a similar ticket price but due to the tie difference, it was shown at 8.45 am on Saturday.
Burn the Stage: Movie #6 opened on 17th November 2018 taking £644,308 from 212 screens
In 2019 Love Yourself In Seoul – BTS World Tour 2019 #10 £518,810 from 519 screens.
And in 2020 Break the Silence: The Movie #3 £374,060 from 363 screens (including £124,063 from previews); it suffered opening in cinemas a few weeks after they reopened for the first time after lockdown with Tenet #1 taking £1,233,090 in its third weekend.
As with all Event Cinema and Secret Cinema screenings they can’t be compared to normal cinemas ticket prices are about 100% more for Event Cinema and many more times than for Secret Cinema. Both have been a great addition to cinema giving cinemagoers a chance to experience concerts, musicals and other events on the big screen that they wouldn’t normally be able to see. They also artificially inflate box office and admissions.
As most Event Cinema screenings target older demographics they have been slow to get back to pre-lockdown levels as in the year before lockdown in 2019 Event Cinema took £50m 4% of the BO with £41.4m in 2018 and £35m from 2017 while in 2021 took £4.7m and £4m in 2020.
Also opened
Firestarter – Universal Pictures
£250,005 #9 from 512 screens
The latest Blumhouse teen horror Firestarter remake of the 1984 film starring Drew Barrymore is based on Stephen King’s novel. Stephen King film adaptions have had mixed success at the BO from recent enormous success with the two It films but then mixed success with Doctor Sleep, The Mist, Carrie and Pet Sematary. His next film adaptation Salem’s Lot opens in September the same weekend as It opened.
Blumhouse films often struggle to match their US success in the UK as they get 15 certificates meaning their target audience can’t legally see them as they are often given PG-13s in the US. The difference with Firestarter was it was a terrible film and a pointless remake.
Blumhouse teen horrors repeat the same formula of 90s horrors including Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer featuring popular TV actors, the difference was they were R rated/18 in the UK, while Blumhouse horrors are targetting a younger audience.
2021’s Freaky opened with £344,918 taking £685,870
2017’s Happy Death Day opened with £998,388 taking £2,678,427
2018’s Truth or Dare opened with £931,250 taking £2,400,490
2019’s Happy Death Day 2U opened with £735,454 including £266,079 previews) taking £1,318,935
2014’s Ouija opened with £1,373,907 taking £3,207,638
2016’s Ouija: Origin of Evil opened with £779,626 taking £2,524,013
2015’s Krampus opened with £412,713 taking £1,184,159 UK.
Other Box office News
After the release of the first trailer of Avatar, The Way of Water was attached to Doctor Strange and released in 3D questions have been asked if audiences will embrace 3D again. But it all depends on exhibitors don’t want Avatar 2 to be a one-off 3D cinema experience they need to learn from last time and not use it as another way to increase ticket prices by up to a third and no more retrofitted 3D films. 3D needs to be a quality cinema experience as IMAX has become what audiences are willing to pay more for as they are getting a different experience.
As the errors were predictable as to when 3D was originally launched in the 50s along with AromaRama, Cinerama and Cinemascope were no additional costs to watch these films in cinemas, but modern-day equivalents 4DX, ScreenX and PLF all had surcharges.
As in the 50s, these formats came back to cinemas to boost attendance after a drop in admissions due to TV growth but these formats didn’t help increase admissions as they still dropped almost 60% in the 50s from 1.39bn to 581m and kept dropping till 1984. Wasn’t new formats that saw admissions increase from 1985 to 2002 it was giving cinemagoers a more enjoyable experience. Admissions increased 1% since 2002 while BO has increased by 66%. 30+ years ago industry predicted 200m by 2000 with a long-term target of 300m+.
Avatar 2 won’t be the first film exhibitors to embrace 3D again as that will be Avatar re-release in September. The industry needs to decide to do they want 3D to be a short-term gimmick again or do they want 3D to be here long-term similar to IMAX audiences. Why is it audiences embraced IMAX despite the majority of IMAX cinemas not giving a real IMAX 5-decker bus-sized screen experience (when most are less than 3) but they didn’t embrace 3D beyond Avatar, Gravity and Hugo?
On Wednesday UK inflation increased to 9%, with energy costs and other costs increasing many people will be cutting back on social spending so why are exhibitors increasing ticket prices as over previous recessions cinema attendance grew strongly as it used to be a cheap night out but over the last 20 years, this has changed. Audiences might have come out to see No Time To Die and Spider-Man No Way Home the problem is most haven’t returned since as away from the cinephiles and those who have subscription cinema the majority of people are going far less to the cinema. In the late 80s through to the early 00s, I would go to the cinema two or three times a month or more most of the time in Leicester Square cinemas but haven’t been to any of them over the last 20 years unless for a free screening.
UK box office in detail
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £9,597,322 down 59.5% from last weekend’s £23,689,265
608th biggest top 10 of the last 20 years close to 22 March 2019 #1 Captain Marvel £3,378,583 (35.20% of top 10) and 02 December 2005 #1 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire £4,829,804 (50.36% of top 10) and 840th biggest inflation inflated close to 28 June 2002 #1 Spider-Man: The Movie £2,605,993 (47.55% of top 10) and 23 June 2017 #1 Transformers: The Last Knight £4,635,570 (48.55% of top 10)
The weekend admissions were 1,252,241 down 60.2% from last week 3,144,330
Top 3 took £7,181,969 74.8% of the top 10; Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness 59.3% (£5,690,351); Downton Abbey: A New Era 10.1% (£971,705); Everything Everywhere and All Around 5.4% (£681,351);
2021 n/a cinemas closed
2020 n/a cinemas closed
Down 20.4% from 2019; (£12,057,386); Pokemon Detective Pikachu (£4,951,838); The Hustle (£1,037,478); Amazing Grace (£166,593); Dialogues Des Carmelites – Met Opera 2019 (£141,630); The Corrupted (£52,988); #1 Pokemon Detective Pikachu £4,951,838 1st week 579 screens (41.1% of top 10)
Down 16.1% from 2018: (£11,439,663); Sherlock Gnomes (£2,522,342); Life of the Party (£618,311); Breaking In (£424,675); Entebbe (£138,390); How to Talk to Girls at Parties (£23,311); Anon (£19,108); #1 Avengers: Infinity War £5,706,170 44% drop 3rd week 636 screens (49.8% of top 10)
Down 13.8% from 2017: (£11,133,770); Alien: Covenant (£5,178,531); Der Rosenkavalier – Met Opera 2017 (£313,653); Miss Sloane (£190,295); The Last Face (£46,414); #1 Alien: Covenant £5,178,531 626 screens 1st week (46.5% of top 10)
Up 5.4% from 2016: (£9,103,851): Angry Birds (£2,138,507); Our Kind of Traitor (£358,180); Everybody Wants Some!! (£169,764); Green Room (£144,517); Mustang (£65,038); Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (£58,798); The Darkness (£51,490); #1 Captain America: Civil War £2,789,985 42% drop 586 screens 3rd week (30.6% of top 10)
Down 28.2% from 2015; (£13,363,529); Pitch Perfect 2 (£5,005,394); Mad Max: Fury Road (£4,538,933); #1 Pitch Perfect 2 £5,005,394 496 screens 1st week (37.4% of top 10)
Down 0.3% from 2014: (£9,627,777); Godzilla (£6,385,483); The Two Faces of January (£328,438); Concussion (£9,507); #1 Godzilla £6,385,483 550 screens 1st week (66.3% of top 10)
Down 31.9% from 2013: (£14,089,241); Star Trek: Into Darkness (£8,431,574); Mud (£239,037); Deadfall (£33,987); Vehicle 19 (£239); #1 Star Trek: Into Darkness £8,431,574 554 screens 1st week (59.8% of top 10)
Down 13.3% from 2012 (£11,071,152); Dark Shadows (£2,404,029); Piranha 3DD (£242,889); How I Spent My Summer Vacation (£152,728); Jeff Who Lives at Home (£92,472); All in Good Time (£76,111); Cafe De Flore (£43,719); #1 Avengers Assemble £4,169,087 3rd week 498 screens 49% drop (37.6% of top 10)
Up 28.6% from 2011 (£7,566,720); Attack the Block (£1,133,859); The Way (£104,397); Take Me Home Tonight (£45,859); Taxi Driver (35th Anniversary) (£15,161); #1 Thor £1,360,418 30% drop 3rd week 472 screens (17.9% of top 10)
Down 9.9% from 2010: (£10,656,307); Robin Hood (£5,750,332); Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (£5,623); #1 Robin Hood £5,750,332 1st week 537 screens (53.9% of top 10)
Down 37.1% from 2009; (£15,250,846); Angels and Demons (£6,054,627); Fighting (£991,180); Synecdoche, New York (£123,125); #1 Angels and Demons £6,054,627 506 screens 1st week (39.7% of top 10)
Up 66.7% from 2008; (£5,755,952); Caramel (£122,790); Charlie Bartlett (£97,181); Smart People (£88,235); Shutter (£72,574); #1 Iron Man £1,917,925 3rd 496 screens 3% drop (33.3% of top 10)
Down 0.6% from 2007: ((£9,654,662); 28 Weeks Later (£1,575,620); My Best Friend (£117,440); Spider-Man 3 £5,596,612 2nd week 522 screens 53% drop (57.9% of top 10)
Up 66.8% from 2006; (£5,753,595); Prime (£851,322); When a Stranger Calls (£494,131); Brick (£142,878); #1 Mission: Impossible III £2,751,733 2nd week 511 screens 49% drop (47.8% of top 10)
Up 86% from 2005 (£5,161,794); Monster-in-Law (£1,312,679); The Jacket (£175,773); A Good Woman (£130,193); Seed of Chucky (£109,110); #1 Kingdom of Heaven £1,385,529 2nd week 450 screens (26.8% of top 10)
Up 129.3% from 2004 (£4,185,573); The Football Factory (£207,683); Troy (platform) (£89,286); Shattered Glass (£46,921); #1 Van Helsing £2,403,036 2nd week 456 screens 56% drop (57.4% of top 10)
Up 64.6% from 2003 (£5,829,019); Kangaroo Jack (£764,917); The Actors (£226,860); Secretary (£165,318); Antwone Fisher (£59,976); To Kill a King (£59,701); Extreme Ops (£14,751); #1 X-Men 2 £2,115,011 3rd week 468 screens 31% drop (36.2% of top 10)
Up 75.1% from 2002 (£5,480,784); Dog Soldiers (£681,348); Slackers (£152,078); I Am Sam (£151,079); #1 About A Boy £2,239,288 444 screens 3rdweek 32% drop (27.7% of top 10)
Next weekend 2020 and 2021 – Cinemas Closed First Lockdown
Next weekend in 2019 (£10,607,906) John Wick: Chapter 3: Parabellum (£3,562,524); Paw Patrol: Mighty Pups (£521,504); Breakthrough £81,134; Batman 30th anniversary 4K (£38,112); Batman Returns (£7,906); Batman Forever (£293); Batman & Robin (£154); #1 John Wick: Chapter 3: Parabellum 1st week £3,562,524 (77.4% of top 10)
US Box Office
- Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness – Disney
Dropped 67% in its second weekend taking $61.75m and $292.61m
Dropped 82% on Friday from opening Friday ($90.7m)
Had similar second weekend percentage drop as Black Widow which exhibitors blamed on being released same day on Disney+ and piracy, with Doctor Strange 2 dropping similar amount shows that was just an excuse.
EntTelligence reported the second weekend had 4.5m admissions compared to 13.5% a 67% drop (average $13.72 due to playing in Playing in 400 Imax cinemas; 890+ PLF, 2,600 3D screens, 250 D-Box/4DX and 60 ScreenX all having surcharges on regular prices).
Deadline headline “Wizard Wobble A Wake-Up Call for Marvel” a week after they heralded its $187.42m opening despite both being expected as there are three different types of Marvel films Avengers films including the half films like Captain America: Civil War, Captain Marvel and recent Spider-Man trilogy, as had they not featured iron Man, Black Panther and Doctor Strange would they have been as successful?
These first group of MCU films are ones fans will watch multiple times in cinema but with Doctor Strange 2 exit poll said only 27% said they would see it a second time compared to 36% who said they would see No Way Home again and 34% for Shang-Chi, while Eternals was 22%. With No Way Home, many fans saw it half a dozen times or more and probably many more times in the UK with those with subscription cinema which again goes back to the fact that these films aren’t healthy for cinema as they cannibalize the BO with fans choosing to watch an MCU multiple times rather than seeing another film.
Then have Iron Man, Captain America, and Guardians of the Galaxy. Then the third group of films including Doctor Strange and Thor, are far more for comic-book fans that don’t play as strongly to the audiences who go to the other MCU films. After Spider-Man No Way Home opening, Doctor Strange 2 was always going to open far bigger than the previous film but then drop much harder as while it was the film comic-book fans were expecting it wasn’t those who just saw Spider-Man No Way Home.
This does highlight a bigger long-term issue with Marvel they might have over 7,000 characters but having now made movies of all the most well-known characters how will they incorporate these new ones, of course with Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox they now have the chance to incorporate X-Men, Fantastic Four and Deadpool into the MCU. In Doctor Strange 2 Patrick Stewart appears as Professor X (who starred in the X-Men films) but also John Krasinski appears as Reed Richards (who didn’t) but as these were multi-universes probably gives no guidance towards how they will incorporate them within the MCU.
But the biggest issue with Doctor Strange 2 is that to understand it properly you need to have watched the Marvel TV shows which the fans love but makes it harder for newbies to understand. It was similar to when Disney released Star Wars: The Force Awakens in China expecting it to be a huge success despite none of the other Star Wars films being released legally in cinemas so Chinese audiences hadn’t grown up on the films as they did elsewhere so it was no surprise it and all the other Disney Star Wars films underperformed in China even after they cast Asian actors in the later films.
So the future of MCU is more of the same targetting the same fanbase with Marvel adding Fantastic Four, Blade and Deadpool into the MCU Into MCU from late 2023 and with many more TV shows to launch characters that will feature in all of those films. As it’s more of the same the headlines of x Marvel film opening with $180m+ is not a surprise it’s expected, likewise taking $800m+ worldwide as they can only be compared to other MCU films.
Originally Fantastic Beasts 3 was to open the week after Thor: Love and Thunder which is likely to perform similar to Doctor Strange 2 open $180m+ and then drop 65%+ which could help Where the Crawdads Sing the only major release opening the week after.
96th biggest film between Up and Inception; 233rd biggest inflation inflate The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobed between The Flintstones and Despicable Me; 36th biggest Disney film between Up and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; 29th biggest comic-book movie between Iron Man 2 and Man of Steel.
The problem with fan-driven films who are desperate to see them over the opening weekend is they will normally drop heavily in their second weekends and become members of the $100m loser club, (Doctor Strange 2 is the 15th member and 8th MCU film and 11th Disney film to be a member) this is when a film takes more than $100m less in its second weekend other members include Spider-Man No Way Home, Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker, Avengers: Endgame, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Avengers: Infinity War, Jurassic World, The Incredibles 2, The Lion King, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Iron Man 3. The Avengers, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Batman Vs Superman,
Of the 20 biggest openings only Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Black Panther, Beauty and the Beast and The Dark Knight aren’t members as they had stronger legs.
While Doctor Strange 2 opens with $187m and then drops 60% the second weekend is no concern for either Marvel or Disney it is for cinemas as exhibitors need films to play for more than a few weeks or it just proves studios are right to reduce the theatrical window to 31 days. As Doctor Strange 2 will likely take less than $15m in its 4th weekend (days 28-30) by which time taking over 90% of its BO.
While comic-book fans move that the films are now interconnected to the TV shows it means audiences need to do their homework before and afterwards to understand the films. The original Star Wars films were never released legally in China so never got the fanbase the films have elsewhere so it was a strange decision by Disney to open The Force Awakens in China as their first official Star Wars film. Chinese audiences predictably struggled with it and The Force Awakens and the later films struggled to find an audience in China.
MCU fanbase grew strongly from 2008 to 2012 since then except for Black Panther and Spider-Man No Way Home all the films have performed as they expected to with the fanbase the series has. Both Black Panther and Spider-Man No Way Home played to a wider audience that doesn’t normally see comic-book fans.
After the 2hr trailer for Doctor Strange opened with $260m in December, taking $804m, a $180m+ opening for Doctor Strange 2 was always expected. As is a similar-sized opening for Thor 4
The problem is that the usual suspects that are expected to open big this summer are Jurassic World 3 ($180m+), Thor 4 ($180m+), Minions 2 ($100m+) and Toy Story Anthology: Lightyear ($120m+).
What would show a new phase of the pandemic is that after all the massive hype and media coverage Top Gun: Maverick has received so far and that will explode over the next 17 days will see a similar-sized opening. But despite all the media attention, it’s currently looking at about a $100m opening as there are still massive questions if under 45s are as excited to see it as over 45s who saw the original in cinemas in 1986. Despite all the raving comments about how incredible it looks the plot is the same as so many other legacy sequels.
28 MCU films have taken $10.15bn in the US and $10.74bn inflation inflated; average US BO is $363m
Took $83.5m (down 60%) from 49 territories $396.2m and $688.1m worldwide and took $xx from 751 IMAX cinemas worldwide (5th biggest IMAX opening); Korea $41.4m; UK $36.9m; Mexico $31.1m; Brazil $25.1m; Australia $19.4ml; India $17.7m; France $17.5m; Indonesia $15.7m; Germany $14.4m; Japan $12.9m and Italy $12.1m.
Has overtaken the global BO of Doctor Strange at $678m and will shortly overtake The Batman at $768.4m which it was always expected to do and take $925m.
Has taken $48.9m from IMAX worldwide including $22.2m from 350 IMAX cinemas in 64 territories;
32nd biggest film worldwide between Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation and Gravity; 32nd biggest comic-book movie between The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Doctor Strange (close to Suicide Squad, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Justice League and Thor: The Dark World); 41st biggest Disney film between Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Doctor Strange.
- Firestarter – Universal Pictures
Opened #4 with $3.82m; received poor reviews (12% Rotten Tomatoes) and C- CinemaScore
The film was also released on Peacock as Universal Pictures also did with Marry Me in February, this will likely become a common thing for many studios’ smaller films.
The latest Blumhouse teen horror Firestarter remake of the 1984 film starring Drew Barrymore is based on Stephen King’s novel; it opened the same weekend in 1984 with $4.72m taking $17.08m.
Stephen King film adaptions have had mixed success at the BO from recent enormous success with the two It films but then mixed success with Doctor Sleep, The Mist, Carrie and Pet Sematary. His next film adaptation Salem’s Lot opens in September the same weekend as It opened.
Blumhouse teen horrors repeat the same formula of 90s horrors including Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer featuring popular TV actors, the difference was they were R rated/18 in the UK, while Blumhouse horrors are targetting a younger audience.
Selected female-led Blumhouse Production films openings
2020s Freaky opened $3.6m taking $9.03m
2017’s Happy Death Day opened $26.03m taking $55.68m and $125.47m worldwide
2018’s Truth or Dare opened $18.66m taking $41.41m and $95.33m worldwide
2019’s Happy Death Day 2U opened $9.49m taking $28.14m and $64.6m worldwide
2014’s Ouija opened $19.87m taking $50.85m and %103.68m worldwide
2015’s Unfriended opened $15.84m and $32.48m and $62.88m worldwide
2016’s Ouija: Origin of Evil opened $14.06m and $35.14m and $81.7m worldwide
Opened with $2.1m internationally from 40 territories and $5.9m worldwide
- The Bad Guys – Universal Pictures
Dropped 27% in the fourth weekend taking $7.03m and $66.41m
147th biggest animated film between Spies in Disguise and Flushed Away
33rd biggest Dreamworks Animation film between Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron and Flushed Away and likely to take about $75m+ similar to Penguins of Madagascar, Turbo and Captain Underpants, all at the time of their releases were seen as disappointments. Showing again since cinemas reopened industry has lowered expectations of BO.
This was the similar to the case with Scream, Jackass Forever, Uncharted, The Lost City and Sonic the Hedgehog 2, industry seems to believe it’s a sign of audiences returning and they open far stronger than expected but the industry has lowered expectations on what these films should open with, as they all open similar to previous instalments, or for The Lost City similar to 38-year-old Romancing the Stone.
Similar DWA fourth weekends include
2014’s Penguins of Madagascar dropped 51.8% $3.47m and $64.12m taking $83.35m and $366.94m worldwide which saw seen as disappointing, similar to 2013’s Turbo dropped 62.3% $2.35m and $75.12m taking $83.02m and 2012’s Rise of the Guardians 31.3% $7.14m and $71.08m taking $108.41m; 2017’s Captain Underpants dropped 40.3% $4.28m and $65.74m taking $73.92m
The Bad Guys are Dreamworks Animation’s 42nd film since 1998 and the first original animated film since 2019’s Abominable taking $61.27m and $180.73m worldwide)
42 Dreamworks Animation films have taken over $5.85bn in the US and over $15.82bn worldwide
Took $6.7m internationally from 66 territories and $99.4m and $165.82m worldwide; 142nd biggest animated film worldwide between The Emperor’s New Groove and Spies in Disguise; 1,061st biggest film worldwide between Step Up 3D and Unstoppable and 119th biggest Universal Pictures worldwide between Miami Vice and The Girl on the Train.
- Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore – Warner Bros
Dropped 40% in the fifth weekend taking $2.55m and $90.17m
875th biggest film between Disney Planes and Mystic River; 1,568th biggest inflation inflated between Tower Heist and Gremlins 2: The New Batch; 152nd biggest Warner Bros film between Get Hard and Mystic River.
Fifth weekends
2018’s Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald dropped #9 45.5% $3.78m and $151.79m of $159.55m; $495.3m internationally 75.6% and $645.85m worldwide;
2016’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them dropped #5 51.3% $5.07m and $207.72m of $234.03m; $580m internationally 71.3% and $814.04m worldwide;
Took $3.9m from 74 territories $288.6m total and $378.7m worldwide; Japan $32.3m; Germany $27.4m; UK $25.5m; China (24.6m and France $20.5m. .
350th biggest film worldwide between Black Widow and Hotel Transylvania; 67th biggest Warner Bros film worldwide between Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Mad Max: Fury Road.
While there were two more Fantastic Beasts films planned the script for the fourth film hasn’t yet been written, and the third film took a third less than the second film and half of the first so are big questions over if Warner Bros will continue the film series. But Warner Bros will surely not want to ruin their relationship with JK Rowling as they would like to make Harry Potter and the Cursed So film over the next few years along with the potentially a reboot or spinoff of the existing Harry Potter films but that wouldn’t happen until after the fifth film was released.
In this post-pandemic world, studios have greenlighted many sequels to films that would never have been made taking the box office they generated. If Warner Bros were to proceed to a fourth film it’s unlikely to be released before 2025. There are surely questions to be answered why Warner Bros brought forward the film from the prime July 15 slot to April 15th and then brought it forward internationally as both likely damaged its BO potential but the problem with the film was it was overshadowed by many non-film related issues along with its release date.
There is also the question of whom these films are targetting as they are darker than the original Harry Potter films so unlikely to attract newbies into the Harry Potter world but those tweens who saw the original film in 2001 are now in their late 20s/early 30s more interested in comic-book movies. Harry Potter is still hugely popular with tweens but as with Doctor Strange 2, you wouldn’t see The Secrets of Dumbledore without seeing the other two Fantastic Beasts films and the Harry Potter films.
UK Box Office Top 10
UK Box Office Preview
With no major new releases, Doctor Strange 2 will stay top taking a large percentage of the box office in its third weekend before Top Gun: Maverick opens on Wednesday likely to take between £2.5m-£3m down 45%-55%.
The expansion of Everything Everywhere All At Once should see its box office increase slightly from its opening with Downton Abbey: A New Era down between 20%-25% taking between £700k-£800kin its fourth weekend.
With many other films likely to drop Bollywood films will likely be the likely new entries as has been the case over recent months when there is a lack of wide releases. With the best screen averages from the Bollywood films
The weekend will likely be the softness since the end of March and similar to the box office the weekend before Spider-Man No Way Home opened.
Opening next week
- Top Gun: Maverick – Paramount Pictures
Action sequel to 1986’s Top Gun starring Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, Ed Harris, and Val Kilmer directed by Joseph Kosinski.
It was originally due for release on July 12th 20119 but was delayed a year first for production delays and then several times due to COVID.
There were rumours Apple TV and Netflix were looking to buy rights to the film but as with the similar rumours with No Time To Die. While Paramount Pictures might have sold several films and sequels to streaming including Coming2America and Beverly Hills Cop 4 to streaming they were never going to sell Top Gun Maverick as it would destroy their relationship with Tom Cruise who was making Mission Impossible 7 and 8 both are vital to the studios future.
Top Gun was one of Paramount Pictures’ biggest ever films in 1986 so why did it take so long to make a sequel, there were rumours a few later that the studio was developing a sequel and the Navy was in support of making the sequel as they were in making the original film but in 1991 a scandal hit the navy when Navy and Marine aviators allegedly sexually assaulted and harassed women and Top Gun was seen as encouraging the bad behaviour.
Tom Cruise, Tony Scott and Jerry Bruckheimer were busy making other films and probably didn’t feel the need to make a sequel as they were having so much success with other films. Tom Cruise went straight into making Cocktail, Rain Man, Born on the Fourth of July and Days of Thunder. Many believe Days of Thunder was originally developed as a Top Gun sequel as has a similar plot and was directed by Tony Scott, while at the time scripts were often adapted to be made into sequels of existing films e.g. Die Hard with a Vengeance was based o an original script Simon Says.
Development for the sequel started again in 2010 with Tony Scott and Jerry Bruckheimer (Tony Scott said at the time “This world fascinated me because it’s so different from what it was originally. But I don’t want to do a remake. I don’t want to do a reinvention. I want to do a new movie.”) but development stopped after Tony Scott died in 2012. In 2017 Tom Cruise announced the film would be Top Gun Maverick with Joseph Kosinski as director, they previously worked together on the sci-fi film Oblivion.
The first teaser trailer was released at Comic-Con in July 2019, receiving a positive reaction from fans, at CinemaCon in August 2021 15 minutes of footage was screened along with a new trailer and then at CinemaCon in April 2022 the whole film was shown and in February a final trailer was released. As with many of the films that were delayed due to COVID there were many more trailers released for Top Gun Maverick than there would normally be released for a film.
The film received an excellent response at CinemaCon last month but that response was predictable as they were mostly 45+ and probably saw the original in cinemas when they were children, but the film needs to play to their children which has been the big question with all legacy sequels,
While the audience raved about how incredible it looked they did say the plot was predictable as it’s probably similar to all other legacy sequels as it features the children of those that featured in the original film. As was the case with Jurassic World, Star Wars The Force Awakens, Independence Day Resurgence and Ghostbusters Afterlife, the difference with Top Gun Maverick are that it is very much a Tom Cruise film and while legacy characters died in the other legacy sequels Maverick won’t die in Top Gun 2.
The marketing campaign for Top Gun: Maverick recently kicked into fifth gear with Tom Cruise starting his European tour with him in the UK on May 15th for The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Celebrations on ITV. Before going to Cannes for the European premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on May 18th and opting for a Royal film premiere in London the day after instead of having a Cannes party. Showing again why he is the last action hero and the greatest showman as he wants to go to another premiere and spend time o the red carpet talking to fans which he always does, often longer than expected causing the film to be delayed.
Remember working for 20th Century Fox in June 2002 for the Minority Report premiere and the film start was delayed by over 30 mins as Tom Cruise wanted to spend more time with the fans. When the film started often talent will either watch the film or go to a restaurant but he came out of the auditorium and spent time talking to the cinema staff before going out to see the fans who were still outside.
The original film opened in October 1986 with £441,267 from 235 cinemas taking £5.5m (£25m inflation inflated) but impossible to compare with any films released over the last 25+ years.
The big question for Top Gun Maverick is how it will perform which has always been a massive question, it was tracking to open over Memorial Day weekend with $95-$130m; the film has a 5-day opening in the UK which would likely see it opening with about 12% of US opening (as Mission Impossible: Fallout) between £11.5m-£13.5m with the normal 10%+ from 46 IMAX screens. Exhibitors have increased prices for Top Gun Maverick with BFI IMAX £30 up 33% within less than 8 weeks, Morbius tickets were £22.50 while Odeon Leicester Square top price is £32.50 up from £30 for Doctor Strange 2, neither cinema has yet a sold-out screening despite tickets being on sale for a couple of weeks.
Of Tom Cruise’s previous films only 2005’s War of the Worlds has a comparable opening as it’s his last big non-Mission Impossible opening in the UK opening with £8,644,787 including £1,116,200 previews (£13,802,293 inflation inflated) taking £30,367,791 (£48,485,305 inflation inflated)e’s
Tom Cruise’s 44 films have taken $4.44bn in the US, $6.29bn internationally and $10.74bn worldwide; he had huge success in the 80s and 90s and is the last action hero outlasting Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger along with Nicolas Cage and Harrison Ford (Harrison Ford may have returned in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and will return in Indiana Jones 5 but he hasn’t had the continued success in action films as Tom Cruise has had over the last 25 years due to Mission Impossible films. But as his biggest hits were in the 80s and 90s Top Gun, Rain Man, A Few Good Men, the Firm, and Interview With the Vampire hasn’t had a $1bn film globally, that said inflation inflated both Top Gun and Rain Man would be $1bn+ hits.
Other comparisons are legacy sequels Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (£12,227,799 including £2,047,618 previews), Jurassic World (£19,350,727 including £2,514,284 previews), Star Wars The Force Awakens, Spider-Man No Way Home, Independence Day Resurgence (£5,067,855 including £944,356 previews), Ghostbusters Afterlife (£4,314,263 including £549,710 previews), Mad Max: Fury Road (£4,538,933 including £638,690 previews), Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle, Creed, Rocky Balboa, The Matrix Resurrections, Terminator: Dark Fate, Halloween, Scream, Live Free or Die Hard and Rambo.
All of them have some direct connection to the original film made over a decade before often featuring the next generation with a legacy character dying and their children following in their footsteps in the planned at the time sequels.
In September 2021 Paramount Pictures delayed Top Gun Maverick from its November release date to May using the excuse of COVID but it was probably more to do with seeing how Ghostbusters Afterlife performed as it was a similar nostalgic lead sequel that was going to play heavily to original fans despite targetting Stranger Things audience. As Ghostbusters Afterlife received rave reviews from its fan screening at NYCC in October but its media screening reaction was far more mixed getting a 63% Rotten Tomatoes score.
Critical reaction has been very positive (97% on Rotten Tomatoes) but how much is nostalgia towards the original than the film itself many of those critics reviewing the sequel were teens when the original opened so it became their film, but critically in 1986 the film received mixed reviews. While there is nostalgia towards the original film reviews were mixed in 1986 getting 58$ Rotten Tomatoes.
As with Doctor Strange and The 5Batman, exhibitors have increased ticket prices for Top Gun Maverick with BFI IMAX up to £30 from £29 for Doctor Strange 2 while Odeon Leicester Square is up to £32.50 from £30 top price for Doctor Strange 2 and Fantastic Beasts 3. 36 years ago Top Gun opened at the Empire Leicester Square in 70mm for about £3.
- Bob’s Burgers – Disney
Animated comedy film based on the animated television series featuring voices of H. Jon Benjamin, Dan Mintz, Eugene Mirman, Larry Murphy, John Roberts, Kristen Schaal, Zach Galifianakis, and Kevin Kline and directed by Loren Bouchard and Bernard Derriman.
It was originally dated for July 2020 release but was delayed several times to May 27th due to COVID and Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox.
Bob’s Burgers never had the popularity of other Fox Animation TV shows like The Simpsons, Family Guy and American Dad being broadcast on E4 and ITV2.
While 2007’s The Simpsons Movie opened £13,626,853 (no previews) (£20,291,868 inflation inflated) taking £38,312,694 (£57,051,774 inflation inflated).
Bob’s Burgers is more likely to open similar to 2016’s Sausage Party £2,690,156 taking £7,580,034; 1999’s South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut inflation inflated £2,673,228 (£1,496,581 opening) taking £6,367,065 (£11,373,000 inflation inflated) and 2005’s Team America: World Police inflation inflated £2,436,941 (£1,526,329 opening) taking £4,688,765 (£7,486,096 inflation inflated).
The same weekend in 1997 Beavis and Butt-Head Do America opened in the UK