- It Chapter 2 – £7,368,586 – NE
It Chapter Two had previews on Thursday with cinemas having a double bill with It Chapter One taking £400,000 and took £2.93m from Friday (39.7% of its opening weekend)
It Chapter Two had the 7th biggest opening of 2019 (after Avengers: Endgame, The Lion King, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Toy Story 4, Captain Marvel and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood); 6th biggest Fri-Sun of the year.
Had the 146th biggest opening in the UK between Inside Out and X-Men: Apocalypse (close to Taken 2, Venom, Justice League and X-Men: The Last Stand) and 210th biggest inflated opening between Kung Fu Panda 2 and Mission Impossible: Fallout (close to Jason Bourne, Goldeneye, Inception and Prometheus).
Warner Bros 28th biggest opening in the UK between The LEGO Batman Movie and Justice League (close to The Matrix Revolutions and Kong: Skull Island) and 34th biggest inflation inflated between Sex and the City 2 and Inception (close to Batman Forever, Suicide Squad, Justice League and Clash of the Titans)
It Chapter Two is the second biggest September opening in the UK after It Chapter One ahead of 2016’s Bridget Jones’s Baby’s £8.11m.
Opened in 1,998 screens in 650 cinemas
It Chapter Two opening was 8.1% of its US opening similar to It Chapter 1 8.11% and also The Meg, Justice League, Saw V and The Nun. While many say UK box office is 10% of US it is really between 7% and 12% with certain genres performing stronger than others.
Opened 26.3% less than 2017’s It Chapter One (opened with £10,002,443) which had the fifth biggest Fri-Sun opening of the UK of 2017 and the six biggest opening of the year behind Beauty and the Beast, The Fate of the Furious, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, Despicable Me 3 and Sing. It Chapter One was the 62nd biggest opening in the UK and is currently 110th biggest film in the UK (taking £32.34m) and is Warner Bros 25th biggest film in the UK.
The holds of both Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and Angel Has Fallen probably ate into It Chapter Two opening weekend as the first film had little competition to deal with (#2 American Made £674,106; #3 Dunkirk £629,435; #4 The Emoji Movie; #5 The Hitman’s Bodyguard £484,936) taking 81.1% of the top 5 and 71.5% of the top 10 while It Chapter 2 took 71.1% of top 5 and 61.5% of the top 10.
The teaser for the first film was seen over 197 million times in the first 24 hours (with 81m views on Facebook) in March 2017 (after 36 hours, the trailer had been seen 246m times) overtaking previous record set by The Fate of the Furious of 139m in December 2016. It has since been overtaken by two Avengers: Endgame trailers seen 289m and 269m times, Avengers: Infinity War 230m times and The Lion King 224.6m times.
It: Chapter Two doesn’t feature in the top 20 most watched trailers has been watched about 60m times similar to Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Shazam!
Early social media reactions were positive saying it is scarier than the first film but does feel long (2hour 50mins almost 30 minutes longer than the first film).
Director Andy Muschietti’s first cut of It Chapter 2 was 4 hours long and he hopes Warner Bros will release a directors cut as he knew that 4 hours was unreasonable (was revealed this week Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman will be over 3h 30mins long his longest ever probably because as it was made by Netflix they allowed him to make the film he wanted). He also hoped that the two films could be put together with a running time of 390 minutes.
“I can’t tell you, and this is only an expression of desire, of course. The supercut is something that is yet not out as an idea,” Muschietti said. “We have to talk about it. But I definitely want to make a supercut with material that nobody has seen because it was lifted from ‘Chapter Two.’ But also new stuff, new material…It would probably be around six and a half hours.”
After a disappointing year for Warner Bros its 8 releases in 2019 have taken £65m almost 80% less than Disney’s £305m+ The Lego Movie 2 their current biggest film taking £19m should end the year strongly with Joker, The Goldfinch Doctor Sleep and Motherless Brooklyn opening after It Chapter 2.
It Chapter 2 features one change to the books a hate crime scene (gay man attacked by a group of bigots is thrown off the bridge and then attacked and killed by Pennywise) wasn’t in the original TV series, but director Andy Muschietti said, “it was always an essential part of the story”.
Andy Muschietti said Stephen King was affected by the true story Charlie Howard, who was killed in Bangor, Maine in 1984 by a group of teens for being gay when he wrote It and included it. “Of course, the names are changed, but the beating happened almost exactly like it’s described in the book, and Charlie died in three feet of water in the canal.”
Jessica Chastain said “Stephen King wrote the novel It because a hate crime was committed in his childhood town. That darkness, he wanted to explore and that’s the first scene in our film… It’s going to be hard to talk about this without crying…. ‘I think you need that scene because he writes about the darkness that’s under the surface. The dirt under the fingernails of these small towns or of mankind. That’s what It represents. It’s the darkness of human behaviour’…. ‘I think it was important to see Adrian’s scene and not to change it from what it is in the novel because we’re living in a time right now where it is very much a part of our culture and part of our conversation, and we haven’t moved past it. So, we can’t pretend that it doesn’t still exist because it’s part of our every day,’
It Chapter 2 has competition from Event Cinema’s Fleabag – NT Live 2019 on Thursday 12th September and Downton Abbey: The Movie opening the following weekend expected to target Mamma Mia/Bridget Jones/50 Shades of Grey female heavy 35+ audience.
An immersive horror experience “It Chapter 2: The Vaults Experience” ran throughout August letting horror fans to get face to face with Pennywise over 11,000 square feet across nine different interactive spaces around Waterloo station’s disused railway tunnels.
Two years ago Warner Bros had a similar Pennywise immersive experience at the Peckhamplex cinema in London which they renamed the PennyPlex.
Warner Bros also released IT Chapter 2 VR experience as did for the first film.
In Australia parents reported the marketing campaign to the ad standards agency as it was scaring children with the images of Pennywise, the ad standards agency said there was very little they could do because they don’t have jurisdiction over where the ads are placed.
In the UK there were several promotions including at Cineworld cinemas planting hundreds of red balloons in their cinemas with some of them having free IMAX tickets. While the Vue Cinema in Edinburgh gave out comfort kits to nervous cinemagoers.
Also in partnership with the Evening Standard three huge red balloons flew over London landmarks on Friday and in the paper there were 14 sequential ads in print, a first for the paper. (but they didn’t really make much sense as they weren’t on consecutive pages and were dotted around the page so not easy to identify what they were advertising).
Fortnite teased a crossover with It over its opening weekend but it never happened.
It Chapter 1 opening took 31% of its total box office of £32,340,000 dropping 39% £6,070,542 in its second weekend. With Downton Abbey and Hustlers It Chapter 2 has tougher competition than It had two years ago with Victoria and Abdul opening with £1,846,970, mother! £831,676 and American Assassin £768,951 and will likely drop closer to 50% which will see It Chapter Two take about £24m at the UK box office 25% less.
- Once Upon A Time In Hollywood – £1,084,302 – £18,591,862
Down 41% in its fourth weekend;
Has become the 8th biggest 18 film in the UK overtaking Legend and The Silence of the Lambs (released in 1991 its £17.1m box office would be over £41m today)
Has become Sony Pictures 24th biggest film in the UK between Blade Runner 2049 and Angels and Demons and 38th biggest inflation inflated between Terminator Salvation and Blade Runner 2049;
270th biggest film in the UK between Mission: Impossible and The Lego Movie: The Second Part and 381st inflation inflated between The Secret Life of Pets 2 and The Lego Movie: The Second Part.
Has overtaken Django Unchained (£15,736,884) to become Quentin Tarantino biggest film in the UK and has taken over $310m worldwide and will shortly overtake 2009’s Inglourious Basterds $321.5m worldwide.
This would be great but when Sony Pictures acquired distribution rights they agreed to all of Quentin Tarantino demands included final cut, $95m budget and 25% of first-dollar gross and the film, rights revert back to him after 10 to 20 years. This meant that the film wouldn’t likely break even until it took over $375m worldwide only 2012’s Django Unchained has taken over $400m worldwide.
4th weekends
2013’s Django Unchained dropped 37% £1,073,775 taking £12,407,764 78.8% of £15,736,884; (fourth behind Wreck-It Ralph £4,526,380; Les Miserables £1,640,857; I Give It A Year £1,450,023)
2009’s Inglourious Basterds dropped 51% £371,784 taking £9,477,051 86.7% of £10,930,315 (£16m+ inflation inflated); 7th behind District 9 £1,184,392; The Final Destination £929,306; Dorian Gray £883,148; Sorority Row £782,693; 500 Days of Summer £582,478; Julie & Julia £540,441
The nine Quentin Tarantino films have taken over £97m in the UK and almost £147m inflation inflated.
After the 26% decline between the two It films with only 2-year gap are massive questions over how the big gap sequels will perform next year including from Sony Pictures, Ghostbusters 3 opening 31 years after Ghostbusters 2 ignoring the 2016 reboot, Bad Boys For Life opens 17 years after sequel (firs trailer was released last week) 25 years after first film and Zombieland 2: Double Tap opening 10 years after Zombieland.
As long gap sequels have had mixed success at the ox office over recent years, 28 years between Tron and Tron Legacy, 29 years between Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome and Mad Max: Fury Road, 36 years between Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049 and 54 years between Mary Poppins and Mary Poppins Returns. With Mad Max: Fury Road ($379m worldwide) the most successful and Mary Poppins Returns taking $349m less than half most expected as the 1964 original took $103m $704m inflation inflated from the US alone so must have taken more than $1bn inflation inflated.
After Spider-Man: Far From Home became the biggest Spider-Man film in the UK and Sony Pictures 7th biggest film in the UK and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood becoming Quentin Tarantino’s biggest film in the UK will their remaining films of 2019 (A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood (received rave reviews at Toronto Film Festival over the weekend but limited international appeal even with Tom Hanks starring), Black And Blue, Charlie’s Angels, Jumanji 2, Zombieland 2 and Little Women) help Sony beat last year’s total box office of £133m currently total is £67m+?
- Angel Has Fallen – £695,622 – £5,931,985
Down 42% in its third weekend;
Has overtaken total box office of White House Down (£4,175,310) which was the competing White House terrorist attack film in 2013.
Lionsgate 21st biggest film in the UK between The Expendables 2 and Fighting With My Family
3rd weekends
2016’s London Has Fallen dropped 41% taking £1,056,383 and £8,335,666 76.9% of £10,831,576
2013’s Olympus Has Fallen dropped 26% taking £672,755 and £5,163,790 84.3 % of £6,131,193
Lionsgate have had a far more successful year so far compared to last year up over 300% from 2018; Angel Has Fallen is Lionsgate’s second biggest film of 2019 after John Wick: Chapter Three. Lionsgate’s remaining films of the year includes Rambo: Last Blood (opening next Friday, Midway and Knives Out (received positive reviews at the Toronto Film Festival last week and receives its UK premiere at the London Film Festival next month before opening in November).
- The Lion King – £686,991 – £73,143,510
Down 44% in its 8th weekend
9th biggest film in the UK will shortly overtake Toy Story 3 (£73,405,113) and 29th biggest inflation inflated between Harry Potter & The Order Of The Phoenix and Beauty and the Beast.
22nd biggest 8th weekend less than -64.36% The Greatest Showman (£1,927,367); -57.72% Toy Story 4 (£1,624,953); -37.77% Frozen (£1,103,905); -27.17% Paddington (£943,320); -9.20% Toy Story 3 (£756,575); -5.47% Mamma Mia 2 (£726,771).
But more than +0.37% Black Panther (£684,430); +20.42% The Jungle Book (£570,486); +27.85% Bohemian Rhapsody (£537,344); + 64.03% Beauty and the Beast (£418,813); + 93.13% Aladdin (£355,707); +146.36% Alice in Wonderland (£278,855); + 303.81% Dumbo (£170,126).
Ahead of release given the legacy of The Lion King being a remake of the most beloved animated film of all time, the massive success of the stage-show and the hype surrounding the film, it should have surely taken closer to £100m similar to Avengers: Endgame.
Many have highlighted It Chapter 2 opening 25% less than first film, I would also suggest Avengers: Endgame, Aladdin, Toy Story 4 and The Lion King took about 20% less than many would have expected at the start of the year.
Holding again similar to last year’s Mamma Mia: Here we Go Again! in its 8th weekend taking £726,771 and fourth, but Mamma Mia 2 had less competition to deal with (#1 The Nun £4,098,198; #2 Disney’s Christopher Robin £883,916; #3 BlacKkKlansman £792,646); The Lion King almost held similar to last year’s Incredibles 2 £762,307 taking £53,279,019 95% of £56,100,000 total, If The Lion King holds similar to Incredibles 2 will take about £77m.
As The Lion King opened at the start of the summer holidays was expecting it to be leggier than all the other Disney imaginations this year the original animated film is the most beloved animated film of all time ahead of release expected it to take £100m+ but will end taking about £80m. The original 1994 animated film was the biggest film of 1994 taking over £24m (over £80m today).
12 Disney reimaginations have taken over £382m since 2010 and £394m inflation inflated; Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is Disney’s fourth reimagination opens in October sequel to Maleficent opened May 2014 with £6,590,071 taking £19,292,000 and the sequel is likely to perform similarly.
After releasing four reimaginations in 2019 Disney will only release one in 2020 and 2021 Mulan and Cruella with The Little Mermaid, Lilo & Stitch, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, Prince Charming, The Jungle Book 2 and Tink in development for theatrical release and Lady and the Tramp and The Sword in the Stone to be released on Disney+.
While Aladdin and The Lion King were always expected to be massive hits it is different with Mulan and Cruella, as the original Mulan was one of Disney’s lowest grossing animated films in the UK opening with £1,648,488 taking £9,454,609 and their 33rd biggest inflation inflated (£16,938,530) taking similar box office to Moana, Coco, The Emperor’s New Groove and The Good Dinosaur. While it’s the second reimagination of 101 Dalmatians in just over 20 years.
- Polityka – £517,255 – NE
The lack of new releases allowed the Polish film to open strongly opening on far fewer screens than other releases. Polityka was the first Polish film since Botoks opening in the top 5 ( Opened October 2017 with £792,957 from 217 screens
Other recent Polish films have opened strongly on far fewer screens than other films on release. While foreign language marketplace for English audiences has shrunk films Polish/Indian films have grown in popularity and regularly chart with the top 15.
Kobiety Mafii 2 opened #10 in March 2019 £299,502 from 253 screens
Underdog opened #13 in January 2019 £284,999 from 242 screens
Kler opened October 2018 #7 £1,006,141 from 237 screens
Pitbull. Ostatni Pies opened April 2018 £276,451 from 279 screens
UK box office in detail
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £11,975,243 up 59.6% from last weekend £7,501,394
The weekend admissions 1,594,573 up 59.6% from last weekend 998,854; average ticket £7.51 up 5% from last year’s £7.22 and Applaudience estimate ticket price of £10.28
14 films opened at weekend taking (£8,,083,487); It Chapter 2 91.1% (£7,368,586); remaining 13 films shared 8.8% (£714,901);
Top three took 76.4% (£9,148,510) of the top 10; It Chapter 2 80.5% (£7,368,586); Once Upon A Time In Hollywood 11.8% (£1,084,302); Angel Has Fallen 7.6% (£695,622)
Up 27.6% from 2018: (£9,386,760); The Nun (£4,098,198); American Animals (£347,486); The Miseducation of Cameron Post (£142,996); Puzzle (£23,565); Final Score (£9,945); #1 The Nun £4,098,198 1st week 548 screens (43.6% of top 10)
Down 14.4% from 2017: (£13,995,695); It (£10,002,443); Wind River (£437,899); Poster Boys (£24,964); #1 It £10,002,443 1st week 606 screens (71.4% of the top 10)
Up 8.7% from 2016: (£11,014,615); Sausage Party (£2,690,156); Brotherhood (£1,979,309); Cafe Society (£494,457); Morgan (£193,686); Equity (£12,923); #1 Sausage Party £2,690,156 1st week 525 screens (24.4% of the top 10)
Up 122.1% from 2015; (£5,392,011); No Escape (£637,630); Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (£431,726); The Transporter Refuelled (£352,278); American Ultra (£347,401); Ricki and the Flash (£220,032); Dope (£39,787); #1 Straight Outta Compton £1,366,741 2nd week 456 screens (25.3% of top 10)
Up 75.8% from 2014: (£6,808,576); Sex Tape (£1,431,058); Before I Go to Sleep (£790,271); The Hundred-foot Journey (£694,875); The Guest (£313,003); They Came Together (£21,951); Island of Lemurs: Madagascar (£3,341); #1 Sex Tape £1,431,058 1st week 440 screens (21.1% of top 10)
Up 50.8% from 2013: (£7,942,235); About Time (£1,761,079); Riddick (£1,415,141); #1 About Time £1,761,079 1st week 556 screens (22.1% of top 10)
Up 93.2% from 2012 (£6,196,846); Dredd (£1,049,345); Lawless (£973,234); Anna Karenina (£875,702); That’s My Boy (£254,621); #1 Dredd £1,049,345 1st week 415 screens (16.9% of top 10)
Up 38.9% from 2011 (£8,618,765); Friends with Benefits (£1,947,272); Jane Eyre (£1,012,111); Colombiana (£424,049); Troll Hunter (£200,607); #1 The Inbetweeners Movie £3,679,555 3rd week 475 screens 42% drop (24.9% of top 10)
Up 65.6% from 2010: (£7,227,858); The Last Exorcism (£1,104,856); Dinner for Schmucks (£940,586); The Switch (£666,018); Jonah Hex (£36,456); #1 The Last Exorcism £1,104,856 1st week 313 screens (15.3% of top 10)
Up 37.5% from 2009; (£8,704,321); District 9 (£2,288,378); 500 Days of Summer (£1,242,631);#1 District 9 £2,288,378 1st week 447 screens (26.3% of top 10)
Up 34.1% from 2008; (£8,929,646); Rocknrolla (£1,565,439); The Duchess (£1,402,200); Disaster Movie (£925,655); Bangkok Dangerous (£307,420); #1 Rocknrolla £1,565,439 1st week 362 screens (17.5% of top 10)
Up 70.9% from 2007: (£7,003,476); Run, Fat Boy, Run (£2,010,250); Atonement (£1,634,065); Rise of the Footsoldier (£85,903); #1 Run, Fat Boy, Run £2,010,250 1st week 413 screens (28.7% of top 10)
Up 212.7% from 2006; (£3,829,476); Right at your Door (£441,548); Little Miss Sunshine (£349,810); Pulse (£210,409); Beerfest (£208,782); Snow Cake (£23,944); #1 You, Me and Depree £746,602 3rd week 410 screens 36% drop (19.5% of top 10)
Up 96.8% from 2005 (£6,082,782); The 40-Year-Old Virgin (£1,757,540); Red Eye (£891,582); The Business (£531,267); On a Clear Day (£58,257); #1 The 40-Year-Old Virgin £1,757,540 1st week 394 screens (28.9% of top 10)
Up 87.2% from 2004 (£6,394,789); The Terminal (£1,451,168); Hellboy (£1,058,375); Stage Beauty (£128,035); #1 The Terminal £1,451,168 1st week 436 screens (22.7% of top 10)
Up 124.3% from 2003 (£5,338,138); Calendar Girls (expansion) (£1,762,505); Tears of the Sun (£406,324); Sin Eater (£161,779); Spirited Away (£152,504); #1 Calendar Girls £1,762,505 2nd week (1st #1) 462 screens (33.1% of top 10)
Up 89.9% from 2002 (£6,305,370); The Bourne Identity (£2,150,511); Importance of Being Earnest (£554,413); Once Upon A Time In The Midlands (£129,920); #1 The Bourne Identity £2,150,511 1st week 419 screens (34.1% of top 10)
Up 60.2% from 2001 (£7,473,347); Moulin Rouge (£2,403,378); Scary Movie 2 (£1,553,796); #1 Moulin Rouge £2,403,378 1st week 284 screens (32.1% of top 10);
Next weekend in 2018: (£9,647,148); The Predator (£2,394,163); Crazy Rich Asians (£1,599,858); King of Thieves (£1,535,876); #1 The Predator £2,394,163 1st week 553 screens (24.8% of top 10)
UK Box Office Top 10
US Box office
- It: Chapter Two – Warner Bros
Opened with $91.06m; received positive reviews (68% Rotten Tomatoes score) and B+ CinemaScore
Had the 72nd biggest opening in the US between Aladdin (2019) and X-Men: Days of Future Past
Ahead of release It Chapter Two was tracking to open similar to the first film ($123m) but after taking $10.5m from Thursday midnights 15% down from It Chapter 1 $13.5m weekend estimates shrank over the weekend to low 90s. Opening 26% less than It Chapter One.
20% of its US box office was from IMAX/PLF screens and $9m worldwide was from IMAX.
It Chapter One took $50.42m Friday; $44.98ml $33.62 Saturday and $20.39m Sunday
2017’s It Chapter 1 opened with $123.4m taking 37.6% of $327.48m total) having the 4th biggest opening of the year and was the 7th biggest film of the year; had the 36th biggest opening in the US $27.99m Sunday.
Was seen as a surprised that It: Chapter Two opened 26% lower than the first film but its drop was similar to Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom $148m Vs Jurassic World $208m and Fate of the Furious $98m Vs Furious 7 $147m, while Deadpool 2, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Harry Potter and Star Wars: The Last Jedi all dropped between 5% and 12%; while also many films open lower than tracking.
The divide between the megamovie box office and the rest has grown this year, is currently a $160m+ gap between #6 biggest film Aladdin $354.8m and #7 Us $175m, after It opened 26% lower than the original film it will be the first of several this fall that are likely to fill that gap with Joker, Gemini Man, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil and Terminator: Dark Fate most likely to join It.
Opened in 4,570 cinemas the widest ever opening for an R-rated film; many have used running time as a reason for a film to open less than expected is just an excuse as while the film opened in 4,200+ cinemas it’s probably showing in over 15,000 screens as most cinemas are playing it on several screens 200,000+ screenings 30m+ seats 33% occupy.
The wider films open the more screens films play on the lower the occupy these screens have with fewer sold out performances even over a film’s opening weekend Avengers Endgame probably had 50%+ occupy despite opening with $357m?
A decade or more ago a film’s opening weekend meant sold out screenings at cinemas across the weekend now it’s only IMAX/PLF as they are exclusive with most cinemas having only one compared to the 3+ standard screens that don’t sell out?
It Chapter 1 opened the same weekend two years ago with $123.4m (taking $327.5m in the US and $700m worldwide). Had the biggest ever September opening, largest Fall opening and biggest opening for an R-rated horror film; previous biggest openers were Hotel Transylvania 2 $48.5 million and Gravity’s $55.7 million and the previous biggest R-rated horror was Paranormal Activity 3’s $52.5 million;
It Chapter 1 had 86% Rotten Tomatoes score and B+ CinemaScore in comparison the first two Conjuring films received A- (The Conjuring dropped 46.9%, The Conjuring 2 63.2%, Anabelle 57.3% and Annabelle: Creation 55.4% while Get Out only 15.4% and Split 35.9%); audience was split 51% female vs. 49% male with 10% of the audience under the age of 18 65% over the age of 25.
It opened with $62m internationally from 46 territories and $179m globally with the UK the biggest international territory went on to take $700m worldwide.
Stephen King has published 54 novels including 7 under the name Richard Bachman, 6 non-fiction books and almost 200 short stories. Over 40 have been adapted into films taking over $1.48bn in the US and $1.72bn worldwide.
In two weeks’ time it will be the 25th anniversary of the most famous Stephen King adaptation Shawshank Redemption a film that famously received critical acclaim, failed to find an audience in the cinema (opened with $727,327 taking $28,341,469), failed to win Oscars but became beloved by audiences when it reached the small screen.
As often the film opened strongly on platform release opening in 33 screens, holding strongly in it second weekend and expanded into 328 screens in week 3 climbing into the top 10, but then expanded to quickly into 616 screens week 4 (against Pulp Fiction). 25 years later studios still make the same mistakes expanding films far too wide far too quickly after starting strongly on limited platform.
In the UK Shawshank Redemption was similarly poorly handled opening five months later in February 1995 opening at the Odeon Leicester Square, despite receiving rave reviews UK audiences similarly didn’t come out for it. Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption was one of four short stories in Stephen King novel Different Seasons, two others have been made into films Apt Pupil, The Body became Stand By Me, but The Breathing Method has yet to be made.
Warner Bros decided to premiere the first teaser trailer for Suicide Squad spinoff Birds of Prey in cinemas only with It: Chapter 2 as they did last month with the first teaser trailer of Christopher Nolan’s Tenet with Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw. Nowadays most trailers are seen for the first time on 4-inch phone screens instead of in cinemas. Part of the cinema experience was seeing trailers for the first time before a film, now most trailers are seen for the first time on 4-inch screens rather than 40ft.
When I ran staff screenings at Rank Film Distributors in the mid-90s would always ask the print manager when I was collecting the print if I could borrow a couple of upcoming trailers which I would attach to the front. Some people weren’t so happy with trailers being attached to the front of films as Alexander Walker stormed out of a preview theatre berating the poor publicity assistant about a trailer being attached to the front and in the process missed the start of the film.
Opened with $94m from 75 territories; Biggest Warner Bros opening weekend in 2019 in 37 territories including UK, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Argentina, Mexico and Australia.
#144 biggest Warner Bros film worldwide between Watchmen and Storks and #869 biggest film worldwide between The Spy Who Loved Me and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
- Angel has Fallen – Lionsgate
Dropped 49.2% in its third weekend taking $5.99m and $53.45m
Third weekends
2016’s London Has Fallen dropped 36.8% taking $6.84m and $50.04m total $62.52m and $205.75m worldwide
2013’s Olympus Has Fallen dropped 28.2% taking $10.16m and $71.23m total $98.92m and $170.27m worldwide
Took $44m from 15 territories and $97.45m worldwide; #53 biggest Lionsgate film worldwide between Kick-Ass and The Shack and #1,630 biggest film worldwide between 42 and Inspector Gadget.
- Good Boys – Universal Pictures
Dropped 42.4% in its fourth weekend taking $5.47m and $66.93m
Holding similar to last year’s Blockers which took $2.97m and $53.24m and $60.31m total
Fourth weekends
1999’s American Pie took $6.78m down 32.9% and $77.15m taking $121.46m
2005’s The 40-Year-Old Virgin took $7.71m down 42% and $82.12m taking $109.44m
2007’s Superbad took $7.55m down 39.4% and $103.21m taking $121.46m
Universal Pictures have taken $1.1bn at the box office this year in the US it is the 9th year running have taken over $1bn in the US are currently #2 studio in the US and will be battling it out with Warner Bros with Abominable, Last Christmas, Queen & Slim, Black Christmas, Cats and 1917 to be the #2 studio in 2019.
With The Invisible Man, Trolls World Tour, Fast & Furious 9, Minions: The Rise of Gru, Bios and Halloween Kills in 2020 they could give Disney a run for their money and possibly be #1 studio for the first time since 2015.
Took $2.3m from 29 territories and $15.6m total and $82.4m worldwide; #232 biggest Universal Pictures film worldwide between Mortal Engines and Savages and #1,870 biggest film worldwide between Firewall and Dora and the Lost City of Gold
- Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw – Universal Pictures
Dropped 41.1% in its sixth weekend taking $3.8m and $164.34m
Hobbs & Shaw us Universal Pictures 38th biggest film in the US between Fifty Shades of Grey and Jason Bourne.
Fifth biggest Fast and Furious film in the US behind the four films Dwayne Johnson starred in (Furious 7, Fast & Furious 6, The Fate of the Furious and Fast Five); Will Fast & Furious 9 be as successful without Dwayne Johnson next year?
Dwayne Johnson’s films have taken $3.56bn in the US and $10.51bn worldwide; Jumanji: The Next Level opens in December followed by Jungle Cruise next July.
The nine Fast and Furious films have taken $1.68bn in the US and $5.85bn worldwide; Fast & Furious 9 is set for release May 22nd, 2020 and Fast & Furious 10 2nd April 2021.
Took $15.7m from 69 territories internationally and $719.8m worldwide (26% from China); #110 biggest film worldwide between Gravity and Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Hobbs & Shaw has overtaken Fast Five to become the fourth biggest Fast and Furious film globally but will come short of Fast & Furious 6 ($788.7m); after Hobbs & Shaw has taken over $700m Universal Pictures will surely be dating Hobbs & Shaw 2 for summer 2022 very soon.
12th biggest Universal Pictures film worldwide between Fast and Furious 6 and Sing.
- The Lion King – Disney
Dropped 37.5% in its eighth weekend taking $4.32m and $529.23m total
101st biggest eighth weekend between Rambo: First Blood Part II and Moana; #39 Aladdin ($7.51m); #40 The Lion King 1994 ($6.01m); #68 Beauty and the Beast 1991 ($4.84m); #95 The Jungle Book ($4.44m); #66 Incredibles 2 ($4.98m); #39 Aladdin ($6.17m); #61 Beauty and the Beast (2017) ($5.08m); #63 Finding Dory ($11.28m); #137 Avengers: Endgame ($3.72m)
8th biggest Disney film in the US between Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Beauty and the Beast (2017) and 13th biggest film in the US between Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and 2017’s Beauty and the Beast
The Lion King was the 14th film to take over $500m at the US box office should be an amazing achievement for a film but as the original film took $313m in 1994 would be $700m+ inflation inflated its not as big as it looks.
The Lion King and Toy Story 4 should of surely take similar to last year’s Incredibles 2 which took $573.11m after 8 weeks 95.8% of $608.58m; after 8 weeks on release The Lion King has taken about 95% of its total box office of $545m which would see it top both The Dark Knight and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story but come $60m+ short of Incredibles 2 just missing out of becoming one of the top 10 biggest films in the US.
Rather than exhibitors worrying about Netflix films shortened theatrical window should be more concerned with films like The Lion King (opening with $191.7m) and Avengers: Endgame (opening with $357.1m) as these films open big but then drop big Avengers Endgame took 73%+ of total BO within 10 days while The Lion King took 66% of its total box office within 10 days.
20 years ago when a film took $100m at the box office was the sign of a films success but have been 749 films taking over $100m. (In 1970 Airport became one of the first films to take over $100m at the US box office will be over $500m today). Have been 211 films taking $200m+; 85 films have taken over $300m and 37 over $400m should now be the sign of a film’s success at the box office.
Disney have 119 films taking over $100m (1987’s Good Morning, Vietnam its 1st); 60 films taking over $200m (1998’s Armageddon its 1st) and 19 films taking over $400m (2006’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest its 1st).
The originally film took $422.78m (24th biggest film in the US between Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and $803.2m Inflation inflated (20th biggest film in the US between Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace and The Sting).
The Lion King took over $1m at the US box office for 35 weeks (till February 1995) taking $31285m; re-released in IMAX in 2002 taking $15.68m and in 2011 in 3D taking $94.24m with $422.78m total;
Globally took $968.5m 42nd biggest film worldwide between Despicable Me 2 and 2016’s The Jungle Book; would be about $2.5bn worldwide inflation inflated.
Decade or more ago $1bn worldwide was cool but with China inflating global BO now 42 members since 1993 as with $100m used to being sign of success both need to be doubled as should really be $1bn US and $3bn+ global club that Avengers Endgame and The Lion King should be members?
14 Disney reimaginations have taken $3.27bn in the US and $8.96bn worldwide
Took $13.4m from 50 territories and $1.069bn total and $1.599bn worldwide #7 biggest between Jurassic World and Marvel’s The Avengers; China $120.4m; UK $89.9m; France $77.9m; Brazil $68.5m; Japan $55.9m; Germany $52.1m; Mexico $51.8m; Russia $45.5m; Australia $43.4m; Spain $40.3m; Italy $37.2m; Korea $35m.
UK Box Office Predictions
Downtown Abbey was originally developed as a spin off to 2001 film Gosford Park but was instead set decades earlier, but the film is set in 1927 and Gosford Park was set in 1932 so if there were sequels the two films could crossover. This would be interesting as Dame Maggie Smith stars in both as two different people, so could we have the Gosford Park multi-universe? Earlier this year Universal Pictures also released the third part of the Elizabeth Extended Universe with Mary, Queen of Scots following on from Elizabeth and Elizabeth: The Golden Age.
Reviews for Downtown Abbey have been positive but many question the need to see it in the cinema as it feels like several episodes joined together rather than a film and similar to the Sex and the City spin off doesn’t really expand the story, feeling more like an encore a last hurrah.
Since the final episode was broadcast on ITV on Christmas Day 2015 had been rumours of a spin off film, in July 2018 it was announced a film would be made and Universal Pictures would release the film worldwide.
In September 2018 it was dated for release in the UK September 13th and a week later in the US, Danny Boyle’s Yesterday was previously dated to open which was brought forward to June.
Julian Fellowes 2002 film Gosford Park opened with £837,169 taking £11,828,088 but that was of course an original film at the time, Downton Abbey has a massive fanbase even 4 years after the last episode was shown on ITV.
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.
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 first episode of series 4 and 8.4m watch first episode of series 5; if half of those people who watched the TV series saw Downtown Abbey in the cinema it would have similar box office of last year’s Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! £65,515,994?
Has its world premiere on September 9th; ITV’s This Morning have a Downtown Abbey special the day before the film opens on September 12th.
Without advance booking data it’s hard to predict Downtown Abbey’s box office as the film will receives strong media coverage over the next 10 days but with repeats still on ITV4 why would you see the film?
Comparisons include
3008’s Sex and the City opening £8,767,265 taking £26,232,557
2001’s Bridget Jones’s Diary opening £5,720,292 taking £41,692,598
2017’s Murder on the Orient Express opening £4,985,600 taking £23,900,453
2014’s Mrs. Brown’s Boys d’Movie opening £4,301,306 taking £14,290,727
2016’s Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie opening £4,042,959 taking £15,297,486
2015’s The Second-Best Exotic Marigold Hotel opening £3,771,852 taking £15,575,797
Early September has been a strong date to open British based films including
2018 – King of Thieves opened £1,535,876 taking £6,043,321
2017 – Victoria and Abdul opened £1,846,970 taking £9,434,937
2016 – Bridget Jones’s Baby opened £8,111,077 taking £48,150,737
2015 – Legend opened £5,189,074 taking £18,202,111
2014 – Pride opened £718,778 taking £3,803,562
2013- Rush opened £2,099,308 taking £9,793,677
2013 – About Time £1,761,079
2012 – Anna Karenina £875,702
2011- Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy opened £2,814,860 taking £14,133,500
2011 – Jane Eyre £1,012,111
2008 – The Duchess £1,402,200
2007 – Atonement £1,634,065
2002 Importance of Being Earnest £554,413
2003 Calendar Girls opened £1,762,505 taking £20,174,133
Opening against Downton Abbey is Hustlers described as a very different stripper film to the likes of Showgirls and Striptease this is because Hustlers was written and directed by women and women are the leas roles, in both Showgirls and Striptease both Elizabeth Berkley are Demi Moore are victims, but the women in Hustler turn the tables on the men and take control.
While men might run most strip bars and they take 50% of what the women make, the women are in control as men become little boys in a candy shop and will spend hundreds and thousands of pounds without thinking to see the women dance in front of them. The last time I went a woman approached me asking if I wanted a dance and then took me to the ATM inside the bar, after I gave her the money and she started dancing it didn’t seem to be sexy anymore I was just thinking about the money I had lost.
Hustlers had its world premiere over the weekend at the Toronto Film Festival receiving positive reviews, its surprising STX have opted to open Hustlers against Downton Abbey as both are targeting female demographic despite being a stripper film Hustlers is very much a film about women, starring women for women. More targetting the Magic Mike audience than the Striptease and Showgirls male audience.
2012’s Magic Mike opened with £2,651,015 taking £8,111,970
2015’s Magic Mike XXL opened with £1,575,092 £6,707,029; which opened similar to 2016’s Bad Moms £1,471,466 taking £8,141,704
STX International launched two years ago in the UK but their biggest film to date was last years I Feel Pretty opening with £1.27m taking £5.38m; have had a very disappointing 2019 with The Upside currently their biggest film of the year taking £2.2m.
The UK marketplace is very tough for independent distributors so many have launched with big fanfare as STX did two years ago announcing they acquired international rights to Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman. After Martin Scorsese’s Silence flopped Paramount Pictures got cold feet and Netflix came in and acquired world rights, leaving STX without their big launch title, Netflix did similar with The Red Sea Diving Resort which was previously acquired by STX.
Over recent decades so many film distributors have launched UK operations but come up short most famously First Independent Films that spent big on two Ridley Scott directed films G.I Jane and White Squall but both films flopped, but on smaller scale was Koch Media who planned to release up to 25 films a year closed within a few years.
22 years ago this month Rank Film Distributors was sold to Carlton TV who shut it down several months later. While Rank concentrated their investment on mostly terrible US films in the 80s and 90s were the British film industry between the late 30s and 60s.
Other independent UK film distributors have been acquired by foreign companies Polygram to Universal (have had much British success with Working Title), Redbus to Lionsgate, Optimum to Studiocanal, Momentum to eOne (now sold to Hasbro) and Soda Pictures to Thunderbird. The only UK distributor to stay British and is still making British films id Entertainment Film Distributors, while they might not be the superpower they once were in the 00s to be still here 40 years on is a massive achievement.
Opening in UK Next Week
- Rambo: Last Blood – Lionsgate
The fifth instalment in the Rambo franchise and sequel to 2008’s Rambo starring Sylvester Stallone, Paz Vega, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, Adriana Barraza, Yvette Monreal, Genie Kim, Joaquín Cosío, and Oscar Jaenada and directed by Adrian Grunberg.
Plans for a fifth Rambo film was announced in 2008 and the film was on and off until production finally started in October 2018.
Teaser trailer was released in May with many comparing it to Logan and Unforgiven
2008’s Rambo opened £1,247,195 taking £2,927,437
1988’s Rambo 3 opened £1,793,805 taking £3,287,405
2010’s The Expendables opened £3,935,700 taking £9,630,137
2012’s The Expendables 2 opened £1,985,082 taking £5,938,099
2014’s The Expendables 3 opened £1,689,927 taking £3,741,848
- The Farewell – Entertainment Films
Comedy-drama starring Awkwafina, Tzi Ma, Diana Lin, Zhao Shuzhen, Lu Hong, and Jiang Yongbo and written and directed by Lulu Wang; received critical acclaim 99% Rotten Tomatoes score.
Received its world premiere the 2019 Sundance Film Festival where it was acquired by A24 for $7m worldwide and was one of only a few Sundance Film Festival acquisitions that was successful this year taking $16.1m in the US. So many films acquired at the Sundance Film Festival fail to find an audience when they are released several months later as Blinded By the Light and Late Night.
[3] and was theatrically released in the United States on July 12, 2019, by A24. It received acclaim from critics, with particular praise for Wang’s screenplay and direction and the performances of Awkwafina and Zhao Shuzhen.
- The Kitchen – Warner Bros
Crime thriller starring Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish, Elisabeth Moss, Domhnall Gleeson, James Badge Dale, Brian d’Arcy James, Common, and Bill Camp and written and directed by Andrea Berloff, based on the Vertigo comic book miniseries. (plot similar to last year’s Widows).
After starring in her breakthrough role in 2017’s Girls Trip Tiffany Haddish featured in five films (Uncle Drew, Night School, Nobody’s Fool, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part and The Secret Life of Pets 2) but The Kitchen looks from the trailers at least a film deserving of her talents starring again in s female lead film and one of a few studio films directed by a woman this year.
But adult adaptations of unknown comic-books have had mixed success at the box office over the years while RED was successful The Losers and Jonah Hex were not. While Melissa McCarthy received critical acclaim for her performance in Can You Ever Forgive Me? it wasn’t a success at the box office and the least said about The Happytime Murders the better.
Received poor reviews in the US and opened poorly opening with $5.5m in August taking $11.94m to date dropping over 2,000 screens in its third weekend. There is little point in releasing the film in the UK as it won’t find an audience but is only getting a token theatrical release to qualify for its lucrative Sky TV pay deal as so many other films that get pointless theatrical releases.
In 2010 similar adult comic-book adaptation of Jonah Hex opened with £36,456 after opening with $5.3m which was similar to The Kitchen $5.52m.
Opening in US Next Week
- Ad Astra – 20th Century Fox
Sci-fi adventure Starring Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Ruth Negga, Liv Tyler, and Donald Sutherland and produced, co-written, and directed by James Gray.
The film was originally set for January 2019 release with many expecting an Oscar qualifying week in December, then moved to May expected to premiere at Cannes, with no trailer released at the start of the year Ad Astra was never going to be released in May but it took until May 7th three weeks before it was due to be released for 20th Century Fox to officially announce its delay to September.
Of course the studio had many bigger and more important issues to deal with after Disney acquired it a few weeks earlier with many of their employees leaving, also the reason why their films have done s poorly this year, as if the marketing/publicity teams who have been working on the films since they started in development leave the studio only a few weeks before release of course they will impact on their success, while those that stayed also knew their days were also likely numbered.
While Disney has passed the blame of box office disappointments Dark Phoenix, Stuber and The Art of Racing in the Rain onto 20th Century Fox will they also pass the buck on Ad Astra to the studio despite 20th Century Fox pulling out all the stops for Ad Astra, doing what they have done so well previously with similar films.
While Ad Astra was made under 20th Century Fox its marketing has been Disney as was the case with The Art of Racing in the Rain, but still Disney passed the blame to Fox, so its likely if Ad Astra underwhelms it will be a Fox film, but if it succeeds it’s a Disney film.
James Gray announced plans to write and direct Ad Astra at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016; while promoting The Lost City of Z he compared the story of Ad Astra to Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and said he wanted it to be “the most realistic depiction of space travel that’s been put in a movie and to basically say, ‘Space is awfully hostile to us.'”
James Gray said recently “I won’t lie to you, it’s strange that you make this adult-oriented science fiction epic and it’s the Disney corporation that’s releasing it,” “But having said that, they’ve been fantastic. They love the film, they’ve been really embracing of it.
Director James Gray has received critical acclaim for his previous films but none of them have been successful at the box office; his 6 films have taken $44m at the US box office and $97.4m worldwide so it was always going to be a big ask for Ad Astra to be a similar success as The Martian, Gravity, Interstellar or Contact.
James Gray is in a similar position as Denis Villeneuve was with Blade Runner 2049 in 2017 but at least he made 2016’s Arrival (taking $100m US and $203m worldwide); Blade Runner 2049 received critical acclaim but as with the original film failed to attract a wide audience opening with $32.75m taking $92.1m in the US, it was more successful internationally taking $167.2m and $259.2m worldwide, but with a $150m budget wasn’t seen as a success.
Ad Astra is likely to do similar open with $20m+ (similar to 1997’s Contact) and take $90m+ but be slightly more successful internationally but the difference is Ad Astra opens against much tougher competition.
Blade Runner 2049 had Happy Death Day, Geostorm and Jigsaw opening over its following weekends with American Made opening weekend before, while Ad Astra has Rambo: Last Blood and Downton Abbey opening against it and then Abominable, Joker and Gemini Man the following weekends. This is the problem when a film gets slotted in to release schedule as these other films were dated many months before and are seen as much more commercial.
Had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on August 29, 2019 receiving critical acclaim (86% Rotten Tomatoes) but as with Blade Runner 2049 two years could be do more damage than good as it will be a film for film fans but not mainstream audiences.
Do have the fear that Ad Astra will look speculator have critics gushing as they did with Blade Runner 2049, but audiences will respond much less positively as they did with Blade Runner 2049 and Solaris 2003 remake directed by Steven Soderbergh starring George Clooney instead of 20th Century Fox’s other hugely successful recent sci-fi film The Martian (directed by Ridley Scott and starring Matt Damon) strange coincidence that all three actors starred in Ocean’s 11 trilogy directed by Steven Soderbergh.
Ocean’s 11 connection between many of these grown up sci-fi films George Clooney with Solaris and Gravity Matt Damon The Martian and now Brad Pitt with Ad Astra. Brad Pitt has starred in 43 films since 1991’s Thelma and Louise taking $2.85bn in the US (12 $100m+) and $7.31bn worldwide. Has had similar success to Matt Damon ($3.19bn US (12 $100m+) and $6.99bn worldwide from 42 films) and George Clooney ($2.07bn US (5 $100m+) and $4.64bn worldwide from 34 films).
Comparisons have been made to
Solaris opened November 2002 with $6,752,722 taking $14,973,382
Contact opened July 1997 with $20,584,908 taking $100,920,329
While Grown up autumn released sci-fi films have been popular at the box over recent years
Gravity opened October 2013 with $55,785,112 taking $274,092,705
Interstellar opened November 2014 with $47,510,360 taking $188,020,017
The Martian opened October 2015 with $54,308,575 taking $228,433,663
Arrival opened November 2016 with $24,074,047 taking $100,546,139
Blade Runner 2049 opened October 2017 with $32,753,122 taking $92,054,159
First Man opened October 2018 with $16,006,065 taking $44,936,545
While 20th Century Fox have had success over recent years targetting older demographics including
20018’s Bohemian Rhapsody opened $51,061,119 taking $216,428,042
2017’s Murder on the Orient Express opened $28,681,472 taking $102,826,543
2016’s The Revenant opened limited $474,560 (wide $39,826,840) taking $183,637,894
2016’s Hidden Figures limited $515,499 (wide $22,800,057) taking $169,607,287
2014’s Gone Girl opened $37,513,109 taking $167,767,189
2012’s Life of Pi opened $22,451,514 taking $124,987,023
2012’s Prometheus opened $51,050,101 taking $126,477,084
2012’s The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel opened limited $737,051 (wide $6,383,203) taking $46,412,041
2011’s Black Swan opened limited $1,443,809 (wide $6,254,986) taking $106,954,678
2006’s The Devil Wears Prada opened $27,537,244 taking $124,740,460
2004’s I, Robot opened $52,179,887 taking $144,801,023
2001’s Moulin Rouge opened limited $167,540 (wide $13,718,306) taking $57,386,607
Many believe 20th Century Fox future of making original films is on the success of Ad Astra and Ford v Ferrari as Disney don’t take as many risks on original films as 20th Century Fox have done over the years as wouldn’t have made films like The Greatest Showman or Bohemian Rhapsody). There was a hope that Disney would use 20th Century Fox as they did with Touchstone Pictures making adult focussed films but there is a fear that it will be just used to make reimaginations for the library for Disney+.
The success of Ad Astra and Le Man’s 66 could be seen as referendums on the future of 20th Century Fox making original films.
Do find it interesting that both Ad Astra and Jojo Rabbit have received positive reviews and are seen as Disney films now even though they were made at the same time as The Art of Racing in the Rain, Stuber, Ready or Not and Dark Phoenix while those were seen as Fox films. If Ad Astra fails to find an audience or Jojo Rabbit fails to win Oscars then they will surely be seen as Fox films again.
Cinema-goers watching these films will just seen the Fox or Fox Searchlight logo before the film, while the studio is now owned by Disney they still have separate identities.
Its surprising that Disney would want their name attached to Jojo Rabbit as it has received a lot of controversy and caused a Disney executive to panic while watching it. As Disney previously owned Miramax in the 90s and ran it as as separate company, while they released films like Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill international. Would have possibly thought they would want to do similar with Fox and Fox Searchlight.
- Rambo: Last Blood – Lionsgate
The fifth Rambo film opening 27 years after First Blood (opening with $6,642,005 taking $47,212,904) the previous films have taken $294.1m in the US ($698m inflation inflated) and $728m worldwide.
Rambo and Rocky made Sylvester Stallone one of the biggest action film stars in the 1980s after having success rebooting Rocky with Creed films it’s no surprise Rambo is also back.
Sylvester Stallone 43 films have taken $2.55bn in the US ($5.01bn inflation inflated) and $4.65bn worldwide.
As Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone star power waned in the late 90s so its no wonder as the rest of Hollywood is doing he would choose to go back to Rambo and Rocky which made him the massive 80s star. In November Arnold Schwarzenegger “will be back” again 35 years later in Terminator: Dark Fate produced by James Cameron.
2008’s Rambo opened with $18.2m taking $42.75m and Rambo: Last Blood is tracking to open with a similar amount (similar also to 1985’s Rambo: First Blood Part II $20.17m taking $150.41m) which could see it open ahead of Ad Astra.
- Downton Abbey – Focus Features
Historical period drama starring Hugh Bonneville, Jim Carter, Michelle Dockery, Elizabeth McGovern, Maggie Smith and Penelope Wilton written by Julian Fellowes and directed by Michael Engler.
Since the final episode was broadcast on ITV on Christmas Day 2015 had been rumours of a spin off film, in July 2018 it was announced a film would be made and Universal Pictures would release the film worldwide.
Downtown Abbey could be a spinoff to Julian Fellowes 2001 film Gosford Park opened limited $241,219 taking $41,308,615
The first series broadcast on PBS In January 2012 had 4.2m viewers, the second series averaged 5.4m viewers; the final episode of Downtown Abbey was broadcast on PBS in March 2016 with an audience of 9.6m; it was sold to over 220 territories by the time of the fifth series in 2013 was viewed by an estimated global audience of 120 million.
Universal Pictures acquired British production company Carnival Films who made Downtown Abbey the TV series and also produced the film. While they have had strong success making TV series over the last 41 years Downtown Abbey is their third feature film, their other two 1997’s Firelight and 1991’s Under Suspicion were far from successful.
Comparisons include
3008’s Sex and the City opening $57,038,404 taking $152,647,258
2001’s Bridget Jones’s Diary opening $10,733,933 taking $71,543,427
2017’s Murder on the Orient Express opening $28,681,472 taking $102,826,543
2015’s The Second-Best Exotic Marigold Hotel opening $8,540,370 taking $33,078,266
2014’s The Grand Budapest Hotel opened $811,166 on limited taking $59,301,324
2012’s The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel opened $737,051 on limited taking $46,412,041
2008’s Mamma Mia! opened $27,751,240 taking $144,130,063