1. Last Christmas – £2,654,354  – NE

538^th biggest opening between Halloween and Non-Stop (close to The Other Woman, A Quiet Place, Two Weeks’ Notice and Nanny McPhee) and 750^th biggest inflation inflated opening between 50 First Dates and The Guru (close to Click, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, The American President and One Day).

67^th biggest Universal Pictures opening between Halloween and Nanny McPhee & the Big Bang (close to Little Fockers, Bridesmaids, Yesterday and One Day) and 77^th biggest inflation inflated opening between Halloween and One Day.

While we might speak the same language in the UK as the US the opening of Last Christmas shows how different British cinemagoers taste in comedy is different to the US with UK audiences falling for the award twee humour again as it has done so many times with Richard Curtis scripts. While cinemagoers might be more grownup with adult-targeted films British cinema comedy hasn’t changed since Four Weddings and a Funeral 25 years ago.

Reviews compared Last Christmas to 1947’s Down to Earth/Meet Joe Black (remade in 1980 as Xanadu and then 2001 as Down to Earth) and 1988’s Chances Are had similar themes to it.

Last Christmas received very poor reviews in the US including Rolling Stone review ““There are god-awful holiday movies…and then there’s Last Christmas. Our one-star review.” Paul Feig responded on Twitter “As a lifelong Rolling Stone reader, I sincerely thank you for your opinion. We can’t win everybody over, but we will continue to try! I swear all of our hearts were in the right place. Can our one star at least be a really really big star?

In the UK was expecting the film to have slightly better reviews but even Mark Kermode was disappointed and found issues with Emma Thompson’s script, which brought her politics into the film including Brexit,

As soon as the trailer was released comparisons were made with Love Actually and The Holiday and Last Christmas opened similar to The Holiday which similarly received poor reviews, but British audiences fell for it far more than US audiences.

2003’s Love Actually opened £6,657,479 (£10,825,901 inflation inflated) taking £36,026,147 (£58,583,059 inflation inflated)

2006’s The Holiday opened £2,826,520 taking £12,097,597

2008’s Four Christmases opened £2,275,585 taking £10,222,998

2001’s Serendipity opened £635,042 (£1,107,489 inflation inflated) taking £1,986,773 (£3,464,855 inflation inflated)

2000’s The Family Man opened £521,322 (£909,165 inflation inflated) taking £3,201,076 (£5,582,553 inflation inflated)

The rom-com genre has underperformed over the last decade with audiences going to Netflix for their rom-com fix so will cinemagoers come back to see Last Christmas.

1989 is the 30th anniversary of the classic rom-com When Harry Met Sally and the 25th anniversary of Miracle on 34th Street remake.

Emilia Clarke was upset that spoilers were being revealed on social media about the film, but the title Last Christmas is the films biggest spoiler once you know the film features George Michael songs, as the next line is “I gave you my heat”… as the twist is Tom gave Kate her heart.

This spoiler was also in the trailer, so surely if filmmakers were concerned over spoilers they didn’t need to put them into trailers.

While film fans hate spoilers in trailers has been researched in the past that many cinemagoers like having spoilers in the trailers as the trailers are made for the undecided audience rather than those who were always going to see it.

The film had the lowest number of screens for a #1 since Fighting With My Family in March, 612 screens. Films are opening far too wide, 14 years ago Love Actually opened on third fewer screens than Last Christmas but opened with 60%+ more and there has been 6%+ ticket inflation since.

Since cinemas switched to digital films are opening much wider with 600+ cinemas launches being the norm for most studio releases, as the films often play on multiple screens Last Christmas was probably playing in over 1,000 screens. 20 years ago 300+ was the norm to open the majority of films, but nowadays distributors feel the need to open films as wide as possible as films rarely get the chance to expand after their first weekend.

2. Le Man’s 66 – £2,000,0000  – NE

755^th biggest opening between The Boxtrolls and Dear John (close to Need for Speed, Bend It Like Beckham, The Expendables 2 and The Equalizer 2) and 991^st biggest inflation inflated opening between Poseidon and The Sum Of All Fears (close to State of Play, Fight Club, Saw and The Lovely Bones).

132^nd biggest 20^th Century Fox opening between Juno and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (close to Alien vs Predator, Chronicle, Master and Commander and The Descendants) and 167^th biggest inflation inflated between Fantastic Mr. Fox and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (close to In Her Shoes, Unstoppable, Red Sparrow and The Monuments Men)

Le Man’s 66 joins the list of films opening with a clean number is one of a few wide films that have opened over last 15 years that have had clean box office numbers, with most cinema tickets having odd prices it does feel like totals for these films have been rounded up; Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil £3.3m; Toy Story 4 £13.3m; Avengers: Endgame £43.4m; Captain Marvel £12.75m; Incredibles 2 £9.65m; Black Panther £17.7m; Beauty and the Beast £19.7m

Direct comparisons have been made to Ron Howard’s Rush (opened £2,099,308 taking £9,793,677); Bridge of Spies (opened £1,682,392 taking £7,434,272); Sully (opened £1,786,844 taking £7,386,195); Walk the Line (opened £1,111,142 taking £9,737,493); Argo (opened £1,287,770 taking

The two titles make the film sound like different films Ford v Ferrari, tells you immediately it’s the battle between Ford and Ferrari but Le Man’s 66 makes you think it’s a racing film more like Days of Thunder or Fast and Furious. What confuses the change, even more, is the adverts say it’s the incredible true story between Ford and Ferrari, and mentions Ford and Ferrari twice

James Mangold said the reason for the change of title was due to trademark laws in the UK but Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man, The Devil Wears Prada, The Coca-Cola Kid and Because of Winn-Dixie titles weren’t changed, while Disney changed the title of the 1990 James Belushi comedy from Taking Care of Business to trademarked Filofax.  

It would kind of made some sense if the international release was weeks or months after the US but opening day and date just causes unnecessary confusion.

Films do often change their titles in non-English speaking territories but in English speaking countries its rarer the most high-profile in the UK was Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in the US and Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in the UK and 2014’s Neighbours became Bad Neighbour in the UK to avoid confusion with the Australian soap.

The film was originally developed with Brad Pitt in the lead in 2009 and Michael Mann directing and in 2013 Tom Cruise joined the cast (previously starring together in Interview With a Vampire and he also starred in racing drama Days of Thunder), but they both moved onto other projects in 2013, James Mangold was signed in early 2018.

20th Century Fox has had a very disappointing 2019 with their 12 releases taking only £43m to date; last year had huge success with Deadpool 2 and Bohemian Rhapsody but then many of their others failed to find an audience as is the case today for all studios apart from Disney one film can make or break the studio.

2019 was always going to be a difficult year as it must have been hard putting a slate together with the impending acquisition overhanging everything they did last year. While Disney wasn’t allowed to have any direct dealings with the studio whilst its acquisition was going through, must have been some off the record discussions that resulted into changes at the studio. As the acquisition moved forward into this year, the failure of many their slate of films and started with being acquired by Disney who immediately shutdown many film projects the studio had been developing for years.

Whilst the studio had to deal with several films that were delayed for different reasons, Alita: Battle Angel, Dark Phoenix and Ad Astra, while Fox delayed the release of Titanic 22 years ago from July to December, few films over the years since have been successful after being delayed.

After 20^th Century Fox has had strong success making these adult dramas over the years it’s unlikely  they will continue to make them as one of the first moves by Disney after they acquired the studio was shut down their development slate which saw many films they had developed acquired by rival studio (including News of the World starring Tom Hanks and directed by Paul Greengrass acquired by Universal and dated for next Christmas). only have The Woman in The Window and Death on the Nile and West Side Story next year all set up before Disney acquired the studio.

3. Joker – £1,009,308  – £56,104,382

Down 39.5% in its 7^th weekend

Dropped 31.8% in its sixth weekend holding #1 for as many weeks as Avatar 9 years ago; has become the joint 4th longest #1 (along with 1999’s The World’s Not Enough and 2009’s Avatar) in the UK after 1998’s Titanic was the longest ever #1 with 13 consecutive weekends; 2000’s Toy Story 2 and Gladiator 7 weeks

23^rd biggest 7th weekend in the UK (23^rd film to take over £1m over 7th weekend) between Black Panther and Jurassic World.

4th biggest comic-book movie after Avengers: Endgame (£88.69m); Avengers: Infinity War (£70.8m); The Dark Knight Rises (£56.23m) overtaking Marvel’s Avengers Assemble (£51.87m).

25th biggest film in the UK between The Dark Knight Rises and Incredibles 2 and 5th biggest Warner Bros film in the UK (by Wednesday will overtake The Dark Knight Rises to become their biggest comic-book film ever in the UK); Warner Bros 10th film to take over £50m at the box office since 2001’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and first film since 2017’s Dunkirk and Warner Bros second-biggest comic-book film in the UK after The Dark Knight Rises (£56,237,758); 57th biggest inflation inflated film between Shrek The  Third and Incredibles 2.

4th biggest film of 2019 after Avengers: Endgame, The Lion King and Toy Story 4 overtaking Captain Marvel, Aladdin and Spider-Man Far From Home; Disney currently have 6 of the top 10 biggest films of 2019; Frozen 2 and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will join Avengers: Endgame, The Lion King, Toy Story 4, Captain Marvel, Aladdin next month with Joker, Spider-Man Far From Home and either Jumanji: The Next Level or Cats being the three non-Disney films in the top 10 biggest films of the year.

The UK industry often use the 10% of US box office to predict box office of US Vs the UK which is normally the case with general blockbusters (Aladdin, Avengers: Endgame) but Joker (currently 17.3%) is close to Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (15%); films often attract an older audience in the UK as Dunkirk was similarly much strong (but had the Brit boost) so maybe that explains why Joker has performed much stronger in the UK than the US.

After the success of Joker and recently Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Shazam next year’s DC Vs MCU looks like it will be an even battle DC have Bird of Prey and Wonder Woman: 1984 and  Marvel has Black Widow and Externals.

One of the reasons why Joker has been so much more successful in the UK than US is that it received a surprising lower certificate in the UK than US receiving a 15 while in the US it was R-rated, normally BBFC will opt for the higher certificate giving many PG-13’s 15 certificates.

The 15 certificate probably doubled its box office as it let in children as young as 15 to see it, as children will always see films in a higher certificate, my first 18 was Fatal Attraction in 1988 at the Plaza Lower Regent Street, I was 15 at the time. While the 15-certificate helped Joker it probably helped alienate Doctor Sleep audience, as the original film The Shining was famously an X certificate (only recently been reclassified as a 15.

4. Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil – £690,871   –  £14,036,745

Down 32.6% in its fifth weekend;

Held similar to Disney reimaginations 4th weekends

2015’s Cinderella #3 took £757,113 30% drop and £18.43m 88% of £20.96m  

2013’s Oz: The Great and Powerful #6 took £574,318 41% drop and £13.66m 91.2% of £14.98m

2014’s Maleficent #4 took £819,504 16% drop and £16.56m 86% of £19.29m

2019’s Dumbo #2 took £1,016,016 up 8% and £23.34m 93% of £25.13m;

2018’s Christopher Robin #5 took £521,842 41% drop and £13.17m 89% of £14.86m

if Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil holds similar will take about £16m.

398th biggest film in the UK between Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues and Kung Fu Panda; 78^th biggest Disney film between The Good Dinosaur and Chicken Little (close to Christopher Robin, Oz: The Great and Powerful, The Lion King 3D and 102 Dalmatians); 102^nd Disney film to take £10m+

Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil  is the 17^th biggest film of 2019 between The Lego Movie 2 and Yesterday and 7^th biggest film in 2019

Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil had the advantage of half-term holidays over two weeks and Halloween this weekend while Maleficent only had one half-term week when it opened in May 2014 will face competition for preteen girls with Frozen 2 this weekend.

The 13 Disney re-imaginations have taken £400m in the UK and almost £410m inflation inflated; the four Disney re-imaginations released this year (Dumbo, Aladdin, The Lion King and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil) have taken over £150m at the UK box office.

After releasing 4 re-imaginations this year and one for Disney+ (The Lady and the Tramp) Disney have only one theatrical re-imagination in 2020 Mulan having delayed Cruella to 2021, with The Sword in the Stone going to Disney+. The Little Mermaid, Pinocchio, Tink, Rose Red and Hunchback are all in development. Unlike Aladdin and The Lion King, the original Mulan animated film wasn’t a huge success at the box office and opens against Peter Rabbit 2 next March, the first was a massive success in the UK so surprising Disney is going head to head.

5. The Addams Family – £646,751   -£9,069,446

Down 36.2% in its fourth weekend; holding strongly for its fourth weekend but with Frozen 2 opening Friday all the other children’s films will drop much more this weekend.

4^th weekends

2015’s Hotel Transylvania 2 dropped 54% taking £1,105,023 and £17,510,007 87.2% of £20,080,060 if The Addams Family holds similarly will take £9m+.

2012’s Hotel Transylvania took £810,821 and £6,833,768 88.5% of £7,722,310.

29th biggest film of 2019 between Alita: Battle Angel and Godzilla: King Of The Monsters and 8th biggest Universal Pictures film between Mary Queen of Scots and Abominable;

114th biggest animated film in the UK between Ferdinand and Bee Movie (close to Mulan, Megamind, The Boxtrolls and Hotel Transylvania) and 123^rd biggest inflation inflated animated film between Sherlock Gnomes and The LEGO Ninjago Movie.

The Addams Family was previously made into a film in 1991 taking £10.4m (£24.78m inflation inflated); the sequel Addams Family Values in 1993 took £6.5m (£14.61m inflation inflated)

Universal Pictures has had a strong 2019 with their 21 films taking over £150m with Last Christmas and Cats still to open could take upwards of £190m would be down 20% £232m from 2018 but against the might of Disney’s slate this year it’s positive, especially as it was from a mix of films and genres, including Downtown Abbey, Hobbs & Shaw, The Secret Life of Pets 2, Yesterday and Us unlike Disney.

Universal Pictures has a much stronger 2020 slate including the next James Bond Never Time to Die, Fast & Furious 9, Minions 2, Legally Blonde 3, Emma, Halloween Kills and Last Night in Soho, which could see Universal Pictures overtake Disney for the first time since 2015.

UK box office in detail

This weekend’s top 10 box office took £8,886,414 up 4.1% from last weekend £8,534,914

The weekend admissions 1,183,277 up 7.6% from last weekend 1,099,194

12 films opened at weekend taking (£4,965,968); Last Christmas 53.4% (£2,654,354); Le Man’s 66 40.3% (£2,000,000); remaining 10 films shared 6.3% (£311,614);

Top three took 63.7% (£5,663,662) of the top 10; Last Christmas 28.9% (£2,654,354); Le Man’s 66 22.5% (£2,000,000); Joker 11.3% (£1,009,308);

Down 60.8% from 2018: (£22,674,299); Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (£12,318,966); Burn the Stage: The Movie (£644,308); Suspiria (£166,257); Hell Fest (£78,116); 9 To 5 (Re: 2018) (£7,514); #1 Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald £12,318,966 1st week 674 screens (54.3% of top 10)

Down 52.6% from 2017: (£18,740,071); Justice League (£7,264,784); Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool (£236,317); The Exterminating Angel – Met Opera 2017 (£98,593); Ingrid Goes West (£65,750); #1 Justice League £7,264,784 1^st week 578 screens (38.7% of the top 10)

Down 58.9% from 2016: (£21,643,947); Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (£15,333,146); Andre Rieu: Christmas With Andre 2016 (£1,180,208); #1 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them £15,333,146 1^st week 666 screens (70.8% of the top 10)

Down 40.1% from 2015; (£14,812,116); The Lady in the Van (£2,256,121); Steve Jobs (£903,214); The Hallow (£51,742); Fathers and Daughters (£25,199); #1 SPECTRE £7,833,891 3^rd week 617 screens 40% drop (52.8% of top 10)

Down 24.1% from 2014: (£11,703,689); The Imitation Game (£2,742,725); Nativity 3: Dude, Where’s My Donkey? (£1,800,419); The Drop (£637,867); Third Person (£2,294); #1 Interstellar £3,777,804 2^nd week 576 screens 30% drop (32.3% of top 10)

Down 24.8% from 2013: (£11,818,983); The Counsellor (£815,051); The Butler (£794,044); Don Jon (£343,535); Dom Hemingway (£98,232); In Fear (£41,335); Battle of the Year (£34,821); #1 Gravity £4,838,152 2^nd week 571 screens 22% drop (40.9% of top 10)

Down 64.7% from 2012 (£25,176,278); The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 (£15,850,825); Amour (£115,700); Mental (£12,849); #1 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 £15,850,825 1^st week 558 screens (63% of top 10)

Down 8.2% from 2011 (£9,676,951); Immortals (£2,166,432); Arthur Christmas (£2,112,516); The Rum Diary (£608,055); The Awakening (£273,083); Trespass (£247,957); Wuthering Heights (£156,931); Tabloid (£4,618); #1 Immortals £2,166,432 1^st week 428 screens (22.4% of top 10)

Up 15.2% from 2010: (£7,711,855); Skyline (£1,206,207); You Again (£145,034); #1 Due Date £1,898,324 2^nd week 452 screens 19% drop (24.6% of top 10)

Down 36.6% from 2009; (£14,013,567); 2012 (£6,489,809); Harry Brown (£1,271,814); The White Ribbon (£72,226); Amelia (£49,224); Taking Woodstock (£41,348); #1 2012 £6,489,809 1^st week 480 screens (46.3% of top 10)

Down 9.3% from 2008; (£9,795,141); Max Payne (£1,004,995); Zack and Miri Make a Porno (£798,205); The Baader-Meinhof Complex (£108,791); #1 Quantum of Solace £5,164,182 3^rd week 549 screens 44% drop (52.7% of top 10)

Down 0.2% from 2007: (£8,899,926); American Gangster (£2,564,853); Beowulf (£2,199,848); Brick Lane (£194,745); The Jane Austen Book Club (£50,052); Earth (£24,286); #1 American Gangster £2,564,853 1^st week 410 screens (28.8% of top 10)

Down 4.9% from 2006; (£9,349,640); The Prestige (£1,184,996); Breaking & Entering (£364,886); Starter for Ten (£207,345); #1 Borat £4,510,657 2^nd week 430 screens 28% drop (48.2% of top 10)

Up 16.5% from 2005 (£7,626,912); In Her Shoes (£1,337,176); The Constant Gardener (£1,004,641); Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (£458,826); #1 In Her Shoes £1,337,176 1^st week 325 screens (17.5% of top 10)

Down 41.9% from 2004 (£15,300,361); Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (£10,435,193); Ladies in Lavender (£423,313); Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid (£194,597); #1 Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason £10,435,193 1^st week 504 screens (68.2% of top 10)

Up 33.9% from 2003 (£6,633,990); The Medallion (£106,797); The Mother (£59,077); Octane (£9,910); #1 The Matrix Revolutions £2,575,595 1^st week 466 screens 70% drop (38,8% of top 10)

Down 60.1% from 2002 (£22,279,336); Harry Potter Chamber Of Secrets (£18,871,829); Super Troopers (£269,696); Bowling For Columbine (£157,898); #1 Harry Potter Chamber Of Secrets £18,871,829 1^st week 524 screens (84.7% of top 10)

Down 54.8% from 2001 (£19,644,298); Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (£16,335,627); Ghost World (£133,188); #1 Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone £16,335,627 1^st week 507 screens (83.1% of top 10);

Next weekend in 2018: (£15,238,186); Robin Hood (£1,330,387); Nativity Rocks! (£834,414); The Girl in the Spider’s Web (£557,403); Shoplifters (£117,555); Assassination Nation (£70,891); Nobody’s Fool (£70,703); #1 Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald £5,622,755 2^nd week 679 screens 54% drop (36.9% of top 10)

Other Box Office News

The UK market (as the US) has been down for the last 4 weeks from last year; top 10 was 61% down from 2018 when Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald opened with £12,318,966 and was the lowest November equivalent weekend since 2010 when Skyline opened #1 with £1,206,207.

After many sequels and reboots have underperformed this autumn Frozen 2 opens this weekend bucking that trend likely to open close to double of the original film (£4.7m) if Frozen 2 takes £50m+; Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker £100m+; Jumanji: The Next Level £40m+ and Cats £30m+ 2019 could still end slightly ahead of 2018.

Cats is being positioned as that musical alternative to Star Wars and Jumanji as the Greatest Showman was to previous instalments 2 years earlier, the difference is  little was expected from The Greatest Showman, while Cats has a reported $300m budget, based on hugely popular stage show,, but the first trailer received poor buzz, it will perform stronger in the UK than the US with the strong British cast and UK audiences love their musicals.

It’s unlikely Frozen 2 will have the legs of the original, likewise with Jumanji: The Next Level while after The Last Jedi and Solo it’s unlikely The Rise of Skywalker will match the box office of The Force Awakens. Even Bob Iger admitted that Disney made too many Star Wars films which will see a three-year gap until a new trilogy of films opens over alternate years in December to Avatar sequels which also have big questions with Avatar 2 opening 12 years after the original.

With the slate of films this year box office should have cantered past last years box office by now, while there are massive questions over next years slate as its hard to see other £50m+ earners apart from No Time To Die (£100m+), there are a lot of sequels, properties, remakes and reimaginations but few of the size of 2019 while Disney doesn’t have nearly as strong a slate as 2019.

Netflix’s The Irishman is now playing in about 100 screens and they also have Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story on limited release, while Netflix doesn’t report box office but both films are playing strongly in independent cinemas and have likely taken over £500k.

 

UK Box Office Top 10

US Box office

• Ford v Ferrari – 20th Century Fox

Opened with $31.47m; receiving critical acclaim reviews (92% Rotten Tomatoes) and A+ CinemaScore

Over 50% of the audience was males over 25 and 30% came from females over 25 which should mean Ford v Ferrari should hold strong over thanksgiving as its unlikely 21 Bridges will be much competition for it this weekend.

20^th Century Fox’s second #1 film this year after Alita: Battle Angel opened with $28.52m in February (in 2018 had 4 #1’s Maze Runner: The Death Cure, Deadpool 2, The Predator and Bohemian Rhapsody).

62^nd biggest 2019 film between Harriet and Long Shot and 307^th biggest 20^th Century Fox film in the US between From Hell and Picture Perfect and 2,691th biggest inflation inflated between Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist and Zack and Miri Make a Porno.

Ford v Ferrari was always the diamond in a rough of 20^th Century Fox 2019 slate and the one likely to be their biggest film of the year as it is a genre of films the studio has had much success this century 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

Ford v Ferrari is James Mangold’s first film since 2017’s Logan and 5th film he has directed for 20th Century Fox (Walk the Line, Knight and Day, The Wolverine and Logan) and Matt Damon’s 9th (1996’s Courage Under Fire was one of his first major roles) and is his first major role since Downsizing, Suburbicon and The Great Wall).

2005’s Walk The Line (opened with $22.43m taking $129.51m and $187.7m worldwide) and go on to Oscar success; his biggest openers 2017’s Logan ($88.41m taking $226.27m and $615.46m worldwide) and 2013’s The Wolverine (opened with $53.11m taking $32.55m and $416.45m).

Opened with $21.4m from 41 territories and $52.4m worldwide; Russia $3.2m; UK $2.3m; France $2.3m; Australia $1.7m; Italy $1.3m; Mexico $1.1m; Germany $1m; Spain $0.9m; 111^th biggest 2019 international film between Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon and Charlie’s Angels and 90^th biggest film worldwide between Long Shot and Breakthrough; 257^th biggest 20^th Century Fox film international between Hope Floats and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules and 283^rd biggest 20^th Century Fox film worldwide between My Cousin Vinny and Silver Streak

• Charlie’s Angels – Sony Pictures

Opened with $8.35m; received poor reviews (59% Rotten Tomatoes score) and B+ CinemaScore

Charlie’s Angels reboot always seemed like a poor idea and was always likely to fail, but the biggest disappointment was it’s a film with three leading ladies and directed by a woman.

Sony Pictures seemed to of made the same mistakes they did with Men in Black International as they attempted to relaunch Charlie’s Angels but without similar-sized stars that featured in the previous films as Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott and Ella Balinska are no match for Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu all far more successful actresses in 2000.

Director Elizabeth Banks gave an interview before the film opened said “Look, people have to buy tickets to this movie, too. This movie has to make money,”… “If this movie doesn’t make money it reinforces a stereotype in Hollywood that men don’t go see women do action movies.” When asked about the success of female action films Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman she said They’ll go and see a comic book movie with Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel because that’s a male genre,”…  “So even though those are movies about women, they put them in the context of feeding the larger comic book world, so it’s all about, yes, you’re watching a Wonder Woman movie but we’re setting up three other characters or we’re setting up ‘Justice League.’”… “By the way, I’m happy for those characters to have box office success,” ..  “but we need more women’s voices supported with money because that’s the power. The power is in the money.”

In another interview, she was asked why she decided to direct the third film saying, “You’ve had 37 Spider-Man movies and you’re not complaining!”…  “I think women are allowed to have one or two action franchises every 17 years — I feel totally fine with that.”… “Being in a big franchise allows you to have it all,”…  “I recognize the same thing, it’s almost unfair for women. The best roles are usually in small movies, but then you don’t make any money. It’s okay to want to make money.”

Charlie’s Angels joins the long list of underperforming sequels this year including Doctor Sleep, Terminator Dark Fate, Men In Black International, MIB International, The Lego Movie 2, The Secret Life of Pets 2, Angry Birds 2 and even Disney weren’t immune Toy Story 4 barely took more than Toy Story 3 despite 10-year gap and Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil will take much less than the first film.

This does leave massive questions for 2020 slate which is very sequel heavy but without the massive properties that were released this year from Disney, there are no films the size of Avengers: Endgame, Toy Story 4, The Lion King, Frozen 2 and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

The Grudge, Bad Boys For Life, Birds of Prey, Godzilla Vs Kong, A Quiet Place: Part 2, Peter Rabbit: The Runaway, No Time to Die, Trolls World Tour, Black Widow, Legally Blonde 3, Saw reboot, Scoob, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, Fast & Furious 9, Wonder Woman; 1984, Candyman, Top Gun: Maverick, Minions: The Rise of Gru, Purge Sequel, Ghostbuster 2020, Escape Room 2, Bill & Ted Face the Music,  The Conjuring 3, Death on the Nile, G.I Joe 3, Halloween Kills, The Externals, Coming to America 2 and The Croods 2

2000’s Charlie’s Angels opened with $40.12m taking $125.4m and $264.1m worldwide

2003’s Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle opened $27.63m taking $100.83m and $259.17m worldwide

Opened with $19.3m from 26 territories; China $7.7m; Australia $1.3m; Russia $1m; the film surprisingly has a staggered international release between the UK November 29^th to South Korea 26^th February.

• Midway – Lionsgate

Dropped 52% in its second weekend taking $8.5m and $34.89m

2016’s Hacksaw Ridge took $10.63m 30% drop taking $32.12m of $67.2m and $168.9m worldwide

88^th biggest Lionsgate film in the US between Good Luck Chuck and Texas Chainsaw 3D; 2,450^th biggest in the US between The Bible and A Thin Line Between Love & Hate and 3,395^th biggest film inflation inflated between Piglet’s Big Movie and The Postman.

Roland Emmerich films have taken $1.327bn in the US (26th highest-grossing director between M. Night Shyamalan and Zack Snyder) and $3.9bn worldwide (15th biggest between Chris Columbus and Pierre Coffin).

Majority of this box office was from the big action disaster films he directed in the late 90s to early 00s one of the most popular film genres at the time;

1996’s Independence Day took $306.1m and $817.4m worldwide

2004’s The Day After Tomorrow took $186.74m and $556.31m worldwide

2009’s 2012 opened $65.23m took $66.11m and $757.67m worldwide

Since 2012 his films haven’t performed as well with 2013’s White House Down opening with $24.85m (overshadowed by Olympus Has Fallen) taking $73.1m and $205.44m worldwide and 2016’s Independence Day: Resurgence opening with $41.03m taking $103.14m and $384.16m worldwide; opened 20 years after the first film but taking less than half despite ticket inflation of over 100%.

The 1976 film Midway took $42.2m; was the 9th biggest film of the year after Rocky ($117.23m); To Fly! ($86.6m); A Star is Born ($63.12m); King Kong ($52.61m); Silver Streak ($51.07m); All the President’s Men ($51.04m); The Omen ($48.5m); The Enforcer ($46.2m).

Roland Emmerich got investment from China to fiancé Midway after being turned down by Sony in 2012 with Bona Film Group putting up the majority of the films $100m budget with Lionsgate acquiring US and UK rights. Roland Emmerich has done similar with his next project $150m space disaster film Moonfall due to start filming in April.

Roland Emmerich said recently he wished he hadn’t made Independence Day: Resurgence after Will Smith left the film. The sequel released 20 years after the original film was poorly received critically and at the box office taking less than half of Independence Day. Will Smith dropped out to star in  Suicide Squad, which saw Roland Emmerich replace him with his son in the sequel.

Took $14m international and $38.2m internationally and $73.1m worldwide;  83^rd biggest 2019 film internationally between A Dog’s Way Home and Happy Death Day 2U; 2,078^th biggest worldwide between Dude, Where’s My Car? and Superhero Movie.

Took $5.5m worldwide from 655 IMAX screens in 43 territories Frozen will take over those IMAX screens next weekend.   

• Doctor Sleep – Warner Bros

Dropped 57% in its second weekend taking $6m and $24.86m

62^nd biggest 2029 film between Harriet and Dragon Ball Super: Broly; 288^th biggest Warner Bros film between Exorcist II: The Heretic and The Man Without a Face; 3,167^th biggest film in the US between  Catch-22 and Never Back Down and 4,055^th biggest inflation inflated between Just Wright and Who’s the Man?

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 $1.8bn in the US and $2.3bn worldwide.

Took $13m from 68 territories total $20m and $34.1m worldwide; UK: $4m; Russia: $3.6m; Mexico: $2.7m; Italy: $2m; France: $1.8m; Spain: $1.6m; Indonesia: $11m; Brazil: $1.1m; Australia: $1m; Taiwan: $677k; 2,615^th biggest worldwide between The Messengers and The Three Musketeers; 88^th biggest 2019 film between Ready or Not and Long Shot and 370^th biggest Warner Bros film worldwide between Mickey Blue Eyes and Mickey Blue Eyes.

• Last Christmas – Universal Pictures

Dropped 43% in its second weekend taking $6.49m and $22.36m

Second weekends

2003’s Love Actually took $8.69m up 26.3% taking $18.86m of $59.69m and $244.93m worldwide

2006’s The Holiday took $8.01m down 37.3% taking $25.12m of $63.22m and $205.13m worldwide

2008’s Four Christmases took $16.75m down 46.1% taking $46.05m of $120.14m and $163.73m  worldwide

2001’s Serendipity took $8.76m down 54.1% taking $26.39m of $50.29m and $77.51m worldwide

2000’s The Family Man took $12.77m 21% drop taking $39.17m of $75.79m and $124.74m worldwide

The rom-com genre has underperformed over the last decade with audiences going to Netflix for their rom-com fix so will cinemagoers come back to see Last Christmas.

1989 is the 30th anniversary of the classic rom-com When Harry Met Sally (opened with taking $92,823,546) and the 25th anniversary of Miracle on 34th Street remake (opened $2,753,208 taking $17,320,136).

Director Paul Feig Second weekends

2018’s A Simple Favor took $10.25m 36% drop and $32.41m of $53.54m and $97.62m worldwide

2017’s Snatched took $7.83m 59.9% drop and $33.01m of $45.85m and $57.85m worldwide

2015’s Spy took $15.61m 46.3% drop and $56.55m of $110.82m and $232.58m worldwide

2013’s The Heat took $24.76m 36.7% drop and $86.25m of $159.58m and $229.72m worldwide

2011’s Bridesmaids took $20.88m 20.4% drop and $59.34m $169.21m and $289.63m worldwide

Took $8.6m from 21 territories internationally and $13m total and $35.5m worldwide; 2,475^th biggest film worldwide between Overcomer and A Goofy Movie and 108^th biggest 2019 film between Overcomer and BrightBurn and 369^th biggest Universal Pictures film worldwide between The `Burbs and EDtv.

• Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil – Disney

Took $4.9m in its fifth weekend down 42% and $105.69m

2014’s Maleficent dropped similar 30.2% in its fourth weekend took $12.91m and  $185.87m (77% of $241.4m) 47.6% more than Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil.

2014’s Maleficent took $8.37m in its fifth weekend and $202.01m; if Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil holds similar will take about $110m.

22^nd biggest 2019 film between The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part and Hustlers; 669^th biggest film in the US between The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part and The First Wives Club and 1,253^rd the biggest inflation inflated between Wayne’s World 2 and Daddy’s Home 2 and

116^th biggest Disney film in the US between The Princess Diaries and George Of The Jungle

Disney’s 15 reimaginations have taken $3.48bn in the US and $9.5bn worldwide this year Dumbo took $353.3m; Aladdin $1.05bn and The Lion King $1.65bn worldwide:

Took $11.8m from 53 territories and $352.9m total and $458.9 m worldwide; China $48.8m; Russia $33m; Mexico $23.6m; France $19m; Brazil $18.5m; UK $17.9m; Italy $13.9m; Spain $13m; Japan $12.1m; Germany $10.6m; Indonesia $10.4m; Korea $10.4m

62^nd biggest Disney film worldwide between Cars and National Treasure: Book of Secrets; 241^st  biggest film worldwide between X-Men: The Last Stand and The Lego Movie and 184^th biggest film internationally between Armageddon and Troy and 13^th biggest film of 2019 between Pokémon: Detective Pikachu and Alita: Battle Angel.

• Joker – Warner Bros

Dropped 42% in its seventh weekend taking $5.33m and $322.3m;

70th biggest film in the US between Shrek the Third and Transformers and 187^th biggest inflation inflated between The Santa Clause and Platoon; 10th biggest Warner Bros film in the US between Suicide Squad and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

Warner Bros biggest film of 2019 overtaking It Chapter Two ($209.6m);

43rd biggest film worldwide between The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Dark Knight; 10^th biggest comic-book film worldwide between Captain Marvel and Black Panther.

5^th biggest Warner Bros film worldwide between The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

The Dark Knight and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone; 6^th biggest Warner Bros film internationally between The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I.

3^rd biggest DC film worldwide after Aquaman and The Dark Knight Rises; 7th biggest worldwide of 2019 between Aladdin and Hobbs & Shaw and 12^th biggest comic-book film worldwide between The Dark Knight Rises and The Dark Knight

Took $13m internationally from 79 territories and $694m internationally and $1.017bn worldwide

UK: $67.7m; Mexico: $42.8m; Japan: $40.9m; France: $39.9m; Korea: $37.8m; Germany: $35.9m; Brazil: $35.1m; Italy: $31.4m; Russia: $29.6m; Spain: $29.5m; Australia: $25.3m; Indonesia: $13.5m; 7^th biggest 2019 film, worldwide between Aladdin and Hobbs & Shaw;

• Playing with Fire – Paramount Pictures

Dropped 35% in its second weekend taking $8.33m and $25.28m

Paramount Pictures have had success opening family comedies early November over the last two years that play through Thanksgiving and into Christmas with Daddy’s Home 2 (taking $14.35m in its second weekend down 51.3%  and $50.21m taking $103.99m ) and last year Instant Family (taking $12.31m in its second weekend 15.1% drop and $35.56m taking $67.3m)

Paramount Pictures brought forward its release from March after having to delay Sonic the Hedgehog and were probably hoping for a similar opening as of last year’s Instant Family.

John Cena has been slowly following in Dwayne Johnson footsteps starring in comedies Daddy’s Home, Daddy’s Home 2, Blockers and Fighting with My Family and then Transformers prequel Bumblebee. Next year stars in Dolittle and Fast & Furious 9 next year and then The Suicide Squad in 2021 which will see him crossover into possibly similar action star was Dwayne Johnson.

2020 will see Paramount Pictures launch a compete slate of films made under Jim Giannopoulos having one of their strongest slates in years starting in January with comedy Like A Boss and The Rhythm Section, February sees the delayed Sonic The Hedgehog, in March A Quiet Place 2, in May The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run leading into Top Gun: Maverick in June opening 34 years after original are massive expectations on it but as so many long-gap sequels have underperformed will audiences come out to see it. Another long in a development project is the John Clancy Without Remorse which started development over 20 years ago. In December sci-fi film The Tomorrow War with Chris Pratt and Coming to America 2 is still dated 32 years after the original film opened. (after Paramount licenced Beverly Hills Cop 4 to Netflix can see them doing the same for Coming To America 2).

Took $1.3m from 11 territories and $4.5m total; slowly expanding internationally Australia and UK in December with the rest of Europe in January and February.

• The Good Liar – Warner Bros

Opened with $5.6m; received mixed reviews (63% Rotten Tomatoes) and B CinemaScore

35% of the audience was over 55 who liked it with only 11% of the audience coming from under 25 the problem is that exhibitors won’t give the film to find an audience, as in the UK The Good Liar will probably play better midweek than weekends.

Another adult-targeted Warner Bros film that failed to find an audience this year after The Goldfinch, Motherless Brooklyn, Doctor Sleep and The Kitchen. While the studio has had huge success with Joker which could be almost as profitable as Avengers; Endgame, all of their other films have underperformed.

With HBO Max launching next year its likely many theatrically developed films (as  Superintelligence) will move to the streaming platform as Disney also did with Noelle, launched on Disney+ last week originally set for theatrical release on November 8^th and Paramount Pictures announcing Beverly Hills Cop 4 would go to Netflix after decades of being developed as a theatrical release.

The book was compared to The Talented Mr Ripley, the film opened in 2000 with $12.73m taking $81.29m and $128.69m worldwide

Other comparisons include 2017’s Going in Style opened with $11.93m taking $45m; 1991’s The Grifters (took $13.44m); 2003’s Matchstick Men (opened $4.1m taking $36.9m and $65.56 worldwide) and 2003’s Confidence (opened $1.48m taking $12.25m and $23.01m worldwide)

Have been other more high-profile hustler films recently including 2002’s Catch Me If You Can, 2013’s American Hustle and 2013’s Now You See Me.

Took $1.5m internationally from 12 territories and $3.9m total and $9.6m worldwide.

• Jojo Rabbit – Fox Searchlight

Expanded into 995 screens adding 197 screens in its fifth weekend 30% drop taking $2.76m and $13.53m

JoJo Rabbit is holding similar to last years The Favourite after four strong weekends had its first decline despite adding 197 screens, this often happens when films expand too quickly but with A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood opening wide this weekend JoJo Rabbit needed to go wider before it opened. Will be interesting to see if Jojo Rabbit continues to expand this weekend or Fox Searchlight will wait until after Thanksgiving.

Since then Fox Searchlight has won Best Picture Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire, 12 Years a Slave, Birdman, and The Shape of Water and won 15 other Oscars and The Full Monty, Sideways, Little Miss Sunshine, Juno, Black Swan, 127 Hours, The Tree of Life, The Descendants, Beasts of the Southern Wild, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Brooklyn, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and The Favourite have also been nominated for Best Picture.

Over the last 25 years, Fox Searchlight have released 186 films taking $2.66bn in the US.

Jojo Rabbit had a similar platform as previous Fox Searchlight award winners

5^th weekend expansions

2018’s The Favourite added 349 screens to 790 taking $2,085,123 #11 down 20% and $10,112,26 expanded into 810 screens in sixth weekend taking $2,428,285 up 16.5%; took 11 weeks to expand into its widest 1,554 screens going on to take $34,366,783 and played in cinemas for over 16 weeks.

2017’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri added 190 screens to 1,620 screens taking $2,862,109 #11 down 34.9% and $18,312,393 dropped 676 screens in sixth weekend taking $2,862,109 34.9% drop; took 5 weeks to expand into widest 1,620 screens going on to take $54,513,740 and played in cinemas for over 20 weeks.

2017’s The Shape of Water added 30 screens to 756 taking $3,530,022 #11 up 17.6% and $15,670,177 expanded into 804 screens in sixth weekend taking $3,139,084 11.1% drop; took 10 weeks to expand into widest 2,341 screens going on to take $63,859,435 and played in cinemas for over 18 weeks.

2015’s Brooklyn added 61 screens to 906 taking $2,439,470 #9 38.2% drop and $11,219,493 expanded into 947 screens in sixth weekend $1,995,502       18.2% drop; taking 6 weeks to expand into 947 screens going on to take $38,322,743 and played in cinemas for over 20 weeks.

2014’s Birdman added 397 screens to 857 taking $2,471,471 #10 up 6.9% and $11,596,838 expanded into 862 screens in sixth weekend $1,853,664 #9 25% drop; took 8 weeks to expand into 738 screens (expanded into 1,213 screens after Oscar win) going on to take $42,340,598 and played in cinemas for over 20 weeks.

2013’s 12 Years A Slave added 267 screens to 1,411 taking $4,604,706 #8 31% drop and $24,853,491 expanded into 1,474 screens in sixth weekend $2,833,635 #9 38.5% drop; took 6 weeks to expand into widest 1,474 screens going on to take $56,671,993 and played in cinemas for over 25 weeks.

Fox Searchlight have had much successful Oscar winners that also started on platform, but they had a much wider target demographic before opening (Juno, Slumdog Millionaire, Black Swan, The Descendants, Sideways and The Full Monty) JoJo Rabbit’s not yet that must-see Oscar contender receiving polarised critical reaction.

• Parasite – Neon

Expanded into 620 screens adding 17 screens in its sixth weekend 28% drop taking $1.86m and $14.41m

Parasite has overtaking original Swedish version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo ($12.7m), and Alfonso Cuaron’s Y Tu Tambien ($13.6m).

Parasite has taken over $109m worldwide with over 90% internationally 67% from South Korea

Parasite has already expanded wider than Snowpiercer expanding into 356 screens in its third weekend but lost many of those screens within weeks despite critical acclaim (95% Rotten Tomatoes).

At the Cannes Film Festival Curzon acquired UK rights to the film giving it a full theatrical release in February, rather than their limited cinema/VoD release they do with many of their films and Netflix titles.

UK Box Office Predictions

With the exception of Joker, the box office has been very soft since the summer while Downton Abbey took £28m, It Chapter Two took 40% less than the first film, while family films have failed to match expectations.

Since The Lion King opened in July, including The Angry Birds Movie 2, Abominable, Shaun The Sheep Movie 2 and Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil only The Addams Family, surprising the last to open  has performed well, as normal the first children’s film to open has the advantage, but the difference is few of them had weekend previews.

The Lion King might be the second-biggest film of 2019 and Toy Story 4, the third biggest but would say both of those also slightly underwhelmed comparing them to previous versions and didn’t have the legs of previous Toy Story films or the original The Lion King.

Frozen became a cultural phenomenon when it was released in 2013 as The Greatest Showman become two years ago, the difference between the two was Frozen had the Disney brand attached and mostly positive reviews while The Greatest Showman was purely audience-driven. Six months after Frozen was released the name Elsa climbed into 88^th place up 243 slots on the UK baby name list.

Frozen took $1.2bn worldwide, at the time was 5^th highest-grossing film of all time and the highest-grossing animation. Won two Oscars, a BATFA and a Golden Globe The soundtrack sold more than 10m worldwide in 2014 (1m+ in the UK), 7m Spotify streams and official YouTube videos of trailers and Let It Go in the hundreds of millions. Many of the music records were beaten by The Greatest Showman two years ago, after almost two years on the UK album chart it is still in the top 20 Despite its huge success Idina Menzel’s Let It Go only got to #11 in the UK singles chart.

Frozen was the first film directed by a female to take over $1bn worldwide

Predicting a film’s success is due to three things it’s content, it’s scheduling, and its marketing; Frozen was based Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale The Snow Queen; 11 other of Disney’s animation films have been based on fairy tales including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella and The Little Mermaid. While Frozen might have been an original film its story was well known.

Disney had been developing a film based The Snow Queen since the 1930s after many false starts finally started production in 2011 but in 2012 they weren’t happy with how the film was turning out and started production again only 17 months before release.

After the first film was released there were no immediate plans for a sequel as the studio said in 2014 their priority was the stage show, but a year later they announced the sequel> This was the same with Toy Story 4 immediately after Toy Story 3 opened and was a huge success they had no plans for a sequel, but a year later it was announced.

Disney has been releasing an animation film close to Thanksgiving since Oliver & Company in 1988 (the film that relaunched their animation brand) since then Frozen 2 will be the24th time Disney has released an animated film in November. Frozen 2 will be the 8^th year running they have released an animated film in November. Many of those films were released internationally much later.

Frozen captured the heart of pre-teen girls in 2013 with many watching it countless times in cinema and then on video to known almost every word, if a film, TV show, musical connects with preteens they will watch it again and again as adults we will often get bored watching on repeat but they seem to enjoy them even more as they sing along to the songs.

One thing Disney miscalculated was the demand for merchandising for the film (probably the reason they have gone over the top with merchandising ever since) with a shortage of merchandising for the film until after its DVD release, Disney sold half a million Anna and Elsa dolls

Reviews for Frozen 2 say its darker and more grown-up than the original (probably targeting the children who loved the original but now are 6 years older) so it’s then surprising to see BBFC have given it a U compared with PG original had. While also critics surprising mentioned the running time as being too long of the sequel despite it being 5 minutes shorter than the original, that says much  about their enjoyment of the sequel as long films can go in a blink of an eye if an audience is watching, but I’ve watched many 90 minutes films that feel they are three times as long.

Disney Animations biggest opening in the UK was 2008’s Bolt with £5,457,438 taking £17,745,776 and 2016’s Zootropolis £5,306,726 (had previews of £1,733,638) taking £23,461,047

Toy Story 3 (£21,187,264) is the biggest animation opening in the UK but was inflated with £9,693,440 from previews; without previews 2007’s Shrek The Third (£16,671,727) The Simpsons (£13,626,853) and Toy Story 4 (£13,300,000) third.

2013’s Frozen (£4,704,940) is currently 49th biggest animated opening in the UK in 2013 Frozen had the 29th biggest animated opening between How to Train Your Dragon and Shrek.

Six years ago Frozen opened with £4,704,940 taking 9.13x opening, it’s opening weekend was only 10.95% its total box office of £42,976,318 compared to 20.1% for Toy Story 4 and 21.9% for The Lion King, while Paddington was 13.5% and Paddington 19.3%.

Let It Go video has been seen on YouTube over 1bn times on YouTube and the singalong over 1.8bn times since December 2013

Disney released two Frozen shorts Frozen Fever with 2015’s Cinderella

2017’s Olaf’s Frozen Adventure was released with Coco in the US but as Coco UK release was moved to January in the UK Disney released the short with Frozen in November 2017 with tickets only £1 opening with £1,115,689

Frozen took £42,976,318 was the 10th biggest animated film; in 2013 Frozen was the 5th biggest animated film after Toy Story 3, Shrek 2, Despicable Me 2 and Toy Story 2.

Frozen is currently the 284th biggest opening in the UK between Star Trek Beyond and Batman Forever; in 2013 Frozen was the 164th biggest opening between I, Robot and Batman Forever.

Hard to make comparisons with other animated films with their sequels as many were inflated with previews and opened during school holidays while also none of them was as beloved as Frozen became as soon as it was released.

Despicable Me 3 took 12% more (not including previews than Despicable Me 2 while Toy Story 3 took 48% more than Toy Story 3 which would see Frozen 2 open with £7m-£8m. In the US Frozen 2 was tracking to open with $100m+ which would be a similar 48% increase from original.

Another comparison would be 2017’s Paddington 2 opening 61% more (£8,260,160) than 2014’s Paddington (£5,125,519).

Opening as counterprogramming to Frozen 2 is action thriller 21 Bridges, Chadwick Boseman’s first lead film since starring in Black Panther and Avengers films; 21 Bridges will likely open similar to STX’s Mile 22 £790k taking £1.6m and Den of Thieves opening £1.08m taking £2.8m.

STX has released 6 films in 2019 taking over £15m an increase on last year thanks to Hustlers taking almost half.

Had Paramount Pictures held on to US rights to The Irishman STX would have released it this year. While it is performing well on limited release (unreported) in independent cinemas, unlikely the Martin Scorsese film would have performed as strongly as Gangs of New York and The Departed opening over a decade ago in this current marketplace.

The Irishman could have been a noose around the neck for STX after paying $50m for international rights in 2016. Independent distributors in the UK have often thought they need to go big acquire a big title, but the problem as has often happened is when that film fails to meet expectations which have seen many casualties along the way.

After 4 very slow weeks at the box office, Frozen 2 will bring some life back with Jumanji: The Next Level and The Rise of Skywalker opening in the next month.

Opening in UK Next Week

• Charlie’s Angels – Sony Pictures

Action comedy starring Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott and Ella Balinska, Elizabeth Banks, Djimon Hounsou, Patrick Stewart and Sam Claflin and directed by Elizabeth Banks.

It was originally intended to be a reboot but recently it was announced that it would be a continuation of the two films (2000’s Charlie’s Angels and 2003’s Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle starring Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu), but with a new cast

The first trailer was released in June and the second in October both were poorly received, and expectations were very low for the film expected to open between $12m-$16m but opened with almost half.

Surprisingly for a tentpole film and one that was expected to receive poor reviews (which it did) opens in the UK two weeks after its US release.

2000’s Charlie’s Angels opened with £3,182,114 (£5,221,560 inflation inflated) taking £12,695,593 (£20,832,314 inflation inflated); $125.4m in the US and $264.1m worldwide

2003’s Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle opened with £3,273,078 (£5,322,438 inflation inflated) taking £12,109,789 (£19,692,044 inflation inflated); taking $100.83m in the US and $259.17m worldwide

• Knives Out – Lionsgate

Black comedy starring Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, Katherine Langford and Christopher Plummer and written and directed by Rian Johnson; had world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival receiving positive reviews (98% Rotten Tomatoes).

Knives Out was inspired by Agatha Christie all-star adaptations like Murder on the Orient Express and the upcoming Death on the Nile.

MRC acquired world-rights at last year’s Toronto Film Festival and Lionsgate acquired rights earlier this year. The film was made when there was a gap in Daniel Craig’s schedule after Danny Boyle dropped out from directing Bond 25 which saw production delayed till the start of 2019 and its release date delayed.

It is the first film Rian Johnson has directed since the polarised Star Wars: The Last Jedi. He was attached to write a new trilogy of Star Wars films which have since been dropped by Lucasfilm after the mixed reception The Last Jedi received. Prior to directing The Last Jedi Rian Johnson was best known for directing indie films including Brick, The Brothers Bloom and Looper.

• Eyes Wide Shut (20th Anniversary) – Park Circus

Re-releasing Stanley Kubrick’s classic erotic mystery psychological drama which he completed weeks before his death starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman the film had a 15-month shoot due to Stanley Kubrick’s perfectionism scenes required multiple takes.

While Warner has always said Stanley Kubrick completed the film before his death some believe it was completed after his death using his director’s notes as he was famous for tweaking his films right up to release, Warner Bros saw the film in March, and it was released in July.

Received positive reviews (75% Rotten Tomatoes); in 2015 BBC called it 61^st greatest American film of all time.

The film was released in the US in July, but the film is set at Christmas asking the same question often asked about Die Hard does it make Eyes Wide Shut a Christmas film or just one that is shot at Christmas?

Eyes Wide Shut opened in the UK in September 1999 opening #1 with £1,189,672 taking £5,065,520

• Les Miserables: The Staged Concert – Universal Pictures (Monday)

Les Miserables musical returned to London’s West End for 16 weeks from August to November with the final performance being live-streamed into cinemas on Monday with encore screenings on Saturday, December 7^th.

2019 was the biggest ever year for Event Cinema in the UK in September screenings took over £7m with National Theatre’s Fleabag taking over £4m.

Up to the end of October, Event Cinema had taken £41.4m more than £41.38m took in 2018 (took £25m in 2017 and £32.8m in 2016).

Event Cinema box office now includes Secret Cinema box office with Event Cinema screenings having 100% surcharges on regular cinema tickets and Secret Cinema 10x the price, which means Event Cinema will add over 6.5m admissions to 2019 but only 5% (500k) were real admissions.

Opening in US Next Week

 

• Knives Out – Lionsgate

Tracking to open between $22m-$25m over Thanksgiving weekend

 

• Queen & Slim – Universal Pictures

Thriller starring Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith, with Chloë Sevigny, Flea, Bokeem Woodbine and Indya Moore and directed by Melina Matsoukas; it has been described as a modern-day take on the Bonnie & Clyde.

Had world premiere at the AFI Fest on November 14 receiving positive reviews 

Tracking to open with $11m over 5-day Thanksgiving weekend