1. F9 – £6,014,132 – NE

Took £1,117,359 from Thursday previews (19.6% of opening) only the 3rd post-pandemic film to take £1m+ in a single day, after Peter Rabbit 2 and Tenet; Friday and then Saturday had the best weekend day since March 2020 and it was the first film to take over £2m over one day since Sonic the Hedgehog in February 2020.

Taking £1,177,359 from previews they were close to X-Men 2; Godzilla; Solo: A Star Wars Story; Baby Driver; The Mummy; Wonder Woman; Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse; Ant-Man and The Wasp; Men In Black 2 and A Quiet Place Part II

211st biggest opening in the UK between Troy and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (close to Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Wonder Woman, The Mummy Returns and Inception); and 306^th biggest inflation inflated opening between Home and Kong: Skull Island (close to Mr and Mrs Smith, The Pirates of the Caribbean, Gladiator and The Matrix

5^th biggest Fast and Furious opening in the UK between Hobbs & Shaw and Fast & Furious 5; but inflation inflated 7^th between Fast & Furious 5 and 2 Fast 2 Furious.

34^th biggest Universal Pictures opening between Kung Fu Panda and The Mummy Returns (close to Hobbs & Shaw, True Lies, The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Van Helsing and 58^th biggest inflation inflated between Catch Me If You Can and Johnny English Reborn (close to Fast Five, Fast & Furious, Gladiator and Wanted).

UK was 8.6% of its US ($70.04m) opening which is regular for these kinds of films as while analysts often use 10% as a guide to open in the UK this is more for family all audience films F9 is more male biased; Batman Vs Superman; Black Panther; X-Men; Cloverfield; The Mummy; The Lion King; Fast & Furious 7; Central Intelligence; Birds of Prey; Suicide Squad and Captain Marvel opened with similar percentage

While F9 probably posted similar strong numbers from Monday, it would be very interesting to see how it did on Tuesday when 20m watched England beat Germany in Euro 2020, England play Ukraine on Sunday night so F9 will likely suffer even more than it was exoected to, but that was the gamble of opening F9 now.

Universal surely thought it was a better gamble than opening against Black Widow on July 9th, but both could suffer badly if England were to get into the finals on July 11th as it will likely get one of the biggest TV audiences ever similar to the 1966 World Cup finals. Wonder how busy Uk cinemas were on July 30th 1966?

Analysts keep using the excuse of the 50% capacity as the reason why films down open similar to previous films but while F9 opened in 595 cinemas it was probably playing in over 2,000 screens, (including all IMAX, PLF, 4DX and Dolby Cinema screens) so had more than enough capacity as had a screen average of £10,108 over 4 days, 1,422 per screen 118.47 per show and 845,869 admissions over the weekend.

As F9 played in 2,000+ screens over 4 days having about 12 shows over those days and average screen having 100 capacities would have been over 10m seats available, but sold less than a 10% of its capacity, at the average ticket price rate 50% capacity would be a potential £75m+ opening, so 100% capacity would be £150m+ does show that even Avengers: Endgame 2019 opening of £43,400,000 had about 40% capacity. This also shows UK box office should be vastly bigger than it is in normal circumstances.

This again goes back to the fact that UK admissions should be by now 250m+ a year, as research from 2004 said cinema was on track to have 200m+ admissions and £1bn+ box office by 2008, In reality, it was 2011 until the box office topped £1bn but admissions only grew 1% between 2002 and 2017. In 2004 UK box office was £769.6m, in 2008 increased to £854.4m despite admissions being flat, so the increase was ticket inflation as was its increase to £1bn+ in 2011.

After the opening in the UK and US, there were the predictable statements saying cinema is back and cinema can’t kill streaming but even Phil Clapp said, “It’s not a competition between us and the streaming sites,” … “People with a voracious appetite for films use streaming and want to go to cinemas. We’re more worried about bars and restaurants. That, and the reinvention of golf and darts as shared communal experiences.”

The research proves that not a competition between cinema and the streaming sites, but that hasn’t stopped exhibitors from saying for many years it was, as most people who stream a lot of content also go to the cinema often, instead of seeing streaming as the enemy they should be working together a cinema should be sold as the one place you can see all the films first for one monthly fee.

In 2016 F9 was set for release April 19th, 2019, with F10 set for release April 2nd, 2021, in 2017 was delayed to May 2020 for Hobbs & Shaw and No Time To Die, in March 2020 F9 was delayed to June 25, 2021 (three days after the 20th anniversary of the original film) due to COVID.  

It was surprising Universal Pictures moved F9 to June 24th in the UK as normally studios avoid opening any major films whilst the European Championship and the World Cup are running.

Warner brought forward the release of Edge of Tomorrow forward in 2014 opening against Maleficent and Universal Pictures brought forward Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom in 2018 by two weeks, as F9 would have opened against Black Widow if it stayed on July 9th maybe Universal Pictures thought opening against European Championships was a lesser gamble.

It could also be seen as a test for next year’s Qatar World Cup November 21 – December 18, 2022, currently are untitled films for Warner and Disney for Thanksgiving and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and Avatar 2 dated for December 16th.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom opened with 26% (£19,350,727 Vs £14,334,894) taking 35% less (£63,674,773 Vs £41,573,492) and opened with 29.1% less in the US ($208,806,270 Vs $148,024,610); while Edge of Tomorrow had one of the lowest openings in the UK for a Tom Cruise film (£1,886,096) despite receiving positive reviews and strong legs taking only 55% of its total (£7,756,477) but the damage was done after it’s opening weekend. The week later 22 Jump Street opened with 157% more (£4,854,991) taking £18,322,998 136% more.

Showing international early openings don’t work unless they are for films that play stronger internationally like James Bond with No Time To Die following the same release pattern as Skyfall and Spectre opening in the US two weeks after the US. This is also why Warner Bros are opening Denis Villeneuve’s Dune early international as like Blade Runner 2049 it will play stronger than in the US. There is a question over when it will open internationally now after they delayed its US opening by three weeks to October 22^nd as if they still open it two weeks earlier will mean it will open the week after No Time To Die.

F10 was going to be the final part of the film series but it has since been announced there will be two more films before the series ends along with a Hobbs & Shaw sequel. It opened in Asia on May 19th receiving mixed reviews taking $268.9m from 8 territories including $212.2m from China (79%) $268.9m total; 2017’s The Fate of the Furious took $392.8m total took 32% of its global $1.236bn in China; has taken About 45% less F8 took $466m.

F9 will receive its French premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in July, opening on July 14 in France one of the last international territories. It was a strange choice to choose as the festival’s mystery blockbuster but there is a limited choice of other films available to premiere in July, as Dune will premiere in Venice and No Time to Die in London.

While the Fast and Furious series was very successful from the first film in the US it didn’t become globally successful till the fourth film in 2009 Fast and Furious opened with £4,928,784 taking £13,539,304 with 2017’s The Fate of the Furious taking more in its opening weekend (£14,026,301).

2019’s Hobbs & Shaw had the fourth biggest opening (£6,377,583 taking £1,468,289 23% from Thursday previews) of the Fast and Furious film series after The Fate of the Furious, Fast & Furious 7 and Fast & Furious 6; The 9 Fast and Furious films have taken over £171m at the box office since 2001 (3.8% of global box office) and over £190m inflation inflated; taking $1.691bn in the US (27.4% of global) and $6.16bn worldwide (4.472bn internationally 72.6%).

The box office of Fast and the Furious franchises shows the impact of the Chinese box office has had on the global box office as the first four films (except for The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, by its title, would perform better in Asia) performed far stronger in the US than international, and after the success of Tokyo Drift producers must have realised that they could expand the franchise going global, with 66% of 2011’s Fast Five box office from international; 69.7% of 2013’s Fast and Furious 6 box office came from international and then the franchise exploded with 2017’s Furious 7 taking 76.7% internally thanks to it taking $391m in China and $1.51bn worldwide; 81.7% of 2017’s The Fate of the Furious came from international with $392.8m from China and $1.236bn worldwide.

It was notable that F9 had the biggest opening in China of a Western film since Hobbs & Shaw in August 2019, but despite that, it has taken almost 50% less than the previous two films in China ($203m) showing that Chinese audiences are losing interest in foreign films as they are getting bored of the repetitive nature of US films, while at the same time local films are becoming even more successful as seen by their record-breaking New Year in February taking over $1.2bn in a week.

The year earlier China closed their cinemas two weeks before their New Year due to COVID as their New Year is their most lucrative week for cinema the rest of the world should have immediately seen this as how serious China saw COVID and taken immediate action to prepare for worst-case scenarios. Had they done so Western box office could have returned to pre-lockdown levels much quicker but as it is China is close to normal while many in the West down think box office will get back to normal until 2023 and then it will be a new normal due to streaming.  

In normal conditions would expect F9 to open similar to 2013’s Fast & Furious 6 (£8,717,534 no previews) taking £25,280,778, despite everyone saying we aren’t in normal conditions A Quiet Place Part 2 still opened 32% (£3,567,048) more than the first film (£2,696,892).

Except for the first film 2001’s The Fast and the Furious (opening with £1,763,020 4.4% of US opening $40.08m) all other films have opened with 7%-9% of US openings.

All the films that have performed well in cinemas since they reopened on May 17 and previously on July 4th have targetting Millennials and Generation Z who have felt much more comfortable returning to cinemas as older audiences seen by Nomadland, The Father and In The Heights despite all receiving critical acclaim and strong media coverage failed to find a wide audience.

The big question is how will F9 hold this weekend as except for The Fast and the Furious in 2001 all other films dropped heavily in their second weekends as these films are very front-loaded.

While the last three films had very big openings they also dropped heavily in their second weekends

The Fate of the Furious (-74.4%); Fast & Furious 7 (-57.6%); Fast & Furious 6 (-59.4%) Hobbs & Shaw dropped a little less (-53.9%) but benefited being released during the summer holidays.

After taking 20% of its opening from Thursday previews it’s likely to drop about 65% (taking £2.1m+) and then with Black Widow opening the following weekend likely to have a similar drop in its third weekend so it could struggle to beat Peter Rabbit 2. The second weekend drop is likely to be even more heavy due to England Vs Ukraine at 8pm on Saturday night in the quarter finals of Euro 2020.

2. Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway – £831,981 – £16,352,734

Down 25.9% in its sixth weekend.

351^st biggest film in the UK between Scooby-Doo Too and Elf (close to Nanny McPhee & the Big Bang, The Pirates! In an Adventure With Scientists, The Smurfs, and The Muppets) and 561^st biggest inflation inflated film in the UK between A Passage to India and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (close to Oz: The Great and Powerful, Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Rio 2, and Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian).

Peter Rabbit 2 is now only £1,114,325 away from overtaking last year’s saviour of cinema Tenet (£17,467,059) and has overtaken Sony Pictures biggest film last year (Bad Boys For Life £15,953,076), should overtake next weeks, but as most of Peter Rabbit 2 tickets have been children’s tickets with no extra charges for IMAX or PLF formats it has probably already overtaken Tenet by admissions. While it will come short of taking £20m taking less than half the first film took in 2018 it will be the biggest film in the UK since Sonic the Hedgehog in February 2020. 

Sony Pictures 35^th biggest film in the UK between The Pirates! In an Adventure With Scientists and The Smurfs (close to 22 Jump Street, Stuart Little, The Emoji Movie and Jumanji; 69^th biggest inflation inflated between Venom and T2 Trainspotting 2 (close to My Girl, Matilda, The Addams Family and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2.

Peter Rabbit is the 67th biggest film in the UK taking £40,999,583 (Paddington 2 is just slightly ahead #63 taking £42,642,938) and is Sony Pictures UK’s 5th biggest film in the UK (behind Skyfall, Spectre, Casino Royale, and Quantum of Solace) as they have lost distribution rights to James Bond films Peter Rabbit is their MVP.

In 2018 Peter Rabbit dropped 76% (end of Easter Holidays) n its sixth weekend taking £487,412 #5 631 screens £38,892,842 94.8% of £40,999,583.

Peter Rabbit took more than 2014’s Paddington £37.9m 2005’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory £37.35m, 2005’s Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit £31.95m 2016’s The BFG £30.51m also based on classic children’s characters as well as 2001’s Monster’s Inc £37.9m, 2003’s Finding Nemo £37.4m and 2016’s The Secret Life of Pets £36.6m.

Other British sourced children’s fifth-weekend drops

2017’s Paddington 2 – dropped 20% #2 taking £1,357,273 and £31,365,641 (73.6%) of total £42,614,170

2016’s The BFG – down 47% #7 taking £658,840 and £27,272,470 (89.4%) of total £30,514,629

2014’s Paddington – up 11% #3(Christmas holidays) taking £2,834,003 and £30,818,050 (81.9%) of total £37,608,112

Their popularity is seen by their performances at the UK box office with their adaptions including Paddington, The BFG, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Borrowers, Matilda, The Jungle Book, and Nanny McPhee all performed far stronger in the UK than anywhere else in the world.

Had Peter Rabbit 2 had two-week school holidays as the original and opened in normal conditions it would have likely taken a third more taking over £30m over 6 weeks on release.

3. In the Heights – £689,041 – £2,385,356

Down 35.8% in its second weekend

While the media was all about the opening of F9 which opened exactly as most expected the surprise was the strong holdover of In The Heights as after its soft opening in the US three weeks ago and heavy second weekend last weekend it was expected would drop similarly heavy in the UK.

But musicals are extremely popular in the UK with the massive success of films like The Greatest Showman, A Star Is Born, Bohemian Rhapsody, Mamma Mia!, La La Land, Rocketman, Les Misérables, Hairspray, Chicago, Moulin Rouge (20th anniversary this year) and even Cats performed much stronger in the UK. Annie, Jersey Boys, Rock of Ages, The Producers and Rent mirrored their poor performance in the UK as the US.  

Had 1,116^th biggest second weekend in the UK between 13 Going On 30 and The Angry Birds Movie 2 (close to Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, The Thomas Crown Affair, City of Angels and Sex Tape) and 1,230th biggest inflation inflated between Horrible Bosses 2 and The Angry Birds Movie 2; second-weekend box office close to musicals Muppets Most Wanted, Dreamgirls and Rock of Ages.

Opening in October is the film version of Dear Evan Hanson while Everybody’s Talking About Jamie and Cinderella were originally due to be released in cinemas this year, but both were recently sold to Amazon.

20 years ago, Moulin Rouge opened in the UK four months after the US in September performing far stronger than it did in the US opening with £2,403,378 down 22.6% in its second weekend taking £1,859,732 and £5,668,964 (31.21% of total box office) taking £18,166,288 (£31,681,304 inflation inflated) was in the top 15 for almost 3 months.

Likewise, 2017’s The Greatest Showman opened with £4,754,049 (including £2,575,147 previews) down 49% in its second weekend taking £2,409,143 and £9,998,783 (20.1% of total box office taking £49,523,728 and played wide in cinemas for over 16 weeks, was still in the top 10 when it was released on DVD. 

Many other musicals performed far better in the UK than the US including Mamma Mia!. Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, Bohemian Rhapsody, Les Miserables, La La Land, A Star Is Born, Rocketman, High School Musical 3, Evita, Hairspray and even Cats.

4. A Quiet Place Part 2 – £595,834  – £9,568,499

Down 42.1% in its fifth weekend.

Took 50.7% more than A Quiet Place (£595,834 Vs £395,335) and taken 11.2% less (£9,568,499 Vs £10,773,694) the sequel had two extra days play.

652^nd biggest opening in the UK between Wanted and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (close to John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, Glass, Red Dragon and For Your Eyes Only) and 92nd biggest inflation inflated between Mr Popper’s Penguins and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (close to The Haunting, Ruthless People, The Addams Family and Fight Club).

46^th biggest Paramount Pictures film in the UK between Megamind and Baywatch (close to Paranormal Activity, Paranormal Activity 3, Transformers: The Last Knight and Cloverfield).

19th biggest horror in the UK between Paranormal Activity and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (close to Paranormal Activity 3, Get Out, The Conjuring and The Ring).

2018’s A Quiet Place dropped 57% in its fifth weekend #3 taking £395,335 and £10,773,694 91.3% of £11,801,912: Avengers: Infinity War #1 £10,143,580 (2^nd w/e), I Feel Pretty #2 £1,272,154 and Peter Rabbit #9 8th weekend £120,181; A Quiet Place dropped 9% in its sixth weekend #6 £361,029 386 screens taking £11,402,134.

5. Cruella – £463,369 – £7,803,916

Down 36.6% in its fifth weekend

Comparisons were made with 2006’s The Devil Wears Pada #5 fifth weekend £460,062 drown 49% taking £12,717,312 of £13,681,185 (£20,282,989 inflation inflated); Birds of Prey dropping 62% taking £136,846 and £8,705,688.

807^th biggest film in the UK between Good Will Hunting and Road Trip (close to One Direction: This Is Us, Back To The Future Part III, SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water and Hotel Transylvania); 1,098^th biggest inflation inflated between Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Assassin’s Creed (close to Captain Underpants, Nativity 3: Dude, Where’s My Donkey?, Never Been Kissed and The House with A Clock in Its Walls).

Disney 133rd biggest film in the UK between Good Will Hunting and Muriel’s Wedding (close to Confessions of a Shopaholic, The Hannah Montana Movie, Runaway Bride and Freaky Friday); 158^th biggest inflation inflated between Sister Act 2 Back In The Habit and Leon (close to Alice Through the Looking Glass, Wild Hogs, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms and Muppet Treasure Island).

In normal condition would expect Cruella to take £20m+ similar to Maleficent (£19,292,000) and Cinderella (£20,960,275) and would have expected it to have a Brit boost to it performing much stronger in the UK to the US but it didn’t have the big London premiere and live junket.

While premieres don’t generate the media coverage they used to unless it’s Bond or Star Wars they are still the focal part of a films marketing campaign and without a premiere, there is no centre to the film’s marketing and it all falls a bit flat. Cruella did have a premiere in Los Angeles but as the press wasn’t allowed in it generated little media coverage.

No Time To Die will probably be the first big premiere in the UK at the Royal Albert Hall on September 27or 27^th.

Fifth weekends

2013’s Oz: The Great and Powerful #6 dropped 41% taking £574,318 and £13,664,941 of £14,987,064

2014’s Maleficent #4 dropped 16% taking £819,504 and £16,564,412 of £19,292,000

2015’s Into the Woods #8 dropped 56% taking £326,355 and £8,912,600 of £9,644,236

2019’s Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil #4 dropped 33% taking £690,871 and £14,036,745 of £13,074,572

The 14 Disney reimaginations have taken over £420m at the UK box office, the next to be released in cinemas The Little Mermaid (currently undated) and Snow-White, with Peter Pan & Wendy, Pinocchio, The Sword in the Stone, Robin Hood and Lilo & Stitch to be released straight to Disney+.

After releasing ten reimagination between 2015-2019 Disney has only released one over the last two years, which would have been the case before COVID, the only difference would have been Mulan would have been released in cinemas in March 2020.

Also opened.

•             Dogtanian And The Three Muskehounds – Altitude

With £212,334 from 480 screens

The animated film based on the 80s 1981 Spanish Japanese animated TV show broadcast on BBC from 1985 to 1987.

Also released.

• The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard– Lionsgate

Dropped 72.7% in its second weekend from #1 to #6 taking £446,546 and £2,604,362.

2017’s The Hitman’s Bodyguard dropped 55% (45% without previews) in its second-weekend #3 taking £883,681 and £4,153,837 

Showing again that Monday openings don’t work as the 10 films that took the highest percentage of their opening weekend from previews (A Peanuts Movie. Mortal Engines, Transformers: Age of Extinction, Ferdinand, Gulliver’s Travels, Ice Age: Collision Course, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, The Boss Baby, Paper Towns and The Watch).

Most of them feature in the biggest second weekend drops, Mortal Engines (-92.4%), Silence (-90.45%), Sisters (-88.25%), The Watch (-84.88%), Transformers: Age of Extinction (-85%) and Ice Age: Collision Course (-84.72%).

The exceptions are A Peanuts Movie. Ferdinand, Gulliver’s Travels, Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol and The Boss Baby as their second weekends were during holiday periods, and they were replaced with A Monster Calls, The Aeronauts, Bad Neighbours and Assassin’s Creed that all had extended opening.

Why did Lionsgate keep The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard dated in June after Universal Pictures moved F9 as it was predictable that it would drop heavily in its second weekend, maybe they didn’t have any other option available to them to move it due to Ryan Reynolds Free Guy opening in August. Lionsgate original had The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard and Guy Ritchie’s Wrath of Man opening a week apart in June.

Lionsgate had two potential box office earners with The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard and The Father, but poor dating decisions harmed their box office, while poor word of mouth meant it was unlikely The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard would take similar box office as the first film but at least give it a chance with a decent release date but did similar to Warner who opened John Wick the week after Fast & Furious 7 in 2015 and failed to find an audience.

The Father – Lionsgate

Drop 60.6% in its third weekend taking £134,499 and £1,597,464.

Dropped from sixth to tenth, despite critical acclaim, huge media coverage and Anthony Hopkins winning Best Actor at Oscars and BAFTAs it was always going to struggle to find an audience and seeing it struggle it was surprising that Studiocanal brought forward the release of Supernova by two weeks.

Supernova did open slightly better than The Father taking £245,715 from almost half the number of screens 352 instead of 626 for The Father but even that was too wide for a film like this. As with questioning Lionsgate decision to open The Father three weeks ago you also have to ask why Studiocanal thought it was a good idea to open a similarly themed film about dementia so close together?

Those who saw The Father two weeks ago aren’t going to say let’s go and see another film about dementia, they might have done it if Supernova opened first as despite the UK posters for The Father sold the film as a sweet gentle film about the relationship between daughter and her dad instead of the darker film about dementia that it is. Many reviews have highlighted the darker elements of the film, The Sydney Morning Herald “far scarier than anything Freddy Krueger ever threw at us”.

The Boston Herald “frightening dementia drama”. The New York Times “profoundly upsetting”. The Guardian’s said “it’ll haunt me for weeks”. Lionsgate shouldn’t have sold the film as a feel-good film like 2013’s Philomena opened with £1,509,726 taking £10,470,225, but just an award winning with strong performances but that’s not a film that opens in over 600 screens.

Similar films include.

2002’s Iris opened #6 with £378,749 from 84 screens taking £3,647,197

2003’s About Schmidt opened #7 with £757,325 from 2290 screens taking £3,201,355

2004’s The Notebook opened #5 with £309,507 from 256 screens taking £1,109,047

2008’s The Savages opened #17 with £72,823 from 34 screens

2012’s Amour opened #12 with £115,700 from 29 screens taking £287,839

2015’s Still Alice opened #8 with £401,565 from 86 screens taking £2,332,764

UK box office in detail

This weekend’s top 10 box office took £9,931,625 up 45.1% from last weekend £6,842,018 and down 46% from 2019 (£18,378,720)

The weekend admissions 1,396,853 up 45.1% 962,309 from last week; admissions in 2019 this week was 2,500,968 (down 44.2%)

Top 3 took £7,535,154 79.5% of the top 10; F9 60.5% (£6,014,132); Peter Rabbit 2 8.4% (£831,981); In the Heights 6.9% (£689,041).

2020 cinemas closed.

Down 46% from 2019 (£18,378,720); 11 films opened at weekend taking (£14,226,648); Toy Story 4 93.5% (£13,300,000); Bight Burn 3.6% (£509,030); Childs Play 1.7% (£247,572); top three took 84.3% (£15,506,558) of the top 10; Toy Story 4 (72.4%) (£13,300,000); Aladdin 6.5% (£1,201,337); Men In Black International 5.4% (£1,005,221); #1 Toy Story 4 £13,300,000 1st week. £11,536,988).

Down 1.3% from 2018: (£10,066,964); Ocean’s 8 (£4,347,070); In the Fade (£25,963); Overboard (£19,304); #1 Ocean’s 8 £4,347,070 1st week 641 screens (43.2% of the top 10)

Up 4.1% from 2017: (£9,547,804); Transformers: The Last Knight (£4,635,570); Hampstead (£453,522); The Book of Henry (£72,128); The Graduate: 50th Anniversary 4K Restoration (£28,946); #1 Transformers: The Last Knight £4,635,570 1st week 577 screens (48.5% of top 10)

Down 44.3% from 2016: (£17,839,552); The Secret Life Of Pets (£9,580,039); Independence Day: Resurgence (£5,067,855); Elvis & Nixon (£56,790); The Meddler (£19,327); #1 The Secret Life Of Pets £9,580,039 1st week 592 screens (53.7% of the top 10)

Down 38.1% from 2015; (£16,046,393); Take That Live 2015 (£965,000); Mr. Holmes (£741,080); Entourage (£632,754); The Longest Ride (£419,047); #1 Jurassic World £11,133,912 614 screens 2nd week 34% drop (69.4% of top 10)

Up 19.9% from 2014: (£8,284,805); The Fault in Our Stars (£3,434,334); Jersey Boys (£415,608); 3 Days to Kill (£324,560); Chinese Puzzle (£22,617); The Art of the Steal (£7,867); #1 The Fault in Our Stars £3,434,334 1st week 511 screens (41.4% of top 10)

Down 15.9% from 2013: (£11,810,188); World War Z (£4,535,899); Snitch (£268,229); Before Midnight (£244,231); A Haunted House (£153,805); Spike Island (£55,961); #1 Man Of Steel £5,073,356 2nd week 575 screens 55% drop (42.9% of top 10)

Up 46.8% from 2012 (£6,765,529); Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (£1,119,117); The Five-Year Engagement (£1,058,897); Chernobyl Diaries (£495,875); Lay the Favourite (£112,706); Think Like a Man (£81,516); #1 Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter £1,119,117 1st week 460 screens (16.5% of top 10)

Up 2.2% from 2011 (£9,716,933) Bridesmaids (£3,445,395); Talihina Sky: The Story of Kings of Leon (£82,464); #1 Bridesmaids £3,445,395 1st week 482 screens (21.8% of top 10)

Up 137.3% from 2010: (£4,184,382); Killers (£1,053,074); Wild Target (£282,498); Our Family Wedding (£96,385); Please Give (£49,940); MacGruber (£34,367); #1 Killers £1,053,074 1st week 446 screens (25.1% of top 10)

Down 27.2% from 2009; (£13,653,796); Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen £8,349,739; #1 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen £8,349,739 1st week 516 screens (61.1% of top 10)

Up 27% from 2008; (£7,818,976); Adulthood (£1,203,319); Teeth (£235,658); The Edge of Love (£180,837); The Ruins (£123,507); The Escapist (£79,579); #1 The Incredible Hulk £1,870,800 2nd week 483 screens 43% drop (23.9% of top 10)

Up 65.3% from 2007:(£6,006,969); Captivity (£329,193); La Vie En Rose (£205,659); Lucky You (£56,346); #1 Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer £2,254,179 2nd week 481 screens 46% drop (37.5% of top 10)

Up 129.7% from 2006; (£4,322,278); Lakehouse (£761,465); The Wind that Shakes the Barley (£390,720); Fearless (£369,947); Ultraviolet (£147,337); Aquamarine (£109,232); Half Light (£23,930); #1 The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift £1,019,854 2nd week 415 screens 44% drop (23.6% of top 10)

Up 29.6% from 2005 (£7,664,880); Batman Begins (£4,427,802); Bombon – El Perro (£33,768); We Don’t Live Here Anymore (£28,954); #1 Batman Begins £4,427,802 1st week 514 screens (57.7% of top 10)

Up 29.3% from 2004 (£7,678,849); Mean Girls (£1,393,494); Jersey Girl (£226,970); The Whole Ten Yards (£61,405); #1 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban £3,374,330 3rd week 534 screens 23% drop (43.9% of top 10)

Up 86.5% from 2003 (£5,325,585); 2 Fast 2 Furious (£2,747,875); Basic (£248,088); I’ll Be There (£14,829); #1 2 Fast 2 Furious £2,747,875 1st week 424 screens (51.6% of top 10)

Up 44.2% from 2002 (£6,888,015); The Musketeer (£131,338); Kissing Jessica Stein (£102,234); Hardball (£79,864); Before You Go (£58,387); o #1 Spider-Man: The Movie £4,255,920 2nd week 509 screens 55% drop (61.8% of top 10)

Next weekend in 2019 (13,549,874) Top three took (£11,191,533) of the top 10; Toy Story 4 (61.1%) (£8,284,437); Yesterday 16.2% £2,212,380); Aladdin 5.1% (£694,716); #1 Toy Story 4 £8,284,437 2^nd weekend.

US Box Office

• F9 – Universal Pictures

Opened with $70.043m; received mixed reviews (61% Rotten Tomatoes) and B+ CinemaScore the lowest Cinema Score since the first film in 2001 also B+; Hobbs & Shaw A-; The Fate of the Furious A; Furious 7 A; Fast & Furious 6 A.

Took $7.1m from Thursday previews; more than Hobbs & Shaw taking $5.8m; 2011’s Fast Five $3.7m; 2009’s Fast and Furious $1.8m; but less than 2017’s Fate of the Furious $10.4m; 2013’s Fast and Furious 6 $7.5m.

Had the biggest opening in the US since Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker $177.38m in December 2019.

Was estimated to open with $68m earlier in the weekend and then $70m on Sunday and final figures just topped $70m.

It was always expected F9 would have the biggest post-pandemic opening to date, but as seen elsewhere in the world word of mouth has been mixed and it had big second weekend drops as the film series feels like it has jumped the shark, (saying that many thought the same many films ago) with the film having a space sequence.

As with the Mission Impossible films, producers feel they need to go further each time with the outlandish events and stunts, but even Chinese audiences have found these scenes a bit too much. If F9 went into space where can the next two go where the other films haven’t been?

Had the widest cinema release since cinemas closed in March 2020; F9 was tracking to open with $60m having the biggest opening since movie theatres reopened and the biggest three days opening as A Quiet Place Part 2 opened with $57.1m over 4 days ($47.54m over 3 days)

2001’s The Fast and the Furious opened $40.1m taking $144.51m in the US; $206.45m WW

2003’s 2 Fast 2 Furious opened $50.47m taking $127.12m in the US; $236.41m WW

2006’s FF: Tokyo Drift opened $23.97m taking $62.61m; $157.79m WW

2009’s Fast & Furious opened $70.95m taking $155.06m in the US; $359.34m WW

2011’s Fast Five opened $86.19m taking $210,03m in the US; $630.16m WW

2013’s Fast and Furious 6 opened $97.37m taking $238.67m in the US; $789.3m WW

2015’s Furious 7 opened $147.16m taking $353.1m in the US; $1.516bn WW

2017’s The Fate of the Furious opened $98.78m taking $225.76m in the US; $1.236bn WW

2019’s Hobbs & Shaw opened $60.03m taking $173.95m in the US; $760.37m WW

2021’s F9: The Fast Saga opened xx taking $293.289m WW

The 10 Fast and the Furious films have taken over $1.75bn in the US and over $6.2bn worldwide.

After the performance of 2006’s Tokyo Drift felt like the series could have ended but then 2009’s Fast & Furious saw the return of the original cast and took double the box office of Tokyo Drift. But it was 2011’s Fast Five that turned the series into a global blockbuster taking 66% of its box office internationally.

2013’s Fast & Furious 6 took the film series to China and the following three films and Hobbs & Shaw have been huge successes in China and Asia. But F9 took a third less than The Fate of the Furious as since COVID Chinese audience interest in US films has dropped which could have long-term damage to the global box office.

Vin Diesel said, “You can’t fault another studio for wanting to stream a movie, but the ones like Universal are bold enough to say, ‘Hey, we’re going to support the theatrical release,’” … “I take my hat off to them.” … “It feels good to say, ‘Cinema is back!’”

Hype brings out the 16-34 audiences for films like F9 opening $70m Black Widow $85m+ in two weeks, both opening was predictable what is far more important now than opening weekends is their second weekend as most expect F9 to drop 62%+ similar to 2009’s Fast & Furious.

While COVID will be used as an excuse for F9 taking a third less than The Fate of the Furious the last two films won’t have that excuse and Chinese audiences are losing interest in these films with F9 taking a third less than F8 and COVID can’t be used as an excuse in China.

Li Jun, director of 2019 film Hunt Down, said “People get bored when Fast and Furious is in the ninth instalment, when it first came out [in 2001], people had never seen things like a car hurtling out of a plane. People loved Hollywood before for the good stories and genre films. When it keeps churning out similar fare, audiences leave.”

Chinese audiences had their first taste of Hollywood movies in 1994, The Fugitive, was the first film to open in China, despite only playing in six cities in China and screened for only seven days it took 25m yuan being the biggest film of 1994. The following year True Lies opened across China taking 102m yuan.

These two films were very different to the local films that were playing in cinemas until then; In 1998, Titanic, took 350m yuan and in 2010, Avatar took 1.35 bn yuan. But last year, Disney’s Mulan remake was criticised and in 2019, China pulled the release of Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood.

Took $37.95m from 45 territories $334.75m total international and $404.85m worldwide.

• The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard – Lionsgate

Dropped 57% in its second weekend taking $4.85m and $25.84m.

(2017’s The Hitman’s Bodyguard dropped 52% in its second weekend taking $10.26m and $39.82m taking $75.46m and $176.6m worldwide; after the first film had success in August it was surprising the sequel didn’t open there but 20^th Century Studio release Ryan Reynolds Free Guy originally due to be released 3^rd July 2020 but was delayed due to COVID several times until it was moved to August in March.

Took $7.8m internationally from 21 territories and $24.8m worldwide.

•  A Quiet Place Part 2 – Paramount Pictures

Dropped 32% in its fifth weekend taking $6.19m and $136.38m.  

Sunday was its 31 days on release and its set to be released on PVOD week beginning 12th July (45 days) showing that the shortened window had no impact at all on people wanting to see the film in cinemas, so exhibitors claiming shortened theatrical window would damage box office was predictably wrong.

Paramount Pictures had the last film to take $100m at the US box office before the pandemic, Sonic the Hedgehog in February 2020 and they also have had the first film to take over $100m.

$100m US box office for decades used to be a sign of a film’s success at the box office, A Quiet Place Part 2 was the 766 films to do so since Mary Poppins in 1964 took $102,272,727 ($888,106,669 today). While both A Quiet Place Part 2 took several weeks to top $100m F9 and Black Widow will take $100m+ within a week.

2018’s A Quiet Place dropped 29.5% in its fifth weekend taking $7.76m and $160.05m 85.1% of $188.02m (3.7x opening) and $341m worldwide.

446^th biggest film between Ransom and Godzilla (1998); 892nd biggest inflation inflated film between Blade and Jackass 3D and 57^th biggest Paramount Pictures film between Saturday Night Fever and The Godfather. (106th $100m+ film since Love Story (1970).

Took $9.6m from 48 territories taking $112.1m and $248.48m worldwide; 683^rd biggest film worldwide between The Mask of Zorro and Gone in 60 Seconds; 5th biggest film 2021 film worldwide between F9 and Song Ni Yi Duo Xiao Hong Hua (A Little Red Flower); 82nd biggest Paramount Pictures film worldwide between Crocodile Dundee 2 and Jack Reacher.

• Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway – Sony Pictures

Dropped 22% in its third weekend taking $4.77m and $28.77m.

In 2018 Peter Rabbit dropped 27.1% in its third weekend taking $12.76m and $71.5m 62.1% of $115.25m and $351.26m worldwide.

Took $6.3m from 30 territories this weekend with a total of $79m and $107.8m worldwide; the UK is its top holdover territory taking $22.9m after 6 weeks; opens in France (June 30), Germany (July 1), Italy (July 1), Spain (July 16), Brazil (August 26), and South Korea (Sept 29); 1,549^th biggest film worldwide between Three Kings and Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 and 203^rd biggest Sony Pictures film worldwide between The American President and Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2; had a staggered release first opening Australia in March and the UK on May 17

• Cruella – Disney

Dropped 21% in its fifth weekend taking $3.8m and $71.38m.

1,149^th biggest film in the US between Safe Haven and Chocolat; 1,944^th biggest inflation inflated between The Shadow and 3:10 to Yuma; 3^rd biggest 2021 film between Godzilla vs. Kong and Raya and the Last Dragon; 181^st biggest Disney film between 3 Men and a Little Lady and Turner & Hooch.

Disney previously made a reimagination of 101 Dalmatians in 1996 up 62.9% (Christmas Day) taking $11.38m and $104.11m taking $136.2m and $320.7m worldwide and 2000’s 102 Dalmatians took $2.13m and $51.71m taking $67m and $183.6m worldwide.

Took $10.6m from 42 territories and $112.5m total and $183.8m worldwide; China $20.9m; Korea $12.6m; UK $11m; Mexico $10.3m; Russia $9m; Saudi Arabia $6.5m; Australia $5.7m; Spain $4.3m; Japan $4.1m

911^th biggest film worldwide between Alien and The Hitman’s Bodyguard; 8^th biggest film of 2021 worldwide between Ci Sha Xiao Shuo Jia (A Writer’s Odyssey) and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It; 138^th biggest Disney film worldwide between Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Sweet Home Alabama.

UK Box Office Top 10

Opening next week

• Freaky – Universal Pictures

Teen comedy horror from Blumhouse Productions starring Vince Vaughn, Kathryn Newton, Katie Finneran, Celeste O’Connor, and Alan Ruck and directed by Christopher Landon (Happy Death Day) a twist on the body switch films like Freaky Friday and The Hot Chick, with teenage girl switches bodies with a male serial killer. (In 2014 Blumhouse Productions signed a 10-year first-look production deal with Universal Pictures).

Freaky received positive reviews in the US opening November 13^th with $3.7m taking $6.2m and $15.2m worldwide and was released on VOD in the US on December 4^th.

Due to COVID Freaky had several release dates in the UK but surprising that Universal Pictures didn’t release the film straight to Sky Cinema as they did with Promising Young Woman in April, as teen horrors like Freaky, Truth Or Dare, Ouija, Happy Death Day, and Black Christmas struggle to find an audience in the UK as while they are PG-13s in the US are given 15s in the UK so much of their target audience can’t legally see them.

This is why they do far better in the US than the UK, but for me, as someone that doesn’t do horror they are enjoyable as the Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer films were.

Blumhouse teen horrors repeat the same formula of 90s horrors including Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer featuring popular TV actors, the difference was they were R rated/18 in the UK, while Blumhouse horrors are targetting a younger audience.

Teen horror Gremlins was re-released in December 2019 to celebrate the films 35th-anniversary opening with £162,528, the film was one of the first to receive PG-13 in the US and in 1989 BBFC launched 12 certificates. The 12 certificate was replaced by 12A in 2002 which pushed many non-tentpole PG-13 films like Black Christmas into 15s, which is problematic to teen horrors. It always surprised me that the BBFC didn’t keep the 12 certificates along with the 12A as many films need a higher corticate than 12A but don’t deserve a 15.

Other female lead Blumhouse Production horrors

2017’s Happy Death Day opened with £998,388 taking £2,678,427

2018’s Truth or Dare opened with £931,250 taking £2,400,490

2019’s Happy Death Day 2U opened with £735,454 including £266,079 from previews) taking £1,318,935

2014’s Ouija opened with £1,373,907 taking £3,207,638

2016’s Ouija: Origin of Evil opened with £779,626 taking £2,524,013

2015’s Christmas horror Krampus opened with £412,713 taking £1,184,159 and 2019’s Black Christmas opened with £283,507.

• Another Round – Studiocanal

Comedy-drama starring Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Magnus Millang, and Lars Ranthe and directed by Thomas Vinterberg; had the world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (was previously set to premiere at Cannes Film Festival before COVID cancelled the film festival) and was released in Denmark in 24 2020; received critical acclaim (92% Rotten Tomatoes)

Won Best Foreign Film at the Oscars and BAFTAs and European Film Award for Best Film and was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Golden Globes.

As with Nomadland, The Father and Supernova, Another Round target the older demographic who have been much slower to return to cinemas since they reopened in May (and also last July) and will struggle to find an audience.

American English-language remake rights have been acquired by Appian Way Production as a potential film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, but so often remake rights are acquired but is never made as Jack Nicholson and Kristen Wiig were to star in Toni Erdmann remake in 2017 receive nomination for Best Foreign Film at the Oscars, but studios and talent quickly lose interest and move on to other projects.

• French Exit – Sony Pictures

Comedy-drama starring Michelle Pfeiffer (her first film since Maleficent: Mistress of Evil in 2019), Lucas Hedges and Imogen Poots and directed by Azazel Jacobs, based on the novel by Patrick DeWitt; had its world premiere at the New York Film Festival in October receiving mixed reviews (63% Rotten Tomatoes) but praised the performance by Michelle Pfeiffer and she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical.

Had a limited release in the US taking $1.6m and will get a very limited release in the UK.

• Black Widow – Disney (Wednesday)

24th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe starring Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, William Hurt, Ray Winstone, and Rachel Weisz and directed by Cate Shortland; set after 2016’s Captain America: Civil War as she died at the end of Avengers Endgame (but as Infinity War showed no superhero is dead, there is no jeopardy in these films similar to Fast and the Furious films as characters you thought were dead return, Bobby Ewing shower scene in Dallas it was all a dream).

Despite featuring in the second MCU film (Iron Man 2 in 2010) she has featured in nine films before she got her solo film after Iron Man 2, The Avengers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame. This is despite while promoting the home media release of Iron Man 2 in 2010 Kevin Feige talked about plans to make a solo Black Widow film, and Scarlett Johansson has had discussions to start in the film, but then they focused on 2012’s The Avengers.

Black Widow was originally set to be released in May 2020 but was delayed three times due to COVID before moving to July 9^th and will be released also on Disney+ with Premier Access. As Black Widow is a film many will want to see in cinemas releasing it also on Disney+ will have little impact on its box office as if it’s a film people want to see in the cinema they will see it in cinemas as seen by Godzilla Vs Kong taking £2.5m at the box office since May 17 despite being available on VOD since April.

In September 2005 Marvel Entertainment announced plans to make 10 films with budgets up to $165m, they were to be Captain America, Nick Fury, Black Panther, Ant-Man, Cloak & Dagger, Dr Strange, Hawkeye, Power Pack, Shang-Chi and Avengers.

Iron Man wasn’t included as didn’t revert to Marvel until 2006 after Universal Pictures acquired them in 1990, then sold to 20^th Century Fox before being acquired by New Line in 1999 (New Line made Blade in 1998 and Blade Trinity in 2002 rights returned to Marvel in 2011) rights reverted to Marvel in 2006. Lionsgate was developing a Black Widow film in 2004 but after female action flops Ultraviolet, Aeon Flux and Elektra they put the film into turnaround and rights reverted to Marvel.

This was similar to the case with Black Widow as before this Marvel sold rights to their comic-book characters in the 80s as there was little interest in comic-book movies until Warner made Batman in 1989, by then many of Marvel’s most high-profile superhero rights were split across many studios.

The MCU could have been very different had these other films been made by rival studios, also wonder had Dick Tracy and The Rocketeer been successful for Disney 30 years ago would they have moved into the comic-book business sooner as they acquired Marvel in 2009 after Paramount had huge success with Iron Man and the biggest film of the year was The Dark Knight, while Disney’s biggest film was The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian #13 taking $141.62m and $419.66m worldwide.

Much has been made about the diversity by Marvel but despite Black Panther being in the initial slate announced in 2005 along with Shang-Chi why did it take until their 18^th in 2018 to make Black Panther, likewise Captain Marvel was their 21^st in 2019 released two years after Wonder Woman was a huge box office hit.

The problem with Marvel films is the female characters have always been poorly written.

Scarlett Johansson said in a recent interview “While [Iron Man 2] was really fun and had a lot of great moments in it, the character is so sexualised, you know? [She is] really talked about like she’s a piece of something, like a possession or a thing or whatever – like a piece of ass, really. And Tony even refers to her as something like that at one point … ‘I want some.” … “Maybe at that time that actually felt like a compliment. You know what I mean? Because my thinking was different … My own self-worth was probably measured against that type of comment [but], like a lot of young women, you come into your own and you understand your own self-worth.” … “young girls are getting a much more positive message” and that “it’s been incredible to be a part of that shift and be able to come out the other side”.

There were similar issues with Captain Marvel made almost 10 years after Iron Man 2, there’s a one-size-fits-all approach to the writing of the characters Gamora, The Wasp, Scarlet Witch, Black Widow and Captain Marvel all started out as villains before realising they were fighting for the bad guys, moving over to the good side. There has also been a one size fits all approach to male comic-book characters being rich arrogant males that find themselves and become good guys.

In Avengers: Endgame Carol Danvers joins Scarlet Witch, Valkyrie, Okoye, Mantis, Shuri, Hope van Dyne, Gamora, Nebula, and Pepper Potts for a girl power moment but the male superheroes have lengthy scenes together. Carol has 15 minutes of screen time, Valkyrie eight and Okoye six while Iron Man 1hr 2mins, Ant-Man 38 mins, War Machine 35mins and Black Widow 33 mins.

Scarlett Johansson starred in the action film Lucy in 2014 taking $126.67m in the US and $457.5m worldwide which was released a few months after Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which is surely when Black Widow should have happened, but Marvel was more interested in Avengers: Age of Ultron and Captain America: Civil War.

Black Widow will of course be a big box office hit, but it feels like while Marvel is quick to launch Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor they feel they need to softly open other characters which are strong enough to support their film as the fanbase for Marvel films will see all the films and TV shows they create, but the Black Widow was similar to Black Panther Marvel felt they needed to have both features in other films before having their solo films. While Warner was already filming Wonder Woman when Batman Vs Superman was released.

The first teaser was released in December 2019 (ahead then May 2020 opening) comparisons were made with other female spy films including Atomic Blonde, Red Sparrow, and Anna but of course had a massive advantage on their films being part of the MCU.  

The second trailer was released on March 9^th, 2020, the week later Disney removed it from the May date, in April they moved it to November shifting all their other MCU films back. In September Disney delayed the release of Black Widow to May 7^th after the soft box office of Mulan in China and Tenet in the US.

In January 2021 it was still expected to open in cinemas, but there were rumours that it could be released straight to Disney+. In early February Disney said the plan was to open it in cinemas only but then in March it was moved to July 9^th and announced would be released on Disney+ with Premier Access.

Black Widow opens almost exactly two years to the day the last MCU film opened Spider-Man: Far From Home, then WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki have all been on Disney+

Early reviews for Black Widow have been mixed, it’s an enjoyable MCU film but feels all too late as this should have happened many years ago. While Black Widow is having the role, she deserves but it should have come after Captain America Civil War 5 years ago.

Black Widow will be helped by F9 opening two weeks earlier as the same 16-34 audience will see both.

Opening Wednesday will open close to Spider-Man Homecoming, Doctor Strange, Thor: The Dark World, Iron Man 2, Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain America: Winter Soldier boosted by £2.5m+ from previews on Weds/Thor’s opening with £7m-£9m over 5 days and in the US will open with upwards of $90m. But will likely not have the hold as previous MCU films as it will play to the MCU fans but not the extended fanbase.

Disney will be nervously watching the football on Saturday as if England were to beat the Ukraine they will be playing in the Semi-Final on Wednesday the day Black Widow opens, if they were to win that will be in the final on Sunday night.

Euro 2016 final was watched by 13.6m but if England were to get to the final it’s likely to top 23.78m who watched England v Argentina in the World Cup 1998 and 24.46m who watched the Closing Ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics. Could be up there with the 32.3m who watched the 1966 World Cup Final.