- . Barbie – £7,916,261 – £67,513,588
Dropped 40.2% in the third weekend.
Took £2.52m Friday 31.8% (40% drop) £4.2m; £3.09m Saturday 39% (32.8% drop) £4.6m; £2.52m Sunday 31.8% (43% drop) £4.42m
Added 21 cinemas (from 745 to 766) playing on about 1,700 screens. Must be the widest release ever for a film in the UK.
5th biggest third weekend between Star Wars: The Last Jedi (£7,975,174) and Spectre (£7,833,891) (close to No Time To Die, Avatar: The Way of Water, Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and Beauty and the Beast (2017) and 20th biggest inflated between Avatar: The Way of Water and Quantum of Solace (close to Titanic, Jurassic Park, Monsters, Inc. and The Lion King (1994)
18th biggest between Mamma Mia! And Star Wars: Rogue One (close to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Beauty and the Beast, Toy Story 4 and Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!) and 46th biggest inflated between Star Wars: Attack of the Clones and Die Another Day (close to The Dark Knight Rises, Men in Black, Love Actually and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason); 46th since 1998’s Titanic to take £50m+ and by next weekend should become Warner Bros biggest film in the UK toppling 2011’s Deathly Hallows Part 2.
Comparing Barbie with Top Gun Maverick after 19 days (having two days of previews) took £50.1m 35% less than Barbie and over 17 days 47% less (£46m) despite playing in IMAX/PLF and other premium formats for the first two weeks. Top Gun Maverick went on to take £83.5m so £90m+ could be likely for Barbie, this would see it become the 7th biggest film in the UK ahead of Avengers Endgame, but as the 6 bigger films (Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Skyfall, Spider-Man No Way Home, No Time To Die, Spectre and Avatar) all had IMAX and other premium formats inflating their BO £90m+ BO for Barbie is the equivalent of £120m+ and admissions will be higher than Star Wars: The Force Awakens. While also
When Warner Bros dated Barbie on July 21st, 2023, in April 2022 everyone probably thought they were mad as there was surely going to be only one winner that weekend, Oppenheimer. In the months leading up to the release of the first teaser for The Lego Movie in 2013, the film was regularly mocked, but as with The Lego Movie teaser, the mocking stopped after the first teaser was released in December. Always think you can tell a lot from a teaser if it’s kept simple as it shows the studio believes in the film. The best teasers are the simple ones like the one for Austin Powers 2 in 1999, if you see one film this summer see Star Wars if you see two see Austin Powers.
Greta Gerwig previously directed 2018’s Lady Bird opened took £5,079,887 and 2019’s Little Women took £21,283,939.
Barbie could go on and take anything from £85m to £100m with a month of school holidays still to go, but as it didn’t have IMAX and limited PLF screens this would be the equivalent of £120m+, showing again that films don’t need gimmicks to be successful as if it’s a film people want to see in the cinema, they will see it in the cinema.
After the opening of Barbie and Oppenheimer, there was the typical self-congratulation from many industry leaders and Francis Ford Coppola said, “We’re on the verge of a Golden Age’ of cinema after ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’s success.” “The fact that people are filling big theatres to see them and that they are neither sequels nor prequels, no number attached to them, meaning they are true one-offs, is a victory for cinema.”
Normally the studio would be quick to announce a sequel to a massive hit, but Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling and Greta Gerwig haven’t got deals in place for a sequel as of course no one expected the film to warrant a sequel. As no deals have been put in place for sequels it will be very costly but it’s doubtful Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling and Greta Gerwig would want to do a sequel
Barbie: The Soundtrack has taken over the singles chart becoming the first film to have three top 5 songs for the first time with Billie Eilish’s What Was I Made For? #3, Dua Lipa’s Dance The Night #4 and #5 are a remake of Aqua’s Barbie World. Charli XCX’s Speed Drive, Ryan Gosling’s I’m Just Ken and Lizzo’s Pink are also in the top 40.
- 2. Oppenheimer – £5,493,480 – £39,176,945
Dropped 33.2% in the third weekend.
Took £1.52m Friday 27.7% (30.9% drop) £2.2m; £2.27m Saturday 41.3% (43.2% drop) £4m; £1.7m Sunday 30.9% (41.6% drop) £2.91m.
IMAX has taken 19.5% (£7.64m) from 52 cinemas; BFI IMAX must be close to taking £1m+ it’s playing there till the end of the month and will share the cinema with Blue Beetle from August 18th.
24th biggest third weekend between Toy Story 4 and Joker (close to LOTR: Two Towers, Top Gun: Maverick, Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and Casino Royale) and the 59th biggest inflated between The Kings Speech and Shrek (close to Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Gladiator, The World Is Not Enough and Dunkirk (£4,624,570).
84th biggest between Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith and Inside Out (close to Les Miserables, The Batman, Fifty Shades of Grey and Fast & Furious 7) and 206th biggest inflated between The Secret Life of Pets and Borat (close to Forrest Gump, Shakespeare In Love, American Beauty and Last Tango in Paris).
2010’s Inception dropped 22% £3,229,651 #4 from 459 screens and £20,800,468 of £35,264,403; dropped 30% in the fourth weekend £2,259,595; held #1 for 1 week and in the top 5 for 5 weeks and top 10 for 8 weeks.
2020’s Tenet dropped 42% £1,233,090 from 612 screens and £12,446,578 of £17,479,421; dropped 35% in the fourth weekend taking £796,309 held #1 for 8 weeks and in the top 5 for 9 weeks and top 10 for 10 weeks
2017’s Dunkirk dropped 43% taking £4,624,570 from 690 screens and £38,191,064 of £56,797,955; dropped 43% in the fourth weekend taking £2,634,839 held #1 for 4 weeks and in the top 5 for 8 weeks and top 10 for 10 weeks.
2014’s Interstellar dropped 49% £1,895,368 from 483 screens and £15,866,812 of £20,852,599; dropped 38% in the fourth weekend taking £1,157,875 held #1 for 2 weeks and in the top 5 for 4 weeks and top 10 for 6 weeks.
Impossible to compare Oppenheimer with The Dark Knight Trilogy only that the films had similar holds #1 and stayed in the top 5 and top 10 for similar weeks having similar legs.
2005’s Batman Begins dropped 53% £1,370,100 from 492 screens and £12,198,526 of £16,733,960: #1 for 2 weeks, top 5 for 5 weeks and top 10 for 8 weeks.
2008’s The Dark Knight dropped 39% £4,090,024 #2 from 509 screens and £34,685,968 of £49,411,323: #1 for 2 weeks, top 5 for 6 weeks and top 10 for 8 weeks.
2012’s The Dark Knight Rises dropped 41% £4,290,605 #2 from 567 screens and £40,846,913 of £56,446,768: #1 for 2 weeks, top 5 for 6 weeks and top 10 for 8 weeks.
Christopher Nolan’s films have taken £300m at the UK BO and £380m inflated.
As often with Christopher Nolan films there were some reports of sound issues in some cinemas as some struggled to hear the dialogue against the loud score, this is due to Nolan refusing to ADR in post-production. It could also be that as he records films at the Dolby level many local cinemas don’t play the films at that level so it could cause films not to sound as they should.
Directors would often put projectionists’ notes in the film can telling them how they wanted the film to be played, while some directors go to extremes as Micheal Bay did for one of the Transformers films blowing the surrounds at the Empire Leicester Square during a rehearsal as he demanded it to be played on Dolby 8.
The BBC added to iPlayer last week their 1980 7-part Oppenheimer mini-series which goes into much more detail if a little dated, it’s a very interesting watch alongside the film.
- 3. The Meg 2: The Trench £3,777,784 – NE
Took £1.32m Friday (35%); £1.45m Saturday (38.4%); £1m Sunday (26.4%)
404th biggest opening between The Smurfs and The Second-Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (close to Terminator: Genisys, Bad Boys for Life, The Mummy (1999) and Pirates of the Caribbean) and 639th biggest inflated between Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and The Departed (close to Indecent Proposal, Disclosure, Look Who’s Talking and Judge Dredd).
Opened in 537 cinemas 353rd widest opening similar to F7, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Robin Hood (2010), Jackass Forever, Angel Has Fallen and Wonder; 551st 500+ cinema opening since 2001’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
The Meg 2 played in the least screens of the top 6 with a screen average of £7,035 close to Oppenheimer’s £7,444 inflated with IMAX BO, showing that films don’t need to open as wide as so many films have done over recent years.
2018’s The Meg opened £3,651,111 taking £15,075,792. The sequel’s marketing has been soft, but its advantage is that its trailer has been playing with all the summer films. While footage screened at CinemaCon in April was well received, the start of the trailer sees a Meg killing a dinosaur 65 million years ago.
63 years ago, Alfred Hitchcock asked the same question Psycho asked with The Meg 2 and Mutant Mayhem, Who is right, the critics or the paying public, The Meg 2 received poor reviews but audiences still came out to see it in similar numbers as a first film while Mutant Mayhem had positive reviews but even with 4 days of previews couldn’t open bigger than The Meg 2.
While many like to mock Jason Statham, his films are crowd pleasers (Fast & Furious, The Transporter, The Mechanic, The Expendables and Crank) many performed strongly in August ever since he starred in Guy Ritchie’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels 25 years ago (opened August 1998 with £941,638 taking £11,399,953).
Cinemagoers have always liked shark movies from Steven Spielberg’s classic Jaws to the more recent Deep Blue Sea opened £1,946,454 taking £8,087,585 and The Shallows opened with £800,963 taking £1,723,386.
- 4. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem – £3,662,250 – NE
Took £466k Friday (28%); £751k Saturday (45.2%); £445k Sunday (26.8%)
422nd biggest opening between Despicable Me and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (close to Lightyear, Cats and Dogs, The LEGO Ninjago Movie and Goldeneye) and 662nd biggest inflated between Vertical Limit and Miami Vice (close to Waterworld, Beverly Hills Cop II, The Naked Gun and Dungeons & Dragons).
Opened in 616 cinemas 133rd widest opening similar to Spider-Man Homecoming, Ad Astra and The Bad Guys (close to Sonic The Hedgehog, The Secret Life of Pets 2 and The LEGO Ninjago Movie); 174th 600+ cinema opening since 2015’s Jurassic World.
Having a 7-day opening, summer holidays and positive reviews would have expected it to open similarly to 2014’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but Mutant Mayhem took 55% of its opening from previews Mon-Thurs (£2m) Vs £1.65m Fri-Sun.
Showing again that 7-day openings don’t work as all they do is spread BO over 7 days rather than 3 as The Meg 2 took more in 3 days than Mutant Mayhem did in 7 despite poor reviews. While being preview heavy it will also drop heavily in its second weekend 70%+ against Gran Turismo.
But it was a poor dating decision again by Paramount to open Mutant Mayhem against The Meg 2 as they would play to similar demographics. It would have made far more sense to switch Mutant Mayhem with Dead Reckoning as 2015’s Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation and 2018’s Mission: Impossible Fallout opened end of July/first week of August.
It’s the seventh theatrical Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film since 1990, the first was released as Hero Turtles in the UK and is the second animated film after 2007’s TMNT opened £948,791 #2 taking £2,739,160 and Paramount’s third film after 2014’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles opened £4,785,448 #1 taking £13,771,574 and 2016’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows opened £3,495,445 #2 taking £5,957,182.
1990’s Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles opened £769,000 (£2,630,442 inflated) taking £5,452,740 (£18,651,647 inflated)
1991’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 opened at £458,539 (£1,206,124 inflated) taking £2,250,201 (£5,918,846 inflated).
Maybe the issue in the UK with Mutant Mayhem is despite sharing the same language as America we don’t always see the same comedy as is the case with Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg as their films like Judd Apatow don’t travel as well and aren’t as popular in the UK as the US; 2007’s Superbad (£1,484,456 taking £6,292,890), 2013’s This Is The End (£1,390,323 taking £4,082,675), 2016’s Sausage Party (£2,690,156 taking £7,580,034), 2008’s Pineapple Express (£1,372,911 taking £3,611,471), 2015’s The Night Before (£272,930 taking £624,279) and 2011’s The Green Hornet (£1,878,905 taking £5,421,912) all took much less than would have expected to do after their US BO.
- 5. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One – £1,038,687 – £22,848,905
Down 43.3% in the fourth weekend
Took £270k Friday (26%); £471k Saturday (45.4%); £297k Sunday (28.6%)
310th biggest fourth weekend between Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation and The Departed (close to Legend, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Jurassic Park 3 and Taken 2) and 549th biggest inflated between Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer and The Spiderwick Chronicles (close to Die Hard 2 Die Harder, Inside Man, Batman and Robin and Fast & Furious 6).
Always find it a strange coincidence when a film takes a similar total as a previous part of the film series as the odds of this happening must be huge, the latest one to do so is Dead Reckoning taking only £4,140 less than the fourth weekend of Rogue Nation.
4th weekends
2018’s Mission: Impossible Fallout dropped 42% £1,174,345 #7 and £20,102,327 of £24,421,935; 6 weeks in top 10 and 13th of the year between The Grinch and Darkest Hour
2015’s Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation dropped 34% £1,042,827 #4 and £16,890,467 of £21,187,884; 7 weeks in the top 10 and 14th biggest of the year between Cinderella and Big Hero 6
2011’s Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol dropped 40% £815,330 #7 and £16,686,503 of £17,536,984; 5 weeks in the top 10 and 17th biggest of the year between The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows
2006’s Mission Impossible 3 dropped 58% £756,785 #4 and £13,959,350 of £15,342,575; 6 weeks in the top 10 and 10th biggest of the year between Superman Returns and Happy Feet
2000s Mission Impossible 2 dropped 35% £871,439 (£1,634,204 inflated) #2 and £12,730,515 73.6% of £17,291,606 (£32,426,847 inflated); 8 weeks in the top 10 and 7th biggest of the year between Stuart Little and How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
1996’s Mission Impossible dropped 14% £992,870 (£1,944,269 inflated) #1 and £13,185,549 71.8% of £18,351,333 (£35,936,148 inflated): 10 weeks in the top 10 and 5th biggest of the year between Seven and Twister.
4th biggest Tom Cruise film between Mission Impossible Fallout and Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation; the 13th biggest inflated between Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and Jerry Maguire (close to Interview with the Vampire, Mission Impossible 3, A Few Good Men and Cocktail).
Tom Cruise’s last 37 films took £455m (£750m+ inflated) while the 7 Mission Impossible films took £140m+ (£200m) combined.
228th biggest between Transformers and Shark Tale (close to The Bourne Ultimatum, Ghost, The Lion King (1994) and Gone Girl) and 467th biggest inflated between Maleficent and Captain America: The Winter Soldier (close to Lethal Weapon 2, Cliffhanger, Twins and Beverly Hills Cop II).
13th biggest Paramount Pictures film between Transformers and Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (close to Mission Impossible: Fallout, Rocketman, Star Trek and Monsters vs. Aliens).
Top Gun: Maverick was a unique BO phenomenon as Barbenheimer has been and it was always unlikely lightning would strike twice for Tom Cruise and Dead Reckoning would play like all other Mission Impossible films. Of course, many are saying what if it didn’t open so close to Oppenheimer and kept IMAX screens for longer or had a different release date, but then Top Gun Maverick wouldn’t have had the perfect date it had as the problem been after moving the release date so many times there wasn’t anywhere else it could have moved to.
Many suggest now could have opened a week earlier after Dial of Destiny’s poor opening, but Paramount has said the film wasn’t complete by then, which makes no sense as the premiere was at the end of June.
Paramount face a similar problem with Dead Reckoning Part 2 now Sony has dated Bad Boys 4 for the weekend before and Despicable Me 4 opening the weekend after, that said with the strikes who knows if any of these films will open on their current release dates?
UK box office in detail
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £23,825,557 down 10.4% from last weekend’s £26,586,491: 2,989,405 admissions down 10.4% from 3,335,821.
The fourth £20m+ top 10 of 2023 after last weekend and 07 April 2023 when Super Mario Bros opened; were 5 £20m+ weekends in 2022 (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Top Gun Maverick, Jurassic World: Dominion, Thor: Love and Thunder and Minions: The Rise of Gru). 3 £20m+ in 2021 (two for No Time to Die and Spider-Man No Way Home). 1 in 2020 (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker) and 8 in 2019 (Captain Marvel, Avengers Endgame x2 weeks, Aladdin, Toy Story 4, Spider-Man: Far from Home, The Lion King x2 weeks, Joker, Frozen 2 and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker x2 weeks).
31st biggest top 10 of the last 21 years (out of 1,114) between 12 June 2015 #1 Jurassic World £19,350,727 (80.6% of top 10) and 27 December 2019 #1 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker £9,311,240 (39.1% of top 10) and 95th biggest inflation inflated between 27 May 2011 #1 The Hangover Part II £10,409,017 (57.1% of top 10) and 27 December 2019 #1 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker £9,311,240 (39.1% of top 10).
The top 3 took (£17,187,525) 72.1% of the top 10; Barbie 33.23% (£7,916,261; Oppenheimer 23.06% (£5,493,480); Meg 2: The Trench (£3,777,784) 15.86%.
574th highest percentage (33.23%) between 12 July 2019 Spider-Man: Far from Home (33.23%) and 12 July 2013 Monsters University (33.21%).
266th biggest admissions #1 (993,257) between 16 July 2010 Inception (993,750) and 14 November 2008 Quantum of Solace (993,112).
Up 172.6% from 2022 (£8,741,052); Bullet Train (£2,858,197); Westlife: Live from Wembley Stadium (£468,215); #1 Bullet Train £2,858,197 1st week 609 screens (32.7% of top 10)
Up 181.6% from 2021; (£8,459,738); Stillwater (£478,386); Last Letter from Your Lover (£274,322); Zola (£49,668); Profile (£32,952); #1 The Suicide Squad £2,267,135 2nd week 644 screens down 31% (26.8% of top 10)
Up 4,322.7% from 2020 (£538,716); American Pickle (£27,732); #1 Unhinged £117,633 2nd week 270 screens (21.8% of top 10)
Up 50.6% from 2019; (£15,821,627); Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw (£6,377,583); Angry Birds 2 (£701,223); The Magic Flute – Glyndebourne 2019 (£132,765); Do the Right Thing (30th Anniversary) (£14,616); #1 Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw £6,377,583 1st week 614 screens (40.31% of top 10)
Up 45.9% from 2018: (£16,330,724); Ant-Man and The Wasp (£4,988,747); Teen Titans Go! to the Movies (£389,726); The Producers (50th Anniversary) (£35,745); #1 Ant-Man and The Wasp £4,988,747 1st week 486 screens (30.5% of top 10)
Up 62.2% from 2017: (£14,684,539); The Emoji Movie (£2,702,809); Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (£1,861,916); England is Mine (£76,895); Maudie (£49,315); #1 Dunkirk £10,023,720 3rd week 690 screens 44% drop (31.5% of top 10)
Up 12% from 2016: (£21,285,722); Suicide Squad (£11,252,225); Sid & Nancy (30th Anniversary) (£6,048); #1 Suicide Squad £11,252,225 1st week 573 screens (52.8% of the top 10)
Up 137.1% from 2015; (£10,047,581); Fantastic Four (£2,686,176); The Gift (£584,552); The Diary of a Teenage Girl (£81,185); The Rape of Lucretia – Glyndebourne 2015 (£29,796); Marshland (£40,060); Max (£38,901); #1 Fantastic Four £2,686,176 1st week 539 screens (26.7% of top 10)
Up 11.1% from 2014: (£21,448,750); The Inbetweeners 2 (£12,538,114); La Traviata – Glyndebourne 2014 (£112,970); All this Mayhem (£12,247); #1 The Inbetweeners 2 £12,538,114 1st week 509 screens (58.4% of top 10)
Up 55.4% from 2013: (£15,328,027); The Smurfs 2 (£3,220,911); The Heat (£2,500,522); The Conjuring (£2,156,124); Red 2 (£1,023,349); Only God Forgives (£465,917); From up on Poppy Hill (£33,087); #1 The Smurfs 2 (£3,220,911 1st week 510 screens (21.1% of top 10)
Up 26.5% from 2012:( £18,835,047); Ted (£9,333,700); Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (£1,537,178); Brave (Scotland) (£820,084); Sound of My Voice (£3,630); #1 Ted £9,333,700 1st week 509 screens (49.5% of top 10)
Up 91.7% from 2011; (£12,426,990); Super 8 (£2,207,063); Mr Popper’s Penguins (£1,515,248); Sarah’s Key (£116,211); #1 Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 £2,810,088 4th week 525 screens 38% drop (22.6% of top 10)
Up 44.7% from 2010: (£16,470,599); Knight & Day (£2,404,163); Step Up 3 (£2,015,403); Cats & Dogs: Revenge of Kitty Galore (£1,553,005); #1 Toy Story 3 £4,666,021 3rd week 555 screens 62% drop (28.3% of top 10)
Up 153.8% from 2009; (£9,386,362); The Ugly Truth (£1,976,043); G. I. Joe (£1,708,760); Orphan (£570,146); Mesrine: Killer Instinct (£135,999); Adam (£23,201); #1 The Ugly Truth £1,976,043 1st week 400 screens (21.1% of top 10)
Up 50.1% from 2008; (£15,871,733); The X-Files: I Want to Believe (£887,209); Space Chimps (£563,543); The Love Guru (£498,829); Man on Wire (£98,508); #1 The Dark Knight £6,737,306 2nd week 510 40% drop screens (42.4% of top 10)
Up 124.3% from 2007: (£10,622,708); Evan Almighty (£1,152,349); The Hoax (£94,136); Happily, Never After (£62,622); Wind Chill (£23,769); Seraphim Falls (£17,110); #1 The Simpsons £4,027,220 2nd week 519 screens 70% drop (37.9% of top 10)
Up 156% from 2006; (£9,307,750); Miami Vice (£2,231,684); My Super Ex-Girlfriend (£714,920); Ant Bully (£382,766); #1 Miami Vice £2,231,684 1st week 408 screens (23.9% of top 10)
Up 146.6% from 2005: (£9,659,697); Herbie: Fully Loaded (£774,412); Stealth (£525,902); The Devil’s Rejects (£323,196); #1 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory £4,441,851 2nd week 532 screens 44% drop (45.9% of top 10)
Up 137.4% from 2004 (£10,036,048); I, Robot (£4,745,541); 13 Going On 30 (£1,184,273); Home on the Range (£198,226); #1 I, Robot £4,745,541 1st week 447 screens (47.3% of top 10)
Up 181.9% from 2003 (£8,452,765); The Pirates of the Caribbean (£3,765,450); Rugrats Go Wild (£360,005); What A Girl Wants (£220,217); #1 The Pirates of the Caribbean £3,765,450 1st week 447 screens (44.6% of top 10)
Up 86.5% from 2002 (£12,774,940); Men in Black 2 (£6,191,428); Lost In La Mancha (42,824); Lovely and Amazing (£35,483); #1 Men in Black 2 £6,191,428 1st week 512 screens (48.4% of top 10)
Up 121.5% from 2001 (£10,754,826); Cats and Dogs (£3,707,358); Rush Hour 2 (£2,286,253); Final Fantasy: The Spirits. (£43,546); #1 Cats and Dogs £ 3,707,358 1st week 452 screens (34.4% of top 10);
Next Week 2022 (£6,488,377); Nope (£1,859,337); Tomorrow Never Dies (Re: 2022) (£7,825); The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Re: 2011) (£3,371); #1 Nope £1,859,337 1st week 676 screens (28.7% of top 10)
US Box Office
- Barbie – Warner Bros
Dropped 42% in the third weekend taking $53m and $459.39m
11th biggest third weekend between Jurassic World and Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (close to The Super Mario Bros. Movie, The Avengers, Top Gun: Maverick and Incredibles 2).
EntTelligence has an average ticket price of Barbie $12.65 and Oppenheimer $13.65.
24th biggest film between Star Wars Ep. IV: A New Hope and Avengers: Age of Ultron; 81st biggest inflated between Transformers: Dark of the Moon and The Lost World: Jurassic Park; 2nd biggest 2023 film after The Super Mario Bros. Movie; 2nd biggest Warner Bros film between The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises.
What helped Barbenheimer is the audience of the two films are almost a mirror image of each other. Barbie’s audience is 66.2% female and 74.6% under 29, while Oppenheimer is 70.7% male and 52.9% over 30. The two films complimented each other Barbenheimer probably helped Oppenheimer far more than Barbie, as while Barbie’s audience also went to see Oppenheimer, not as many Oppenheimer probably went to see Barbie.
What will be interesting to see is lessons will be learnt from Barbenheimer studios realise two films playing to very different demographics can perform strongly, this, of course, was the case 30 years ago when studios would open films like Sleepless in Seattle the week after Jurassic Park and the two films would play strongly together.
The problem is MCU films cannibalize the market and when rival studios release films directly against them they struggle to find an audience. Saying that the last couple of MCU films haven’t opened as strongly as expected so there could have been room for another film targeting different demographics. As there is a crossover audience with Dune Part Two and The Marvels in November as both will play strongly to males over 29, but the female-led characters in The Marvels could crossover as Captain Marvel did to non-comic-book fans.
Barbie’s opening shows films don’t need IMAX or PLF to open big and exhibitors will have very mixed feelings having had the put their 100% support towards Christopher Nolan as he is giving them exactly what they claim to want but looking over at Dead Reckoning and Barbie at what they are missing out on as Dead Reckoning would have played more weeks in IMAX. It’s also audiences who are missing out on not being able to see it in IMAX beyond its opening weekend. But the problem is the delusions of grandeur from Christopher Nolan believing he is the Messiah of cinema, even though Super Mario Bros and Barbie will both take more than Oppenheimer.
In September 2021 it was announced Universal Pictures would release Christopher Nolan’s next film but it came with several demands from the director including a budget of $100m an equal marketing budget, a theatrical window of at least 100 days, 20% of the first-dollar gross, and Universal couldn’t release another film either three weeks before or after. (They released Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken is June 30th and the next is Last Voyage of the Demeter on August 11th).
Barbie has blown away all the cobwebs of Warner Bros’ disappointing start of 2023 climbing from fifth to third biggest studio within a week; Universal $1.32bn; Disney $1.25bn; Warner $761.5m; Paramount $613.2m; Sony $594.6m.
Took $74.6m (41.2% drop) from 69 territories and $574.2m and $1.03bn worldwide (likely taking $1.2bn+); the UK $87.9m; Mexico $48.9m; Australia $41.1m; Brazil $39.5m; Germany $33.7m; China $31.7m; France $29.1m; Italy $27.9m; Spain $26m.
44th biggest worldwide between Jurassic Park and Despicable Me 3; 2nd biggest worldwide 2023 after The Super Mario Bros. Movie; 5th biggest Warner Bros film worldwide between Joker and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem – Paramount Pictures
Opened $28m ($43.08m 5 days); received positive reviews (96% Rotten Tomatoes) and A CinemaScore.
Took $3.85m from Tuesday midnights as Dead Reckoning had a 5-day opening. Unlike in the UK when preview BO is included in an opening weekend the extra day’s BO isn’t included for the US.
11% from 3D and 20% PLF
675th biggest opening between Sin City and Back to the Future Part II (close to Edge of Tomorrow, Free Guy, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island and The Rugrats Movie).
2016’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows opened $35.31m taking $82.05m and $245.62m WW
2014’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles opened $65.57m taking $191.2m and $485m WW
The previous animated film 2007’s TMNT opened $24.25m taking $54.14m and $95.8m WW
1990’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles opened $25.39m taking $135.38m and $202.08m WW
1991’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze opened $20.03m taking $78.65m
1993’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III opened $12.41m taking $42.27m
2016’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows opened with $34m internationally.
Opened with $8.5m from 25 territories; UK $5m; Germany $1m; opens in France, Mexico and China this week and then Spain and Brazil in August and Australia, Korea and Japan in September.
- The Meg 2: The Trench – Warner Bros
Opened $30m; received mixed reviews (29% Rotten Tomatoes) and B- CinemaScore.
Took $3.2m from Thursday midnights (The Meg took $4m)
620th biggest opening between Scream (2022) and The Purge: Anarchy (close to Men in Black: International, Bullet Train, Elysium and Elemental).
Opened in Dolby Cinema, PLFs, 4DX, Screen X, Drive-ins and Dbox
22.5% from PLF and 18% from 3D
2018’s The Meg opened $45.4m taking $145.52m and $530.51m WW 72.6% internationally; received mixed reviews (50% Rotten Tomatoes) and B+ CinemaScore.
1999’s Deed Blue Sea opened $19.1m taking $73.64m and $164.64m WW
1999’s Lake Placid opened $10.97m taking $31.77m and $56.87m WW
The Meg opened with $96.8m internationally from 42 territories (including $50m in China) and $146.9m worldwide) #1 in 28 territories opening ahead of Rampage, Geostorm, London Has Fallen and Into The Storm.
Opened with $112m from 75 territories; China $53.3m; Mexico $7.6m; UK $5.1m; France $4.5m; Spain $3.4m.
- Oppenheimer – Universal Pictures
Down 38% in the third weekend taking $29.12m and $228.98m.
69th biggest third weekend between Furious 7 and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (close to Gravity, Joker, Jurassic Park and Inception #81 $27.48m).
Had 80% of all PLF with IMAX/PLF taking 47% of opening; 26% IMAX; 2% from 25 IMAX 70MM $70K IMAX average; 85 standard 70mm screens took 4%; AMC Dolby Cinema, Cinemark XD, and Regal RPX took 17%.
Third weekends
2020’s Tenet dropped 30.8% $4.56m and $36.1m of $58.5m and $365.3m WW; dropped 26.7% in the fourth weekend taking $3.34m; held #1 for 5 weeks and stayed in top 10 for 13 weeks.
2017’s Dunkirk dropped 35.6% taking $17.13m and $133.09m of $188.045m and $525.24m WW; dropped 36.5% in the fourth weekend taking $10.88m held #1 for 2 weeks and stayed in the top 10 for 9 weeks.
2014’s Interstellar dropped 45.8% taking $15.34m and $120.93m of $188.02m and $677.89m WW; up 2.6% in the fourth weekend taking $15.74m stayed in the top 10 for 6 weeks.
2010’s Inception dropped 35.7% $27.48m and $193.31m of $292.57m and $825.79m WW; dropping 32.7% in the fourth weekend $18.5m held #1 for 3 weeks and staying in the top 10 for 11 weeks.
2008’s The Dark Knight dropped 43.2% $42.66m of $393.75m of $533.34m and $1.003bn WW; dropped 38.8% in the fourth weekend $26.11m held #1 for 4 weeks and stayed in the top 10 for 10 weeks.
2012’s The Dark Knight Rises dropped 42.5% $35.73m and $353.93m of $448.13m and $1.081bn WW; dropped 46.9% in the fourth weekend $18.97m; held #1 for 3 weeks and stayed in the top 10 for 8 weeks.
Variety estimated with its budget and marketing costs Oppenheimer will need to take at least $400m to make a profit; Christopher Nolan’s previous original films.
2020’s Tenet ($205m budget) took $58.5m in the US and $365.3m worldwide; 2017’s Dunkirk ($150m+ budget) took $189.74m in the US and $527m worldwide; 2014’s Interstellar ($165m+ budget) took $188m in the US and $773.43m worldwide; 2010’s Inception ($160m+ budget) took $292.58m in the US and $870.1m worldwide.
Took $55.6m (down 27.9%) from 78 territories $327.2m total and $553m worldwide (expected to take $700m+); UK $50.3m; Germany $28.3m; France $24.2m; Australia $18.2m; India $16.1m; Mexico $14.5m; Spain $13.7m.
Has taken $49.6m internationally IMAX and $114.2m total (20.65%); IMAX has extended its run for 4 weeks.
- Haunted Mansion – Disney
Dropped 62% in the second weekend, taking $9.21m and $42.26m.
Reimagination of 2003’s The Haunted Mansion dropped 61.3% in the second weekend taking $9.39m and $45.97m of $75.84m and $182.29m WW.
It was surprising Disney brought the release date forward from August 11th to July 28th in September 2022 as they had a successful opening of Christopher Robin in August 2018 opening $24.85m taking $99.21m and $197.74m.
Of course, when Disney moved the film to July 28th no one knew Barbie was going to perform as it has done but it was still a strange decision to open it the week after as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem opening the week after is targeting male audience, while the horror aspect of the film do wonder why it wasn’t released ahead of Halloween. Several horror films are opening ahead of Halloween and they are all targeting older audiences.
Disney has taken $4.005bn worldwide in 2023; $1.595bn US and $2.41bn from Avatar: The Way of Water, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, The Little Mermaid, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Elemental and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny; have A Haunting in Venice, The Creator, The Bikeriders, Next Goal Wins, The Marvels and Wish still to be released this year.
Took $4.2m from 37 territories and $17.6m and $59.6m worldwide; as with TNMT, it’s having a slow expansion internationally,
- Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1 – Paramount Pictures
Dropped 38% in the fourth weekend taking $6.61m and $151.16m
682nd biggest fourth weekend between Journey to the Centre of the Earth and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (close to Quantum of Solace, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Enemy of the State and Ford v Ferrari).
Mission: Impossible III #636 $7m; Mission: Impossible #427 $8.6m; Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation #228 $11.45m; Mission: Impossible II #234 $11.36m; Mission: Impossible – Fallout #267 $10.77m; Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol #57 $19.86m.
402nd biggest between Gremlins and La La Land; 866th biggest inflated between Cats & Dogs and Sully; 13th biggest 2023 between Creed III and Elemental; 54th biggest Paramount film between Runaway Bride and Daddy’s Home.
Fourth weekends
1996’s Mission Impossible dropped 41.3% $8.6m #3 and $145.05m of $180.98m
2000’s Mission Impossible II dropped 34.1% $11.36m #4 and $176.6m of $215.4m and $546.38m WW.
2006’s Mission Impossible III dropped 38.3% $7m #4 and $114.27m of $134.02m and $398.47m WW; 3rd was against The Da Vinci Code $77.07m.
2011’s Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol dropped 32.5% $19.86m #2 and $169.56m of $209.4m and $694.71 WW; harder to compare as had an exclusive opening weekend in IMAX cinemas; stayed in the top 5 for 5 weeks.
2015’s Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation dropped 33.4% $11.45m #2 $157.51m of $195.04m and $682.71m WW
2018’s Mission Impossible: Fallout dropped 44.3% $10.77m #4 and $181.01m of $220.15m and $791.1m WW; 3rd was against The Meg $45.4m; stayed in top 5 for 6 weeks
Tom Cruise films have taken $5.31bn at the US box office since making his acting debut in 1981’s Endless Love and made $12.71bn worldwide; 6 Mission Impossible films have taken $1.3bn in the US and $4.1bn worldwide.
Took $17.8m (44% drop) from 71 territories $342.8m total and $493.8m worldwide ($550m+ expected); China $47.6m; Korea $30.3m; UK $29.7m; Japan $21.3m; France $20.4m.
247th biggest worldwide between Shrek and Angels & Demons; 10th biggest 2023 between Oppenheimer and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania; 28th biggest Paramount film between How to Train Your Dragon and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014).
UK Box Office Top 10
UK Box Office Preview
Barbie and Oppenheimer are likely to hold against #1 and #2 for their fourth weekend with both films having similar drops in recent weeks with Barbie dropping 40% taking £4m-£4.5m similar to No Time To Die (£4,672,560) and Spider-Man: No Way Home (£4,477,415) and will likely become Warner Bros biggest film in the UK ahead of 2011’s Deathly Hallows Part 2; Barbie will have taken £1m+ for 21 days in a row.
Oppenheimer likely dropping 30% taking £3.5m-£4m as the two films get the closest, they have been for the last 4 weeks and have a chance to top Barbie in their 5th weekend.
Last weekend’s new releases The Meg 2 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem will likely drop over 50%+, with Mutant Mayhem due to a 7-day opening dropping 70%+. The Meg 2 £1.5m+ and Mutant Mayhem £1m.
This will see the two new entries Gran Turismo (opening Wednesday) and Haunted Mansion opening 3rd and 4th with Haunted Mansion opening similar to the 2003 film £1,677,927 while Grand Turismo similar to 2014’s Need For Speed £2,011,249, 2019’s Le Man’s 66 £2m and 2013’s Rush £2,099,308 rather than 2006’s Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby £1,033,759 and 2008’s Speed Racer £362,102.
Opening in two weeks
- The Nun 2 – Warner Bros
Supernatural horror sequel to 2018’s The Nun and the ninth instalment of The Conjuring Universe starring Taissa Farmiga, Jonas Bloquet and Bonnie Aarons, Storm Reid and Anna Popplewell and directed by Michael Chaves (previously directed 2019’s The Curse of La Llorona and 2021’s The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.
- My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 – Universal Pictures
Romantic comedy the third instalment in the My Big Fat Greek Wedding franchise starring Nia Vardalos, John Corbett, Louis Mandylor, Elena Kampouris, Gia Carides, Joey Fatone, Lainie Kazan, and Andrea Martin and written and directed by Nia Vardalos.
2002’s My Big Fat Greek Wedding opened £1,503,436 #2 from 341 screens taking £13,441,558; it had very long legs taking 8.94x opening and stayed in the top 10 for 9 weeks (top 5 for 6 weeks)
The 2016 sequel wasn’t nearly as successful or opening £983,534 #4 from 434 screens taking £3,811,836; stayed in the top 10 for only 3 weeks.
- Past Lives – Studiocanal
Romantic drama starring Greta Lee, Teo Yoo and John Magaro and written and directed by Celine Song in her feature directorial debut.
It had the world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and was released in the US in June receiving universal acclaim from critics.