- Andre Rieu’s 2022 Maastricht Summer Concert – £798,706 – NE
The first Event Cinema #1 post-pandemic and first since Billy Elliot The Musical Live 2014 opened with £1,904,098 on 26th September 2014 (taking 23.7%).
André Rieu concerts took more but the 2022 Maastricht Summer Concert was the first to be #1
André Rieu’s concerts grew in popularity since the first one, Andre Rieu’s 2014 Maastricht Concert £830,586; Andre Rieu’s 2015 Maastricht Concert (Concert) £1,107,000; Andre Rieu’s 2016 Maastricht Concert £1,414,075; Andre Rieu: Christmas With Andre 2016 £1,180,208 #4 470 screens; Andre Rieu’s 2017 Maastricht Concert £1,439,604; 2018’s André Rieu’s Maastricht Concert, ’Amore £1,783,222; Andre Rieu’s 2019 New Year Concert from Sydney £1,745,941 #4 570 screens; Andre Rieu 2019 Maastricht Concert – Shall We Dance? (July 27) £1,492,154 #4 587 screens; 2020’s Andre Rieu’s Magical Maastricht: Together In Music (September 19) £124,101 #4 403 screens; 2020’s Andre Rieu: 70 Years Young (January) £1,717,074 #6 579 screens; Andre Rieu’s 2021 Summer Concert: Together Again (August 28) £420,056 #4 551 screens;
Event Cinema attracts an older audience who have been slow to return to cinemas since they reopened but would have expected by now 15 months later Andre Rieu’s Maastricht Summer Concert to open similar pre-lockdown especially as it opened on 677 screens with tickets £20+ and had encore screenings on Sunday.
In 2019 Event Cinema took £45.3m in the UK about 3.3% of the year’s box office up from 2.4% in 2018, but it dropped to £6.7m in 2021 taking 1.1% of total BO
Last weekend was the worst last weekend of August for over 21 years including 2020 and 2021 showing that Saturday’s National Cinema Day should have been National Cinema Month starting two weeks ago. I did suggest that when cinemas reopened there should have been a National Cinema Week as a day isn’t enough especially when there aren’t films to attract audiences.
£249,216 separated #1 with Top Gun Maverick #7 with #2 Beast separating Top Gun Maverick by only £50,769 which saw Minions The Rise of Gru climb to #1 on Monday and DC League of Super-Pets #2
- 2. Beast – £600,259 – NE
Opened similar to Crawl opened £458,796 opened the same weekend in August 2019 from 483 and similar to Idris Elba’s directed 2018’s Yardie opened £438,088 #13 from 225 screens.
Baltasar Kormakur previously directed 2015’s Everest opened £3,160,154 taking £10,265,763
Beast is impossible to compare with many of Idris Elba’s other films like Thor Love and Thunder and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 as they weren’t films audiences went to see because of him. This is similar to Scarlett Johansson being seen as one of the world’s highest-grossing actors but her name on a billboard doesn’t guarantee box office success as seen with Ghost in the Shell.
Idris Elba has had huge success with the TV series Luther over the last decade (Netflix will release a Luther film later this year). Idris Elba has been fans’ favourite to replace Daniel Craig as James Bond for the last few years ad also stars in George Miller’s Three Thousand Years of Longing opening next weekend in the UK after disappointing at the UK BO last weekend.
2019’s Crawl opened £458,796 from 483 screens taking £1,060,836
Opening 20 years since the similarly themed Lake Placid opened with £931,472 taking £3,493,960 and B- movies like Anaconda and big budget The Ghost and the Darkness.
Similar animal-human horror films include
1999’s Deep Blue Sea opened £1,946,454 taking £8,087,585
2004’s Open Water opened £1,970,176 taking £4,818,915
2010’s Piranha 3D opened £1,325,324 taking £4,466,428
2016’s Don’t Breathe opened £1,028,938 taking £3,719,221
2016’s The Shallows opened £800,963 taking £1,723,386
2017’s 47 Meters Down opened £637,964 taking £1,326,136
2017’s The Mountain Between Us opened £777,646 taking £2,360,660
2018’s Adrift opened £405,240 taking £1,267,325
Likely to be front-loaded out of cinemas within a few weeks, the only reason why it could stay in the chart longer is the lack of wide releases over the next month.
Beast and The Invitation were the latest films to use the “only in cinemas” tagline and are the latest to be out of cinemas within weeks of opening, The Invitation opened #12 with £261,791 from 387 screens
- 3 DC League of Super-Pets – £811,276 – £10,587,976
Down 26.2% in the fifth weekend; holding well as it is only one of a few films aimed at children
Fifth weekend
2022’s The Bad Guys dropped 2% £723,039 #5 from 610 screens and £10,180,547 75.5% of £13,478,928
2021’s Space Jam: A New Legacy dropped 53% £506,179 from 575 screens and £10,124,128 78.7% of £12,856,287; 9.43x opening
2021’s The Croods 2: A New Age down 52% £421,529 from 605 screens and £7,026,625 70.3% of £10m; 14.36x opening
The two films dropped heavily in their 5th weekends last August due to Free Guy opening #1 at £2,477,891 and The Paw Patrol Movie #2 with £2,410,496
2018’s Smallfoot £360,893 dropped 69% #9 from 533 screens and £10,649,144 94.6% of £11,250,608; dropped heavily due to The Grinch opening #1 with £5,019,677
2016’s Storks up 7% £343,898 #8 from 520 screens and £6,249,343 93.2% of £6,703,174
110th biggest animated film between The Hunchback Of Notre Dame and Angry Birds (close to Smallfoot, Pokemon: The First Movie, Lightyear and Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse) and 14th biggest inflation inflated between Planes and Sherlock Gnomes (close to Cars 3, The Croods 2: A New Age, The LEGO Ninjago Movie and Hotel Transylvania).
516th biggest film between Star Wars: Return of the Jedi and Starsky & Hutch (close to Jungle Cruise, Ghostbusters (1984), Back to the Future and Batman) and 870th biggest inflation inflated between Open Season and What Happens in Vegas (close to Small Soldiers, Ghostbusters Afterlife, The Hannah Montana Movie and Shaun of the Dead).
It’s hard to make direct comparisons with other animated films as being DC it won’t play to a similar audience as other animated films, that said The LEGO Batman Movie played across audiences, but that was of course helped by the hugely popular The LEGO Movie opening a couple of years earlier.
The combination of superheroes and pets should have been a winning combination before as has been family films about pets many times before in the UK BO. But the issue was it targeted the same audience as Minions The Rise of Gru, this was also one of the reasons why Lightyear was disappointed at the BO, why release three animated films targetting boys so close to each other?
While Warner brought forward the release of the film after production delays on Black Adam which was originally due to open at the end of July. What didn’t help DC League of Super-Pets is that it was targeting the same audience as Minions: The Rise of Guru
- 4 Bullet Train – £593,044 – £8,153,229
Down 30% in its fourth weekend
89th biggest action film between The Rock and Deep Blue Sea (close to Kill Bill – Volume 2, Waterworld, The King’s Man and Jack Reacher: Never Go Back) and 138th biggest inflation inflated between Angel Has Fallen and Sahara (close to Lethal Weapon, Broken Arrow, The Hitman’s Bodyguard and Olympus Has Fallen).
2017’s Atomic Blonde took £3,063,918 (stayed in the top 15 for 2 weeks)
Fourth weekends
2017’s John Wick: Chapter Two dropped 61% #15 £171,633 of £5,766,633
2019’s John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum #9 dropped 28% £463,005 and £8,911,996 93% of £9,587,828
2010’s Kick-Ass dropped 30% £635,270 #5 414 screens and £10,241,210 88.8% of £11,528,933 (£15,656,097 inflation inflated)
2014’s Lucy dropped 33% £812,073 450 screens #2 and £12,000,631 84.9% of £14,129,734
2003’s Kill Bill Volume 1 dropped 9% £574,360 #6 from 331 screens and £9,678,001 84.5% of £11,453,044 (£21,149,511 inflation inflated); the film never was #1 due to Finding Nemo
2004’s Kill Bill Volume 2 dropped 56% £337,406 from 342 screens #3 £8,194,371 90.8% of £9,024,046 (£16,239,263 inflation inflated)
819th biggest film between The Living Daylights and Bad Moms (close to Kindergarten Cop, Collateral, Fury and A View to A Kill) and 1,225th biggest inflation inflated between Onward and Epic Movie (close to Bridge of Spies, Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery, Death on the Nile and Layer Cake).
- 5. Nope – £576,643 – £5,999,801
Down 49.8% in its third weekend
53rd biggest horror between The First Purge and Paranormal Activity 4 (close to Annabelle Comes Home, 28 Days Later, The Haunting and Scream 3) and 77th biggest inflation-inflated horror between The Happening and The Devil Inside (close to Jeepers Creepers 2, Hereditary, The Hills Have Eyes and Candyman).
1,099th biggest in the UK between the Isle of Dogs and The Boat that Rocked (close to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Legally Blonde, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle and Warcraft: The Beginning) and 1,408th biggest inflation inflated between Ride Along 2 and Real Steel (close to The Witches (1990), The Happening, Ghost in the Shell and The Devil Inside).
2019’s Us dropped 45% taking £931,089 #6 and £8,012,264 505 screens 88.3% of £9,071,603; #1 Shazam! £4.06m 1st week
2017’s Get Out dropped 20% taking £1,095,500 #4 from 424 screens and £6,794,001 67.6% of £10,053,463; #1 Beauty and the Beast £6.75m 3rd week
Also released
- Top Gun Maverick
Up 6% in its 14th weekend £549,490 #7 from 587 screens taking £80,595,677
With National Cinema Day returning 24 years after the last on Saturday, with the lack of new releases and that only £230k separated Top Gun Maverick and Andre Rieu’s 2022 Maastricht Summer Concert #1 I have a good chance of returning to #1 in its 15th weekend of release. Its only real competition will be the re-release of Spider-Man No Way Home.
Despite being released digitally on Wednesday Top Gun Maverick continued to hold on strong showing again that if it’s a film people want to see in the cinema they will still see it in the cinema showing exhibitors’ issues of shortened theatrical windows is not as big as an issue they believe it is.
Watching Top Gun Maverick at home as it feels like a very different film as was the case with Spider-Man No Way Home both are films that need to be seen in the cinema with an audience as at home realise they aren’t as great as they seem. The reason why Top Gun Maverick was a huge success was the nostalgic elements that hit you from the start with the same open scene as the original film even though it has no connection to the film itself.
As producer Jerry Bruckheimer described the original film as Star Wars on Earth the sequel feels very much like Star Wars The Force Awakens/The Top Gun sequel is Maverick live, had he died it would have ended his story and set up sequels as was the case with Han Solo dying in The Force Awakens.
As what ruins the film is after crashing his aircraft they happen to come across the airfield that hadn’t been fully destroyed and can walk across the airbase and there happens to be an F14 still able to fly despite being over 30 years old. (the ending feels very similar to the 1982 Clint Eastwood film Firefox.
While you do worry about what happens after the end credits run as surely it’s the beginnings of World War 3 as the country will surely retaliate to the attack and with the enemy having fifth-generation fighters could the US defend themselves…
Cinema News
July admissions were 13.3m, the biggest month of 2022 to date and the biggest since December 2021. The top 10 biggest films in July were #1 Minions: The Rise of Gru £33.5m; #2 Thor: Love and Thunder £30.8m; #3 Elvis £13.7m; #4 Top Gun: Maverick £10.8m; #5 Jurassic World: Dominion £5.4m; #6 Where the Crawdads Sing £3.8m; #7 DC League of Super-Pets £2.7m; #8 Prima Facie £2.5m; #9 Lightyear £2.4m; #10 Dirty Dancing (Secret Cinema) £2.4m.
Admissions were boosted by Secret Cinemas Dirty Dancing taking £2.4m added 300k+ admissions but about 30k saw it as tickets for about £85. Similarly, Prima Facie Prima Facie added 300k+ admissions but with prices, of £20+ about 100k saw it.
Those 10 films took £108m with other releases July BO was about £110m which would see average ticket price now £8.28 up 2.5% since June (£8.08).
August-October admissions are going to be no match for last year until Black Panther Wakanda Forever opens in November and then Avatar: The Way of Water, both films will need to be more successful than their predecessor if UK BO has a chance to top £1bn this year.
Industry reaction to announcing next Saturday would be National Cinema Day was predictable talking it up as a clever initiative not realising it’s 24 years after the third National Cinema Day. The first two were massively successful, 1996 to celebrate 100th anniversary of cinemas with all cinemas £1 on June 2nd, (had a strong advertising campaign featuring celebrities including Bob Hoskins and Prime Minister John Major talking about favourite films) 1.1m attended then the highest Sunday attendance on record, 2.5x normal Sunday 400,000.
Cinemas showed a mix of new releases, classics and previews. Repeated 15th June 1997 with 1.34m attending admissions dropped in 1998 as tickets were half price rather than £1. I spent both National Cinema Days going across central London seeing about half a dozen films each day.
National Cinema Day has been an annual event in Ireland for many years, being held the same day as the UK with all cinemas including and all tickets €4 while the UK is from £3 with exhibitors adding booking fees per ticket.
Why next weekend rather than in July 2020 or May 2021 as it would have had a far bigger impact and got a wider mix going back into the cinemagoing as isn’t the choice of films this weekend so most will probably just go and see Top Gun Maverick or Spider-Man No Way Home for their dozenth time instead of using this as a chance to see films they wouldn’t normally see.
UKCA’s Phil Clapp took issue with the reaction by the media regarding the issues facing Cineworld saying “It’s been a frustration expressed to me by a number of our members, large and small, that the challenges being faced by one cinema company have been extrapolated by some commentators as a narrative around the entire sector being challenged, adding two and two and making five,” said Clapp. “When the mainstream media, BBC News, for example, dips into this, they do it in a way that is often not sufficiently informed, and often relies on anecdote.” But was Cineworld who blamed the issue on poor admissions which put the whole industry into the spotlight.
While it doesn’t help when a rival exhibitor is quoted in the FT saying, “In a normal world, Cineworld would be heroes right now but because of the epidemic they got caught out” As most people knew that Cineworld buying Regal in 2017 was likely to destroy Cineworld, up to then Cineworld was a strong performing medium–sized exhibitor because it didn’t have US cinema.
The problem was Cineworld saw what AMC was doing and wanted to be one of the biggest global exhibitors no matter the damage it was likely to cause, as the purchase of Regal saw Cineworld triple in size with the number of cinemas and employees. The US hasn’t had any real growth for almost 20 years while the UK is fixated on the fact that admissions grew 1% in 2018 which saw them become the highest since 1970, growing for the first time since 2002.
In May 2017 Cineworld shares were 325p dropping to 241p after the news of the Regal acquisition and dropping to 215p after the announced Cineplex purchase. In January 2021 shares were 64p when they announced plans to pay bosses £208m in bonuses if shares increased to 380p within 3 years but on Tuesday they were 2.36p.
UK box office in detail
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £5,311,427 down 22.1% from last weekend’s £6,814,293
1,003rd biggest top 10 of the last 21 years (out of 1,063) between 09 May 2008 #1 Iron Man £1,976,721 (37.2% of top 10) and 14 December 2001 #1 Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone £2,391,251 (45.5% of top 10) and 1,032nd biggest inflation inflated between 10 December 2021 #1 West Side Story £1,297,786 (24.89% of top 10) and 17 September 2021 #1 Shangi-Chi £2,362,692 (49.1% of top 10); 5th worst weekend over the last 21 years post-pandemic with only 1of those 5 weeks pre-pandemic (25 June 2010 #1 £4,271,020 inflation inflated #1 Get Him to the Greek £1,569,556 (49.9% of top 10).
The weekend admissions were 604,145 down 28.4% from last week’s 843,353
Top 3 took £1,997,950 37.6% of the top 10; Andre Rieu’s 2022 Maastricht Summer Concert 15.04% (£798,706); Beast 11.3% (£600,259); DC League of Super-Pets 11.28% (£598,985);
Down 2.1% from 2021 (£5,427,888); Candyman (£1,112,674); Andre Rieu’s 2021 Summer Concert: Together Again (£420,056); Our Ladies (£124,295); The Nest (£121,186); #1 Free Guy £1,607,761 3rd week (29.6% of top 10)
Down 12.9% from 2020 (£6,099,807); Tenet (£5,335,654); Hope Gap (£72,769); Bring The Soul: The Movie (£39,085); #1 Tenet £5,335,654 611 screens 1st week (85.7% of top 10)
Down 38.5% from 2019 (£8,636,602); Angel Has Fallen (£2,122,408); Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark (£611,218); Crawl (£458,796); Pain And Glory (£307,131); It (Re: 2019) (£9,242); #1 Angel Has Fallen £2,122,408 537 screens 1st week (24.6% of top 10)
Down 58.5% from 2018: (£12,788,350); BlacKkKlansman (£1,234,214); The Spy Who Dumped Me (£1,057,211); The Children Act (£517,378); Slender Man (£389,339); Alpha (£225,606); Luis and the Aliens (£218,248); #1 Disney’s Christopher Robin £2,138,824 2nd week 673 screens 16% drop (16.7% of top 10)
Down 20.7% from 2017: (£6,700,471); American Made (£1,067,075); Logan Lucky (£705,087); Detroit (£658,028); Rough Night (£244,462); Mayweather Vs. McGregor (Boxing) (£171,256); Thomas & Friends: Journey Beyond Sodor (£92,389); #1 American Made £1,067,075 1st week 543 screens (15.9% of the top 10)
Down 41.2% from 2016: (£9,034,593); Bad Moms (£1,471,466); War Dogs (£1,005,133); The Purge: Election Year (£807,803); Mechanic: Resurrection (£508,715); Julieta (£356,191); Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (£31,128); #1 Finding Dory £1,510,744 5th week (3rd #1) 611 screens down 48% (16.7% of the top 10)
Down 38.1% from 2015; (£8,579,970); Straight Outta Compton (£2,498,231); Hitman: Agent 47 (£961,411); 45 Years (£331,196); We Are Your Friends (£260,715); #1 Straight Outta Compton £2,498,231 1st week 429 screens (29.1% of top 10)
Down 41.6% from 2014: (£9,093,638); Let’s Be Cops (£1,650,912); Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (expansion) (£1,077,370); If I Stay (£505,704); As Above, So Below (£398,787); Million Dollar Arm (£150,050); Obvious Child (£42,022); The Grand Seduction (£41,322); #1 Lucy £1,972,039 2nd week 504 screens (21.7% of top 10)
Down 49.8% from 2013: (£10,580,446); Elysium (£3,127,005); We’re the Millers (£1,508,326); The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (£1,143,385); Thomas & Friends: King of the Railway (£63,311); Jurassic Park 3D (£111,703); What Maisie Knew (£95,852); Lovelace (£86,076); The Kings of Summer (£6,773); #1 Elysium £3,127,005 1st week 463 screens (29.5% of top 10)
Down 50.7% from 2012 (£10,782,345); Keith Lemon: The Film (£1,196,310); The Imposter (£252,170); Shadow Dancer (£201,936); #1 Brave £2,371,691 4th week (2nd #1) 556 screens 55% drop (22% of top 10)
Down 66.1% from 2011 (£15,690,651); One Day (£2,208,724); Final Destination 5 (£1,450,464); Conan the Barbarian (£622,268); The Skin I Live In (£325,349); #1 The Inbetweeners Movie £5,696,848 2nd week 471 screens 57% drop (36.3% of top 10)
Down 51.1% from 2010: (£10,857,796); Grown Ups (£2,006,945); Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (£1,604,545); Diary of a Wimpy Kid (£671,161); The Girl who Played with Fire (£404,896); #1 Grown Ups £2,006,945 1st week 401 screens (18.5% of top 10)
Down 42.1% from 2009; (£9,177,873); The Final Destination (£3,633,395); Funny People (£1,001,152); The Hurt Locker (£308,887); Broken Embraces (£296,048); Mesrine: Public Enemy No.1 (£57,978); The Final Destination £3,633,395 1st week 427 screens (39.6% of top 10)
Down 50.6% from 2008; (£10,756,388); Hellboy 2: The Golden Army (£2,969,602); Get Smart (£1,542,005); College Road Trip (£121,360); Somers Town (£121,345); #1 Hellboy 2: The Golden Army £2,969,602 1st week 464 screens (27.6% of top 10)
Down 33.1% from 2007:(£7,941,925); Knocked Up (£1,583,998); Lady Chatterley (£48,776); Flood (£2,501); #1 The Bourne Ultimatum £2,864,804 2nd week 56% drop 457 screens (36% of top 10)
Up 13.1% from 2006; (£6,106,683); You, Me and Depree (£1,636,249); Severance (£483,152); Volver (£433,283); #1 You, Me and Depree £1,636,249 1st week 409 screens (26.8% of top 10)
Down 16.6% from 2005 (£6,367,870); The Dukes of Hazzard (£1,720,754); The Cave (£563,761); The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lavagirl in 3D (£399,436); Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (£110,557); #1 The Dukes of Hazzard £1,720,754 1st week 447 screens (27.1% of top 10)
Down 38.8% from 2004 (£8,683,904); Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (£2,200,271); The Chronicles of Riddick (£1,043,685); The Motorcycle Diaries (£333,368); Raising Helen (£209,201); #1 Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story £2,200,271 1st week 315 screens (25.3% of top 10)
Down 29,9% from 2003 (£7,578,928); Jeepers Creepers 2 (£1,069,346); The Lizzie McGuire Movie (expansion) (£405,205); Hollywood Homicide (£352,445); Intermission (£146,220); #1 The Pirates of the Caribbean 4th week (2nd #1) £2,037,014 444 screens 3% drop (26.9% of top 10)
Down 21.7% from 2002 (£6,787,774); The Guru (£1,521,984); Reign Of Fire (£932,168); Talk To Her (£174,757); Black Knight (£167,084); #1 The Guru £1,521,984 1st 368 screens (22.4% of top 10)
Down 20.6% from 2001 (£6,685,496); Heartbreakers (£751,754); Crocodile Dundee in L.A. (£354,593); Lucky Break (£348,613); Josie and the Pussycats (£37,662); #1 Planet of the Apes £2,364,945 2nd week 447 screens 57% drop (35.3% of top 10);
Next weekend 2021 (£9,037,234) Shangi-Chi (£5,759,504); Rise Of The Footsoldier: Origins (£122,898); Annette (£86,670); Here Today (£28,577); #1 Shangi-Chi £5,759,504 640 screens 1st week (63.7% of top 10)
US Box Office
- The Invitation – Sony Pictures
Opened $6.8m; received poor reviews (24% Rotten Tomatoes) and C CinemaScore
Took $775k from Thursday previews
Sony opened several horror films at the end of August including 2016’s Don’t Breathe opening with $26.4m and 2018’s Slender Man $11.3m;
Had the second lowest weekend BO of the year taking $53.7m; the lowest was Jan 28th with $34.9m
The film was originally called The Bride but after testing badly with men‘s studio decided to change the title.
Opened with $1.6m from 19 territories and $8.6m worldwide including £261,791 in the UK #12 from 387 screens
- Beast – Universal Pictures
Dropped 58% in the second weekend $4.9m and $20.09m
Took $4m from 60 territories total $16m and $36.2m worldwide
- Bullet Train – Sony Pictures
Dropped 30% in its fourth weekend taking $5.6m and $78.21m
863rd biggest fourth weekend between Little Miss Sunshine and Rocketman (close to Where the Crawdads Sing, Fury, Dune and Lucy)
1,055th biggest between Cocktail and We Were Soldiers; 1,811th biggest inflation inflated between Mississippi Burning and The Gods Must Be Crazy; 138th biggest Sony Pictures between Pixels and The Monuments Men; 18th biggest 2022 film between Scream and DC League of Super Pets.
Took $7.1m worldwide from IMAX
Took $9.4m (dropped 36%) from 61 territories $95.4m total and $173.6m worldwide; 1,205th biggest film worldwide between Vantage Point and Darkest Hour; 18th d biggest 2022 worldwide between The Black Phone and Scream; 153rd biggest Sony Pictures film between Vantage Point and Jack and Jill.
- DC League of Super-Pets – Warner Bros
Dropped 27% in its fifth weekend taking $4.13m and $74m
143rd biggest animated film between Coraline and Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie; 1,132nd biggest film between Along Came a Spider and Captain Underpants; 1,911th biggest inflation inflated between Happy Feet Two and O Brother, Where Art Thou?; 19th biggest 2022 between Bullet Train and Morbius; 185th biggest Warner Bros film between Annabelle Comes Home and Deep Blue Sea.
Fifth weekends
The Bad Guys dropped 12.7% taking $6.14m and $74.4m of and $96.67m and $245.67m worldwide
2001’s Cats and Dogs dropped 52.1% taking $2.21m and $86.7m of $93.38m and $200.68m worldwide
2016’s Storks dropped 29.6% taking $4m and $64.63m of $72.67m and $183.38m worldwide
2018’s Smallfoot dropped 27.6% taking $4.76m and $72.6m of $83.31m and $214.11 worldwide
Took $4.4m taking $72.4m internationally from 71 territories and $146.5m worldwide;
158th biggest animation film worldwide between The Boss Baby: Family Business and Surf’s Up; 1,243rd biggest film worldwide between Crazy, Stupid, Love and Music and Lyrics; 26th biggest 2022 worldwide between Nope and Scream; 202nd biggest Warner film worldwide between Crazy, Stupid, Love and Music and Lyrics.
- Three Thousand Years of Longing – United Artists
Opened $2.91m #7; received mixed reviews (67% Rotten Tomatoes) and B CinemaScore
Despite receiving a 6-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival it was always going to struggle to find an audience in cinemas
- Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero – Crunchyroll
Dropped 78% in its second weekend taking $4.56m and $30.76m
Dropped to 5th from #1
The second-weekend drop was bigger than 2019’s Dragon Ball Super: Broly which dropped 69.4% and $3m taking $28.22m showing how front-loaded these films were.
Took $4.2m from 34 territories and $19.9m total with $38.4m from Japan and $69.2m worldwide
- Nope – Universal Pictures
Dropped 39% in its sixth weekend taking $2.19m and $117.61m
596th biggest film between Now You See Me and Ford v. Ferrari; 1,118th biggest inflation inflated between Girls Trip and Executive Decision; 16th biggest horror between The Ring and The Nun; 86th biggest Universal Pictures film between Back to the Future Part II and 8 Mile; 11th biggest 2022 film between Lightyear and The Lost City.
The film was released on VOD this week and dropped from #8 to #11
Get Out $4.5m budget, Us $20m and Nope $68m, Us made a $119m profit and Get Out $124.8m, Nope will make far less profit than the other two films.
Sixth weekends
2017’s Get Out dropped 36.1% taking $5.66m and $156.73m 89% of $176.19m and $255.74m worldwide
2019’s Us dropped 71.7% taking $1.17m and $172.87m 98.7% of $175.08m and $255.18m worldwide
Jordan Peele films don’t travel well taking 70% of their global BO in the US and was also expected for Nope.
Took $13.1m worldwide from IMAX
Took $8.3m from 78 territories and $31.09m internationally total of $148.7m worldwide showing again that Jordon Peele films don’t travel internationally; the UK $7.26m; Korea $3.1m; Australia $2.8m; France $3m; will open in more territories over the next few weeks
41st biggest 2022 film internationally between The Northman and Everything Everywhere All At Once; 154th biggest horror internationally between Unfriended and The Craft; 24th biggest 2022 worldwide between The Black Phone and DC League of Super Pets; 56th biggest horror worldwide between Lights Out and Mama, 1,225th biggest worldwide between Seabiscuit and Step Up 2 the Streets.
- Top Gun: Maverick – Paramount Pictures
Down 20% in 14th weekend taking $4.72m and $691.18m
1986’s Top Gun took $3.11m ($7.5m inflation inflated) in its 14th weekend and $118.91m ($320m inflation inflated) of $176.8m ($450m inflation inflated)
6th biggest film between Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War; the 19th biggest inflation inflated between Black Panther and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Top Gun Maverick has overtaken Titanic but it’s impossible to compare the two films as Titanic was released 25 years ago when the industry average ticket price was half of what it is now $4.59 Vs $9.18 but the real price is a third of what it is now. The average price for Top Gun Maverick was close to $15 due to a large percentage of BO from IMAX/PLF/4DX/ScreenX so Titanic inflation inflated would be about $2bn.
After the huge success of Top Gun Maverick the big question will be can Tom Cruise repeat the success with Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1 next summer, which is unlikely as Top Gun Maverick was a one-off phenomenon, everything about the film’s release was perfectly and the audience was primed.
Tom Cruise’s 42 films have taken $5.1bn in the US and $12.1bn worldwide;
Took $6.7m (down 24%) taking $731.2m and $1.42bn from 64 territories; UK $99.7m; Japan $88.3m; Korea $65.5m; Australia $62.8m; France $55.9m.
12th biggest film worldwide Frozen II and Avengers: Age of Ultron; 2nd biggest Paramount Pictures film between Titanic ($2.2bn) and Transformers: Dark of the Moon ($1.12bn)
Has taken $104.7m IMAX worldwide and $50m worldwide from 4DX ($11m from the US)
Top Gun Maverick is the 50th film to take $1bn+ since Jurassic Park in 1993; its Paramount’s first $1bn+ film globally since 2014’s Transformers: Age of Extinction (inflated with China BO) what will be their next film to do the same?
- Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – Disney
Re-released in 255 IMAX cinemas taking $1.06m ahead of the release of the next Star Wars spin-off T series Andor next month on Disney+ that featured an exclusive preview of the show. Andor is a prequel to Rogue One which was a prequel to Star Wars: A New Hope.
By re-releasing Rogue One in IMAX cinemas it has now taken $105m becoming one of the top 10 biggest IMAX releases.
UK Box Office Top 10
UK Box Office Preview
With no major releases, it will be a battle between Top Gun Maverick and Spider-Man No Way Home which will return to #1. Will it be Top Gun Maverick in its 15th week of release and 10 days after being released on digital, or will it be Spider-Man No Way Home re-released with 11 minutes of extra footage?
What would be great is if it was E.T. (40th Anniversary) re-released for its 40th anniversary in IMAX.
What will be interesting to see is how Saturday’s National Cinema Day will affect the BO as with a lack of new releases and the current releases dropping off most people will be seeing either Top Gun Maverick, Spider-Man No Way Home or E.T. in cinemas over the weekend. Saturday BO normally takes about 40% of weekend BO.
It was an annually between 1996 and 1998, the first two all cinemas in the UK were £1, 1996 celebrated the 100th anniversary of the cinema and had 1.1m admissions (had big marketing campaign and trailer running in cinemas for months featuring actors Bob Hoskins and Prime Minister John Major taking about their cinema experiences) this was 2.5x the normal Sunday admissions. Cinemas showed current releases, and classics and had previews of upcoming films.
The following year had 1.34m admissions, 1998 admissions were about half as ticket prices were half normal prices. National Cinema Day has been an annual event in Ireland for many years. Holding it next weekend will limit its potential as BO has been soft for the last few weeks, last weekend the lowest since March and will just mean that audiences will go and see Top Gun Maverick and Spider-Man No Way Home for the dozenth time rather than seeing something different.
It was probably the only week distributors and exhibitors would agree on as the reason why it ended in 1998 was distributors felt they lost out on BO with films like The Fifth Element losing millions opening the weekend before.
The problem holding National Cinema Day this weekend is it’s hard to see what other films will be helped as with previous National Cinema Days alongside current releases were classic films and previews. While with ticket prices reduced on Saturday will people hold back going on Friday? Probably can expect similar attendance as Cineworld Day in February seeing 650,000 admissions (mostly seeing Uncharted, Sing 2 and Spider-Man: No Way Home) from 100 cinemas which will be about £2.5m. Exhibitors will be the real winner as cinemagoers will likely spend much more on concessions.
Opening next week
- Bodies, Bodies, Bodies – Sony Pictures
Black comedy horror starring Amandla Stenberg, Maria Bakalova, Myha’la Herrold, Chase Sui Wonders, Rachel Sennott, Lee Pace, and Pete Davidson and directed by Halina Reijn.
The female-led slasher black comedy has received positive reviews (87% Rotten Tomatoes critic score and 90% audience score) since premiering at South By Southwest in March. It has been described as Scream for the Zoomer Generation and was inspired by Heathers.
A24 have had a very strong 2022 taking almost $100m this year similar to Focus Features and 20th Century Studios releasing 7 films this year with Everything Everywhere All at Once taking $69.6m in the US and $100.7m worldwide. A24 films have strong marketing campaigns giving audiences an alternative to the majority of the films being released by studios, showing that audiences do want different things to the sequels, remakes, reboots and comic-book movies.
Sony Pictures acquired international rights in April via Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions which acquire a wide range of films normally for home entertainment.
- Tad The Lost Explorer And The Curse Of The Mummy – Paramount Pictures
Animation sequel featuring voices of Michelle Jenner and Ben Cura and directed by Enrique Gato.
In 2014 Paramount Pictures acquired world rights to two Spanish animated films Capture the Flag and Tad, the Lost Explorer And The Secret Of King Midas (opened February 2018 #12 £302,312 from 449 screens) while 2016’s Capture the Flag opened #7 £774,885 from 459 screens taking £1,005,198
Opening an animated film the week children return to school might seem a bit strange but the film targets younger children and the lack of other children’s films could help it as the previous film struggled to find an audience opening a couple of weeks after Coco.
As all of the major animated films are dated to school holidays smaller animated films are forced to open during term time.
Opened with $4.1m from 15 territories
- See How They Run – Disney/Searchlight
Mystery comedy film featuring an ensemble cast including Sam Rockwell, Saoirse Ronan, Adrien Brody, Ruth Wilson, Reece Shearsmith and David Oyelowo and directed by Tom George (directorial film debut).
Early September has been a lucrative time to open British-based films over recent years; 2019 Downton Abbey; 2017 Victoria and Abdul; 2016 Bridget Jones’s Baby; 2015 Legend; 2014 Pride; 2013 Rush. As the films often have their world premiere at Venice Film Festival with talent coming to the UK ahead of going to the Toronto Film Festival, but See How They Run isn’t showing at either Venice or Toronto Film Festivals.
The film was originally going to open in the UK three weeks before the US but was brought forward to open on September 9th in the US after David O.Russell’s ensemble Amsterdam was brought forward to open on October 7th.
- Jaws- (IMAX re-issue) – Universal Pictures
As with E.T, The Extra-Terrestrial last week Jaws is re-released in cinemas for the first time in IMAX, but as with E.T is the film being released in IMAX giving audiences an improved cinema experience they got when it was originally released in 70mm?
While if studios want audiences to experience these classic films either for the first time or the first time in decades they should be priced accordingly as most people won’t be willing to pay £15+ to see a film they can watch at home. Disney pulled Avatar from Disney+ ahead of the IMAX re-release a the end of the month.
Jaws took £12m in UK cinemas when it was released the first time tickets were an average 72p, this would be £133m inflation inflated and the 5th biggest film in the UK inflation inflated after Titanic £161m; Star Wars £142m; Avatar £140m and Star Wars: The Force Awakens £138m.