- Lyle, Lyle Crocodile – £2,783,562 – NE
Included £1,067,716 (38.6%) from previews Sat/Sun
Had the 538th biggest opening between GI Joe: Retaliation and The Hateful Eight (close to Sleepy Hollow, Men In Black International, Batman Returns and The Lion King 3D) and 933rd biggest inflation inflated between Pretty Woman and After Earth (close to Flubber, Twins, Instant Family and Forever Young).
844th biggest Fri-Sun between Bride Wars and Dracula Untold (close to Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Hotel Transylvania, Stuart Little and Happy Feet 2).
Curiously many recent films are opening very similar to each other with Lyle, Lyle Crocodile opening close to Bullet Train, Ticket To Paradise, Don’t Worry Darling and The Lost City, some of them had previews but none as extensive as Lyle, Lyle Crocodile, that said they would have been mostly adult tickets and also having IMAX and PLF while Lyle, Lyle Crocodile would be low children’s prices.
118th biggest family film opening between Megamind and The Lion King 3D (close to Doctor Dolittle, The Good Dinosaur, The Emoji Movie and Goosebumps) and 181st biggest family film inflated opening between Arthur Christmas and Annie (close to Space Jam, A Christmas Carol, Captain Underpants and Yogi Bear).
Other live-action animated CGI family films include
2004’s Garfield opened £1,147,437 (£2,064,875 inflated) taking £8,762,150 (£15,767,967)
1995’s Casper opened £1,640,927 (£4,079,597 inflated) taking £15,965,083 (£39,691,653)
1998’s Doctor Dolittle opened £3,098,040 (£6,211,455 inflated) taking £19,854,598 (£39,807,730)
1999’s Stuart Little opened £1,694,498 (£3,111,715 inflated) taking £17,828,403 (£32,739,431)
2002’s Scooby-Doo opened £5,129,109 (£10,010,435 inflated) taking £21,333,007 (£41,635,434)
2007’s Alvin and the Chipmunks opened £1,433,937 (£2,294,299 inflated) taking £11,080,538 (£17,728,861)
2007’s Charlotte’s Web opened £1,892,120 (£3,027,392 inflated) taking £10,738,495 (£17,181,592)
2011’s Yogi Bear opened £1,820,405 taking £8,625,654 (£11,500,872)
2014’s Paddington opened £5,125,519 taking £37,916,343
2018’s Peter Rabbit opened £7,273,207 taking £41,100,000
2021’s Clifford the Big Red Dog opened £1,293,354 taking £10,034,852
1988’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit opened £1,506,863 (£5,293,675 inflated) taking £15,612,005 (£54,845,652)
Sony has had success opening children’s films in Sept/Oct over recent years including Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (£1,583,544); Hotel Transylvania (£1,734,231) and Goosebumps (£2,686,105)
Those three animated films have stayed in the top 10 much longer than they would have normally due to the lack of any other children’s films. Minions: The Rise Of Gru and DC League Of Super-Pets has been available to watch at home on VOD for the last month but people still have opted to see them in the cinema, this was similarly the case when cinemas reopened the first time when cinemagoers went to see Onward and Trolls World Tour in cinemas and Encanto still attracted audiences in cinemas more than a month after being released on Disney+.
Half-term is in three weeks and Lyle, Lyle Crocodile is the only family film being released, normally there are about three openings over the weekends ahead of half-term, but this year it hasn’t got any competition for 4 weeks before Disney’s Strange World and Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical opens at the end of November which Sony are also releasing with Netflix elsewhere in the world.
Children have grown up with the Lyle, Lyle Crocodile books since the first one were released in 1965 but they aren’t as popular in the UK as the US, so it was then surprising it opened better in the UK than the US, but many family films apart from Minions: The Rise of Gru have struggled to find an audience this year in the US.
The film features original songs written by composers of the songs for The Greatest Showman, they also wrote the songs for La La Land and Dear Evan Hanson.
- 2. Halloween Ends – £2,110,010 – NE
771st biggest opening between Arthur Christmas and True Lies (close to The Conjuring, Mars Attacks, Constantine and The Omen) and 1,252nd biggest inflated opening between The Green Mile and Cats & Dogs: Revenge of Kitty Galore (close to Scream, Die Hard, Predator and Flatliners (1990).
44th biggest horror opening between The Conjuring and Constantine (close to The Exorcist (RE1998), The Invisible Man, The Ring Two and Scream 4) and 74th biggest inflated horror opening between Scream (1997) and Hereditary (close to Scream (2022), The Amityville Horror, Halloween: H20 and Nightmare on Elm Steet III).
Opened with £727,940 more than 2021’s Halloween Kills £1,382,070 taking £4,594,478 but £546,087 less than 2018’s Halloween £2,656,097 taking £8,171,544
Opened on 750 screens in 575 cinemas
Sequel to 2021’s Halloween Kills, the thirteenth film in the Halloween franchise, it was promoted as the final film in the H40 trilogy but this film series never end and there will likely be another reboot celebrating the film’s 50th anniversary in 6 years.
As with many other Blumhouse Productions horrors including Split, Get Out, Nope and The Black Phone, Mama) opened with less than the US, 5.1% about half of UK industry uses 10% as an estimate of US opening)
Halloween End opened in a far less crowded marketplace than Halloween Kills last year opening third behind No Time To Die at £8,404,165 (third weekend and Venom: Let There Be Carnage at £6,167,833 and 2018’s Halloween behind the third weekend of A Star is Born and Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween and Johnny English Strikes. Halloween Ends would have been #1 on Fri-Sun BO as Lyle, Lyle Crocodile opening was inflated with £1m previews, while the strong hold of Smile probably saw it opening slightly lower than expected. As with the US Halloween Ends will likely be very front-loaded especially as Halloween films aren’t as popular in the UK as in the US.
Despite opening much lower than the US the two previous films dropped much less in their second weekends; Halloween Kills dropped 44.17% (£771,657 and £3,195,777) and Halloween 36.82% (£1,678,162 and £5,854,328). With Black Adam opening next weekend and the strong hold of Smile along with poor reviews for Halloween Ends it will likely drop much heavier in its second weekend.
- 3. Smile – £1,420,692 – £7,220,529
Down 17.2% in its third weekend
30th biggest 2022 film between Operation Mincemeat and See How They Run (close to Morbius, Jackass Forever, The Black Phone and The Northman).
957th biggest film between Alien Resurrection and Prisoners (close to Judge Dredd, The Matrix Resurrections, Rush Hour and The Fifth Element) and 1,508th inflation inflated between The Green Hornet and The Other Boleyn Girl (close to The Witches (1990), The Man from U.N.C.L.E, The Crow and Contagion).
37th biggest horror between Annabelle and Saw II (close to The Grudge, Scream (2022), Insidious and Saw) and 73rd biggest horror inflated between Paranormal Activity 4 and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (close to Species, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Nightmare on Elm Steet 4 and The Craft (1996).
What helped Smile break out was its very strong marketing campaign which went viral and the success of recent female horrors Scream and Bodies, Bodies, Bodies. Horror has had a long history of films with a female lead with Jamie Lee Curtis returning for her last Halloween film later this month 44 years after the first film.
Similar horrors include (originals do not reboot)
*2003’s The Ring dropped 22% £1,274,493 and £ 7,025,031 of £9,246,275 (£16,826,555 inflation inflated)
1997’s Scream dropped 10.1% £961,645 (£1,909,113 inflation inflated) and £8,247,094 34.6% of £8,247,094 (£16,372,609 inflation inflated)
2004’s The Grudge dropped 47% £800,277 and £6,339,134 of £7,743,528 (£13,934,901 inflation inflated)
- 4. Ticket To Paradise – £617,041 – £7,796,100
Down 28.3% in its fourth weekend
877th biggest film between Good Will Hunting and Road Trip (close to Disclosure, What Happens in Vegas, Edge of Tomorrow and Angela’s Ashes) and 1,435th biggest inflation between Free Willy 2 and Spies In Disguise (close to Mona Lisa Smile, Jagged Edge, Pitch Perfect and Mannequin)
22nd biggest film of 2022 between Nope and Scream (close to The Lost City, Don’t Worry Darling, Where The Crawdads Sing and Smile).
61st biggest rom-com between Just Friends and Father of the Bride (close to Something’s Gotta Give, Bride Wars, One Fine Day and When Harry Met Sally) and 102nd biggest inflation-inflated rom-com between The American President and A Life Less Ordinary (close to Mannequin, Coyote Ugly, Crazy Rich Asians and Moonstruck).
2022’s The Lost City took £468,402 #4 down 61% and £8,665,816 of £10,606,648
At the UK premiere, George Clooney said ‘The whole country was experiencing a “tough time”, and he was happy in his role as a dispenser of frothy cinematic delights to be “a ray of sunshine” for everyone.’
Rom-coms have struggled at the box office over the last decade as they were 32 years ago when they were at their peak when Julia Roberts starred in Pretty Woman.
Selective George Clooney films
1997’s One Fine Day dropped up 4% taking £511,102 #2 (274 screens) and £5,151,694 of £6,277,048 and (£12,461,560 inflation inflated) 5.32x opening; disappointed in the US opening the week after Jerry Maguire in December 1996 and opened in the UK 8 months later in July 1997
Fourth weekends
2003’s Intolerable Cruelty dropped 24% taking £520,176 #4 (334 screens) and £5,740,976 of £6,465,278 (£11,765,641 inflation inflated) 4.2x opening;
2010’s Up In The Air dropped 34% taking £481,810 #10 (337 screens) and £5,580,729 of £5,580,729
1998’s Out of Sight took £3,166,201 (£6,348,115 inflation inflated) 3.6x opening
Selective Julia Roberts films
1990’s Pretty Woman dropped 1.4% taking £466,976 #1 (237 screens) and £3,998,969 33.3% of £11,990,862 (£34,479,062 inflation inflated) 14.92x opening;
1997’s My Best Friend’s Wedding dropped 29% taking £653,763 #4 (287 screens) and £6,328,007 of £8,488,511 (£16,851,884 inflation inflated);
1999’s Runaway Bride dropped 37% taking £508,412 #6 (319 screens) and £6,550,113 of £7,562,023 (£14,513,336 inflation inflated) 4.6x opening; 5.96x opening
2001’s America’s Sweethearts dropped 53% taking £233,390 #7 (317 screens) and £ 5,337,325 of £5,637,933 (£11,003,502 inflation inflated) 3.3x opening.
George Clooney and Julia Roberts previously worked together on 2001’s Ocean’s Eleven 2003’s Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (took £1,038,201) 2004’s Ocean’s Twelve 2016’s Money Monster (took £2,387,743);
The producers called Ticket To Paradise a sorta sequel to a film released about 20 years ago which would be 1999’s Notting Hill dropped 35% taking £1,513,287 #2 (475 screens) and £17,775,398 57.8% of £30,765,273 (£59,045,940 inflation inflated) 7.12x opening or 1994’s Four Weddings and a Funeral dropped 0.4% taking £1,408,841 #1 (262 screens) and £9,420,484 34% of £27,762,648 (£69,022,214 inflation inflated) 19.4x opening.
While Ol Parker previously directed 2018’s Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again and wrote screenplays for the two The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel films.
2012’s The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel took £20,308,480 (£25,760,207 inflation inflated)
2015’s The Second-Best Exotic Marigold Hotel took £15,575,797
It took $7.8m from 76 territories and $72.5m after five weeks ahead of the US opening this week as counter-programming to Black Adam.
- 5. Don’t Worry Darling – £610,841 – £9,353,046
Down 40.1% in its fourth weekend; the film has held far stronger in the UK than in the US despite the marketplace being crowded with several films targetting female audiences.
720th biggest film between Non-Stop and The Polar Express (close to Inglourious Basterds, Captain America: The First Avenger, Sleeping With The Enemy and Vanilla Sky) and 1,229th biggest inflation inflated between Predator and Goosebumps (close to S.W.A.T, Super 8, Blades of Glory and Edge of Tomorrow).
19th biggest film of 2022 between Lightyear and Death on the Nile (close to Bullet Train, The Lost City, Nope and Scream)
Don’t Worry Darling has been compared to
Fourth weekends
2004’s The Stepford Wives (remake) dropped 57% taking £137,149 #12 and £3,766,378 of £3,766,378 (£6,777,803 inflation inflated)
1998’s The Truman Show dropped 33% taking £733,267 #5 and £8,635,542 of £9,929,680 (£19,908,639 inflation inflated)
2018’s A Simple Favour dropped 68% taking £153,247 #11 and £4,930,383 of £4,930,383
2015’s Focus dropped 59% taking £490,317 #4 and £6,527,073 of £7,350,427
Olivia Wilde’s previous film 2019’s Booksmart took £1.5m
1990’s The Vanishing (Dutch original received critical acclaim) took £81,485; 1993’s The Vanishing £1,218,848 and 1996’s Fear took £235,024
Fear starred Mark Wahlberg in one of his first film roles (alongside Reese Witherspoon) as Harry Styles did in Don’t Worry Darling. Harry Styles was seen as the weakest link in Don’t Worry Darling but he is walking in the same footsteps of many other musicians and models that became actors that were similarly wooden in their first acting roles.
As with Where The Crawdads Sing, Don’t Worry Darling received poor reviews but has been embraced by female audiences, they aren’t films that audiences rush out to see, so word of mouth is getting audiences to see them.
Also Opened
• Emily – Warner Bros
Opened £276,322 from 545 screens
Biographical of the life of English writer Emily Brontë; despite receiving critical acclaim struggled to find an audience, but as with The Lost King last week Emily is a film targetting older audiences who don’t rush out to see them over opening weekend. Despite this will lose a majority of its screens on Friday as The Lost King did last Friday. How can exhibitors demand 45+ day theatrical windows but then will pull films from cinemas within a week?
This is why a flexible theatrical window is needed and decided upon after a film has opened so that on Monday as exhibitors decide on the holdovers studio can the decision to shorten or extend the theatrical window. Pathe was still running radio adverts at the start of the week for The Lost King but cinemas have limited the showtimes in many cinemas to one afternoon show a day.
It’s no wonder Netflix will only give their films a short run-in cinemas a week before being released on Netflix as these are often films that will struggle to find an audience in cinemas despite many of them getting critical acclaim. There was a report in Screendaily that said “Admissions are better in the eighth week of release,” for art-house films, but how many films get the chance to play in cinemas for a full 8 weeks as most are out of cinemas in less than half?
Frances O’Connor starred in 2000’s Mansfield Park opened £103,266 #13 from 76 screens
Warner Bros acquired UK rights in April 2021
Selective recent writers’ Biographical films
2001’s Iris opened £378,749 #6 from 84 screens taking £3,647,197
2007’s Miss Potter opened £1,400,943 (£2,241,509 inflation inflated) taking £6,697,315 (£10,715,704 inflation inflated)
2013’s Saving Mr Banks opened £795,615 taking £4,377,134
2019’s Colette opened £788,432 #7 from 321 screens taking £1,931,287
1994’s Shadowlands opened £460,416 (£1,144,665 inflation inflated) taking £4,055,900 (£10,083,591 inflation inflated); taking 8.8x opening
1994’s Tom & Viv opened £61,070 #11 from 37 screens taking £142,674
1995’s Carrington opened £95,093 from 50 screens taking £475,178 (played on a max of 50 screens)
1997’s Wilde opened £147,284 from 15 screens taking £1.5m (played on a max of 50 screens)
1999’s Shakespeare in Love opened £1,819,385 (£3,491,836 inflation inflated) taking £20,814,996 (£39,948,971 inflation inflated); taking 11.4x opening
2000’s Angela’s Ashes opened £1,351,095 (£2,481,102 inflation inflated) taking £7,753,488 (£14,238,223 inflation inflated) taking 5.7x opening
2002’s The Hours opened £616,573 #8 (£1,122,052 inflation inflated) from 209 screens taking £4,311,523 (£7,846,195 inflation inflated) taking 7x opening
2003’s Sylvia opened £123,981 #15 taking £444,437
2004’s Finding Neverland opened £776,124 (£1,396,677 inflation inflated) taking £3,415,695; 4.4x opening
2007’s Becoming Jane opened £649,323 #4 (£1,038,917 inflation inflated) from 325 screens taking £3,352,273 (£5,363,637 inflation inflated)
2008’s The Edge of Love opened £180,837 #9 from 52 screens taking £1,191,025
2014’s Testament of Love opened £417,486 #11 from 233 screens taking £1,976,839
2017’s Goodbye Christopher Robin opened £781,110 #4 from 573 screens taking £2,793,497
2018’s The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society opened £825,777 #3 from 499 screens taking £5,731,735
1990’s Henry & June opened £50,123
- The Lost Boys – Park Circus
Took £20,718 from 88 screens; re-released for the film’s 35th anniversary. Over the years since the film was released it has become a cult classic, but when it was released in January 1988 struggled to find an audience opening with £204,521 (£718,491 inflated) from 181 screens (opened #4 behind Fatal Attraction (£1,010,184 2nd wk.); Wish You Were Here (£207,159 8th wk.); and Predator (£206,049 4th wk.) taking £774,362 (£2,720,367 inflated).
It’s interesting how so many films that are seen as iconic or classics now from the 80s struggled to find an audience in cinemas when they were first released; 1987’s Stand By Me took £753,036 #43; 1987’s Ferris Buller’s Day Off £791,112 #37;
UK box office in detail
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £9,458,247 up 37.3% from last weekend’s £6,887,976; 1,170,575 admissions up 37.3% from 852,472
626th biggest top 10 of the last 21 years (out of 1,070) between 19 October 2001 #1 American Pie 2 £2,823,776 (29.8% of top 10) and 21 April 2017 #1 Fast & Furious 8 £3,593,733 (38.1% of top 10) and 915th biggest inflation inflated between 14 March 2014 #1 Need for Speed £2,011,249 (25.5%) and 11 December 2015 #1 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2 £1,286,244 (20.9% of top 10) and 18 March 2022 #1 The Batman £3,351,288 (49.1% of top 10); 18 May 2007 #1 Spider-Man 3 £2,549,712 (43.2% of top 10).
Top 3 took £6,314,264 66.8% of the top 10; Lyle, Lyle Crocodile 29.4% (£2,783,562); Halloween Ends 22.3% (£2,110,010); Smile 15% (£1,420,692).
Down 50.6% from 2021 (£19,158,551); Venom: Let There Be Carnage (£6,167,833); Halloween Kills (£1,598,062); Ron’s Gone Wrong (£868,053); The Last Duel (£325,523); #1 No Time To Die £8,404,165 3rd week 776 screens down 45% (43.9% of top 10)
Up 974.5% from 2020 (£880,280); Michael Ball & Alfie Boe – Back Together (£175,778); I Am Greta (£29,687); #1 Tenet £187,275 down 37% 8th week 320 screens
Down 43.7% from 2019 (£16,790,890); Abominable (£2,141,256); Gemini Man (£1,718,511); #1 Joker £9,766,608 2nd week 22% drop 673 screens
Down 44.7% from 2018: (£17,103,615); First Man (£2,415,330); Smallfoot (£2,324,189); Cliff Richard Live: 60th Anniversary Tour (£1,123,885); Bad Times at the El Royale (£491,878); #1 A Star is Born £3,083,089 2nd week 1st #1 612 screens (18.1% of top 10)
Down 21.8% from 2017: (£12,090,714); The LEGO Ninjago Movie (£3,642,038); The Snowman (£1,377,909); The Ritual (£424,352); Loving Vincent (£274,036); The Party (£234,985); Die Zauberflote – Met Opera 2017 (£213,605); #1 The LEGO Ninjago Movie £3,642,038 1st week 613 screens (30.1% of the top 10)
Down 36.5% from 2016: (£14,897,205); Inferno (£2,970,027); Storks (£2,247,038); Miss Saigon: 25th Anniversary Performance (£2,033,031); American Honey (£175,383); The Golden Age – Bolshoi 2016 (£86,854); #1 The Girl on the Train £3,412,472 2nd 630 screens 51% drop (22.9% of the top 10)
Down 45.7% from 2015; (£17,426,172); Hotel Transylvania 2 (£6,317,438); Suffragette (£2,938,446); Pan (£2,738,758); Crimson Peak (£967,168); The Lobster (£229,619); Otello – Met Opera 2015 (£172,773); The Program (£144,181); #1 Hotel Transylvania 2 £6,317,438 1st week 557 screens (36.2% of top 10)
Down 25.7% from 2014: (£12,738,897); Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (£4,785,448); The Judge (£420,720); Northern Soul (£278,829); Black Butler (£1,327); #1 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles £4,785,448 1st week 522 screens (37.5% of top 10)
Up 89.1% from 2013: (£5,001,792); The Fifth Estate (£502,495); Le Weekend (£324,488); Machete Kills (£165,586); Baggage Claim (£156,159); Romeo and Juliet (£137,448); #1 Prisoners £968,990 3rd week 449 screens 123 drop (19.3% of top 10)
Up 1.1% from 2012 (£9,355,419); Hotel Transylvania (£1,734,231); Ruby Sparks (£299,382); On the Road (£218,738); #1 Taken 2 £3,743,046 2nd week 510 screens 49% drop (40.1% of top 10)
Up 6.1% from 2011 (£10,065,543); The Three Musketeers (£1,461,251); Real Steel (£1,337,491); Footloose (£460,271); Dolphin Tale (£429,140); #1 Johnny English Reborn £3,072,542 2nd week 38% drop 521 screens
Up 5.7% from 2010: (£10,027,140); Despicable Me (£3,664,376); The Social Network (£2,486,454); Vampires Suck (£1,089,339); #1 Despicable Me £3,664,376 1st week 522 screens (36.5% of top 10)
Down 9.5% from 2009; (£10,447,511); Couples Retreat (£1,825,142); The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (£905,786); Triangle (£260,626); #1 Up £5,162,325 2nd week 535 screens 19% drop (49.4% of top 10)
Up 29% from 2008; (£7,332,004); Burn After Reading (£2,045,565); Eagle Eye (£1,096,777); Igor (expansion) (£981,750); The Rocker (£217,745); #1 Burn After Reading £2,045,565 1st week 396 screens (27.9% of top 10)
Up 10.6% from 2007: (£8,548,001); Ratatouille (£4,444,384); Resident Evil 3 (£931,991); Black Sheep (£246,135); The Invasion (£232,994); Mr. Brooks (£169,664); The Nanny Diaries (£101,794); #1 Ratatouille £4,444,384 1st week 503 screens (51.9% of top 10)
Up 1.6% from 2006; (£9,304,316); Open Season (£1,666,750); History Boys (£794,672); Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (£669,760); Stick It (£131,043); #1 The Departed £1,957,646 2nd week 1sr #1 364 screens 14% drop (21.1% of top 10)
Down 29.8% from 2005 (£13,473,346); Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (£9,374,932); Lord of War (£723,406); Domino (£481,409); #1 Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit £9,374,932 1st week 501 screens (69.6% of top 10)
Down 24.6% from 2004 (£12,551,675); Shark Tale (£7,545,074); White Chicks (£884,955); Inside I’m Dancing (£219,256); Boo, Zino and the Snurks (£131,020); Fat Slags (£58,252); 5 Children & It (£37,132); #1 Shark Tale £7,545,074 1st week 504 screens (60.1% of top 10)
Down 29.3% from 2003 (£13,372,837); Kill Bill Volume One (expansion) (£2,693,742); The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (£2,005,435); Mystic River (£295,135); Bollywood Queen (£27,020); #1 Finding Nemo £5,923,138 3rd week 2nd #1 475 screens (44.3% of top 10)
Down 2.2% from 2002 (£9,258,248); Red Dragon (£3,180,493); Clockstoppers (£196,802); #1 Red Dragon £3,180,493 1st week 428 screens (34.3% of top 10)
Down 2.6% from 2001 (£9,219,269); American Pie 2 (£5,508,709); The Pledge (£142,100); Atlantis (£79,695) (platform) #1 American Pie 2 £5,508,709 1st week 1st week 420 screens (59.7% of top 10);
Next weekend 2021 (£17,614,556); Dune (£5,876,892); The Boss Baby 2 (£1,193,115); The French Dispatch (£867,672); Dear Evan Hansen (£236,397); #1 Dune £5,876,892 1st week 657 screens (33.4% of top 10)
US Box Office
- Halloween Ends – Universal Pictures
Opened $40.05m; received mixed reviews (40% Rotten Tomatoes) and C+ CinemaScore (Halloween Kills B- and Halloween B+)
As with most major releases about a third of its opening came from PLF formats
Had 381st between Cloverfield and Chicken Little (close to Glass, The Conjuring 2, The Grudge and Morbius).
Took $5.4m from Thursday previews; while Halloween Kills took $4.9m and Halloween $7.7m
2021’s Halloween Kills opened $49.4m taking $92m and $131.64m worldwide
2018’s Halloween opened $76.22m taking $159.34m and $255.61m worldwide
Ahead of the opening, many analysts were predicting an opening of upwards of $50m but when it took $5.4m from Thursday midnights estimates dropped to $45m dropping further after softer than expected Saturday BO as the film looks to be very front-loaded. The problem with opening a horror film over two weeks before Halloween they could be so front-loaded they won’t benefit from Halloween. Exhibitors will of course blame it for being released on Peacock but fans would rather see horror films in cinemas with an audience and would watch it on Peacock for the second time.
2018’s Halloween dropped 58.8% and Halloween Kills 70.8%, Halloween Ends will drop between those two by about 65% against the arrival of Black Adam.
As with Halloween Kills the film was released on Peacock same day in the US but horrors like Halloween End are films people want to watch with an audience rather than at home. While also being the final film of the series (for now) and the final Halloween film (for now) starring Jamie Lee Curtis it will attract a wider audience of older horror fans who grew up with the films along with younger fans. While likely to attract audiences who have seen recent horrors of Barbarian and Smile.
Audiences will often come out in bigger numbers for the final parts of the film series, after dropping off for the middle film, having had a big opening for the first film of the trilogy.
The 13 Halloween films have taken $600m+ in the US and $800m worldwide since the first film was released in 1978.
Universal Pictures are currently #1 studio in the US taking $1.32bn; Paramount Pictures $1.25bn; Disney $880.9m; Sony $797.9m; Warner Bros $762.8m. With Black Adam opening next weekend Warner Bros will top $1bn by November and then with Black Panther Wakanda Forever, Strange World and Avatar: The Way of Water this will push Disney’s 2022 BO to about $2.5bn.
Opened with $17.2m from 77 territories internationally and $58.4m worldwide
- Smile – Paramount Pictures
Dropped 32% in the third weekend taking $12.56m and $71.33m
436th biggest third weekend between 50 First Dates and Minority Report (close to The Conjuring, The Grudge, No Time to Die and A Quiet Place Part II)
1,184th biggest film between Safe Haven and Chocolat; 1,980th biggest inflation inflated between 3:10 to Yuma and Final Destination 2; 21st biggest 2022 between Morbius and Everything Everywhere All At Once; 56th biggest horror between Mama and The First Purge; 168th biggest Paramount Pictures film between I Love You, Man and The Spiderwick Chronicles.
Comparisons have been made with The Black Phone dropping 36.5% taking $7.78m and $62.34m out of $89.88m; $159.56m worldwide
Other similar horror third weekends
2022’s Barbarian dropped 25.6% by $4.83m and $28.46m of $36.54m
2002’s The Ring dropped 2% by $18.11m and $64.54m of $129.12m; $259.34m WW
1996’s Scream increased 10.4% $10.01m and $39.08m of $103.04m
2004’s The Grudge dropped 41.9% by $12.67m and $88.75m of $110.35m; $187.28m WW
2018’s Hereditary dropped 47.1% $3.62m and $34.82m of $44.06m; $80.2m WW
2020’s The Invisible Man dropped 61.1% by $5.89m (affected by COVID) and $64.31m of $70.41m; $144.49m WW
The $17m film had a very strong marketing campaign which went viral, was originally made for Paramount+ but was given a theatrical release after high test scores and the studio had a lack of releases after Top Gun: Maverick until Babylon opening in December.
Took $16.3m from 61 territories $66.1m total and $137.42m worldwide
Opened with $5m worldwide taking over 80% from the US ($4.2m) and $800k internationally
1,307th biggest worldwide between Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps and Last Action Hero; 29th biggest 2022 film between Scream and Where the Crawdads Sing; 65th biggest horror between Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and The First Purge; 147th biggest Paramount Pictures film between Scream and Stardust.
- Lyle, Lyle Crocodile – Sony Pictures
Dropped 36% in the second weekend $7.35m and $22.7m
Sony had success opening family films in Sept/October with 2009’s Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs taking $124.87m; 2012’s Hotel Transylvania $42.5m $148.31m; Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 $119.79m; 2015’s Hotel Transylvania 2 $169.7m and Goosebumps $80.08m;
Other live-action animated animal CGI family films second weekends include
2004’s Garfield dropped 47.8% $11.34m and $42.35m of $75.36m; $203.17m WW
1999’s Stuart Little dropped 21.3% $11.81m and $39.47m of $140.03m; $300.13m WW
2007’s Alvin and the Chipmunks dropped 36.4% $28.17m and $84.01m of $217.32m; $365.35m WW
2014’s Paddington dropped 35.3% $12.26m and $39.93m of $76.27m; $282.37m WW
2018’s Peter Rabbit dropped 30% $17.5m and $48.47m of $115.25m; $351.26m WW
2020’s Sonic the Hedgehog dropped 54.9% $26.19m and $106.49m of $148.97m; $319.71m WW
2021’s Clifford the Big Red Dog dropped 51.2% $8.12m and $33.53m of $48.94m; $107.34m WW
1988’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit up 29.3% $14.51m and $37.22m of $156.45m; $329.8m WW
Opened with $3.6m from 4 territories and $26.4m worldwide; the film expands slowly internationally over the next two months
- Amsterdam – Disney
Dropped 57% in the second weekend $2.76m and $11.83m
Previous David O. Russell’s second weekends
2015’s Joy dropped 40% $10.21m and $38.52m of $56.45m; $101.13m worldwide
2013’s American Hustle dropped 2% by $18.71m and $39.16m of $150.11m; $251.17m WW
2012’s Silver Linings Playbook dropped 12.2% by $9.44m (after 9 weeks of platform release) and $68.9m of $132.09m; $236.41m WW
2010’s The Fighter dropped 37.5% $7.58m and $26.65m (after week platform) of $93.61m; $129.19m WW
2004’s I Heart Huckabees dropped 41.2% $1.7m (after 4 weeks platform) and $8.44m of $12.78m; $20.07m WW
1999’s Three Kings dropped 24.3% $12m and $32.71m of $60.65m; $107.75m WW
1996’s Flirting with Disaster took $14.7m and 1994’s Spanking the Monkey took $1.33m
As with all films that underperform much has been written about why the $80m films opened poorly but it was always expected when the potential award contender with an ensemble cast didn’t premiere at Venice or Toronto Film Festivals. The cast and the director gave it a pedigree as a prestigious film but not being selected shows the studio didn’t have faith in it so it was then always going to be DOA after receiving poor reviews.
It opened like a Wes Anderson film which would have been fine if the budget was less than half and received positive reviews as it would have had long legs, but poor reviews and poor word of mouth will see it drop heavily next weekend and be out of cinemas within a few weeks.
While Disney has had huge success with MCU, Star Wars, reimaginations and reboots it’s been Disney’s Achilles’ heel for over a decade despite the studio previously having huge success with original films.
Opened with $1.9m from 34 territories and $6.5m and $18.5m worldwide
- Don’t Worry Darling – Warner Bros
Dropped 36% in the fourth weekend taking $2.38m and $42.45m
2,111th biggest film between Uncle Drew and Casino; 3,108th biggest inflation inflated between Jetsons: The Movie and Casualties of War; 28th biggest 2022 film between Downton Abbey: A New Era and Halloween Ends; 208th biggest thriller between Nerve and Dead Again; 353rd biggest Warner Bros film between Final Destination 5 and Mortal Kombat (2021).
Fourth weekends
2018’s A Simple Favour dropped 47.6% $3.42m and $49m of $54.54m; $97.64m WW
2004’s The Stepford Wives dropped 54.4% $2.3m and $53.47m of $59.48m; $103.32m WW
2015’s Focus dropped 43.5% $3.24m and $49.34m of $53.86m; $158.76m WW
Oliva Wilde’s 2019’s Booksmart dropped 45.8% $864,750 and $19.75m of $22.68m
Took $3m internationally from 66 territories and $35.8m and $69.4m globally
2,110th biggest worldwide between Righteous Kill and If I Stay; 40th biggest 2022 between Downton Abbey: A New Era and The Woman King; 308th biggest Warner Bros between Orphan and If I Stay.
UK Box Office Top 10
UK Box Office Preview
The 11th film of the DC Extended Universe and a spin-off from 2019’s Shazam! and the third DC film released this year after The Batman and DC League of Super-Pets and the sixth comic-book film released this year with Black Panther Wakanda Forever still to open. Are 9 comic-book movies set for release next year with three DC films Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Flash and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.
The Premiere reaction was positive for Black Adam but always have to take that with a pinch of salt as audiences are reacting immediately after seeing the film and get caught up in the hype, review embargo ended on Wednesday (October 19th) two days before opening.
It’s impossible to compare the openings of Wonder Woman 1984 and Birds of Prey with Black Adam, likewise impossible to compare it with Joker (£12,555,328) or The Batman (£13,531,854) so need to look at Wonder Woman (£6,179,616); Aquaman (£5,230,285); Shazam! (£4,067,068).
While Dwyane Johnson and Jaume Collet-Serra recently worked together on 2021’s Jungle Cruise opened £2,241,651 taking £12,487,739,87 Black Adam is much darker and unlikely to have similar legs. There were reports the first test screening of Black Adam tested as low as Batgirl which was scrapped due to its low score and also similar to Shazam! Fury of the Gods.
Black Adam was tracking to open with $70m-$75m comic-book films without previews taking about 8,5% of US openings would be between £5.5m-£6.5m, but after receiving poor reviews now expected to open with $60m+ so the UK would be about £5m+.
Black Adam was originally rated an R and had to reduce the number of characters Black Adam killed in the film from 10 to 5 to get it a PG-13 having to lose several great moments according to producers get the lower rating. This has been noticeable in the film feeling like it needs to be a higher certificate, but the studio demanded a PG-13 (12A) and won’t be the film fans want it to be.
Lyle, Lyle Crocodile’s second-weekend drop of 50% (20%+ not including previews) taking £1.3m-£1.6m ahead of half-term holidays.
Halloween Ends will drop 40-45% in the second weekend, (as previous films have a lower percentage than the US but it’s from a much lower opening) taking £1m-£1.5m with Smile dropping about 30% to £800k-£900k.
The Banshees Of Inisherin is Martin McDonagh’s first film since Oscar won Three Billboards in 2018
2008’s In Bruges, opened with £638,654 #3 (after opening in Ireland for 6 weeks taking £2.2m) from 270 screens taking £4,960,895 (about 50% of its BO from Ireland from 60 screens).
2012’s Seven Psychopaths opened £1,121,679 (including £301,551 previews) taking £3,141,163
2018’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri opened £2,361,782 (including £190,281 previews) taking £15,238,741
Opening next week
- Watcher – Universal Pictures
Psychological thriller starring Maika Monroe, Karl Glusman, and Burn Gorman and written and directed by Chloe Okuno.
Had a world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival receiving positive reviews and international rights were acquired by Universal Pictures, the film was released by IFC in the US in June on a limited wide release taking $2m.
Despite receiving positive reviews it will struggle to find an audience in the UK even over a quiet weekend.
- Living – Lionsgate
Drama starring Bill Nighy, Aimee Lou Wood, Alex Sharp and Tom Burke and directed by Oliver Hermanus adapted from the 1952 Japanese film Ikiru directed by Akira Kurosawa, which in turn was inspired by the 1886 Russian novella The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy.
Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival receiving positive reviews
Also being re-released over the weekend is The Bodyguard for its 30th anniversary on Sunday 6th November