1. Dumbo  £2,345,046  –  £17,692,002

Down 33.1% in its third weekend holding strong thanks to the start of the East school holidays and limited competition.

Easter holidays and Shazam dropping as most comic-book movies on their second weekend helped Dumbo return to #1 with less than £200,000 between the two films.

Dumbo has overtaken the totals of Tim Burton’s 1999’s Sleepy Hollow £9.88m; 1989’s Batman £12.03m; 1192’s Batman Returns £11.03m; 2016 Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children £12.3m; 2001’s Planet Of The Apes £17m becoming his third biggest film in the UK after 2005’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory £37.29m and 2010’s Alice In Wonderland £42,169,542.

60^th biggest Disney film in the UK between Tarzan and Ant-Man and The Wasp and 81^st biggest inflation inflated between Cars 2 and G-Force (close to 102 Dalmatians, Flubber, Oz: The Great and Powerful and The Emperor’s New Groove).

Fourth biggest Disney reimagination third weekend after Beauty and the Beast, The Jungle Book and Alice in Wonderland. (Dumbo had the advantage of its third weekend being part of school holidays).

With the exception of Alice Though the Looking Glass Disney reimaginations had taken about 70% of final box office after three weeks which would see Dumbo take about £24m (close to Monsters University and A Bug’s Life).

After having the second biggest drop of Disney reimaginations after Maleficent dropped 60.4% in June 2014 (opening was inflated with two days of previews taking £2,767,018) had the third smallest third weekend drop (after The Jungle Book and Into the Woods) thanks again to the Easter school holidays and cooler weather.

After 17 days on release Dumbo has overtaken total box office of Christopher Robin (£14,866,346), Oz the Great and Powerful (£14,987,064) and 101 Dalmatians (£15,800,450) and by next weekend will have overtaken Maleficent (£19,292,000) and Cinderella (£20,960,275) to be the fourth biggest Disney reimagination in the UK.

 

As Dumbo wasn’t a straight reimagination of a Disney animation classic it was always going to be just the first appetiser to Aladdin and The Lion King and then Maleficent: Mistress of Evil desert of Disney reimaginations this year.

26 years ago Aladdin was the second biggest film of the year after Jurassic Park despite opening in  1992 (was one of the final films Disney released through Warner Bros before they opened Buena Vista International with Sister Act their first release in November 1992). Aladdin took £16,115,822  would be £52,163,050 today  (close to Bohemian Rhapsody and Dunkirk).

A year later The Lion King was the biggest film of 1994 taking over £34,077,997 (Four Weddings and a Funeral was second with £27,762,650) would be £108,944,735 today (seventh biggest film ever between LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring and Jurassic Park. As trailers for both look like the reimaginations are almost scene by scene remakes would expect both to do similar box office, attracting the audience who original animated films and then their children?

The 11 Disney reimaginations have taken £283m at the box of office and over £325m inflation inflated.

2. Shazam! –  £2,162,719 –  £8,906,160

Drown 48% in its second weekend

336^th biggest second weekend between The Pirates! In an Adventure With Scientists and Godzilla and 457th biggest inflation inflated between Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and Vertical Limit  (close to Flubber, Kingsman: The Secret Service, The X-Files and Lucy).

48^th biggest comic-book second weekend between X-Men Origins: Wolverine and X-Men and 55^th biggest inflation inflated between Blade 2 and The Wolverine (close to Ant-Man and The Wasp, Captain America: The First Avenger and Kick-Ass 2.  

Warner Bros 56th biggest second weekend between Ocean’s Thirteen and Ocean’s Twelve and 65^th biggest inflation inflated between The Great Gatsby and Lethal Weapon 4 (close to Ready Player One, Aquaman, Pokemon: The First Movie and The Perfect Storm.

Second weekends

2010’s Kick-Ass dropped 69% £1,191,069 (inflation inflated £1,445,297) and £7,001,080 taking £11,528,933 (£13,989,730 inflation inflated)

2013’s Kick-Ass 2 dropped 75% £613,817 and £4,230,695 taking £5,055,634

2012’s Chronicle dropped 53% £1,024,583 and £4,055,680 taking £6,493,553

Or Marvel cinematic Universe comedies

2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 1 dropped 48% £3,332,179 and £13,840,330 taking £28,326,152

2015’s Ant-Man dropped 37% £2,520,129 and £9,619,553 taking £16,309,117

2018’s Ant-Man and The Wasp dropped 54% £2,282,343 and £10,493,740 taking £17,353,560

Has also been compared to

2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger dropped 51% £1,470,703 and £6,901,146 taking £9,379,436

Other similar films include 1994’s The Mask which took £17,306,976 and 1989’s Big £3,166,076

Next from DC is The Joker opening in October, the first trailer was released last week with Birds of Prey opening in February 2020 and Wonder Woman 1984 in June 2020 with The Batman and The Suicide Squad in June and August 2021 ad Aquaman 2 December 2022, with the strong start of Shazam a sequel will be likely in 2023.

The seven DC Extended Universe films have taken almost £170m over the last 6 years; in comparison MCU released 10 films over their first 6 years took 36% more (£225.47m); but after seven films DC Extended Universe films have taken 4% more than MCU £165m Vs £158.17m.

3. Wonder Park – £1,586,003  – NE

Included £763,003 from previews Mon-Thurs  

Had the 903rd biggest opening in the UK between St. Trinian’s 2 and Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones (close to Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Penguins of Madagascar, The Magic Roundabout) and 1,039^th biggest inflation inflated opening between The Blind Side and Geostorm (close to Daddy’s Home, Tomorrowland – A World Beyond, The Lone Ranger).

Had Paramount Pictures 75^th biggest opening between 10 Cloverfield Lane and Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones.

123^rd biggest animated film opening between Rango and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and 136^th biggest inflation inflated opening between Isle of Dogs and Smurfs: The Lost Village.

As Wonder Park opened with 4 days of previews during Easter holidays cannot be compared directly with any of those openings as school holidays makes weekday box office as lucrative as weekend but with a films like Wonder Park shares out its box office over seven days rather than three so will drop heavily in its second weekend 60%+.

Produced by Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Movies; it is the third animated film from Nickelodeon Movies after Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and Barnyard.

4. Hellboy –  £989,562 – NE  

Taking £172,204 from Thursday previews

Had one of the worst openings for a comic-book movie opening with less than half of 2007’s Ghost Rider £1,851,897 with 43% ticket inflation; original 2004 Hellboy opening of £1,058,375 is 1,114^th (61% ticket inflation).

Early buzz for Hellboy was poor so it was expected to received poor reviews, but Rotten Tomatoes seem to take pleasure from its low Rotten tomatoes score, many questioned Rotten Tomatoes for doing so saying that they would have never done the same had it been a Disney film.

The two previous Hellboy films received PG-13, 12 certificates but the reboot was R-rated (15 in the UK) which didn’t help, while Deadpool and its sequel were successful R-rated comic-book movies they had the dark humour as a key marketing element, while the R-rating just limited its audience.

With poor reviews will drop heavily this weekend and be out of cinemas by the time Avengers Endgame opens. Films like these that open so poorly and will be out of cinemas within weeks should be allowed to have much shorter theatrical window Hellboy won’t be legally available online until July, which makes no sense.

Originally developed as a sequel to Hellboy II: The Golden Army becoming a reboot instead but without Guillermo del Toro involvement which also saw Ron Perlman not starring in the film.

In 2002 Neil Marshall directed British horror Dog Soldiers opened with £681,348 and in 2005 The Descent opening with £570,850 and is his first film since 2008’s Centurion.

Hellboy was previously made by Sony Pictures in 2004 directed by Guillermo del Toro who also directed the sequel Hellboy 2: The Golden Army in 2007 released by Universal Pictures; both films received positive reviews but underwhelmed at the box office.

Hellboy opened in September 2004 with £1,058,375  taking £3,005,789

Hellboy 2: The Golden Army opened in August 2008 with £2,969,602 (including £1,095,188 previews) Fri-Sun £1,874,414 taking £6,772,936

After the first two Hellboy films weren’t hugely successful many were surprised when Lionsgate boarded Hellboy reboot,  but since The Hunger Games film series ended in 2015, they have been looking for properties they could build a series of films with. Two years ago Lionsgate released Power Rangers (opened in the US with $40.3m taking $85.36m and $142.33m; opened in the UK with £1,574,624 taking £4,525,180) with $100m+ budget.

This is probably the reason why Lionsgate are making sequels to mid-range box office successes like The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard sequel to The Hitman’s Bodyguard; John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum after John Wick took $88.8m and John Wick: Chapter Two $171.5m; the first two films Lionsgate surprisingly sold UK rights to Warner Bros but have kept rights for the third film opening next month.

5. Captain Marvel –  £896,889 –  £36,423,056

Down 22.4% in its sixth weekend

Third biggest MCU sixth weekend after Black Panther and Avenger: Infinity War (close to Avengers: Age of Ultron £883,790) those three films had taken about 91% of their final box office which would see Captain Marvel take about £39m.

Seventh biggest MCU after Avenger Infinity War, Black Panther, Avengers Assemble, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 and Captain America: Civil War having just overtaken total of Iron Man 3 (6 years ago) and will have overtaken Captain America: Civil War by now. the sixth biggest MCU in the UK.  

81^st biggest film in the UK between Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice and Love Actually and 100th biggest film inflation inflated between Deadpool and Gravity.

26th biggest Disney film in the UK between Captain America: Civil War and Up and 33^rd biggest inflation inflated between Bruce Almighty and Captain America: Civil War (close to The Sixth Sense, Toy Story, Calendar Girls and The Pirates of the Caribbean).

13th biggest comic-book film in the UK between Men In Black and Spider-Man 3 and 19th biggest inflation inflated between Batman Vs Superman and Hancock.

The 21 Marvel Cinematic Universe films have taken almost £630m over the last 11 years (£650m+ inflation inflated);

Advance bookings for Avengers: Endgame opened last Tuesday with Odeon Cinemas selling 30 tickets every 10 seconds over the first few hours crashing websites with one in every 4 tickets sold by Odeon for IMAX; between Tuesday and Thursday 781k tickets have been sold for its opening weekend taking over £8.5m with ticket average of £12.30 over 70% more than the industry claimed average price.

It broke the records set by Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Star Wars: The Last Jedi for advance sales; with Vue Westfield having 255 screenings of Avengers: Endgame over its opening 4-day weekend there are still millions of seats available; by Tuesday April 14^th had sold 1.19m tickets taking £11.7m according to Applaudience.

After taking £8.5m+ from advance bookings this week many believe it will have the biggest ever opening in the UK but will likely get close to Star Wars: The Force Awakens opening but unlikely Spectre as it had 7 day opening and James Bond films play to a much wider demographic (old as well as young) as did The Force Awakens than comic-book movies.

Endgame will be similarly front-loaded as Infinity War with its £32m+ opening 40%+ of final £80m+ total taking 90%+ of its BO in its first 4 weeks as Infinity War. (Infinity War opened with £28.3m 41%+ of final BO of £70.4m).

UK box office in detail

This weekend’s top 10 box office took £10,896,294 down 20.1% from last weekend £13,628,514

The weekend admissions 1,532,300 down 27.3% from last weekend 1,887,606 average ticket £7.22 down from last year’s £7.49

15 films opened at weekend taking (£4,269,699); Wonder Park 37.1% (£1,586,003); Hellboy 23.1% (£989,562); Wild Rose 18.01% (£772,060); Little 12.6% (£540,579): remaining 11 films shared 8.9% (£381,495): Top three took 55.1% (£6,093,768) of the top 10; Dumbo (£2,345,046) 21.5%; Shazam! (£2,162,719) 19.8%; Wonder Park (£1,586,003) 14.5%;    

The weekend was down 14.2% from 2018: (£12,710,945); Rampage (£4,109,247); Truth or Dare (£931,250); Luisa Miller Met Opera 2018 (£231,297); #1 Rampage £4,109,247 1st week

Down 53.3% from 2017: (£23,325,163); Fast & Furious 8 (£14,026,301); The Handmaiden (£474,752); The Sense of an Ending (£329,948); #1 Fast & Furious 8 £14,026,301 1^st week

Down 1.6% from 2016: (£11,079,652); The Huntsman: Winter’s War (£3,032,962); Midnight Special (£497,109); Hardcore Henry (£201,827); The Man Who Knew Infinity (£147,990); #1 The Huntsman: Winter’s War £3,032,962 1^st week

Down 12.1% from 2015; (£12,405,583); The DUFF (£891,691); John Wick (£539,602); Woman in Gold (£494,512); Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 (£480,158); Hot Tub Time Machine 2 (£90,301); Force Majeure (£87,398); Lost River (£54,264); #1 Fast & Furious 7 £5,407,918 2^nd week 57% drop

Up 24.1% from 2014: (£8,774,743); The Quiet Ones (£681,305); Calvary (£571,489); The Raid 2 (£454,150); The Last Days on Mars (£46,925); #1 Captain America: The Winter Soldier £1,782,201 1^st week (3^rd week) 2^nd week #1

Down 0.7% from 2013: (£10,971,615); Oblivion (£4,959,386); Scary Movie 5 (£1,085,932); The Place Beyond the Pines (£671,119); #1 Oblivion £4,959,386 1^st week

Down 13.6% from 2012 (£12,576,386); Battleship (£3,763,348); Cabin in the Woods (£1,601,161); Delicacy (£81,683); A Night to Remember (Re) (£3,273); #1 Battleship £3,763,348 1^st week

Up 128.4% from 2011 (£4,770,365); Rio (£1,515,853); The Roommate (£120,365); Mars Needs Mums (£113,559); Tomorrow, When the War Began (£85,841); Silent House (£8,539); #1 Rio £1,515,853 1^st week

Up 22.9% from 2010: (£8,861,394); Whip It! (£353,041); I Am Love (£171,959); Shelter (£141,452); The Infidel (£135,448); #1 Clash of the Titans £2,441,682 2^nd week 57% drop

Down 21.9% from 2009; (£13,950,469); Fast & Furious (£4,928,784); 17 Again (£2,564,102); Race to Witch Mountain (£581,250); Dragonball Evolution (£379,777); Let the Right One In (£224,154); 50 Dead Men Walking (£99,440); #1 Fast & Furious £4,928,784 1^st week

Up 70.1% from 2008; (£6,403,618); 21 (£1,649,855); Leatherheads (£474,780); Shine a Light (£338,061); Pathology (£313,886); Rec (£92,545); Strange Wilderness (£13,360); #1 21 £1,649,855 1^st week

Up 59.2% from 2007:(£6,842,807); Wild Hogs (£1,691,797); Shooter (£716,202); Curse of the Golden Flower (£362,169); Perfect Stranger (£277,047); The Lives of Others (£223,586); #1 Wild Hogs (£1,691,797 1^st week

Up 23.1% from 2006; (£8,853,843): Scary Movie 4 (£1,953,094); Take the Lead (£621,735); An American Haunting (£541,446); Glastonbury (£23,893); #1 Ice Age II £3,608,531 2^nd week 67% drop

Up 58.9% from 2005 (£6,854,564); Sahara (£1,370,577); The Assassination of Richard Nixon (£157,756); Man of the House (£126,331); #1 Sahara £1,370,577 1^st week

Up 11.8% from 2004 (£9,743,104); 50 First Dates (£1,651,544); Shaun of the Dead (£1,603,410); Capturing the Friedmans (£66,689); Blind Flight (£6,634); #1 Scooby-Doo Too £2,038,602 2^nd week 43% drop

Up 52.3% from 2003 (£7,153,823); Johnny English (£3,435,342); The Jungle Book 2 (£1,436,730); S Club Seeing Double (£338,383); The Little Polar Bear (£71,408); #1 Johnny English £3,435,342 1^st week

Up 53.5% from 2002 (£7,099,174); Bend It Like Beckham (£2,001,795); The Queen of the Damned (£611,440); K-Pax (£567,349); The One (£493,491); Y Tu Mama Tambien (£182,166); #1 Bend It Like Beckham £2,001,795 1st week

Next weekend in 2018: (£5,699,055); The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (£825,777); The Leisure Seeker (£105,130); Funny Cow (£74,142); Wildling (£20,111); #1 Rampage £1,413,973 2^nd week down 66%

Also opened

• Little – Universal Pictures

Opened with £540,579 from 359 screens

After What Men What opened with £836,612 last month (taking £2.8m to date) and trailers for Little playing with it Little might have expected to open bigger especially with Easter school holidays.

Have been many body switch films over the years including Freaky Friday, 17 Again, Like Father, Like Son, Vice Versa, Switch, The Change-Up, The Hot Chick, 13 Going on 30 and It’s a Boy Girl Thing; the writer of Little admits that she was “inspired” to write the scrip after seeing Big.

13 Going On 30 opened August 2004 with £1,184,273 taking £5,109,348

The Change-Up opened September 2011 with £727,497 taking £1,631,363

Night School opened September 2018 with £1,596,378 taking £4,412,036

• Wild Rose – eOne

Opened with £772,060 from 469 screens

eOne acquired world rights for the film at the Cannes Film Festival in 2017 it was then titled Country Music; the film is produced by Faye Ward from Fable Pictures who also produced Suffragette and Stan And Ollie.

Mid-April has been a good time normally to open an adult drama as its normally just after Easter and the week before the latest Marvel film but this year as Easter Wild Rose opened in the middle of the Easter holidays.

In 2018 The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society opened with £825,777 taking £5,812,090; 2017 Their Finest opened with £850,328 taking £4,028,128; 2016 Eye In The Sky opened with £1,110,959 taking £5,043,517; 2015 Woman In Gold opened with £494,512 taking £2,781,173

But with trailers playing with Fisherman’s Friends (opened a month ago with £1,154,864 taking £6m+ but during a much less crowded month), good reviews and comparisons with A Star Is Born and The Commitments was expected to open similarly to Sunshine on Leith (also set in Scotland) opened in October 2013 with £770,239 taking £4,499,183 and Finding Your Feet opened February 2018 with £923,220 taking £5,436,523.

UK Box office news

Box office down 16% for the second weekend of April 13 out of 15 weekends have been down on last year, this weekend could be slightly better but even if Avengers: Endgame takes £80m+ box office will still likely be down on last year until Toy Story 4 and The Lion King open in June/July.

 

UK Box Office Top 10

US Box office

• Shazam! – Warner Bros

Down 54.3% in its second weekend taking $24.45m and $94.22m; #766 biggest film in the US between Unbreakable and The Book of Eli

Second weekends

2010’s Kick-Ass dropped 52.9% $9.34m and $34.7m taking $48.07m

2012’s Chronicle dropped 45% $12.09m and $30.95m taking $64.57m

2017’s The Lego Batsman Movie dropped 38.4% $32.65m and $97.22m taking $175.75m

2011’s Green Lantern dropped 66.1% $18.02m and $88.98m taking $116.6m

Has been compared Marvel cinematic Universe film

2015’s Ant-Man dropped 56.5% $24.9m and $106.21m taking $180.2m

2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger dropped 60.7% $25.55m and $117.42m taking $176.65m

Took $35.9m from 79 territories $163.9m total and $258.8m worldwide; #556 biggest film worldwide between Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle and Rush Hour 3

Top international territories UK: $11.7m; Mexico: $10.1m; Brazil: $8.9m; Russia: $8.3m; Australia: $7.1m; Indonesia: $5.4m; France: $5.2m; Korea: $4.9m; Taiwan: $3.8m; Italy: $3.38m; India: $3.37m

• Hellboy – Lionsgate

Opened with $12.04m (received poor reviews only 15% and C CinemaScore)

Previous films released in 2004 and 2008 received positive reviews but were very front-loaded at the box office

Hellboy opened with $23.17m taking $59.62m and $99.3m worldwide with a $66m budget

Hellboy II: The Golden Army opened in 2008 with $34.53m taking $75.98m and $160m worldwide with an $85m budget

First trailers received missed reception with some comparing it to Suicide Squad, but the second trailer received much more positive response but, on the film, has been poor.

After Lionsgate had a very disappointing year in 2018 taking only $388.9m in the US Hellboy is a key film on their 2019 slate along with John Wick: Chapter 3: Parabellum, Angel has Fallen and Rambo: Last Blood.

Early tracking for the film was looking at a poor $16m+ opening and $34m total which would be less than the first film took 15 years ago.

Opened with $10.1m from 40 territories

• Little – Universal Pictures

Opened with $15.4m received mixed reviews (50% Rotten Tomatoes) and B+ CinemaScore

First trailer was released in January receiving 5m+ views in the first 24 hours and 59m to date

Little could be seen as another female reimagination of a male led film as What Men Want, the writer of Little admits that she was “inspired” to write the scrip after seeing Big.

Big opened June 1988 with $8.21m taking $114.96m and $152m worldwide

Have been many body switch films over the years including Freaky Friday, 17 Again, Like Father, Like Son, Vice Versa, Switch, The Change-Up, The Hot Chick, 13 Going on 30 and It’s a Boy Girl Thing.

2011’s The Change-Up opened with $13.53m taking $37.08m

2004’s 13 Going on 30 opened with $21.05m taking $57.23m

Opened with $1.9m from 11 territories

 

• Pet Sematary – Paramount Pictures

Dropped 60.2% in its second weekend taking $9.74m and $40.86m

Taking almost the same as the original Pet Sematary released 30 years ago taking $8.38m and $24.42m and $57.46m total

1992’s Pet Sematary II dropped 20% in its second weekend taking $3.85m and $10.43m and $17.09m total

The 42 Stephen King film adaptations have taken $1.458bn in the US and $1.65bn worldwide since the original Carrie was released in 1976;

Next Stephen King films released

It 2 opens in September first trailer is expected very soon (the trailer for the first film was seen over 197m times over its first 24 hours was the most watched trailer ever in March 2017 until Avengers: infinity War in November 2017)

Doctor Sleep, sequel to 1980’s The Shining opens on Halloween in the UK same day as Brexit 2

Second weekends horror remakes

2003’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre dropped 48.5% taking $14.68m and $50.91m and $80.57m total

2013’s Evil Dead dropped 63.2% taking $9.48m and $41.53m and $54.23m total

2013’s Carrie dropped 62.8% taking $5.98m and $26.11m and $35.26m total

2015’s Poltergeist dropped 64.4% taking $8.05m and $38.52m and $47.42m total

2016’s Blair Witch dropped 57.7% taking $4.05m and $16.23 and $20.77m total

And recent Stephen King adaptation

2017’s The Dark Tower dropped 59.2% taking $7.82m and $34.25m and $50.7m total

Took $12.6m internationally from 56 territories $37.5m total

• Dumbo – Disney

Dropped 48.3% in its third weekend taking $9.4m and $90.16m; #825 biggest film in the US between Mystic River and Terminator: Genisys

If Dumbo holds like the other Disney reimaginations will take $120m+ but with Avengers: Endgame opening in three weeks and advance bookings already breaking records Dumbo is just a minor blimp with the rest of Disney’s slate this year.

Dumbo is the seventh biggest Tim Burton film between Sleepy Hollow and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

Third weekends

2018’s Christopher Robin dropped 31.6% taking $8.86m and $66.87m 67.4% of $99.21m; $197.74m worldwide

2017’s Beauty and the Beast dropped 49.8% taking $45.42m and $393.33m 78.1% of $504.01m;  $1.26bn worldwide

2016’s Pete’s Dragon dropped 34.4% taking $7.44m and $54.87m 72% of $76.23m; $143.69m worldwide

2016’s Alice Through the Looking Glass dropped 50.1% taking $5.64m and $62.53m 81.2% of $77.04; $299.45m worldwide

2016’s The Jungle Book dropped 29% taking $43.71m and $257.37m 70.7% of $364m; $966.55m worldwide

2015’s  Cinderella dropped 51.3% taking $17.04m and $149.55m 74.3% of $201.15m; $543.51m worldwide

2014’s Maleficent dropped 46.1% taking $18.5m and $163.02m 67.5% of $241.41m; $758.53m worldwide

2013’s Oz The Great and Powerful dropped 47.7% taking $21.56m and $177.09m 75.4% of $234.9m; $493.31m worldwide

2010’s Alice In Wonderland dropped 45.5% taking $31.18m and $265.43m 79.4% of $334.19m; $1.02bn worldwide

1996’s 101 Dalmatians dropped 35.9% taking $8.93m and $75.57m 55.5% of $136.18m; $320.68m

Disney’s 10 live action reimaginations have taken $2.25bn (since 101 Dalmatians in 1996) in the US and over $6.08bn worldwide.

Aladdin is currently tracking for a $100m+ Memorial Day opening weekend while many believe The Lion King will be one of the biggest film this yea and both going by their trailer look like scene by scene live action remakes.

Took $22m internationally from 55 territories and $177m total and $266.98m worldwide#; #534 biggest film worldwide between The Princess and the Frog and Batman Returns

International BO UK $23.0m; China $20.9m; Mexico $17.6m; Italy $10.8m; Spain $10.3m; France $9.9m; Russia $7.4m; Japan $6.8m; Brazil $6.4m; Australia $5.1m

• After – Aviron Pictures

Opens with $6.02m; received poor reviews (13% Rotten Tomatoes score) B CinemaScore

Anna Todd’s bestselling Young Adult novel is E.L. James meets Nicholas Sparks; after is based on the first of five books that have been read over 1.5bn times on Wattpad.

Opened bigger than 2017’s Unforgettable $4.78m, Midnight Sun $4m and Before I Fall $4.6m but less than 2015’s The Boy Next Door opened with $14.91m raking $35.42m

Internationally opened with $12.28m from 28 territories

• Missing Link – United Artists Releasing

Opened with $5.94m (received positive reviews and B+- CinemaScore)

Had a disappointing opening far less than previous Laika animated films all released by Focus Features.

Coraline opened February with $16.84m taking $75.28m

ParaNorman opened August 2012 with $14.08m taking $56m

The Boxtrolls opened September 2009 with $17.27m taking $50.83m

Kubo and the Two Strings opened August 2016 with $12.6m taking $48.02m

While Laika films receive critical acclaim they aren’t  as successful as other animated films as Universal Pictures now own Dreamworks Animation who had similarly themed Abominable set for release this year probably decided to pass on Missing Link.

Focus Features previously released Laika films during less crowded periods with limited children’s competition.

• Us – Universal Pictures

Dropped 50.6% in its fourth weekend taking $6.81m and $163.36m #307 biggest film in the US between The Pursuit of Happyness and Big Daddy; Get Out #267 between The Bourne Supremacy and The LEGO Batman Movie

After Us opened with 1113% bigger than Get Out (71.17% Vs $33.37%) has taken 48.3% less than Get Out in its forth weekend ($6.94m Vs $13.43m) taking 22.6% more after four weeks ($163.49m Vs $133.3m) Get Out went on to take $176.04m and Us will take about $183m only 4% more than Get Out.

So, as with Captain Marvel opening much bigger than Wonder Woman Us won’t hold nearly as strong as Get Out showing again these big opening only makes films become even more front-loaded, which will be seem again in a month’s time after Avengers: Endgame has been out for a few weeks.

Us has taken $72.5m internationally and $235.9m worldwide slightly less than Get Out $79.36m internationally and $255.4m showing Jordan Peele films don’t travel as well as they do in the US.

Us was always expected to much heavier than Get Out in its second weekend as word of mouth has been much more mixed as reviews. Us was always likely to be much more front-load than Get Out with Get Out dropping only 15.4% in second, 26.5% in third and 35.2% in its fourth.

Fourth weekend

2017’s Get Out took $13.43m down 35.2% and $133.2m 75.6% of $176.1m total and $255.4m worldwide with a $4.5m budget;

2018’s A Quiet Place took $11m down 47.4% and $148.52m 78.9% of $188.02m and $340.93m worldwide

2018’s Halloween took $3.99 down 63.1% and $156.96m 98.5% of $159.34m total and $253.68m worldwide;

Took $4.4m from 61 territories $72.5m total and $235.9m worldwide; #624 biggest film worldwide between Howl’s Moving Castle and Hidden Figures

• Captain Marvel – Disney

Dropped 30.7% in its sixth weekend taking $8.61m and $387.52m

35^th biggest film in the US between Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2; 17^th biggest Disney film in the US between Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and The Jungle Book; 8^th biggest MCU between Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Spider-Man: Homecoming and 12^th biggest comic-book movie in the US between Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Spider-Man 3.

After opening 48.6% bigger than 2017’s Wonder Woman ($153.43 VS $103.25m) Captain Marvel took 12.2% less than Wonder Woman in week 6 ($8.6m Vs $9.8m); Captain Marvel is now only 4.9% of Wonder Woman after 6 weeks ( $386.53m Vs $368.47m) and is likely to take similar box office $412.56m; Disney have a habit of squeezing out money from films previously last year having double bills with A Wrinkle In Time and Black Panther so the film could squeeze past $100m at the BO.

Took about 90% of its final US BO of $415m+ taking similar BO as Iron Man 3 and Captain America: Civil War (close to my expectations) and become the 7^th biggest comic-book movie taking similar total as Wonder Woman despite opening 48% bigger.

Took $8m from 52 territories and $678mm and $1,064bn worldwide #28 between Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story; China $153.6m; UK $47.7m, Korea $44.6m, Brazil $37.3m, Mexico $33.0m, Australia $27.0m, France $25.3m, Germany $22.5m, Russia $20.0m.

Disney’s 13^th biggest film worldwide (all being released this decade) and 19^th film to of taken over $1bn worldwide all from the last 13 years (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest #1 in 2006) 17 of the sequels reboots or comic-book films (10 from acquired existing properties) and two original films Frozen and Zootopia.

The 21 Marvel Cinematic Universe films have now taken $7.25bn in the US and $18.59bn worldwide; Avengers: Endgame will see the 22-film series taking over $20bn worldwide over 11 years.

• Bohemian Rhapsody – 20^th Century Fox

25 weeks after opening in the UK Bohemian Rhapsody has taken over $900m worldwide an incredible achievement for the film taking more than Mary Poppins Returns $349.1m and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again $394.7m worldwide combined, few would have predicted this a year ago.

After the success of The Greatest Showman and the huge popularity for Queen in the UK and US might have expected its success in those two countries but in Japan (still playing wide on 268 screens down only 18% taking $115.29m in its 23^rd week) and South Korea $76.1m?

20^th Century Fox bringing forward Bohemian Rhapsody forward six weeks was a  similar stroke of genius they had opening Deadpool 2 ahead of Solo: A Star Wars Story, but opening ahead of Mary Poppins Returns rather than against it stole its thunder and its Oscar nominations.  

Has taken 75% of its $901.41m global box office internationally ($685m Vs $216.21m).

In the UK took £54,895,426 becoming the 20^th biggest film ever in the UK and fourth biggest 20^th Century Fox film in the UK after Avatar, Titanic and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.

Bohemian Rhapsody was the last major release by 20^th Century Fix before being acquired by Disney (they did release $170m budget sci-fi Alita: Battle Angel in February but after being delayed 7 months was never expected to be a massive success the fact it did still take $403.5m worldwide the studio must deserve some credit.

Within days of Disney completing acquisition of 20^th Century Fox they announced the closure of Fox 2000 and the closure of the division signified to many Disney aren’t interested in 20^th Century Fox making films anymore.

Last week saw Universal Pictures acquire Paul Greengrass News of the World starring Tom Hanks and On The Come Up based on Author Angie Thomas bestseller the studio had just released The Hate U Give, these two projects where both high-profile films they had been developing. It is expected that 20^th Century Fox will become Disney’s modern-day Touchstone Pictures making half a dozen films a year mostly remakes and reboots of their library and then more for Disney+.

In the 80s and 90s Touchstone Pictures had many huge successes making films for adult audiences for Disney from action films Armageddon and The Rock to Pretty Woman and Coyote Ugly. 20 years later many of these films are as watchable as they were first time around, but many films today are bearable once.

This isn’t a rant against Disney but more that majority of films being made today are one time viewings, but if you go back 20 or 30 years ago we look back fondly on many of those films, there will be far fewer films people will be looking back at in 20 years’ time and two of them will be Bohemian Rhapsody and The Greatest Showman.

20^th Century Fox like all studios have made many dreadful films when I was working there in early 2001 they made three shockingly terrible films Monkeybone, Say It Isn’t So and Freddy Got Fingered but then also released Moulin Rouge which does show the diversity of their slate Baz Luhrmann’s musical was so different than anything that was being released that year (saying that A Knight’s Tale opened the weekend before in the US and also incorporated modern music in historical setting including Queen songs).

In 2001 Disney didn’t release any sequels or remakes biggest films were Monsters, Inc. and Pearl Harbor and were the fourth biggest studio with Warner Bros first, Universal second and Paramount third.

• Breakthrough – 20th Century Fox

Opened with from $2.18m 14 territories opens in the US this weekend

UK Box Office Predictions

The calm before the storm with this weekend a dumping week for distributors ahead of summer before the release of Avengers: Endgame next weekend. The one positive the weekend has over last year is it’s the final weekend of the Easter holiday, but the negative is that it could have the hottest temperatures of the year so far.

With no new major releases unless Monty Python’s Life Of Brian 40^th anniversary Event Cinema screenings screening on Thursday (extra screenings over the weekend) are included in the box office will be limited movement in the chart this weekend. Hellboy will have a 60% second weekend drop as will Wonder Park (due to it having 5 days of previews inflating its opening).

New releases Dragged Across Concrete, Head Full Of Honey, Greta and Red Joan are unlikely to connect with wide audience.

If temperatures do reach the 70s over the weekend many other films could have 50%+ drops which could see the weekend box office have its lowest weekend of the year (similar to last year £5,699,055 when The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society opened with £825,777 with #1 Rampage £1,413,973 2nd week down 66% the week before Avengers: Infinity War opened.

Of course Avengers: Endgame will open the following weekend with a £35m+ opening taking about over 85% of the weekends box office.

Opening in UK Next Week

• Avengers: Endgame – Disney

The 22^nd film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and sequel to last years Avengers: Infinity Wars which has been described as the conclusion of the third phase of the MCU.

Was originally announced in October 2014 as a two-part sequel to Avengers: Age of Ultron Avengers: Infinity War. Part 1 to be released in May 2018 and Avengers: Infinity War. Part 2 to be released in May 2019. At that time Kevin Feige said the films were titled as two parts of a single film because they had so many shared elements, but wasn’t one story cut in half and were two distinct films.

In May 2015 directors Anthony and Joe Russo said they were going to retitle the two films to avoid people thinking they were they same film cut in half. In July 2016 the two films were titled Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers 4 as they indicated that its title would give away plot details.

it follows on immediately after the events of infinity War after Thanos clicked his fingers and half the universe died. Is Thanos really the enemy of the universe or are the Avengers the real evil look at the destruction they have created over the 21 previous films along with climate change overpopulation and food shortages Thanos click gave regular humans the best chance of survival? With films like Deep Impact and 2012 if humans selected those who survived it would be based on money and power Thanos gave everyone a 50% chance of survival just like the HBO TV series The Leftovers which saw 2% of the world’s population disappear.

After Infinity War was released it was revealed that those who “died” wouldn’t feature in the marketing for the film (was seen at the press conference earlier in the month with many empty seats next to the surviving characters). After the ending of Infinity War that saw the likes of Spider-Man and Black Panther die (even though everyone knows will be further films featuring the characters after the success of Black Panther and Spider-Man: Homecoming) Endgame is almost guaranteed to disappoint fans as Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Am not saying this to be negative but these films can never live up to the expectations fan put on them, they will get caught up in the hype when they see them but won’t seem nearly as great a few weeks or months later. This is why Endgame is likely to be much more front-loaded than previous Avengers films, while it will have a record opening its not going to be the biggest film ever, even though it is the biggest budget ever, the two films Infinity War and Endgame had a rumoured budget of almost $1bn together.

On December 7^th, 2018 the first trailer was released, and the title was revealed as Avengers: Endgame; the first trailer was seen 289m times in its first 24 hours (the most watched trailer in 24 hours) trailer 2 was released in March 2019 viewed 268m times over the first 24 hours (Avengers: Infinity War third with 230m)

Disney have five of the top ten biggest openings in the UK (Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Avengers: Infinity War, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Toy Story 3 and Beauty and the Beast) by the end of the year they will have seven of the biggest top 10 with Avengers: Endgame, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and Toy Story 4 all to join this year.

As with Avengers: Infinity War,  Avengers: Endgame didn’t have regional premieres as previous Marvel films had instead have fan events with selective talent in attendance and screening about 10 minutes of footage London was on April 10^th and has its world premiere in Los Angeles on April 22^nd; embargo ends at 11pm on Tuesday April 23rd just over 24 hours before its first screenings.

 Up to Thursday 11^th April Avengers: Endgame had sold 865,684 seats with an average ticket price of £10.82 it’s taken £9,366,700 with many expecting it to have the biggest ever opening in the UK; the film will open in over 700 cinemas over 2,500 screens about 30,000 performances over its 4 day opening weekend many multiplexes showing it in eight or more screens (Vue Westfield have 255 screenings over its four day opening) with over 8m seats available probably 40% of seats will be sold.  

Spectre is the current biggest opening taking £41,299,090 (included £21,321,626 from 4 days of previews) James Bond films play to a much wider audience demographic than comic-book movies.  

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the current second biggest opening with £34,011,849 (including £9,679,746 from Thursday previews) again had a wider demographic as played cross-generational fans of the original films and younger audiences.

Last year Avengers: Infinity War opened with £29,379,496 (including £6,530,000 from Thursday previews)

Avengers Assemble took 76.92% of the top 10 box office in April 2012; Avengers: Age of Ultron took 80.2% of top 10 in April 2015; Avengers: Infinity War took 87% of top 10 in April 2018

Avengers: Infinity War took £6,530,000 from Thursday 82% more than 2015’s Avengers Age of Ultron taking £3,599,937 and 156% more than 2012’s Avengers Assemble taking £2,553,440 but 15% less than Star Wars: The Last Jedi £7,684,21.

In 2012 Avengers Assemble held #1 for 3 weeks dropping 49% in its second weekend taking £8,121,916 against American Pie: Reunion #2 with £6,334,539; down again 49% in its third weekend taking £4,169,087 against American Pie: Reunion #2 £2,546,626 and Dark Shadows #3 £2,404,029. In its fourth weekend The Dictator which opened with £4,963,745 #1 while Avengers Assemble took £2,814,216 and £44,983,702 staying in the top 10 for 9 weeks.

In 2015 Avengers: Age of Ultron held #1 for 3 weeks dropped 53% in its second weekend taking £8,591,670 against Far From The Madding Crowd #2 £1,450,297 and Unfriended #3 £1,346,952; down 59% in its third weekend taking £3,509,620 and £40,353,610 with Spooks: The Greater Good opening #2 with £1,010,363; dropped down to third in its fourth weekend behind Pitch Perfect 2 £5,005,394 and Mad Max: Fury Road £4,538,933 taking £1,661,968 and £43,250,662 in third.

In 2018 Avengers: Infinity War held #1 for 3 weeks dropped 66% in its second weekend taking £10,143,580 against I Feel Pretty #2 £1,272,154 A Quiet Place #3 £395,335 down 57% in its fifth weekend; down 44% in its third weekend taking £5,706,170 and £60,353,842 with Sherlock Gnomes #2 £2,522,342 and I Feel Pretty #3 £931,614 down 27% and £3,097,220; dropped down to second in its fourth weekend behind Deadpool 2 £12,974,669 taking £2,047,469 down 64% and £64,054,508.

• Eighth Grade – Sony Pictures

Comedy-drama starring Elsie Fisher, Josh Hamilton, Emily Robinson and Jake Ryan and written and directed by Bo Burnham.

In July 2018 Molly Ringwald tweeted “I just saw Eighth Grade and thought it was the best film about adolescence I’ve seen in a long time. Maybe ever”. Director Bo Burnham responded “i dead now ok what thank u byeeeee”. Eighth Grade has been compared with Hughes’ filmography.

Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2018 receiving critical acclaim (99% Rotten Tomatoes) opened in the US in July 2018 by A24 on platform release ($263,797 from 4 screens) expanding to 1,084 screens in its fourth weekend taking $13.53m total (as with many platform films Eighth Grade had a strong platform opening but expanded far too quickly).

The film received much criticism receiving an R-rating which stopped eighth graders from seeing the film (in response A24 arranged free unrated screenings across the US) this was similar to the 2003 film Thirteen starring Evan Rachel Wood loosely based om her life aged 12 to 13 but the film was R-rated.

Eighth Grade was screened at Sundance London in June 2018 winning the Audience Favourite award; international rights were acquired by  Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions in September 2018.

Eighth Grade could have opened any time after September 20218 in the UK so surprising Sony Pictured UK decided to date it to open against Avengers: Endgame?

Opening in the US

• Avengers: Endgame – Disney

In December Avengers: Endgame was voted as the second most anticipated movies by IMDB with Captain Marvel being the most anticipated movies and

Advance booking opening om April 2^nd seeing cinema websites crash around the world, Fandango said it was their best-selling pre-release ever in 24 beating the previous record set by Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Crazily people put many of these tickets on eBay one person put four tickets for April 28^th show for $20,000 despite there being millions of tickets still available for that day.

Was tracking to open with $250m+ but with record breaking advance sales many expect Avengers: Endgame to open with $300m in the US and $900m worldwide; taking about $750m+ in the US (second biggest film the US after Star Wars: The Force Awakens $936.62m) and $2.4bn+ worldwide (second biggest after Avatar $2.78bn)

Much has been made about the films 3 hour running time saying that it could stop t from having the biggest over opening but it will open in over 4,500 cinemas in the US playing in close to 15,000 screens with many multiplexes having it every 15/30 mins over 300,000 screenings over 4 days with over 60m seats available; $300m+ opening would be about 40% capacity with $12 average ticket price as a large amount of the sales will be from IMAX/PLF/4DX/Screen X/Dolby Cinema/3D screens.

Marvel have held fan events around the world screening only 10 minutes of footage for the last few weeks and no spoilers were revealed but then it was reported they screened 20 minutes of footage in Korea last week and spoilers started coming online. On Monday spoilers from the ending were revealed online with footage of the ending filmed with Arabic subtitles.

Two weeks ago was the US junket but before the screening the journalists  interviewing the talent weren’t allowed to see the film in case of spoilers and all of the interviews for Endgame could have easily been for Infinity War as none of the actors are saying much more than they did a year ago.

The “footage leakage” could be guerrilla marketing as the immediate reaction from fans was to go off social media until after the films opens next week. The footage leak” is only likely to spark up interest even more as many complain about spoilers in trailers but man want them in trailers.