- The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes – £5,420,681 – NE
Took £1.72m (31.8%) Friday; £2.13m (39.4%) Saturday; £1.56m (28.8%) Sunday.
260th biggest opening between Van Helsing and Rocketman (close to Clash of the Titans, Planet of the Apes, Interstellar and Tenet) and 407th inflated between Independence Day: Resurgence and Cast Away (close to Speed, Ghostbusters (1984), Apollo 13 and Basic Instinct).
11th biggest 2023 opening between Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour and Five Nights at Freddy’s (close to Fast X, John Wick: Chapter Four, The Litte Mermaid and Creed 3).
Opened in 658 cinemas 68th widest opening similar to Ghostbusters Afterlife and close to Bohemian Rhapsody, Shazam! Fury Of the Gods and Dune; 183rd 600+ opening since 2015’s Jurassic World.
Lionsgate’s 2nd widest opening after 2020’s Military Wives (opened £968,4682 weeks before lockdown); The Hunger Games opened in 511; Catching Fire 554; Mockingjay Part 1 565 and Mockingjay Part 2 576; again, showing that these films don’t need to open as wide as they are especially as about 10% of BO comes from 50+ IMAX screens and 40% from 200+ IMAX/PLF and these films are playing in over double the number of screens, so weekend capacity is less than 25%.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes prequel comes 8 years after Mockingjay Part 2 opened £11,255,566. As with previous prequels to Harry Potter (Fantastic Beasts), Lord of the Rings (The Hobbit) Star Wars: A New Hope (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Solo: A Star Wars Story) The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is unlikely to perform similar to the later instalments of The Hunger Games but rather the first films as it 11 years since the last film was released, 2012’s The Hunger Games opened £4,900,177.
Many of the tweens who grew up with The Hunger Games books and films watching the first film in 2012 have returned to see the prequel 11 years later, but as with Fantastic Beasts doesn’t play beyond the fanbase.
Having the world premiere in the UK a week before with the full cast in attendance boosted the profile of the film, the SAG strike ended days before the strike, but producers had already signed the waiver with SAG to agree to their terms so wasn’t a last-minute arranged premiere as Napoleon and Wonka.
The Hunger Games’ success came from the popularity of the books but also Jennifer Lawrence, it is different with Rachel Zegler as she has generated a lot of negative media coverage shooting the Disney reimagination of Snow White.
The prequel opened with $99m worldwide which is exactly what it was expected to open with but is that enough to continue the film series, with a budget lower than many other prequels $100m compared to $200m+ for The Secrets of Dumbledore and 65% from international presales Lionsgate BO requirement is probably about $400m. Lionsgate needs properties to stay competitive with rivals.
- 2. The Marvels – £1,255,157 – £5,713,711
Down 63.8% in the second weekend
Took £258k 20.5% (74.4% drop £1.09m) Friday; £609k 48.3% (56.2% drop £1.39m) Saturday; £393k 31.2% (62.9% drop £1.06m) Sunday.
Took £4.7m in its opening 7 days; Fri £1.09m; Sat ££1.39m; Sun £1.06m; Mon £289k; Tues £271k; Weds £270k; Thurs £258k) taking 73% less than Captain Marvel took its opening 7 days £17.01m.
The Flash dropped 68.6% in the second weekend £1,336,897 and £6,771,495 76.46% of £8,856,170; £349k Friday 26.1% 57.3% drop (£818k); £558k Saturday 41.7% 54.6% drop (£1.23m); £430k Sunday 32.2% 59% drop (£1.05m)
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania dropped 65.5% £3,049,939 and £14,653,459 76.07% of £19,263,938; £847k Friday 27.8% (77% drop); £1.37m Saturday 45% (55.5% drop); £832k Sunday 27.2% (59.6% drop)
807th biggest second weekend between The Equalizer 2 and Casper (close to Crocodile Dundee II, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves and Mars Attacks) and 1,338th inflated between Bedazzled and Spies In Disguise (close to Last Action Hero, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Jingle All the Way and Speed 2: Cruise Control).
The lowest MCU second weekend; the earlier lowest was Thor (£1,946,695); The Incredible Hulk (£1,870,800); Blade Widow (£1,801,017) and Captain America: The First Avenger (£1,470,703) but could have been far worse after having 74.4% drop on Friday which could have seen it have a second weekend similar to Morbius.
82nd biggest comic-book second weekend between Blade 2 and Kick-Ass (close to Fantastic Four (2005), Batman (1989), Green Lantern and Blade (1998) and 93rd inflated between Ghost Rider and X-Men: Dark Phoenix (close to Daredevil, Superman IV, Super Mario Brothers (1993) and Spawn).
25th biggest 2023 second weekend between The Flash (£1.33m) and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (£1.18m) (close to Five Nights at Freddy’s, M3gan, The Nun 2 and Shazam 2 (£1.09m).
The 33 MCU films have taken £1.081bn in the UK since 2008 and £1.3bn inflated; after releasing three MCU films over the last two years with Captain America: Brave New World delayed to 2025 only as Deadpool 3 set for release in 2024 with several more TV shows set for release on Disney+.
There are reports Brave New World tested very badly and it will have five months of reshoots next year, this was the reason why its release date was delayed over a year, so it has nothing to do with the strikes. Marvel do include extra time in production for reshoots but this is normally a couple of weeks.
Surely simple reason it has underwhelmed was it was a cinema sequel to Ms Marvel following on from events in a TV spinoff rather than being Captain Marvel 2, had it been simply Captain Marvel 2 and audiences didn’t need to watch 125 hours of MCU to understand it would have performed far stronger, but that’s been the problem with all of Phase 4 (as with Disney’s Star Wars films) Marvel needs to stop with the multi-universe as it’s tiresome and has been overused by lazy writers as it means there are no consequences to actions as comic-book characters never die, it’s like when writers add a twist of time-travel plot twist like Dial of Destiny.
Marvel tried to be too clever with The Marvels rather than just making Captain Marvel 2 by incorporating characters from TV spinoffs from Ms Marvel.
Deadpool 3 will be interesting to see how much it’s MCU and how much Fox Marvel is left, as unlikely to mock the MCU when Deadpool will be part of the new Avengers alongside reboots of Blade, Fantastic Four and X-Men, just thinking about reboots of those is tiresome as none of them need to be rebooted.
The post-credits set up the arrival of The X-Men into the MCU with Kelsey Grammer as Dr. Hank McCoy after Patrick Stewart also appeared as Prof. Charles Xavier in last year’s Doctor Strange 2. It looks like Fox’s X-Men are trapped in a different universe the MCU has been in for the last 20+ years, it all sounds far too exhausting and tiresome, as everything to do with the multi-verse has been. While Ms. Marvel invites the young Hawkeye to join the ream similar to what Nick Fury did at the end of Iron Man, it looks like Marvel is planning a young Avengers film.
The budget for The Marvels was $274.8m but Disney received a 25% tax break shooting the film in the UK bringing the budget to $220m, this is the reason why US studios are making many films in the UK as it is cheaper to make them here than the US due to tax breaks.
Much has been written that this is the beginning of the end of Marvel, in 9 months when Deadpool 3 opens with $150m+ it will be what crisis? That said Deadpool 3 can’t be compared. With The Marvels as only need to see the first two films, that said if Marvel are incorporating Deadpool into MCU it might not be as accessible?
- 3. Tiger 3 – £1,184,001 – NE
Includes £420,334 from previews on Diwali Sunday, November 12th; took further previews across last week taking £867,140 over 73% of weekend BO from previews.
Bollywood has become a lucrative addition to UK BO over the last few years and many high-profile releases are opening with £1m+ despite opening in less than half of the screens of wide US studio films. Tiger 3 played in 168 cinemas a quarter of most of the other films in the top 5, Bollywood film distributors are much more location-focused with their films showing to the US studios they don’t need to open films so wide, 30 years ago 300+ cinemas was seen as wide now 500+ is the norm.
The third biggest Indian film opening in 2023 after Pathaan opened with £1,967,854 in January (including £550,768 from two days of previews) and Jawan £1,346,689 (Including £306k from previews) and ahead of Leo £1,157,367 including £545,447 previews.
Most Indian films are very front-loaded as seen with Leo taking 50% of its weekend BO from Thursday previews, likewise over a third of Tiger 3 opening coming from previews.
Tiger 3 is the fifth instalment of the YRF Spy Universe; 2012’s Ek Tha Tiger opened £543,073 #6 from 68 screens taking £1,165,214; 2017’s Tiger Zinda Hai opened £495,660 #7 from 110 screens £1,607,595; 2019’s War opened £345,418 #8 from 94 screens taking £583,681. Two more sequels currently dated War 2 and Tiger vs Pathaan both set for release in 2025.
- 4. Saltburn £841,064 – NE
£64,145 from previews (7.63%)
Took £212k (27.4%) Friday; £310k (40%) Saturday; £252k (35.5%) Sunday.
1,811th biggest opening between Junior and Arachnophobia (close to Long Shot, The Siege, mother! And Crash) and 2,258th biggest inflated between The Russia House and Regarding Henry (close to Nerve, Plane’s Trains and Automobiles, 10 Things I Hate About You and Very Bad Things (£437,514).
54th biggest 2023 opening between Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken and The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (close to Haunted Mansion, Knock at the Cabin, Sumotherhood and Allelujah).
Opened in 538 cinemas 362nd widest opening similar to Wonder Park, The Favourite and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of The Crystal Skull (close to Gravity, Shrek Forever After, Jackass Forever and Angel Has Fallen) and 569th 500+cinema opening since 2002’s Monsters, Inc.
2,353rd highest screen average (£1,563) close to Dragnet (opened £194,241 from 124 screens), Dead Calm (£89,249 from 57 screens); Weekend at Bernie’s (£119,981 from 77 screens) and The Menu (£932,029 from 605 screens) puts its opening into perspective in the number of screens playing.
Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn received positive reviews but as her last film Oscar-nominated Promising Young Woman wasn’t given a cinema release in the UK due to the COVID lockdown (released on Sky Cinema) it was harder to see if that would translate into BO.
Emerald Fennell has compared Saltburn to films including 1989’s Dangerous Liaisons (opened £103,503 on 15 screens taking £2,687,526/£9,962,596 inflated); 1999’s Cruel Intentions (opened £898,118 on 223 screens (£1,700,238 inflated) taking £5,129,562/£9,710,834 inflated)) and 2013’s The Bling Ring (opened £141,425 taking £468,949), while critics have compared it to The Talent Mr Ripley (opened £1,267,833 taking £6,598,782) and Six Degrees of Separation.
The most recent eat-the-rich films include last year’s The Menu opening £932,029 #2 from 605 screens taking £3,866,701 and 2020’s Parasite opening £1,397,387 #4 from 137 screens taking £11,971,951 and 2017’s The Handmaiden opening £474,752 #6 from 94 screens taking £817,153.
Saltburn has also been compared to Brideshead Revisited, a film based on the classic 80s mini-series that opened in 2008 with £375,270 #8 from 256 screens taking £1,425,495.
As with Dream Scenario last weekend ($98,638 from 5 screens) Saltburn opened on platform release in the US opening in 7 screens taking $322,651, both will expand over several weeks while they both open wide in the UK and Saltburn will have a similar second weekend as Dream Scenario dropping 63% to #13 £141,287 and £764,318. While films regularly have platform opening in the US to build momentum and find their audience they rarely do in the UK, platform openings were the norm up to the noughties.
It shows the gamble distributors have to take with films now if they are on limited release and don’t find an audience immediately, they might not ever go wide so end up having films like Military Wives opening on 650+ screens and struggling to find their audience, was similar with Rye Lane opening in 369 screens £258,997 #7 losing 100 screens in the second and third weekend and performed better for doing so taking £1,232,456. The problem is now that digital distributors don’t need to carefully target locations that are best suited for different films as with Bollywood films certain films play better to different audiences.
- 5. Trolls Band Together £734,140 – £14,814,608
Down 23.5% in the fifth weekend
Took £57k 7.4% (up 7.5% £53k) Friday; £382k 49.5% (18.1% drop £466k) Saturday; £333k 43.1% (24.3% drop-£440k) Sunday.
272nd biggest fifth weekend between Mission Impossible and Jason Bourne (close to Three Men and a Little Lady, Stuart Little, The Emoji Movie and Alvin and The Chipmunks) and 499th biggest inflated between Robots and Free Guy (close to Big, Daddy’s Home 2, Back to the Future Part III and Dumb and Dumber).
59th biggest animated fifth weekend between Wreck-It Ralph and Shrek the Third (close to Elemental, The Smurfs, The Emoji Movie and Hercules 1997) and 84th biggest animated inflated between Robots and Brave (close to Space Jam, The Rugrats Movie, Gnomeo and Juliet and Zootropolis).
17th biggest Dreamworks Animation fifth weekend between Shark Tale and Shrek the Third (close to How to Train Your Dragon, Kung Fu Panda 2, The Bad Guys and Flushed Away; 2016’s Trolls dropped 31% £1,241,574 #3 544 screens and £20,807,832 85.9% of £24,228,850.
Trolls Band Together continues to take 28% less than Trolls but Troll’s opening was inflated with £2.4m from previews and will face competition from Wish opening next week.
The 42 Dreamworks Animation films have taken over £720m and over £1bn inflation inflated since 1998’s Antz.
452nd biggest between Stardust and The Good Dinosaur (close to Twister, Oz: The Great and Powerful, Batman and Robin and Grease) and 769th inflated between American Sniper and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (close to Labyrinth, The Golden Child, Hot Shots and Dirty Dancing).
86th biggest animated film between Ice Age and The Good Dinosaur (close to Aladdin (1993), Rio 2, The Emoji Movie and Shaun the Sheep Movie) and 115th biggest inflated between Kung Fu Panda 3 and The Princess and the Frog (close to The Lion King 3D, Rugrats in Paris: The Movie, The Jungle Book (1988 re-release) and Fantastic Mr Fox).
22nd biggest Dreamworks Animation between Puss in Boots and Kung Fu Panda 3 (close to How to Train Your Dragon, Kung Fu Panda, The Bad Guys and Rise of the Guardians) and 28th biggest inflated between Megamind and Mr. Peabody And Sherman (close to Antz, Over the Hedge, Bee Movie and Turbo).
Also opened.
- Thanksgiving – Sony Pictures
Opened £486,197 #6 from 458 screens.
Took £156k (32.1%) Friday; £197k (40.5%) Saturday; £133k (27.4%) Sunday.
Thanksgiving is an 18-rated horror movie; the genre has performed well at the box office over recent years and the 10 major horrors this year have taken about £65m.
Thanksgiving was one of the fake trailers that featured with 2007’s Death Proof opened £407,525 taking £707,262 and the second film based on the trailer after 2010‘s Machete opening £90,423.
Eli Roth is best known for horror films but the last film he directed was 2018’s family film The House with a Clock in Its Walls opened £3,370,591 taking £8,265,725.
And horror 2015’s horror Knock Knock £250,825 taking £471,766; 2007’s £471,766 taking £1,739,157; 2006’s Hostel £1,215,987 taking £3,983,260; 2003’s Cabin Fever £1,056,338 taking £2,824,266.
- May December – Studiocanal
Opened £158,428 #12 from 97 screens.
Included £100,299 from previews.
The latest film from director Todd Haynes, the film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and received critical acclaim (92% Rotten Tomatoes) but as it’s a Sky Cinema acquisition will have a limited opening in Picturehouse and independent cinemas.
Todd Haynes previously directed 2015’s Carol opening £540,632 #7 from 2p06 screens taking £2,794,201; 2020’s Dark Waters opened £860,942 #4 from 425 screens taking £2,411,637; 2018’s Wonderstruck opened £30,642 from 18 screens; 2003’s Far from Heaven opened with £460k taking £1.9m.
UK box office in detail
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £10,997,223 up 51.1% from last weekend’s £7,279,587: 1,360,295 up 52.1% from 894,187 admissions.
19th biggest weekend of the year out of 46 weeks between 06 January 2023 #1 Avatar: The Way of Water (£5,870,063) and 03 February 2023 #1 Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (£4,950,495).
48th biggest since cinemas reopened out of 157 weeks between 06 January 2023 #1 Avatar: The Way of Water (£5,870,063) and 03 February 2023 #1 Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (£4,950,495).
500th biggest top 10 of the last 21 years (out of 1,129) between 05 January 2007 #1 Night at the Museum £2,958,093 (26.88% of top 10) and 11 November 2016 #1 Arrival £2,924,059 (26.62% of top 10) and 813th biggest inflated between 19 May 2017 #1 King Arthur: Legend of the Sword £2,501,993 (24.20% of top 10) and 02 December 2011 #1 Arthur Christmas £1,896,595 (22.74% of top 10)
The top 3 took (£7,859,839) 71.5% of the top 10; The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes 49.29% (£5,420,681); The Marvels 11.41% (£1,255,157); Tiger 3 10.77% (£1,184,001)
268th highest #1 percentage (49.29%) between 21 December 2018 Mary Poppins Return (49.39%) and 12 July 2002 Scooby-Doo (49.29%).
470th biggest admissions #1 (680,136) between 19 October 2001 American Pie 2 (682,071) and 10 August 2001 Cats and Dogs (679,486).
Up 15.6% from 2022 (£9,511,327): The Menu (£932,029); Aftersun (£230,334); Armageddon Time (£67,043); Confess, Fletch (£56,000); #1 Black Panther Wakanda Forever £6,190,594 2nd weekend dropped 49% 702 screens (65.1% of top 10)
Up 22.6% from 2021 (£8,973,238); Ghostbusters: Afterlife (£4,314,263); King Richard (£570,316); Petite Maman (£97,321); Rocky IV: Rocky Vs. Drago (Director’s Cut) (£31,779); #1 Ghostbusters: Afterlife £4,314,263 1st week 658 screens (48.1% of top 10)
2020 COVID Second Lockdown
Up 23.8% 2019 (£8,886,417); Last Christmas (£2,654,354); Le Mans ’66 (£2,000,000); #1 Last Christmas £2,654,354 1st week 512 screens (29.9% of top 10)
Down 51.5% 2018:(£22,674,299); Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (£12,318,966); Burn the Stage: The Movie (£644,308); Suspiria (£166,257); Hell Fest (£78,116); 9 To 5 (Re: 2018) (£7,514); #1 Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald £12,318,966 1st week 674 screens (54.3% of top 10)
Down 41.3% 2017: (£18,740,071); Justice League (£7,264,784); Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool (£236,317); The Exterminating Angel – Met Opera 2017 (£98,593); Ingrid Goes West (£65,750); #1 Justice League £7,264,784 1st week 578 screens (38.7% of the top 10)
Down 49.2% 2016: (£21,643,947); Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (£15,333,146); Andre Rieu: Christmas with Andre 2016 (£1,180,208); #1 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them £15,333,146 1st week 666 screens (70.8% of the top 10)
Down 41.6% 2015; (£18,825,730); The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2 (£11,255,566); The Dressmaker (£235,968); The Perfect Guy (£102,924); Lulu – Met Opera 2015 (£92,708); True Romance (Re: 2015) (£19,066); #1 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2 £11,255,566 1st week 576 screens (59.8% of top 10)
Down 6.1% 2014: (£11,703,689); The Imitation Game (£2,742,725); Nativity 3: Dude, Where’s My Donkey? (£1,800,419); The Drop (£637,867); Third Person (£2,294); #1 Interstellar £3,777,804 2nd week 576 screens 30% drop (32.3% of top 10)
Down 6.9% 2013: (£11,818,983); The Counsellor (£815,051); The Butler (£794,044); Don Jon (£343,535); Dom Hemingway (£98,232); In Fear (£41,335); Battle of the Year (£34,821); #1 Gravity £4,838,152 2nd week 571 screens 22% drop (40.9% of top 10)
Down 56.3% 2012 (£25,176,278); The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 (£15,850,825); Amour (£115,700); Mental (£12,849); #1 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 £15,850,825 1st week 558 screens (63% of top 10)
Down 44.9% 2011 (£19,978,237); The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (£13,910,877); Justice (£276,483); #1 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 £13,910,877 1st week 543 screens (69.6% of top 10)
Down 49.9% 2010: (£21,967,470); Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 1 (£18,319,721); Peeping Tom: 50th Anniversary (Re) (£4,729); #1 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 1 £18,319,721 1st week 579 screens (83.4% of top 10)
Down 45.9% 2009; (£20,336,403); The Twilight Saga: New Moon (£11,683,158); A Serious Man (£321,114); The Informant! (£179,612); Glorious 39 (£7,654); #1 The Twilight Saga: New Moon £11,683,158 1st week 497 screens (57.4% of top 10)
Up 48.3% 2008; (£7,416,989); Body of Lies (£991,979); My Best Friend’s Girl (£911,355); Quarantine (£387,994); Waltz with Bashir (£113,087); Choke (£59,330); #1 Quantum of Solace £2,884,789 4th week 527 screens 44% drop (38.9% of top 10)
Up 23.6% 2007: (£8,899,926); American Gangster (£2,564,853); Beowulf (£2,199,848); Brick Lane (£194,745); The Jane Austen Book Club (£50,052); Earth (£24,286); #1 American Gangster £2,564,853 1st week 410 screens (28.8% of top 10)
Down 39.7% 2006; (£18,237,708); Casino Royale (£13,370,969); #1 Casino Royale £13,370,969 1st week 505 screens (73.3% of top 10)
Down 41.5% 2005 (£18,792,982); Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (£14,933,901); The Libertine (£278,482); Separate Lies (£14,568); #1 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire £14,933,901 1st week 535 screens (79.4% of top 10)
Down 22.1% from 2004 (£9,011,036); After the Sunset (£664,214); The Manchurian Candidate (£624,441); Taxi (£540,581); The Incredibles (limited) (£81,307); #1 Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason £5,047,315 2nd week 506 screens (56.1% of top 10)
Up 9.1% from 2003 (£10,075,451); Love Actually (£6,657,479); Master and Commander (limited) (£61,056); #1 Love Actually £6,657,479 1st week 477 screens (66.1% of top 10)
Down 50.6% 2002 (£22,279,336); Harry Potter Chamber of Secrets (£18,871,829); Super Troopers (£269,696); Bowling for Columbine (£157,898); #1 Harry Potter Chamber of Secrets £18,871,829 1st week 524 screens (84.7% of top 10)
Down 44.1% 2001 (£19,644,298); Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (£16,335,627); Ghost World (£133,188); #1 Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone £16,335,627 1st week 507 screens (83.1% of top 10).
Next week: (£9,383,987); Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical (£4,135,418); Strange World (£833,043); She Said (£444,806); Bones and All (£318,246); #1 Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical £4,135,418 1st week 684 screens (44.07% of top 10)
Film News
October box office
October BO was £75.6m up 3% from 2022; 2023 BO is currently up 10% from last year but last year had Avatar 2 (£76.92m); Black Panther 2 (£33.24m); Matilda (£27.9m); I Wanna Dance with Somebody (£11.38m) opening in Nov/Dec which will perform far stronger than this year The Marvels, The Ballard of Songbirds and Snakes, Napoleon, Wish, Wonka and Aquaman 2.
Top 10 films in October were Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour £10.42m; Trolls Band Together £9.84m; Five Nights at Freddy’s £6.54m; Killers of the Flower Moon £6.1m; Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie £5.73m; The Exorcist: Believer £5.56m; The Great Escaper £4.02m; The Creator £4.99m; Saw X £4.35m and A Haunting in Venice £3m.
October admissions were 9,027,927; down 2.2% from 2022’s 9,210,112 last year; having the lowest October admissions (not including 2020) for the last decade.
Admissions would be much worse without Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour taking £10.42m adding 1.3m admissions but as standard prices were £19.89/£13.13 children and £23.89 IMAX/Dolby real admissions were about 500k.
2023 admissions are 104.618m as November/December admissions are likely to be lower than last year’s 8.1m and 9.3m due to The Marvels not getting anywhere near Black Panther 2 and Aquaman 2 no match for Avatar 2, admissions for 2023 will be similar to last year’s 117.28m. This would see UK admissions close to a similar level they were 30- years ago 114m when there was so much optimism after the massive success of Jurassic Park.
While admissions will be similar to 2022 BO will be about £1bn up about 11% from £902m coming from ticket inflation.
With Barbie dropping to 78th in last week’s chart taking £2,035 in its 18th weekend has taken £95,588,177 the fifth biggest film in the UK after Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Skyfall, No Time to Die and Spider-Man No Way Home. Barbie can’t be compared with these films as IMAX/PLF/3D (not Bond) inflated their BO. Ahead of Spectre, Avatar, Avengers: Endgame, Top Gun: Maverick and Star Wars: The Last Jedi, few would have predicted Barbie would outgross Avatar: The Way of Water and also be the biggest film of the year, the other surprisingly thin with Barbie id whilst studios save been very quick to announce sequels for films taking much less it’s unlikely there will be a Barbie sequel anytime soon.
While the WGA and SAG strikes might be over the predictable long-term consequences will have a massive impact on 2024’s BO with the first 6 months incredibly soft highlighted by Disney not releasing a wide release after Wish till May.
US Box Office
- The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes – Lionsgate
Opened $44m; received positive reviews (59% Rotten Tomatoes) and B+ CinemaScore.
IMAX/PLF took 36% including 9% from IMAX; this is similar to most tentpoles it shares IMAX screens with Napoleon from Wednesday.
The Hunger Games/Catching Fire A and Mockingjay Part 1 & 2 A-
Took $5.6m from Thursday midnights; Catching Fire $25.25m; The Hunger Games $19.75m; Mockingjay – Part 1 took $17m; Mockingjay – Part 2 $16m.
Fantastic Beasts took $8.75m; The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey $13m; Hobbs & Shaw $5.8m; The Nun $5.4m; The Marvels $6.6m.
It has opened in 1,600 premium cinemas including IMAX, PLF, Dolby, DBOX and 4DX.
65% opening audience was female slightly more than Mockingjay 2 60%; 18-34 was 75%; females under 25 at 36%; 25+ at 28%; men 25+ 21%; under 25 14%; Girls under 12 75%.
The Hunger Games films have taken over $1.5bn in the US and $3bn worldwide.
2012’s The Hunger Games opened $152.53m taking $408.01m and $695.22m WW
2013’s The Hunger Games: Catching Fire opened $158.07m taking $424.66m and $865.01m WW
2014’s The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 opened $121.89m taking $337.13m and $755.35m WW
2015’s The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 opened $102.66m taking $281.72m and $659.54m WW
But as with most prequels, it opened with less than half of the earlier films opening 8 years after the last film and without Jennifer Lawrence.
2016’s Fantastic Beasts opened $74.4m taking $234.03m and $816.03m worldwide; $582m internationally 71.3%
2018’s The Crimes of Grindelwald opened $62.16m taking $159.55m and $655.775m worldwide; 75.7% internationally $496.2m
2022’s The Secrets of Dumbledore opened $42.15m taking $95.85m and $407.15m worldwide; internationally 76.5% $311.3m
Despite opening with a third less than earlier films and similar to The Secrets of Dumbledore $44m could still be enough to justify further films as with 65% of the $100m budget from presales it will be profitable taking much less than Fantastic Beasts sequels. While Lionsgate needs tentpoles to stay competitive with studios as their only other IP is John Wick, they do have a Dirty Dancing sequel in development currently set for 2025 release but can it possibly be as successful and beloved as the original film as made a sequel in 2004 Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights and it was a massive flop opening $5.9m taking $14.16m and $37.68m worldwide.
Opened $56.2m from 87 territories and $101m worldwide; UK $6.7m; Germany $5.1m; China $4.6m; France $4.2m; Mexico $3.7m.
Took $7.3m globally from IMAX including $3.2m internationally and 15% from the US.
2015’s Mockingjay Part 2 opened with $144.5 from 87 territories and $247.2m worldwide; UK $17.1m; China $15.8m; Germany $15m; Mexico $8.9m; France $7.1m; Australia $6.8m
2014’s Mockingjay Part 2 opened with $154.3m from 85 territories and $273.8m worldwide; UK, $19.9m; Germany $13.7m; Mexico $12.1m; France $10.5m; Australia $10.1m.
- The Marvels – Disney
Dropped 78% in the second weekend taking $10.12m and $64.94m
25th biggest second-weekend percentage drop between Playmobil: The Movie and All Eyez on Me (close to Halloween Ends, Radioland Murders, Dragon Ball Super: Superhero and Mortal Engines).
Dropped 87% Fri-Fri as with its opening weekend took $2m less than Sunday’s $12m estimates. Will drop almost 1,000 screens in its third weekend but still play in 3,070 screens despite likely dropping 50% in third weekend.
2019’s Captain Marvel dropped 55.7% $67.98m taking $264.88m of $426.82m and $1.13bn WW
Lowest grossing MCU second weekend; earlier lowest Captain America: The First Avenger $25.55m; Ant-Man $24.9m and The Incredible Hulk $22.13m.
MCU films have taken $11.8bn in the US and $29.71bn worldwide.
The Marvel audience was 65% male; 45% men 25+; 22% women 25+; males under 25 20%, and women under 25 14%; 38% from IMAX/PLF with IMAX taking $4.5m.
19% were 18-24 compared to 40% for Captain Marvel (was even worse for 13-17 8%) highlighting the problem with MCU films that are spinoffs of TV shows as they aren’t accessible to new audiences as they will need to see 125 hours (7,490 minutes) of MCU homework to fully understand the plots and all the inside jokes.
24% of Marvel’s audience for its six Phase 2 aged 18-24; 30% for Phase 3; 32% for Phase 4 and then 29% before The Marvels. While the 25-34 audience has grown from 18% (Phase 2) to 24% (Phase 5). Under-25s 47% and over 25 53% while female audiences have stayed the same across each phase Showing that the MCU is attracting the same audience each time but not finding new audiences, why these films are taking similar BO.
Took $19.5m (down 67%) from 51 territories $96.3m total and $161.3m worldwide; China $14.7m; UK $7.2m; Indonesia $5.2m; Korea $4.8m; France $4.8m.
China $11.7m; UK $4.3m; Indonesia $3.7m; S. Korea $3.5m; France $3.1m; Mexico $3m; Germany $2.3m; Japan $2.2m; Australia $2.1m; Italy $2m; Brazil $1.8m.
- Trolls Band Together – Universal Pictures
Opened $30.02m #2; received positive reviews (61% Rotten Tomatoes) and A CinemaScore.
629th biggest opening between Meg 2: The Trench and The Purge: Anarchy (close to Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, The Lion King (2011 RE), Elemental and The Muppets).
25th Dreamworks Animation’s biggest opening between Mr Peabody & Sherman ($32.2m) and Penguins of Madagascar ($25.44m); close to Bee Movie, Puss in Boots, The Bad Guys and Captain Underpants)
Took $1.3m from Thursday midnights similar to Bad Guy’s $1.1m
2016’s Trolls opened $46.58m taking $154.02m and $347.18m worldwide; Trolls World Tour was due for release in April 2020 but due to COVID, it was released on PVOD which saw exhibitors ban Universal Pictures films.
The 47 Dreamworks Animation films have taken over $6.12bn in the US and $16.55bn worldwide.
Took $6.7m from 66 territories $76.3m total and $108.1m worldwide. UK $18m; France $10m; Germany $6.1m; Mexico $5.6m; Brazil $5.1m; started its international opening at the start of October.
- Thanksgiving – Sony Pictures
Opened $10.3m #3; received positive reviews (87% Rotten Tomatoes) and B- CinemaScore.
Took $1m from Thursday midnights.
Sunday estimates had Thanksgiving opening fourth but after The Marvels took less than expected opened third.
Opened similarly to last year’s Violent Night $13.45m taking $50.05m
The audience was 56% male: 65% between 18-34 and 36% between 18-24
It’s based on Eli Roth’s mock trailer from 2007’s Grindhouse and is the third feature film adapted from the mock trailers in Grindhouse after Robert Rodriguez’s Machete (2010) and Jason Eisener’s Hobo with a Shotgun (2011).
2011’s Hobo with a Shotgun had a limited cinema release taking $703,372 while 2010’s Machete opened $11.41m taking $26.59m and $45.49m WW.
Opened with $2.4m internationally from 11 territories.
- Pricilla – A24
Down 49% in its fourth weekend (losing 559 screens) taking $2.32m and $16.98m
As often happens Priscilla performed well on a platform opening but then expanded too quickly going from 4 screens to 1,359 screens. While it increased by 3,714.2% it was always likely to not be able to support that increase, this was seen by last weekend adding 1,002 screens by still dropping 8.7%. These films need to expand much slower, to allow them to build momentum and find their audience.
Priscilla is Sofia Coppola’s eighth film that took $100m in the US and $252.33m worldwide; winning Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Lost in Translation.
2000’s The Virgin Suicides increased 101% after expansion taking $349,998 from 100 screens and $919,429 of $4.9m and $10.4m worldwide
2003’s Lost in Translation increased 202.7% after expansion taking $4.1m and $44.58m and $118.68m worldwide
2006’s Marie Antoinette opened $5.36m wide taking $15.96m and $60.91m worldwide
2010’s Somewhere didn’t expand beyond 83 screens taking $1.78m and $14.78m worldwide
2013’s The Bling Ring increased 833.7% after expansion taking $2m and $2.34m of $5.84m and $20.04m
2017’s The Beguiled increased 1,279.7% after expansion taking $3.16m from 674 screens and $3.48m of $10.7m and $27.86m worldwide
2020’s On the Rocks didn’t have a US theatrical release opened UK with $121,373 taking $598,627
- The Holdovers – Focus Features
Down 16% in its fourth weekend adding 714 screens taking $2.69m #7 and $8.35n
As with Pricilla despite adding 700 screens in its fourth weekend The Holdovers dropped 16%
The Holdover is the ninth film from Oscar-winning director Alexander Payne. His films have taken $286m in the US and $500m worldwide.
2017’s Downsizing opened $4.95m taking $24.44m and $55m worldwide
2013’s Nebraska took $1.55m (widest expansion into 968 screens) taking $17.65m and $27.68m WW
2011’s The Descendants $6.4m (widest expansion into 2,001 screens) taking $82.58m and $177.24m WW
2004’s Sideways $6.43m (widest expansion into 1,694 screens) taking $71.5m and $109.7m WW
2002’s About Schmidt expanded $8.8m into 816 screens taking $65.01m and $105.83m WW
1999’s Election expanded $3.16m into 827 screens taking $14.9m
- Next Goal Wins – Searchlight
It opened with $2.5m #8; received mixed reviews (47% Rotten Tomatoes) and B+ CinemaScore.
The audience was 60% male: 52% between 18-34 and 30% 25-34
Taika Waititi’s 2019 JoJo Rabbit had a platform opening taking $349,555 from 5 screens but didn’t expand into 1,000+ screens until the 14th week of release taking $33.37m and $90.33m worldwide.
2016’s Hunt for the Wilderpeople opened in 5 screens $78,439 took $5.2m and $22.83m WW
2014’s What We Do in the Shadows opened in 5 screens $88,940 took $3.46m and $7.25m WW
Also directed Thor: Ragnarok and Thor: Love and Thunder
Disney used to have a lot of success from feelgood sporting films in the 80s to 00s, but Next Goal Wins highlights the issues Disney have had with these films over the last decade as Million Dollar Arm tested higher than Harry Potter and received positive reaction from CinemaCon screening but struggled to find an audience opening a few months later.
Disney films include
2014’s Million Dollar Arm opened $10.51m taking $36.45m and $38.48m worldwide
1993’s Cool Runnings opened $7.04m taking $68.85m and $154.85m worldwide
2006’s Invincible opened $17.03m taking $57.8m
2004’s Miracle opened $19.37m taking $64.37m
2006’s Glory Road opened $13.59m taking $42.64m
2000’s Remember the Titans opened $20.9m taking $115.71m and $136.77m worldwide
2002’s The Rookie opened $16.02m taking $75.6m and $80.69m worldwide
2015’s McFarland, USA opened $11.02m taking $44.48m
2005’s The Greatest Game Ever Played opened $3.65m taking $15.33m
Other studios include
1993’s Rudy opened $5.02m taking $22.75m
1992’s A League of Their Own opened $13.73m taking $107.53m and $132,44m worldwide
2000’s The Legend of Bagger Vance opened $11.51m taking $30.91m
2003’s Seabiscuit opened $20.85m taking $120.27m and $148.33m worldwide
2004’s Friday Night Lights opened $20.26m taking $61.22m
2009’s The Blind Side opened $34.11m taking $255.98m and $309.23m worldwide
- Saltburn- MGM/Amazon
Opened $322,651 from 7 screens.
2020’s Promising Young Woman opened $719,305 #5 from 1,310 screens taking $6.46m and $18.85m worldwide
Expands into 1,566 screens on Friday, the question is will it find an audience in its expansion or did it expand far too quickly as so many expansions often do after having strong platform opening.
Disney used to have huge success from feelgood sporting films in the 80s to 00s
Disney films include
2014’s Million Dollar Arm opened $10.51m taking $36.45m and $38.48m worldwide
1993’s Cool Runnings opened $7.04m taking $68.85m and $154.85m worldwide
2006’s Invincible opened $17.03m taking $57.8m
2004’s Miracle opened $19.37m taking $64.37m
2006’s Glory Road opened $13.59m taking $42.64m
2000’s Remember the Titans opened $20.9m taking $115.71m and $136.77m worldwide
2002’s The Rookie opened $16.02m taking $75.6m and $80.69m worldwide
2015’s McFarland, USA opened $11.02m taking $44.48m
2005’s The Greatest Game Ever Played opened $3.65m taking $15.33m
Other studios include
1993’s Rudy opened $5.02m taking $22.75m
1992’s A League of Their Own opened $13.73m taking $107.53m and $132,44m worldwide
2000’s The Legend of Bagger Vance opened $11.51m taking $30.91m
2003’s Seabiscuit opened $20.85m taking $120.27m and $148.33m worldwide
2004’s Friday Night Lights opened $20.26m taking $61.22m
2009’s The Blind Side opened $34.11m taking $255.98m and $309.23m worldwide
Opened with $1.6m from 2 territories internationally.
UK Box Office Top 10
UK Box Office Preview
With Ridley Scott’s Napoleon opening Wednesday, it could be a three-way battle for #1 as the two new releases Napoleon and Wish target different audiences to The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes playing to 18-24 females.
Ridley Scott’s Napoleon starring Joaquin Phoenix is of course comparable to the Best Picture Oscar-winning 2000’s Gladiator. Ridley Scott has been nominated for Best Director Oscar three times for Thelma & Louise, Gladiator and Black Hawk Down but hasn’t won and also nominated three times for Best Director BAFTA (Thelma & Louise, Gladiator and The Martian) but never won. Surely Ridley Scott deserves to finally win Best Director for Napoleon as aged 85 he’s unlikely to make many more films after next year’s Gladiator 2, having directed so many incredible and hugely successful films over the last 44 years.
It is Ridley Scott’s 27th film (currently shooting Gladiator 2 set for November 2024 release) his films have taken $1.7bn in the US almost $4.4bn worldwide including over £250m in the UK (£350m inflated).
Joaquin Phoenix has starred in two indie films (Beau Is Afraid and C’mon, C’mon) since starring in 2019’s Joker opened £12,555,329 taking £58,166,427; #1 for 6 weeks.
And will next star in the sequel Joker: Folie a Deux opening in October.
Looking at comparisons to Napoleon as Killers of the Flower Moon highlights the changes in cinemagoing over the last 20 years an epic film like Napoleon received huge media coverage 20 years ago would expect it to open similarly to Gladiator, but now take half its BO. So, Napoleon is now more likely to open similar to Killers of the Flower Moon (£2,531,393) with the addition of £1m from previews Weds/Thurs.
2000’s Gladiator opened £3,555,446 (£6,486,837 inflated) taking £31,257,293 (£58,616,618 inflated)
1995’s Braveheart opened £1,322,291 (£3,028,350 inflated) taking £11,909,670 (£27,275,882 inflated)
2004’s Troy opened £6,017,523 taking £18,001,854
2020’s 1917 opened £7,446,302 taking £44,094,898
Others include.
2003’s Master and Commander opened £1,845,125 (£3,312,082 inflated) taking £7,078,944 (£11,660,311 inflated)
2005’s Kingdom of Heaven opened £2,530,445 (£4,281,878 inflated) taking £7,755,814 (£13,123,957 inflated)
2007’s 300 opened £4,746,071 (£7,490,334 inflated) taking £13,986,190 (£22,073,254 inflated)
1992’s The Last of the Mohicans opened £748,447 (£1,858,294 inflated) taking £4,872,044 (£12,096,633 inflated)
2004’s The Last Samurai opened £2,723,081 taking £11,688,667
2000’s The Patriot (opened £1,033,767/ £1,872,528 inflated); 2005’s Alexander (£1,200,083/ £2,030,714 inflated); Exodus: Gods and Kings (£2,607,453); The Revenant (£5,235,851); 2001’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (£715,609/£1,377,634) and 1992’s Dances with Wolves (£353,490 from 92 screens/£929,807 taking £10,598,273/£27,877,306 inflated).
Wish is Disney’s 62nd Disney animated film, their animated films since Frozen II in 2019 have disappointed, 2021’s Raya and the Last Dragon went straight to Disney+, Encanto opened with £1,720,132 and Strange World £833,043. It never makes any sense to open an aminated film day and date with the US as it’s still term time, so BO is limited mostly to Sat/Sun for the next four weeks. Disney used to delay their Thanksgiving animated film in the UK to late January opening ahead of the lucrative February half-term (As last year with Puss in Boots 2 Universal Pictures delayed their Christmas animated film Migration to late January).
Disney delayed by a week the openings of 2013’s Frozen (£4,704,940) and 2018’s Ralph Breaks the Internet (£4,032,775) shortening the gap before the Christmas holidays. Wish has received mixed reviews and is likely to open similarly to 2016’s Moana £2,214,898.
Opening 10 years after Frozen and released during Disney’s 100th anniversary they were surely hoping Wis would have similar success as it features Easter eggs to their classic animated films, but the news they were already developing Frozen 4 before Frozen 3 opened shows how Disney has changed over the last decade. Wish faces direct competition next weekend with the release of Wonka.
Opening in late November family films hope to play through to January as many Disney films have previously done with Frozen, Moana, Ralph Breaks the Internet and Frozen 2, While Encanto had a lower-than-expected opening it had long legs.
The last 33 Disney animated films since Oliver & Company have taken over £450m and £715m+ inflated; average opening £2.48m and average BO is £13.61m and £21.6m inflated.
The Hunger Games prequel will drop by similar to the two Mockingjay films by 45%-60% as it’s likely to be front-loaded fan-led taking £2.1m-£2.8m.
With The Marvels dropping another 60%+ in its third weekend taking about £650k.
Love Actually is also re-released in 4K for its 20th anniversary; it originally opened on 21 November 2003, £6,657,479 from 477 screens and was #1 for 4 weeks taking £36,822,836.
And Event Cinema on Saturday Cliff Richard: The Blue Sapphire Tour 2023 with evening screening on Saturday and Sunday afternoon.