Top 5 Breakdown
- Dunkirk – £4,624,570 – £38,191,064
Holding #1 for a third weekend after dropping only 18% in its second weekend dropped a surprising 43% in its third weekend as normally the third weekend is the weekend word of mouth takes over. Why so many Marvel Cinematic Universe films after having a big opening they then drop 50%+ in their second weekend but then drop 30%+ in the third weekend. Christopher Nolan’s Inception dropped 29% in its second weekend but only 22% in its third weekend.
Saving Private Ryan took £1,695,902 in its third weekend in September 1998 taking £9,760,779 going on to take £18,740,016; impossible to make direct comparisons with Dunkirk as it benefited from opening during summer holidays and average ticket prices almost three times what they were in 1998 (£4.07) along with the 40 IMAX screens with tickets five times 1998 average.
By comparing admissions Saving Private Ryan would have taken £18.43m on its way to £35.04m if using the claimed £7.61 average from UK Cinema Association and BFI. But as the average for Dunkirk with IMAX surcharges is nearer £12.50 would be £29.98m going on to take £57,55m which will be close to the final box office for Dunkirk. While Saving Private Ryan played in cinemas for over 7 months in 1998/9 on its way to win five Oscars Dunkirk will be played out of cinemas by October and be on digital download soon after.
Dunkirk had Christopher Nolan’s best third week ahead of 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises £4.29m up 8.1% but ticket inflation is up 19.5% from 2012.
Dunkirk is currently the fourth biggest film of 2017 but will overtake both Despicable Me 3 and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 this week to become the second biggest behind Beauty and the Beast. It has taken 14% of its box office £5.33m from IMAX (are about 40 IMAX screens in the UK with ticket prices a third more than regular prices; BFI IMAX is likely the best performing IMAX cinema in the UK helped by tickets costing £22 almost three times the claimed average ticket price in the UK.
Dunkirk has overtaken Inception £35.26m and will also overtake The Dark Knight £48.68m and be dependent on how it holds in the coming weeks could possibly overtake The Dark Knight Rises £56.24m which will also see it overtaking last year’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them to become Warner Bros biggest film in the UK since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 in 2011.
It was reported that Christopher Nolan wanted to shot Dunkirk without a script but that was probably one of the major complaints some had with the film while it looks and sounds incredible is no character development unlike films like Saving Private Ryan. But this could be to show how these men were thrown into this horrific event being complete strangers but it’s often an issue many have with Christopher Nolan films that they look stunning but he prefers to let Hans Zimmer’s scores to do it instead.
Many expect Dunkirk to receive many Oscar nominations with Christopher Nolan to receive his first Best Director nomination do believe at Toronto and Venice Film Festivals next month’s we will see the more likely Oscar winners as has been the case in recent years.
If Dunkirk drops similarly this weekend it could be a three way battle for #1 against the two new arrivals Annabelle: Creation ( the first film opened with almost £2m 3 years ago) and Atomic Blonde which benefits from two days of previews which should open similar to Ghost in the Shell £2.3m.
- The Emoji Movie – £ 2,702,809 – NE
Can sorta understand why Emoji Movie opened with $24.53m last weekend as Despicable Me 3 and Cars 3 were played out and Emoji Movie was the only film for young audiences in the UK. But there is no excuse for The Emoji Movie to open with more than Captain Underpants in five days than its seven days.
Why are parents taking their children to see now tiresome Despicable Me 3, Cars 3 and The Emoji Movie instead of seeing Captain Underpants which has received very positive reviews from critics?
The Emoji Movie took £920,000 from previews on Weds/Thurs which compared to Captain Underpants which took £1.2m from four days of previews. The Emoji Movie opened bigger than last years The Angry Birds Movie which opened last May with £2.14m (without previews) which went on to take £10.31m.
If The Emoji Movie was to do similar it would be Sony Pictures UK fourth film so far, this year to take over £10m Spider-Man: Homecoming, T2: Trainspotting and Baby Driver (with Bladerunner: 2049 and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle still to come which strangely now opens only 5 days after Star Wars: The Last Jedi). Last year they only had three Passengers, Ghostbusters and The Angry Birds Movie all taking just over £10m.
Sony Pictures UK originally dated The Emoji Movie to open the same day as the US but then strangely delayed its release knowing at that time it would receive poor reviews but children’s films don’t suffer as badly as adult films with poor reviews.
Sony Pictures UK also more strangely choose to delay The Dark Tower two months again originally set to open the same day as the US but they decided in their wisdom knowing the film was bad to delay it two weeks to open against The Hitman’s Bodyguard.
They also decided to do with Rough Night which was to open week after its US release but delayed its release to August 25th after both films flopped in the US the delays won’t help them.
Another strange recent decision was to bring forward Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle to December 20th opening only 5 days after Star Wars: The Last Jedi as both films are targeting same demographic seems very strange decision. The Christmas two weeks is very crowded with Star Wars: The Last Jedi, The Star, Ferdinand, Jumanji, Pitch Perfect 3, Molly’s Game and The Greatest Showman opening in just 16 days.
As I previously written studio dating has gotten crazy in recent years it used to be studios would keep similar films separate but now they open them close together and then wonder why they don’t perform as they expected.
- Valerian – £ 1,861,916 – NE
As with Emoji Movie, Valerian opened on Wednesday to give it an inflated 5 day opening weekend boosted by £655,054 from two days of previews taking £1.2m from Fri-Sun which is a lot less than Luc Besson’s last film Lucy which opened with £4m in 2014. In the US Valerian opened close to Ghost in the Shell which opened with £2.3m in the UK including previews. The opening was close to Wachowskis’ sci-fi Jupiter Ascending which opened February 2015 with £1.35m.
Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets was originally due to open July 21st as its release date but Lionsgate decided wisely to delay its release by two weeks but sadly Luc Besson wouldn’t let STX move its US release. So Valerian opened first in the US which was always going to be a much harder market for it to find it audience especially coming so soon after Spider-Man: Homecoming and War for the Planet of the Apes the problem in doing so was as US critics were unlikely to get the film as much as European it was generating mixed buzz ahead of its US opening of $17m cannibalized by other releases.
Internationally Valerian is doing better but the damage was already done with its US opening which is close to the many films that get an international release early studios forget the simple rule never open a bad film internationally the opposite was for Valerian as Europe was its key territory so opening the US first was madness.
Seeing how the US weekend box office was the lowest of summer 2017 and the poor buzz for The Dark Tower after it was delayed in October from February to July would have given STX the chance to push back Valerian to August 4th instead Sony pushed The Dark Tower back a week. Deadline went into much more detail about the background and who’s on the hook for the loss on the film but make similar points that I had previously July 21st US opening was madness which was dated two years ago before Dunkirk was dated there were discussions over moving it after Dunkirk was dated but Luc Besson wouldn’t budge. Opening July 21st meant that Valerian had no IMAX as Dunkirk would have it for two weeks similarly PLF screens would go to Dunkirk too.
20 years ago, The Fifth Element opened with £1.74m going on to take £7.09m which would be about £15m today with average ticket prices increased by over 90% since; biggest films of 1997 where The Full Monty £40.81m (£77.6m today), Men in Black £35.8m (£68.1m), Jurassic Park: The Lost World £25.79m (£49.06m), 101 Dalmatians £20.38m (£38.7m).
Leon opened February 3rd taking £3.68m the 34th biggest film of 1995 but in the years since has become a cult classic close to Shawshank Redemption opened two weeks after took only £2.63m 49th biggest film of 1995. The biggest films of 1995 were Batman Forever £20.01m, Casper £15.96m, Braveheart £11.02m.
With a double dose of girl power with Atomic Blonde and Annabelle: Creation opening this weekend Valerian is likely to suffer and unlikely to have a long spell in the top 10.
After Lionsgate started the year so strongly with La La Land and Hacksaw Ridge the releases since have had mixed success Power Rangers, Their Finest, All Eyez on Me and Churchill, Upcoming include The Hitman’s Bodyguard, American Assassin, The Glass Castle, My Little Pony, Jigsaw, Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool, Granite Mountain and Wonder many could go either way.
Highlights the perils of being an independent distributor one film can make or break their year last year eOne had two The BFG and The Girl on the Train this year their biggest so far is Peppa Pig: My First Cinema Experience while Studiocanal have had a disappointing year so far but have an ace in the hole in November with £30m+ Paddington 2.
STX launch their UK arm next month with Wind River followed by Home Again, Breathe, All the Money in the World, Den of Thieves, Gringo and I Feel Pretty. The UK is one of the hardest markets to launch so many companies have tried and failed over the years with Lionsgate, Studiocanal, eOne, Entertainment Films and others all scrapping it out to acquire films STX need to mark their territory early. It was to be with Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman but was then taken from them after Paramount dumped and Silence failure and Netflix pounced. The one standout film of their opening slate is Ridley Scott’s All the Money in the World but its 21 years ago since Ridley Scott’s last independent released films White Squall and G.I Jane which were both acquired by First Independent Films with much publicity at Cannes Film Festival but both flopped which killed off the distributor.
Over the last 20 years, there have been many companies trying to be the new Polygram but STX with David Kosse President of STX International has set up STX similarly building his dream team of staff from other studios close to what Polygram did 22 years ago. In 1996 Polygram bid to buy MGM studios for $1.5bn but their owner, Philips opposed the purchase which was the beginning of the end for Polygram Filmed Entertainment as two years later Philips sold it off to Universal and to add insult to injury MGM acquired Polygram’s library.
20 years ago, in September Polygram Films and Dreamworks Pictures launched their US distribution with The Game and The Peacemaker in the hope that they could become the next Hollywood studio but sadly 20 years later both are now part of Universal Studios. STX Entertainment launched in 2014 having similar plans to become the seventh studio having their biggest hit last year with Bad Moms but then this summer had their biggest flop Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets but despite it only taking $40m are only likely to lose a couple of million.
- Despicable Me 3 – £1,189,440 – £ 39,340,831
Down 47.5% in its fifth weekend after being the first family film opening for the summer Despicable Me 3 has already killed Cars 3 and the far superior Captain Underpants and with Emoji Movie likely to drop heavily this weekend will be the one animated film that will play throughout the summer holidays.
With school holidays in full swing, the box office is shared across seven days taking £2.3m Mon-Thurs.
Will Despicable Me 3 can hold on to overtake the box office of Despicable Me 2 £46.81m and Minions £47.09m; Illumination Entertainment films surprisingly perform stronger comparable to the UK with Despicable Me 3 come likely short to matching the box office of either Despicable Me 2 and Minions taking only $15m more than the first film while in the UK will have taken over double Despicable Me.
Illumination have dated Minions 2 for July 2020 and Despicable Me 4 will shortly follow as one of the currently untitled films.
- Girls Trip – £1,036,842 – £ 3,806,763
Down 33.8% in its second weekend holding close to last summer’s Bad Moms which took £1.15m in its second weekend taking £3.96m ended with £8.14m. (Bad Mom’s Christmas opens in November but normally these quick sequels don’t match the success of the predecessor which is similarly likely with Daddy’s Home 2 opening a week later.
Bad Moms held well for three weeks until the arrival of Bridget Jones’s Baby but Girls Trip doesn’t have any competition and could take more than The Mummy £8.74m if it continues to hold strongly.
Also released
Studiocanal – The Big Sick – £276,107 down 31% from last weekend taking £1.08m from 160 screens; while critics called it, original audiences were much more mixed with the story close to so many other rom-com’s the culture is the only difference. But The Big Sick does highlight the lack of rom-com which used to be common at the cinema but in recent years they have become more gross-out than romantic. Last year Bridget Jones’s Baby and How to Be Single but they are very different to the classic When Harry Met Sally, Pretty Woman, Sleepless in Seattle and Four Weddings and a Funeral which one critic said The Big Sick was the best rom-com since!!
Sony Pictures – Maudie – £48,000 from 69 screens
Trinity Films – Wolf Warriors 2– £23,000 from 5 screens; the Chinese film is the highest grossing film in China ever expected to take over $565m beating The Mermaid which took $527m. The Fate of the Furious $393m was the previous highest grossing film of the year in China.
UK box office in detail
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £14,684,539xx down 28.1% from last weekend £20,414,621
The weekend admissions 1,929,637 down 28.1% from last weekend 2,682,605 (now into the second half of 2017 average price predicted increase by UK Cinema Association/BFI for 2017).
13 films opened at weekend taking £5,160,837 Emoji Movie took 52.3% (£2,702,809); Valerian 36.1% (£1,861,916) with the remaining 12 films sharing £596,112 (11.5%)
Weekend was down 30.6% from last year (£21,178,761): Suicide Squad – £11,209,442
Up 46.1% from 2015: (£10,047,581): Fantastic Four £2,686,176, The Gift £584,552 and The Diary of a Teenage Girl £81,185 opened.
Next weekend in 2016: (£13,670,811) Mike & Dave Need Wedding Dates £1,063,462, Pete’s Dragon £840,671, Nerve £799,032 and The Shallows £796,548
UK Box Office Top 10
US Box Office Top 10
US Box office
Sony Pictures – The Dark Tower opens with $19.15m; topping the chart for the lowest weekend of summer 2017 so far and the sixth lowest of the year. Annabelle Creation next this weekend should see a $30m+ opening but then next big opening won’t probably be until It in September.
The Dark Tower received 18% Rotten Tomatoes score and a B CinemaScore which will see it drop 60% next weekend.
The film was in development for 10 years at Universal, Warner; in 2007 J.J. Abrams was attached but he replaced by Ron Howard and Universal Pictures set May 17th, 2013 release date for the first part in 2010. Universal put the film in turnaround Warner Bros were interested seeing it as a potential franchise to replace The Hobbit but they passed on the film in April 2015 was announced Sony Pictures and Media Rights Capital would make the films alongside a TV series director Nikolaj Arcel was attached soon after.
Nikolaj Arcel had previously directed the critically acclaimed 2012 film A Royal Way but hadn’t directed an English language film before of course, it’s not unusual for studios to sign up a novice director for a mega-movie. Maybe they do it as they feel they can control the film better which is rumored to be how The Dark Tower was with Sony Pictures and Media Rights Capital fighting over all parts of the film and marketing campaign.
The Dark Tower was originally set for release in February 2017 which was a similar strange release date for a film like this as Ben Hur was last year when it was released in August. It was announced footage would be screened of The Dark Tower at Entertainment Weekly Popfest on October 30th but after a trailer was leaked online earlier in the month the footage was surprisingly absent. Sony Pictures shortly after announced the film would be delayed “due to more. time needed for to complete the complex special effects” till July 2017.
As soon as Sony announced this everyone knew the film was in trouble as you cannot polish a turd as there are only a few films that have been delayed including Titanic, Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby that were successful after being delayed. This was highlighted when it took Sony until May to release the first trailer which was close to Passengers last year when after showing footage at CinemaCon in March but took until September for them to release it but despite being slated by critics thanks to Jennifer Lawrence it was still a success at the box office.
When The Dark Tower trailer was released it generated a lot of interest as Stephen King fans saw all the connections to other books but for me, it felt like Last Action Hero.
When it was revealed the running time for The Dark Tower was only 95 mins the fears came true over the film as would normally expect it to be over 2 hours which is what Stephen King’s other film adaptation It released next month is. Instead, The Dark Tower made you think of the dreadful 2010 film Jonah Hex based on DC Comics opening with $5.37m taking $10.9m if Rotten Tomatoes had the power and influence studios believe it had The Dark Tower should have opened similarly but instead opened close to The Ghost in the Shell $18.67m.
Why is it Sony Pictures seem to have almost as much trouble launching a franchise as Paramount is it like Spider-Man: Homecoming (which did get positive reviews) these films suffer the same as DC films before Wonder Woman with too many cooks. Variety reported Sony Pictures and Media Rights Capital had major disagreements over the film and its marketing with the director Nikolaj Arcel stuck in the middle were rumors they wanted to replace him with another director while it was said the final film was the director’s version who really knows the real story.
As soon as Patty Jenkins was signed to direct Wonder Woman was many misogynistic comments made why is a novice female directing had Wonder Woman flopped Patty Jenkins would be waiting a long time for another directing job. But of course, was no such similar comments for Nikolaj Arcel but as the director of the flop they often take full responsibility for the failure and it’s often years if ever they get the chance to come back while the actors move on to other projects the studio boss might get fired but then gets a lucrative production deal.
But the director might never work again as it was for Martin Brest after 2003’s Gigli Hollywood quickly forgave Ben Affleck but the director of Beverly Hills Cop, Midnight Run, Scent of the Woman and Meet Joe Black hasn’t made a film since. All great films Meet Joe Black was a little long but had a terrific Thomas Newman score.
similarly Michael Lehmann who directed cult classic 1988’s Heathers signed up to direct 1991’s Hudson Hawk which flopped took many years to have a comeback while Bruce Willis who had come off from 1990’s flop The Bonfire of the Vanities followed it with flops Mortal Thoughts and Billy Bathgate and is still making films today 26 years later.
(searching these trailers on YouTube its great for recent trailers but older trailers like this quality are poor would be great to see the studios put official back catalog trailers online.
Warner Bros- Dunkirk dropped 33.86% $17.13m taking $133.09m.
Comparing with previous Christopher Nolan film 2014’s Interstellar took $15.34m in its third weekend and $120.93m while 2010’s Inception took $27.48m and $193.31m.
While Saving Private Ryan took slightly less $17.39m but dropped only 26.3% taking $103.70m; but of course, was released 19 years ago when average ticket price was $4.69 compared to $8.95 and was no IMAX surcharges; Saving Private Ryan admissions 22.11m (2017 box office would be 91% more $197.88m) Vs Dunkirk 14.92m (1998 box office would be 48% less $69.98m).
Dunkirk took $25m internationally $180.6m total with global box office of $314.2m
In 2014 Interstellar took $675.12m and in 2010 Inception took $825.53m globally while Saving Private Ryan took $481.84m globally which would be about $919.5m total but of course as about 20% of Dunkirk box office comes from IMAX with surcharges of a third Saving Private Ryan would of taken over $1.2bn today which would see it take similar global box office as Beauty and the Beast $1.26bn the tenth biggest film globally instead Dunkirk is likely to take similar to Interstellar which would see it just climb into the top 100 films globally.
As with Spider-Man: Homecoming, War for the Planet of the Apes Dunkirk received high Rotten Tomatoes scores and if they impacted the box office as much as studios believed. All three should have held far stronger than they did, especially Dunkirk as The Emoji Movie and The Dark Tower shouldn’t have gotten close to matching its weekend box office.
Sony Pictures – Emoji Movie – dropped only 51.1% in its second weekend taking $12.01m and $49.1m; after poor reviews and word of mouth would assume Emoji Movie would drop far heavier especially if we are to believe Rotten Tomatoes algorithm has so much power but of course it’s just an excuse.
It took $12m internationally with a total of $12.7m
Universal Pictures – Girls Trip dropped 42% in its third weekend taking $11.41m and $85.42m; Bad Moms took a similar $11.36m in its third weekend and $71.34m total. But Bad Moms held far stronger dropping only 18.9% in its third weekend so Girls Trip is likely to take similar final box office of $120m+.
With Universal Pictures releasing American Made, Happy Death Day, The Snowman and Thank You For Your Service before Disney release their next film Thor: Ragnarok Universal Pictures should become #1 studio for 2017 for a couple of weeks. But Disney with Thor: Ragnarok, Coco and Star Wars: The Last Jedi will end the year as #1 but are unlikely to match the $3bn box office total took in 2016.
Universal Pictures Despicable Me 3and The Fate of the Furious might be their biggest two films of 2017but it’s their next three Get Out (which is the most profitable film of 2017 so far). Split and Girls Trip taking over $430m which is their real winners showing that low budget films can still be successful in this mega movie era. Those three have taken far more than Fifty Shades Dark, The Mummy and The Great Wall each having budgets more than Get Out, Split and Girls Trip combined.
Aviron – Kidnap – opened $10.01m; a strong opening for the Halle Berry film which was delayed almost three years due to due to Relativity having financial difficulties. Other films that were also delayed fared badly at the box office but Kidnap received mixed reviews and B+ CinemaScore but hugely helped with trailers being played with Girls Trip.
But it’s unlikely to last long in the charts Kidnap is the second summer film that was going to go direct to video but then was given a theatrical release and both deserving of one while so many aren’t. But as Kidnap and 47 Meters Down will have short theatrical runs early VOD would help them both which will arrive sooner rather than later.
Annapurna – Detroit – expanded into 3,007 screens but despite positive reviews only managed to open with $7.1m; received A- CinemaScore. The Kathryn Bigelow film generated controversy with many calling out the lack of black women in the film being a film made by a white woman.
Focus Features – Atomic Blonde – dropped 55.4% with $8.15m taking $34.03m; after generating strong buzz since premiering at SXSW in March failed to generate much interest at the box office. After Wonder Woman many were expecting Atomic Blonde to be this year’s Lucy instead doing similar to Ghost in the Shell; Talking Wonder Woman it might of left the top 10 but its close to taking over $400m at the US box office and will shortly overtake Frozen box office whichsets up for an interesting battle in 2019 when Wonder Woman opens two weeks after Frozen 2.
Opening on limited release
Paramount Pictures – An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power – added 176 screens taking $961,193 and $1.28m total; this compares to An Inconvenient Truth expanding in to only 77 screens but taking $1.35m climbing into the top 10.
Opened August 11th
Opening UK
- Annabelle: Creation – Warner Bros
Supernatural horror prequel to Annabelle and the fourth instalment of the Conjuring film series starring Stephanie Sigman, Talitha Bateman, Anthony LaPaglia and Miranda Otto and directed by David F. Sandberg; film premiered at the LA Film Festival on June 19, 2017 receiving positive reviews currently with a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score.
Annabelle opened 10th October 2014 with £1.93m going on to take £7.4m the sequel should open similar and will probably be in a three-way battle to be #1 against Atomic Blonde helped with two extra days and the fourth weekend of Dunkirk.
- Atomic Blonde – Universal Pictures
Action spy thriller starring Charlize Theron and James McAvoy, with John Goodman, Til Schweiger, Eddie Marsan, Sofia Boutella and Toby Jones and directed by David Leitch. It is based on Antony Johnston and Sam Hart’s 2012 graphic novel The Coldest City which was the film’s original title; had the world premiere at South by Southwest on March 12, 2017received positive reviews from critics praised its action sequences and musical score by Tyler Bates and was compared the film to John Wick.
- The Nut Job 2: Nutty By Nature – Warner Bros
Animated comedy sequel to 2014’s The Nut Job featuring voices of Will Arnett, Maya Rudolph, Jackie Chan, Katherine Heigl, Bobby Moynihan, Bobby Cannavale, Isabela Moner, Jeff Dunham and Gabriel Iglesias and directed by Cal Brunkerlen and Scott Bindley.
The Nut Job opened 1st August 2014 £666,966 taking £3,813,224;
With animated films Despicable Me 3, Cars 3, Captain Underpants and The Emoji Movie already released the market place is already crowded but The Nut Job 2: Nutty By Nature after being trailered with those films should open similar to the first film.
- Step – 20th Century Fox
Dance documentary directed by Amanda Lipitz; won the U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Inspirational Filmmaking at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival where Fox Searchlight acquired world rights.
Variety gave it a very positive review “Documentaries aren’t often discussed in terms of their ability to entertain, but ‘Step’ might be the most infectiously entertaining doc since Chris Rock’s ‘Good Hair.’”
Since Sundance has generated strong buzz but will this translate into box office as so often films get much hype at Sundance studios spend crazy sums of money buying the films and then months later the pixel dust has faded away.
- Overdrive – Entertainment Films
Action thriller starring Scott Eastwood, Freddie Thorp, Ana de Armas, and Gaia Weiss and directed by Antonio Negret.
- Pawn Sacrifice – eOne
Biographical drama starring Tobey Maguire, Liev Schreiber, Lily Rabe and Peter Sarsgaard and directed by Edward Zwick; received its US premiere at the Toronto Film Festival in 2014 screening in US cinemas a year after receiving positive reviews.
Opening in US
- Annabelle: Creation – Warner Bros
The fourth film for The Conjuring franchise and prequel to 2014’s Annabelle; three previous films have taken over $320m in the US and almost $900m globally Annabelle: Creation will see the series take over $1 billion. As the budgets for The Conjuring films are only a fraction of the megamovies the series has been very profitable for Warner Bros.
Warner Bros is facing a lawsuit over the franchise from a writer who believes the films infringe on his 1980 book The Demonologist. The Conjuring 2 producers claimed that the supernatural horror movies are based on “historical facts” and not The Demonologist. But there have been several TV series based on the Enfield Poltergeist most recently The Enfield Haunting which was broadcast on Sky Living in 2015. More famously was the basis of 1992 BBC mockumentary drama broadcast Halloween 1992 Ghostwatch one of the scariest programmes ever broadcast on British TV as featured TV favourites Michael Parkinson, Sarah Greene and Mike Smith in what seemed to be a live Crimewatch style factual TV show with Sarah Greene as a live reporter who was seen at the end being dragged by a spirit behind a door.
After last summer had several horrors the last horror released was It Comes At Night (while there have been many other non-horrors released this year) but it, The Belko Experiment, A Cure For Wellness and Rings underperformed.
Attached to Annabelle: Creation are four minutes of Stephen King’s It which is released next month, the teaser trailer terrified 197 million within the first 24 hours and the second trailer released last month scared much more. While The Dark Tower might have disappointed much is expected from It next month expected to have the biggest ever September opening.
The previous three films opened between $37-41m and Annabelle: Creation has been generating strong buzz since it premiered at LA Film Festival in June receiving very positive reviews; Annabelle: Creation should open similarly and have the biggest opening until It arrives.
- The Nut Job 2: Nutty By Nature – Open Road Films
The first film released in 2014 was a surprise success opening with $19.43m despite Frozen still performing strongly in its ninth weekend and went on to take $64.2m (was Open Road Films biggest hit).
With The Emoji Movie and Despicable Me 3 fading out The Nut Job is the only film targeting younger children until LEGO Ninjago Movie in September so could spark up some interest but unlikely to match the box office of the first film opening with $12m+.
- The Glass Castle – Lionsgate
Drama starring Brie Larson, Naomi Watts, Woody Harrelson and Sarah Snook and directed by Destin Daniel Cretton based on Jeannette Walls’s 2005 memoir of the same name. Jennifer Lawrence was originally in talks to star in 2012 but was replaced by Brie Larson in October 2015; the film has received mixed reviews.
- Ingrid Goes West -Neon
Comedy-drama starring Aubrey Plaza, Elizabeth Olsen, Billy Magnussen, Wyatt Russell, Pom Klementieff and O’Shea Jackson Jr and directed by Matt Spicer; premiered in competition at Sundance Film Festival receiving positive reviews and won Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award.
- The Only Living Boy in New York – Roadside Attractions
Drama film starring Callum Turner, Kate Beckinsale, Pierce Brosnan, Cynthia Nixon and Jeff Bridges and directed by Marc Webb his second film released this year after Gifted.