This weekend

Major release

• Independence Day: Resurgence

Twenty years after sci-fi disaster Independence Day sees Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Judd Hirsch, Vivica A. Fox and Brent Spiner return with newcomers Liam Hemsworth, Jessie Usher, Maika Monroe, Sela Ward, Charlotte Gainsbourg and William Fichtner and directed by Roland Emmerich.

Was recently calculated  the rebuilding costs for Man of Steel would be $2 trillion the destruction of New York in first Avengers film $160 billion in comparison, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks cost $83 billion, Hurricane Katrina cost $90 billion and 2011 Japan tsunami cost $122 billion. To build the Death Stars in Star Wars $8,100,000,000,000,000 ($8.1 quadrillion) is 13,000 times the world’s GDP so do wonder what it cost to rebuild after War of 1996. 

The sequel has been in development ever since the first film was released in 2009 Emmerich had plans to make two sequels with Will Smith returning but after Fox refused to pay him $50m it got delayed. In March 2013 was announced plans for two films but 18 months later announced that there would be only one film.

First trailer was released in December, TV spot shown during Superbowl in February second trailer released in April and a 5-minute extended trailer released in May.

Early buzz described the sequel as the most entertaining film since Deadpool and as its marketing has been as fun as Deadpool and similar to Finding Dory is a sequel audiences want to see more than simply being a cash-in. While it has been screened at junkets in Singapore and Australia were rumours which were out-founded wasn’t going to press screened in the US which many see as a sign that it’s not good but it is being screened in Europe and had its world premiere on Monday June 20^th with early reviews describing it as silly and dumb but great fun similar to the original it is the popcorn summer movies audiences have been needing.

Many have said the marketing has been subdued but has been far more viral than the normal campaign for mega-movies but different to the first film which had that infamous White House scene blowing up in the trailers

The sequel was built around at first a website looking back at the war of 1996 explaining Will Smith absence in the sequel as Captain Steven Hiller died testing the ESD first alien hybrid fighter. Marketing has been fun similar to Deadpool with a Meme generator website for Jeff Goldblum MemeResurgence.com while http://www.independencedaymystreet.com will let you check on your home to see if it is still there after alien attacks.

The video created by ESD “United we survive” is similar to the join videos that feature in Starship Troopers or could be seen now as part of the StayIn campaign for the EU Referendum.

One of the biggest surprises of the sequel is the return of Dr. Brackish Okun played by Brent Spiner as many thought he died during the War of 1996.

20^th Century Fox have teamed up with Manchester United this year playing their logo before the start of matches at Old Trafford. Players have been incorporated within many of their film campaigns including The Revenant, Deadpool, X-Men: Apocalypse and now in Independence Day: Resurgence didn’t go down well with fans and doubtful any of them will win any awards for acting.

Also had a marketing video from The Ruins of Las Vegas Tourist Board

Original film was released in August 1996 opening with £7m including £1m from Thursday previews which was the biggest ever opening in the UK. Opening which was 19% of its final box office of £36.86m and the biggest film of the year. The previous biggest opening was Jurassic Park in 1993 and a year later its sequel The Lost World broke Independence Day record in 1997.

Around the time first film was released in August 1996 alien life was discovered on Mars and 20^th Century Fox incorporated it within its marketing “We’re not going to say we told you so” and see it while cinemas are still standing.

The big question is how will it open 20^th Century Fox were probably the only ones that were pleased with England’s draw with Slovakia on Monday in Euro 2016 as had they won they would have played on Saturday and 14 million people watched the game.  The original film is still a big favourite whenever it on TV shown again last Saturday on Channel 4.

As seen in the chart below disaster movies are steady performers in the UK while some think the loss of Will Smith could have an effect on its opening in 1996 the original film was the film along with Men in Black the following year that made him a movie star.

Last year Jurassic World’s £19.28m opening surprised everyone while Independence Day Resurgence isn’t expected to open anywhere near that the nostalgic factor which made Jurassic World open so big could give Resurgence a £15m+ the year and after the TV will be filled with EU referendum result a fun dumb popcorn movie will be great escapism.  

At the EU BBC debate on Tuesday June 21^st Boris Johnson ended his closing speech taking inspiration from President Thomas Whitmore’s rallying call speech at the end of Independence Day ‘Thursday can be our Independence Day’.

In August 1996 20 years later the equivalent would be £18.2m+ opening and £93m+ final box office sequel is unlikely to get anywhere close.

The first film was one of the first to have a web presence the first film to have a website was 2 years before Stargate in 1994.

Also released

• The Secret Life of Pets – Universal

The latest animated film from Illumination Entertainment most famous for Despicable Me franchise. This year have two original sourced animated features while their rivals have sequels with inbuilt audiences. Featuring the voices of Louis C.K., Kevin Hart, Steve Coogan, Bobby Moynihan, Lake Bell, Hannibal Buress and Albert Brooks.

Universal choosing to open The Secret Life of Pets two weeks earlier than its US opening similar to Minions last year (opening with £11.5m including £4.9m in previews) which was very successful but as that had a massive in-built audiences far easier to sell to audiences. Question is will audiences who have seen Zootropolis (opening with £5.3m including weekend previews) and The Angry Birds Movie want to see another animal animated film or prefer to wait to see Finding Dory.

Has previews Sat/Sun taking a massive £3.6m the biggest Sat/Sun previews box office for an original animated film with a 5-day weekend against 4 days for Independence Day: Resurgence.

Receiving positive reviews saying it’s fun but not as enjoyable as Pixar films a dog version of Toy Story and we will get a food version of Toy Story with The Sausage Party in September.

• The Meddler – Sony Pictures

Comedy drama starring Susan Sarandon, Rose Byrne and J. K. Simmons and directed by Lorene Scafaria her second film premiered last year at Toronto Film Festival after being acquired by Sony Classics receiving positive reviews. Over past couple of weeks Sony have been spring cleaning dumping out several films on limited release that have been sitting on their shelves for many months.

• Elvis & Nixon – eOne

Comedy drama starring Kevin Spacey and Michael Shannon focussing on the meeting between Elvis Presley and President Richard Nixon in the White House in December 1970.

Amazon Studios acquired US rights in June 2015 their first official film acquisition released in US in April 2016 on limited release receiving positive reviews.

Out next week

Major release

• Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie – 20^th Century Fox

Starring Jennifer Saunders, Joanna Lumley, Julia Sawalha, June Whitfield, Jane Horrocks and more cameos than featured in Zoolander and Entourage and directed by Mandie Fletcher. Based on the hugely successful BBC TV series broadcast between 1992 and 2012; last a two-parter titled Olympics was broadcast on the eve of the London Olympics on July 23^rd 2012 receiving 5.61m (24.1%). audience on BBC1.

At its peak Absolutely Fabulous was getting TV audiences on BBC1 similar to Mrs Browns Boys of over 7.5m regularly with Christmas episodes over 10m; early in the year Dad’s Army opened disappointingly with £2.06m and in August David Brent is back in Life on the Road.

Jennifer Saunders said she was working on the script film in 2011 but in July 2015 was announced script was finished and would start shooting in October and in August Fox Searchlight announced they would co-finance with BBC Films taking world rights

In April a list of 60 cameos was released that would feature in the film always feel when cameos are revealed its almost like producers are doing it as they are nervous of the film as seen recently with films like Zoolander 2 and Entourage. Always think cameos work best when they are surprises most famously Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder and other films like The Player and Pret-A-Porter let audiences discover the cameos.

A video was released teasing the cameos that feature

In December 2015 the film generated controversy when it was announced comedian Janette Tough would be playing a Japanese character Huki Muki.

The second trailer released in April has been viewed over 1.3m times on You Tube more than 1.1m of Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie.

Kylie has recorded a new remix of the shows classic theme Wheels on Fire; Receives its world premiere on 29^th June with the cast attending along with many of the cameos that feature within the movie.

Also released

• Central Intelligence – Universal Pictures

Action comedy starring Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart two actors who have grown in status over the last 10 years.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson started out with roles using his size The Mummy, Walking Tall, Game plan. But then appeared in Get Smart in 2008 and showed he could be big but also be funny starring in several Furious films and last year’s San Andreas and has five films already dated and another dozen he is supposedly attached to be made and released in the coming years.

Over the years UK film distributors have tried incorporate World Cup/Euro’s in the marketing of their films when England announced their Euro 16 squad Warner Tweeted their Suicide Squad. Not to be outdone by 20^th Century Fox tie up with Manchester United for Independence Day: Resurgence their rivals Manchester City had Kevin Hart challenge Joe Hart from the penalty box.

Kevin Hart similarly climbed the ranks over the last 10 years from small parts in Scary Movie films to starring in Death at a Funeral and Think Like a Man which were both successes in the US but it wasn’t until Ride Along and The Wedding Ringer that mainstream UK audiences took notice of him.

As he came over to UK to promote The Wedding Ringer in the UK in February 2015 helped open to a strong £986,123 as these films never used to perform well in the UK; Think Like a Man – 2012 -81,516, About Last Night – 2014 – £172,181 and Think Like a Man 2 – 2014 – £131,000.

Ride Along opened in 2014 with £1.41m and the sequel with £2.1m in January.

Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson have been over the UK recently to promote film and Kevin Hart hosted a preview screening on June 4^th at O2 Cineworld for his fans audience reaction was positive.

Out in two weeks

Major release

• Legend of Tarzan – Warner Bros

Action adventure based on the fictional character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs (who also created John Carter).

Starring Alexander Skarsgård, Samuel L. Jackson, Margot Robbie, Djimon Hounsou, Jim Broadbent and Christoph Waltz. Directed by David Yates his first since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 in 2011 is currently in post on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Warner Bros have been developing Tarzan since 2003 over the years several directors have been attached from Guillermo del Toro, Stephen Sommers and Gary Ross before David Yates was announced as the director in November 2012. In February 2014 Warner Bros announced a July 1^st 2016 release date.

The first trailer was released in December 2015, second in March and a third this month reaction has been positive but there is a nervousness of original sourced movies in a summer of sequels and remakes. There have been many Tarzan films made over the years the last major adaption was Disney’s animated 1999 version probably for Tarzan is its often unintentionally funny seen more like George of the Jungle than the Jungle Book while trailers did have some funny moments it is more of the cinematic style of Pirates of the Caribbean films.

In April David Yates screened footage to the media during a preview event in London which was well received by media who attended; has its European premiere on 5^th July opening the day after. Many see this a likely flop especially coming very soon after The Jungle Book but the strong cast which could avoid this.

Also release

• Now You See Me 2 – eOne

Sequel to the 2013 magic thriller starring Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, with Daniel Radcliffe, Lizzy Caplan, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman directed by Jon M Chu; while the first film was a fun surprise many reviews have said it was another of the many unnecessary sequels that have underwhelmed audiences and the box office this year. 

The first film opened same weekend in 2013 was a modern day sleeper success opening with a strong £2.89m in second going on to take almost £11m.

• Maggie’s Plan – Sony Pictures

Ensemble comedy starring stars Greta Gerwig, Ethan Hawke, Bill Hader, Maya Rudolph, Wallace Shawn, Ida Rohatyn, Monte Greene and Julianne Moore. Received world premiere at Toronto Film Festival (where Sony Classics acquired it) last year when on to be screened at Sundance and Berlin this year receiving positive reviews with a scene stealing performance from Julianne Moore.

• The Neon Demon – Icon

Psychological thriller starring Elle Fanning, Christina Hendricks and Keanu Reeves and directed by Nicolas Winding Refn. Premiered at Cannes Film Festival receiving mixed reviews (third consecutive film director competed for Palme d’Or, following Drive and Only God Forgives).

Drive opened in September 2011 with £607,454 taking over £2.6m.

Only God Forgives in August 2013 with £465,917

The Daily Mail were of course outraged over the film the BBFC gave it 18 due to strong bloody images, necrophilia and sexual assault.

20 years ago David Cronenberg’s Crash which generated similar controversy seeing Westminster Council banning it from their cinemas so didn’t screen in any Leicester Square cinemas.

• Ghostbusters – Sony Pictures (Monday)

Supernatural comedy reboot starring Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones and directed by Paul Feig.

Ever since Ghostbuster 2 was released in 1989 there had been rumours for a third film issue was always Bill Murray didn’t want to return so Sony decided instead to reboot the film. Sony Pictures officially announced reboot in 2014 and Paul Feig was to direct the female leads were announced in January 2015.

Paul Feig previously directed Spy last June which was a great action comedy opened with £2,555,678; Bridesmaids in 2011 opening with £3.4m; The Heat which opened with £2.5m including £910,146 from previews in July 2013. Ghostbuster is a huge step up for the director similar to director Will Gluck who made the excellent Easy A in 2010 and Friends with Benefits in 2011 but then Annie remake in 2014 which was disappointingly received critically and at the box office. 

The first trailer was released in March viewed 24 million times in the first 24 hours and 60 million times in its first week reception was very mixed with 12,000 thumbs up and 13,800 thumbs down on the morning of release. By May the trailer was the most disliked on YouTube with 221,400 likes and 649,900 dislikes.

Director Paul Feig went on the offensive saying there was misogyny behind the criticism of reboot but reason why most disliked it was lacked the charm and wit of the first film which was no masterpiece. Similar to how Pointbreak remake was targeted out for everything that is bad about reboots and remakes Ghostbusters and Jumanji have been this year. The original films might not be great films but they were audience favourites why fans were more disappointed with these being remade than all the many others.  

Melissa McCarthy recently spoke out against the backlash saying internet trolls are ‘crazy people’ & ‘the minority’ but to quote Gladiator “Rome is the mob” and what David Cameron said about leave campaigners being confused you don’t slag off your audience as will make or break the success of Ghostbusters as are the paying cinema-going audience. 

The film featured heavily within Sony Hacking emails discussing the script Etan Cohen was writing which had gone through many drafts over the years with so many different writers and with 12 producer’s looks like have been far too many cooks in the kitchen. Would be interesting to see how the final film compares with different drafts of the scripts some of which were leaked in the hackings and weren’t well received.

Bill Murray in May said remake was “funnier than the original” his endorsement is similar to James Cameron’s of Terminator Genisys last year and look how well that went.

Sony Pictures especially feel the need to crank up their mega-movies up to eleven seen in many films like Spider-Man movies and Men in Black 3 was noticeable in the Ghostbuster trailers with twelve producers attached feels like there were far too many cooks in the kitchen and was more of a studio directed film than Paul Feig’s.

The second Ghostbusters trailer was released in May which was slightly better received as was the international trailer released early June. From the trailers the film looks more like a remix of the first film recently as seen with Jurassic World, Star Wars The Force Awakens and Independence Day Resurgence what we are getting is not a sequel but as this video shows a remix.

Receives its world premiere in Los Angeles on July 9^th before opening in UK on Monday July 11^th with critics normally reviewing Monday openers the Friday before will be interesting to see when the embargo ends.

The big question is how will it perform will all the negativity surrounding the film possibly help as has received far more media coverage than any other film although most has been negative is it still better that film is continuously being discussed on social media?

The question is will it play like mega-movie or will it play to female focused films like Pitch Perfect 2 £5.01m or Bridesmaids £3.44m in 2011. Or will it perform like The Hunger Games? Opening on Monday makes that question even harder to answer 

US Opening Friday

• Independence Day: Resurgence – 20^th Century Fox

Original was the highest grossing film of the year in 1996 $306.1m opening with $50.2m, $96.1m for its July 4th 5-day weekend and $104.3m for its first week. Breaking records previously made in 1993 by Jurassic Park and were broken in 1997 by Jurassic Park: The Lost World.

Globally Independence Day took $817.4m the biggest film of 1996 and then the second biggest ever behind Jurassic Park it is currently the 51^st highest grossing film worldwide and the 56^th biggest film in the US but there are only five films above it which opened before it.

Original film received average reviews but was the perfect summer movie which audiences loved and is still 20 years later a massive favourite on TV. The film along with Bad Boys the year before launched Will Smith into movie stardom for years after 20^th Century Fox and Roland Emmerich had discussed sequels with Will Smith after Men in Black 3 in 2013 announced he wasn’t returning. He said he didn’t want to star in anymore sequels so then strange that it was announced he would return in Bad Boys 3 and 4 in 2015.

In Fandango’s annual Most Anticipated Summer Movies Survey the sequel was voted as the second most anticipated action film of the summer behind Captain America: Civil War but ahead of ahead of both X-Men: Apocalypse and Suicide Squad.

Was a report 20^th Century Fox weren’t going to press screen the sequel in US but has already been screened at 20^th Century Fox Singapore Press Junket in May and has been screened to critics in Europe. After being burned ending embargo early for X-Men: Apocalypse it’s understandable they would hold back for Independence Day: Resurgence.

Original film was one of the first films to have commercial during the Super Bowl 20^th Century Fox paid $1.3m paying a lot more for this year’s Super Bowl.

Independence Day: Resurgence is expected to open with $80m which would be the sixth biggest opening of the year but as mega-movies have become such front loaded an opening over $100m would be needed if it was just to match originals box office a $200m+ opening would be needed if was to beat inflation adjusted $600m likewise globally would need to match Star Wars: The Force Awakens $2.068 billion.

• The Shallows – Sony Pictures

Survival thriller starring Blake Lively and directed by Jaume Collet-Serra was under the radar for months but was boosted I recent weeks with a strong marketing campaign. But many took issue with the latest poster which sees Blake Lively badly photo-shopped.

Sony Pictures brought release forward a week as counter-programming to Independence Day: Resurgence likely to open with $15-20m.

• Free State of Jones -STX Entertainment

War film inspired by inspired by the life of Newton Knight and his armed rebellion against the Confederacy in Jones County, Mississippi during the American Civil War. Starring Matthew McConaughey, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Keri Russell and Brendan Gleeson and directed by Gary Ross.

Summer used to be a great time for adult dramas but in recent years have under-performing like Southpaw last summer which opened with $16.7m going on to take $52.4m; In recent years Sept-Dec were months normally for adult dramas which often cannibalize themselves opening Free State of Jones in June would give audiences something different if exhibitors will allow it to take time to find its audience which is unlikely as seen this year with other films targeting older audiences.  

• The Neon Demon – Broad Green Pictures

In November 2015 Amazon Studios acquired US rights with Broad Green Pictures releasing it theatrically and on home entertainment before premiering on Amazon instead of going to pay TV.

While Hollywood has been fearful over Netflix barely interesting in theatrical Amazon has been also aggressive in acquiring films but want them to be given a proper theatrical release as they are happy currently to agree to the current theatrical windows. Upcoming they have Café Society and Manchester By the Sea which will have similar releases.

Nicolas Winding Refn previous films:

Only God Forgives opened 2013 with $313,958 taking only $779,188

Drive opened in 2011 with $11.3m going to take $35.1m

The controversy surrounding The Neon Demon will generate some interest for the film but is unlikely to be anywhere nearly as successful as Drive after receiving very mixed reviews.