1. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker –  £20,864,500  – NE

Took £6,479,868 from Thursday previews; 33% less than 2015’s The Force Awakens (£9.6m) and 17% less than 2017’s The Last Jedi (£7.68m).

Had the 2^nd biggest opening of the year after Avengers: Endgame

9^th biggest opening in the UK between Toy Story 3 and Skyfall and 21^st biggest inflation inflated between Quantum of Solace and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Mans Chest

21^st biggest Fri-Sun opening between Avengers Age of Ultron and The Dark Knight Rises and Disney’s 6^th biggest opening between Toy Story 3 and Beauty and the Beast.

Opened 38.6% less than 2015 Star Wars: The Force Awakens (34,011,849) including £9,679,746 previews; taking £2.4m from midnight screenings and £9.6m from Thursday (previous high as HPDH2 £9.48m); Friday £6.9m; Saturday £8.7m (biggest ever Saturday beating previous record high of Skyfall); Sunday £8.5m

20.5% more than 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (£17,305,011) including £4,086,256 previews

25.5% less than 2017 Star Wars: The Last Jedi opened with (£28,010,841( including £7,684,217 previews)

244.2% more than Solo: A Star Wars Story (£6,061,231) including £1,215,147 previews

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker opening was close to inflation inflated openings of the Star Wars prequels 1999’s Star Wars: Phantom Menace (£17,213,816) opening with £9,512,295; 2002’s Star Wars Attack of the Clones £19,932,501 (opened with £11,386,209) and 2005’s Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith £22,899,073 (opened with £14,361,469).

This weekend was the 10^th anniversary of Avatar which saw huge box office come from 3D and over the next few years as studios and exhibitors saw it as a way to increase box office through surcharges. While there were 3D successes from Avatar, Life of Pi, Gravity and Hugo, the problem was studios would retrofit 3D on many films poorly making the image on-screen darker and audiences felt they were being ripped off.  5 years ago Star Wars: The Force Awakens opened in almost as man 3D screens as 2D and took 45% of its box office from 3D, but for The Rise of Skywalker cinemas have a couple of 3D screenings per day.

In comparison, IMAX from 41 screens for The Force Awakens was 10% and that has grown as the number of IMAX screens have in the UK for The Rise of Skywalker. Of course, there are only a couple of real IMAX cinemas in the UK majority have been retrofitted from regular cinema auditoriums so don’t have the screen size real IMAX gives, but they still charge the same price.

The Rise of Skywalker opened on the widest release for Star Wars film in 740 cinemas more than The Last Jedi  723 cinemas; 2016’s Rogue One opened in 698 cinemas; 2015’s Force Awakens opened in 670 cinemas while Revenge of the Sith opened in 490 cinemas, Attack of the Clones in 2002 opened in 467 cinemas. Of course, with many multiplexes showing it on the majority of their screens with many showing it every 15 mins at peak times over the weekend was probably showing in more than 2,500 screens.

Advance tickets went on sale on October 21st media immediately reported website delays ad crashes as occurred with The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi but after few hours the demand dropped off. While many rushed to book cinemas like BFI IMAX with many sold-out performances over the opening weekend it took over a month for Odeon Leicester Square to sell-out screenings over its opening weekend. 20 years ago Odeon Leicester Square sold out dozens of screenings over its opening week when the cinema had more than double the number of seats and ticket prices were less than a quarter they are now.

In 2015 Over 1 million tickets were booked in advance for The Force Awakens; including 700,000+ at Odeon (sold more than double Spectre and four times 50 Shades of Grey)and 332,000+ at Vue Cinemas (more than 284,850 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 sold in 2010); fans have been waiting for the film for over 32 years since Return of the Jedi opened and also 912 days since Disney announced plans to make another trilogy).

When tickets went on sale on 19th October it crashed websites Vue Cinemas said they had sold 10,000 tickets in the first 90 minutes of sales selling 45,000 tickets in first 24 hours. The BFI IMAX has sold out almost every show Thurs-Sunday at £22 per ticket taking over £225,000 while Empire and Odeon Leicester Square also sold out several screenings.

Did compare similarly to July 1st, 1999 when The Phantom Menace crashed phone lines UCI selling 11,500 tickets in 35 minutes. With lines across Leicester Square of fans booking to at Odeon cinema.

Ahead of the release of The Rise of Skywalker, there was no news of how advance tickets were selling apart from websites slow immediately after ticket went on sale in October, but they went back to normal within an hour. Would be interesting to know how advance tickets compared for The Rise of Skywalker to the other Star Wars films and what percentage of sales in from advance bookings, as the cinemas made it out that cinemas were selling out but sales were probably less than 20% of available tickets.

I might seem to be overly critical with Disney and Star Wars it’s only because good is not good enough for their films as Disney’s Star Wars, as Toy Story 4 and The Lion King might be perfectly fine films, they need to be an improvement o what came before.

Disney’s solution is just to remake previous films as they did with The Force Awakens being a fan remake of A New Hope, this year animated The Lion King is just an animated remake of the 1994 classic, while Toy Story 4: This Times it’s Forky. All three are all hype no sustenance, just memberries of nostalgia, why the didn’t have the legs of the previous versions.

For all of the criticism attached to George Lucas’s Star Wars prequels, much of it deserved they took the audience o a journey the problem with Disney’s Star Wars films is nothing has really changed apart from Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and Han Solo are now dead.

As many have said about The Rise of Skywalker so much happens at such a frenetic pace having to go to x planet to find y before the First Order catches them but as with Road Runner the Coyote never seems to catch up (he did in the final episode) even though are storm troopers everywhere and Kylo Ren is also following them, always seem to find what they are looking for in the nick of time.

You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time sums up Disney’s Star Wars as Lucasfilm probably got trilogy idea from Mel Brook’s planned Spaceballs 2: The Search for More Money.

The endings of the previous two trilogies Revenge of the Sith and Return of the Jedi gave a proper ending to the story but The Rise of Skywalker leaves so many answered questions hanging while leaving many I the same position they were at the start of the trilogy. 

As Rey is Palpatine’s granddaughter who was Palpatine’s son and when was he born as Rey is about 20 and the events within these films happen over 50 years after he became Emperor. While she might think of herself as a Skywalker she has Palpatine DNA so if she has children in 30 years’ time it will all start over again.

As in Return of the Jedi Palpatine wants Rey to kill him so after killing him why doesn’t she become a Sith as Yoda said “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering”, in killing Palpatine after he killed Kylo Ren she must have killed him in anger?

Since the film was released on Friday there have been many articles of questions, like where all the battle destroyer came from and  while those have been destroyed the First Order must still also have a fleet of destroyers too and why the same design flaw in all of their battle stations and space ships.

After knowing that the Stormtroopers were abducted children why does the resistance still seem to want to kill as many as they can as surely they would want to try to take them prisoner and repatriate them?

Ahead of release as with Avengers: Endgame there was news that The Rise of Skywalker would feature a gay scene, many speculated it would be between Finn and Poe as throughout the films there has been a budding bromance. Instead as in Avengers: Endgame it featured two unknown characters kissing for two seconds, blink and you will miss it as did Chinese censors, but it was spotting by Middle Eastern censors and removed.

The trailer features a scene where Rey jumps over Kylo Ren Tie Fighter, it the trailer it feels fast and furious but in the film it’s very slow going it reminded of the tension-filled tractor scene in Footloose spoofed in Austin Powers

After the big reveal that Rey is Palpatine’s granddaughter did kind of expect a Jerry Springer scene

On Friday director J.J  Abrams was asked about the criticism of the film and saying “No, I would say that they’re right,” adding “The people who love it more than anything are also right.”… “We knew starting this that any decision we made — a design decision, a musical decision, a narrative decision — would please someone and infuriate someone else,”…. “And they’re all right.”

He was also asked if there were any issues between and The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson saying It would be a much more interesting answer if there were conflict,”.. “The truth is when I was getting [The Force Awakens] up and running, I was nothing but grateful that a director and writer I admire as much as Rian was coming in to do Star Wars VIII. Not expecting to come back to this, it was just fun to watch what was happening and get to respond to it.”

In 2017 The Last Jedi just squeezed past Beauty and the Beast to be UK #1 film of the year but after The Rise of Skywalker’s opening it’s now highly unlikely will overtake Avengers Endgame The Lion King or Toy Story 4 ending 4th biggest film of 2019.

If Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was to hold similar to Star Wars: The Last Jedi its opening was 34% of its total ox office, Rise of Skywalker would take about £60m which would be over 50% less than Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

There was much belief that Rise of Skywalker along with Cats and Jumanji: The Next Level would help 2019’s UK box office and admissions from 2018 but now it’s going to be very tight. Have said this many times before with the slate of films released this year box office and admissions should have cantered past last years levels weeks ago but even the big guns Avengers: Endgame, Toy Story 4 and The Lion King came short of many expectations.

2. Cats – £3,207,471   – NE

Had the 446^th biggest opening in the UK between The Smurfs 2 and Alita: Battle Angel (close to The Devil Wears Prada, Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil, The Woman in Black and Chicken Little) and the 610^th biggest inflation inflated between Stardust and Now You See Me (close to The Lion King 3D Chicago, Fame and Four Weddings and a Funeral).

Had Universal Pictures 59^th biggest opening in the UK between The Incredible Hulk and Everest and 65^th biggest inflation inflated between Coraline and Everest.

13^th biggest musical opening in the UK between One Direction: This Is Us and Streetdance (close to A Star Is Born, Sweeny Todd, Into the Woods and Moulin Rouge) and 17^th biggest inflation inflated between Chicago and Streetdance.

Problem with Cats was Universal targeted young female audience casting Taylor Swift and Jason Derulo who had never seen the show and was expecting a mainstream musical like Mamma Mia! For audiences like you who grew up with the show reaction has been much more positive.

Universal made two more massive mistakes rushing out the trailer with The Lion King in July with incomplete effects and not opening it on Christmas Day in the US which has split its global release so all the negativity received over the past week will harm its international expansion this weekend.

While Cats US opening was poor I was amazed that the media declared the UK’s opening of £3.2m also disappointing as while it might be directed by Tom Hooper who also directed Les Miserables, it as never going to open anywhere near Les Miserables or Mamma Mia! Cats were always more like to open closer to Sweeny Todd, which is what it did, while also opening against The Rise of Skywalker Cats was always likely to open slightly less especially also as Frozen 2 is also holding well.

With Universal Pictures targetting young female demographic they were targetting similar audience who also had Frozen 2 and The Rise of Skywalker and next week Little Women.

Ever since the first trailer was released in July the film has received negativity across the media with issues over the digital fur technology, having similar issues with the first trailer of Sonic the Hedgehog (surprisingly didn’t have similar issues with either Paddington or Winnie the Pooh in Christopher Robin).

After the negativity surrounding the first trailer, the filmmakers modified the visual effects for the second trailer released in November and received a better reception. The film premiered on December 16^th in the US and screened to the media the next day with an embargo on December 18^th and received scathing reviews many having issue with digital fur technology which tonally changed the film from a U into something more sexually sordid.

Musicals have performed much stronger in the UK to the US

2018’s Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again had the biggest musical opening with £9,735,930 taking £65,591,730

But comparisons to Cats are closer to 2012’s Les Miserables opening with £8,127,991 taking £40,818,299

Saturday took 10% above The Greatest Showman and took 10% more than A Star Is Born and 32% more than The Greatest Showman.

Cats had 28^th biggest opening of 2019 between Alita: Battle Angel and Knives Out

Embargo ended on Wednesday and the film received scathing reviews but despite this the love of musicals in the UK the film opened strongly.

Since the renaissance of musicals in 2001 with Moulin Rouge most have performed much better in the UK than the US including Les Miserables, Mamma Mia! and The Greatest Showman, why do musicals perform so much better in the UK than the US?

According to director Tom Hooper he had completed the film less than 24 hours before the film received its world premiere last week (also the day BBFC rated the film) many took issue with uncompleted special effects shots and Universal sent out an updated version of the film on Sunday night.

30 years ago Cats was originally conceived as an animated film, but production was shut down after Amblimation closed surely it would have worked much better as a photorealistic animated film rather than a live-action film?

3. Jumanji: The Next Level – £2,932,285   – £14,724,635

Down 69% in its second weekend (down 42% without previews); after its opening was inflated with 4 days of previews and with the arrival of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and Cats, Jumanji was always going to drop heavily as the film was pushed into smaller screens of multiplexes;

Had the 224^th biggest second weekend in the UK between Trainspotting 2 and Batman Begins (close to Hobbs & Shaw, Tarzan, Kung Fu Panda and Captain America: The Winter Soldier) and 332nd the biggest inflation inflated the second weekend between Godzilla and Daddy’s Home (close to King Kong, Clash of the Titans, Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Sleepy Hollow).

19^th biggest film of 2019 between Last Christmas and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil and Sony Pictures 3^rd biggest film of the year after Spider-Man Far From Home and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, depending o how it holds over the next two weeks Jumanji: The Next Level could take upwards of £30m and as with Welcome to the Jungle take the some of the box office away from Rise of Skywalker as it did with The Last Jedi

Its Sony Pictures 36^th biggest film in the UK (57^th to take £10m+) between Django Unchained and The Emoji Movie and has just overtaken 1996’s Jumanji box office (£13.3m) £25,952,973 inflation inflated.

Impossible to make direct comparisons with the second weekend of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle taking £5,210,725 in its second weekend down 36% (but up 28% not including previews) taking £17,835,902 taking 48.2% of £36,968,605.

With The Rise of Skywalker likely to drop heavily this weekend, Jumanji: The Next Level is in a great position to repeat what Welcome to the Jungle did two years ago taking £30m+

Jumanji: The Next Level second weekend was against Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker while Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle opened the weekend after Star Wars: The Last Jedi (took £7,975,174 in its third weekend) and against The Greatest Showman opening with £4,754,049.

The original film opened in February 1996 with £2.1m taking £13.41m; 2002 film Zathura as also marketed as spiritual sequel to Jumanji with the tagline “A new adventure from the world of Jumanji” the film received positive reviews from critics but flopped at the box office opened in February 2006 with £1.31m taking £4.11m.

4. Frozen 2 – £2,168,359   – £41,786,546

Down 32.1% in its fifth weekend

Had the 4th biggest fifth weekend animated film in the UK after Frozen (£2,922,721); Toy Story 4 (£2,704,238) and The Lion King (£2,486,795) and similar to Toy Story 3 (£2,107,815) and the 20^th biggest 5^th weekend between Spectre and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

11th biggest animated film in the UK after 31 days between Frozen and Inside Out and 24th biggest inflation inflated between Finding Dory and Inside Out.

6^th biggest Disney animated film in the UK after Toy Story 3, Toy Story 4, Incredibles 2, Finding Dory and Frozen.

40^th biggest film in the UK between Alice In Wonderland and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and 45^th inflation inflated between Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

19^th biggest Disney film in the UK between Alice In Wonderland and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and 20^th Disney film to take over £40m.

Frozen 2 might be an animated film but it has much more in common with Harry Potter films as the original film became a cultural phenomenon when it was released in 2013 which saw children watch it multiple timed in cinemas and then again multiple times at home and then listened to Let It Go non-stop dressed as Elsa or Anna.

This was repeated again two years later with the two Frozen shorts Frozen Fever with 2015’s Cinderella and 2017’s Olaf’s Frozen Adventure Disney released the short with the re-release of Frozen in November 2017 with tickets only £1 opening with £1,115,689.

5th weekend similar to

2017’s Paddington 2 dropped 42% taking £1,690,027 and £29,332,318 #1 68.8% of £42,642,938

2016’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them dropped 48% taking £1,416,433 #3 and £44,963,803 82.3% of £54,593,487

2014’s Paddington increased 2% taking £2,558,263 #3 and £23,959,025 63.2% of £37,916,343

2010’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 dropped 11% taking £875,898 #3 and £44,443,734 84.7% of £52,478,788

2011’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 dropped 38% taking £1,733,091 #3 and £66,511,926 91% of £73,090,591

2001’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone dropped 29% taking £2,391,251 (#1 5 weeks) and £46,997,322 73.5% of £63,957,673

But Disney animated films have longer-legged especially those that open in November (and July playing through till September) as they will play through till January.

And comparable to

The Lion King dropping 43% taking £2,486,795 #2 and £65,977,991 86.9% of £75,926,643

Toy Story 4  dropped 29% taking £2,704,238 #2 and £47,287,515 71.6% of £66,030,065

2017’s Beauty and the Beast dropped 7% taking £2,598,163 #3 and £65,048,372 89.8% of £72,430,579

2013’s Frozen dropped only 17% taking £2,922,721 17% drop #3 (first week of January) and £30,807,697 71.6% of £42,976,318

Took £1m+ for 8 weeks; top 5 for 9 weeks and top 10 for 10 weeks until the arrival of The Lego Movie in February 2014 (opened with £8,051,140).

While Frozen opened two weeks before Christmas holidays, Frozen 2 was 5 weeks ahead as its release was dated ahead of Thanksgiving in the US, so won’t hold as strongly but will hold #1 for three weeks before Jumanji: The Next Level and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker opens.

2013’s Frozen (£4,704,940) is 50th biggest animated opening in the UK in 2013 Frozen had the 29th biggest animated opening between How to Train Your Dragon and Shrek.

Let It Go video has been seen on YouTube over 1bn times on YouTube and the singalong over 1.9bn times since December 2013; in comparison Into the Unknown video has been seen over 37m titles on YouTube

Frozen took £42,976,318 was the 10th biggest animated film; in 2013 Frozen was the 5th biggest animated film after Toy Story 3, Shrek 2, Despicable Me 2 and Toy Story 2.

Frozen became a cultural phenomenon when it was released in 2013 as The Greatest Showman become two years ago, the difference between the two was Frozen had the Disney brand attached and mostly positive reviews while The Greatest Showman was purely audience-driven. Six months after Frozen was released the name Elsa climbed into 88th place up 243 slots on the UK baby name list.

Frozen took $1.2bn worldwide, at the time was 5th highest-grossing film of all time and the highest-grossing animation. Won two Oscars, a BATFA and a Golden Globe The soundtrack sold more than 10m worldwide in 2014 (1m+ in the UK), 7m Spotify streams and official YouTube videos of trailers and Let It Go in the hundreds of millions. Many of the music records were beaten by The Greatest Showman two years ago, after almost two years on the UK album chart it is still in the top 20 Despite its huge success Idina Menzel’s Let It Go only got to #11 in the UK singles chart.

After opening with 221% more than Frozen last weekend it’s unlikely that Frozen 2 will keep that pace and take 221% more than Frozen (£42,976,318) as that would be £95.9m; Frozen opened with 9.13x opening (opening weekend was only 10.95%) compared to 20.1% for Toy Story 4 and 21.9% for The Lion King, while Paddington was 13.5% and Paddington 19.3%.

Into the Unknown is down #44 and Show Yourself #93 in the UK singles chart but while the soundtrack album for Frozen is #12 in its 207th week on release Frozen 2 soundtrack isn’t in the soundtrack chart. Believe you can chart a film’s popularity with its soundtrack sales as while people will rush out to see the film over opening weekend soundtrack sales are steadier, seen by The Greatest Showman soundtrack #2 in the chart still after 2 years.

Disney released 9 films in 2019 have taken over £400m with Frozen 2 expected to take upwards of £50m+ and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker taking upwards of £100m and adding £70m+ from 20th Century Fox, Disney will take close to £600m in 2019 over 45% of 2019 UK box office.

5. Last Christmas – £807,105   – £16,946,763

Down 38% in its sixth weekend

What is interesting is that Last Christmas was among many US critics worst films of the year along with Yesterday, Cats and Rocketman but they all apart from Cats received far more positive reviews in the UK and were much more successful in the UK, showing we might speak the same language but often our taste is very different especially with comedy. While British audiences seem to always fall for this awkward predictable Richard Curtis/TV humour Judd Apatow comedies aren’t often as popular in the UK as they are in the US.

18th biggest film of 2019 between The Lego Movie 2 and Jumanji: The Next Level and Universal Pictured 5th biggest film of 2019 between The Secret Life of Pets 2 and  Yesterday.

39th biggest Universal Pictures film in the UK between Pitch Perfect 2 and American Pie: Reunion (close to Johnny English Strikes Back, Johnny English Reborn, Pitch Perfect 3 and Mrs Brown’s Boys d’Movie) and 47^th biggest inflation inflated Universal Pictures film between Bad Neighbours and Captain Phillips.

Last Christmas by Wham is up to #5 on the singles charts and the soundtrack album is #1 on the soundtrack chart

Sixth weekends

2006’s The Holiday dropped 60% £224,309 (2nd week of January) taking £12,097,597

2011’s Bridesmaid dropped 29% taking £732,049 and £20,137,833 90.2% of £22,318,130

2019’s Yesterday dropped 40% taking £366,503 #6 and £12,016,150 87.6% of £13,714,876

While Last Christmas will drop out the top five this week it will still hold strong over the next two weeks until the end of the Christmas holidays which should see it become the 253^rd film to take over £20m at the UK box office.

Emilia Clarke was upset that spoilers were being revealed on social media about the film, but the title Last Christmas is the films biggest spoiler once you know the film features George Michael songs, as the next line is “I gave you my heart”… as the twist is Tom gave Kate her heart.

Despite underwhelming in the US taking only $34m and being out of the top 10 within 6 weeks Last Christmas has taken over $100m worldwide,

Universal Pictures has released 30 films in 2019 released in 2019 taking over £180m taking over 14% share of the box office but despite being second biggest studio if the year is down 32% from 2018, but Universal Pictures is likely to be the biggest challenger to Disney in 2020 with a very strong slate including No Time To Die, Trolls World Tour, Fast & Furious 9, Minions 2, The Croods 2, Emma, Late Night in Soho and News of the World.

UK box office in detail

This weekend’s top 10 box office took £30,884,264 up 90.2% from last weekend £16,232,465

The weekend admissions 4,112,419  up 91.3% from last weekend 2,148,967

7 films opened at weekend taking (£24,318,307); Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker 85.8% (£20,864,500); Cats 13.2% (£3,207,471); remaining 5 films shared 1.1% (£246,336);

Top three took 87.4% (£27,004,256) of the top 10; Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker 67.5% (£20,864,500); Cats 10.4% (£3,207,471) Jumanji: The Next Level 9.5% (£2,932,285);

Up 86.7% from 2018: ((£16,539,374); Mary Poppins Returns (£8,181,541); The Nutcracker – Bolshoi Ballet 2018 (£258,038); #1 Mary Poppins Returns £8,181,541 1st week 735 screens (39.4% of the top 10)

Up 4.2% from 2017: (£29,632,571); Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (£8,154,548); Pitch Perfect 3 (£4,334,525); Ferdinand (£3,644,748); #1 Star Wars: The Last Jedi £10,158,640 2^nd week 706 screens 64% drop (35.3% of top 10)

Up 40.7% from 2016: (£21,944,702); Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (£17,305,011); The Nutcracker – Bolshoi 2016 (£135,026); The Eagle Huntress (£16,513); #1 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story £17,305,011 1^st week 698 screens (78.9% of the top 10)

Down 19.8% from 2015; (£38,533,406); Star Wars: The Force Awakens (£34,011,849); Sisters (£1,215,368); #1 Star Wars: The Force Awakens £34,011,849 1^st week 670 screens (88.3% of top 10)

Up 108.5% from 2014: (£14,808,248; Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (£1,851,424); Dumb & Dumber To (£1,807,059); The Nutcracker – Bolshoi 2014 (£293,192); Guys and Dolls (Re: 2014) (£5,570); #1 The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies £5,409,312 2^nd week 605 screens 45% drop (36.5% of top 10)

Up 72.6% from 2013: (£17,885,304); Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (£4,545,934); Walking with Dinosaurs (£982,023); The Harry Hill Movie (£549,736); Moshi Monsters: The Movie (£334,748); Sleeping Beauty – Bolshoi 2011 (£86,942); American Hustle platform (£39,595); #1 The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug £5,358,380 2^nd week 594 screens 43% drop (30% of top 10)

Down 109.8% from 2012 (£14,717,807); Life of Pi (£3,610,604); Pitch Perfect (£952,107); Home Alone (Re: 2012) (£43,544); West of Memphis (£1,103); #1 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey £5,979,241 2^nd week 601 screens 48% drop (40.6% of top 10)

Up 182.4% from 2011 (£10,935,855); Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (£3,827,697); Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (£2,361,867); It’s a Wonderful Life (Re) (£46,785); #1 Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows £3,827,697 1^st week 540 screens (35% of top 10)

Up 368.1% from 2010: (£6,599,055); Tron Legacy (£1,970,692); Burlesque (£425,931); Animals United (£307,409); Fred: The Movie (£257,133); It’s a Wonderful Life (Re) (£44,422); Catfish (£28,056); #1 Tron Legacy £1,970,692 1^st week 454 screens (29.9% of top 10)

Up 125.7% from 2009; (£13,679,336); Avatar (£8,509,050); St. Trinian’s 2 (£1,586,832); Nine (£44,443); #1 Avatar £8,509,050 1^st week 503 screens (62.2% of top 10)

Up 267.4% from 2008; (£8,404,783); Twilight (£2,508,422); The Tale of Despereaux (£560,870); A Bunch of Amateurs (£91,156); It’s a Wonderful Life (RE) (£49,845); Bicycle Thieves (re) (£3,802); #1 Twilight £2,508,422 1^st week 448 screens (29.8% of top 10)

Up 190.3% from 2007: (£10,638,757); St. Trinian’s (£1,832,594); Alvin and the Chipmunks (£1,433,937); P. S. I Love You (£224,096); I’m Not There (£58,491); #1 Enchanted £2,294,576 2^nd week 1^st #1 501 screens 10% drop (21.5% of top 10)

Up 221.2% from 2006; (£9,614,556); Eragon (£1,317,687); Déjà Vu (£1,098,295); Black Christmas (£367,743); Grounded (£240,378); The Wizard of Oz (re) (£22,973); #1 Happy Feet £2,034,916 2^nd week 466 screens 45% drop (21.6% of top 10)

Up 124.1% from 2005 (£13,786,105); King Kong (£6,944,740); The Family Stone (£247,515); Lassie (£132,926); #1 King Kong £6,944,740 1^st week 481 screens (50.4% of top 10)

Up 276.4% from 2004 (£8,205,320); Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events (£2,210,979); Ella Enchanted (£107,730); #1 Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events £2,210,979 1^st week 452 screens (27% of top 10)

Up 50.8% from 2003 (£20,475,870); Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (£15,021,761); Freaky Friday (£1,214,559); Good Boy! (£146,354); #1 Lord of the Rings: Return of the King £15,021,761 1^st week 494 screens 29% drop (73.4% of top 10)

Up 74.2% from 2002 (£17,727,804); Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (£13,063,560); Sweet Home Alabama (£758,267); Hey Arnold (£35,881); #1 Lord of the Rings: Two Towers £13,063,560 1^st week 501 screens (73.7% of top 10)

Up 112.5% from 2001 (£14,532,108); The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings (£11,058,045); The Princess Diaries (£587,677); #1 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings £11,058,045 1^st week 470 screens (76.1% of top 10);

Next weekend in 2018: (£21,066,980); Bumblebee (£5,103,382); Holmes & Watson (£1,418,030); #1 Mary Poppins Returns £7,441,687 2^nd week 740 screens 10% drop (35.3% of the top 10)

Other Box Office News

As last weekend Christmas re-releases performed strongly this weekend with It’s a Wonderful Life (4K Restoration) #8 £147,766from 85 screens; Elf #11 £44,107 from 137 screens; The Muppet Christmas Carol #12 £36,830 from 34 screens and Home Alone 2: Lost In New York #13 £31,561 from 34 screens while also Abominable returned to the top 10 in its 11^th weekend taking £54,138 from 245 screens and Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon #15 £27,312 from 135 screens.

The Christmas re-releases will be shown on terrestrial TV over the holidays but people still choose to pay to see them showing that exhibitors shouldn’t worry so much with the likes of Netflix wanting shortened theatrical windows as if it’s a film people want to see in cinemas they will pay to see it in a cinema, but cinemagoers should be able to have that choice to see films like The Irishman and Marriage Story in cinemas or streaming.

 

UK Box Office Top 10

US Box office

• Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – Disney

Opened with $177.38m; receiving mixed reviews (58% Rotten Tomatoes) and B+ CinemaScore

As always with Disney films Rise of Skywalker took more than estimates for other studios it’s less than $1m but with Rise of Skywalker it was almost $2m.

12th biggest ever opening and the 3rd biggest of 2019 after only Avengers: Endgame and The Lion King) and the 3rd biggest December opening ever after The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi and the 7th Disney film to open with over $100m.

Took $40m from Thursday previews (was predicted to take up to $50m) 5^th highest previews after Avengers: Endgame ($60m); 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($57m); 2017’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi ($45m) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 ($43.5m) ahead of Avengers: Infinity War ($39m) and 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story ($29m).

Took $89.25m on Friday (including $40m from previews) $47.5m from Saturday and $41m from Sunday 

Received the second-lowest Rotten Tomatoes film of a Star Wars film, but up to its 2012 3D re-release, The Phantom Menace had a much higher Rotten Tomatoes score and received positive reviews when it was first released in 1999.

The Force Awakens has 93% score and The Last Jedi‘s 91% and both received A CinemaScore.

2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens opened with $247.96m  (third biggest opening) 26.4% of $936.66m

2017’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi opened $220.01m (fourth-biggest opening) 35.4% of $620.18m

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was tracking to open between $175m- $200m a few weeks ago, normally Disney films open about 20% more than tracking but The Rise of Skywalker on the low end of tracking; on Friday Disney were predicting $160m+.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens opened with $528m worldwide (4th biggest WW) 25.6% of its $2.068bn total

Star Wars; The Last Jedi opened with $450.8m worldwide (8th biggest WW) 33.8% of its $1.332bn total.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker opened with 29% less than Star Wars: The Force Awakens worldwide and 17% less than Star Wars; The Last Jedi worldwide

10^th biggest 2019 film in the US between It: Chapter Two and Us; 266^th biggest film in the US between Home and Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian; 595^th biggest film inflation inflated between Snow White and the Huntsman and 50 First Dates and 7th biggest Disney film in the US between Pretty Woman and National Treasure.

The Rise of Skywalker is expected to be the third film this year to join the $100m losers club net week after Avengers: Endgame and The Lion King and will be Disney’s 10^th film to be a member. It is expected to drop 60%+ similar to The Last Jedi if it holds similar to The Last Jedi, its opening was 36% final box office The Rise of Skywalker might not take $500m putting it close to the total box office of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace and Star Wars: A New Hope, but of course with inflation, those two took more than double The Rise of Skywalker.

Ahead of release The Rise of Skywalker was expected to take $450m worldwide but opened 20% less which is the average drop in most global territories.

Opening with $198m internationally from 73 territories and $374m worldwide; UK $26.8m; Germany $21.8m; France $15.2m; Japan $14.6m; Australia $12.6m;

22^nd biggest film worldwide between Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood; 331st biggest film worldwide between Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse 3D and My Big Fat Greek Wedding and 74^th biggest Disney film worldwide between Cars 3 and Toy Story.

Opened with only $13.1m in China second to Donnie Yen’s Ip Man 4: The Finale with $47m; Disney has heavily promoted the five Star Wars films in China but they were always going to be hard sells in China as the original films weren’t legally available until about a decade ago, so hadn’t built the same fanbase they have elsewhere.

With Disney launching The Force Awakens in China it’s like launching the Harry Potter series with Deathly Hallows Part 1. It would have surely been a better idea to hold back launching the film series in 2022 with the planned new Star Wars trilogy.

Took $35.5m from 1,455 IMAX screens in 73 territories the 3rd highest IMAX worldwide opening in December and the 6th highest global opening ever for IMAX taking $17.1m internationally and the biggest IMAX opening in Japan, Germany, Sweden, Finland and Hungary.

• Jumanji: The Next Level – Sony Pictures

Dropped 55% in its second weekend taking $26.5m and $102.3m  

2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle increased 38.4% in its second weekend taking $50.05m and $169,002,557 taking 41.8% of $404,515,480 and $962.07m worldwide

With the arrival of Rise of Skywalker, the sequel was always going to drop heavily in its second weekend but with the Christmas holidays, this week and Rise of Skywalker likely to drop heavily over the coming weeks The Next Level will likely hold well over the coming weeks due to strong word of mouth similar to Welcome to the Jungle 2 years ago.

As with Welcome to the Jungle with The Last Jedi The Next Level is the perfect alternative to Rise of Skywalker as it’s a fun popcorn movie perfect for Christmas.

Since starring in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle has starred in Dwayne Johnson has starred in Rampage opened $35.75m taking $101.02m in the US and $428.02m worldwide

Skyscraper opened $24.9m taking $68,42m in the US and $304.86m worldwide

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw opened $60.03m taking $173.81m in the US and $758.91m worldwide

Will be seen next in Disney’s Jungle Cruise next summer and Red Notice for Netflix and then Shazam spinoff Black Adam.

Social media is massive for Jumanji: The Next Level with a score of 788.4m compared to 154.9m for a normal family film due to Dwayne Johnson (164m followers) and Kevin Hart (83m followers) with a reach of 568m by its opening weekend. Next Level has 130.4m Facebook fans, 21.9m Facebook video views, 78.7m Twitter followers, 264.3m YouTube views and 293.1m Instagram followers.

26^th biggest film of 2019 in the US between Hustlers and Ford v. Ferrari; 708^th biggest film in the US between The Maze Runner and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’ 1,309^th biggest inflation inflated film between Bustin’ Loose and Non-Stop and 86^th biggest Sony Pictures film between The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and In the Line of Fire.

Took $32.6m from 52 territories and $210m total and $312m worldwide; UK $19.6m; France $13.5m; Germany $8.4m;  

28^th biggest film worldwide in 2019 between John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum and Us; 456^th biggest film worldwide between Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and The Expendables 2 and 40^th biggest Sony Pictures film worldwide between Resident Evil: The Final Chapter and The Pursuit of Happyness.

• Cats – Universal Pictures

Opened with $6.5m; receiving poor reviews and C+ CinemaScore

It was tracking to open between $10m-$15m

Universal Pictures have had strong success over the last decade with Les Miserables and Mamma Mia but some of the biggest and greatest musicals don’t work in cinemas including 1985’s A Chorus taking only $14.2m; 2005’s Rent taking $29m; 2009’s Nine taking $20m and 2012’s Rock of Ages taking $59m.

Previous films based on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musicals including 1996’s Evita taking $50m and 2004’s The Phantom of the Opera taking $51m were also unsuccessful in the US. Will the disappointing performance have any impact on STX currently developing an animated film of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

While Evita and The Phantom of the Opera underwhelmed in the US they performed much stronger internationally as many other musicals have done, while musicals have performed much stronger in the UK rather than the US with many musicals since 2001’s Moulin Rouge.

Some questioned Universal Pictures decision to open Cats thus weekend rather than on Christmas Day but they were probably hoping for similar success as 2017’s The Greatest Showman, but they are two very different films, Cats was an all-star $100m budget musical, while The Greatest Showman received mixed reviews but became the people’s champion.

Problems started with the film when Universal Pictures wanted to get a trailer out with The Lion King in July, the problem was the trailer was poorly received probably as they were still working on the visual effects and that negativity for the film continued until its release. Where reported that Steven Spielberg didn’t get to see a final cut before release as director Tom Hooper didn’t complete the film until 24 hours before its US premiere.

Could possibly ask why Universal Pictures didn’t delay the film, but chances are after all the negativity surrounding the trailer in July it would be the final nail in the coffin if they then announced it was delayed for several months as was the case with Dark Phoenix.

Probably the issue with many critics is they were seeing Cats cold, they hadn’t seen the stage show so had no idea what they were going to see as the musical closed on Broadway in 2000, while it has been on tour since, but the show isn’t as accessible as Mamma Mia! or Les Miserables which is probably what critics were expecting.

While younger audiences found it weird it played strongly to older audiences as they knew what to expect. The problem was Universal Pictures were marketing the film to a younger female audience with the cast including Jason Derulo, Jennifer Hudson, Taylor Swift and Rebel Wilson

The problem with Cats is its song-driven with a little plot which made it hard to transform it into an animated film as it was originally planned to be in the early 90s.

Opened with $4.4m in the UK expands into 37 territories next week

• Frozen 2 – Disney

Dropped 32% in its fifth weekend taking $12.98m and $387.21m

After opening with almost 50% more than 2013’s Frozen taking $130.26m Vs $67.39m the sequel has dropped much more heavily than the original film over the weeks after opening and its fifth weekend took very similar amount. This is due to Disney sequels and reimaginations never being as good as the original films, despite the hype that surrounds them when audiences realise they are all hype no sustenance.

2013’s Frozen dropped 13% taking $19.64m and $192.03m 47.9% of $400.73m; stayed in the top 10 for 17 weeks taking $1m+ for 17 weeks

Comparisons could be made with

5^th weekends

2016’s Finding Dory dropped 45.8% taking $11.28m and $445.75m 91.6% of $486.29m; stayed in the top 10 for 7 weeks taking $1n+ for 9 weeks.

2018’s Incredibles 2 dropped 42.7% taking $16.26m and $535.86m 88.1% of $608.58m; stayed in top 10 for 8 weeks taking $1n+ for 13 weeks

2019’s Toy Story 4 dropped 25.8% taking $15.55m and $376.48m 86.7% of $434.03m; stayed in the top 10 for 8 weeks taking $1m+ for 11 weeks

2019’s The Lion King dropped 39% taking $12.53m and $496.54m 91.3% of $543.63m; stayed in the top 10 for 11 weeks taking $1m+ for 11 weeks

If Frozen 2 holds similar to previous these films it will take between $450m+ which will be about 10% more than Frozen took in 2013.

2013’s Frozen took $1.274bn worldwide and in 2013 Frozen overtook Toy Story 3 to become the highest-grossing animated film of all time but was surpassed this year by The Lion King reimagination.

6^th biggest 2019 film in the US between Spider-Man: Far From Home and Aladdin

8^th biggest animated film between Frozen and Finding Nemo

40^th biggest film in the US between Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II and 22^nd biggest Disney film between Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 and Finding Nemo; 110^th biggest inflation inflated between Rocky III and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Took $31.6m from 48 territories and $717.2m international and $1,103bn worldwide; China $115.1m; Korea $89.9m; Japan $75.7m; UK $54m; Germany $43.6m; France $40.5m; Russia $28.7m; Mexico $25.4m; Australia $18.8m; Italy $18.6m; Spain $18.3m.

Frozen 2 is the 4th biggest animated film worldwide, having passed Despicable Me 3 ($1.035bn), Toy Story 3 ($1.067bn) and Toy Story 4 ($1.074bn).

Frozen 2 is Disney’s 6^th film to take over $1bn worldwide in 2019 after Avengers: Endgame, The Lion King, Captain Marvel, Toy Story 4 and Aladdin and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will make it 7 shortly.

The big question is how many $1bn+ film will Disney get next year without Avengers films, Pixar sequels, the biggest Disney reimaginations and Star Wars, as their slate of two original Pixar films, two smaller MCU, one reimagination of Disney animated film which wasn’t a huge success originally and two original films would be much more impressive if they were also to take $1bn+ each.

8^th biggest 2019 film worldwide Aladdin and Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw

9^th biggest 2019 film, internationally between Aladdin and Toy Story 4 and 42^nd biggest film internationally between Spectre and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I.

8^th biggest animated film worldwide between Despicable Me 3 and Finding Dory

40^th biggest film worldwide between Despicable Me 3 and Finding Dory

22^nd biggest Disney film worldwide between Zootopia and Finding Dory.

• Bombshell – Lionsgate

Expanded into 1,480 screens up 1,501% taking $5.1m and $5.51m

Opening similar to 2018’s Vice opened with $4.78m taking $57.83m

Was surprising Lionsgate opted to expand this weekend rather than Christmas Day as these films normally expand over Christmas Day being an alternative to the blockbusters?

Received two Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress Drama Charlize Theron and Best  Supporting Actress Margot Robbie and three Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations for Best Actress Charlize Theron and Best  Supporting Actress Margot Robbie and Nicole Kidman.

• Ford v Ferrari – 20th Century Fox

Dropped 55% in its sixth weekend taking $1.84m and $102.01m

Ford Vs Ferrari has overtaken Alita: Battle Angel to become 20^th Century Fox’s biggest film of the year and will shortly also become their first $100m+ film since Bohemian Rhapsody.

28^th biggest 2019 film between Rocketman and Alita: Battle Angel; 103^rd biggest 20^th Century Fox film in the US between The Poseidon Adventure and Me, Myself & Irene.

Ford v Ferrari was always the diamond in a rough of 20^th Century Fox 2019 slate and the one likely to be their biggest film of the year as it is a genre of films the studio has had much success this century targetting older demographics including

6^th weekends

2005’s Walk the Line dropped 56.7% taking $1.59m and $86.25m 72.2% of $119.51m total and $186.43m worldwide

2013’s Rush dropped 44.4% taking $700,695 and $25.85m 95.9% of $26.94m and $90.24m worldwide

2015’s Bridge of Spies dropped 53% taking $2.01m and $65.23m 90.2% of $72.31m and $165.47m worldwide

2016’s Sully dropped 42.5% taking $2.88m and $118.29m 94.6% of $125.07m and $240.79m worldwide

2012’s Argo dropped 38.9% taking $4.04m and $91.99m 67.6% of $136.02m and $232.32m worldwide

Took $2m from 38 territories $91m total and $193m worldwide; Russia $10m; France $9m; Korea $8.4m; UK $7.9m; Australia $6.6m.

56^th biggest 2019 international film between Rocketman and The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part and 39^th biggest 2019 film worldwide between The Addams Family and Downton Abbey; 138^th biggest 20^th Century Fox film international between AVP: Alien Vs. Predator and Walking with Dinosaurs and 118^th biggest 20^th Century Fox film worldwide between The Other Woman and Cheaper by the Dozen.

844^th biggest film ever worldwide between The Sum of All Fears and The Equalizer.

• Jojo Rabbit – Fox Searchlight

Dropped 170 screens down to 230 screens in its tenth weekend 49% drop taking $190,400 and $20.39m

JoJo Rabbit is holding similar to last years The Favourite but after four strong weekends dropped for the fourth weekend, there was always the concern that JoJo Rabbit would repeat similar mistakes of expanding for too wide too quickly and then lose those screens as it has done.

So many award contenders open ion platform strongly but then studio will expand the film far too quickly as was the case with JoJo Rabbit as the film was too quirky for mainstream audiences to open wide, it needed award recognition and in January boosted by Golden Globes and Oscar nominations it will expand again as many other Fox Searchlight films have done previously.

10^th weekend Fox Searchlight comparison films

2018’s The Favourite up 211.9% adding 1,023 screens to 1,540 taking $2,542,712 #14 and $26,109,876 76% of total; took 11 weeks to expand into its widest 1,554 screens going on to take $34,366,783 and played in cinemas for over 16 weeks.

2017’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri up 257.1% adding 712 screens to 1,022 screens taking $2,518,115 #16 and $28,726,574 52.7% of total; 5 weeks to expand into widest 1,620 screens expanding again in 10th weekend (Golden Globe’s weekend) to 1,022 screens going on to take $54,513,740 and played in cinemas for over 20 weeks.

2017’s The Shape of Water down 24.9% adding 487 screens to 2.341 screens taking $4,448,520 #9 and $44,728,570 70.1% of the total; took 10 weeks to expand into widest 2,341 screens going on to take $63,859,435 and played in cinemas for over 18 weeks.

2015’s Brooklyn down 15.5% added 9 screens to 294 taking $1,055,322 #16 and $22,439,281 58.5% of the total; took 6 weeks to expand into 947 screens expanding again in January going on to take $38,322,743 and played in cinemas for over 20 weeks.

2014’s Birdman dropped 33.9% dropped 154 screens to 452 screens taking $865,337 #15 and $22,204,384 52.4% of the total; took 8 weeks to expand into 738 screens (expanded into 1,213 screens after Oscar win) going on to take $42,340,598 and played in cinemas for over 20 weeks.

2013’s 12 Years A Slave dropped 49.5% and 196 screens to 301 taking $370,090 #20 and $37,080,316 65.42% of the total; took 6 weeks to expand into widest 1,474 screens going on to take $56,671,993 and played in cinemas for over 25 weeks.

Fox Searchlight has had many successful Oscar winners that also started on platform, but they had a much wider target demographic before opening (Juno, Slumdog Millionaire, Black Swan, The Descendants, Sideways and The Full Monty) JoJo Rabbit’s not yet that must-see Oscar contender receiving polarised critical reaction.

On platform

• Uncut Gems – A24

Down 55% in its second weekend taking $241,431 from 5 screens taking $1.01m

Having the second-best screen average of the weekend after A Hidden Life and ahead of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

• A Hidden Life – Fox Searchlight

Added 101 screens up 390% taking $246,845 from 106 screens taking $318,988

The 8 films Terrence Malick directed have taken $89.21m in the US and $226.68m worldwide since 1978 his biggest film is 1998’s The Thin Red Line taking $36.4m in the US and $97.7m worldwide

His last three films have taken less than $1m with 2011’s Tree of Life taking only $13.1m

UK Box Office Predictions

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will likely have a second-weekend drop similar to 2017’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi dropping 60%+ taking £8m+ after receiving similar polarised reaction as The Last Jedi.

Opening Boxing Day is Little Women which has received critical acclaim (94% Rotten Tomatoes) it’s the eighth film adaptation of the 1868 novel of the same name by Louisa May Alcott. The last film version opened in March 1995 #1 with £1.22m; taking £2.64m inflation inflated (has been over 100% ticket inflation since 1995) taking £2.83m (£6.1m inflation inflated).

Little Women is Greta Gerwig first film since Oscar-nominated Lady Bird opened February 2018 taking £1,233,508 from 190 screens #3 expanding into 397 screens in its second weekend but still dropped 25% and down to #5 taking £926,935 and £2,623,540 taking £5,079,887 staying in the top 10 for 4 weeks.

Little Women received two Golden Globes while Lady Bird received 5 Oscar nominations and 3 BAFTA nominations but won two Golden Globe Awards but no Oscars or BAFTAs.

Have been reports men haven’t attended BAFTA and Oscar screenings for the film as it’s a women’s film, but It’s crazy to suggest just because it’s a film with women in leading roles men won’t go… saying that many were surprised Timothée Chalamet got his own poster for Little Women. I saw the previous version of Little Women on its opening night in December 1994 at Sony Lincoln Square, it’s a practically perfect version of the film with a lovely cast and wonderful score by Thomas Newman.

It was surprising Sony Pictures opted to open Little Women on Boxing Day instead of January away from the Christmas films, but it gives them the head start on the many other award contenders including JoJo Rabbit, 1917 (looking like it’s going to be next years must-see Oscar nominee), A Hidden Life, Bombshell, Just Mercy,  The Personal History Of David Copperfield, A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood, Queen & Slim, Richard Jewell, The Lighthouse and also release Bad Boys For Life in January.

With Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Jumanji: The Next Level, Cats, Spies in Disguise and Frozen 2 all likely to have a strong Christmas Little Women might not even open in the top 5.

Also, opening is animated spy comedy Spies in Disguise, the 13th Blue Sky Studios animated film released by 20th Century Fox since Ice Age in 2002, while they haven’t had the success of Disney and Pixar most have performed well at the box office.; the 12 Blue Sky Studios films have taken over £196m at the UK box office.

Spies in Disguise has received positive reviews (75% Rotten Tomatoes) the spy spoof comedy has similarities with Dreamworks Animation’s Flushed Away opened with £3,106,874 in 2006 (£4,606,084 inflation inflated) and £10,749,860 (£15,937,164 inflation inflated). Spies in Disguise could do similar as Christmas holidays are very lucrative especially for children’s films and Spies in Disguise will be targetting a younger male preteen audience too young for either Star Wars or Jumanji.

Also opening is family comedy Playing With Fire; Paramount Pictures have had success with family comedies recently with 2019’s Instant Family opened with £2,469,853 taking £10,459,989; 2017’s Daddy’s Home opened with £4,919,051 taking £14,296,957; 2015’s Daddy’s Home opened with £1,628,219 taking £16,742,333

Christmas is a crazily time for cinemagoing highlighted by 2016’s Monster Trucks opening with £1,726,229 taking £3,255,346 despite receiving terrible reviews.

John Cena has been slowly following in Dwayne Johnson footsteps starring in comedies Daddy’s Home, Daddy’s Home 2, Blockers (opened with £1,349,627 taking £4,239,132) and Fighting with My Family (opened with £2,022,174 taking £5,837,684)and Transformers prequel Bumblebee (opened with £5,103,382 taking £11,643,637).

Opening in the UK Next Week

• JoJo Rabbit – 20^th Century Fox (Wednesday 1^st January)

Black comedy starring Roman Griffin Davis, Thomasin McKenzie, Waititi, Rebel Wilson, Stephen Merchant, Alfie Allen, Sam Rockwell, and Scarlett Johansson and written and directed by Taika Waititi based on the book Caging Skies by Christine Leunens.

Had its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival winning the People’s Choice Award polarised critics receiving both praise (79% Rotten Tomatoes) and criticism and comparison with 1997’s Life Is Beautiful.

Taika Waititi previously directed quirky indie films What We Do in the Shadows and Hunt for the Wilderpeople before directing Thor: Ragnarok which was a critical and box office success and will direct the fourth film Thor: Love and Thunder next year, before that he will direct Next Goal Wins based on the 2014 documentary.

In August it was reported that during a screening a Disney executive grew audibly uncomfortable, worrying aloud that the material would alienate Disney fans.

While Disney might own 20th Century Fox JoJo Rabbit was released through Fox Searchlight so is no direct connection to Disney, similar to in the early 90s when Disney owned Miramax and released films like Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill but there was never that concern that they were being released by Disney.

Likewise, Disney created Touchstone Pictures in the early 80s and Hollywood Pictures in the late 80s to make films targetting older audiences and Disney would only release family-friendly films through the Disney brand.

While Disney has had huge success at the box office over recent years after buying Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm they are the one studio that has yet to win a Best Picture Oscar, they went close this year with Black Panther nominated for Best Picture; The English Patient in 1996 and Chicago in 2002 were the last times Disney were connected to a Best Picture winner while they owned  Miramax.

Since then Fox Searchlight has won Best Picture Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire, 12 Years a Slave, Birdman, and The Shape of Water and won 15 other Oscars and The Full Monty, Sideways, Little Miss Sunshine, Juno, Black Swan, 127 Hours, The Tree of Life, The Descendants, Beasts of the Southern Wild, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Brooklyn, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and The Favourite have also been nominated for Best Picture.

Over the last 20 years, Fox Searchlight has released 186 films taking $2.66bn in the US.

In a recent interview, the head of Fox Searchlight said it has been business as usual since Disney acquired 20th Century Fox and will probably run Fox Searchlight as they did Miramax in the 90s; as its parent studio has had a disappointing year so far with Ready or Not taking $28.61m its current biggest film of the year but Jojo Rabbit depending on its award success could take similar to 2017’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

Jojo Rabbit opened on platform release in the US in October expanding over several weeks and has taken $20m after 10 weeks on release.

In the UK JoJo Rabbit has a similar release of The Favourite last year opening on January 1^st

2019’s The Favourite opened with £3,973,975 taking £16,965,411

2018’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri opened with £2,361,782  taking £15,238,741

2018’s The Shape of Water opened with £2,466,217 taking £7,312,082

2015’s Birdman opened with £1,524,667 taking £5,044,674

Ahead of release JoJo Rabbit was seen as an Oscar favourite but has been eclipsed by many other films including 1917, The Irishman, Marriage Story and Bombshell.

• The Gentlemen – Entertainment Film Distributors (Wednesday 1st January)

Crime comedy starring Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, Henry Golding, Michelle Dockery, Jeremy Strong, Eddie Marsan, Colin Farrell and Hugh Grant and written and directed by Guy Ritchie.

The Gentlemen takes Guy Ritchie back to his British gangster routes of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch.

It was announced at Cannes 2018 as Toff Guys where Miramax acquired world rights and Entertainment Film Distributors earlier this year acquired UK rights with STX acquiring the US.

Received mixed reviews

1998’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels opened with £941,638 taking £11,399,953

2000’s Snatch opened with £3,180,002 taking £12,137,698

Opening in the US Next Week

• The Grudge – Sony Pictures

Supernatural horror reboot of the 2004 American remake of the Japanese horror film Ju-On: The Grudge and the fourth instalment of The Grudge film series starring Andrea Riseborough, Demián Bichir, John Cho, Betty Gilpin, Lin Shaye and Jacki Weaver and directed by Nicolas Pesce.

2004’s The Grudge opened with $39.12m and $110.35m in the US and $187.28m worldwide

2006’s The Grudge 2 opened with $20.82m and $39.14m in the US and $70.71m worldwide