- Smile – £1,715,678 – £4,751,848
Down 7.8% in its second weekend (up 17% not including previews)
519th biggest second weekend between Creed 2 and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (close to Interview with the Vampire, Sleepy Hollow, The Ring and The Others) and 928th biggest inflation inflated between Step Brothers and Licence to Kill (close to Insidious, The Invisible Man, The Conjuring 2: The Enfield Case and Constantine).
14th biggest horror second weekend between Sleepy Hollow and What Lies Beneath (close to Paranormal Activity, The Nun, Halloween and The Conjuring) and 42nd biggest inflation inflated between The Invisible Man and The Conjuring 2 (close to Saw, Halloween: H20, The Ring Two and Scream 3).
Had the second-best hold for horror after 2012’s The Woman in Black (up 11.1%) 1987’s Witches of Eastwick was better up 30% but was due to expansion opening £143,811 and taking £186,694 in 2nd.
30th biggest 2022 film between Operation Mincemeat and See How They Run (close to Morbius, Jackass Forever, The Black Phone and The Northman).
What helped Smile break out was its very strong marketing campaign which went viral and the success of recent female horrors Scream and Bodies, Bodies, Bodies. Horror has had a long history of films with a female lead with Jamie Lee Curtis returning for her last Halloween film later this month 44 years after the first film.
Similar horrors include (originals do not reboot)
2003’s The Ring dropped 23.1% £1,692,154 and £5,011,782 54.2% of £9,246,275 (£16,826,555 inflation inflated)
1997’s Scream dropped 10.1% £961,645 (£1,909,113 inflation inflated) and £8,247,094 34.6% of £8,247,094 (£16,372,609 inflation inflated)
2004’s The Grudge dropped 32.9% £1,516,854 and £4,875,891 63% of £7,743,528 (£13,934,901 inflation inflated)
Audiences of Smile will likely go on to see Halloween Ends and Barbarian over the next three weeks.
- 2. The Woman King – £1,308,685 – NE
Included £380,379 from previews on September 20th (29.1% of opening)
8.5% of the opening came from 50 IMAX screens (£111,238) also showing in 21 4DX screens
1,254th biggest opening between The Producers and Pocahontas (close to Braveheart, Road to Perdition, West Side Story and The Children of Men) and 1,797th biggest inflation inflated between Zodiac and Office Christmas Party (close to Lion, Jane Eyre, Romeo and Juliet and Mrs Henderson Presents).
51st biggest eOne opening between A Walk Among the Tombstones and A Dog’s Purpose (close to Miss Potter, Vice, Spotlight and I, Tonya).
1,558th biggest Fri-Sun opening (£928,306) between Truth or Dare and Paycheck (close to The Duke, Lady Bird, The Thomas Crown Affair and The Pelican Brief).
Opened with 6.9% of US opening (similar to Lucy, Donnie Brasco, The Last of the Mohicans, Misery); but with opening inflated with previews and BO from IMAX and 4DX, this should be closer to the 10% which is expected of US opening.
Had a world premiere at Toronto Film Festival receiving positive reviews and opened in the US on September 16th at #1 with $19m taking $54.12m. eOne opted to premiere it before the London Film Festival on October 3rd.
The film started development at STX in 2015 but the studio was only willing to give it a $5m budget moving to Tristar in 2017 and in October 2021 it was announced that eOne would co-finance the film releasing the film in the UK and Canada with Sony Pictures releasing elsewhere.
The Ahosi was the inspiration for Dora Milaje warriors who guard T’Challa in Black Panther.
The Woman King had paid previews in the UK on September 20th charting #3 which will be included as part of its opening BO.
The Woman King was directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood who compared the film to The Last of the Mohicans, Braveheart and Gladiator.
1992’s The Last of the Mohicans opened £748,447 (£1,883,941) taking £4,872,044; taking 6.5x opening (£12,263,587 inflation inflated)
1995’s Braveheart opened £1,322,291 (£3,070,147 inflation inflated) taking £11,909,670; 9x opening (£27,652,337 inflation inflated)
2000’s Gladiator opened £3,555,446 (£6,529,092 inflation inflated) taking £31,257,293; 8.8x opening (£57,399,756 inflation inflated)
Previous directed 2000’s Love And Basketball opened £46,423 taking £130,213; 2008’s The Secret Life of Bees opened £74,626 #12 (from 69 screens) and mostly recently 2020’s The Old Guard for Netflix.
- 3. Don’t Worry Darling – £1,020,083 – £8,209,397
Down 44.4% in its third weekend; the film has held far stronger in the UK than in the US despite the marketplace being crowded with several films targetting female audiences.
820th biggest film between Kindergarten Cop and Limitless (close to Octopussy, Scream (1997), Bad Moms and Where The Crawdads Sing) and 1,358th biggest inflation inflated between Déjà Vu and Corpse Bride (close to Malice, The Prince of Tides, Hustlers and Layer Cake).
19th biggest film of 2022 between Lightyear and Death on the Nile (close to Bullet Train, The Lost City, Nope and Scream)
Don’t Worry Darling has been compared to
Third weekends
2004’s The Stepford Wives (remake) dropped 32% taking £321,088 #9 and £3,280,180 of £3,766,378 (£6,777,803 inflation inflated)
1998’s The Truman Show dropped 31% taking £1,096,394 and £6,993,579 of £9,929,680 (£19,908,639 inflation inflated)
2018’s A Simple Favour dropped 52% taking £484,975 #6 and £4,475,268 of £4,930,383
2015’s Focus dropped 39% taking £805,244 #3 and £5,642,938 of £7,350,427
Olivia Wilde’s previous film 2019’s Booksmart took £1.5m
1990’s The Vanishing (Dutch original received critical acclaim) took £81,485
1993’s The Vanishing took £1,218,848
1996’s Fear took £235,024
As with Where The Crawdads Sing, Don’t Worry Darling received poor reviews but has been embraced by female audiences, they aren’t films that audiences rush out to see, so word of mouth is getting audiences to see them.
- 4. Ticket To Paradise – £861,172 – £6,730,687
Down 35.6% in its third weekend
1,023rd biggest film between Shaun of the Dead and X-Men: Dark Phoenix (close to The Firm, Lethal Weapon 2, The Talented Mr Ripley and One Fine Day) and 1,542nd biggest inflation between Me Myself and Irene and Rambo III (close to Beaches, The Stepford Wives, A Life Less Ordinary and History Boys)
24th biggest film of 2022 between Where The Crawdads Sing and Morbius (close to Death on the Nile, Nope, Jackass Forever and The Duke).
61st biggest rom-com between Just Friends and Father of the Bride (close to Something’s Gotta Give, Bride Wars, One Fine Day and When Harry Met Sally) and 102nd biggest inflation-inflated rom-com between The American President and A Life Less Ordinary (close to Mannequin, Coyote Ugly, Crazy Rich Asians and Moonstruck).
2022’s The Lost City took £1,204,261 #3 down 12% and £7,406,098 of £10,606,648
At the UK premiere, George Clooney said ‘The whole country was experiencing a “tough time”, and he was happy in his role as a dispenser of frothy cinematic delights to be “a ray of sunshine” for everyone.’
Rom-coms have struggled at the box office over the last decade as they were 32 years ago when they were at their peak when Julia Roberts starred in Pretty Woman.
Third weekends
Selective George Clooney films
1997’s One Fine Day dropped 41% taking £499,385 #3 (274 screens) and £4,181,150 of £6,277,048 and (£12,461,560 inflation inflated) 5.32x opening. The film disappointed in the US opening the week after Jerry Maguire in December 1996 and opened in the UK 8 months later in July 1997
2003’s Intolerable Cruelty dropped 6% taking £688,290 #4 (357 screens) and £4,862,769 of £6,465,278 (£11,765,641 inflation inflated) 4.2x opening;
1998’s Out of Sight dropped 42.7% taking £294,577 #6 (282 screens) and £2,501,747 of £3,166,201 (£6,348,115 inflation inflated) 3.6x opening
2010’s Up In The Air dropped 39% taking £735,463 #6 (335 screens) and £4,635,071 of £5,580,729
Selective Julia Roberts films
1990’s Pretty Woman dropped 40% taking £466,976 #1 (228 screens) and £3,998,969 of £11,990,862 (£34,479,062 inflation inflated) 14.92x opening;
1997’s My Best Friend’s Wedding dropped 21% taking £906,096 #3 (287 screens) and £5,096,030 of £8,488,511 (£16,851,884 inflation inflated);
1999’s Runaway Bride dropped 30% taking £811,139 #5 (350 screens) and £5,183,926 of £7,562,023 (£14,513,336 inflation inflated) 4.6x opening; 5.96x opening
2001’s America’s Sweethearts dropped 48% taking £499,486 #6 (361 screens) and £4,837,215 of £5,637,933 (£11,003,502 inflation inflated) 3.3x opening.
George Clooney and Julia Roberts previously worked together on 2001’s Ocean’s Eleven 2003’s Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (took £1,038,201) 2004’s Ocean’s Twelve 2016’s Money Monster (took £2,387,743);
Julia Roberts was a massive global star in the 90s it’s been a while since she has had a hit film, have to go back to Mirror, Mirror in 2012 and Eat Pray Love in 2010. Similarly have to go back a decade for George Clooney as while he starred alongside Sandra Bullock in Gravity he wasn’t in for long so it’s going back to The Descendants and Up In the Air.
The producers called Ticket To Paradise a sorta sequel to a film released about 20 years ago which would be 1999’s Notting Hill dropped 22% taking £2,329,133 #2 (473 screens) and £14,893,444 of £30,765,273 (£59,045,940 inflation inflated) 7.12x opening or 1994’s Four Weddings and a Funeral dropped 9.43% taking £1,414,672 #1 (212 screens) and £6,792,276 of £27,762,648 (£69,022,214 inflation inflated) 19.4x opening.
While Ol Parker previously directed 2018’s Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again and wrote screenplays for the two The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel films.
2012’s The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel took £20,308,480 (£25,760,207 inflation inflated)
2015’s The Second-Best Exotic Marigold Hotel took £15,575,797
It took $10.6m from 59 territories and $60.6m after four weeks of opening in the US on October 21st.
- 5. Amsterdam – £632,722 – NE
Had similar openings as The Godfather Part III (£664,337), A Time To Kill (£662,615), Die Hard (£612,125) and Dead Poets Society (£607,675) and inflation-inflated openings as, In the Loop (£468,954), A Mirror Has Two Faces (£334,312), The Shawshank Redemption (£270,688) and Broadcast News (£128,836).
David O.Russell’s ensemble Amsterdam would have surely been expected to premiere at either Venice or Toronto Film Festivals especially after Disney brought its release forward a month from November. His other recent films Joy, American Hustle, Silver Lining Playbook and The Fighter all received critical acclaim, were nominated for awards and premiered at film festivals, as it wasn’t selected for any film festival the studio couldn’t have much faith in the film and in doing so it was always likely to be DOA. What didn’t help Amsterdam in the UK was it opened against The Woman King and The Lost Prince both targetting similar demographic.
Joy, American Hustle, Silver Lining Playbook and The Fighter all had similar openings in the UK, American Hustle’s £3.46m opening was inflated with £2.36m previews. While David O.Russell’s films are heavyweights with strong A-list casts they often have script issues, Variety called American Hustle “a sloppy sprawl of a movie”… “makes your brain hurt — and worse, overwhelms the already over-complicated Abscam re-telling at the centre of the film”.
It’s been compared to Coen Brothers films opening similar to 2004’s The Ladykillers £565,137 (£1,016,995 inflation inflated) taking £1,980,260 (£3,563,586 inflation inflated) and 2000’s O’ Brother, Where Art Thou opened £563,900 (£1,100,558 inflation inflated) taking £2,232,468 (£4,357,087 inflation inflated).
David O. Russell’s first film since 2015’s Joy his fourth film for 20th Century Fox
Previously directed films
2016’s Joy opened £1,519,936 taking £4,801,506
2013’s American Hustle opened £3,467,644 (including £2,362,277 previews) taking £13,096,887
2012’s Silver Lining Playbook opened £1,260,979 taking £4,492,382
2011’s The Fighter opened £2,118,140 taking £5,168,297
2004’s I Heart Huckabees opened £155,592 #12 from 62 screens; expanding into 191 screens (widest) in the second weekend £127,580 #12 taking £505,572
2000’s Three Kings opened £1,438,818 taking £6,090,521 (£11,184,411 inflation inflated)
1995’s Spanking the Monkey opened #11 £16.942 from 6 screens
1994’s Flirting With Disaster opened #15 £60,513
The film was produced by New Regency which recently extended its global theatrical deal with Disney, formerly 20th Century Fox, New Regency make films aimed at adult audiences which had much success with 20th Century Fox since 1998 but aren’t the films Disney have much interest in releasing. So it was surprising New Regency decided to extend their distribution deal especially as in recent years they had made several films for Netflix.
After having a disappointing opening exhibitor have reduced screenings in the second weekend for both Amsterdam and The Lost Prince which again shows studios shouldn’t announce the length of a film’s theatrical window until after they have been released. Amsterdam will have a 45-day window but after flopping it will likely be out of cinemas next weekend so surely could have had a 17-day theatrical window.
This is why the theatrical window needs to be flexible so it can be extended for films like Top Gun: Maverick and Minions: The Rise of Gru but then shortened for films that exhibitors will dump within two weeks. This highlights the reason why Netflix and other streaming services won’t agree to fixed theatrical windows as the films they make aren’t films audiences will rush out to normally over opening weekend, so exhibitors will have pulled them before audiences have discovered them.
Also Opened
• The Lost King – Pathe
Opened with £368,753 #7 from 574 screens
Surprising The Lost King opened the same weekend as The Woman King and Amsterdam as being a British film surely it could have opened anytime and these three films targetting similar demographics were likely to cannibalize each other.
Stephen Frears’s first film since 2017’s Victoria & Abdul since then directed several TV series.
2017’s Victoria & Abdul opened £1,846,970 taking £9,828,274; 5.32x opening
2016’s Florence Foster Jenkins opened #4 £712,899 (556 screens) taking £3,158,125; 4.43x opening
2013’s Philomena opened #4 £1,509,726 (547 screens) £10,470,225; 6.94x opening
2006’s The Queen opened £856,273 taking £9,414,401 (£15,619,786 inflation inflated); 11x opening
2005’s Mrs. Henderson Presents opened £752,394 taking £3,890,226 (£6,673,679 inflation inflated); 5.2x opening
1996’s The Van opened £204,447 #6 from 94 screens taking £884,749
1991’s The Grifters opened £56,534 (from 3 screens) taking £488,952
1988’s Dangerous Liaisons opened £103,503 (£388,979 inflation inflated) platform taking £2,687,526 (£10,100,098 inflation inflated); 26x opening
1985’s My Beautiful Laundrette opened on platform in 5 cinemas taking £22,101
• Vengeance – Universal Pictures
Opened with £29,052 from 134 screens
It had world premiere at the Tribeca Festival receiving positive reviews (80% Rotten Tomatoes) opened in the US in July on a limited wide release of 998 screens taking $1.75m and $4.22m
Also opened
Bram Stoker’s Dracula took £13,991 from 76 screens for its 30th anniversary. It was originally released in January 1993 with £2,640,584 from 335 screens (£6,646,704 inflation inflated) taking £11,548,429 (£29,068,943 inflation inflated); it was #1 for 4 weeks and was the 6th biggest film of the year between Indecent Proposal and Cliffhanger.
Lyle, Lyle Crocodile had weekend previews taking £500k on Saturday and about £1m over two days ahead of its opening next weekend, so it should open with about £2.5m including previews opening #1 ahead of half-term holidays in two weeks.
DC League of Super-Pets is left the top 10 after 11 weeks and Minions: The Rise of Gru will leave next weekend after 15 weeks (dropped 42% this weekend) both films have been available to watch at home on VOD for over a month, but audiences have still opted to see both in the cinema.
Film News
Much was made about the announcement major exhibitors have agreed with Netflix to screen Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery in cinemas for a week in November, a month before being released on Netflix, but independent cinemas have booked Netflix films for several years.
Never made any sense major exhibitors refused to book Netflix or Sky films but were perfectly happy to book Event Cinema screenings like Sherlock and Doctor Who that were being simulcast on BBC1. As the majority of people don’t subscribe to all of the streaming services so there is an audience in cinemas to see these films, while having a choice of cinema Vs home many will opt for cinema as seen by how Top Gun Maverick, Minions: The Rise of Gru, DC League of Super-Pets and Elvis continued to find audiences in cinemas despite being available to watch at home on VOD.
In the UK it will be Netflix Vs Netflix on November 25th as the Knives Out sequel opens against Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical released by Sony Pictures in the UK. Also due to open on November 25th is Disney’s Strange World, She Said and Bones and All, but all of these will likely be overshadowed on a Friday night by England’s second World Cup game at 7 pm against the USA with a 20m+ tv audience.
UK box office in detail
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £6,887,976 down 17.4% from last weekend’s £8,353,283: 852,472 admissions down 14.1% from 991,861
871st biggest top 10 of the last 21 years (out of 1,069) between 21 June 2002 #1 Spider-Man: The Movie £4,255,920 (61.8% of top 10) and 08 April 2005 #1 Sahara £1,370,577 (20% of top 10) and 1,010th biggest inflation inflated between 11 December 2015 #1 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2 £1,286,244 (20.9% of top 10) and 18 March 2022 #1 The Batman £3,351,288 (49.1% of top 10);
Top 3 took £4,044,446 58.7% of the top 10; Smile 24.9% (£1,715,678); The Woman King 19% (£1,308,685); Don’t Worry Darling 14.8% (£1,020,083);
Down 62.6% from 2021 (£18,399,057); The Addams Family 2 (£2,009,785); #1 No Time To Die £15,235,947 2nd week (82.8% of top 10)
Up 389.8% from 2020 (£1,406,296); Saint Maud (£263,433); Akira (Re: 2020) (£201,124); Kajillionaire (£44,275); Hocus Pocus (Re: 2020) (£20,491); #1 Tenet £296,049 7th week 53% drop 355 screens
Down 63.3% from 2019 (£18,790,335); Joker (£12,555,328); Judy (£2,086,969); Vampirina: Fang-Tastic Party (£74,628); #1 Joker £12,555,328 1st week 666 screens (66.8% of top 10);
Down 64.8% from 2018: (£19,552,430); Venom (£8,031,342); Johnny English Strikes Again (£4,117,692); A Star is Born (£4,100,196); Aida – Met Opera 2018 (£302,179); Blindspotting (£28,231); #1 Venom £8,031,342 1st week 556 screens (41.1%)
Down 39.4% from 2017: (£11,370,381); Blade Runner 2049 (£6,071,625); The Mountain Between Us (£777,646); Norma – Met Opera 2017 (£224,794); The Glass Castle (£49,425); #1 Blade Runner 2049 £6,071,625 1st week 634 screens (54.4% of the top 10)
Down 52.8% from 2016: (£14,587,631); The Girl on the Train (£6,957,945); War on Everyone (£187,564); Tristan und Isolde – Met Opera 2016 (£178,283); My Scientology Movie (£106,720); Blood Father (£68,808); #1 The Girl on the Train £6,957,945 1st week 612 screens (47.7% of the top 10)
Down 24.7% from 2015; (£9,148,818); Sicario (£1,596,734); The Walk (£795,115); Regression (£214,742); Giselle – Bolshoi 2015 (£128,875); #1 The Martian £3,854,809 2nd week 582 screens 41% drop (42.1% of top 10)
Down 37.8% from 2014: (£11,071,974); The Maze Runner (£2,041,229); Annabelle (£1,939,963); One Direction: Where We Are – The Concert Film (£1,021,527); The Rewrite (£324,889); Macbeth – Met Opera 2014 (£205,937); ’71 (£205,116); Effie Gray (£67,339); Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (£20,689); The Calling (£8,112); #1 Gone Girl £3,064,545 2nd week 563 screens 25% drop (33% drop (27.7% of top 10)
Up 16.3% from 2013: (£5,923,584); Sunshine on Leith (£770,239); How I Live Now (£232,400); Thanks for Sharing (£188,906); The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology (£38,432); The to do List (£13,512); #1 Prisoners £1,107,641 2nd week 437 screens 19% drop (18.7% of top 10)
Down 48.5% from 2012 (£13,375,585); Taken 2 (£7,378,048); Sinister (£1,435,722); The Perks of Being a Wallflower (£827,983); Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007 (£13,391); Sparkle (£15,911); #1 Taken 2 £7,378,048 1st week 506 screens (55.1% of top 10)
Down 40.2% from 2011 (£11,517,788); Johnny English Reborn (£4,965,000); The Lion King 3D (£2,746,763); Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (£495,734); Midnight in Paris (£495,709); Tyrannosaur (£81,790); #1 Johnny English Reborn £4,965,000 1st week 524 screens (43.1% of top 10)
Up 3.7% from 2010: (£6,639,950); Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (£1,784,309); Life As We Know It (£985,558); The Death and Life of Charlie St Cloud (£643,368); Mr Nice (£239,844); #1 Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps £1,784,309 1st week 444 screens (26.8% of top 10)
Down 41.4% from 2009; (£11,750,437); Up (£6,411,836); Zombieland (£1,240,984); Love Happens (£559,724); Halloween II (£522,661); #1 Up £6,411,836 1st week 511 screens (54.5% of top 10)
Up 24.3% from 2008; (£5,542,578); The House Bunny (£894,188); Mirrors (£834,092); City of Ember (£496,909); Nights in Rodanthe (£193,318); Gomorrah (£171,348); The Mutant Chronicles (£74,788); #1 The House Bunny £894,188 1st week 346 screens (16.1% of top 10)
Up 21.1% from 2007: (£5,687,298); The Heartbreak Kid (£1,236,288); The Kingdom (£919,537); Control (£252,426); And When Did You Last See Your Father (£133,347); Daywatch (£95,574); #1 The Heartbreak Kid £1,236,288 1st week 409 screens (21.7% of top 10)
Down 32.6% from 2006; (£10,215,688); The Devil Wears Prada (£3,267,580); The Departed (£2,298,313); Accepted (£349,897); #1 The Devil Wears Prada £3,267,580 1st week 447 screens (31.9% of top 10)
Up 29.2% from 2005 (£5,332,334); Serenity (£958,816); Oliver Twist (£692,494); Kinky Boots (£623,163); Night Watch (£271,857); Tara Road (£73,150); #1 Serenity £958,816 1st week 355 screens (18% of top 10)
Down 1.8% from 2004 (£7,015,008); Bride and Prejudice (£1,667,616); Resident Evil: Apocalypse (£801,171); Man On Fire (£656,466); #1 Bride and Prejudice £1,667,616 1st week 376 screens (23.7% of top 10)
Down 46.4% from 2003 (£12,858,833); Cabin Fever (£1,056,338); Kill Bill (£162,857) (platform) (£152,793); #1 Finding Nemo £7,381,962 2nd week 1st #1 453 screens (57.4% of top 10)
Down 12.9% from 2002 (£7,906,650); Lilo & Stitch (£1,516,249); My Little Eye (£893,633); Boat Trip (£425,325); One Hour Photo (£420,500); Sweet Sixteen (£144,388); #1 Lilo & Stitch £1,516,249 1sr week 280 screens (19.1% of top 10)
Up 26% from 2001 (£5,465,628); Amelie (£559,747); Driven (£144,591); Original Sin (£96,622); #1 Moulin Rouge £1,072,657 5th week #1 3rd week 397 screens 20% drop (19.6% of top 10);
Next weekend 2021 (£19,158,551); Venom: Let There Be Carnage (£6,167,833); Halloween Kills (£1,598,062); Ron’s Gone Wrong (£868,053); The Last Duel (£325,523); #1 No Time To Die £8,404,165 3rd week 776 screens down 45% (43.9% of top 10)
US Box Office
- Smile – Paramount Pictures
Dropped 18% taking $18.46m and $50.75m
The second-best second weekend drop for an R-rated horror after 2017’s Split (15%); EntTelligence reported 1.4m saw Smile in its second weekend with 900K watching Lyle, Lyle Crocodile and 450K for Amsterdam.
495th biggest second weekend between Just Go with It and Elvis (close to Nope, The Ring, Sleepy Hollow and The Nun)
1,772nd biggest film between A Bridge Too Far and The Mighty Ducks; 2,693rd biggest inflation inflated between Blame it on Rio and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind; 25th biggest 2022 between The Woman King and Death on the Nile; 104th biggest horror between Ouija and Resident Evil: Apocalypse; 233rd biggest Paramount Pictures film between Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult and Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.
Comparisons have been made with The Black Phone dropping 48.2% taking $12.45m and $47.4m out of $89.88m; $159.56m worldwide
Smile is also similar to
2022’s Barbarian dropped 38.4% by $6.5m and $21.11m of $36.54m
2002’s The Ring increased 23.1% by $18.49m and $39.39m of $129.12m; $259.34m WW
1996’s Scream increased 42.8% $9.07m and $21.25m of $103.04m
2004’s The Grudge dropped 44.2% by $21.81m and $70.68m of $110.35m; $187.28m WW
2018’s Hereditary dropped 49.5% $6.85m and $27.01m of $44.06m; $80.2m WW
2018’s Truth Or Dare dropped 58.3% by $7.79m and $30.26m of $41.41m; $95.33m WW
2020’s The Invisible Man dropped 46.3% by $15.13m and $70.41m; $144.49m WW
The $17m film had a very strong marketing campaign which went viral, was originally made for Paramount+ but was given a theatrical release after high test scores and the studio had a lack of releases after Top Gun: Maverick until Babylon opening in December.
Took $17.5m from 58 territories $41.5m total and $89.9m worldwide
1,858th biggest worldwide between The Skeleton Key and Underworld 3: Rise of the Lycans; 34th biggest 2022 film between Everything Everywhere All At Once and Downton Abbey: A New Era; 112th biggest horror between The Skeleton Key and White Noise; 206th biggest Paramount Pictures film between I Love You, Man and Crawl.
- Lyle, Lyle Crocodile – Sony Pictures
Opened with $11.4m; received mixed reviews (68% Rotten Tomatoes)
Took $575k from Thursday previews compared to $900k for Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway; $325k for Paddington 2; $175K Paddington.
Took 14% of PLF screens
Sony has had success opening family films in Sept/October with 2009’s Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs opening $30.3m taking $124.87m; 2012’s Hotel Transylvania $42.5m taking $148.31m; Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 $34.01m taking $119.79m; 2015’s Hotel Transylvania 2 $48.4m taking $169.7m; Goosebumps $23.6m taking $80.08m;
Other live-action animated animal CGI family films include
2004’s Garfield opened $21.72m taking $75.36m; $203.17m WW
1999’s Stuart Little opened $15.01m taking $140.03m; $300.13m WW
2007’s Alvin and the Chipmunks opened $44.3m taking $217.32m; $365.35m WW
2014’s Paddington opened $18.96m taking $76.27m; $282.37m WW
2018’s Peter Rabbit opened $25.01m taking $115.25m; $351.26m WW
2020’s Sonic the Hedgehog opened $58.01m taking $148.97m; $319.71m WW
2021’s Clifford the Big Red Dog opened $16.62m taking $48.94m; $107.34m WW
1988’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit opened $11.22m taking $156.45m; $329.8m WW
Haven’t been any new major family films released since DC League of Super-Pets and Minions: The Rise of Gru in July/June so why did Lyle, Lyle Crocodile open so softly as those two films have still attracted audiences in cinemas for the last month despite being released on VOD.
Starts its slow international rollout on Friday in the UK and then in Nov/Dec
- Amsterdam – Disney
Opened with $6.5m; received poor reviews 34% Rotten Tomatoes and B CinemaScore
Opened in 350 IMAX and 400 PLF screens taking 33% from IMAX screens
Took $550k from Thursday previews
Previous David O. Russell films
2015’s Joy opened $17.01m taking $56.45m; $101.13m worldwide
2013’s American Hustle Opened $19.1m (after week platform) taking $150.11m; $251.17m WW
2012’s Silver Linings Playbook opened $10.75m wide (after 9 weeks of platform release) taking $132.09m; $236.41m WW
2010’s The Fighter opened $12.13m (after week platform) taking $93.61m; $129.19m WW
2004’s I Heart Huckabees opened $2.9m (after 4 weeks platform) taking $12.78m; $20.07m WW
1999’s Three Kings opened $15.84m taking $60.65m; $107.75m WW
1996’s Flirting with Disaster took $14.7m and 1994’s Spanking the Monkey took $1.33m
As with all films that underperform much has been written about why the $80m films opened poorly but it was always expected when the potential award contender with an ensemble cast didn’t premiere at Venice or Toronto Film Festivals. The cast and the director gave it a pedigree as a prestigious film but not being selected shows the studio didn’t have faith in it so it was then always going to be DOA after receiving poor reviews.
It opened like a Wes Anderson film which would have been fine if the budget was less than half and received positive reviews as it would have had long legs, but poor reviews and poor word of mouth will see it drop heavily next weekend and be out of cinemas within a few weeks.
While Disney has had huge success with MCU, Star Wars, reimaginations and reboots it’s been Disney’s Achilles’ heel for over a decade despite the studio previously having huge success with original films.
Opened with $3.5m from 30 territories and $10m worldwide
- Bros – Universal Pictures
Dropped 56% in the second weekend taking $2.15m and $8.89m
Despite generating huge media coverage after Billy Eichner reacted on Twitter last weekend after the film’s disappointing opening saying “Even with glowing reviews, great Rotten Tomatoes scores, an A CinemaScore, etc., straight people, especially in certain parts of the country, just didn’t show up for Bros. And that’s disappointing but it is what it is.”
Part of the problem was the studio was heavily marketing it as the first LGBTQ studio comedy, rather than a rom-com as was the case with 2018’s Love Simon taking $40.82m and $66.31m worldwide and While 1996’s The Birdcage taking $124.06m and $185.26m worldwide.
The other reason was the studio opted for a film festival launch instead of opening in August as it was originally due to open, Universal Pictures dated it for August 12th in March 2021 but then delayed it to September 30th in January 2022 strangely in response to Paramount delaying Mission Impossible 7.
I always find it interesting that studios keep having dating mistakes with films despite having so much data available to date the films, as the damage for Bros was done 9 months before the film was due to open.
Director Nicholas Stoller has had strong success in comedies over the last decade
2008’s Forgetting Sarah Marshall took $63.17m and $105.83m worldwide
2010’s Get Him to the Greek took $60.97m and $91.72m worldwide
2012’s The Five-Year Engagement took $28.83m and $54.16m worldwide
2014’s Neighbors took $150.15m and $270.66m worldwide
After flopping in the US it will be interesting to see what the studio does with Bros if the film didn’t have the star power to open in the US it won’t broswhile Judd Apatow films don’t perform as strongly internationally. Bros are due to open internationally in Oct/Nov but that will likely be much more limited.
- Don’t Worry Darling – Warner Bros
Dropped 49% taking $3.5m and $36.47m
2,305th biggest film between Running Scared and Bachelor Party; 3,308th biggest inflation inflated between This is Where I Leave You and Space Chimps; 28th biggest 2022 film between Downton Abbey: A New Era and Barbarian; 208th biggest thriller between Nerve and Dead Again; 381st biggest Warner Bros film between Rock of Ages and City Heat.
Third weekends
2018’s A Simple Favour dropped 36.2% taking $6.54m and $43m of $54.54m; $97.64m WW
2004’s The Stepford Wives dropped 42.3% taking $5.05m and $48.86m of $59.48m; $103.32m WW
Oliva Wilde’s 2019’s Booksmart dropped 51.7% taking $1.59m and $17.83m of $22.68m
Took $6.1m internationally from 63 territories and $69.4m globally
2,327th biggest worldwide between 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi and The Northman; 43rd biggest 2022 between jackass forever and The Northman; 332nd biggest Warner Bros between The Brave One and Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
UK Box Office Top 10
UK Box Office Preview
After taking £1,017,096 from previews Sat/Sun Lyle, Lyle Crocodile will open #1 with about £2.5m. While the film might have had a disappointing opening in the US it should perform well in the UK over the next two weeks ahead of half-term, being the only major family release opening for half-term holidays. Normally there are at least two films opening, but this year there has been a lack of family films why Minions: The Rise of Gru and DC League of Super-Pets still attracted audiences in cinemas despite being available on VOD.
Smile and Halloween Ends will battle it out for #2; 2018’s Halloween opened £2,656,097 taking £8,171,544 and 2021’s Halloween Kills opened £1,382,070 taking £4,594,478.
But with Smile holding strongly in its second weekend the two female horrors are likely to cannibalize each other, that said Halloween Ends would likely play to older horror fans who have grown up with Halloween films for decades, while Smile targets younger female adults.
Last year Halloween Kills opened third behind No Time To Die at £8,404,165 (third weekend and Venom: Let There Be Carnage at £6,167,833. While Halloween opened in October 2018 behind the third weekend of A Star is Born and Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween and Johnny English Strikes Again.
Emily the biographical drama of writer Emily Brontë joins a crowded marketplace of films targetting older audiences, normally British biographical dramas perform well in the UK, and selective films include.
2001’s Iris opened £378,749 #6 from 84 screens taking £3,647,197
2019’s Colette opened £788,432 #7 from 321 screens taking £1,931,287
1994’s Shadowlands opened £460,416 (£1,144,665 inflation inflated) taking £4,055,900 (£10,083,591 inflation inflated); taking 8.8x opening
1997’s Wilde opened £147,284 from 15 screens taking £1.5m (played on a max of 50 screens)
2000’s Angela’s Ashes opened £1,351,095 (£2,481,102 inflation inflated) taking £7,753,488 (£14,238,223 inflated) taking 5.7x opening
2004’s Finding Neverland opened £776,124 (£1,396,677 inflation inflated) taking £3,415,695; 4.4x opening
2017’s Goodbye Christopher Robin opened £781,110 #4 from 573 screens taking £2,793,497
2018’s The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society opened £825,777 #3 from 499 screens taking £5,731,735
So would normally expect Emily to open with £800k but much depends on how The Woman King, Don’t Worry Darling, Ticket To Paradise, Amsterdam, Mrs Harris Goes To Paris and The Lost King all hold as they targeted similar older female audiences.
As with The Lost King last weekend being a British film there was no reason Emily had to open in a crowded marketplace with so many films targetting similar audiences, but historically October is a suitable time to release these types of films they are. The problem is while made of them have received positive reviews there isn’t the normal stand-out film meaning BO is shared which doesn’t help any of them.
After weeks of having films in the top 10 playing for months Don’t Worry Darling and Ticket To Paradise will be the longest playing 4 weeks which will also see BO shared more evenly across all 10 films. Over the last few months with Top Gun: Maverick and Minions: The Rise of Gru both films have taken about 50% of the BO (last weekend Minions 2 took 61%) seeing the top 10 films taking £76m but next weekend they will share about a third as much as the positive is that BO is being shared over many films rather than a few which normally happens.
It will change slightly when Black Adam opens but won’t revert to normal until Black Panther Wakanda Forever opens in a month with up to 90% of the weekend BO. It is surely far healthier that BO is shared over 10 films rather than one as a much wider audience sees them.
Opening next week
- Black Adam – Warner Bros
The 11th film of the DC Extended Universe and a spin-off from 2019’s Shazam! starring Dwayne Johnson, Aldis Hodge, Noah Centineo, Sarah Shahi, Marwan Kenzari, Quintessa Swindell, Bodhi Sabongui, and Pierce Brosnan and directed by Jaume Collet-Serra.
Dwayne Johnson was to appear in Shazam! but producers decided to give the character his spin-off.
It was originally set for release in December 2021, then delayed to July 2022 due to COVID but then delayed again to October due to production delays.
Black Adam film has been in development for almost 20 years with Dwayne Johnson attached since 2007.
It’s impossible to compare the openings of Wonder Woman 1984 and Birds of Prey with Black Adam, likewise impossible to compare it with Joker or The Batman so need to look at Wonder Woman (£6,179,616); Aquaman (£5,230,285); Shazam! (£4,067,068).
While Dwyane Johnson and Jaume Collet-Serra recently worked together on 2021’s Jungle Cruise opened £2,241,651 taking £12,487,739,87 Black Adam is much darker and unlikely to have similar legs. There were reports the first test screening of Black Adam tested as low as Batgirl which was scrapped due to its low score and also similar to Shazam! Fury of the Gods.
- The Banshees Of Inisherin – Disney
Black comedy starring Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan and written and directed by Martin McDonagh.
The film premiered at the Venice International Film Festival receiving critical acclaim praising Colin Farrell’s performance and Martin McDonagh’s script.
Martin McDonagh’s first film since Oscar won Three Billboards in 2018 and also directed 2012’s Seven Psychopaths and 2008’s In Bruges. Bruges opened in the UK in April 2008 with £638,654 #3 (after opening in Ireland for 6 weeks taking £2.2m) from 270 screens taking £4,729,687 (taking about 50% of its BO from Ireland from about 60 screens).
2012’s Seven Psychopaths opened £1,121,679 (including £301,551 previews) taking £3,141,163
2018’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri opened £2,361,782 (including £190,281 previews) taking £15,238,741
As Three Billboards the film has its UK premiere at the London Film Festival (this week)
Surprised to see the film opening the same day in the UK as the US after the success Three Billboards had holding it back to January allowing it to build on from the momentum of award season as the end of October is crowded with family and horror films for the half-term and Halloween.
The Banshees Of Inisherin is one of the three films made by Searchlight Pictures seen as award contenders this year with The Menu opening in November directed by Mark Mylod and Empire of Light in December directed by Sam Mendes. All three films were launched at film festivals last month.