- Barbie – £1,944,777 – £89,082,599
Dropped 28.9% in the sixth weekend; £594k 30.5% (41.8% drop £1.02m) Friday; £711k 36.5% (26% drop £960k) Saturday; £639k 32.8% (13.2% drop £736k) Sunday.
19th biggest sixth weekend between 1917 (£1,950,909) and Slumdog Millionaire (£1,820,119) close to The Greatest Showman, The Full Monty, Mamma Mia 2 and Jurassic Park) and 46th biggest inflated between Toy Story 2 (£1,945,794) and The Dark Knight Rises (£1,725,020) (close to The Mask, Mrs. Doubtfire, Independence Day and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves).
7th biggest between Avatar (£94,025,474) and Avengers: Endgame (£88,719,051) close to No Time to Die, Spectre, Top Gun Maverick and Titanic and 20th biggest inflated between Casino Royale and Avengers: Endgame (close to Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets, Toy Story 3, Toy Story 2 and Bridget Jones’s Diary; 10th since 2009’s Avatar to take £80m+ and is Warner Bros UK biggest film overtaking 2011’s Deathly Hallows Part 2.
Predictably the industry is learning the wrong lessons from the success of Barbie as they will see it as let’s make more films based on toys but the reason for Barbie’s success was the talent it had attached to it Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie and it targeted women. If it was about films based on toys then Dungeons & Dragons and Transformers: Rise of The Beasts would have done better at the box office, the problem is a lack of films targeting women.
Comparing Barbie with Top Gun Maverick after 33 days (had two days of previews) took £63.1m 34.5% less than Barbie over 31 days, this was 75.7% of its final BO of £83.5m, so Barbie could be the third biggest film after Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Skyfall to take £100m+, this would be the equivalent of £130m+ as the 6 bigger films (Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Skyfall, Spider-Man No Way Home, No Time To Die, Spectre and Avatar) all had IMAX and other premium formats while also were the only major film on wide release.
It used to be the weekend before school holidays started which saw films like Jurassic Park and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace open rather than the weekend they started as have to go back to 1991 when Warner Bros had similar success from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves in 1991 opening the same weekend with £1,332,078 (£3,778,171 inflated) taking £20,491,099 (£58,118,882 inflated) having very strong legs and also in 1994 with The Flintstones. While most recently The Lion King in 2019.
Normally the studio would be quick to announce a sequel to a massive hit, but Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling and Greta Gerwig haven’t got deals in place for a sequel as no one expected the film to warrant a sequel. As no deals have been put in place for sequels it will be very costly but it’s doubtful Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling and Greta Gerwig would want to do a sequel.
Barbie: The Soundtrack has taken over the singles chart with Dua Lipa’s Dance the Night #1; Billie Eilish’s What Was I Made For? #2; #9 remake of Aqua’s Barbie World; Charli XCX’s Speed Drive #15, Ryan Gosling’s I’m Just Ken #22; Lizzo’s Pink #49; The soundtrack album #1 Compilations (where it will likely be for many weeks as seen by The Greatest Showman soundtrack #3 in its 189 weeks on release) and of course #1 on the Soundtrack chart.
Barbie has become the highest-grossing film at the Irish box office ever, has overtaken Avatar taking €8,854,036 also overtaking Titanic €8,253,258.
- 2 Oppenheimer – £1,638,665 – £53,173,902
Dropped 20.9% in the sixth weekend; £432k 26.4% (39% drop £708k) Friday; £611k 37.3% (20.3% drop £767k) Saturday; £595k 36.3% (up 4% £571k) Sunday.
Oppenheimer has taken 4.9x opening (Dunkirk 5.65x; Insomnia 4.87x; Inception 5.92x) hard to make comparisons with Inception 6th weekend #6 taking £1,076,106 as was in a more crowded marketplace with 6 films taking £1m+ with 3 taking £2m+ (The Expendables, Salt and Toy Story 3). While the marketplace is more crowded than Dunkirk’s 6th-weekend #2 £998,531 slightly behind American Made #1 £1,067,075.
25th biggest sixth weekend between Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (£1,640,000) and LOTR: Two Towers (£1,638,618) close to Mamma Mia 2, Joker, Bohemian Rhapsody and Die Another Day) and the 70th biggest inflated between Casino Royale (£1,655,356) and Up (£1,444,155) close to Forrest Gump, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Schindler’s List and Seven).
39th biggest between Frozen 2 (£53,549,035) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (£52,574,198) close to Casino Royale, Bohemian Rhapsody, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Full Monty and 81st biggest inflated between Avengers Age of Ultron and Spider-Man 3 (close to Gladiator, The Greatest Showman, Les Miserables and The Da Vinci Code); 47th film to take £50m+ since 1997’s The Full Monty.
This weekend three years ago Tenet opened in the UK with £5,335,654 (including £2,044,948) and took 85.7% of weekend BO due to no other major films on release and despite huge media coverage and hype that it was going to be the saviour of cinema audiences didn’t come out to see it in the numbers industry expected. As I’ve said many times before, Christopher Nolan’s films perform best in a crowded marketplace, had Disney kept Mulan opening week before they would of both helped each other as Oppenheimer was helped by Barbie and Toy Story 3 helped Inception. Dunkirk was in a different position, it opened in a crowded marketplace and Oppenheimer attracted older cinemagoers who hadn’t been to the cinema for many years.
Sixth weekends
2010’s Inception dropped 35% £1,076,106 #6 from 419 screens and £31,575,347 89.5% of £35,264,403; dropped 35% in the seventh weekend £699,041; held #1 for 1 week and in the top 5 for 5 weeks and top 10 for 8 weeks.
2020’s Tenet dropped 3% £628,247 #1 from 355 screens and £15,948,191 91.2% of £17,479,421; dropped 52% in the seventh weekend taking £296,049 held #1 for 8 weeks and in the top 5 for 9 weeks and top 10 for 10 weeks
2017’s Dunkirk dropped 48% £998,531 #2 from 599 screens and £51,679,746 91% of £56,797,955; dropped 6% in the seventh weekend taking £935,980 held #1 for 4 weeks and in the top 5 for 8 weeks and top 10 for 10 weeks.
2014’s Interstellar dropped 64% £213,953 #10 from 238 screens and £19,727,100 94.6% of £20,852,599; dropped 43% in the seventh weekend taking £120,355 held #1 for 2 weeks and in the top 5 for 4 weeks and top 10 for 6 weeks.
2005’s Batman Begins dropped 30% £293,576 #6 from 293 screens and £15,460,356 92.4% of £16,733,960: #1 for 2 weeks, top 5 for 5 weeks and top 10 for 8 weeks.
2008’s The Dark Knight dropped 37% £908,618 #5 from 396 screens and £45,787,563 92.7% of £49,411,323: #1 for 2 weeks, top 5 for 6 weeks and top 10 for 8 weeks.
2012’s The Dark Knight Rises dropped 8% £1,378,717 #4 from 398 screens and £52,534,102 93.1% of £56,446,768: #1 for 2 weeks, top 5 for 6 weeks and top 10 for 8 weeks.
Christopher Nolan’s films have taken over £315m at the UK BO and £400m inflated; average £28.6m and £41.2m over the last 7 films showing t
Much has been made about Oppenheimer’s IMAX box office taking $17m+ from 30 IMAX 70mm cinemas around the world, 19 in the US, 3 in the UK and others in Canada, Australia and Czechia. The problem is there are millions of other cinemagoers around the world who paid similar prices for the IMAX experience but got LieMAX instead retrofitted in a conventional auditorium.
In the UK there are over 50 IMAX cinemas and Oppenheimer has taken 20%+ of its BO from those cinemas but 90% of cinemagoers aren’t getting what they expected from IMAX as BFI IMAX is 85ft wide and 65ft high (height of almost five double-decker buses).
To put into perspective the Odeon Marble Arch, which had the biggest screen in Europe up to 1996, was 75 feet by 30 feet and showed many films in standard 70mm but there was no price difference from 35mm.
Away from the three 70mm IMAX screens in the UK, all other IMAX/PLF screens are probably smaller than the screens they replaced as many of the auditoriums had been split up, as 3D IMAX/PLF is just a gimmick just to increase ticket prices. 40%+ of BO comes from IMAX/PLF and they are about a third more than regular. IMAX/PLF BO has made Oppenheimer BO look more impressive than it is, but it also shows Barbie’s BO is even more impressive not having any IMAX and very few PLF screens as it didn’t need any gimmicks to get audiences to see it.
- 3 The Meg 2: The Trench £776,085 – £11,299,337
Dropped 20.2% in the fourth weekend; £221k 28.5% (35.6% drop £343k) Friday; £291k 37.5% (17.8% drop £354k) Saturday; £264k 34% (4% drop £275k) Sunday
609th biggest third weekend between The Conjuring and Vanilla Sky (close to Baby Driver, The Other Guys, Final Destination 3 and 21 Jump Street) and 865th biggest inflated between Non-Stop and Bad Moms (close to Far and Away, Mermaids, Wolf and Elysium.
2018’s The Meg dropped 41% taking £881,145 #4 and from 513 screens and £13,967,082 of £15,075,792.
63 years ago, Alfred Hitchcock asked the same question Psycho asked with The Meg 2 and Mutant Mayhem, who is right, the critics or the paying public, The Meg 2 received poor reviews, but audiences still came out to see it in similar numbers as a first film while Mutant Mayhem had positive reviews but even with 4 days of previews couldn’t open bigger than The Meg 2.
16th biggest 2023 film between Dungeons & Dragons and The Flash; third biggest Warner Bros film between Creed 3 and The Flash.
716th biggest between Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story and Walk the Line (close to Superman, Stargate, The Expendables and Baywatch) and 1,198th biggest inflated between The Legend of Tarzan and Knowing (close to Cobra, Spies Like Us, Cruel Intentions and Innerspace).
- 4 Blue Beetle – £767,790 – £2,823,413
Dropped 35.5% in the second weekend; £218k 28.4% (52.5% drop £459k) Friday; £284k 37% (31.6% drop £415k) Saturday; £265k 34.5% (15.9% drop £315k) Sunday.
1,348th biggest second weekend between Edge of Darkness and Identity Thief (close to The Island, Dredd, Gremlins 2: The New Batch and Die Hard) and 1,878th biggest inflated between The Three Musketeers and Morbius (close to From Dusk till Dawn, Leon, Double Impact and Kick-Ass 2).
93rd biggest comic-book second weekend between Ghost Rider and Morbius (close to Green Lantern, X-Men: Dark Phoenix, Fantastic Four (2015) and Dick Tracy and 101st biggest inflated between Fantastic Four (2015) and Morbius (close to Super Mario Brothers (1993), Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance and Elektra).
Had the second lowest DC second weekend after Wonder Woman:1984 (£72,674) which was the weekend of the second lockdown. But had the second-lowest second-weekend drop after Joker
Blue Beetle is a very different DC comic-book film as 2015’s Ant-Man was a very different MCU as it is family-centric as the first Ant-Man film was before the sequels became generic MCU films; 2015’s Abt-Man opened £4,011,345 taking £16,309,117. Tonally trailers feel more like Honey I Shrunk the Kids meets The Rocketeer as the first Shazam felt so different from other DC films.
What probably didn’t help Blue Beetle was opening so close to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem as it was targeting a similar audience of tween boys and trailers played with summer films including Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse along with Super Mario Bros.
- 5) Andre Rieu’s 2023 Maastricht Concert: Love Is All Around -£710,326 – NE.
Took £337k (47.4%) Saturday; £373k (52.6%) Sunday.
André Rieu’s concerts have grown in popularity since the first one released in 2014’s Maastricht Concert £830,586, but since cinemas reopened after COVID haven’t found similar success despite last year’s Maastricht Summer Concert opened #1 £798,706 (opening the same weekend) while earlier this year Dublin 2023 opened in January with £715,986 #5.
Andre Rieu’s 2015 Maastricht Concert £1,107,000.
Andre Rieu’s 2016 Maastricht Concert £1,414,075.
Andre Rieu: Christmas with Andre 2016 £1,180,208 #4 470 screens.
Andre Rieu’s 2017 Maastricht Concert £1,439,604.
2018’s André Rieu’s Maastricht Concert, ’Amore £1,783,222.
Andre Rieu’s 2019 New Year Concert from Sydney £1,745,941 #4 570 screens.
Andre Rieu 2019 Maastricht Concert – Shall We Dance? (July) £1,492,154 #4 587 screens.
2020’s Andre Rieu’s Magical Maastricht: Together In Music (September) £124,101 #4 403 screens.
2020’s Andre Rieu: 70 Years Young (January) £1,717,074 #6 579 screens.
The first one after cinemas opened after COVID Andre Rieu’s 2021 Summer Concert: Together Again (August) £420,056 #4 551 screens.
In 2019 Event Cinema had its best-ever year, taking over £50m but despite a similar amount of content being released all events targeting older audiences have struggled to find the success they had pre-COVID. Tickets for these concerts are £20+ and maybe audiences have realised that these concerts are very similar. Why pay £20+ to see the latest instalment in cinemas when an older concert is available to watch at home for free on Sky Arts? Event Cinema has been a good addition to the cinema, but it needs to be price sensitive why are tickets so expensive, have been asking that question for many years, and the reason given is the cost of the rights to screen these events. The problem is if cinemas keep charging £20 for Event Cinema, then it will be similar to 3D as these concerts have a limited audience.
Also Opened
The Blackening opened #9 £367,486 from 365 screens.
Included £122,829 from previews Weds/Thurs
Despite receiving positive reviews, spoof horror The Blackening struggled to find an audience, it was another film that could have done better if talent were available to promote the film.
If you look back at the success of the Scary Movie films launched in 2000 if cinema was really back as many keep saying audiences would be going to see films like The Blackening
2000’s Scary Movie opened £3,191,096 taking £9,955,478 (£18,032,991 inflated)
2001’s Scary Movie 2 opened £1,553,796 taking £4,327,602 (£8,331,157 inflated)
2004’s Scary Movie 3 opened £3,490,585 taking £8,907,831 (£15,811,896 inflated)
2006’s Scary Movie 4 opened £1,953,094 taking £5,795,802 (£9,485,122 inflated)
2013’s Scary Movie 5 opened £1,085,932 taking £2,344,473 (£2,861,478 inflated)
Also struggling to find an audience was Theatre Camp despite receiving positive reviews opening on 365 screens #15 with £141,872 taking £36k Friday: £46k Saturday and £15k Sunday and £14,381 from previews.
Comparisons could be made with the fictional Glee: The 3D Concert Movie opened almost exactly 12 years ago in August 2011 with only £356,271 #9 from 303 screens despite the second series in 2011 having a 2m audience E4 (their highest-rated show).
Charlotte Regan’s Scrapper #12 £197,658 from 95 screens (including £98,811 previews) received critical acclaim (89% on Rotten Tomatoes). Took £231k by Tuesday.
These are the kind of films audiences need to see, but without talent talking about them they aren’t getting media coverage beyond reviews.
UK box office in detail
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £7,775,273 down 19.9% from last weekend’s £9,706,381 921,959 admissions down 24.3% from 1,217,865.
33rd biggest weekend of the year out of 34 weeks (or 2nd worst) between 28 April 2023 (£7,835,588 #1 Super Mario Bros £3,067,431) and 17 March 2023 (£7,418,583 #1 Shazam! Fury Of the Gods £2,397,953)
91st biggest since cinemas reopened out of 125 weeks.
835th biggest top 10 of the last 21 years (out of 1,117) between 01 March 2013 #1 Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters £1,502,782 (19.3% of top 10) and 14 September 2012 #1 The Sweeney £1,545,294 (19.9% of top 10) and 1,029th biggest inflation inflated between 28 April 2023 #1 Super Mario Bros £3,067,431 (39.1% of top 10) and 07 September 2012 #1 Dredd £1,049,345 (17% of top 10).
The top 3 took (£4,359,527) 56.1% of the top 10; Barbie 25% (£1,944,777); Oppenheimer 21.1% (£1,638,665); Meg 2: The Trench (£776,085) 10%.
837th highest percentage (25.01%) between 26 March 2004 The Passion of the Christ (25.04%) and 17 February 2006 The Woman in Black (25%)
1,005th biggest admissions #1 (244,012) between 05 October 2007 The Heartbreak Kid (244,810) and 14 September 2012 The Sweeney (242,589)
Up 46.4% from 2022 (£5,311,427); Andre Rieu’s 2022 Maastricht Summer Concert (£798,706); Beast (£600,259); The Invitation (£261,791); Mr. Malcolm’s List (£43,467); Die Another Day (Re: 2022) (£6,225); #1 Andre Rieu’s 2022 Maastricht Summer Concert £798,706 1st week 607 screens (15.1% of top 10)
Up 43.2% from 2021; (£5,427,888); Candyman (£1,112,674); Andre Rieu’s 2021 Summer Concert: Together Again (£420,056); Our Ladies (£124,295); The Nest (£121,186); #1 Free Guy £1,607,761 3rd week (29.6% of top 10)
Up 27.5% from 2020 (£6,099,807); Tenet (£5,335,654); Hope Gap (£72,769); Bring The Soul: The Movie (£39,085); #1 Tenet £5,335,654 611 screens 1st week (85.7% of top 10)
Down 10% from 2019; (£8,636,602); Angel Has Fallen (£2,122,408); Scary Stories to Tell In the Dark (£611,218); Crawl (£458,796); Pain and Glory (£307,131); It (Re: 2019) (£9,242); #1 Angel Has Fallen £2,122,408 537 screens 1st week (24.6% of top 10)
Down 39.2% from 2018: (£12,788,350); BlacKkKlansman (£1,234,214); The Spy Who Dumped Me (£1,057,211); The Children Act (£517,378); Slender Man (£389,339); Alpha (£225,606); Luis and the Aliens (£218,248); #1 Disney’s Christopher Robin £2,138,824 2nd week 673 screens 16% drop (16.7% of top 10)
Up 16.1% from 2017: (£6,700,471); American Made (£1,067,075); Logan Lucky (£705,087); Detroit (£658,028); Rough Night (£244,462); Mayweather Vs. McGregor (Boxing) (£171,256); Thomas & Friends: Journey Beyond Sodor (£92,389); #1 American Made £1,067,075 1st week 543 screens (15.9% of the top 10)
Down 14% from 2016: (£9,034,593); Bad Moms (£1,471,466); War Dogs (£1,005,133); The Purge: Election Year (£807,803); Mechanic: Resurrection (£508,715); Julieta (£356,191); Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (£31,128); #1 Finding Dory £1,510,744 5th week (3rd #1) 611 screens down 48% (16.7% of the top 10)
Down 9.4% from 2015; (£8,579,970); Straight Outta Compton (£2,498,231); Hitman: Agent 47 (£961,411); 45 Years (£331,196); We Are Your Friends (£260,715); #1 Straight Outta Compton £2,498,231 1st week 429 screens (29.1% of top 10)
Down 14.5% from 2014: (£9,093,638); Let’s Be Cops (£1,650,912); Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (expansion) (£1,077,370); If I Stay (£505,704); As Above, So Below (£398,787); Million Dollar Arm (£150,050); Obvious Child (£42,022); The Grand Seduction (£41,322); #1 Lucy £1,972,039 2nd week 504 screens (21.7% of top 10)
Down 26.5% from 2013: (£10,580,446); Elysium (£3,127,005); We’re the Millers (£1,508,326); The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (£1,143,385); Thomas & Friends: King of the Railway (£63,311); Jurassic Park 3D (£111,703); What Maisie Knew (£95,852); Lovelace (£86,076); The Kings of Summer (£6,773); #1 Elysium £3,127,005 1st week 463 screens (29.5% of top 10)
Down 27.9% from 2012 (£10,782,345); Keith Lemon: The Film (£1,196,310); The Imposter (£252,170); Shadow Dancer (£201,936); #1 Brave £2,371,691 4th week (2nd #1) 556 screens 55% drop (22% of top 10)
Down 50.4% from 2011 (£15,690,651); One Day (£2,208,724); Final Destination 5 (£1,450,464); Conan the Barbarian (£622,268); The Skin I Live In (£325,349); #1 The Inbetweeners Movie £5,696,848 2nd week 471 screens 57% drop (36.3% of top 10)
Down 28.4% from 2010: (£10,857,796); Grown Ups (£2,006,945); Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (£1,604,545); Diary of a Wimpy Kid (£671,161); The Girl who Played with Fire (£404,896); #1 Grown Ups £2,006,945 1st week 401 screens (18.5% of top 10)
Down 15.3% from 2009; (£9,177,873); The Final Destination (£3,633,395); Funny People (£1,001,152); The Hurt Locker (£308,887); Broken Embraces (£296,048); Mesrine: Public Enemy No.1 (£57,978); The Final Destination £3,633,395 1st week 427 screens (39.6% of top 10)
Down 27.7% from 2008; (£10,756,388); Hellboy 2: The Golden Army (£2,969,602); Get Smart (£1,542,005); College Road Trip (£121,360); Somers Town (£121,345); #1 Hellboy 2: The Golden Army £2,969,602 1st week 464 screens (27.6% of top 10)
Down 2.1% from 2007:(£7,941,925); Knocked Up (£1,583,998); Lady Chatterley (£48,776); Flood (£2,501); #1 The Bourne Ultimatum £2,864,804 2nd week 56% drop 457 screens (36% of top 10)
Up 27.3% from 2006; (£6,106,683); You, Me and Depree (£1,636,249); Severance (£483,152); Volver (£433,283); #1 You, Me and Depree £1,636,249 1st week 409 screens (26.8% of top 10)
Up 22.1% from 2005 (£6,367,870); The Dukes of Hazzard (£1,720,754); The Cave (£563,761); The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lavagirl in 3D (£399,436); Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (£110,557); #1 The Dukes of Hazzard £1,720,754 1st week 447 screens (27.1% of top 10)
Down 10.5% from 2004 (£8,683,904); Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (£2,200,271); The Chronicles of Riddick (£1,043,685); The Motorcycle Diaries (£333,368); Raising Helen (£209,201); #1 Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story £2,200,271 1st week 315 screens (25.3% of top 10)
Up 2.6% from 2003 (£7,578,928); Jeepers Creepers 2 (£1,069,346); The Lizzie McGuire Movie (expansion) (£405,205); Hollywood Homicide (£352,445); Intermission (£146,220); #1 The Pirates of the Caribbean 4th week (2nd #1) £2,037,014 444 screens 3% drop (26.9% of top 10)
Up 14.5% from 2002 (£6,787,774); The Guru (£1,521,984); Reign Of Fire (£932,168); Talk To Her (£174,757); Black Knight (£167,084); #1 The Guru £1,521,984 1st 368 screens (22.4% of top 10)
Up 16.3% from 2001 (£6,685,496); Heartbreakers (£751,754); Crocodile Dundee in L.A. (£354,593); Lucky Break (£348,613); Josie and the Pussycats (£37,662); #1 Planet of the Apes £2,364,945 2nd week 447 screens 57% drop (35.3% of top 10);
Next Week 2022 (£5,607,200); Spider-Man: No Way Home (Extended) £469,309; E.T. (40th Anniversary) (£438,715); Three Thousand Years Of Longing (£307,176); The Forgiven (£182,772); Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan – Director’s Cut 4K (40th Anniversary) (£96,105); #1 Minions: The Rise of Gru #1 £1,056,163 up 84% 3rd weekend #1 over 10 weeks (National Cinema Day) (23.23% of top 10)
Film News
It was the second National Cinema Day on Sunday in the US last weekend with cinemas charging $4 up from $3 last year, admissions were 8.5m up 5% from last year (8.1m). The difference was last year didn’t have any new major releases opening with cinemagoers opting to watch films like Top Gun: Maverick, Bullet Train, DC League of Super-Pets and Spider-Man: No Way Home again while this year had Gran Turismo along with Barbenheimer.
National Cinema Day is on Saturday in the UK, last year All tickets were £3 having 1.4m admissions, this year all tickets are from £3 as most exhibitors have booking fees that increase prices by a third. It was the first National Cinema Day since 1998. The first weekend of September 2022 was one of the lowest of the year with the only new releases E.T. (40th Anniversary) £438,715; Three Thousand Years of Longing £307,176 and The Forgiven £182,772. But this year will have The Equalizer 3, Sound of Freedom and Cobweb.
As Sound of Freedom opens next weekend in the UK conspiracy theorists will say exhibitors are trying to hurt its box office. This was similar to 1997 when The Fifth Element opened and Pathe felt it had lost about £1m.
The first in 1996 was to celebrate 100 years of cinema all tickets £1 with 1.1m admissions, this was more than 2.5 times the normal Sunday audience of 400k. Over 150 films were shown which included new releases, classics and previews. It was similarly as successful a year later, but tickets were slightly more expensive and was repeated a final time in 1998 this time tickets were half-price, and it was sponsored by MacDonalds, but it wasn’t nearly as successful as the previous years.
July admissions were 17.6m with August expected to be 13.5m which will see admissions for May-August 49.6% up 8% from 2022. The problem is admissions Aug-Dec will be lower than in 2019 and probably 2021 and 2022 and maybe lowest since 2011 as autumn is lacking the must-see cinema films 2021 previous years had.
Box office from May to mid-August is £396.4m up 12% from 2022 and just slightly down from 2019, while 2022 autumn had a similar slate as this year what it did have was Matilda and Avatar 2 in November/December but it’s unlikely Wonka and Aquaman 2 will come close to their combined £105m BO. While The Marvels is unlikely to match the £35m Black Panther Wakanda Forever took.
The strike will continue to affect almost all upcoming films as it has done with films opening this month as they need talent to promote them. Much has been made about Dune Part 2 being delayed but as Warner didn’t delay either Wonka or Aquaman 2 the delay could have more to do with premiering it at the Berlin Film Festival as the first film was far more successful in Europe than the US.
Despite losing IMAX/PLF screens after a week to Oppenheimer Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1 has become the biggest Mission Impossible film in the UK taking £25,643,245, overtaking Mission Impossible: Fallout £24,421,935. In the US it’s taken $168.24m and $552.14m
The 7 films since 1996 have taken £140m and £170m+ inflated. Mission: Impossible took £18,619,357 (£40,107,101 inflated) and Mission: Impossible II £17,299,719 (£31,336,082 inflated). The 7 films have taken $2bn in the US ($2.8bn inflated) and $4.1bn worldwide ($6.1bn inflated)
While Elemental played out the summer holidays staying in the top 10 for 8 weeks taking £16,910,822, while that’s far from the success of the majority of Pixar films it has taken 5.9x £3,049,002 opening. It’s the second biggest original Pixar film since 2015’s Inside Out (sequel released next year). In the US it’s taken $151.69m and $469.5m WW.
While Barbie and Oppenheimer have taken £142m+ between them many summer films failed to meet their expectations including Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny £20,157,704, The Little Mermaid £27,202,427 and Fast X £15,073,671 should have taken a third more.
Films including The Flash and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts underperformed but after all the delays and negativity surrounding The Flash it was never likely to take much more The Transformers film franchise should have ended many years ago but only survived due to China. Much was made about Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse taking much more than Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse but after the enormous success of Spider-Man: No Way Home it surely wasn’t such a surprise.
Looking at the 20+ films from studios released between September and December there are big questions over many of them with few sure things as The Marvels will perform as all other MCU films, no trailer yet for Aquaman 2 opened in December, do we really need a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory prequel. While will audiences come out to see the latest from Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon and Ridley Scott’s Napoleon both films made by Apple given a full theatrical release, while will audiences be excited to see the Hunger Games prequel without Jennifer Lawrence?
Horrors are strong with The Nun 2, The Exorcist: Believer, Five Nights at Freddy’s, Saw X and Thanksgiving. Half-term for children has Paw Patrol: The Movie 2 and Trolls 3 and then Disney’s Wish for Christmas.
But overshadowing all of them is the strike as the majority of them need talent to promote them so many films have struggled to find their audience since the strike started and will only get worse over the next few months, but it needs to start hurting the studios as it will also see many of 2024’s films like Deadpool 3 and Snow White unlikely to meet their current release dates as they haven’t finished filming.
US Box Office
- Gran Turismo – Sony
Opened $17.4m; received mixed reviews (59% Rotten Tomatoes) and A CinemaScore
Took $1.4m from Thursday previews taking an additional $3.9m from previews over the previous 10 days which helped inflate Friday BO to $8.5m.
Opened in IMAX/PLF
Preview BO added to opening weekend has been a regular occurrence in the UK for over 20 years, but in the US normally only Thursday previews are added to opening weekend.
That said studios started showing Thursday midnights from 2 pm over the last decade and included fan and IMAX previews to inflated Thursday previews, so rival studios can’t call out Sony including preview BO when they have all done similar.
Its preview BO was the reason why it managed to squeeze past Barbie along with National Cinema Day admissions on Sunday, all tickets were $4 up from $3 last year.
It was tracking to open between $12m-$14m
Sony Pictures delayed the US release of Gran Turismo on July 28th by two weeks but surprisingly didn’t delay the UK.
It’s one of several films that has suffered from the writers and actors strike as needs the talent to promote it and without junket interviews, the marketing campaign never got into fourth or fifth gear, that said as the trailers have been playing with all the summer films should sell itself.
Sony Pictures first announced plans to develop Gran Turismo in 2013 with Joseph Kosinski attached to direct, instead directed by Neill Blomkamp, previously directed 2009’s District 9 (opened $37.39m taking $115.64m and $210.9m WW); 2013’s Elysium (opened $29.8m taking $93.05m and $286.1m WW); 2015’s Chappie (opened $13.34m and $31.56m and $102.81m WW).
2019’s Ford v Ferrari opened $31.47m taking $117.62m and $225.5m WW
2013’s Rush opened $10m taking $26.94m and $95.22nm WW
2008’s Speed Racer opened $18.5m taking $43.94m and $93.94m WW
2008’s Death Race opened $12.62m taking $36.31m and $76.01m WW
2014’s Need For Speed opened $17.84m taking $43.57m and $203.27m WW
1990’s Days Of Thunder opened $15.5m taking $82.67m and $157.92m WW
Opened internationally three weeks ago with $10.7m; France $2.3m; UK $1.3m.
Took $11m from 61 territories $36.5m total and $53.8m WW; Mexico $4.9m; Brazil $4.2m; UK $3.5m; France $2.8m; Indonesia $1.7m.
- Barbie – Warner Bros
Dropped 28% in the sixth weekend, taking $15.1m and $592.8m.
17th biggest sixth weekend between Toy Story and La La Land (close to Frozen II #11 $16.89m; Mrs Doubtfire #14 $16.34m; Forrest Gump #19 $14.14m and Spider-Man: No Way Home #22 $14m).
Barbie will finally be released on September 22nd for one week only and will include new post-credit footage.
EntTelligence average ticket price of Barbie $12.65 and Oppenheimer $13.65. They also said Barbie has had over 50m admissions.
14th biggest film between Incredibles 2 and The Super Mario Bros. Movie; 34th biggest inflated between The Lion King and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest; 1st biggest 2023 film ahead of The Super Mario Bros. Movie; 2nd biggest Warner Bros film ahead of The Dark Knight.
The question of what films will get audiences returning to the cinema was the research that said 22% of those seeing Barbie hadn’t been to the cinema since before COVID. While a lot of films open over the next 3 months, they are targeting regular cinemagoers, not the extended cinemagoers who saw Barbenheimer. If the strike continues it will hurt many more films.
What helped Barbenheimer is the audience of the two films are almost a mirror image of each other. Barbie’s audience is 66.2% female and 74.6% under 29, while Oppenheimer is 70.7% male and 52.9% over 30. The two films complimented each other Barbenheimer probably helped Oppenheimer far more than Barbie, as while Barbie’s audience also went to see Oppenheimer, not as many Oppenheimer probably went to see Barbie.
What will be interesting to see is lessons will be learnt from Barbenheimer studios realise two films playing to very different demographics can perform strongly, this, of course, was the case 30 years ago when studios would open films like Sleepless in Seattle the week after Jurassic Park and the two films would play strongly together.
Barbie has blown away all the cobwebs of Warner Bros’ disappointing start of 2023 climbing from fifth to third biggest studio within a week; Universal $1.42bn; Disney $1.28bn; Warner $987.8m; Paramount $685.3m; Sony $613.5m.
Took $19.2m (down 32.2%) from 75 territories (12,852 screens) and $746.6m and $1.340bn worldwide (likely taking $1.5bn+); UK $114.9m; Mexico $54m; Australia $53.3m; Germany $51.4m; France $43.9m; Brazil $43.4m; China $34.9m; Spain $34.3m; Italy $34.1m; Holland $19.1m; Argentina $15.2m.
16th biggest worldwide between The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Black Panther; 2nd biggest worldwide 2023 after The Super Mario Bros. Movie; Biggest Warner Bros film worldwide ahead of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II ($1.31bn) and Aquaman ($1.14bn).
- Blue Beetle – Warner Bros
Dropped 51% in the second weekend $12.15m and $45.7m.
962nd biggest second weekend between Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie and Cliffhanger (close to Alita: Battle Angel, Conspiracy Theory, Chronicle and Constantine
Had the third-lowest DC second weekend ahead of Shazam! Fury of the Gods and Wonder Wonder: 1984, had the lowest second-weekend drop for DC films thanks to National Cinema Day since The Batman (50.4%), but likely to have a bigger third drop this weekend.
While Blue Beetle might be a DC film the character isn’t well-known beyond fans so needed a Comic-Con panel with the cast and then junket interviews to generate media coverage, due to the SAG-AFTRA strike talent hasn’t been allowed to promote films since Oppenheimer opened.
Warner Bros released one more DC film this year Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom in December with Joker: Folie à Deux in October 2024 and then Superman: Legacy and The Batman Part II in July and October 2025.
DC Extended Universe films have taken $2.63bn in the US and $6.67bn worldwide since 2016.
Took $10m from 71 territories (10,421 screens) $35.5m and $81.8m worldwide.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem – Paramount Pictures
Dropped 15% in the fourth weekend taking $7.28m and $99.33m
596th biggest fourth weekend between When Harry Met Sally and Scream 2 (close to Ready Player One, Superman Returns, Olympus Has Fallen and Bumblebee).
117th biggest animated film between Gnomeo and Juliet and Hercules; 817th biggest between Gnomeo and Juliet and Christopher Robin; 1,487th biggest inflated between Hidalgo and Medicine Man; 18th biggest 2023 between The Flash and M3GAN; 114th biggest Paramount Pictures between The Rugrats Movie and Rocketman.
Fourth weekend
2016’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows dropped 53.1% $2.46m #9 taking $77.18m of $82.05m and $245.62m WW
2014’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles dropped 27.8% $11.91m #2 taking $162.57m of $191.2m and $485m WW
2007’s TMNT dropped 52.3% $2.25 #15 taking $50.81m $54.14m and $95.8m WW.
1990’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles dropped 30.3% $9.79m #1 taking $89.05m of $135.38m and $202.08m WW
1991’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze dropped 25% $5.86m #2 taking $61.48m of $78.65m
1993’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III dropped 32.8% $3.15m #5 taking $33.83m of $42.2m
Took $10.4m (37% drop) from 47 territories $37m total and $136.33m worldwide; UK $7.2m; Mexico $2.9m; France $1.8m; China $885k; opens in Australia, Korea and Japan in September.
- The Meg 2: The Trench – Warner Bros
Dropped 29% in the fourth weekend taking $4.8m and $74.13m
1,151st biggest between Four Brothers and WarGames; 2,007th biggest inflated between Child’s Play and Money Train; 22nd biggest 2023 between Insidious: The Red Door and Evil Dead Rise; 187th biggest Warner Bros film between Any Given Sunday and Annabelle Comes Home.
Fourth Weekends
2018’s The Meg dropped 17.8% $10.53m #2 taking $120.52m of $145.52m and $530.51m WW 72.6% internationally.
Took $15.2m from 77 territories (16,224 screens) $279.4m total and $353.86m worldwide; China $112.9m; Mexico $20.1m; UK $14.4m; France $12.6m; Spain $11.2m; Germany $9.5m; Italy $5.6m; Australia $5.4m; Indonesia $5.4m; Brazil $4.7m; Malaysia $4.7m.
429th biggest worldwide between X-Men: First Class and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb; 18th biggest 2023 between Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and Creed III; 79th biggest Warner Bros between Batman Begins and The Fugitive.
- Oppenheimer – Universal Pictures
Down 23% in the sixth weekend taking $8.22m and $299.24m.
101st biggest sixth weekend between Good Morning, Vietnam and Mr. Holland’s Opus (close to The Dark Knight #26 $16.37m; Joker #77 $9.22m; The Dark Knight Rises #145 $7.22m; Inception #116 $7.83m).
103rd biggest between The Twilight Saga: Eclipse and The Little Mermaid; 253rd biggest inflated between Wedding Crashers and X-Men: Days of Future Past; 5th biggest 2023 between Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 and The Little Mermaid; 12th biggest Universal Pictures film between Minions and Meet the Fockers.
Has taken $84.1m from the IMAX in the US
Sixth weekends
2020’s Tenet dropped 21.2% taking $2.1m #1 taking $48.3m 82.6% of $58.5m and $365.3m WW; dropped 26.5% in the seventh weekend taking $1.54m; held #1 for 5 weeks and stayed in top 10 for 13 weeks.
2017’s Dunkirk dropped 40.3% $3.94m #6 taking $172.42m 91.7% of $188.045m and $525.24m WW; up 10.8% in the seventh weekend taking $4.37m held #1 for 2 weeks and stayed in the top 10 for 9 weeks.
2014’s Interstellar dropped 30% $5.45m #6 taking $166.75m 88.7% of $188.02m and $677.89m WW; Dropped 50.4% in the sixth weekend taking $2.7m stayed in the top 10 for 6 weeks.
2010’s Inception dropped 30.5% $7.83m #9 taking $262.03m 89.6% of $292.57m and $825.79m WW; dropping 37.8% in the seventh weekend $4.87m held #1 for 3 weeks and staying in the top 10 for 11 weeks.
2008’s The Dark Knight dropped 35.6% $10.54m #4 taking $489.41m 91.8% of $533.34m and $1.003bn WW; dropped 18.2% in the seventh weekend $8.62m held #1 for 4 weeks and stayed in the top 10 for 10 weeks.
Oppenheimer has now taken more than Interstellar worldwide, do find it interesting post-COVID industry sees things very differently as in 2014 Interstellar global BO was seen as disappointing; Deadline said it made a profit of $47m. 9 years on production, marketing is higher for Oppenheimer and video sales have shrunk so will it be as profitable after Christopher Nolan takes his percentage?
2012’s The Dark Knight Rises dropped 34.4% in the sixth weekend $7.22m #5 taking $422.25m 94.2% of $448.13m and $1.081bn WW; dropped 15.3% in the seventh weekend $6.11m; held #1 for 3 weeks and stayed in the top 10 for 8 weeks.
2020’s Tenet ($205m budget) took $365.3m worldwide; 2017’s Dunkirk ($150m+ budget) took $527m worldwide; 2014’s Interstellar ($165m+ budget) took $773.43m worldwide; 2010’s Inception ($160m+ budget) took $870.1m worldwide.
Took $30.4m (down 5.9%) from 82 territories (7,555 screens) $478.5m total and $777.7m worldwide (expected to take $850m+); UK $67.5m; Germany $42.7Mm; France $37.2m; Australia $24.3m; Spain $19.7m; Korea $18.8m; Mexico $18.8m.
Has taken $70.4m internationally IMAX (15.3%) and $154.5m total; 5th highest grossing IMAX film worldwide after Avatar, Avatar: The Way of Water, Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Avengers: Endgame.
110th biggest worldwide between Deadpool and Star Wars Ep. IV: A New Hope; 4th 2023 worldwide between Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 and Fast X; 4th biggest R-rated between Deadpool and The Matrix Reloaded; 15th biggest Universal Pictures worldwide between Fast and Furious 6 and Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw.
UK Box Office Top 10
UK Box Office Preview
After Barbie and Oppenheimer have been #1 and #2 for the last 6 weeks, they could switch places in their sixth weekend if they both have similar drops as they have done over recent weeks with Barbie at about 40% and Oppenheimer at 30% (last weekend it was 30%/20%) and this weekend could be lower due to National Cinema Day on Saturday.
Last year’s National Cinema Day Top Gun: Maverick was up 9% and Bullet Train down 7% while the big increases were family films Minions: The Rise of Gru #1 and DC League Of Super-Pets up 84%/68% with Spider-Man: No Way Home up 38% and E.T. (40th Anniversary) #7 with £438,715.
The new releases are The Equalizer 3, the previous two films didn’t open as strongly in the UK as in the US and with National Cinema Day on Saturday.
2014’s The Equalizer opened £1,890,146 #2 from 444 screens taking £6,669,034: behind Billy Elliot the Musical Live 2014 #1 £1,904,098 and 2018’s The Equalizer 2 opened E1,980,754 #4 from 493 screens taking £7,247,966. With National Cinema Day on Saturday, Sony Pictures will likely say they lost about £300k from its opening weekend.
Sound of Freedom was a surprise hit when it opened in the US in July, taking over $180m more than Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One and Elemental. Faith-based films don’t travel well outside the US National Cinema Day could help it find a bigger audience than it might have done as sales are surprisingly strong at Vue Westfield.
- Opening in three weeks
- The Creator – Disney
Sci-Fi action thriller starring John David Washington, Gemma Chan, Ken Watanabe, Sturgill Simpson, Madeleine Yuna Voyles, and Allison Janney and directed by Gareth Edwards.
The teaser trailer was released in May and the trailer was released in July coincidentally days after the SAG-AFTRA strike started, the film is about the war between humans and artificial intelligence as one of the concerns SAG-AFTRA has been the use of AI.
Gareth Edwards previously directed 2010’s Monsters, 2014’s Godzilla and 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
The film was originally due to open on October 6th but then was strangely brought forward a week, so it opens against Saw X. Was surprising when Sony delayed Kraven The Hunter in July Disney didn’t delay The Creator a week as the first weekend of October has been very lucrative over recent years for adult-targeted films.
The Creator is likely to be another original sci-fi film audiences have craved but won’t see the generic title doesn’t help. But with Dune Part 2 delayed it’s now the only major sci-fi film targeting adults this autumn.
- Saw X – Lionsgate
The tenth instalment of the Saw film series starring Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Synnøve Macody Lund, Steven Brand, Michael Beach and Renata Vaca and directed by Kevin Greutert. It’s a direct sequel to 2004’s Saw and a prequel to 2005’s Saw 2.
The previous nine Saw films have taken almost £60m over the last 19 years, Spiral is the second Saw film not to open at Halloween. The earlier Saw films had stronger legs than the more recent films which were front-loaded.
2004’s Saw opened £1,239,813 #2 from 301 screens taking £6,645,485
2005’s Saw II opened £2,189,212 #3 from 303 screens taking £7,181,561
2006’s Saw III opened £2,522,521 #1 from 373 screens taking £8,458,236
2007’s Saw IV opened £2,482,889 #2 from 393 screens taking £6,195,963
2008’s Saw V opened £2,436,817 #2 from 367 screens taking £6,123,282
2009’s Saw VI opened £1,736,287 #2 from 375 screens taking £4,684,976
2010’s Saw 3D opened £3,600,083 #1 from 382 screens taking £8,022,330
2017’s Jigsaw opened £1,851,249 #2 from 469 screens taking £4,855,609
2021’s Spiral opened £779,107 #4 from 330 screens taking £1,496,103
Saw X opens in September to give it space before it opens on October 13th, but it will likely be front-loaded.
- The Exorcist (50th Anniversary) – Warner Bros
Ahead of the release of The Exorcist: Believer in October seen as a direct sequel to the original film despite being two sequels to the original film 1977’s Exorcist II: The Heretic and 1990’s The Exorcist III both inferior to the original both critically and at the box office.
The original theatrical version was released X uncut in 1974,
Warner Bros. released it on home video in 1981 (one of their first video releases in the UK) at that time films didn’t need to be classified for home video. It was never on the Director of Public Prosecution’s list of video nasties.
After the Video Recording Act in 1984 it became necessary for The Exorcist to be classified by the BBFC but they decided that even an 18 certificate was unsuitable. So, in 1988, it was removed from video stores after being available for the previous seven years, but the film continued to play in cinemas getting an 18 certificate in 1991. It was resubmitted for video at the end of 1998 and as it no longer had the impact it had 25 years ago it was given an 18 certificate for video.
Warner Bros re-released the film in cinemas in 1998 opening with £2,186,977 from 248 screens (£4,325,113 inflated) taking £7,143,595 (£14,127,656 inflated). Audience reactions were very different to how cinemagoers responded to it in 1974 seeing members of the audience fainting and walking out of cinemas.
1990’s The Exorcist III opened £181,104 (£619,484 inflated) taking £962,994 (£3,294,018 inflated).