1. Wonder Woman 1984 – £846,435 – NE

Took £301,355 from previews on Wednesday/Thursday in 212 screens

16^th biggest opening of the year between Dark Waters and Bombshell and second biggest opening since first lockdown ended ahead of New Mutants (£0.68m) and After We Collided (£0.65m).

To put the opening into perspective it would have been 68^th biggest opening of 2019 between Long Shot and Good Boys but in normal circumstances would expected it to open similar to Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and It 2 as it should have opened bigger than the original.

Impossible to make comparisons with any other film as no film has ever opening as Wonder Woman 1984 did as Tenet might have also opened during the pandemic it opened when the national lockdown had been lifted for over 6 weeks in the middle of the summer with massive media coverage being “the saviour of cinema” opening with £5,335,654 including £2,044,248 from previews opening in almost three times as many cinemas 619 cinemas and four times the amount of screens 3,066 screens, including all the expensive London cinemas.

Wonder Woman 1984 opened in 252 cinemas and 615 screens two thirds less than 2017’s Wonder Woman (599 cinemas 1,500+ screens) WW84 didn’t open in London, the South East, Essex and parts of Herts as they were put into tier 3 ion Wednesday the day WW84 opened. It did play in other parts of Herts and Bucks between Weds-Fri before they also moved into tier 3.

With parts of Europe going into lockdown weeks earlier it was always likely London would go into lockdown very soon after the November lockdown ended so Warner should have made alternate arrangements for the film, they have announced that it will go on PVOD on January 13^th but that is still three weeks too late as it will be widely available illegally online from December 25^th. The positive for the UK is that WW84 opened in some cinemas as many parts of Europe which are in lockdown till January it might never play in cinemas.

After London, the South East, Essex, and parts of Herts joining parts of the Midlands, Yorkshire, and the North West in tier 3 last Wednesday which saw up to 38 million people not having access to cinemas, exhibitors predictably criticised this decision using the same excuse that there haven’t been any cases traced back to cinemas. But the issue is that since July with the exception of one-week audiences haven’t felt comfortable returning to the cinema. As with the decision to keep schools open there are much more important businesses to the UK economy that are far more important to stay open ahead of cinema.

Director Patty Jenkins spoke about almost leaving the sequel due to a salary dispute, also spoke about Warner made her change the ending of the first film which was originally much smaller but the CGI heavy ending which was similar to Batman Vs Superman and Justice League ruined what was until then the best DC Extended Universe film. Also said she wasn’t sure if she would direct the third film, as the sequel will take a fraction of the box office of the first film due to opening now.

Wonder Woman 1984 is only the second major film to be released in cinemas since March but as Tenet it was wrongly dated to open now and should have been delayed to next year, rival distributors have said Warner were right to open it now, but surely if they were right to open a film would be opening films too, but have opted to delay.

Odeon Aylesbury and Hatfield were two of the two nearest cinemas to London still open, but they also closed on Saturday making

The National Audit Office said that only 37% of the UK population could be vaccinated in 2021, this will mean half the population won’t get the vaccine until 2022. This will mean there will be need for an immunity passport for people who have taken the vaccine to get access to places like cinemas while many airlines have already said they would want proof passengers have the vaccine before they would be allowed to fly. The key cinemagoing demographic will be the last to get the vaccine after the 20m+ over 50s and it could util May before they are all vaccinated. Being under 50 without any health issues I won’t get the vaccine before the end of June, so exhibitors believing cinema will return to normal due to the same “pent-up” they said would get people back to the cinema on mass in July is showing they continue to be in denial.

While studios have dated many films to open from February onwards its unlikely many of these will keep their release dates as it’s unlikely there will be much difference in the US until April, this does question if MGM will risk keeping No Time To Die in April, but the problem they will have as Warner had with Wonder Woman 1984 is they can’t keep delaying these films as they will start to feel dated.

With the Chancellor extending furlough scheme to April the UK government are expecting the tiering to run till them and as seen with parts of the North in tier 3 and with the loosening of restrictions next week  for Christmas they have “saved” Christmas but probably  

Ever since the first lockdown in March have always believed 2020 should have been written off by studios with all films undated. Most films were apart from Tenet, Mulan, and Wonder Woman 1984. Of course studios done so they would have taken away the little bit of hope the industry had that it could have a comeback this year, but as Morgan Freeman says in Shawshank Redemption “Hope is a dangerous thing my friend, it can kill a man”.

UK cinemas in July for Tenet which was far too soon as this was before Chinese cinemas had reopened closing two months earlier, with all the research by the industry saying it would still be at least 6 months before the majority felt comfortable to go back to the cinema, it was then no surprise the level of box office over was less than 10% of normal. Even with the massive media coverage Tenet received it still failed to attract less than a third of the audience it could have received if it were delayed.

While a Christopher Nolan film for the last decade has always been a big deal in the UK, Wonder Woman 1984 wasn’t in the same league as despite receiving the best reviews for DC Extended Universe film in the UK it had the lowest opening (at the time_ for a DC Extended Universe film in the UK, since then Aquaman (opened with £5,230,285) and Shazam! (£4,067,068) opening with £6,179,616 including £1.2m from previews taking £22,183,744. This was almost half of Man of Steel (£11,198,786) and Suicide Squad (£11,252,225) and almost 60% less than Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice (£14,621,007) and even 15% less than Justice League (£7,264,784) opening a few months later. Wonder Woman was the best part of both Batman Vs Superman and Justice League. (Zack Snyder’s Justice League will be released on HBO Max in the US in March and in cinemas international).

Wonder Woman 1984 opened with $38.5m internationally from 32 territories taking $18.8m from China almost 50% of its opening, (opened 50% less than 2017’s Wonder Woman opened in China with taking $38.7m and $90.5m total) opened with a third less than expected (£60m) IMAX took $5m (13% of box office from $5M from 31 territories 76% from 680 screens in China; Taiwan $3.6m; Thailand $2m; Brazil $1.7m; Japan $1.6m; Mexico $1.6m; Singapore $1.3m; UK $1.2m; Spain $1.1m; UAE $1m; Saudi Arabia $1m; Vietnam $832K.

Wonder Woman opened with $225m worldwide in June 2017 taking $103.2m in the US (WW84 is expected to open with less than 10% next weekend) $125m internationally from 55 territories (didn’t open in many key international territories including France and Germany) opening bigger internationally than Thor 1 & 2, Iron Man 1 & 2, Guardians Of The Galaxy 1 & 2, Doctor Strange, Captain America 1 & 2, Ant-Man and Man Of Steel and similar to Deadpool; Wonder Woman took $9.3m from 665 IMAX screens with almost half $4.5m from 401 from China; had the second biggest DC opening for IMAX internationally behind Batman V Superman, and ahead of Suicide Squad.

Wonder Woman took $409.48m internationally and $412.81m in the US and $822.3m worldwide at the start of the year many expected Wonder Woman could take upwards of $1bn, 2020 was meant to be a big year for female comic-book movies as it was going to open a month after Black Widow, which has been delayed a year till next May.

Had Wonder Woman 1984 opened last November or been delayed to next June it could have taken upwards of $1bn and been one of the biggest films of the year globally.

Non film related issues affected Wonder Woman’s UK box office in 2017 with the premiere being cancelled after the terrorist attack at the end of Ariana Grande concert in Manchester in May. This saw the Warner having to pull back on the final elements of its UK marketing campaign so the film didn’t get the media coverage it would have received with a big London premiere with Gal Gadot in attendance.

The opening weekend of Wonder Woman was overshadowed with Ariana Grande’s One Love Manchester Concert on Sunday 4th June watched by almost 11 million on BBC1 and many more millions on BBC and Capital Radio Networks (over 65 radio stations) the majority of which would be young females who were the key demographic for Wonder Woman; the concert was also broadcast live in over 38 countries. On Saturday was the Champions League final and was a hot sunny day.

Wonder Woman opened with £6,179,616, Included £1.2m from previews Thursday (43% of the market) and took £1.44m on Friday and was looking like it could open about £9m; 23% of its box office came from 3D taking £1m and went on to take £22.2m.

Warner Bros surprised the industry om November 18^th announcing their entire 2021 slate would be released same day In cinemas in the US as on HBO Max and will be released as normal internationally. It’s not known if this is just a temporary measure for Coronavirus (as will likely affect US box office until 2022) as they couldn’t do it with Tenet as Christopher Nolan demands it had a full theatrical release. But once down the rabbit hole it’s unlikely Warner will go back to the traditional theatrical window in 2022.

Soon after the announcement Christopher Nolan criticised Warner Bros decision to release their 2021 slate on HBO Max alongside cinemas saying “There’s such controversy around it, because they didn’t tell anyone. In 2021, they’ve got some of the top filmmakers in the world, they’ve got some of the biggest stars in the world who worked for years in some cases on these projects very close to their hearts that are meant to be big-screen experiences. They’re meant to be out there for the widest possible audiences… And now they’re being used as a loss-leader for the streaming service — for the fledgling streaming service — without any consultation. So, there’s a lot of controversy. It’s very, very, very, very messy. A real bait and switch. Yeah, it’s sort of not how you treat filmmakers and stars and people who, these guys have given a lot for these projects. They deserved to be consulted and spoken to about what was going to happen to their work.”….  “Long-term, I think all of the studios know that the movie theatre experience will bounce back and be a very important part of the ecosystem long-term. What you have right now in our business is a lot of the use of the pandemic as an excuse for sort of grappling for short-term advantage. And it’s really unfortunate. It’s not the way to do business and it’s not the best thing for the health of our industry. But when the theatres are back and people are going back to the movies, when the vaccine has been rolled out and there’s an appropriate health response from the federal government, I’m very bullish on the long-term prospects of the industry. People love going to the movies and they’re going to get to go again.”

But Nolan should have kept his mouth shut as Warner are in this position partly to do with his Washington Post op-ed in March which made the summer cinema release of Tenet political, it was idiocy for Warner to give into Nolan’s demands and open the film in August/September as doing so was always going to have a major impact on the films box office. While Christopher Nolan might be an artist warner Bros have shareholders to answer to and if they are going to make $200m+ film they want it to be profitable. As most other studios Warner should have delayed Tenet in March to next summer when cinemas shutdown, they would have also delayed WW84.

Were reports of producers and talent not being told in advance OF Warner Bros decision to release next year’s films on HBO Max, with some threatening legal action, but if not HBO Max/theatrical next year for these film what is the solution?  With recent surveys by Deloitte and Morning Consult saying over 80% of people aren’t comfortable going back to US cinemas in the next 6 months the only other option would be to delay these films to 2022 and beyond. Opening films on HBO Max/theatrical is the best bad idea Warner has available to them with these massive budget films they need the safety net of PVOD.

After the news of Warner’s HBO Max deal in the US there were many articles written saying it was the beginning of the end of cinema, but cinema will survive but what it does need to do is change.

Recliners were never the solution as they halved the capacity of screens and increased prices, cinema needs to go back to its roots as it was for more than a century (a cheap night out, the price of a pint of Guinness in the 30s to 60s and a Big Mac meal in the 70s to early 00s) for it to stay competitive with streaming services.

While will always be a loyal 20% cinephiles who will keep going to the cinema, the other 80% are perfectly happy to watch films at home on their phones and tablets, especially over the last 6 months and the next 6+ months or more and it’s going to be extremely hard to get them to come back.

While the industry will put the blame on Coronavirus and streaming, the problems started in 2003 and has been in denial ever since as After steady growth between 1985 to 2002 (industry experts predicted in 1993 admissions would top 200m by 2000) admissions stopped growing, the films were no different in the years that followed, so why was there no growth?

Over the years that followed, the ‘growth’ came from ticket inflation and 3D/PLF, as while box office increased admissions stayed flat until 2018 when industry celebrated an increase of 0.6% over 17 years in 2018 (from 175.9m in 2002 to 177m in 2018).

We are social beings and do like going out, but exhibitors need to stay competitive with their direct competition (not theme parks and live theatre they currently like to compare cinema with), if a trip to the cinema for a family of four costs more than an annual subscription to Disney+ what will most families choose?

In 1989 Rainman was the first video to be released on sell-through in the UK priced £14.99 average cinema ticket £2.30 why have home entertainment prices dropped over 33% since but cinema tickets up 200%+?

Exhibitors should just let studios fight out the multi-billion-dollar streaming wars over the next decade and see this as a chance to reinvent the cinema experience (return to its roots as it was for more than 100 years a cheap night out, cost of a Guinness in 30s-60s and Big Mac meal in 70s-90s) and finally launching subscription cinema in the US. 

Why pay up to $100 a month to subscribe to up to a dozen different streaming services when you can pay only $19.99 a month ($29.99 for family pass) to see all the films? Two years ago what Moviepass did show was that US cinemagoers loved the concept of subscription cinema as they saw many more films in the cinema, as subscribers to Virgin/UGC Megapass/Cineworld Unlimited and Odeon Limitless has done in the UK for the last 21 years.

WW84 opens in the US on Christmas Day in cinemas and on HBO Max, there were rumours exhibitors would dramatically reduce ticket prices to spite Warner’s decision to release the film om HBO Max the same day, but they haven’t reduced them. There were similar suggestions exhibitors would reduce prices when cinemas reopened in July, while they reduced prices to $5 for the older films they were standard prices for all other films. WW84 is expected to open with less than $10m over Christmas Day weekend and take about $25m by New Year.

2. Elf  – £83,623 – £327,796

Down 14.8% from last weekend; despite over 40% of screens closed Elf added 15 screens from last weekend

In 2003 Elf stayed #2 for 5 weeks behind Love Actually for three weeks and then Lord of the Rings: Return of the King for two weeks, over the Christmas period and as most Christmas films dropped down the chart quickly in January, down to #7 (£578,001) in week 6 and #10 (£174,296) in week 7,  going on to take £16,263,471 (£26,446,455 inflation inflated).

Elf was the 13th biggest film of 2003 after LOTR: The Return of the King, Finding Nemo, Love Actually, The Matrix Reloaded, The Pirates of the Caribbean, Bruce Almighty, X-Men 2, Calendar Girls, Johnny English, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, The Matrix Revolutions and American Pie: The Wedding.

Since its release in 2003 Elf has become a Christmas favourite regularly re-released at Christmas and always popular, it was last re-released in December last year opening #9 but with over 200% more £148,489 from 274 screens; showing again that films are taking less than 10% of their normal box office this weekend’s box office would have placed Elf in 10th slightly ahead of Home Alone  £88,011 from 163 screens. (The top four films Jumanji: The Next Level, Frozen 2, Last Christmas and Knives Out took over 90% of the weekend box office squeezing all others).

Christmas films as Christmas songs are re-released every November and December and people will watch (and listen) to them again and again each year over the Christmas period, as they are the perfect antidote for the time of year being fun and feel-good and will be what people will crave even more this year.

On Sunday December 13th, the cast including Will Ferrell, Zooey Deschanel, Bob Newhart, Mary Steenburgen, John Lithgow, Jon Favreau and Ed Helms had charity live table read of the film to raise money for the Georgia Democratic Party to support the January 5th Senate runoff elections.

This was one of many cast reunions there have been over the last few months to raise money for other events including the cast of Father of the Bride reunite for The third film. The cast of Legally Blonde coming together to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the original film and announce plans for a third film and the cast of That Thing You Do reuniting for the films 24th anniversary and the 20th anniversary of X-Men.

3. Home Alone – £56,261 – £635,647

Down 36.2%; as with Elf despite all the cinema closures Home Alone added 4 screens; 30 years Home Alone was #1 in the UK for its third week.

Also in the top 10 was 21st Century Film’s Captain America, Cannon Films acquired film rights from Marvel in the 80s which Michael Winner attached to direct, back then there was little interest in comic-book movies despite the success of Tim Burton’s Batman the year earlier.

Home Alone was last re-released in cinemas by Park Circus in December 2019 opening with £88,011 from 163 screens

Home Alone originally opened December7th 1990 with £987,706 taking £12m (£27m inflation inflated).

Home Alone was voted as the fifth best Christmas film in a Radio Times poll in 2018; It’s A Wonderful Life #1; Elf #2; The Muppet Christmas Carol #3; Love Actually #4 with Die Hard #6 and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation #7 both were also re-released over the weekend.

4. Come Away – £42,834  – NE

The film combines elements from Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan in a family fantasy with an ensemble cast with comparisons to Bridge To Terabithia as the children in Come Away create a similar fantasy world to escape their real-world tragedy.

Bridge To Terabithia opened May 2007 with £1,045,444 #2 from 409 screens (Spider-Man 3 opened same weekend with £11,827,013) taking £4,682,915

Along with other children fantasy adventures including The Spiderwick Chronicles, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Hugo, Where the Wild Things Are, The Secret Garden, The NeverEnding Story and Pan’s Labyrinth.

Come Away opened in 160 screens one of several films Signature Entertainment have released since cinemas reopened in July, in normal circumstances Come Away would have opened in far less screens and unlikely opened in the top 10.

Children’s films have also performed well from independent distributors from July including Dreambuilders opened July 17 taking £12,407 from 51 cinemas released by Signature Entertainment went on to take £358,188 over 8 weeks. Followed by 100% Wolf opening two weeks later with £33,130 from 146 screens from Vertigo taking £1.4m after 10 weeks. Pinocchio opened 2 weeks later with £108,626 from 272 screens also released by Vertigo taking £852,909 after 11 weeks.

The rebuilding of confidence with people going to the cinema will be long as while exhibitors have talked a lot about their safety measures they come short of the far stricter safety measures seen in Asian countries that helped boost confidence with cinemagoers much quicker and with a mix of local films and smaller releases admissions in many of those countries is slowly getting back to normal.

Over the last 25 weeks it has been films released by independent distributors including Vertigo, Signature Entertainment, Trafalgar, and Altitude have released most of the new releases. They took the gamble to release films ahead of the major studios and many of the films have been steady performers with films like 100% Wolf in the top 10 for 10 weeks and Two by Two: Overboard! For 8 weeks in the top 10 taking £1,071,693. In normal circumstances these films would be lucky if they lasted more than a week in the top 10.

Will major exhibitors remember these independent distributors next year when the studios release these big movies, or will they go back to struggling to get the screens and support for their films?

5. Love Actually – £20,430 – £122,398

Down 51.9% from last weekend; losing 43 screens from last week second largest decline after A Christmas Carol (48 screens) it’s interesting that despite losing all the cinemas in London and the South East most films in the top 15 didn’t loose that many screens.

Since Love Actually was released in 2003 it has been a Christmas favourite for many; opened November 21^st, 2003 with £6,657,479 staying #1 for four weeks staying in the top 10 for 7 weeks taking £36,447,227.

Love Actually in the 90^th biggest film in the UK between Captain America: Civil War and Batman Vs Superman; the 47^th biggest inflation inflated between Finding Nemo and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and Universal Pictures 14^th biggest film in the UK between Fast & Furious 7 and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (in 2003 it was Universal/UIP third biggest film in the UK after Jurassic Park and Bridget Jones’s Diary and ahead of Gladiator and Notting Hill.

Love Actually was made by Working Title Films, the British production company was acquired by Universal Pictures in 1999 after acquiring the film assets of PolyGram. Universal Pictures have recently extended their deal with Working Title till 2015, last year released Yesterday with script written by Richard Curtis and Cats and this year Emma, The High Note, Radioactive and Rebecca (for Netflix) next year release Edgar Wright’s Last Night in Soho delayed from this year.

In 2016 Love Actually was voted Britain’s favourite Christmas film by the Radio Times; it was ahead of 1946’s It’s A Wonderful Life 2003’s Elf, 1992’s The Muppet Christmas Carol and 1990’s Home Alone, all of them regularly re-released at Christmas in cinemas.

In 2017 as part of Red Nose Day 2017 Richard Curtis directed Red Nose Day Actually short film featuring many of the original cast, it was broadcast on BBC1 in March 2017.

Also released

Other Christmas re-releases included It’s A Wonderful Life taking £17,126 and £41,673; The Muppet Christmas Carol £16,827 and 71,170; The Polar Express £15,298 and £71,837; Die Hard £14,695 and  £86,006; Arthur Christmas £13,310 and £21,362,991; Home Alone 2 £12,521 and £38,222.

Universal Pictures’ Let Him Go opened #15 taking £12,907;

Little Mix: LM5 – The Tour took £8,431 from 66 screens in its second weekend down 90% taking £93,627;

While major exhibitors continue to reject to book Netflix and Sky Cinema films they still book Katherine Jenkin Christmas Spectacular in over 130 screens despite being released on DVD days after for £9.99 days after cinemas charged over £15 a ticket and is on ITV Christmas Eve.

They also happily booked Little Mix: LM5 – The Tour in over 130 screens 10 days ago despite being on Sky One less than 10 days later, tickets were again were £15.

While over the last few months major exhibitors have refused to book The Trial Of The Chicago 7, The Forty-Year-Old Version, Rebecca, His House, Hillbilly Elegy, Mank, The Midnight Sky, I’m Thinking of Ending Things, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Prom and Pieces of a Woman despite all of these films having a longer gap between cinema release and Netflix release.

UK box office in detail

This weekend’s top 10 box office took £1,133,072 up 117.6% from last weekend (£520,600); down 96.3% from same weekend last year (£30,884,264)

The weekend admissions 159,363 up 137.7% from last week (67,046); admissions last year this week was 4,112,419 (96.1% down)

Latest estimate for 2020 box office is £310m about a third of last year’s £1.227bn; UK BO was only £294m after 37 week and is likely to be the lowest annual box office since 1995 (£383m but that is £814.10m inflation inflated) so really the lowest since 1984 (£102.22m and £382.52m inflation inflated)

Top 3 took 87.1% of £986,088; Wonder Woman 1984 85.8% (£846,435); Elf 8.5% (£83,623); Home Alone 5.7% (£56,261);

Down 96.3% from 2019 (£30,884,264); 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); #1 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker £20,864,500 1^st week 740 cinemas (2,500+ screens)

Down 93.1% 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)

Down 96.2% 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 2nd week 706 screens 64% drop (35.3% of top 10)

Down 94.8% 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 1st week 698 screens (78.9% of the top 10)

Down 97.1% 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 1st week 670 screens (88.3% of top 10)

Down 82.3% 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 2nd week 605 screens 45% drop (36.5% of top 10)

Down 93.6% 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 2nd week 594 screens 43% drop (30% of top 10)

Down 92.3% 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 2nd week 601 screens 48% drop (40.6% of top 10)

Down 89.6% 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 1st week 540 screens (35% of top 10)

Down 82.8% 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 1st week 454 screens (29.9% of top 10)

Down 91.2% from 2009; (£13,679,336); Avatar (£8,509,050); St. Trinian’s 2 (£1,586,832); Nine (£44,443); #1 Avatar £8,509,050 1st week 503 screens (62.2% of top 10)

Down 86.5% 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 1st week 448 screens (29.8% of top 10)

Down 89.3% 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 2nd week 1st #1 501 screens 10% drop (21.5% of top 10)

Down 88.2% 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 2nd week 466 screens 45% drop (21.6% of top 10)

Down 91.2% from 2005 (£13,786,105); King Kong (£6,944,740); The Family Stone (£247,515); Lassie (£132,926); #1 King Kong £6,944,740 1st week 481 screens (50.4% of top 10)

Down 86.2% 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 1st week 452 screens (27% of top 10)

Down 94.5% 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 1st week 494 screens 29% drop (73.4% of top 10)

Down 93.6% 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 1st week 501 screens (73.7% of top 10)

Down 92.2% 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 1st week 470 screens (76.1% of top 10);

Next weekend in 2019 (£23,799,781); Top three took 69.4% (£16,528,558) of the top 10; Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker 39.1%; Jumanji: The Next Level 15.2% (£3,638,441); (£9,311,240); Little Women 15.1% (£3,578,877); 7 films opened at weekend taking (£6,222,945); Little Women 57.5% (£3,578,877); Spies in Disguise 23.9% (£1,487,638); Playing With Fire 12.2% (£762,850;

UK Box Office since restart

Before lockdown in March were 848 UK cinemas open, on October 9^th Cineworld closed 127 Cineworld and Picturehouse cinemas (1,180+ screens) they won’t reopen before March.  

UK cinemas were open 18 weeks before the first English lockdown, then English cinemas closed, and Scottish cinemas stayed open for the next four weeks; box office from a low of £189,000 when UK cinemas reopened July 4^th (dropping to a low November 6^th £22,908 from 119 screens when Scottish cinemas were only open (£32,804 November 13^th from 143 screens, £26,250 November 20^th from 128 screens, £23,597 November 27^th from 125 screens) to high when Tenet opened £6,224,288; first weekend (from 42 cinemas+ drive-ins (460 screens) to 670 cinemas+ drive-ins 6,372 screens.

Week 1 £189,000 from 460 screens (73 cinemas) 141 films on release; top 5 took £81,880

Week 2; Up 76.2% £333,002 (182 films) from 1,059 screens (123 cinemas 85 from the UK the rest from Ireland and drive-ins) up 130.2%; The Empire Strikes Back (40th Anniversary opening with £50,406 from 1012 screens); top 5 £148,675.

Week 3: Down 7.5% £308,154 (191 films) from 151 cinemas and 1,286 screens up 21.4%; top 5 took £136,559; top 5 took £169,911

Week 4: Up 30.7% £402,752 (214 films) from 185 cinemas and 1,734 screens Up 34.8%; top 5 took £328,783

Week 5: Up 61.8% £651,914 (218 films) from 3,016 screens (326 cinemas reopened) up 74%; Unhinged opened with £175,263 from 243 screens); top 5 took £328,783

Week 6: Down 17.4% £538,716 (236 films) from 338 cinemas and 3,393 screens up 12.5%: American Pickle opened with £27,732 from 162 screens; top 5 took £262,058

Week 7: Up 85.2% £997,837 (269 films) from 366 cinemas; Inception: 10th Anniversary opened £207,675 from 313 screens; top 5 took £628,678

Week 8: Up 10.9% £1,107,153 (264 films) from 3,889 screens (491 cinemas) up 21.5%; top 5 took £643,139

Week 9: Up 462.2% £6,224,288 (204 films) from 3, 856 (629 cinemas); Tenet opened with 85.7% (£5,335,654); top 5 took £5,868,018

Week 10:  Down 39.8% £3,746,637 (198 films) 658 cinemas 4,607 screens (198 films on release; 487 England); top 5 £3,167,757

Week 11: Down 25% £2,812,496 from 5,522 screens; top 5 took £2,223,661; top 5 took £2,086,954

Week 12: Down 7.4% £2,603,624 from 5,401 screens; 613 cinemas; top 5 took £1,598,935

Week 13: Down 18.9% £2,112,443 from 5,564 screens 620 cinemas; top 5 took £1,598,935

Week 14: Up 24.6% £2,633,473 from 6,372 screens; top 5 took £1,753,045

Week 15: Down 36.5% £2,425,745 from 4,527 screens (closure of 1,180+ Cineworld screens); top 5 took £1,139,278

Week 16 Down 59.3% £1.2m from 4,031 screens in 488 cinemas (closure of Northern Ireland cinemas); The top five took £570,127 down 38.7% from £1,139,278 last week

Week 17 Up 54.2% £1.85m from 4,124 screens in 461 cinemas (Wales cinemas closed); 20 new releases taking almost £1m between them.  

Week 18 Up 9.7% £2.03m from 469 cinemas; box office has risen well over the last two weeks, but they were boosted by over 30 films being released and being half-term and Halloween.

Week 19 Down 98.9% £22,908 from 119 screens in Scotland only; first week of second English Lockdown; #1 The Three Kings £3,521 from 2 screens most films in the top 15 dropped close to 98%

Week 20 Up 43.2% £32,804 from 143 screens in Scotland; the second weekend of second English Lockdown; #1 The Secret Garden £5,147 from 15 screens up 201%; box office increased strongly for most films

Week 21 Down 20% £26,250 from 128 screens in Scotland; the third weekend of second English Lockdown; #1 Two By Two: Overboard! £3,422 from 16 screens many films increasing box office from last weekend despite box office down from the weekend before.

Week 22 Down 10% £23,597 from 125 screens in Scotland; the fourth weekend of second English Lockdown; #1 Home Alone £2,705 from 4 screens

Week 23 Up 2,069% £512k from 1,549 screens in 231 cinemas 20% of UK cinemas reopened with 50 Vue cinemas reopening next weekend

Week 24 up 91% £980k TBC from 3,068 screens (up 98% of screens from last weekend) about 70% of UK screens were open in the UK out of 4,500 with Cineworld being 1,100+ screens still closed along with cinemas who went into tier 3 last week. With London, the South East, Essex, and parts of Herts closing on Wednesday this will probably see over 1,000 screens closing.

Week 25 up 43% £1.4m from 2,213 screens down 28% from 279 cinemas (33% of UK cinemas open the lowest since the end of July); London and the South East have 40% of UK cinemas and they are the most expensive across the UK with many central London cinemas over £20 (almost three times average ticket price) and many outside London and South East cinemas over £15.

This weekend’s box office was 96.3% down from the same weekend in 2019 (£30,884,264); 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); #1 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker £20,864,500 1st week 740 cinemas (2,500+ screens)

UK cinema admissions will drop to less than 40m the lowest since 53.8m in 1984 (was the lowest ever but the years that followed saw a renaissance of cinema with admissions growing steadily for almost 20 years along with box office) would see 2020 box office drop 80% from £1.25bn to £310m, the lowest total since 1992, but with 150% ticket inflation since really have to go back to 1984 box office levels of £102.22m (£382.52m inflation inflated).  

Many industry experts believe cinema attendance will bounce back next year, but many of those same people believed there would be a pent-up demand when cinemas reopened after the first lockdown in July. Despite their belief cinema is incredibly low on the list of importance to most people and are a small part of the hospitality sector and value to the UK economy.

Ever since cinemas closed in March exhibitors and studios should have set aside their differences and worked together as they previously did in 1985 with British Film Year (started the renaissance of cinema in the UK and the launch of the first multiplex cinemas in the UK) and National Cinema Day in 1996 (repeated the following year) when all cinemas across the UK were £1 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of cinema.

Over the years that followed from 1985 to 2002 admissions grew steadily in the UK, they were boosted in 1996 with admissions increasing 226% from 54m to 175.9m (between 2003-2019 admissions only increased by 0.6%). A similar-sized event was needed to relaunch cinema and get people back into the cinema habit again, it is the 125th anniversary next year and this could have been part of a celebration of British cinema. As despite what exhibitors thought there is no pent-up demand away from the cinephiles, but they only make up less than 20% of cinemagoers.

The issue with cinema since July has been confidence not streaming recent YouGov survey said 55% are not comfortable going to the cinema as whatever exhibitors have said the majority won’t return anytime soon and WW84, as Tenet did, will attract cinephiles and fans.

Exhibitors regularly talk of being no COVID traced back to cinemas but surely if Cinemark has 500 staff tested positive many of them could have infected cinemagoers but as there are only 18 states with contact tracing apps most wouldn’t know if they were infected at a cinema? The same is surely the case in the UK?

The US box office is expected to drop over 80% from $11.3bn last year to $2.4bn this year; dropping 95% in the third quarter and 85% in the fourth quarter. The industry seems to believe there will be herd immunity in the US by the spring, US President-elect Joe Biden has said that within his first 100 days (April 30^th) he would want to get 100m Americans vaccinated, which is 30% of the population, medical experts have said that between 67%-80% of the population would need to be vaccinated before there is herd immunity, which is unlikely to happen and if it did wouldn’t be until 2022.

So while there will be some improvement in 2021, many of the films currently dated between now and May will likely be delayed as box office won’t likely get back to pre-COVID levels probably until 2022 or 2023 outside of China.

The UK cinema industry said 93% of current cinemagoers feel safe going to the cinema now, what the industry fails to understand is that is 93% of the 20% who have been comfortable returning to cinemas since they reopened in July, but cinema should be for the many, not the few, and is still 80%+ who aren’t comfortable and won’t return anytime soon.

Exhibitors behaved like a bull in a china shop rushing to reopen far too soon and didn’t think of the consequences targeting the pent-up demand of 20% of cinemagoers (who would have continued going to the cinema if they were open between March and June had they stayed open) rather than the 80% who have always said it would take 6 months or more to return. A recent survey for Morning Consult in the US has said it will still be more than 6 months before most people return, whilst US exhibitors still believe things will be back to normal in the spring. 

These are the same exhibitors who were in denial in February and who rushed to reopen cinemas far too soon as they believed there would be a “pent-up demand”. Instead predictably reopening months too soon reopening two months earlier than China did, so the results were always very predictable. Rather than blaming studios for moving films to PVOD, streaming, or delaying them exhibitors need to take responsibility.

The current 10 biggest films of the year are 1917 (£43.94m); Sonic the Hedgehog (£19.28m); Tenet (£17.36m); Bad Boys For Life (£15.95m); Dolittle (£15.93m); Parasite (£12.03m); The Gentlemen (£11.53m); Birds of Prey (£8.82m); Onward (£7.55m); Jojo Rabbit (£7.54m).

The top 10 would have likely been, No Time to Die, 1917, Tenet, Minion: The Rise of Gru, Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway, Black Widow, Externals, Soul, Wonder Woman 1984, Top Gun: Maverick.

At the start of the year, only 1917 and Tenet would have been expected to still be in the top 10 in November, the one positive is the £160m box office is shared out much more evenly through 9 distributors rather than one or two, while there are only one sequel, one remake and one comic-book film and it’s not part of the MCU.

January is normally a massive month but Monster Hunter opening January 29^th is the only major release from a studio, the only other big release is Blithe Spirit on January 25^th which is also on Sky Cinema.

February brings The Croods 2: A New Age, Cinderella, Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway, Promising Young Woman, Little Things, Nomadland, Freaky and Judas And The Black Messiah but all of them are TBC as most are likely to be delayed.

US Box Office

• Monster Hunter – Screen Gems

Opened with $2.2m; received average reviews (48% Rotten Tomatoes) was expected to open with $4m+.

Exhibitors can’t use the excuse that people are doing other holiday activities like shopping instead of going to the cinema as weekend over the last five years saw the release of four-Star Wars films (last year Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker opened with $177.3m taking $515.2m) and also Titanic and Avatar released.

If people wanted to go to the cinema they would have gone to the cinema as has been the case since July and will be next week with Wonder Woman 1984, as even though it is also released on HBO Max in the US many people in normal circumstances would choose to see the film in the cinema rather than at home just as a chance to not be at home.

Monster Hunter has sold over 65 million units since the first game was launched in 2007 and is  Capcom’s second best-selling computer game series after Resident Evil, the film is directed by Paul W. S. Anderson who also directed the Resident Evil films and stars Milla Jovovich.

The seven Resident Evil films have taken $271m in the US and $1.22bn worldwide since the first film was released in 2002. While the films weren’t that successful in the US they were international which was why the franchise ran for seven films.

The last Resident Evil film 2016’s Resident Evil: The Final Chapter opened with $13.6m

Monster Hunter was expected to launch a new franchise but after being pulled in China after only a day after controversy with a racist subtitle from a scene (it took $5.3m in China after one day but that box office hasn’t been included within the films global box office.

• The Croods: A New Age – Universal Pictures  

Down 32.1% in its fourth weekend taking $2.07m (85% less than The Croods) and $27.1m total (81% less than The Croods); dropping only 34% is very good as the film is now available on PVOD showing that theatrical alongside PVOD can work as there is an audience for both.

2013’s The Croods took $13.11m in its fourth weekend and $142.43m

The Croods: A New Age took 85.5% less than 2013’s the Croods took $20.75m opened with ($43.63m) taking $125.35m (49.3% of $187.16m in the US and $587.2m worldwide.

The Croods: A New Age will be Universal Pictures latest film to be released on PVOD after 17 days this week and will also continue to play in cinemas. The film is currently due to be released in the UK on February 5^th in the UK for half-term holidays along with Peter Rabbit: The Runaway (opening two months ahead of the US).

The Croods: A New Age took over 50% of the top 10 box office, Half Brothers in second taking $490k; Universal Pictures/Focus Features had 5 of the top 10 (other three were Freaky, All My Life and Come Play taking $600k between them) Universal Picture/Focus Features films have topped the chart for the last 7 weeks (Come Play, Let Him Go, Freaky and The Croods: A New Age) with these four films taking $50m between them and The Croods: A New Age almost 50%.

Over the same period last year, those 7 weeks took almost $1bn showing how soft the US box office is and has been since cinemas reopened in July. Unless the industry changes its tactics over the 6 the next few months nothing is likely to change until May at the earliest. Disney announced several date changes last week including Raya and the Last Dragon moving to March 5^th opposite Tom & Jerry the Movie, both films will also be available on streaming (Disney+ and HBO Max in the US). But then days later Warner brought Tom & Jerry the Movie forward a week.

Took $5.2m from 22 territories taking $57.5m and $84.5m worldwide; taking 88% of its international box office in China ($46m).

The Croods: A New Age is due to be released in Spain and Australia just before Christmas and the rest of the world in early 2021.

• Fatale – Lionsgate

Opened with $918,112; received positive reviews (86% Rotten Tomatoes) and B+ CinemaScore

Directed by Deon Taylor who previously directed 2019’s Black and White (opened $8.37m taking $22.04m) and The Intruder (opened $10.55m taking $35.41m).

The film will be released on PVOD early next year

 

UK Box Office Top 10