- Eternals – £5,456,577 – NE
Took £1.7m from Friday taking 31.5% of opening weekend (similar to Birds of Prey, Captain America: Civil War, Captain Marvel, Joker, Black Panther and Avengers: Endgame).
Took 10% of its opening from 50 IMAX screens
237th biggest opening in the UK between Bolt and Thor (close to Clash of the Titans, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Planet of the Apes and Interstellar) and 349th biggest inflated opening between Doctor Dolittle and Alien Resurrection (close to Oblivion, Lost in Space, Fantastic Four (2005) and Wanted).
178th biggest Fri-Sun opening between The LEGO Batman Movie and Fifty Shades Darker (close to Thor: The Dark World, Doctor Strange, Interstellar and X-Men: Apocalypse) 87th biggest opening without previews between Bolt and X-Men: Apocalypse.
The 21st biggest MCU opening in the UK between Iron Man and Thor (taking £302,927 less than Shang-Chi) 3rd lowest Disney MCU opening ahead of Ant-Man and the Wasp and Ant-Man.
47th biggest comic-book opening in the UK between Iron Man and Thor (close to Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and X-Men) and 59th biggest inflated opening between The Hulk and Fantastic Four (2005), The Wolverine and Blade 2).
48th biggest Disney opening in the UK between Bolt and Zootropolis (close to Solo: A Star Wars Story, Maleficent, Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge and Ant-Man and The Wasp) and 66th biggest inflation inflated between Hercules and Pearl Harbour.
The industry estimate UK opening as 10% of US opening but for Eternal’s it was only 7.65% similar to Shazam!, Marvel Avengers Assemble, Shang-Chi, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Aquaman, Justice League, Blade 2, Spider-Man 3, X-Men Origins: Wolverine and interestingly similar to two Angelina Jolie films Wanted and Mr and Mrs Smith.
This could be due to Eternals as Shang-Chi not having previews to inflate their openings which would see them take closer to 10% with two days of previews like The Amazing Spider-Man 2, X-Men: First Class and Venom. Or just there wasn’t the interest in Eternals in the UK as in the US which is surprising given that the film was shot mostly in the UK and featuring many British actors which often sees a Brit boost in the box office.
This does show No Time To Die BO was probably just a blip not going to turn into more than that until next month for Spider-Man No Way Home as there are big questions over November releases if they can keep the momentum going from 6 weeks ago. Will audiences come out for either Ghostbusters Afterlife or The Matrix Resurrections?
With the exception of No Time To Die all the tentpoles since Tenet have all had similar openings between £5m-£7m; Tenet £5,335,654 including £2,044,248 previews; F9 £6,014,132 including £1,177,359 previews; Black Widow £6,889,187 Including £2,250,092 previews; Shang-Chi £5,759,504; Venom 2 £6,167,833; Dune £5,876,892 including £1,111,262 previews; pre-lockdown these films would have opened with £7m+.
The problems facing Eternals were predictable as it needed to introduce all the 10 Eternals with their backstories, (originally there were 12) this was the biggest issue with the first X-Men film in 2000 which spent more than half of the film telling the backstories leaving limited time for plot. Eternals is almost an hour longer than X-Men but with twice as many Eternals had similar issues. Eternals was longer than most MCU films Black Panther (2:14), Captain Marvel (2:03) Guardians of the Galaxy (2:01), Thor Ragnarok (2:10), Doctor Strange (1:55) and Thor: The Dark World (1:52).
The other big issue with the film is it’s trying too hard to be diverse and inclusive but just comes off as dull, this is highlighted by the best part of the film is the end credit scenes setting up a Jerry Springer spinoff between Thanos and his brother as family gatherings are probably as hostile as the Roy family.
The Eternals are an immortal alien race, appear from hiding after thousands of years to protect Earth from the Deviants, but why didn’t they do that when the Earth was in trouble in the earlier 25 MCU films. In the trailer, Eternals are asked why they didn’t help the Avengers fight against Thanos and they say someone stopped them from being involved but they don’t say who, as surely they must have a WhatsApp to stay connected with each other so must know what the others are up to and offer to help?
My biggest issue is that it feels like corporate diversity is cynically done as with Black Panther when Disney felt the fanbase would be more acceptable. As Black Panther as Shang-Chi was originally meant to be one of the first 10 MCU films that were made when Marvel announced in 2005, instead Black Panther was the 18th MCU (20 years after Blade was released) and Captain Marvel 21st film. DC get a lot of deserved criticism for their films but they released Wonder Woman two years before Captain Marvel.
The problem many had with the film is it used real-world events as part of its plot, they have done so since 1942 newspaper comic Clark Kent failed the eye test when he tried to enlist in the army, in X-Men the opening scene has Erik Lehnsherr (Magneto) marching into Auschwitz with his mum they separate and the soldiers kill his mum he gets angry and manipulates metal. While Wonder Woman fights in the first World War. While in the Eternals uses the bombing of Hiroshima with Phastos standing in the ruins of the city saying, “What have I done?” Many have said that the scene was misguided as Phastos is also MCU’s first gay superhero. With some feeling, it was trying to show that superhero movies are cinema which is probably one of the reasons Marvel signed Chloé Zhao to direct as even the radio spot made it sound like an Oscar nominee.
The problem was while audiences want original stories Eternals wasn’t that it was as many MCU films have been by the numbers it was how can we make the most diverse film lets hire art-house director Chloé Zhao (soon to be Oscar-winning), have a very diverse cast that has a gay superhero and a deaf one. It feels like Marvel thought let’s throw everything into Eternals but in doing so it’s a mess. The other issue that frustrates many is they change the rules as they go along Chloé Zhao was asked if Eternals were snapped by Thanos saying they can’t technically be blipped, this was similar to in other interviews that superheroes never really die.
When Disney announced Black Widow was going to have a hybrid theatrical and Disney+ release there were rumours Eternals would have a similar release. It was surprising they didn’t do so but it was probably more to be seen to be supporting cinema after releasing several other films straight to Disney+ and receiving much criticism from exhibitors, that said Disney will do what Disney believes is best for their films. But after having so much success with previous MCU films Black Widow, Shang-Chi and Eternals were always likely to be far less successful than the two Marvel films released by Sony this year Venom 2 and Spider-Man No Way Home.
Despite all the success Marvel has had over the last 13 years while they have a library of over 7,000 characters the question is how they incorporate them into films. Will they go back to how they launched Black Widow, Black Panther and Spider-Man feature them in other MCU films before launching their solo films or use TV shows?
Some have said the reason Eternals has been ‘review bombed’ was due to its LGBTQ representation but that’s just an excuse but what’s surprising about the issues many have with Eternals many have with most other MCU films, which are the issues I have had with them for many years, but as the fanbase normally gets caught up in the hype they don’t see these issues until weeks afterwards by which time the films have taken hundreds of millions. While the fickle audience has moved on to the next film and have short memories forgetting about their issues.
Despite no major releases, this weekend (as often happens with the release of an MCU rival studio are nervous to open any film the week after) Eternals is likely to drop upwards of 60% in its second weekend; it will lose IMAX and PLF screens the following weekend with Ghostbusters Afterlife.
MCU biggest second weekend drops -73.9% Blade Widow; 68.9% Spider-Man: Far From Home; 67.0% Avengers: Endgame; 66.8% Captain America: Civil War; 65.6% Thor: The Dark World; 65.5% Avenger Infinity War; 64.3% Thor; 63.8% Iron Man; 62.9% Doctor Strange; 62.7% Thor:Ragnorok.
Except for Captain America: Civil War and Iron Man they dropped heavily due to openings inflated with previews while Shang-Chi had the second-lowest second-weekend drop in September (after Ant-Man) -37.8%.
2. No Time To Die £1,973,930 – £89,869,038
Down 43.8% in its sixth weekend
12th biggest 6th weekend between The Kings Speech (£1,986,871) and 1917 (£1,950,909)
After opening with £25,916,476 would have expected it to have the 10th £2m+ 6th weekend joining Avatar (£5,155,844); Titanic (£3,403,199); Paddington (£2,834,003); Toy Story 4 (£2,525,047); The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings (£2,416,452); Skyfall (£2,275,469); Mamma Mia! (£2,208,482); The Greatest Showman (£2,201,523) and Frozen 2 (£2,092,775)
5th biggest film in the UK between Avatar (£94,025,474) and Avengers: Endgame (£88,719,051) (5th film to take over £80m since Avatar in 2009) and 15th biggest inflation inflated film in the UK between Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Toy Story 3.
Gower Street Analytics predicted No Time To Die will take 12.8% of the total box office for 2021 with one in eight cinema tickets in 2021 for the film. This shouldn’t be seen as a positive as this audience who came out for the first time to see it should be seeing other films over the weeks following seeing No Time To Die but are probably back in front of their TV watching films like Red Notice on Netflix.
James Bond sixth weekend drops
2002’s Die Another Day up 30.1% £1,506,915 and £31,392,839 87.1% of £36,043,520 (£62,858,506 inflation inflated)
2006’s Casino Royale down 29.8% £1,011,491 and £46,874,128 84.4% of £55,495,547
2008’s Quantum of Solace down 50.4% £720,390 and £48,955,117 95.8% of £51,089,938
2012’s Skyfall down 40.2% £2,275,469 and £93,769,331 91.2% of £102,816,893
2015’s Spectre down 42.9% £2,179,154 and £90,634,770 95.2% of £95,183,468
2021’s No Time To Die down 43.8% £1,973,930 and £89,869,038 93% of £96m
Had a similar fifth weekend drop as
38.61% Blade Runner 2049; 38.71% Jurassic World; 39.86% Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker; 40.27% Skyfall; 43.02% Spectre; 45.81% Gravity; 46.66% Avengers: Endgame; 48.48% Dunkirk
Consumer spending rose 14.2% in October compared to 2019 as cooler weather made people seek out the cinema and takeaway meals. Cinema had the highest growth 17.3% since October 2019 due to No Time to Die. The problem is for cinema films like No Time To Die come every few years but Netflix has popular new shows like Squid Game and Sky with Succession every month. While online takeaway spending grew 127% showing that many more still preferred to Netflix and chill than go to the cinema.
James Bond film stands above any other film franchise or series in the UK their success in the UK for almost 60 years is incomparable to any other with only Star Wars: The Force Awakens taking more than Skyfall and Spectre. There is no other film series that galvanizes the UK media as James Bond, while MCU, Star Wars and Harry Potter have been successful at the box office none of those films receives the media coverage a James Bond film does.
Die Another Day opened on 430 screens on November 20th, 2002
5th weekend £1,158,430 down 48% #3 467 screens; Lord of the Rings: Two Towers opened #1 £13,063,560; Harry Potter Chamber Of Secrets #2 £1,164,992
6th weekend £1,506,915 down 30% #3 457 screens; Lord of the Rings: Two Towers opened #1 £ 8,177,801; Harry Potter Chamber Of Secrets #2 £1,558,543
7th weekend £1,092,631 down 28% #4 415 screens; #1 Lord of the Rings: Two Towers £5,774,170 #2 Star Trek X: Nemesis £1,957,845 N£; #3 Harry Potter and the Chamber Secrets £1,144,473
8th weekend £640,382 down 41% #5; stayed in the top 5 for 8 weeks and top 10 for 9 weeks
Casino Royale opened in 505 cinemas (988 screens) on 19th November 2006
5th w/e £1,440,607 dropped 47% #3 447 screens; Happy Feet #1 £2,034,916; #2 The Holiday £1,597,633
6th w/e £1,011,491 dropped 30% #3 428 screens; Happy Feet #1 £2,048,266; #2 The Holiday £1,054,447
7th w/e £1,417,179 up 40% #3 377 screens; Night at the Museum #1 £7,690,312
8th w/e £1,055,546 down 26% #5; Night at the Museum #1 £2,958,093 2nd w/e
Stayed in the top 5 for 8 weeks and top 10 for 12 weeks
Quantum of Solace opened on 540 screens on 31st October 2008
5th weekend £1,453,184 dropped 49.6% #2 500 screens; Four Christmases #1 opened £2,275,585
6th weekend £720,390 dropped 50% #5 429 screens; #1 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa £6,342,997; #2 Four Christmases £1,498,592; #3 Transporter 3 £958,615; #4 Changeling £721,221
7th w/e £328,067 down 55% #8 322 screens; #1 The Day the Earth Stood Still £2,752,132
Stayed in the top 5 for 6 weeks and top 10 for 8 weeks
Skyfall opened on 587 screens on 26th October 2012
5th weekend £3,809,893 #2 dropped 32% 550 screens; The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 #1 £5,344,508
6th weekend £2,275,469 #1 dropped 41% 532 screens; ; The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 #2 £2,180,909 3rd weekend
Dropped to #2 7th weekend taking £1,428,708 (513 screens); #1 Rise of the Guardians #1 £1,602,689
Dropped to 4th 8th weekend taking £809,406 (434 screens); #1 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey £11,601,538.
Stayed in the top 5 for 8 weeks and top 10 for 11 weeks
Spectre opened in 651 cinemas and on over 2,500 screens on October 26th, 2015
5th weekend £2,179,154 #3 dropped 44% 536 screens; #1 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2 £4,534,464; #2 The Good Dinosaur £2,926,448
6th weekend £1,241,619 #3 dropped 43% 467 screens; #1 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2 £1,286,244; #2 The Good Dinosaur £1,701,333
7th w/e £807,462 #3 dropped 35% 442 screens; #1 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2 £2,240,723; #2 The Good Dinosaur £1,273,2943
8th w/e £297,803 #6 dropped 63% 308 screens; #1 Star Wars: The Force Awakens £34,011,849
Stayed in the top 5 for 7 weeks and top 10 for 10 weeks
Have been so many articles saying No Time To Die will ‘save cinema’ but this will only be the case if the millions who went to see No Time To Die will see other films opening over the next few months as the big question is what would be the next £50m+ film? So far this year there have been about 8 films that have
In 2019 were 6 films taking £50m+ Avengers: Endgame (£88,719,051); The Lion King (£76,019,595); Toy Story 4 (£65,802,558); Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (£58,265,708); Joker (£58,166,427); Frozen 2 (£53,549,035) and four taking £30m+ Captain Marvel (£39,234,293); Spider-Man: Far From Home (£37,333,748); Aladdin (£37,236,939) and Jumanji: The Next Level (£36,079,399) as apart from Spider-Man: No Way Home there probably won’t be another £30m+ film until Downton Abbey 2 in March 2022.
3. Dune – £1,548,306 – £16,810,576
Down 55% in its third weekend; losing IMAX and PLF screens had a major impact on its third-weekend box office.
343rd biggest film in the UK between Trainspotting 2 and Free Guy (close to Mad Max: Fury Road, The Silence of the Lambs, Batman Begins and Kingsman: The Secret Service) and 554th biggest inflation inflated between Kevin & Perry Go Large and Justice League (close to Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, The Great Gatsby, A Passage to India and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy).
56th biggest Warner Bros film in the UK between Mad Max: Fury Road and Batman Begins (close to Tenet, The Matrix, Ready Player One and Kong: Skull Island) and 83rd biggest inflation inflated between Mad Max: Fury Road and Justice League (close to The Last Samurai, Godzilla, The Final Destination and The Meg).
The gap between Dune and No Time To Die has grown over the last three weeks after being separated by £93,070 its opening weekend, it took £202,149 less at its second and £425,624 in its third.
Third weekends
Took £315,216 more than Tenet (£1,233,090) dropped 43% #1 from 612 screens (still playing in IMAX and PLF) taking £4,363,998 more (£16,810,576 Vs £12,446,578); Tenet had taken 71.2% of its total £17,467,059 if Dune held similar it would take £23.5m but Tenet had no competition staying #1 for 6 weeks Dune is far more front-loaded.
But £242,721 less than 2017’s Blade Runner 2049 (£1,791,027) dropped 42% #1 from 617 screens (still playing in IMAX and PLF) but took £1,092,489 more (£16,810,576 Vs £15,718,087); Blade Runner 2049 had taken 83.5% of its total £18,820,009 if Dune holds similarly it will take about £20m.
But if Dune were to be the massive blockbuster many thought it was going to be a be to (as Tenet) deserve a sequel or two Denis Villeneuve is often compared to Christopher Nolan so far better comparison would be Inception in 2010.
Took £1,681,345 less than Inception (£3,229,651) dropped 23% #4 from 459 screens (Toy Story 3 #1 £8,115,193; Karate Kid £4,882,306; The A-Team £3,569,505) taking £3,989,892 less (£16,810,576 Vs £20,800,468) Inception had taken 59.4% of its total £34,976,999 if Dune held similarly would have taken £30m+ which is surely the level Warner were hoping for when they greenlit Dune with a budget of $165m+ and marketing of similar amount.
Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival took £778,449 in its third-weekend #5 down 48% from 487 screens taking £7,334,028 81.5% of £8,994,774 it opened early autumn which had strong success over previous years with adult sci-fi films Gravity (£32,692,161), Interstellar (£20,066,636) and The Martian (£23,578,878) with Gravity and The Martian both having very long legs as they played beyond its target demographic.
The problem with Dune as with Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 they were always going to struggle to play beyond its fanbase while that might be ok with Arrival it’s not for a film like Dune which was expected to be an $800m+ global box office hit.
What this also shows is films like Dune and Tenet need to open with several other similar sized films as it was never big enough to be the saviour of cinema on its own despite Christopher Nolan’s delusions of grandeur.
Christopher Nolan’s biggest films have all opened in crowded marketplaces with several other films targetting different demographics. Dune had a similar second weekend as 2010’s Inception as Dune only had one-week #1 with Toy Story 3 (opening with £21,187,264) taking £4,172,568 down 29% while Interstellar held #1 for two weeks taking £3,777,804 down 30% had The Imitation Game opening #2 with £2,742,725 and then The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 opening #1 in its third weekend.
2017’s Dunkirk was a different story as it played to all demographics so didn’t need the support down only 18% in its second weekend (£8,235,532) but that was never going to happen with either Tenet or Dune as they both weren’t going to play as wide.
As Dune Blade Runner 2049 was #1 for only 1 week with The LEGO Ninjago Movie opening with £3,642,038 (ahead of half-term) it would have held #1 without The LEGO Ninjago Movie £1,554,074 from previews taking £3,098,872 in its second weekend, but as Dune would have opened second last weekend without previews box office needs to be compared with previews of other films.
72nd biggest Warner Bros film in the UK between Pokemon Detective Pikachu and Ocean’s Thirteen (close to Mad Max: Fury Road, Ready Player One, Shazam! and Batman).
While all of Denis Villeneuve previous films Prisoners, Sicario, Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 have received widespread critical acclaim but they haven’t been hugely successful at the box office compared with other blockbuster directors with all of his films performing far stronger internationally than the US.
Prisoners $46m budget took $61m US, $61.12m international and $122.12m worldwide
Sicario budget $30m took $46.88m US, $38.23m international and $85.12m worldwide
Arrival budget $47m took $100.54m US, $102.84m international and $203.38m worldwide
Blade Runner $150m budget took $92.05m US, $167.28m international and $259.33m worldwide
Dune budget $165m took $84.1m* US, $247m international and $331.1m worldwide; 443rd biggest film in the worldwide
4. Venom: Let There Be Carnage £675,819 – £16,202,8
Down 55.8% in its fourth weekend; 2018’s Venom dropped 46% in its fourth weekend dropped from #5 to #8 (Bohemian Rhapsody #1 £9,530,463) taking £855,826 and £18,452,016
Took 21.1% less than 2018’s Venom (£855,826) and after 24 days took 13.9% less than Venom took in 26 days (£18,452,016) 82.7% of £20,123,186 despite receiving poor reviews staying in the top 15 for 7 weeks (30% Rotten Tomatoes) but the audience score was far more positive.
363rd biggest film in the UK between The Smurfs and Kung Fu Panda 2 (close to Ant-Man, Kingsman: The Secret Service, X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Bad Boys For Life) and 576th biggest inflation inflated between Rio 2 and The Emperor’s New Groove (close to Thor, F9, Ready Player One and World War Z).
37th biggest Sony Pictures film between The Smurfs and Godzilla (close to 22 Jump Street, Blade Runner 2049, Bad Boys For Life and Django Unchained) and 62nd biggest inflation inflated between Trainspotting 2 and Bad Boys For Life.
52nd biggest comic-book movie between Ant-Man and X-Men Origins: Wolverine (close to Batman Begins, Justice League, X-Men: First Class and X-Men).
Spider-Man: Far From Home opening December is the next Spider-Man film but currently features in the Marvel Cinematic Universe but the end credit scene in Venom 2 (with Eddie and Venom in a hotel room, watching a Mexican soap opera and are transported to a different universe, with a news report Peter Parker is Spider-Man which was also seen at the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home) makes it look like the two universes could be combining in the future.
Morbius is the third film in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe opening in January 2022. Last week Sony Pictures announced two more Marvel films to be released in June and October 2023 with one of them expected to be Venom 3.
Audiences who see the sequel can see footage from Matrix 4 as the two films were being filmed in San Francisco in February 2020 at the same time using the same helicopters that feature in Matrix 4.
5. The Boss Baby 2 – £606,181 – £5,824,397
Down 54.7% in its third weekend
As with The Croods 2, it’s impossible to compare the opening of The Boss Baby with any other animated film and the two original Dreamworks Animation films as both opened several months after they were released in the US, The Boss Baby 2 opened in the US in July in cinemas and on Peacock taking $57.22m and $112.98m worldwide; 2017’s The Boss Baby took $175m in the US and $527.96m worldwide.
153rd biggest animated film between ParaNorman and Smurfs: The Lost Village (close to Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Storks, Smurfs: The Lost Village and The Angry Birds Movie 2).
Third weekends
The Croods: A New Age increased 2% (summer holidays) £893,054 #4 taking £4,204,385 42.5% of £9,882,749; opened in UK cinemas 8 months after its US release despite opening far less than the original in July it has had long legs taking almost £10m over 12 weeks despite opening with £696,563 taking 13.8x opening compared to the 2013’s The Croods opening £5,372,290 taking £26,328,511 4.9x opening.
2017’s The Boss Baby dropped 43% taking £2,062,992 #2 and £22,264,960 77.6% of £28,682,992 3.57x opening;
2013’s The Croods dropped 28% taking £2,364,348 #1 and £17,718,116 67.3% of £26,328,511 5.22x opening
The Boss Baby 2 was the third family film that opened before half-term but held the best with The Addams Family 2 #6 dropping the most 70.2% as had the double whammy of end of half-term and have pasted Halloween, while the best of the three Ron’s Gone Wrong dropped 55.9% #9 taking only £3,973,728.
Also Opened
• Spencer – STX
Opened with £492,643 from 183 screens
Opening at a similar level as most STX films have done since they launched in 2017 with Breathe showing the problem independent film distributors have to try and find audiences for their films
Received world premiere at the 78th Venice International Film Festival with critical acclaim (92% Rotten Tomatoes) praising Kristen Stewart’s performance with many suggesting she will receive her first Oscar nomination. The film received its UK premiere at the London Film Festival; STX bought UK rights in January.
As Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson with Harry Potter franchise Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson have struggled over the years since Twilight to break away from the film series they had so much success with. Last year Robert Pattinson starred in Christopher Nolan’s Tenet and stars in Matt Reeves’s The Batman next year and with Spencer (and Happiest Season last year) Kristen Stewart has been able to break away from being Bella Swan.
Opened as counterprogramming for Eternals and early November has been used often over recent years to open a British film 2019 The Good Liar opened £960,536; 2018 Widow £2,409,112; 2017 Murder on the Orient Express £4,985,600; 2015 The Lady in the Van £2,256,121; 2014 The Imitation Game £2,742,725; 2013 Philomena £1,509,726.
Many of these films also received UK premiere at the London Film Festival. Distributors will normally release films that premiere at the London Film Festival at the end of October/early November or else open them in January. With many believing, Kristen Stewart could have received an Oscar nomination for her performance it would have been far better to hold back its release to January. The film opened last weekend in the US and also struggle to find an audience.
In 2013 another biopic Diana was released by eOne receiving poor reviews opened #5 in September with £623,051 from 523 screens taking £1,847,427 lasting only two weeks in the top 10.
Despite critical acclaim, Spencer was always likely to struggle to find an audience at this current time as away from No Time To Die older audiences still aren’t going to the cinema and the other issue is with Netflix’s The Crown (written by Peter Morgan who wrote the screenplay for 2006’s The Queen) why would people want to pay £15 to see something they can watch at home.
Stephen Frears’ The Queen opened to £856,273 in September 2006, taking £9.4m.
Previous films directed by Pablo Larrain include 2012’s No (£345,571 total); 2017’s Jackie (opened £663,110 taking £3.8m).
After opening in 183 screens will it expand further this weekend.
- Red Notice – Netflix
Released in selective independent cinemas the week before its released-on Netflix as always with BO data wasn’t released. Despite major exhibitors saying they are willing to book Netflix films they have to be on exhibitors terms. Analysts estimated that the film took about $1.3m in the US.
The film was originally based at Universal Pictures in March 2018 was dated for June 2020 and then moved back to November 2020 before Netflix acquired the film in July 2019 probably due to Rawson Marshall Thurber’s Skyscraper (also starring Dwayne Johnson) disappointing at the box office in summer 2018 (taking $68.42m in the US and $304.86m worldwide).
As often with these films received mixed reviews but audience reaction has been far more positive and will likely be watched by millions on Netflix this weekend. It was Netflix’s highest budget film to date $200m.
Box Office News
There were 35.2m admissions for the first three quarters of the year down 14% from 2020 for the same period.
The box office was £254m from 254 releases, 8.5% more than for the same period in 2020 but about 60% of the BO came from only 10 films (Shang-Chi (£20.5m took 8% of the BO); Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway (£20.4m 8% of BO); Black Widow (£18.83m 7.4%); Free Guy (£16.78m 6.6%); F9 (£16.44m 6.5%); The Suicide Squad (£14.2m 5.6%); Space Jam 2 (£12.85m 5.1%); Jungle Cruise (£12.55m 5%); A Quiet Place 2 (£11.54m 4.6%); showing audiences are far more selective with the films they see in cinemas and they are all targetting similar demographics.
UK independent films were 6.8% compared to 13.3% in 2020 as independent distributors took the risk to open films in July-October last year when cinemas reopened with major exhibitors eager to book them wide in the cinemas, but since cinemas reopened in May they have been squeezed struggling to get the screens.
August admissions were 10.4m up 400%+ from August 2020 but 33% down from 2019 showing that as I have said for months BO was a third-down from normal levels; August is normally a very strong month for cinema attendance as with summer holidays every day is a Saturday previous August admissions 2019 15.55m; 2018 19.22m; 2017 14.47m; 2016 18.08m; 2015 14.37m; 2014 17.06m; 2013 17.64m; 2012 17.21m; 2011 21.41m.
August 2011 was the best month for cinema attendance despite The Inbetweeners Movie being the biggest film of the month taking £45,030,412 its success helped other films also perform well, unlike what has happened normally since that one big film cannibalizes everything around it.
While September admissions were 6.5m down 41% from 2019 (10.95m); 2018 10.13m; 2017 10.78m; 2016 11.66m (Bridget Jones’s Baby £48,150,737); 2015 9.23m; 2014 8.51m; 2013 9.88m; 2012 9.44m; 2011 11.48m; (September often sees a major British film open).
Of course, October admissions will be much higher thanks to No Time To Die (taking £75m) back to levels they were in 2015 with Spectre (15.4m) and 2012 Skyfall (16.83m) but need steady admissions every month of the year does not have the highs and lows that have occurred over recent years before the pandemic.
No Time To Die is a one-off that comes every few years, the question is what will be the next film that will attract that kind of audience.
The Cinema industry heralded “Cinema Was Back” after 4 weekends had BO of over £15m for the first time since 2018 but this weekend it dropped below and next weekend will drop even lower. If the cinema is really back weekend box office should be holding steady at over £12.5m+ every weekend, the problem is there are highs and lows, the highs when a massive MCU, Star Wars or every few years James Bond film and then the lows that see BO drop to levels of 20 years ago,
With ticket inflation of about 80% since 2001 weekend box office should be at about 100% levels of 2001 every week, the industry will, of course, say average price is dropping still but as a large proportion of BO is coming from IMAX, PLF and premium formats that isn’t the case.
Avatar took £94m in 2009 (£125m inflation inflated) the sequel finally opens next year 12 years later after many delays but it’s unlikely to be the massive success the original film was. As the world has moved on over the years and while Avatar sequels were very important to 20th Century Fox to bookend their film slate, but aren’t so important to Disney apart from boosting admissions to Pandora The World of Avatar at their theme parks as MCU and Star Wars are now far more important to them.
The other major tentpole is the third Jurassic World film but after Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom took a third less than 2015’s Jurassic World (£64,322,933) and less than 1993’s Jurassic Park (£47,790,337 and £107,491,038 inflation inflated) so Jurassic World: Dominion is unlikely to get to similar levels as Jurassic World. There are of course many comic-book movies also released from both Marvel and DC but they will all likely take similar £30m+ BO.
While there are massive questions over how BO could be affected during Nov-Dec during the Qatar World Cup as normally with the World Cup as with Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom films are either brought forward internationally or delayed until afterwards.
But as Qatar World Cup starts just before Thanksgiving and ends the weekend before Christmas these films can’t open earlier or later and already have the issue with Avatar 2 opening against Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom the weekend of the World Cup Final, the last final in 2018 was seen by 517m worldwide with 22.2m watching in the UK which was down from 26.5m who saw England beaten in the Semi-Final. Expectations will be high for Qatar World Cup so would be a massive gamble for studios holding on to these release dates if England were to possibly get to a second final in less than 18 months.
BO for the first three quarters over recent years 2017 £966.3m; 2018 £919.4m; 2019m £907.1m; 2020 £234m and 2021 £254m.
Biggest Films of 2021
The top 10 biggest films of 2021 are currently
No Time To Die £89.86m; Shang-Chi (£21.2m); Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway (£20.4m); Black Widow (£18.83m); Dune £16.81m; Free Guy (£16.78m); F9 (£16.44m); Venom 2 £16.2m; The Suicide Squad (£14.2m); Space Jam 2 (£12.85m);
No Time To Die is the only film that is performing as it would in normal circumstances all others opened about a third less than they would but many have had much longer legs than they would normally do; Free Guy 6.79x; Space Jam: A New Legacy 9.46x; 14.3x The Croods: A New Age.
The following 10 biggest films from 11-20
Jungle Cruise (£12.55m); A Quiet Place 2 (£11.54m); The Croods 2 (£9.8m); The Addams Family 2 £9.51m; Cruella £9.45m; The Conjuring 3 £9.36m; PAW Patrol: The Movie £8.47m; Eternals £5.45m; Candyman £5.12m;
Morning Consultant tracking to the normal has seen comfort going to the cinema in the US comfort going to the movies down 1% to 50% this week. Millennials (64%) and Gen Zers (52%) remain most comfortable seeing a movie in cinemas which has always been the case since they reopened.
After the mixed reception to Marvel’s Eternals, November looks much softer than October as while Ghostbuster: Afterlife received mostly positive reviews still a big unknown as is the new Disney animation Encanto which is likely to perform similar to Coco. In December West Side Story, Spider-Man: No Way Home, The Matrix 4 and The King’s Man open within 12 days of each other which could be problematic as Spider-Man: No Way Home, The Matrix 4 and The King’s Man are targetting similar demographics.
UK box office in detail
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £12,060,490 down 18.2% from last weekend E14,743,116; 2020 Lockdown 2
The weekend admissions 1,696,271 down 18.2% 2,073,575 from last week;2020 Lockdown 2;
Top 3 took £8,978,813 74.4% of the top 10; Eternals 45.8% (£5,456,577); No Time To Die 16.6% (£1,973,930); Dune 13% (£1,548,306);
October BO took October 2021 is £147m up 15.7% from October 2019’s £127m with over 50% of the month’s BO from No Time To Die
xx from 2020; Lockdown 2
Up 0.2% from 2019 (£12,078,831); top three took 54.3% (£6,563,938) of the top 10; Joker 20.2% (£2,446,199); The Addams Family 18.5% (£2,234,172); Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil 15.6% (£1,883,567); #1 Joker £2,446,199 29.4% drop (20.2% of top 10) 5th weekend #1
Down 16.3% from 2018: (£14,405,189); The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (£1,733,235); Slaughterhouse Rulez (£397,792); Peterloo (£348,697); Juliet, Naked (£51,813); #1 Bohemian Rhapsody £5,750,267 2nd week 681 screens 40% drop (39.9% of top 10)
Down 16.6% from 2017: (£14,453,653); Murder on the Orient Express (£4,985,600); A Bad Moms Christmas (£1,781,738); The Killing of a Sacred Deer (£286,448); The Son of Bigfoot (£23,213); The Silence of the Lambs (Re: 2017) (£8,383); #1 Murder on the Orient Express £4,985,600 1st week 618 screens 1st week 611 screens (34.5% of the top 10)
Up 5.5% from 2016: (£11,430,004); The Accountant (£1,623,866); A Street Cat Named Bob (£985,557); Nocturnal Animals (£755,427); The Light Between Oceans (£733,421); #1 Doctor Strange £3,445,203 2nd week 599 screens 63% drop (30.1% of the top 10)
Down 32.4% from 2015; (£17,844,077); Brooklyn (£1,041,278); Burnt (£445,777); Scout’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (£297,263); Kill Your Friends (£102,221); #1 SPECTRE £13,145,138 2nd week 660 screens 68% drop (73.6% of top 10)
Up 8.9% from 2014: (£11,071,565); Interstellar (£5,378,220); Say When (AKA Laggies) (£93,259); The Skeleton Twins (£19,204); November Man (£4,980); #1 Interstellar £5,378,220 1st week 574 screens (48.5% of top 10)
Down 15.9% from 2013: (£14,343,283); Gravity (£6,238,375); #1 Gravity £6,238,375 1st week 539 screens (43.5% of top 10)
Down 47.5% from 2012 (£22,991,689); Silent Hill: Revelation 3D (£1,043,068); Fun Size (£410,028); Rust and Bone (£252,099); The Shining (Re: 2012) (£132,470); The Master (£65,701); For a Good Time, Call… (£43,882); #1 Skyfall £16,107,687 2nd week 593 screens 20% drop (70.1% of top 10)
Down 27.2% from 2011 (£9,478,695); In Time (£1,882,365); Tower Heist (£1,451,029); Machine Gun Preacher (£331,578); Straw Dogs (£41,912); Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (£4,895); #1 The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn £2,199,171 2nd week 510 screens 67% drop (23.2% of top 10)
Down 29.8% from 2010: (£9,291,445); Due Date (£2,346,089); 3-D Jackass (£1,696,909); Let Me In (£488,402); Another Year (£355,626); #1 Due Date £2,346,089 1st week 449 screens (25.2% of top 10)
Up 34.1% from 2009; (£8,993,624); A Christmas Carol (£1,917,539); The Men Who Stare at Goats (£1,211,791); The Fourth Kind (£851,476); Bright Star (£207,881); #1 A Christmas Carol £1,917,539 1st week 446 screens (21.3% of top 10)
Down 12.5% from 2008; (£13,780,120); Pride and Glory (£396,691); W (£367,512); Easy Virtue (£341,099); #1 Quantum of Solace £9,221,744 2nd week 541 screens 40% drop (66.9% of top 10)
Up 49.1% from 2007: (£8,089,452); 30 Days of Night (£1,532,976); Elizabeth: The Golden Age (£1,348,440); Death at a Funeral (£357,212); The Lookout (£33,833); Brothers Solomon (£21,231); Man of the Year (£2,391); #1 Ratatouille £3,056,938 4th week 498 screens 57% drop (19.2% of top 10)
Up 12.2% from 2006; (£10,744,444); Borat (£6,242,344); Sixty-Six (£292,295); Little Children (£158,012); #1 Borat £6,242,344 1st week 428 screens (58.1% of top 10)
Up 51.3% from 2005 (£7,969,627); The Brothers Grimm (£919,713); Elizabethtown (£668,604); Murderball (£14,335); #1 Nanny McPhee £1,656,113 3rd week 1st #1 421 screens 46% drop (20.7% of top 10)
Up 103.7% from 2004 (£5,920,822); The Grudge (£2,261,710); Bad Santa (£474,450); Birth (£421,758); Look At Me (£88,161); #1 The Grudge £2,261,710 1st week 362 screens (38.2% of top 10)
Down 14.8% from 2003 (£14,166,002); The Matrix Revolutions (£8,712,350); Seabiscuit (expansion) (£767,371); #1 The Matrix Revolutions £8,712,350 1st week 467 screens (61.5% of top 10)
Up 177.8% from 2002 (£4,357,114); Rabbit Proof Fence (£221,758); Orange County (£167,051); #1 28 Days Later £1,073,042 2nd week 320 screens 28% drop (24.6% of top 10)
Up 70.3% from 2001 (£7,083,187); The Others (£2,259,538); The Animal (£345,651); #1 The Others £2,259,538 1st week 385 screens (31.9% of top 10);
Next weekend in 2019 (£8,534,914); The Aeronauts (£1,042,337); The Good Liar (£960,536); Midway (£755,181); 42nd Street – The Musical (£560,680); Luce (£116,098); #1 Joker £1,668,466 down 32% 601 screens 6th week (6 weeks #1)
US Box Office
- Eternals – Disney
Opened with $71.29m; received mixed reviews (51% Rotten Tomatoes) and B CinemaScore; the lowest CinemaScore of all 26 MCU films all having received A except for Thor B+
37% of the box office came from IMAX, PLF, 3D and Premium formats
119th biggest opening in the US between Us and Fast & Furious; 1,160th biggest film between Chocolat and Scary Movie 2; 1,955th biggest inflation inflated between 3:10 to Yuma and Final Destination 2; 13th biggest film in 2021 between Dune and Final Destination 2; 80th biggest comic-book movie between Hellboy II: The Golden Army and Blade; 185th biggest Disney film in the US between 3 Men and a Little Lady and Turner & Hooch.
Predictably MCU has had three of the four biggest openings this year Black Widow, Shang-Chi and Eternals. As the audience for each is the same so those who went t see Black Widow, then went to see Shang-Chi and now Eternals also Venom 2 and then next month will see Spider-Man No Way Home.
Thursday previews Eternals took $9.5m; Venom: Let There Be Carnage Took $11.6m (12.4%); Shang-Chi $8.8m (12.3%); Black Widow took $13.2m ($16.4%); Thor: Ragnarok $14.5m (11.8%); Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 1 $11.2m (11.8%); Ant-Man And the Wasp $11.5m (15.2%); Spider-Man: Homecoming $15.4m (13.2%); Venom $10m (12.4%); Doctor Strange $9.4m (11.1%); Thor Dark World $7.1m (8.3%); Ant-Man $6.4m (11.6%).
Took $30.7m on Friday (including $9.5m previews) which was the biggest opening day for an exclusive cinema release since 2019 but despite that, it was seen as a disappointment as expectations are always so high for Disney properties need to open much bigger.
Predictable headlines were saying Eternals first day was bigger than Black Widow and Shang-Chi and were AMC’s biggest first day of advance ticket sales this year as the fans that rushed out to buy tickets for both and also Venom Let There Be Carnage was always going to rush out to buy tickets for Eternals as they will also for Spider-Man: No Way Home in December.
Audience breakdown
Male 61%; Female 39%; Under 9 2%; 10-12 5%; 13-17 11%; 18-24 35%; 25-34 20%; 35-44 13%; 45+ 14%;
But the same audience is seeing these movies as seen with research from Eternals; In the last two months, 30% have seen at least 2 films in the cinema, 23% saw 3, 20% saw 1 movie and 11% watched four movies. But older audiences are still very slow to return why all the films that have opened since cinemas reopened are all taking similar box office. This is probably the real reason Paramount delayed Top Gun: Maverick from November to next May as despite receiving mostly positive reviews there are still big questions over Ghostbuster Afterlife and the demographic who will see it.
Likewise, The Matrix Resurrections opening next month a week after Spider-Man No Way Home, while the latter will likely be the first $100m+ opener post-pandemic with The Matrix Resurrections opening the weekend after it will likely drop upwards of 60% as almost all tentpoles have this year and as the two previous Spider-Man films also did. When cinemas reopened films were expected to open lower than pre-pandemic but have longer legs as audiences, but most have still dropped at the same level they did pre-pandemic and most tentpoles are opening at similar levels and taking similar BO. There hasn’t been that breakout hit as there has been in the UK with No Time To Die.
While the opening box office of these films was always going to be bigger than the earlier one with Spider-Man: No Way Home opening with $120m+. Despite this, the industry has expressed surprise by this but a pandemic won’t stop people watching comic-book movies and UK audiences with the latest James Bond film these are indestructible.
Eternals took $2.6m in its first 24 hours 86% more than Shang-Chi and 30% more Black Widow ($2m). While the US will regularly release advance ticket sales for films the UK rarely releases similar data, needs to be similar transparency with box office data but for the UK compared to the UK which is limited to weekend data and rarely makes daily data available.
Had press screenings on October 18 same day as its world premiere with embargo ending October 24th; social media reaction predictably called it the best MCU ever as they always do and always have to take these immediate reactions with a pinch of salt as they are always over the top with praise why the embargo ends immediately after some films are screened but not for others.
Took $7.6m from 403 IMAX screens in the US (10.7% of opening) and $6m from 320 IMAX screens in 58 territories. With such a significant percentage of BO now coming from so few IMAX cinemas (400 in the US and 50 in the UK), this must mean average ticket price is what EntTelligence said Shang-Chi $13.72 ($13.14 for Eternals), $12.63 for Black Widow and $12.70 for F9 and higher for Dune rather than industry claimed $9.16? EntTelligence said 5.4m watched Eternals in US cinemas over opening weekend.
The problem is not all IMAX is the same audiences are paying same inflated prices $20+ (£20+) more than double industry average $9.16 but not getting the same size experience in all IMAX screens as when it launched screens were 5x double-decker buses now most are 3 or less. The other issue is IMAX marketing talks much about how much footage films were exclusively shot in the format but then have films like No Time to Die shot in 70mm IMAX but aren’t released anywhere in the world in the format with all IMAX screens digital for the film.
Shang-Chi opened with $127.6m worldwide with $71.4m (55.9%) in the US and $56.2m (44.1%) internationally in 41 territories (including $7.7m from the UK 13.7%); IMAX took $13.2m (10.3%) worldwide including $5.2m from IMAX on 391 screens internationally from 66 territories
Black Widow opened with $159m with $80.36m (50.5%) in the US and $78.8m (49.5%) internationally from 46 territories; ($9.7m from the UK 12.3%); IMAX took $12M (7.5%) worldwide including $4.8m from 315 screens in 59 countries territories
Ahead of opening Eternals was expected to open with $150m globally, pre-pandemic this used to be a lowball estimate with actual openings about $20m more, but Eternals as Shang-Chi and Black Widow didn’t open in China while it was banned from opening in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar due to the same-sex kiss, local censors demanded cuts but Disney have refused to do so.
Some have said Eternals opening is a wake-up call for Marvel it’s not as they will see it as audiences said they wanted a different kind of MCU film so we gave them something different. But as audiences didn’t come out to see the different MCU as they previously didn’t with Ant-Man they will see it as a reason to instead make MCU films as they have done previously. Eternals was always going to be a hard sell beyond the comic-book fanbase.
Opened with $90.7m from 46 territories; Korea $14.4m; UK $7.1m; France $6.7m; Mexico $5.7m; Australia $5m; Italy $4.6m; Germany $4.3m; Brazil $4.2m; Taiwan $3.8m; Japan $3.7m; Hong Kong $3.4m; Spain $3m
Opened with $161.7m worldwide second-biggest global opening this year behind F9 $163m 83.4% from China ($136m) slightly less than the first Guardians of the Galaxy ($164m); Antman and The Wasp ($167m); Thor: The Dark World ($179m).
1,076th biggest worldwide between The Magnificent Seven and The Ring Two; 21st biggest 2021film between The Suicide Squad and Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway; 84th biggest comic-book movie between Dick Tracy and Hellboy II: The Golden Army; 160th biggest Disney film between Bridge of Spies and The Muppets.
- Dune – Warner Bros
Down 49% in its third weekend taking $7.79m and $84.11m
922nd biggest film in the US between Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and Atlantis: The Lost Empire; 1,668th biggest inflation inflated between Halloween II and John Carter; 12th biggest 2021 film between Cruella and Eternals; 161st biggest Warner Bros film between Birds of Prey and Wrath of the Titans.
In comparison 2017’s Blade Runner 2049 dropped 52.5% taking $7.35m and $74.2m of $92.05m
Despite many possibilities surrounding Dune box office, it’s still performing similar to 2012’s John Carter taking $73.07m in the US and $284.13m. Last year Tenet took $58.45m in the US and $363.65m worldwide and lost Warner Bros $50m+. Dune has a similar budget to Tenet and will surely need to take at least $400m to turn a profit which is currently unlikely.
Dune was always going to struggle to find an audience in the US long before the pandemic and perform far stronger internationally similar to Blade Runner with 30%/70% BO split, why it was always surprising exhibitors were seeing it as similar to comic-book movies, Bond and F9.
Films receiving critical acclaim will normally benefit a film and help it find a much wider audience but that’s not the case with Dune as similar to Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 and Christopher Nolan’s Tenet they come off as pretentious alienating mainstream audiences. It’s fine if these films have low budgets but not when they have $200m budgets and then massive marketing costs. Tenet took $363m last year globally but Warner would have surely expected it to take double but after Christopher Nolan forced them to open in the middle of a pandemic it lost at least $50m.
The seven films Denis Villeneuve directed have taken $392m in the US and $1,01bn worldwide
Dune opened internationally in 36 territories 6 weeks ago taking $129.3m as the choice for Warner was to either open before or after No Time To Die, going before they would benefit from the media coverage generated from the world premiere two weeks earlier at Venice Film Festival. While opening in October could benefit from audiences seeing the trailers in cinemas with No Time To Die and the buzz generated from its earlier release.
Took $11.1m (52% drop from last weekend) from 75 territories $246.5m total and $330.4m worldwide; China $36.7m; France $30.2m; UK $23m; Russia $21m; Germany $20.9m; Spain $9.5m; South Korea $9m; Italy $8.6m;
441st biggest film worldwide between 300: Rise of an Empire and Meet the Parents; 10th biggest 2021 film worldwide between Black Widow and Free Guy; 79th biggest Warner Bros film between 300: Rise of an Empire and The Perfect Storm.
- No Time To Die – Universal Pictures
Dropped 22% in its fifth weekend taking $6.03m and $143.01m
No Time To Die was released on PVOD in the US on Tuesday after a 31-day theatrical window
415th biggest film in the US between Marley & Me and The Smurfs; 842nd biggest film inflation inflated between Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues and Life of Pi; 6h biggest film of 2021 between A Quiet Place: Part II and Free Guy.
Fifth weekends
1995’s Goldeneye down 40.8% #6 $3.2m and $83.07m 78.1% of $106.42m in the US, $245.76m internationally, $352.19m worldwide
1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies down 15.9% #8 $6.33m and $111.81m 89.2% of $125.3m US, $207.7m internationally, $333.01m worldwide
1999’s The World Is Not Enough #7 down 33.4% taking $4.1m and $105.35m 83% of $126.94m in the US, $234.88m internationally $361.83m worldwide
2002’s Die Another Day down 48.2% #10 taking $4.03m and $138.49m 86.1% of $160.94m US, $271.02m internationally $431.97m worldwide
2006’s Casino Royale down 37% #8 $5.62m and $137.5m 82.1% of $167.44m US, $449.05m internationally $616.5m worldwide
2008’s Quantum of Solace dropped 45% #6 taking $3.71m and $157.58m 93.6% of $168.36m US, $421.21m internationally $589.58m worldwide
2012’s Skyfall dropped 34.9% #1 taking $10.78m and $261.4m 85.9% of $304.36m US, $804.2m internationally $1.1bn worldwide
2015’s Spectre dropped 57.1% #5 taking $5.52m and $184.61m 92.3% of $200.07m; $680.6m internationally $880.68m worldwide
The 25 James Bond films have taken $2.280bn in the US and $7.78bn worldwide but inflation inflated this is almost $20bn
The five Daniel Craig James Bond films have taken $3.56bn worldwide to date while the last 6 Mission Impossible films have taken $1.15bn in the US and $3.57bn worldwide (Mission Impossible 1 and 2 were released in 1996 and 2000 taking $1bn worldwide but inflation inflated would be close to $2bn).
Took $27.2m from 72 territories internationally ($49.3m from China) and $524.1m total and $667.1m worldwide (including $42.3m from IMAX worldwide); 136th biggest film worldwide between Man of Steel and Kung Fu Panda 2; 5th biggest 2021 film worldwide between Detective Chinatown 3 and Godzilla vs. Kong.
- Last Night in Soho – Focus Features
Down 57% in its second weekend taking $1.8m and $7.64m
Previous Edgar Wright films second weekends
2017’s Baby Driver dropped 36.7% taking $13m and $57.13m taking $107.82m of $226.94m worldwide
2013’s The World’s End dropped 42.8% taking $5.03m and $16.84m of $26.08m and $46.09m worldwide
2010’s Scott Pilgrim vs. The World dropped 51% taking $5.2m and $20.89m of $31.52m and $48.91m worldwide
2007’s Hot Fuzz dropped 18.1% taking $4.78m and $12.44m of $23.63m and $80.74m worldwide
2004’s Shaun of the Dead dropped 27.3% taking $2.4m and $6.9m of $16.55m and $30.09m worldwide
Took $1.6m from 31 territories and $12.8m worldwide
- Venom: Let There Be Carnage – Sony Pictures
Dropped 22% in its sixth weekend taking $4.46m and $197.01m;
2018’s Venom dropped 37.6% in its sixth weekend taking $4.91m and $206.29m
223rd biggest film in the US between Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs; 499th biggest inflation inflated between Horton Hears a Who and Cocoon; 46th biggest comic-book movie between Superman Returns and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; 19th biggest Sony Pictures film between Spectre and 22 Jump Street.
Fifth weekends
Shang-Chi dropped 29.5% taking $4.3m and $212.56m and $218.13m
Black Widow dropped 51.3% taking $1.91m and $178.11m of $183.63m
After opening similar to both Black Widow ($80.4m) and Shang-Chi ($75.38m), it was always expected that it would hold similar despite Venom: Let There Be Carnage not being part of the MCU the fanbase is the same so those who saw Black Widow would go to see both Shang-Chi and Venom: Let There Be Carnage and then will also go to see Eternals and Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Venom went on to take $213.51m in the US and $856.1m worldwide.
Took $11.4m from 54 international territories $227.6m total and $424.6m worldwide; Russia $31.5m; Mexico $22.8m; UK $22.1m; South Korea $17.8m; France $12.5m; Brazil $11.1m; Germany $9.8m;
291st biggest film worldwide between Cast Away and Bad Boys For Life (just overtaking Shang-Chi $418m); 7th biggest 2021 film worldwide between Godzilla vs. Kong and Shang-Chi; 45th biggest comic-book movie worldwide between Thor and Shang-Chi; 27th biggest Sony Pictures film worldwide between Men in Black 2 and Bad Boys For Life.
- The French Dispatch – Searchlight Pictures
Down 1% in its third-weekend #6 adding 417 screens from 788 screens to 1,205 taking $2.58m and $8.45m
Many have said this has shown the art-house market is back but up only 0.1% in its third weekend despite adding a third more screen is far from positive especially when you see how previous Wes Anderson films performed after their much slower expansion (apart from Fantastic Mr Fox), This was predictable as the film is performed well in major cities New York and Los Angeles (both requiring proof of vaccine) but struggling to find an audience elsewhere.
3rd weekend
2018’s Isle of Dogs up 55% adding 389 screens to 554 #10 taking $4.56m ($8,236 average) and $12.01m expanded into 1,939 screens after 4 weeks taking $32.01m and $64.24m worldwide
2014’s The Grand Budapest Hotel up 86.6% adding 238 screens to 304 #7 taking $6.78m ($22,328) and $12.99m expanding into 1,467 screens over 6 weeks taking $59.3m and $172.93m worldwide
2009’s Fantastic Mr Fox up 3,322.5% adding 2,029 screens to 2,033 #9 taking $9.65m ($3,426) and $10.02m 3 weeks taking $21m taking $46.47m worldwide
2012’s Moonrise Kingdom up 77.9% added 80 screens to 96 #10 taking $1.55m ($16,246) and $3.73m slowly expanded into 924 screens after 8 weeks taking $45.51m taking $68.26m worldwide
2007’s The Darjeeling Limited up 93.2% added 76 screens to 95 #15 taking $1.08m ($11,424) and $2.15m slowly expanded into 698 screens after 5 weeks taking $11.9m taking $35.3m worldwide
Wes Anderson 10 directed films have taken $264m in the US and $500m worldwide; The French Dispatch is the 5th film he has directed for Fox Searchlight since The Darjeeling Limited previously directed four films for Disney.
Has taken $11.6m from 16 territories including the UK $3.8m; France $2.1m; Germany $1.4m.
In the UK, The French Dispatch has taken £2.8m to date, more than Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom, The Life Aquatic and The Darjeeling Limited. But a long way from The Grand Budapest Hotel taking £11.4m his biggest film in the UK with #2 Fantastic Mr Fox £9.2m; #3 Isle of Dogs £6m; #4 The Royal Tenenbaums £3.3m #5 The French Dispatch £2.8m.
Why did The French Dispatch open October 22nd over such a busy weekend and into a crowded marketplace as it and Last Night In Soho could have opened any other time and would have had more chance to find a wider audience?
UK Box Office Top 10
UK Box Office Preview
Despite no major releases, this weekend (as often happens with the release of an MCU rival studio are nervous to open any film the week after) Eternals is likely to drop upwards of 60% in its second weekend; it will lose IMAX and PLF screens the following weekend with Ghostbusters Afterlife.
MCU biggest second weekend drops -73.9% Blade Widow; 68.9% Spider-Man: Far From Home; 67.0% Avengers: Endgame; 66.8% Captain America: Civil War; 65.6% Thor: The Dark World; 65.5% Avenger Infinity War; 64.3% Thor; 63.8% Iron Man; 62.9% Doctor Strange; 62.7% Thor:Ragnorok.
Except for Captain America: Civil War and Iron Man they dropped heavily due to openings inflated with previews while Shang-Chi had the second-lowest second-weekend drop in September (after Ant-Man) -37.8%.
Eternal’s might have received the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score for MCU film (47%) but these films don’t need reviews as MCU has a huge fanbase that rushes out to see the latest film over opening weekend. But the second weekend where word of mouth takes over while Eternals received B CinemaScore its Rotten Tomatoes audience score is a strong 80%.
After the industry last weekend was celebrating Cinema was back after four weekends of BO taking £15m+ this weekend dropped to £12m and next weekend will drop below £10m. Only need to look back at the weekend box office over the last 20 years to see how over recent years the box office has its highs and then its lows as audiences are now much more selective with the films they see in cinemas rushing out to see the tentpoles but not coming out to see the other films.
The two new releases Clint Eastwood’s Cry Macho and Mothering Sunday will struggle to find an audience. Mothering Sunday will be targetting the Downtown Abbey and Bridgerton audience
The film has a one-week Oscar-qualifying week in the US before opening wide next year.
Opening in two weeks
- House of Gucci – Universal Pictures
Biographical crime drama based on the 2001 book The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed by Sara Gay Forden starring Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Jared Leto, Jeremy Irons, Salma Hayek, and Al Pacino and directed by Ridley Scott.
House of Gucci is Succession with even more exotic global locations and based on a true story but as with Spencer and The Crown will audiences come out to see House of Gucci when they can watch Succession and Ryan Murphy’s The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story at home?
Ridley Scott also directed The Last Duel opened 6 weeks ago but failed to find an audience in a crowded marketplace. House of Gucci will be Ridley Scott’s 16th film he has directed over the last 20 years and produced many more films and TV shows including The Good Wife, The Good Fight, The Man in the High Castle, Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile and his 83.
Recent Ridley Scott directed films include
2017’s All the Money in the World opened £1,161,476 taking £3,176,255
2015’s The Martian opened £6,531,734 taking £23,578,878
2014’s Exodus: Gods and Kings opened £2,607,453 taking £7,529,032
2013’s The Counsellor opened £815,051 taking £1,855,158
2010’s Robin Hood opened £5,750,332 taking £15,381,416
2008’s Body of Lies opened £991,979 taking £2,859,641
2007’s American Gangster opened £2,564,853 taking £9,336,495
2005’s Kingdom of Heaven opened £2,530,445 taking £7,755,814
House of Gucci is Lady Gaga second-leading film after 2018’s Oscar-winning and box office hit A Star Is Born, but in that film, she was playing a character similar to herself but House of Gucci is a very different iconic role.
A Star Is Born opened third October 5th with £4,100,196 (including £1,020,096 previews) from 526 screens behind Venom #1 £8,031,342 and #2 Johnny English Strikes Again £4,117,692, but with strong word of mouth was #1 in its second weekend taking £3,083,089 and £9,595,670 in 612 screens dropped 25% (without previews 0% drop) with Venom #2 and Johnny English Strikes Again #3; holding #1 taking £2,883,000 and £14,874,834 down 7% in its third weekend in 663 screens
Dropped #2 in the fourth weekend with £2,150,987 and £19,238,711 down 25% in 634 screens against Bohemian Rhapsody opening #1 with £9,530,463 from 659 screens (£3,054,530 previews); stayed in top 5 for 7 weeks and top 10 for 9 weeks taking £29,299,129.
It’s hard to find a comparison to House of Gucci as its different to true crime dramas American Gangster, Casino and Good Fellas
The film opens Thanksgiving in the US which studios open a drama as counterprogramming to the family films over the years included Harlem Nights, For The Boys, Malcolm X, A Perfect World, Casino, Unbreakable, Spy Game, Solaris, Alexander, Australia, Hugo, Life of Pi, Creed, Allied and Knives Out. The weekend is also often when studios used to start platform openings of their major Oscar contenders that would slowly expand throughout December and go wide in January.
Received its UK premiere on November 9th when the embargo ended for social media reactions which were mixed review embargo ends November 22nd.
The BO performance of House of Gucci is far more important to MGM than No Time To Die as the studio only gets a 5% distribution fee for James Bond and the studio has yet to close on Amazon’s acquisition of the studio (won’t happen until next year) the studio needs to show its potential new owners that it’s in a good place after decades of disappointment and poor management putting together a strong upcoming slate that includes Legally Blonde, Creed and Tomb Raider sequels and of course Bond 26 likely in 2024 with a new James Bond.
- JFK Revisited: Through The Looking Glass – Altitude
Documentary about the assassination of John F. Kennedy directed by Oliver Stone, based on the 1992 non-fiction book Destiny Betrayed: JFK, Cuba, and the Garrison Case by James DiEugenio. The two-hour film is cut down from a 4-hour long documentary.
It premiered at the Cannes Film Festival receiving mixed reviews (62% Rotten Tomatoes) Oliver Stone described it as “an important bookend to my 1991 film. It ties up many loose threads, and hopefully repudiates much of the ignorance around the case and the movie”.
Oliver Stone’s 1992 JFK took £6.93m at the UK BO (£15.6m inflation inflated)