- Disney’s Snow White £3,856,173 – NE
Took £752k 19.5% Friday; £1.71m 44.35% Saturday; £1.39m Sunday.
422nd biggest opening between Ted 2 and Chicken Run (close to Elvis, War Horse, X-Men: Dark Phoenix and About A Boy) and 637th biggest inflated opening between Liar Liar and Ferdinand (close to Hook, Little Women (2019), Back To The Future Part III and Twilight).
22nd biggest opening over the last 52 weeks between Bad Boys: Ride or Die and Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes (close to Twisters, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, The Fall Guy and The Wild Robots)
10th biggest Disney reimagination opening between Cinderella £3.8m and Oz: The Great And Powerful £3.71m (close to Mufasa: The Lion King £4.41m and Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil £3.3m) and 12th biggest inflated opening between Cinderella (£4.2m) and Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil (£3.64m)
4th biggest 2025 opening between Nosferatu and Dog Man (close to We Live In Time, A Complete Unknown and Mickey 17)
The UK opening was 9.14% of the US opening, similar to The Wild Robot, Alice In Wonderland, The Muppets and It Ends With Us; while the industry uses 10% as a guide for UK opening but it’s normally around 6%-8%. Or higher for British-based films.
Snow White took £752k on Friday similar to Twisters (£754k) and Trolls Band Together (£751k) lower Disney recent misfires Lightyear (£800k) and Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil (£793k); Cinderella took £851k; Aladdin £1.2m; Maleficent £1.3m; Mufasa: The Lion King £1.47m; The Little Mermaid £1.57m; The Jungle Book £2.2m; Alice In Wonderland £2.56m; Beauty and the Beast £4.9m and The Lion King £5.2m; while Wicked took £3.84m of its £13.69m opening.
Friday BO for Disney films is normally much lower than weekends as they normally open during school term so they will always see big increases from Friday to Saturday. Snow White had an increase of 127.4%; 2023’s The Little Mermaid had a much steadier £1.57m Friday (31.3%); £1.75m Saturday (34.9%); £1.64m Sunday (32.7%);
Opened in 654 cinemas 110th widest opening similar to Yesterday and Stan and Ollie (close to Captain Marvel, Trolls Band Together, Fast X and Lightyear; 249th 600+ cinema opening since 2015’s Jurassic World; The Little Mermaid opened in 724; The Lion King 721; Mufasa: The Lion King 664
Snow White is Disney’s 14th animated reimagination since Alice in Wonderland. When Disney announced plans to remake animated classics, Snow White was one they had no plans to remake as it was their most important animated film. The 1937 film was seen as one of the greatest films ever made and created the new form of the golden age of animation, so it made no sense to remake the film as a reimagination that could never match up to the original.
Could make a comparison of remaking Snow White with the completely pointless 1998 remake of Psycho which Gus Van Saint didn’t improve the original film; Psycho opened £606,782/£1,141,500 taking £1,495,856/£2,814,057.
Disney announced plans to remake Snow white in October 2016 and Marc Webb was signed to direct in September 2019; it started filming in March 2022, with reshoots in June 2024. The film received a lot of negativities including the casting and Rachel Zegler’s disapproval of the original film, saying it was “extremely dated when it comes to the ideas of women being in roles of power, ”.. the prince “literally stalks her” and “People are making these jokes about ours being the PC Snow White, where it’s like, yeah, it is — because it needed that.”
In a recent interview, Rachel Zegler said “It’s very important for the public to know that Disney has found this beautiful and delicate balance between the animated classic that everyone knows and loves from 1937, and at the same time, introduces it to this new generation, ”.. “Her superpower is her heart.” Rachel’s powerful singing voice is the best thing about Snow White, as was with Steven Spielberg’s recent West Side Story remake, again like Snow White completely unnecessary.
Despite all of the film’s negativity during production social media was predictably positive, as always have to take immediate reactions with a pinch of salt as Rachel + nostalgia would always sprinkle pixel dust of positivity, the nostalgic element of the reimagination will get audiences to see the film as they have done for all other Disney reimaginations, but it won’t match the heights of Beauty and the Beast, The Jungle Book and The Lion King despite the original animated film being as beloved as those original animated films.
But this is Snow White, Disney’s most important animated film, Good isn’t enough to spend $300m+ making and $150m+ marketing needs to take $1bn+ WW. Snow White was shot in the UK and received a 20% tax break ($40m+). Disney received $2bn (£1.6bn) in tax breaks over the last 15 years, filming 50 films and TV shows in the UK.
For decades, from the 40s to the 90s, Disney would re-release their classic animation films to new generations (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was re-released in 1992 and opened for £363,220/£896,169, taking £4,657,649/£11,491,769). They always had successful re-releases in cinemas and the ’80s and ’90s (in the early ’80s, re-releases of animated classics, including The Jungle Book and Snow White, were the top 3 biggest films of the year). The cinema re-release would be followed by a home video release available for a limited time. In the 90s and 00s, Disney made direct-to-video sequels to their classic animated films.
2012’s Mirror Mirror opened £2,389,033/£2,970,352 taking £7,578,055/£9,422,009
2012’s Snow White and the Huntsman opened £3,589,027/£4,462,338 taking £15,666,534/£19,478,642
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was last re-released in cinemas in 1992 opened £363,220/£896,169 taking £4,657,649/£11,491,769
The biggest Disney re-imagination openings:
2017’s Beauty and the Beast opened £19.7m (took £4.9m Friday) taking £72,430,579
2019’s The Lion King opened £16,671,764 (£5.2m Friday) taking £75,938,299
2010’s Alice in Wonderland opened £10,555,220 (£2.56m Friday) taking £42,169,542
2013’s Maleficent opened £6,590,071 taking £19,292,000
2015’s Cinderella opened £3,803,799/£4,178,376 taking £20,982,668/£23,048,922
2016’s The Jungle Book opened £9,901,921 (£2.2m Friday) taking £46,235,032
2019’s Aladdin opened £7,066,773 (took £1.2m Friday and Weds £725k, Thurs 608k) taking £36,710,978
2023’s The Little Mermaid opened £5,012,929 taking £1.57m Friday; £1.75m Sat; £1.64m Sunday; £1.91m Bank Holiday Monday
Disney has made over 17 reimaginations over the last 29 years since 101 Dalmatians took over £480m and £550m inflated.
Snow White will open similar to The Little Mermaid £5m+ but it really should be opening similar to Beauty and the Beast or The Lion King.
Unlike all other Disney reimaginations, Snow White didn’t have a UK premiere, Disney scaled down its world premiere as they were concerned over the negative coverage it might generate despite early buzz being strong with early social media reactions saying it was “one of Disney’s ‘Best Live-Action remakes in Years” (have to take those comments with a pinch of salt) Warner Bros did something similar with the premiere of The Flash to avoid awkward questions to Ezra Miller.
Some critics have said Snow White is not terrible, which is fine for most films, but if you’re remaking a classic needs to be better than its predecessor. Why remake? 21 years ago Universal made a shot-by-shot remake of classic Hitchcock Psycho Disney is doing the same with these re-imaginations as they don’t improve on the original.
This was a similar issue with Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which would be a perfectly fine film if not for the Star Wars in its title, as then it just becomes a remake of the vastly superior A New Hope.
Younger audiences who didn’t grow up with Star Wars enjoyed The Force Awakens more than older audiences who saw it as destroying their childhood, but Disney would as Marty McFly said in Back to the Future after performing his unique version of Johnny Be Good in 1955 “Guess you guys aren’t ready for that yet…but your kids are gonna love it”, these reimaginations aren’t for them they are for their children, but the problem with Snow White audiences hadn’t grown up seeing it, the last time it was re0-released in UK cinemas was 1992.
As Disney previously did with The Marvels, they need a scapegoat for the failure of Snow White with The Marvel it was “inexperienced” director Nia DaCosta and with Snow White, it’s Rachel Ziegler. A Variety article with anonymous sources says “Zegler is irresponsible and, quite frankly, erratic in behaviour during the promotion of Snow White”. … “Zegler’s critical comments about the original Snow White caught many people at Disney off-guard, but the studio decided not to act upon it due to the ‘free speech’ lawsuit that had been recently thrown at them by fired ‘Mandalorian’ star Gina Carano.
Rachel Zegler’s powerful singing was the best thing about Snow White as was the case with Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story remake.
- 2. Ne Zha 2 £1,235,546 – NE
Took £1,028,824 from previews.over 7 days
Took £59k 4.78% Friday; £83k 6.72% Saturday; £11k 8.91% Sunday.
1,450th biggest opening between The Emperor’s New Groove and BlacKkKlansman (close to Bratz: The Movie, Zombieland, Beauty and the Beast (1992) and Good Will Hunting) and 2,079th biggest inflated opening between Dave and The Client (close to Masters of the Universe, Full Metal Jacket, Planes 2: Fire & Rescue and Son of the Mask)
45th biggest opening over the last 52 weeks between Longlegs and Trap (close to Better Man, Speak No Evil, Babygirl and The Bikeriders).
It’s hard to compare the UK opening of Ne Zha 2 with any other film as there haven’t been any Chinese films like it.
Biggest Asian animation films in the UK
Pokemon 1998 opened £2,833,721 taking £11,729,134
The Boy &The Heron opened £1,640,603 taking £5,180,927
Jujutsu Kaisen 0 – £1,499,784; Dragon Ball Broly – £1,256,573
Digimon 2000 – £1,255,676; DS: Mugen Train – £1,233,547
Suzume – £1,196,525; Spirited Away opened £149,429 taking £1,132,150
Ne Zha 2 has taken $2.081bn in China over the last 8 weeks; it has taken $158.2m from IMAX worldwide with $154m from China. It was the first film ever to take $1bn in one country.
It does put into perspective US totals for 2015’s Star Wars: Episode: The Force Awakens $936.66m; 2019’s Avengers: Endgame $858.37m and 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home $814.86m all of which should have taken $1bn in the US as inflated BO’s of 2009’s Avatar and 1997’s Titanic would be $1.5bn+. The question is will there ever be a $1bn BO film in the US? Of course, with 50%+ of BO for event films, Avengers 5 next year should surely do so.
- 3. Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy £775,855 – £44,481,396
Down 35.2% in its sixth weekend
£211k 27.2% (-44.5% £380k) Fri; £338k 43.6% (-31.2% £491k) Sat; £226k 29.2% (-65.1% £325k) Sunday
140th biggest sixth weekend between The Lion King (1994) and Notting Hill (close to Last Christmas, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Billy Elliot and The Hunger Games) and the 290th inflated sixth weekend between Rio and Cast Away (close to Wayne’s World, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Crocodile Dundee II and Speed).
With the industry average ticket price of £7.92, Mad About the Boy has had over 5.74m admissions since opening. It will top Bridget Jones’s Baby with 6.5m admissions but won’t get close to either The Edge of Reason’s 8.1m and Bridget Jones’s Diary’s 10.2m despite tasking much more box office. This, of course, is just the industry average price; the real average is about a third more.
Sixth weekends
2001’s Bridget Jones’s Diary up 3.5% £1,401,258/£2,697,590 and £32,744,713 78.54% of £41,692,598/£80,263,286
2004’s Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason dropped 40% £517,953/£919,395 and £33,609,077 93.48% of £35,954,611/£63,821,436
2016’s Bridget Jones’s Baby dropped 40.5% £1,123,971/£1,208,913 and £44,531,175 92.68% of £48,050,641/£51,681,998
70th biggest between Mary Poppins Returns and Toy Story 2 (close to The Jungle Book, The King’s Speech, Finding Dory and Frozen) and 159th biggest inflated between Paddington and Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 (close to Ocean’s Eleven, Crocodile Dundee II, 101 Dalmatians and Inside Out).
Mad About the Boy took $118.5m from 75 territories: UK $54.3m; Australia $9.4m; Holland $5.6m; Germany $5.6m; Poland $5.2m.
Bridget Jones’s Diary took $71.54m in the US, $210.45m internationally, and $282m worldwide ($550m inflated); The Edge of Reason took $40.22m US, $224.9 m internationally, and $265.12m worldwide; and Bridget Jones’s Baby took $24.25m US, $187.7 m internationally, and $212m worldwide.
With Mother’s Day on Sunday and no major releases Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy could have a stronghold in its seventh weekend.
- 4. Black Bag £735,933 – £2,282,295
Down 19.6% in its second weekend
£187k 25.4% (-31% £271k) Friday; £338k 45.9% (-8.15% £368k) Sat; £211k 28.7% (-45.9% £276k) Sunday.
1,482nd biggest second weekend between Premonition and Pulp Fiction (close to Layer Cake, Crash, Analyze This and Harry Brown) and 2,044th biggest second weekend inflated between Moonstruck and Resident Evil: Apocalypse (close to Consenting Adults, Pacific Heights, The Commuter and To Die For).
44th biggest second weekend over the last 52 weeks between Babygirl and Transformers One (close to Speak No Evil, Conclave, The Monkey and The Bikeriders)
Strong word of mouth saw Black Blag hold strongly in its second weekend with a small drop on Saturday.
It’s Steven Soderbergh’s second film directed this year after Presence in January opened #10 £365,390 from 457 screens.
Previously directing
2023’s Magic Mike’s Last Dance dropped 41.9% £888,435 and £3,842,057 of £5,680,002
2018’s Unsane dropped 71.3% to £137,490 and £990,093
2017’s Logan Lucky dropped 10.3% £632,648 and £2,121,222 of £3,207,543
2013’s Behind the Candelabra up 21.2% £622,144 and £1,640,000 of £3,199,254
2013’s Side Effects dropped 16.1% £759,363 and £2,277,861 of £4,749,799
2012’s Haywire dropped 67.9% £384,982 and £2,036,845 of £2,036,845/£2,532,467
Steven Soderbergh is best known for directing three Oceans films and films including 2011’s Contagion (£5,337,350/£6,975,547), 2000’s Erin Brockovich (taking £10,550,144/£20,182,884) and 1998’s Out of Sight (taking £3,198,958/£6,286,786) 2001’s Traffic (taking £8,664,078/£16,574,758) and of course, 1989’s Sex, Lies, and Videotape (taking £1,481,232/£5,034,917)
He also directed the Ocean’s trilogy, produced Ocean’s 8 and will produce another Ocean’s film. Comparisons have been made with John Le Carre and Agatha Christie rather than James Bond.
2011’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy dropped 25.2% £2,104,762 and £6,924,269 of £14,202,942/£18,562,261
2017’s Murder on the Orient Express dropped 12.2% £4,376,429 and £12,989,387 of £24,224,914
Over recent months, many Spy TV dramas have been including Lack Doves, The Day of the Jackal, Slow Horses and The Agency.
2,366th biggest between Detroit and Steve Jobs (close to 21 Grams, The Game, The Rising Sun and Paycheck) and 2,822nd biggest inflated between Pooh’s Heffalump Movie and Transcendence (close to Passenger 57, What About Bob, The Count of Monte Cristo and Color of Night).
- 5. Mickey 17 £730,275 – £5,892,294
Down 41.4% in its third weekend
£183k 25.1% (-49.3% £361k) Friday; £324k 44.4% (-38.5% £527k) Sat; £223k 30.5% (-69.8% £358k) Sun.
911th biggest third weekend between Crazy Rich Asians and The Garfield Movie (close to Up In The Air, Star Trek: Generations, Chronicle and Road To Perdition) and the 1,238th biggest inflated third weekend between The Boat That Rocked and 10,000 B.C. (close to Last Action Hero, Outbreak, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and Spy Game).
It was Bong Joon-ho’s first film since Oscar-winning Parasite dropped 32% in its third weekend £1,722,236 and £8,397,639 of £12,030,000 (COVID lockdown shortened its release); its release was affected by COVID with cinemas closing a month after opening.
Variety said that Mickey 17 could lose $75m-$80m. That’s the big gamble: making original films and giving the director the final cut. Warner Bros have a very risky slate this year with many films; they have also given the director the final cut to get them to make films at the studio, including Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another with $130m budget, A Minecraft Movie, Superman and Ryan Coogler’s Sinners. Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride! It was due to be released this year but was delayed to next year, the film has received poor test screenings.
The break-even point for Mickey 17 is about $300m, but it will probably take about $200m worldwide. Mickey 17 had a budget of $118m, and $80m was spent on marketing.
Despite audiences wanting to see original films, they have struggled to find wide audiences this year, including Novocaine and Black Bag.
Mickey 17 has been compared to films like
1996’s 12 Monkeys dropped 24.9% £689,497/£1,350,194 and £4,222,491 69.14% of £6,106,751/£11,958,429
2009’s District 9 dropped 31.5% £810,673/£1,187,696 and £6,380,720 71.89% of £8,875,093/£13,002,664
2014’s Edge Of Tomorrow dropped 39.7% £744,496/£800,760 and £5,688,796 73.34% of £7,756,477
2016’s Arrival dropped 48% £778,449/£837,279 and £7,334,028 80.2% of £9,144,719
1,267th biggest between Shazam! Fury Of The Gods and Source Code (close to Green Lantern, Argylle, Beverly Hills Cop II and Dead Poets Society) and 1,836th biggest inflated between Shazam! Fury Of The Gods and Ride Along 2 (close to Conspiracy Theory, The Siege, Real Steel and Ghost in the Shell).
Also opened.
- Flow – Curzon
Opened £411,674 #6 from 164 screens
The Oscar-winning animated film opened strongly. The second film from director Gints Zilbalodis, 2020’s release Away, took £41k, the biggest opening ever for a Latvian film in the UK.
- The Alto Knights – Warner Bros
£388,530 #7 from 559 screens
It’s the fourth film between Barry Levinson and Robert De Niro and the second-biggest opening; previous films including 2008’s What Just Happened (£178k), 1997’s Wag The Dog (£98k), and 1996’s Sleepers (£1.6m) which is Barry Levinson’s biggest film in the UK £10.1m.
Despite starring Robert De Niro, being directed by Barry Levinson and written by Nicholas Pileggi (writer of Casino, Goodfellas, The Irishman, American Gangster and City Hall), The Alto Knights was always going to struggle to find an audience in cinemas.
The film had a UK premiere on March 13th with Robert De Niro, Debra Messing, director Barry Levinson and producers Irwin Winkler, Jason Sosnoff and Charles Winkler In attendance.
The Alto Knights is Barry Levinson his first since 2015’s Rock the Kasbah; previously, he directed Wag the Dog. Sleepers, 1995’s Disclosure (opened £1,659,674/£3,777,189 taking £7,857,594/£17,882,800); 1992’s Bugsy (opened £370,323/£913,694 taking £1,120,336/£2,764,193); 1989’s Rain Man (opened £714,221/£2,427,738 taking £9,660,125/£32,836,133); 1988’s Good Morning Vietnam (opened £767,851/£2,644,078 taking £5,213,785/£17,953,555); The Natural and Diner, amongst many others.
The film received extremely poor test screening reactions in January 2024, and it looks like it’s another film Warner Bros are dumping after Juror #2 and Coyote vs. Acme. At least it is getting a full theatrical release but will be released on VOD within a few weeks of its theatrical release.
UK box office in detail
The weekend’s top 10 box office took £8,619,360 up 61.5% from last weekend’s £5,338,324: 1,113,612 admissions up 63.1% from 682,578 admissions.
37th biggest weekend of the last 52 weeks lowest weekend between 03 May 2024 #1 The Fall Guy £3,598,996 (41.4%) and 28 February 2025 #1 Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy £4,130,747 (48.95%)
132nd biggest since cinemas reopened out of 227 weeks between 26 November 2021 #1 House of Gucci £2,425,627 (28.14%) and 12 November 2021 #1 Eternals £2,918,585 (34.28%)
802nd biggest top 10 of the last 22 years (out of 1,198) between 26 November 2021 #1 House of Gucci £2,425,627 (28.14%) and 09 September 2011 #1 The Inbetweeners Movie £2,147,393 (24.92%) and 1,043rd inflated between 30 September 2022 #1 Smile £1,860,452 (22.27%) and 22 September 2006 #1 The Children of Men £1,284,254 (24.58%)
The top 3 took (£5,867,574) 68.1% of the top 10; Snow White 44.74% (£3,856,173); Ne Zha 2 14.3% (£1,235,546); Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy 9% (£775,855)
363rd biggest percentage share #1 (44.74%) between 13 March 2009 #1 Marley & Me £4,414,169 (44.79%) and 26 June 2009 #1 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen £4,368,024 (44.67%)
697th biggest admissions #1 (498,214) between 10 August 2012 #1 Ted £3,174,766 (498,393) and 21 February 2003 #1 The Ring £2,200,084 (495,514)
Down 2.44% from 2024; (£8,835,336); Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (£4,056,097); Immaculate (£522,583); Late Night With The Devil (£220,436); The Motive And The Cue – NT Live 2024 (£157,963); Romeo Et Juliette – Met Opera 2023/24 (£81,880); The Persian Version (£37,510); After Hours (4K Restoration) (£11,754); #1 Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire £4,056,097 687 screens 1st week (45.91% of top 10)
Down 8.71% from 2023; (£9,441,651); John Wick: Chapter 4 (£5,321,533); 80 For Brady (£158,937); Infinity Pool (£83,972); A Good Person (£71,007); #1 John Wick: Chapter 4 £5,321,533 1st week 651 screens (56.36%)
Up 100.31% 2022 (£4,302,969); RRR (£650,204); Ambulance (£521,049); Don Carlos – Met Opera 2022 (£72,610); Umma (£35,692); #1 The Batman £1,664,503 4th weekend 50% drop 683 screens (38.7% of top 10)
2021 Lockdown
2020 Lockdown
Down 10.19% from 2019: (£9,597,710); Us 74.2% (£2,766,839); The White Crow (£326,997); Five Feet Apart (£253,341); The Great Escape with Dan Snow: A Gala Screening On The 75th Anniversary (£172,550); #1 Captain Marvel £3,378,583 3rd week 632 screens 49% drop (32.5% of top 10)
Down 25.54% from 2018; (£11,575,592); Pacific Rim: Uprising (£1,655,186); A Wrinkle In Time (£655,542); Unsane (£478,451); Blade Runner: The Final Cut (Secret Cinema 2018) (£349,492); Proud Mary (£26,291); #1 Peter Rabbit (£4,595,239) 2nd week 37% drop (39.7% of top 10)
Down 54.09% 2017: (£18,777,727); Power Rangers (£1,574,624); Life (£743,281); The Lost City of Z (£270,139); CHiPs: Law and Disorder (£205,933); Idomeneo – Met Opera 2017 (£186,423); #1 Beauty and the Beast £12,334,338 2nd week 37% drop (65.7% of top 10)
Down 65.06% 2016: (£24,577,822); Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (£14,621,007); Zootropolis (£5,306,726); My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (£983,534); Capture the Flag (£86,104); #1 Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice £14,621,007 1st week (59.5% of top 10)
Down 26.92% 2015; (£11,794,092); Home (£6,025,917); The Divergent Series: Insurgent, (£2,938,860); The Gunman (£405,934); Wild Card (£152,034); The Voices (£118,255); #1 Home £6,025,917 1st week (51.09%)
Up 41.31% 2014: (£6,099,424); Starred Up (£495,181); A Long Way Down (£361,901); Labor Day (£278,726); About Last Night (£173,376); Yves Saint Laurent (£123,913); #1 The Grand Budapest Hotel £1,267,408 1st week 9 (2nd weekend) 3% drop.
Down 22.45% 2013: (11,114,309); The Croods (£5,372,290); Jack the Giant Slayer (£1,591,736); Identity Thief (£1,313,162); Stolen (£202,373); Compliance (£72,417); #1 The Croods £5,372,290 1st week.
Down 3.95% 2012: (£9,142,345); The Hunger Games (£4,900,177); Act of Valour (£262,935); The Kid with a Bike (£66,822); Wild Bill (£60,430); #1 The Hunger Games £4,900,177 1st week (54.6%)
Up 19.98% from 2011 (£7,183,735); Limitless (£2,087,363); A Turtle’s Tale (£1,122,067); The Eagle (£1,038,954); Faster (£157,169); Country Strong (£22,001); #1 Limitless £2,087,363 1st week (29.1% of top 10)
Down 16.07% from 2010: (£10,270,286); Nanny McPhee & the Big Bang (£2,586,760); The Blind Side (£1,313,317); #1 Nanny McPhee & the Big Bang £2,586,760 1st week (25.2% of top 10)
Up 20.6% 2009; (£7,146,864); Paul Blart: Mall Cop (£1,289,513); Duplicity (£796,244); Lesbian Vampire Killers (£648,634); The Age of Stupid (£101,752); Flash of Genius (£15,626); #1 Marley & Me £2,166,270 2nd week 51% drop (30.31%)
Down 31.13% from 2008; (£12,516,106); Horton Hears a Who (£2,947,089); The Spiderwick Chronicles (£2,555,791); Step Up 2 (£2,358,003); Meet the Spartans (£1,140,100); The Orphanage (£329,009); Love in the Time of Cholera (£91,784); Lars and the Real Girl (£78,707)); #1 Horton Hears a Who £2,947,089 1st week (23.55%)
Down 3.76% from 2007: (£8,956,317); 300 (£4,746,071); TMNT (£948,791); Amazing Grace (£431,967); I Want Candy (£349,301); #1 300 £4,746,071 1st week (53% of top 10)
Up 31.87% from 2006; (£6,536,128): Inside Man (£1,806,854); Hostel (£1,215,987); The Ringer (£560,520); Transamerica (£137,932); The Boys from County Clare (£36,708); #1 Inside Man £1,806,854 1st week (27.6% of top 10)
Up 15.09% 2005: (£7,489,470); Miss Congeniality 2 (£1,302,070); Valiant (£1,096,329); Melinda and Melinda (£129,257); Maria Full of Grace (£84,335); Mickybo and Me (£47,918); #1 Hitch £1,660,358 2nd week over 4 weeks (22.2% of top 10)
Up 11.88% 2004; (£7,704,369); Starsky & Hutch (wide up 905%) (£4,145,897); Open Range (£424,954); Zatoichi (£137,049); Grand Theft Parsons (£21,108); #1 Starsky & Hutch (+905%) £4,145,897 1st week (2nd week) (53.81%)
Up 100.45% from 2003 (£4,300,084); Just Married (£973,469); National Security (£426,698); Evelyn (£344,270); #1 Just Married £973,469 1st week (22.64%)
Down 15.09% from 2002 (£10,151,091); Ali G Indahouse (£3,231,673); Ice Age (£3,029,738); Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (£541,453); Return to Neverland (£266,149); #1 Ali G Indahouse £3,231,673 1st week (31.84%)
2024 Next week: (£14,699,986); Kung Fu Panda 4 ( £5,020,600); Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire (£4,139,394); Aadujeevitham (£480,977); Mothers’ Instinct (£406,489); Madama Butterfly – ROH, London 2024 (£61,129); Mary Poppins (60th Anniversary) (£22,140); #1 Kung Fu Panda 4 £5,020,600 1st week 709 screens (34.15%)
US Box Office
- Snow White – Disney
Opened $42.2m; received mixed reviews (45% Roten Tomatoes) B+ CinemaScore (Dumbo (A-), Mufasa (A-), Pete’s Dragon (A; Maleficent (A)
Took $3.5m Thursday previews; The Lion King $23m; Beauty and the Beast $16.3m; The Little Mermaid $10.3m; Aladdin $7m; Maleficent $4.2m; The Jungle Book $4.2m; Alice in Wonderland $4m; Dumbo $2.6m; Cinderella $2.3m
Opened in 400 IMAX screens and PLF/4DX taking 32%.
Early estimates had Snow White opening with $45m, this dropped to $43m on Sunday and dropped further with final figures, normally Disney underestimated weekend BO, so the final figure looks bigger.
385th biggest opening between Anger Management and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (close to A Star Is Born, Hotel Transylvania, Ready Player One and Happy Feet).
The audience is 68% female; 14% 13-17; 24% 18-24; 23% 25-34 and 38% 35+
TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X had 534m before opening, 52% above family-live-action genre averages; 186m from YouTube; High negative comments in two areas: the choice to make the dwarves CGI and Disney’s decision not to cast real actors to play the dwarves.
Second biggest opening of the year after Captain America: Brave New World
2015’s Cinderella opened $67.87m taking $201.15m and $542.35m worldwide
2014’s Maleficent opened $69.43m taking $241.41m and $759.85m worldwide
2019’s Dumbo opened $45.99m taking $114.76m and $353.28m worldwide
2019’s Aladdin opened $91.5m taking $355.55m and $1.097bn worldwide
Snow White songs were written by songs by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul they had huge success writing songs for La La Land and The Greatest Showman, but since their songs haven’t been so memorable for Aladdin, Dear Evan Hansen, Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile and now Snow White.
At the start of the year Snow White was looking at opening with about $70m but over the months since estimates dropped down to $45m-$50m days before opening, being a reimagination of the most beloved Disney animated film it should have opened similarly to 2017’s Beauty and the Beast $174.75m taking $504.48m and $1.356bn worldwide and 2019’s The Lion King $191.77m taking $543.63m and $1.662bn worldwide.
Snow White reminds me of 1998’s Psycho remake (opened $10.03m taking $21.48m and $37.17m worldwide) at the time Gus van Sant said he couldn’t improve the original and surely the director of Snow White would have felt the same trying to reimagination Disney’s most beloved animated film as there are some films you just don’t remake.
Disney should have known this by now, but they think nostalgia will keep bringing audiences to see them, but all it does is make people crave the originals.
A decade ago, Disney said Snow White reimagination was off the table along with Pocahontas and Song of the South. Who greenlit Snow White as Disney must have known it was always going to receive this kind of reaction.
EntTelligence reported The Little Mermaid had 7.4m admissions over three days and 9.2m over four with 59% of the weekend’s BO. The average price was $13.37 with $11.19 for children; 400 IMAX, 900 PLF, 2,800 3D and 265 D-Box/4DX screens.
Took $44.3m from 51 territories; UK $5.1m; Mexico $4.1m; Italy $4m; France $3m; Spain $2.6m; Brazil $2.5m; Japan $2.2m; Australia $2m; Germany $1.9m; it was expected to open with $50m+ and far more when it was announced as Disney were surely expecting it to open with Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King numbers.
16% less than Cinderella; 19% less than Dumbo and 33% less than The Little Mermaid opened with $68.3m from 51 territories: Mexico $8.5m; UK $6.3m; Italy $4.7m; Brazil $4m; Australia $4m; China $2.5m.
- The Alto Knights – Warner Bros
Opened $3.16m; received poor reviews (39% Rotten Tomatoes) B CinemaScore
Had $45m budget; audience male 58%; 77% 35+; 33% 55+
For months, The Alto Knights was expected to have a low opening, so the industry reaction calling it abysmal was over the top, especially as Snow White’s opening was far worse, opening about a third less than it was expected to open with at the start of the year.
In an interview with Variety, Barry Levinson said “There are a lot of obstacles in this business, and you just have to navigate it as best you can,”… “But there are the moments when you say, ‘Look, I’ve been able to do a lot of stories that interested me, and I was able to work with a lot of actors that I had a great, great working relationship with.’ The downside is the downside. But that comes with the territory.”
It’s the first film directed by Barry Levinson since
2015’s Rock the Kasbah opened $1.47m, taking $3.02m and $3.38m worldwide
2006’s Man of the Year opened $12.29m, taking $37.44m and $41.34m worldwide
2004’s Envy opened $6.16m, taking $13.54m and $14.56m worldwide
2001’s Bandits opened $13.05m, taking $41.52m and $71.52m worldwide
1998’s Sphere opened $16.58m taking $37m and $50.16m worldwide
1997’s Wag The Dog opened $1.19m taking $43.06m and $64.25m worldwide
It’s 29 years since Barry Levinson had a big hit 1996’s Sleepers; 1994’s Disclosure, 1991’s Bugsy; 1988’s Rainman; 1987’s Good Morning Vietnam; 1984’s The Natural and 1982’s Diner.
Opened $1.9m from 8 territories.
- Black Bag- Focus Features
Dropped 44% in the second weekend $4.26m and $14.74m
Steven Soderbergh’s second film directed this year after Presence taking $6.9m and $9.97m worldwide.
Opened similar to 2024’s Conclave $6.6m taking $32.58m and $109.16m worldwide and 2005’s The Constant Gardner $8.57m taking $33.57m and $82.46m worldwide.
Previously directing
2018’s Unsane dropped 61.4% $1.45m and $6.83m of $7.73m and $14.29m worldwide
2017’s Logan Lucky dropped 44.2% $4.24m and $14.9m of $27.77m and $49.04m worldwide
2013’s Side Effects dropped 32.6% $6.27m and $19.09m of $32.17m and $63.41m worldwide
2011’s Haywire dropped 52.5% $4m and $15.28m of $18.94m and $34.51m worldwide
Took $3m from 42 territories $9.4m total, and $24.1m worldwide.
- Novocaine – Paramount Pictures
Dropped 58% $3.68m and $15.69m
The film was acquired for $18m and was heavily screened ahead of the opening, having a strong marketing campaign including a world premiere at SXSW Jack Quaid promoted the film at an NBA game on March 9 with his injuries getting worse during the game and also had Super-Bowl spot.
Similar films include.
2010’s Kick-Ass dropped 52.9% $9.34m and $34.7m of $48.07m and $96.18m worldwide
2011’s Limitless dropped 20.4% $15.05m and $41.11m of $79.24m and $161.84m worldwide
2015’s American Ultra dropped 47.7% $2.85m and $10.54m of $27.26m worldwide
Took $2.5m from 52 territories and $5.3m and $21.1m worldwide.
- Mickey 17 – Warner Bros
Down 51% in its third weekend $3.67m and $40m
It’s Bong Joon Ho’s first film since 2019’s Oscar-winning Parasite, It didn’t expand into over 1,000 screens until its 16th weekend and 2,000 screens till the 19th (opened $393,216 from 3 screens), taking $53.36m and $258.12m worldwide.
Third weekends
2019’s Ad Astra dropped 58.1% $4.19m and $43.29m of $50.18m and $127.46m worldwide
2023’s The Creator dropped 30.6% $4.33m and $26.08m of $40.77m and $104.27m worldwide
2014’s Edge of Tomorrow dropped 40.6% $9.82m and $73.99m of $100.2m and $370.54m worldwide
2017’s Blade Runner 2049 dropped 52.5% $7.35m and $74.2m of $92.07m and $276.6m worldwide
2016’s Arrival dropped 5.6% $11.45m and $62.56m of $100.54m and $212.75m worldwide
It was expected to open with $18m-$20m and about $45m worldwide; with a budget of $118m, it will need to take over $300m to become profitable.
Took $8.1m from 66 territories and $69.8m and $110m worldwide; Korea $19.6m; UK $7.5m; France $6.8m; Germany $3.6m; Mexico $3.3m.
UK Box Office Top 10
UK Box Office Preview
Despite several new releases, Snow Hite will hold #1 for a second weekend, dropping about 40%, taking £2m-£2.5m, similar to second weekends of Maleficent £2,605,230; Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil £2,383,612 and Disney’s Christopher Robin £2,361,001.
Early reactions to A Working Man have compared it to Jason Statham’s The Beekeeper; it opened with £956,380 in January 2024, taking £3,830,079. Sylvester Stallone was originally attached to star in a TV show adaption of the Chuck Dixon novel Levon’s Trade, but in 2023, it was switched to a film with Stallone writing the script; Amazon acquired US and UK rights in January 2024.
Blumhouse’s The Woman In The Yard is likely to open similar to recent horrors like Speak No Evil, Terrifier 3 and Longlegs.
After a soft opening in the US two weeks ago, Novocaine will likely have a similar soft opening in the UK with about £600k-£800k
Billy Elliot: The Musical Live returns to cinemas; in 2014 Billy Elliott The Musical – Live opened £1,904,000 #1; it’s the 25th anniversary of the film; opened £1,541,109/£2,890,033, taking £16,972,531/£31,828,488
With Mother’s Day on Sunday, Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy will have a small drop, taking about £650k in its seventh weekend.
Opening in three weeks
- Warfare – A24
The action film starring D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis, Kit Connor, Finn Bennett, Taylor John Smith, and Michael Gandolfini was written and directed by Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland. The film premiered in Chicago on March 16 with a Q&A with the directors and Will Poulter.
A24 announced the film in early 2024, soon after Alex Garland’s Civil War had opened, receiving critical acclaim; it opened $25.53m, taking $68.75m and $127.33m worldwide. Previously directed 2014’s Ex Machina opened $5.34m taking $35.44m and $36.86m worldwide.
Alex Garland previously wrote screenplays for 2002’s 28 Days Later and 2007’s 28 Weeks Later and has written the script for 28 Years Later opening this summer.
- Sinners – Warner Bros
Supernatural horror starring Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, Jack O’Connell and Delroy Lindo, written and directed by Ryan Coogler.
Warner Bros acquired distribution rights in April 2024 and has a budget of $90m; it was shot on 65mm film using a combination of IMAX 15-perf 70 mm and Ultra Panavision 70mm and will have a selected release in 70mn IMAX.
Ryan Coogler previously directed Fruitvale Station, Creed, Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Ryan Coogler has said he hopes to build a franchise from the film, but of course, that will depend on how it does at the BO.
Sinners were test screened in December receiving mixed/decent responses.
Early predictions are looking at an opening similar to 2023’s Evil Dead Rise £1,477,840 taking £5,288,972 or Jordan Peele’s Nope, Get Out and Us.
- Freaky Tales – Lionsgate
Action comedy starring Pedro Pascal, Ben Mendelsohn, Jay Ellis, Dominique Thorne, Jack Champion, Ji-young Yoo, and Angus Cloud, written and directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck.
Premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, receiving positive reviews.
Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck previously directed Captain Marvel, Mississippi Grind and It’s A Funny Story.
- The Penguin Lessons – Lionsgate
The comedy-drama film starring Steve Coogan, Björn Gustafsson, David Herrero, Jonathan Pryce, Julián Galli Guillén, and Aimar Miranda and directed by Peter Cattaneo, based on Tom Michell’s 2016 memoir.
Premiered at the 2024 Toronto Film Festival, receiving mixed reviews.
Director Peter Cattaneo had massive success with 1997’s The Full Monty, but all the films he has directed since have struggled to find similar success; 2001’ Lucky Break, 2006’s Opal Dream. 2008’s The Rooker and 2019’s Military Wives.
Lionsgate acquired UK rights in December 2023