- The Suicide Squad – £3,252,028 – NE
Had the 5th biggest opening of 2021 between A Quiet Place 2 and The Conjuring 3 and the 38th biggest opening since January 2019 between Maleficent: Mistress of Evil and Cats (close to Bad Boys For Life, Dark Phoenix, Alita: Battle Angel and Birds of Prey).
457th biggest opening in the UK between The Incredible Hulk and The Proposal (close to The Matrix, The Mummy (2017), Watchmen and Alita: Battle Angel) and 649th biggest inflation inflated between The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and The Passion of the Christ (close to Unbreakable, Men in Black 3, Demolition Man and Daredevil).
375th biggest Fri-Sun opening between Scooby-Doo and Watchmen (close to Glass, Tenet, The Pirates of the Caribbean, and Rampage); with The Suicide Squad and Jungle Cruise opening the same day it was surprising that one film didn’t have the jump on the other by having previews on Thursday.
65th biggest comic-book opening between The Incredible Hulk and Watchmen (close to Kick-Ass, X-Men: Dark Phoenix, Hellboy 2: The Golden Army and Fantastic Four (2015); and 73rd biggest inflation inflated comic-book opening between Men in Black 3 and Daredevil (close to Shazam!, Ant-Man, Green Lantern and Kick-Ass 2.
78th biggest Warner Bros opening between The Matrix and The Hangover (close to The Fugitive, Godzilla: King Of The Monsters, Tomb Raider and Batman Returns); 10th biggest Warner Bros opening inflation inflated between Miss Congeniality and Demolition Man (close to Deep Blue Sea, The Legend of Tarzan, Beowulf, and Green Lantern.
10th biggest DC Extended Universe film between Shazam! And Birds of Prey (also starring Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn)
2D took 92.4% (£2,998,782); IMAX took 7.6% (£247,723)
Opened 71.1% less than 2016’s Suicide Squad and 31% less than it took on its opening day (£4.7m); -71% Man of Steel; -77.8% Batman Vs Superman; -47.4% Wonder Woman; -55.2% Justice League; -37.8% Aquaman; -20.0% Shazam!; -74.1% Joker; but did open +14.8% Birds of Prey; +284.2% Wonder Woman: 1984
Despite receiving poor reviews 2016’s Suicide Squad opened with £11,209,442 having the sixth biggest opening of the year after Star Wars: Rogue One (£17,305,011); Fantastic Beasts (£15,333,146); Batman Vs Superman (£14,621,007); Captain America: Civil War (£14,466,681); Deadpool (£13,729,803) and the 5th biggest opening without previews behind Fantastic Beasts; Batman Vs Superman; Captain America: Civil War; Star Wars: Rogue One.
It was also the third biggest DC opening after Batman Vs Superman £14.62m and The Dark Knight Rises £14.36m opening similar to both Man of Steel and The Dark Knight.
Taking 33.9% of its total box office over opening weekend, dropped 62.3% in its second weekend taking £4,241,508 and £22,214,243 66.9% of £33,191,023 total BO.
It was very front-loaded taking £4.7m on Friday 41% of its opening weekend similar to Batman Vs Superman 43.57% compared to Captain America: Civil War taking 32.49% from Friday.
The Suicide Squad opened in the UK a week earlier than the US where it will be released theatrically and on HBO Max as all of Warner Bros films this year. It was a surprising decision for Warner to open it a week earlier in the UK as it meant opening against Jungle Cruise, but since cinemas reopened a year ago studios are making many strange dating decisions. Maybe it’s because that was the same date Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 1 opened in 2014 (£6,363,110) or just because their AI system tells them that it’s the best date to open, it would be if it wasn’t for Jungle Cruise.
The trailers have given the film a Guardians of the Galaxy vibe to them, receiving a positive response, the first (red band) released on March 26th viewed 150m+ times within a week, breaking the record previously held by the trailer for Mortal Kombat. A second green band trailer was released on April 1st playing with Godzilla vs. Kong screenings in the US, with another released on June 22nd pretending that it had been leaked days before release.
Despite all the negativity surrounding 2016’s Suicide Squad opening on August 5th, it was the last blockbuster of the summer (after Star Trek Beyond (£4,740,040), The BFG (£5,288,529), Finding Dory (£8,122,075), Jason Bourne (£7,600,420) opening over the previous two weekends) stayed #1 for two weeks. Taking only £319,416 less than Find Dory in its third weekend dropping down #2 (£2,868,459 Vs £2,549,043) was in the top 5 for 5 weeks and top 10 for 6 weeks.
The Suicide Squad in comparison opened against Jungle Cruise, while both films play to different audiences. The Suicide Squad in a 15 and Jungle Cruise 12A opening against each other would still cannibalize the two.
Maybe Warner Bros thought as The Suicide Squad is being released on HBO Max and cinemas next weekend in the US wanted to give it an exclusive week in cinemas in a couple of countries as they are doing with Dune next month; after premiering at the Venice Film Festival Dune opens in several European countries including France on September 15th before opening in the US and the UK on October 22nd.
While August this year is very busy with Free Guy, Don’t Breathe 2 and The Paw Patrol Movie (August 13), People Just Do Nothing: Big In Japan, Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins and Reminiscence (August 18) and Candyman (August 27) none of them was really much competition to The Suicide Squad than Jungle Cruise was going to be.
The Suicide Squad received a very positive reaction on social media (while it turned out to be correct this time) have to take these comments with a pinch of salt as are written immediately after seeing the film with emotions at the highest so views are extremely biased, and reviews written a few hours or days later will often have a very different response.
How and where they see the film also has a part to do in what they think of a film immediately afterwards as often happens when films don’t have an embargo with critics able to write reviews immediately after the screening ends, as it seems like critics want to be the first review studios see and as with Skyfall and Spectre the poster quote.
The opposite happened with The Greatest Showman Fox screened the film in early December but had an embargo until close to its opening and critics had time to scrutinize it while cinemagoers just enjoyed it for what it was, why there were many very snobbish snooty reviews for the film. Fortunately for the studio most ignored those reviews and went by word of mouth which is always the most important.
With a film like The Suicide Squad how critics watched the film has a massive impact on their reaction as seen with the exhibitor screening of Kick-Ass which received a poor reception from exhibitors when they first screened it, but then they invited exhibitors to a second screening with comic-book fans and exhibitors reaction was totally different. As is the case with a film like The Suicide Squad if critics watch it alone with only critics reaction would be very different to an audience filled with comic-book fans.
With no competition, this weekend and with strong word of mouth The Suicide Squad should hold well in its second weekend.
James Gunn had two conditions before he signed up to direct the film, that it had to be rated R (MCU has yet to make an R and of course being able to direct an R film made making the film far more interesting to him) and needed to be shot close to home (Warner wanted to shoot in the UK), he said the studio didn’t like both conditions but agreed to the director’s conditions.
11 DC Extended Universe Films have taken almost £250m
2. Jungle Cruise – £2,241,651 – NE
Took 96.2% from 2D (£ 2,152,442); 2.05% from IMAX (£45,648); 1.7% 3D/4DX (£38,558)
Had the 687th biggest opening between Stardust and Collateral (close to After Earth, What Lies Beneath, John Wick: Chapter Two and Alice Through the Looking Glass); 968th biggest inflation inflated opening between In Time and Mean Girls (close to 28 Weeks Later, The Happening, The Green Hornet and Ghost in the Shell).
604th biggest Fri-Sun opening between Stardust and Knives Out (close to A Quiet Place Part II, Shutter Island, Starship Troopers and The Truman Show).
108th biggest Disney opening between The Others and Alice Through the Looking Glass (close to National Treasure 2, Enchanted, Face/Off and Tron Legacy; 140th biggest inflation inflated Disney opening between
The 7th biggest opening of the year between The Conjuring 3 and The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard and the 53rd biggest opening since January 2019 between Ad Astra and Annabelle Comes Home (close to Last Christmas, instant Family, Yesterday and Abominable).
If we are to believe exhibitors and everything is back to normal Jungle Cruise should have opened about a third more just as The Suicide Squad, but you only need to see the films it opened similar to After Earth, Alice Through the Looking Glass and National Treasure 2 to see that it had a disappointing opening, as only need to compare it’s opening with films like 2003’s The Pirates of the Caribbean, 2019’s Jumanji: The Next Level (£5,214,661 without previews) and 2018’s Rampage (£4,109,247) to see this. While also seeing how other films have opened over this weekend over previous years.
Jungle Cruise has been compared to Romancing of the Stone by both Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt with mystical Pirates of the Caribbean elements
It used to be theme park rides that would be the basis of films, but Disney went the other way with their theme park rides, but while a ride lasts for minutes it’s harder to turn it into a feature-length film.
It’s the sixth Disney film based on a theme park ride after the Pirates of the Caribbean five-film series (between 2003 and 2017); 2003’s The Haunted Mansion, 2000’s Mission to Mars, 2002’s The Country Bears and 2015’s Tomorrowland.
2003’s The Pirates of the Caribbean opened £3,765,450 (£553,344 previews) (£6,123,097 inflation inflated) taking £28,171,721 (£45,810,772 inflation inflated).
2004’s The Haunted Mansion opened £1,677,927 (£2,698,137 inflation inflated) taking £8,078,765 (£12,990,798 inflation inflated)
2015’s Tomorrowland – A World Beyond opened £1,482,178 taking £4,971,372
While Disney had huge success with Pirates of the Caribbean films the others based on theme park rides weren’t as successful and Disney and after 2002’s The Country Bears Disney ended their plans to make anymore. Disney did make Tomorrowland probably to get Brad Bird to direct Incredibles 2 a few years later, as the film was a film he had wanted to make for many years and is very much a Disney family film of old, but it failed to find an audience in cinemas.
Jungle Cruise was first announced in 2011 to star Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, in 2015 it was developed to star Dwayne Johnson and director Jaume Collet-Serra was attached to the project in July 2017.
Jaume Collet-Serra was a surprising choice as director for Jungle Cruise having previously directed several Liam Neeson action films Unknown, Non-Stop and The Commuter as well as The Shallows and House of Wax, he is currently directing DC’s Black Adam also starring Dwayne Johnson. Saying that Rob Marshall went from directing Chicago, Memoirs of a Geisha and Nine to Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and currently directing live-action remake of The Little Mermaid has also directed Mary Poppins Returns and Into the Woods.
Originally set to open on October 11th, 2019, but when Maleficent 2 was moved there in July 2018 and delayed to July 24, 2020, delayed again in April 2020 to July 2021 due to COVID.
Jungle Cruise wants to be Pirates of the Caribbean meets The Mummy with Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt similar to Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz in The Mummy in 1999 opened with £3,771,429 (£6,467,866 inflation inflated) taking £17,439,339 (£29,907,845 inflation inflated).
In 2001 The Mummy Returns opened with £5,929,146 (£10,340,201 inflation inflated) taking £20,390,060 (£35,559,477 inflation inflated); The Mummy box office is similar to Jumanji Welcome to The Jungle and Jumanji: The Next Level box office.
While Jungle Cruise is a live-action film it doesn’t feel like it is, looking more like a computer game with photorealistic animation similar to The Adventures of Tintin.
3. Space Jam: A New Legacy – £1,286,798 – £6,569,403
Down 7.9% in its third weekend
143rd biggest animated film between Storks and Monster House (close to Spies In Disguise, Rango, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Smurfs: The Lost Village) and 154th biggest inflation inflated between Ice Age: Collision Course and Storks.
955th biggest film in the UK between The Talented Mr Ripley and Patriot Games (close to Superman III, Men In Black International, The Borrowers and The Mask Of Zorro); 1,218th biggest inflation inflated between Lucky Number Slevin and Storks (close to Godzilla: King Of The Monsters, Men In Black International, Get Smart and Cowboys & Aliens). n
While Warner Bros would hope comparisons were going to be made with The Lego Movie, Wreck-It Ralph, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Space Jam and Ready Player One.
Instead, it was more likely to perform similar 2017’s The Emoji Movie dropping 14% in its third weekend taking £1,028,182 and £8,644,036 59.1% of £14,612,815; (29th biggest film of 2017 and the 7th biggest original film of the year).
2003’s Looney Tunes: Back in Action dropped 54% taking £608,479 and £3,987,431 73.4% taking £5,153,828 and £8,287,447 inflation inflated
While
2013’s Wreck-It Ralph dropped 1% taking £3,420,196 and £18,624,692 78.9% of £23,607,542
2018’s Ready Player One dropped 51% taking £1,183,259 taking £14,501,485 90% of £16,114,011.
Space Jam opened in the UK 5 months after the US in March 1997 and was the third biggest film in April 1997 after A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back special editions and ahead of The English Patient and Romeo & Juliet taking £11,648,511 (£20,663,943 inflation inflated) was the 11th biggest film of 1997 behind The Full Monty, Men In Black. The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Tomorrow Never Dies, Bean, Star Wars Special Edition, Batman and Robin, Evita, Ransom and Liar Liar.
There was controversy surrounding the design of Lola Bunny she is much less sexualized than in Space Jam, she is wearing a full-length uniform instead of the crop top she wore in the first film.
Director Malcolm D. Lee said in the first film “Lola was very sexualized, like Betty Boop mix with Jessica Rabbit,”… “Lola was not politically correct…. This is a kids’ movie, why is she in a crop top? It just felt unnecessary, but at the same time there’s a long history of that in cartoons.”
In the first half of the film, the Looney Tunes are animated in 2D but then are turned into 3D to play basketball, the Loony Tunes freak out at their new bodies as audiences have over recent years as studios turn 2D animation into photorealistic animation which often looks fake, this was the case with 2019’s The Lion King reimagination as sometimes 2D animation feels more real.
4. The Crood: A New Age – £893,054 – £4,204,385
Up 1.9% in its third weekend; The Croods: A New Age has performed steadily over the last week taking £2,150,276 over the last 7 days and including £1,257,222 Mon-Thurs. While it was never going to repeat the box office of 2013’s The Croods being opening 7 months after opening in the US and opening against Space Jam: A New Legacy but both will do steady business over the rest of the month.
1,286th biggest film in the UK between Geostorm and Night School (close to The Last Airbender, Edward Scissorhands, The Legend of Zorro, and Cats & Dogs 2) and 1,404th biggest inflation inflated between Blockers and Night School (close to Drop Dead Fred, Power Rangers, Furry Vengeance and Final Fantasy: The Spirits).
159th biggest animated film in the UK between Wonder Park and Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (close to The Angry Birds Movie 2, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas and Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron).
The Croods: A New Age is currently the 34th biggest DWA film in the UK but with four weeks of summer holidays to play should overtake The Prince of Egypt, Penguins of Madagascar, Captain Underpants and Abominable.
Third weekends
2013’s The Croods dropped 28% taking £2,364,348 and £17,718,116 67.33% of £26,328,511
2017’s Captain Underpants #11 dropped 44% taking £332,696 and £5,583,620 69% of £8,100,263 (had tough competition from The Emoji Movie #4 £1,189,438 and Despicable Me 3 #5 £751,380)
2019’s Abominable #6 dropped 24% taking £759,082 and £5,317,261 63.7% of £8,341,976 (had competition from The Addams Family #4 £2,117,740 and Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon #5 £1,052,238)
2007’s Bee Movie #6 up 13% (Christmas holidays) taking £1,080,701 and £5,688,550 62.9% of £9,034,528 (had competition from Enchanted #3 £2,153,552 and Alvin and the Chipmunks #5 £1,370,313)
The Crood: A New Age was Dreamworks Animations 38th film since 1998 (Spirit Untamed #39 and The Boss Baby: Family Business #40) the 38 Dreamworks Animation films have taken over £640m (over £83m inflation inflated) upcoming Spirit Untamed (July 30); The Boss Baby: Family Business (October 22) with The Bad Boys and Puss In Boots: The Last Wish opening in 2022.
Despite opening against Space Jam: A New Legacy three weeks ago both films have held very well over the weeks since due to summer holidays starting and a lack of other competition for children while for younger audiences Spirit Untamed opened and in two weeks The Paw Patrol Movie.
Exhibitors got their knickers in a twist with Black Widow and piracy but not said anything about The Croods: A New Age which has been available illegally online since December, so people could easily watch it at home for free, but they wanted to see it in the cinema.
The 38 DWA films have taken over £645m since 1998 (over £835m inflation inflated)
5. Black Widow – £788,028 – £16,061,449
Dropped 44.1% in its fourth weekend as with all other films had a small drop due to the start of the summer holidays and cooler temperatures.
Had the 18th biggest MCU 4th weekend similar to Doctor Strange (£941,628); Iron Man (£834,863); Captain America: Winter Soldier (£831,901); Ant-Man and the Wasp (£794,409); Thor: The Dark World (£722,811) and Ant-Man (£565,319); having the 8th smallest 4th-weekend drop similar to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 1, Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame and Ant-Man.
After 25 days Black Widow is the 17th MCU film similar to Thor: The Dark World (£19,109,368); Captain America: Winter Soldier (£18,456,032);Ant-Man and the Wasp (£15,470,066); Ant-Man (£14,422,296); Iron Man (£14,416,787)
51st biggest comic-book film in the UK between X-Men Origins: Wolverine and X-Men: First Class (close to Batman Begins, Venom, Batman and Robin and Thor); 61st biggest inflation inflated between Ant-Man and Blade 2 (close to Justice League, Ant-Man, Kick-Ass and The Hulk).
362nd biggest film in the UK between Signs and Casper (close to Ready Player One, Star Wars Special Edition, Bad Boys For Life and Black Swan); and 573rd biggest inflation inflated between The Rock and The Village (close to Kingsman: The Secret Service, Trainspotting 2, World War Z and Lost in Translation).
77th biggest Disney film in the UK between Signs and Cars (close to Ant-Man, Armageddon, Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil and Pearl Harbour) and 108th biggest inflation inflated between The Rock and The Village (close to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Scary Movie, Scream 2 and Kill Bill – Volume 2).
The problem many had with Black Widow was it felt old, and it was trying to be clever with lots of in-jokes MCU fans will love but won’t play beyond fans unlike other MCU films, did possibly think when it opened on July 7th the day of England’s Euro Semi-Final it might help attract a strong female audience who don’t normally see these films.
Fourth weekends
2014’s Lucy #2 dropped 33% taking £812,073 and £12,000,631 84.9% of £14,129,734 (4.6x opening)
2018’s Red Sparrow #9 dropped 49% £297,675 and £5,907,449 92.4% of £6,395,074 (3.57x opening)
2017’s Wonder Woman #2 dropped 16% taking £1,575,673 and £18,836,596 85.3% of £22,086,045 (3.57x opening)
Black Widow also has similarities with the Bourne film series.
2002’s The Bourne Identity #5 dropped 33% £573,694 taking £6,630,521 85.9% of £7,717,876 (£13,459,677 inflation inflated) (3.6x)
2004’s The Bourne Supremacy #5 dropped 50% £547,864 taking £9,832,249 86.3% of £11,396,052 (£18,325,055 inflation inflated) (4.2x)
2007’s The Bourne Ultimatum #3 dropped 51% £1,091,082 taking £20,064,024 85.1% of £23,586,781 (3.6x)
2012’s The Bourne Legacy #10 dropped 62% £270,180 taking £10,569,592 97.2% of £10,869,199 (2.3x)
2016’s Jason Bourne #4 dropped 15% £1,263,975 of £19,718,874 86% of £22,938,616 (3.02x)
Scarlett Johansson became the hero of NATO after it was revealed on Thursday she was suing Disney in breach of contract that Disney guaranteed Black Widow would have an exclusive theatrical release. “Disney intentionally induced Marvel’s breach of the agreement, without justification, to prevent Ms Johansson from realizing the full benefit of her bargain with Marvel.”
In response Disney said Scarlett Johansson had already received $20m and releasing the film on Disney+ Premier Access had “significantly enhanced her ability to earn additional compensation on top of the $20m she has received to date,” and “There is no merit whatsoever to this filing,” … “The lawsuit is especially sad and distressing in its callous disregard for the horrific and prolonged global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
It was surprising that Scarlett Johansson’s lawyers didn’t renegotiate her deal in December after Warner Bros paid Gal Gadot and director Patty Jenkins $10m+ after they announced WW84 would be released on HBO Max. This was after Legendary Pictures threatened to sue Warner Bros over their decision to release all of their 2021 slate in cinemas and HBO Max the same day.
If not in December why not in March when Disney announced Black Widow, Cruella and Jungle Cruise would be released in cinemas and on HBO Max same day, probably her lawyers believed she would receive much more coverage suing after it was released and after Disney announced the $60m it took on Disney+ Premier Access.
Haven’t exhibitors said regularly over the last 15 months ‘There’s a huge amount of pent-up demand and we do know from the customer research we’ve done that people believe you can’t recreate that big-screen experience at home” so why would they opt to see Black Widow illegally at home on their phone than go to see it on the big screen in the cinema?
While UKCA said in May “It’s not a competition between us and the streaming sites,” …. “People with a voracious appetite for films use streaming and want to go to cinemas. We’re more worried about bars and restaurants. That, and the reinvention of golf and darts as shared communal experiences.” As seen with Godzilla Vs Kong and Black Widow if it’s a film people want to see in the cinema they will see it in the cinema and then probably watch it again at home before going to see it again in the cinema.
The issue is that the makeup of the majority of cinemagoers is 16-34. These are people who will rush out to see the latest film over the opening weekend but as there aren’t other demographics going as strongly films are opening big and then dropping as big as this demographic is fickle.
Despite being well-reviewed Black Widow was always going to be front-loaded as Star Wars Anthology films have a much smaller fanbase as most people already know enough about Black Widow’s past. The other issue is it came over 5 years too late and is just a female Bourne meets Red Sparrow meets Lucy.
The other was while it might have been two years since the last MCU film was released fans have just had WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki TV series on Disney+ as with the issue with too many Star Wars films being released a few years ago many non-fans would say the same about MCU.
Scarlett Johansson starred in the action film Lucy in 2014 taking $126.67m in the US and $457.5m worldwide which was released a few months after Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which is surely when Black Widow should have happened, but Marvel was more interested in Avengers: Age of Ultron and Captain America: Civil War.
Ahead of release Black Widow was surely expected to take upwards of £30m with F9 taking £25m+ but both will not get anywhere near Peter Rabbit 2 box office of almost £19m and as Peter Rabbit 2 tickets were mostly children’s tickets with no surcharges for IMAX, PLF, 3D, 4DX, ScreenX while it will take a third less than the first film it has done vastly better.
Black Widow will be the first MCU film since Ant-Man and the Wasp in 2018 not to take over £20m, but as the first Ant-Man was a very different MCU film can’t compare Black Widow to either of them so will be the lowest-grossing MCU film since Captain America: Winter Soldier in 2014, Black Widow should have been made straight after Winter Soldier, instead, Marvel was focussed on Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War and introducing Spider-Man.
The 24 MCU films have taken almost £775m at the UK box office since 2008 and almost £810m inflation inflated; Disney’s 18 MCU films since 2012 have taken over £6252m (removing the two Spider-Man films taking £68m+ and pre-Disney MCU films taking £70m.
After two years without any MCU films, there are four within 6 months with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Eternals and Spider-Man: No Way Home all due for release between September and December.
While there are big questions over both Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Eternals, Spider-Man: No Way Home will be another £30m+ box office hit and be one of the top 5 biggest films of the year.
With Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and The Marvels all set for 2022 MCU films could take over £1bn at the UK box office by the end of next year.
Also opened
• Spirit Untamed – Universal Pictures
Opened with £592,154 from 513 cinemas
A spin-off of 2002’s Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (opened July with £719,681 (£1,255,096 inflation inflated) including £203,571 previews #3 behind The Minority Report #1 (£4,506,315) and Spider-Man (£1,452,348) taking £1,691,098 (£2,949,210 inflation inflated)
It was also based on its popular Netflix animated spin-off television series Spirit Riding Free.
Will play to younger children through summer holidays along with The Paw Patrol Movie opening in two weeks.
• The Sparks Brothers – Universal Pictures
Opened with £123,005 including £91,668 previews on Thursday and was the opening night film of Sundance London, but only took £31,337 Fri-Sun from 64 screens.
Director Edgar Wright is passionate about the cinema experience believing audiences saying “because going to the movies in the dark with strangers is the best way of seeing a film. It could be a full house or just two other people. The point is, it’s transporting, in the best way…. when you’re in control you can pause, go to the toilet, or make a drink. Cinema is like a train leaving the station you have got to jump on. You’re on a journey with the film and it’s not going to stop for you. That’s powerful. I don’t think anything will replace it. I get tired of think-pieces saying, ‘cinema is doomed’. It’s untrue.”
People will return to the cinema but not just yet as despite receiving critical acclaim the music documentary struggled to find an audience as the documentary would play to older audiences who aren’t currently going to the cinema. Exhibitors just need to do more to get people to get back into the cinemagoing habit, which is what I’ve been saying since before cinemas reopened last July, saying that I’ve been saying this since 2003 when admissions stopped growing.
The Sparks Brothers is the first of two films directed by Edgar Wright opening this year with Last Night in Soho opening in October (originally due for release last year but delayed due to COVID.
Other Box Office News
It was the biggest weekend this year and the biggest since the reopening of cinemas in July, topping the previous highest weekend June 25th (£9,931,625) when F9 opened. This was the highest weekend since £13,862,134 end of February half-term 21st February (top 3 Sonic The Hedgehog £4,171,244, Dolittle £2,032,270 and Parasite £1,722,236).
With The Suicide Squad and Jungle Cruise opening, this weekend was always going to be the biggest weekend of the reopening but should have been closer to the previous weekend February 14th (top three Sonic The Hedgehog opened £4,733,768; Parasite £2,523,518; Dolittle £2,135,951).
Being summer holidays weekdays are almost as strong as weekdays especially with the children’s films with Peter Rabbit 2 #10 taking £135,446 and £19,331,664 despite being available to watch at home.
But looking back at the last 20 years of box office for this weekend not including last year have to go back to 2006 and 2004 when the top 10 was lower this weekend and average ticket prices were almost 50% less. In 2006 #1 Miami Vice £2,231,684 1st week 408 screens and #1 King Arthur £1,908,084 1st week 400 screens.
Showing again that box office is down 40%+ from normal levels.
Looking back at weekend box office in 2019 between 29th March April and 20th September ere only three weekends that took less than last weekend (only 10 weekends less than £10m in 2019); weekend before Avengers Endgame opened in April and last two weeks in August which are very soft weekends for films, whiler this weekend with The Sucide Squad and Jungle Cruise was far from that.
Other Film News
Last Thursday Everyman Media Group reported admissions between cinemas reopening on May 17th and 1st July where 66% of 2019 levels, this is likely due to the armchair format of Everyman seating, being smaller venues, cleanest of auditoriums and toilets before COVID would make their customers feel much happier to return much quicker than to major chains.
It’s all about consumer confidence as soon as you go to Everyman cinema you’re relaxed thanks to their excellent customer service. It would be interesting to see the customer demographics of Everyman Cinemas since they reopened compared to other chains as I would imagine they are much older than the major chains.
Also, last week CEO of IMAX didn’t think that Disney’s day-and-date release strategy will outlast the pandemic. “Every studio has seen the same data that Disney has seen. What Disney did is experiment during the pandemic,”
Disney CEO Bob Chapek said at an investor day that when times are normal, he thinks theatrical is important, exclusivity is important, and I think when he looks at his data and the pandemic is in the rear-view mirror that he’ll come to the same conclusion that everyone else does: The way to maximize value is to have a theatrical window.””
Every studio has seen the same data Disney has seen which is that older audiences will return to cinemas far slower than 16-34 who are very fickle going from film to the next, why opening big (third less than normal) and then dropping big (taking a third less than normal), unless exhibitors find some way for older audiences to return quicker nothing will change.
Would be interesting to see if the audience demographic has changed with countries that have implemented COVID passports compared to the countries that don’t. While younger audiences are wanted for Black Widow and Jungle Cruise, older audiences will be wanted for No Time To Die and Dune soon.
As in the UK family films including Peter Rabbit 2, The Croods: A New Age and Space Jam: A New Legacy are finding audiences in the US family audiences haven’t returned as strongly with Paramount delaying on Friday Clifford due to be released in September.
While in the UK films targeting older audiences have struggled to find audiences including The Father, Supernova and Another Round, but that was expected as research for months has shown that was going to be the case older audiences would take much longer to return to cinemas.
Since cinemas shut for the first time in March UK exhibitors have held on to the fact that No Time To Die would e opening and that would be their saviour, after Skyfall took £102,816,893 and Spectre took £95,183,468, seeing murmurings of a potential sale to streaming services.
Surprisingly, the world premiere hasn’t been announced, Spectre was announced July 17 for October 26 (102 days) and No Time to Die originally was announced on January 20 for March 31 (72 days); probably either Sept 27/28 in 55 days at the Royal Albert Hall. There is also the possibility Barbara Broccoli could demand vaccine passports for its release as she has been in favour of them since April and they become mandatory in New York from September 13.
If No Time To Die does open in September as planned it won’t have an opening as big as Spectre and will unlikely to take a similar box office as either Skyfall or Spectre and be more like Casino Royale (£55,495,547). As the long gap for its release as other films that have been delayed has affected their box office as they feel old before they open and there will still be a nervousness amongst many in going back to cinemas again and crowded cinema. While the other thing is will talent want to attend a premiere with 5,000+ other people and thousands of fans, will they want to walk the red carpet and meet random strangers?
What exhibitors fail to understand is the only other option studios had would have been to delay these films for another 6+months, but they couldn’t keep these films on the shelf any longer as they feel old and are delaying other films and making the market far too crowded over the next few months. If he thinks cannibalization hurts Black Widow this is nothing compared to the cannibalization to come over the remaining months of the year.
To quote Argo ‘there are only bad options, it’s about finding the best one, this is the best bad idea we have.
On Friday AMC Entertainment CEO tried to sound cool talking to his Redditors tweeting “So much FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) going around on the internet, like that our shareholder meeting was closed doors or secret. Simply wrong. It was open to any shareholder, and all presents were invited to speak on ballot issues and ask questions.”
Ignoring the fact that long term investors in AMC have sold their shares to short-time Redditors and the share increases over recent months are paper money as doesn’t show the true value of the company. Until AMC deals with the problems they face the massive debt (similar to Cineworld) and that admissions have been in decline in the US since 2002 and admissions won’t get back to pre-pandemic levels till 2023 then nothing is going to change, and these investors won’t wait till then. In trying to be cool he also mocked his many who have justified concerns about going to cinemas now and many of them used to be regular cinemagoers.
Over the last 15 months, exhibitors have come out with quotes including talking about pent-up demand and most recently talking about UK cinema to have the second golden age.
The first golden age was 1940-1956 with 30m+ weekly trips to the cinema and 1bn+ a year from a population of 47m.
The second golden age of cinema was from 1985-2002 when admissions increased from 54m to 175.9m; in 1984 was 1m weekly visits to the cinema (population 57m) by 2002 up to 3.4m. If we are to have the second golden age this will surely mean UK admissions will finally top 200m which they should have done more than a decade ago if the growth continued after 2002.
New York City will demand proof of vaccination for indoor entertainment including restaurants, gyms and probably movie theatres, it will launch on August 16 and will be enforced from September 13. It’s the first in the US but other cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco are requiring masks to be worn again.
UK box office in detail
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £10,270,607 up 68.8% from last weekend £6,084,995 and up 2,175% from 2020 (£451,343)
The weekend admissions 1,350,444 up 58.2% 853,781 from last week; (admissions in 2020 this week was 84,427 (Up 1,499%)
Top 3 took £6,777,862 66% of the top 10; The Suicide Squad 31.6% (£3,252,028); Jungle Cruise 21.4% (£2,241,651); Space Jam: A New Legacy 12.3% (£1,286,798).
Up 2,175% from 2020 (£451,343); Top three took 50.3% (£267,343); Unhinged 33% (£175,263); Onward 11.1% (£58,951) 20.3%; 100% Wolf 6.2% (£33,129); #1 Unhinged £175,263 1st week 243 screens
Down 35.1% from 2019 (£15,821,627); Top three took 81.5% (£12,893,802) of the top 10; Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw 40.3% (£6,377,583); The Lion King 32.6% (£5,158,310x); Toy Story 4 8.6% (£1,357,909); #1); Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw £6,377,583 1st week
The weekend down 37.1% from 2018: (£16,330,724); Ant-Man and The Wasp (£4,988,747); Teen Titans Go! to the Movies (£389,726); The Producers (50th Anniversary) (£35,745); #1 Ant-Man and The Wasp £4,988,747 1st week 486 screens (30.5% of top 10)
Down 30.1% from 2017: (£14,684,539); The Emoji Movie (£2,702,809); Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (£1,861,916); England is Mine (£76,895); Maudie (£49,315); #1 Dunkirk £10,023,720 3rd week 690 screens 44% drop (31.5% of top 10)
Down 56.2% from 2016: (£23,455,514); Finding Dory (£8,122,075); Jason Bourne (£7,600,420); World Cup ’66 – Minute by Minute (£35,959); League of Gods (£8,349); #1 Finding Dory £8,122,075 1st week 588 screens (34.6% of the top 10)
Down 25.2% from 2015; (£13,728,232); Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (£5,351,344); Hot Pursuit (£311,673); The Cobbler (£57,787); #1 Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation £5,351,344 £7,376,513 1st week 572 screens (38.9% of top 10)
Down 29.5% from 2014: (£14,570,372); Guardians of the Galaxy (£6,363,110); The Nut Job (£666,966); Step Up 5: All In (£391,129); Mood Indigo (£60,538); Planes 2: Fire and Rescue (£55,903); #1 Guardians of the Galaxy £6,363,110 1st week 554 screens (43.6% of top 10)
Down 33% from 2013: (£15,328,027); The Smurfs 2 (£3,220,911); The Heat (£2,500,522); The Conjuring (£2,156,124); Red 2 (£1,023,349); Only God Forgives (£465,917); From up on Poppy Hill (£33,087); #1 The Smurfs 2 (£3,220,911 1st week 510 screens (21.1% of top 10)
Down 45.5% from 2012 (£18,835,047); Ted (£9,333,700); Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (£1,537,178); Brave (Scotland) (£820,084); Sound of My Voice (£3,630); #1 Ted £9,333,700 1st week 509 screens (49.5% of top 10)
Down 29.2% from 2011 (£14,498,785); Captain America: The First Avenger (£2,981,590); Horrid Henry: The Movie (£1,290,308); The Zookeeper (£936,063); Arrietty (£75,584); #1 Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 £8,523,417 3rd week 576 screens 46% drop (31.5% of top 10)
Down 53.2% from 2010: (£21,956,519); Karate Kid (£4,882,306); The A-Team (£3,569,505); Gainsbourg (£135,031); #1 Toy Story 3 £8,115,193 2nd week 564 screens 62% drop (36.9% of top 10)
Down 17.3% from 2009; (£12,415,474); G-Force (£2,478,524); The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (£1,784,719); Land of the Lost (£642,553); Coco Before Chanel (£423,268); Crossing Over (£3,214); #1 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince £2,917,786 3rd week 568 screens 44% drop (23.5% of top 10)
Down 35.3% from 2008; (£15,871,733); The X-Files: I Want to Believe (£887,209); Space Chimps (£563,543); The Love Guru (£498,829); Man on Wire (£98,508); #1 The Dark Knight £6,737,306 2nd week 510 40% drop screens (42.4% of top 10)
Down 3.3% from 2007: (£10,622,708); Evan Almighty (£1,152,349); The Hoax (£94,136); Happily N’ever After (£62,622); Wind Chill (£23,769); Seraphim Falls (£17,110); #1 The Simpsons £4,027,220 2nd week 519 screens 70% drop (37.9% of top 10)
Up 10.3% from 2006; (£9,307,750); Miami Vice (£2,231,684); My Super Ex-Girlfriend (£714,920); Ant Bully (£382,766); #1 Miami Vice £2,231,684 1st week 408 screens (23.9% of top 10)
N/a xx% from 2005 (£xx); Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (£7,972,168); #1 Fantastic Four Charlie and the Chocolate Factory £7,972,168 1st week (xx% of top 10)
Up 30.8% from 2004 (£7,849,699); King Arthur (£1,908,084); Garfield (£1,147,437); The Stepford Wives (£946,787); New York Minute (£109,106); Anything Else (£39,149); #1 King Arthur £1,908,084 1st week 400 screens (23.4% of top 10)
Down 6.1% from 2003 (£10,939,690); Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (£6,080,369); Legally Blonde 2: Red, White, and Blonde (£1,546,483); Spy Kids 3D Game Over (£979,374); #1 Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines £6,080,369 1st 478 screens (55.6% of top 10)
Down 19.6% from 2002 (£12,774,940); Men In Black 2 (£6,191,428); Lost In La Mancha (42,824); Lovely And Amazing (£35,483); #1 Men In Black 2 £6,191,428 1st week 512 screens (48.4% of top 10)
Down 4.5% from 2001 (£10,754,826); Cats and Dogs (£3,707,358); Rush Hour 2 (£2,286,253); Final Fantasy: The Spirits. (£43,546); #1 Cats and Dogs £ 3,707,358 1st week 452 screens (34.4% of top 10);
Next weekend in 2019 (£12,630,683) (Blinded by the Light (£966,095); Playmobil (£376,296); Bring the Soul: The Movie (Concert) (£237,537); The Art of Racing in the Rain (£197,009); #1 The Lion King £4,366,824 down 16% 4th week 714 screens
US Box Office
- Jungle Cruise – Disney
Opened with $35.01m; received mixed reviews (63% Rotten Tomatoes) and A- CinemaScore
Took $13.4m from Friday (including $2.7m from Thursday previews)
Opening biggest than tracking Jungle Cruise was expected to open with $25m and unlike Black Widow increased its box office on Saturday due to being a family film and not a film that people will be desperate to see on opening night. It is also impossible to track how films will open now, say that it did open about a third less than 2003’s Pirates of the Caribbean (not including ticket inflation) and 1999’s The Mummy that it’s trying to imitate.
To put Jungle Cruise opening into perspective and show how far away from normal US BO is currently this time in 2019 Hobbs & Shaw opened with $60,038,950 and four months later Jumanji: The Next Level opened with $59,251,543, instead, it’s open was similar to 2015’s Tomorrowland $33.02m which was seen as a massive disappointment at the time.
In normal circumstances, Jungle Cruise should be looking to open upwards of $80m, but as with all films that have opened since Godzilla Vs Kong in May (Cruella, A Quiet Place Part 2, F9, Black Widow and Space Jam: A New Legacy) they have all opened a third less than expected and then dropped much heavier than normal.
Until the industry realises this then nothing is going to change and it’s only going to get worse in the Fall as there are many more films opening and most are targetting an older demographic which is going to see box office cannibalize.
The one positive is Jungle Cruise won’t have as big a second-weekend drop as Black Widow, which will show that Disney+ Premier Access isn’t doing as much damage as exhibitors believe, and as with Cruella will hold better over the coming weeks better than other summer releases.
SambaTV reported Jungle Cruise was watched by 777k US households Disney+ Premier Access over its opening weekend, 46% more than Cruella (531k US households). These numbers always seem so low when there are over 40m Disney+ subscribers in the US so that means only 2% of Disney+ subscribers paid $29.99 to watch, while at the same time almost five times the amount of people who saw Jungle Cruise in cinema.
Rather than exhibitors complaining about Disney and Warner Bros opening films on streaming same day surely they should be using these numbers to show that despite having the choice to see these films at home the majority still choose to see them in the cinema.
Instead of antagonising studios exhibitors should be using this to sell the cinema experience, as studios should be able to decide how they want their films to be released not exhibitors as they are the ones spending $200m+ making Jungle Cruise and another $200m marketing it.
It used to be theme park rides that would be the basis of films, but Disney went the other way with their theme park rides, but while a ride lasts for minutes it’s harder to turn it into a feature-length film.
It’s the sixth Disney film based on a theme park ride after the Pirates of the Caribbean five-film series (between 2003 and 2017).
2003’s The Haunted Mansion opened $34.04m taking $75.84m and $182.29m worldwide
2000’s Mission to Mars opened $22.85m taking $60.88m and $110.98m worldwide
2002’s The Country Bears opened $5.3m taking $16.99m and $18.01m worldwide
2015’s Tomorrowland opened $33.02m taking $93.43m and $209.03m
2003’s Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl opened $46.63m taking $305.41m and $654.26m worldwide
1999’s The Mummy opened $43.36m taking $155.38m and $416.38m worldwide
2016’s The Legend of Tarzan opened $40.79m taking $126.64m and $348.9m
Instead opened closer to 2018’s Tomb Raider $23.63m
Exhibitors will predictably use the same excuse they used with Black Widow blaming its disappointing opening on piracy but it’s a big-screen summer film that people would normally opt to watch in the cinema rather than home
Opened with $27.6m from 47 territories and $61.8m worldwide; UK $3.2m; Russia $2.9m; Japan $2.1m; France $1.7m; Saudi Arabia $1.4m; Australia $1.3m; UAE $1.3m; Korea $1.2m; Hong Kong $1.1m; Mexico $1m
Opened #1 in Italy, Russia, Australia, Mexico, Hungary, Iceland, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Sweden, Ukraine, UAE, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, West Africa, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan; opened #2 in France, Spain, UK, Brazil, Austria, and the Czech Republic.
- The Green Knight – A24
Opened with $6.74m; received positive reviews (90% Rotten Tomatoes) and C- CinemaScore
Took $2.9m from Friday
As often happens with films like these they receive critical acclaim, but audience reaction is mixed.
The film was due to be released in the UK on August 6th but on July 27th Entertainment Films announced they were pulling the film from the release schedule (shortly after Pathe’s The Duke was also delayed).
While The Green Knight received positive reviews it was likely to struggle in cinemas as films targetting older demographics have struggled to find an audience since cinemas reopened in May.
While US studios and major UK indies can take the risk to open high profile films independent distributors like Entertainment Films can’t afford to take that risk as they heavily market their films, this was to include the back page of The Sunday Times Culture Magazine on August 1st which they replaced with a teaser for Fisherman’s Friends 2 opening next year.
Many took issue at Entertainment’s decision to remove the film as it was also suggested that maybe a streamer had acquired UK rights as has been done with several of STX films over the last few months. So many UK independent film distributors have come and gone over the last few decades, but Entertainment Films has managed to hold its own despite losing many key output deals over the years.
- Old – Universal Pictures
Dropped 59% taking $6.86m and $30.71m
Second weekends
2006’s The Lady in the Water dropped 60.4% taking $7.14m and $32.2m of $42.28m
2008’s The Happening dropped 65.7% taking $10.48m and $50.74m of $64.5m
1999’s The Sixth Sense dropped 3.4% taking $25.76m and $69.66m of $293.5m and $672.8m worldwide would be $1.3bn inflation
2002’s Signs dropped 51% taking $29.45m and $117.71m of $227.96m and $408.24m worldwide
2004’s The Village dropped 67.5% taking $16.48m and $85.61m of $114.19m and $256.69m worldwide
2000s Unbreakable dropped 52.4% taking $14.44m and $66.34m of $95.01m and $248.11m 25.65m and worldwide
2017’s Split dropped 35.9% taking $25.65m and $77.38m of $138,291,365 and $278.45m worldwide
2019’s Glass dropped 53.2% taking $18.88m and $73.42m of $111.04m and $246.99m worldwide
Took $7.52m from 44 territories and $45.6m worldwide.
- Space Jam: A New Legacy – Warner Bros
Dropped 56% in its third weekend taking $4.23m and $60.8m
1,394th biggest film in the US between Harlem Nights and Coyote Ugly; 2,276th biggest inflation inflated between The Hundred-Foot Journey and Abominable; 229th biggest Warner Bros film in the US between Prisoners and Three Kings.
Third weekends
1996’s Space Jam dropped 16.4% taking $13.55m taking $67.44m taking $90.41m ($160m inflation inflated) and $230.51m worldwide $398m inflation inflated)
2017’s The Emoji Movie dropped 46.3% taking $6.45m and $63.43m of $86.08m in the US and $217.77m WW.
2012’s Wreck-It Ralph dropped 43.7% taking $18.5m taking $121.75m taking $189.42m in the US and $471.2m WW.
2018’s Ralph Breaks the Internet dropped 36.4% taking $16.25m and $140.97m taking $201.09m in the US and $529.32m WW.
2010’s Tron Legacy dropped 2.1% (Christmas Hols) taking $18.75m and $131.3m of $172.06m and $400.06m WW.
2018’s Ready Player One dropped 53.2% taking $11.51m and $114.92m of $137.69m taking $482.89m WW
1,409th biggest film worldwide between Lethal Weapon and Volcano; 16th biggest film of 2021 worldwide between Tom and Jerry and Raya and the Last Dragon; 220th biggest Warner Bros film worldwide between Lethal Weapon and Blazing Saddles.
Took $8.3m from 67 territories (down 34%) $57.9m total and $118.6m worldwide; UK $8.5m; Australia $8.1m; Mexico $6.9m; Russia $3.1m; Spain $2.7m; France $2m.
- Snake Eyes – Paramount Pictures
Dropped 70% in its second weekend taking $4.06m and $22.34m
Had a bigger second-weekend drop than Black Widow (68%) two weeks ago which NATO blamed on being released on Disney+ but the real reason was as with Snake Eyes simply audiences weren’t interested to see the film.
Second weekends
2009’s G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra dropped 59.2% taking $22.32m and $98.57m of $150,201,498 and $302,469,017 worldwide
2013’s G.I. Joe: Retaliation dropped 48.5% taking $20.87m and $86.43m of $122,523,060 and $375,740,705 WW
The sequel took $28m less than G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra in the US but international BO took 67% Vs 50.3%.
Took $1.2m from 38 territories and $6.5m total
- Black Widow – Disney
Dropped 44% in its fourth weekend taking $6.47m and $167.11m.
Similar fourth weekend drop as MCU films Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 (-42.6%); Avengers: Age of Ultron (-44.2%); Captain America: The First Avenger (-44.6%); Iron Man 3 (-46.0%); Spider-Man: Homecoming (-46.2%); Ant-Man and the Wasp (-46.9%)
The 23rd biggest MCU fourth weekend only The Incredible Hulk ($4.89m) had a smaller fourth weekend but is the 20th biggest MCU film after 2 weeks only Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, Ant-Man and The Incredible Hulk have taken less.
314th biggest film in the US between Casino Royale and Meet the Parents; 676th biggest inflation inflated between Freaky Friday and Scary Movie 3 and 80th biggest Disney film between 3 Men and a Baby and The Proposal?.
The 24 MCU films have taken over $8.7bn in the US (By next year will have taken over $10bn) and $22.87bn worldwide.
Dropped 47% taking $7.7m from 48 territories $167.1m total and $343.6m worldwide; Korea $24.8m; UK $22.2m; France $13.7m; Mexico $9.4m; Australia $9.3m; Russia $9.1m; Japan $7.9m; Germany $6.8m; Spain $6.4m; Hong Kong $6.4m.
413th biggest film worldwide between xXx: Return of Xander Cage and Over the Hedge; 5th biggest film worldwide in 2021 between Godzilla vs. Kong and A Quiet Place: Part II; 83rd biggest Disney film between Pocahontas and Enchanted.
- Stillwater – Focus Features
Opened with $5.18m; received mixed reviews (75% Rotten Tomatoes) B- CinemaScore
Took $1.8m from Friday
Received its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in July where Matt Damon was moved to tears by the audience reaction to the film.
The film was released in August to separate it from Matt Damon’s next film The Last Duel directed by Ridley Scott, they previously worked together on 2015’s The Martian. Despite receiving mixed reviews it has been seen as an award contender with Focus Features holding an award screening last week.
Stillwater has generated controversy after Amanda Knox has said the film ripped off her story ‘without her consent, she is never mentioned in the film director Tom McCarthy said the Knox case was “initial inspiration point but not much beyond that. I just had a daughter then and I thought how it would be like” and that “It’s loosely inspired by that case, so I didn’t want to try and do a recreation of that. I want Allison to kind of be her own stand-alone character, but it was definitely great to have that for a reference.”
Last Monday Stillwater had its New York premiere, on the ticket had a warning, “attendees voluntarily assume all risks incident to attending this event, including the risks of exposure to communicable diseases, viruses, bacteria or illness which cause sickness. And hereby waives all potential claims relating to such risks. While Brillant Consulting Inc and Jazz at Lincoln Centre are taking measures to enhance the safety of our attendees, exposure to infectious diseases including COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present. By attending this event you voluntarily assume all risks relating to exposure to infectious disease.”
A similar warning was placed at the entrance of Disney World in May last year, do wonder if exhibitors have also hidden this in their terms and conditions when buying tickets for cinemas.
Matt Damon comments in Sunday Times interviews generated much controversy online but why does talent go off-topic with interviews, as they are there to talk about the film, why was this a subject Matt Damon even talked about especially after received backlash from his comments about Harvey Weinstein in 2017, surely his PR should have stopped this line of questioning from being discussed?
UK Box Office Top 10
UK Box Office Preview
With no new major releases, the top five will probably stay the same with maybe Spirit Untamed switching places with Black Widow as the new releases Zola, Profile, The Last Letter From Your Lover and Stillwater will struggle to enter the lower half of the top 10. (being a huge fan of Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous was said to find out that Stillwater wasn’t a biopic of the band Stillwater)
With strong word of mouth, The Suicide Squad second weekend will still be about 50% less than Suicide Squad (£4,241,508) but its drop will be about half (-62.3%) taking £2m+ holding similar to Birds of Prey (£1,773,023) and Shazam! (£2,162,719).
Jungle Cruise should have a similar second-weekend drop as The Suicide Squad dropping about 40% taking £1.5m+, similar to 2003’s Pirates of the Caribbean (-30.84%).
This will be the calm before the storm with six wide releases opening within 5 days from August 13th with Free Guy, The Paw Patrol Movie, Don’t Breathe 2, Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins, Reminiscence and People Just Do Nothing: Big In Japan is the wide card as films based on British TV comedies have performed well opening in August.
Opening in two weeks
- Free Guy – Disney
Sci-fi action-comedy starring Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Lil Rel Howery, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Joe Keery, and Taika Waititi and directed by Shawn Levy,
It was originally set for release in July 2020, but its release date has been pushed back three times due to COVID.
20th Century Fox acquired the Matt Lieberman script in 2016 and was announced in September 2018 Ryan Reynolds and Shawn Levy were attached. It was one of the first films to start production after the studio was acquired by Disney in March 2019. Immediately after Disney acquired 20th Century Fox they shut down many films that were in pre-prediction but was one of a few that went into production.
In July 2021 Ryan Reynolds released a video featuring Deadpool and Korg reviewing the latest Free Guy trailer.
Ahead of the release of a new trailer in October Ryan Reynolds suggested other potential dates for the film if it was going to be delayed again. Ryan Reynolds and Jodie Comer are fronting an NHS Blood Drive campaign telling the public that the guy in the film “always gives 100% at everything he does” and you can get an “I’m a great guy” badge.
The film has been compared to Truman Show but instead of being set inside a TV show, it’s set inside a computer game like Wreck-It-Ralph.
1998’s The Truman Show opened £2,210,999 (£3,961,145 inflation inflated) taking £9,929,680 (£17,789,650)
2013’s Wreck-It Ralph opened with £4,526,380 taking £23,607,542
2018’s Ready Player One opened with £5,113,041 (including £1,081,559 previews) taking £16,114,011
2014’s The Lego Movie opened with £8,051,140 (including £2,155,094 previews) taking £32,887,286.
Early reaction to Free Guy has been very positive calling it the best video game movie and it’s Truman Show meets Ready Player One meets The Lego Movie, films often get the tag, “this is the film we need now” a fun, silly popcorn, doing exactly what it says on the tin
Most of the film 20th Century Fox released since Disney acquired the studio in March 2019 have disappointed except for Le Man’s 66 but their upcoming slate is far stronger including Free Guy, The Last Duel, The French Dispatch, West Side Story, The King’s Man and Death on the Nile. All studios have blips, and it can’t have been easy for the studio to operate normally with the sale of the studio looming large from 2017. It is just sad seeing this slate knowing that the films the studio will be making in the future won’t be so varied.
Ryan Reynolds has had mixed success at the box office now best known for Deadpool and vocally in The Croods and Pokémon: Detective Pikachu, before that 2002’s National Lampoon’s Van Wilder and 2006’s Definitely, Maybe showed off his comedic charm and 2009‘s The Proposal starring with Sandra Bullock was his biggest non-comic-book movie and his only Disney film, Free Guy is now a Disney film, but it was developed by Fox before they acquired the studio.
Away from Deadpool his biggest film recently was The Hitman’s Bodyguard, the sequel The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard released in June was poorly received critically and at the box office, with Free Guy Lionsgate must have felt they needed to space the two films out, the first film was successful opening in August but in June opened far too close to F9.
- The Paw Patrol Movie – Paramount Pictures
An animated film based on the television series PAW Patrol featuring the voices of Kingsley Marshall, Keegan Hedley, Shayle Simons, Lilly Bartlam, Ron Pardo, Kim Kardashian, Dax Shepard, Tyler Perry, and Jimmy Kimmel and directed by Cal Brunker.
2020’s Paw Patrol: Ready, Race, Rescue opened #10 £483,886 from 524 screens taking £1,772,296
2019’s Paw Patrol: Mighty Pups opened #5 £521,505 from 507 screens taking £1,265,526
Playing to a younger audience than other children films on release, but will be competition for Spirit Untamed
GB News was mocked in June after the Welsh language version of The Paw Patrol received higher ratings. (161,000 Vs 31,000).
- The Courier – Lionsgate
Historical spy drama starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Merab Ninidze, Rachel Brosnahan, Jessie Buckley, and Angus Wright and directed by Dominic Cooke.
Had its world premiere under its original title Ironbark at the Sundance Film Festival in 2020 receiving mixed reviews. (87% Rotten Tomatoes).
Opened in the US taking $6.6m and $16.1m worldwide.
It’s released on Amazon a week after opening in cinemas
- Don’t Breathe 2 – Sony Pictures
Horror sequel to 2016 film starring Stephen Lang, Brendan Sexton III and Madelyn Grace and directed by Rodo Sayagues.
The original film was both a critical and commercial success taking $89.2m in the US and $157.83m worldwide with a budget under $10m.
Don’t Breathe opened in September #3 with £1,028,938 from 446 screens; dropping 44% in its second-weekend #6 taking £574,782 and £2,250,373 against Blair Witch reboot opening #2 £959,401 went on to take £3,719,221 taking 3.61x opening.
- People Just Do Nothing: Big In Japan – Universal Pictures (Wednesday)
Mockumentary based on the BBC Three TV series People Just Do Nothing (2012-2018) starring Allan Mustafa, Hugo Chegwin, Asim Chaudhry, Steve Stamp, Dan Sylvester, Lily Brazier, Hitomi Souno and Ken Yamamura and directed by Jack Clough
British TV spinoffs have had mixed success and many of them have opened mid-August in the UK as after the June-July rush August slows down for US content and there is room for British films to find audiences as while in mid-August US schools are getting ready to return to UK schools don’t return until the end of the first week in September. (films opened in August are marked with *)
*1997’s Bean opened £2,563,326 (£4,547,227 inflation inflated) taking £17,902,161 (£31,757,642)
2000’s Kevin & Perry Go Large opened £2,404,517 (£3,945,594 inflation inflated) taking £10,247,636 (£16,815,439)
2002’s Ali G Indahouse opened £3,231,673 (£5,635,913 inflation inflated) taking £10,170,779 (£17,737,446)
*2011’s The Inbetweeners Movie opened £13,216,736 (£15,746,672 inflation inflated) taking £45,030,412 (£53,650,095)
*2012’s Keith Lemon: The Film opened £1,196,310 taking £2,900,378
*2013’s Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa opened £2,175,850 taking £5,223,520
2014’s Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie opened £4,301,306 taking £14,290,727
*2014’s The Inbetweeners 2 opened £12,538,114 taking £33,386,962
*2015’s Bad Education opened £594,861 taking £2,013,108
2016’s Dad’s Army opened £2,077,942 taking £8,372,614
2016’s Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie opened £4,042,959 taking £15,297,486
*2016’s David Brent: Life on the Road opened £1,460,290 taking £3,639,605
As with Keith Lemon: The Film and Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie these TV spinoffs might be terrible, but they do find an audience
- Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins – Paramount Pictures (Wednesday)
A spinoff of based on Hasbro’s G.I Joe film series starring Henry Golding, Andrew Koji, Úrsula Corberó, Samara Weaving, and Iko Uwais and directed by Robert Schwentke; received mixed reviews
2009’s G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra opened with £1,708,760 (including £281,666 previews) taking £6,293,469; taking $150,201,498 in the US and $302,469,017 worldwide
2013’s G.I. Joe: Retaliation opened with £2,792,861 (including £890,338 previews) taking £7,288,281; taking $122,523,060 in the US and $375,740,705 worldwide
Snake Eyes was hoped to relaunch the G.I Joe franchise for both Paramount and Hasbro but the $88m budget film is unlikely to do that after opening disappointingly in the US last month opening with $13.4m and receiving poor reviews (42% Rotten Tomatoes).
Snake Eyes and Black Widow highlights the problem with these origin movies they have very limited appeal as for most they know enough of the back story of characters in previous films so seeing them do it is far less exciting than Han Solo doing the Kessel run in 12 parsecs in Solo. Likewise in previous MCU films, Natasha and Clint talk a lot about what happened in Budapest but seeing what happened in Black Widow is anticlimactic as it’s just exposition you don’t need to see just need to know it happened.
One of the biggest issue with Snake Eyes is the title I must admit when it was first announced thought it was going to be a remake of the 1998 Nicolas Cage film, while I’ve seen the previous two G.I Joe films didn’t make the connection Snake Eyes was a character within it.
This was surely also the issue with Birds of Prey while DC fans knew exactly what Birds of Prey the film is needed to play beyond the fanbase that’s why some unofficially called it Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey. Tom Cruise’s Edge of Tomorrow was also called Live Die Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow but one could also ask why it wasn’t just called All You Need Is Kill the title of the novel it was based on.
In 2017 Paramount Pictures announced a five-year exclusive production deal with Hasbro to make live-action and animated films based on Hasbro, the partnership began in 2007 making six Transformers films (the seventh Transformers: Rise of the Beasts set for release next year) and two G.I Joe films.
This was similar to the deal Paramount Pictures made with Marvel Entertainment 10 years earlier to release 10 MCU films but were gazumped by Disney buying Marvel in 2009 (after Viacom turned down Paramount’s plan to buy Marvel) Paramount have been gazumped again with Hasbro buying eOne in 2019 as will they extend the deal that ends in 2022 eOne will release in the UK and Canada Dungeons & Dragons in March 2023 which will be released by Paramount in the rest of the world.
Paramount went from #1 in 2011 studio in the world to #7 due to poor decisions had a chance to buy Marvel but Viacom refused then Disney acquired, also lost Dreamworks to Disney, Blumhouse to Universal and Dreamworks Animation to Fox in an alternative universe Paramount have been #1 studios for the decade.
Will new management be repeating the same mistakes a decade later losing Hasbro and Skydancer with their current deal ending this year and Skydancer making several films recently for Netflix and sold several to Amazon and Apple? If they do could see Paramount Pictures in play as a possible acquisition target as Lionsgate and A24 are rumoured to be along with Imagine Entertainment and Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine.
- Reminiscence – Warner (Wednesday)
Sci-fi thriller starring Hugh Jackman, Rebecca Ferguson, Thandiwe Newton, Cliff Curtis, Marina de Tavira, Daniel Wu, Mojean Aria, Brett Cullen, Natalie Martinez, Angela Sarafyan, and Nico Parker and written and directed by Lisa Joy (her feature directorial debut) co-created HBO’s Westworld TV series.
Warner Bros acquired world rights to the film in March 2019
The trailer includes the line “When the waters began to rise and war broke out… nostalgia became a way of life, there wasn’t a lot to look forward to, so people began looking back, nothing is more addictive than the past”. Sounds very much like things are now with nostalgia became a way of life and that nothing is more addictive than the past.
Similar films include Inception, Memento, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The trolling of Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds continued with Hugh Jackman getting Free Guy director Shawn Levy to troll him on Instagram, previously worked together on Real Steel a decade ago and recently reteamed to make Netflix’s The Adam Project. With Free Guy and Reminiscence opening a week apart there will likely be more to come from both Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds in the coming weeks.
Reminiscence was originally set to open in April but was delayed to September 3rd in the US opening week earlier internationally In February (was later brought forward a week to avoid Shang-Chi). Late August/Labour Day is normally a time when studios dump films, that said Warner released Tenet over the same weekend last year.
From the trailer, Reminiscence feels like a grown-up sci-fi film like Moon, Sunshine, Solaris, Ex_Machina and Gattaca that will struggle to find an audience especially in these current circumstances which will surely make Warner nervous with Dune opening in October and premiering at Venice Film Festival in a few weeks.
Reminiscence is Hugh Jackman’s first major cinema release since The Greatest Showman in 2017, The Front Runner and Bad Education had limited theatrical releases while Missing Link was animated.