- Scream VI – £3,043,922 – NE
Took £207k from Wednesday (6.8%) night double bills and £467k Thursday (15.3%); £805k Friday (26.4%) (Scream took £900k Friday without previews); £964k Saturday (31.7%); £601k Sunday (19.7%); took £675,495 from preview 22.2% of opening,
Opened with 184% more than 1997’s Scream; 22%+ 1998’s Scream; 24%+ 2000’s Scream 3; 48%+ 2011’s Scream 4 and 23%+ 2022’s Scream. Impossible to compare Scream VI’s opening with any of the even 2022’s Scream, as Scream VI had two days of previews, was released in 3D and came so soon after last year’s film. While won’t have the legs of the original trilogy and as Creed III it will drop 50%+ next weekend.
505th biggest opening between Twister and Little Fockers (close to The Woman in Black, Lucy, Creed 2 and The Village) and 843rd biggest opening inflated between While You Were Sleeping and Clear and Present Danger (close to The Rock, Wolf, Hollow Man and The Haunting).
14th biggest horror opening between The Woman in Black and Insidious 2 (close to A Quiet Place Part II, Paranormal Activity 3, Sleepy Hollow and Bram Stokers Dracula) and the 40th biggest inflated between Final Destination 2 and A Quiet Place (close to The Omen, The Wolfman, Freddy’s Dead The Final Nightmare and Nightmare on Elm Steet III).
4th biggest 2023 between Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and M3gan (£2.35m)
100th widest opening (627 cinemas) between The King’s Man and Free Guy (155th 600+ cinema opening since 2015’s Jurassic World.
Despite having double-bill screenings on Wednesday and previews on Thursday its opening was only 6.85% of the US ($44.4m) this compares to 8.22% for 2022’s Scream (similar to The Great Gatsby, Predator, iT and It Chapter 2; while the UK industry says films will open with 10% of their US opening it rarely 10% unless they have previews, so as Scream VI had previews it should have opened closer to 10%. But Scream VI was front-loaded seen by it being #2 against Creed III for Saturday and without previews would have opened #2, Scream VI was an 18 while Creed III held better in the UK than the US which also likely impacted Scream VI opening, that said it did have surcharges from 3D.
Would be interesting to see what percentage of BO was from 3D, it was the first film of the series to be released in 3D, horror films were often released in 3D in the 50s, but few have been released in 3D over the last decade (My Bloody Valentine, House of Wax, Fright Night, Final Destination 5, Saw 3D, Piranha 3D and Texas Chainsaw)
The Scream series has taken over £35m to date and £60m inflation inflated.
1997’s Scream £1,070,532 (£2,125,282 inflated) from 214 screens £8,247,094 (£16,372,609 inflated); opening was 13% of total BO.
1998’s Scream 2 £2,493,950 (£4,951,134 inflated) from 387 screens £8,280,725 (£16,439,375 inflated)
2000’s Scream 3 £2,449,937 (£4,498,975 inflated) from 400 screens £5,585,267 (£10,256,581 inflated)
2011’s Scream 4 £2,061,885 (£2,749,180 inflated) from 408 screens £5,581,902 (£7,442,536 inflated)
2022’s Scream £2,468,510 from 622 screens £7,438,313; opening was 33.2% of total BO.
What was incredible about the first Scream film opening in 1997 six months after the US was it had very strong legs (was in the top 15 in the UK for over 3 months) as it was a horror film for people who don’t like horror films, but the sequel is far more of a straight horror, while tries to be too clever for itself. 1997’s Scream took 8x opening taking only 12.5% of BO while 2022’s Scream took 3x opening and opening 33.2% of BO, this was similar to Scream 2-4 and will also be the case with Scream VI.
Scream was a horror film for people who watched horror films Randy in Scream explains the rules of horrors, that you can never have sex, never drink and never say “I’ll be right back”, while the rules for the sequel are the body count is always higher, death scenes are more elaborate and never assume the killer is dead (that part is also the in the first film when Billy comes back from the dead for one last scare. While the rules of the third film where the killer is superhuman. The original title for Scream was Scary Movie, the title that was used a few years after Scream to spoof Scream which was also spoofing horror films.
I went to a pre-MIFED screening in October 1996 for Scream at the Plaza despite not liking horror films seeing the reaction, I knew if the studio could get audiences in to see the film, then word of mouth would give it legs. Scream was one of several horrors that featured actors from popular teen US TV shows, I Know What You Did Last Summer opened in 1997 starring Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy) who then starred in Scream 2. Was also Final Destination, Urban Legend, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later and The Faculty, many of them were written by Kevin Williamson who wrote the original Scream script and also Dawson Creek (many of its teen actors appeared in these teen horrors).
Scream VI will be double punched in its second weekend dropping over 60% due to opening inflated with previews, being a front-loaded horror film and Shazam! Fury Of the Gods opening.
- 2, Creed III – £2,705,980 – £9,371,993
Down 45.9% in the second weekend
Took £771k (down 51.2%) Friday (28.5%); £1.26m (38.5% drop) Saturday (46.6%); £674k Sunday (50.8% drop (24.9%) was #1 on Saturday and Sunday
267th biggest second weekend between War for the Planet of the Apes and Kong: Skull Island (close to Mission: Impossible III, Bad Boys For Life, Seven and The Lion King (1994) and 528th biggest inflated between Bad Boys 2 and Pretty Woman (close to Die Hard 2 Die Harder, Rocky Balboa, Working Girl and Die Hard).
Creed III received positive reviews (91% on Rotten Tomatoes) Variety said it “was a sports film that’s closer to ‘Cape Fear’ than ‘Rocky”; 1992’s Cape Fear dropped 23.5% £1,273,242 (£3,204,921 inflated) and £4,495,759 43.2% of £10,396,215 (£26,168,666 inflated).
2015’s Creed dropped 45.2% £1,217,405 and £4,305,551 75.7% of £5,684,690
2018’s Creed II dropped 42.6% £1,717,275 and £5,990,120 62% of £9,672,937
2007’s Rocky Balboa dropped 53.1% £1,705,180 (£2,728,288 inflated) and £6,625,028 77.9% of £8,503,135
1991’s Rocky V dropped 47.1% £662,431 (£1,766,483 inflated) and £2,488,455 71.5% of £3,482,057 (£9,285,485 inflated).
1977’s Rocky took £1,656,000 (£16,317,659 inflated)
1980’s Rocky II took £1,655,000 (£9,483,972 inflated)
1982’s Rocky III took £3.1m (£15,089,157 inflated)
1987’s Rocky IV took £4,030,109 (£17,990,763 inflated).
Creed II held better than Creed due to not having any competition, Creed had The Revenant #1, Star Wars: The Force Awakens #2 and Ride Along 2 opening #3 while Creed II had no direct competition until Aquaman opening two weeks later.
735th biggest film between The LEGO Ninjago Movie and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (close to Red Dragon, Cool Runnings, Sleeping With The Enemy and Cliffhanger) and 1,250th biggest inflated between The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps and S.W.A.T. (close to Fight Club, Rocky II, Predator and Rocky V).
- 3. 65 – £1,270,409 – NE
Took £337k Friday (26.5%); £567k Saturday (44.6%); £366k Sunday (28.8%)
1,307th biggest opening between Water for Elephants and Mortal Engines (close to Highlander 2: The Quickening, The Children of Men, Ghostbusters (1984) and The Book Of Eli) and 1,915th biggest inflated between Next and A Perfect Murder (close to Masters of the Universe, The Fly II, Striking Distance and The Usual Suspects).
9th biggest 2023 opening between Babylon and Plane
198th widest opening between Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and The Paw Patrol Movie; 527th 500+ cinema opening since 2002’s LOTR: The Two Towers
Opened with 10.3% of US openings, 10% is used as a guide to estimate UK openings but few films take 10% it’s nearer 8% as was the case with Creed III while Scream VI was only 6.85% despite having two days of previews.
65 is one of several films recently that have had social media-led campaigns including Smile, M3gan and Cocaine Bear and are brainless popcorn entertainment palette cleansers against the likes of MCU.
The film is produced by Sam Raimi while is most recently known for directing Doctor Strange 2 and directing original Spider-Man trilogy his roots were in genre cinema with Evil Dead (1987’s Evil Dead II opened £142,757 taking £1,180,250 and £4,435,544 inflated); The Darkman (opened £219,752), A Simple Plan (£139,087), The Gift and Drag Me To Hell and produced many other for Ghost House Pictures including 2004’s The Grudge (opened £2,261,710); 2005’s Boogeyman (£788,439); 2007’s 30 Day of Night (£1,532,976); 2012’s The Possession (£979,192); 2013’s Evil Dead (£1,375,842), 2015’s Poltergeist (£1,463,014) Don’t Breathe (£1,028,938).
June 1993 saw several b-movies opening in the UK coincidentally opening when Jurassic Park was opening in the US, including Army of Darkness £161,150 from 93 screens taking £430,146; The Vanishing £290,384 from 197 screens; Matinee £23,555 from 50 screens; Fire in the Sky £186,393 from 145 screens; Boxing Helena £164,375 from 69 screens; Innocent Blood £62,881 from 119 screens; Assassin £352,964 from 255 screens; Red Rock West £58,194 from 78 screens; Three of Hearts £57,070 from 64 screens.
These films were playing against Groundhog Day, Indecent Proposal, Falling Down, Cliffhanger and Super Mario Bros.
While written by writers of 2018’s A Quiet Place (opened £2,696,892 taking £11,801,912) and starring Adam Driver so had a strong pedigree along with trailer playing with Cocaine Bear being a similar B-movie rip off of films like Planet of the Apes, Interstellar, Kong: Skull Island, but will be very front-loaded likely out of the top ten within two weeks.
- 4.Puss in Boots: The Last Wish – £902,867 – £23,223,621
Down 21.6% in the sixth weekend.
Took majority of its weekend BO on Saturday and Sunday as it wasn’t in the top 7 on Friday and as with Minions: The Rise of Gru and DC: League of Super pets still attracting cinemagoers despite being available to watch at home.
88th biggest 6th weekend between The Dark Knight and Chicken Run (close to Babe, Shrek, Monsters University and Trolls) and 169th biggest inflated 6th weekend between Look Who’s Talking and A Few Good Men (close to The Simpsons, Kung Fu Panda, Bean and Puss in Boots).
Sixth weekends
2011’s Puss in Boots dropped 25% £679,348 #9 from 482 screens taking £12,993,569 83.6% of £15,540,041
2010’s Shrek Forever After dropped 59% £362,464 #8 from 407 screens and £30,468,038 97.9% of £31,106,087;
2007’s Shrek The Third dropped 57% £312,828 #6 from 409 screens and £36,733,582 96.5% of £38,079,462 (£60,927,139 inflated)
2004’s Shrek 2 dropped 35% £633,701 #6 from 443 screens and £44,089,175 91.6% of £48,104,138 (£86,566,021 inflated)
2001’s Shrek down 1% £956,852 #5 from 452 screens (£1,777,341 inflated) taking £22,306,682 76.9% of £29,004,582 (£53,875,661 inflated)
The four Shrek films were hugely popular in the UK taking over £150m+ (£250m+ inflated)
The 40+ Dreamwork Animation films have taken £700m since 1998 and £900m+ inflation inflated.
45th biggest animated film between Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa and Shark Tale (close to Ratatouille, How to Train Your Dragon 2, The Lion King (1994) and Toy Story) and the 70th biggest inflated between The Hunchback Of Notre Dame and The Pirates! In an Adventure With Scientists (close to Beauty and the Beast (1992), Pocahontas, The Little Mermaid and Hercules)
216th biggest film between Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa and Doctor Strange (close to The Hunger Games, Ghost, Cats and Dogs and E.T) and 455th biggest inflated between Sleepless in Seattle and Cliffhanger (close to Saturday Night Fever, Lethal Weapon 2, Twins and Wayne’s World).
After last year only had a couple of major animated films, this year has several targetting different demographics next up Super Mario Bros opening in a month will do vastly more than the 1993 live-action film, along with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Elemental, Strays, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie, Wish and Migration.
- 5. Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania – £722,885 – £18,357,719
Down 49.6% in the fourth weekend
Took £128k Friday 17.7% (56.2% drop); £356k Saturday 49.2% (74% drop); £239k Sunday 33% (46% drop)
311th biggest fourth weekend between A Fish Called Wanda and Troy (close to The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge, Hancock and Batman) and 348th biggest inflated between Salazar’s Revenge and Blade Runner 2049 (close to Furious 8, Black Widow, The Little Mermaid (1990) and Iron Man 2).
24th biggest MCU fourth weekend between Blade Widow and Thor: The Dark World (close to Iron Man, Captain America: Winter Soldier, Eternals and Ant-Man).
Fourth weekends
2015’s Ant-Man dropped 50% £565,319 #6 from 457 screens and £14,422,296 88.4% of £16,309,117: #1 Fantastic Four £2,686,176
2018’s Ant-Man and the Wasp dropped 32% £794,409 #10 from 471 screens and £15,470,066 89.1% of £17,353,560: #1 Disney’s Christopher Robin £2,138,824 2nd week
Took £157,567 more than Ant-Man’s fourth weekend and £71,523 less than Ant-Man and the Wasp.
As it’s the first film from Phase 5 introducing Kang the Conqueror who will be the supervillain in Phase 5 leading into Avengers: The Kang Dynasty in 2025, before Avengers: Secret Wars starts Phase 6 in 2026.
While man will say Ant-Man 3 BO was a one-off disappointment BO for MCU Black Panther2 taking a third less than first film was similarly the case as has been the case for many of the MCU films since Captain America Civil War, while it also shows that the lower-than-expected BO for Black Widow blamed due to being released same day on Disney+ was true. The question is will audiences come back in similar numbers as they saw Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 and Captain Marvel while will they really be that excited to see reboots of Blade and Fantastic Four over the next 18 months?
The 30 MCUs have taken over £1bn at the UK BO since 2008 (£1.2bn inflated) but after steady growth solo films have plateaued since Captain America: Civil War in 2018, while Ant-Man films have been the lowest grossing of the MCU with 2015’s Ant-Man taking £16,309,117 and 2018’s Ant-Man and the Wasp taking £17,599,289.
51st biggest comic-book film between Black Widow and X-Men: Apocalypse (close to Batman Forever, X-Men: The Last Stand, Justice League and X-Men Origins: Wolverine) and 72nd biggest inflated between Thor and Ant-Man (close to Dick Tracey, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990), Blade 2 and The Hulk).
322nd biggest film between Fast Five and 22 Jump Street (close to Solo: A Star Wars Story, Transformers: Age of Extinction, Terminator 2: Judgement Day and Armageddon) and 618th biggest inflated between Paul and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (close to Die Hard 2 Die Harder, Aliens, Rocky IV and Good Morning Vietnam).
Also Opened
Champions – Universal Pictures
£376,816 #8 from 455 screens
Despite receiving positive audience response, it was always likely to be DOA,
Directed by Bobby Farrelly best known for co-directing comedies including 1998’s There’s Something About Mary (£2,076,411), 1995’s Dumb and Dumber (£1,500,892), 1996’s Kingpin (£515,159), 2000’s Me, Myself & Irene (£1,292,512), 2002’s Shallow Hal (£1,277,183), 2007’s The Heartbreak Kid (£1,236,288) and 2014’s Dumb and Dumber Too (£1,807,059) with his brother.
UK box office in detail
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £10,426,413 down 4.2% from last weekend’s £10,888,283: 1,355,840 admissions down 4.2% from 1,415,902.
547th biggest top 10 of the last 21 years (out of 1,093) between 12 July 2013 #1 Monsters University £3,463,917 (33.2% of top 10) and 12 January 2007 #1 The Pursuit of Happyness £2,527,181 (24.2% of top 10) and 852nd biggest inflation inflated between 02 September 2005 #1 The 40-Year-Old Virgin £1,757,540 (28.9% of top 10) and 01 September 2006 #1 You, Me and Depree £1,165,610 (18.6% of top 10).
The top 3 took £7,020,311 67.3% the top 10; Scream VI 29.2% (£3,043,922); Creed III 26% (£2,705,980); 65 12.6% (£1,270,409);
29.2% of the top 10 688th highest percentage #1 between 25 October 2013 Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (29.2%) and 28 August 2015 Straight Outta Compton (29.1%).
767th biggest admissions #1 (395,829) between 13 January 2006 Jarhead (395,891) and 16 April 2004 Scooby-Doo Too (394,684).
Down 11.1% from 2022 (£11,727,453); BTS Permission To Dance On Stage – Seoul: Live Viewing (£899,127); Red Rocket (£74,709); Mario Puzo’s The Godfather, Coda: The Death Of Michael Corleone (Re: 2022) (£22,184); #1 The Batman £7,406,390 2nd week 715 screens 45% drop (63.1% of top 10)
2021; Lockdown
Up 12.7% from 2020 (£9,249,289); The Invisible Man (£2,163,798); Dark Waters (£860,942); Portrait Of A Lady On Fire (£229,678); Agrippina – Met Opera 2020 (£216,109); Downhill (£188,720); True History Of The Kelly Gang (£85,847); #1 The Invisible Man £2,163,798 1st week 580 screens (23.4% of top 10)
Down 39.5% from 2019; (£17,220,357); Captain Marvel (£12,750,000); The Sleeping Beauty – Bolshoi Ballet 2019 (£176,849); Everybody Knows (£118,080); Miss Bala (£18,832); #1 Captain Marvel £12,750,000 1st week 655 screens (74.1% of top 10)
Up 8.4% from 2018: (£9,614,433); You Were Never Really Here (£288,344); Gringo (£215,029); Walk Like a Panther (£91,333); Wonder Wheel (£42,976); #1 Black Panther £2,931,682 4th week 585screens 22% drop (30.5% of top 10)
Down 24.3% from 2017: (£13,776,935); Kong: Skull Island (£6,230,997); La Traviata – Met Opera 2017 (Opera) (£323,284); Elle (£253,619); The Love Witch (£14,244); #1 Kong: Skull Island £6,230,997 1st week 567 screens (45.2% of top 10)
Down 13.2% from 2016; (£12,014,397); Kung Fu Panda 3 (£4,771,131); The Divergent Series: Allegiant (£1,838,019); The Witch (£447,626); Anomalisa (£223,387); The Ones Below (£6,971); #1 Kung Fu Panda 3 £4,771,131 1st week 583 screens (39.7% of top 10)
Up 26.2% from 2015 (£8,258,448); Chappie (£1,015,058); Still Alice (£401,565); Unfinished Business (£394,177); It Follows (£229,927); Romeo & Juliet – Bolshoi 2013 (£189,674); Kill The Messenger (£57,666); #1 The Second-Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (£1,957,256); 2nd week down 48%
Up 1.4% from 2014: (£10,284,056); 300: Rise of an Empire (£2,761,612); The Grand Budapest Hotel (£1,532,239); Escape from Planet Earth (£395,392); #1 300: Rise of an Empire (£2,761,612) 1st week
Up 23.5% from 2013 (£8,440,254); Oz: The Great and Powerful (£3,712,948); Side Effects (£904,746); Parker (£568,777); Guilt Trip (£432,068); Robot & Frank (£106,346); Broken (£68,423); Fire with Fire (£19,201); The Princess Bride (Re) (£11,273); #1 Oz: The Great and Powerful £3,712,948 1st week 530 screens (44% of top 10)
Up 21.8% from 2012 (£8,558,124); John Carter (£1,960,414); The Raven (£299,254); Bel Ami (£296,341); Cleanskin (£27,405); #1 John Carter £1,960,414 1st week 456 screens (22.9% of top 10)
Up 22.1% from 2011 (£8,539,922); Battle: Los Angeles (£1,792,913); Hall Pass (£900,936); Fair Game (£304,297); The Resident (£139,088); The Company Men (£36,785); #1 Battle: Los Angeles £1,792,913 1st week 420 screens (21% of top 10)
Down 26.3% from 2010: (£14,154,973); Shutter Island (£2,250,178); Green Zone (£2,087,368); Hachi: A Dog’s Tale (£442,753); The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (£378,434); #1 Alice in Wonderland £7,343,506 2nd week 533 screens (51.9% of top 10)
Up 5.8% from 2009; (£9,854,831); Marley & Me (£4,414,169); Bronson (£258,360); The Burning Plain (£4,038); #1 Marley & Me £4,414,169 £4,414,169 1st week 467 screens (44.8% of top 10)
Up 59.2% from 2008; (£6,550,070); Vantage Point (£1,454,636); The Other Boleyn Girl (£954,994); The Game Plan (£767,143); In Bruges (£343,760); Diary of the Dead (£201,571); #1 Vantage Point £1,454,636 1st week 350 screens (22.2% of top 10)
Up 48.3% from 2007: (£7,028,900); Norbit (£1,962,913); Becoming Jane (£649,323); Outlaw (£582,434); #1 Norbit (£1,962,913) 1st week.
Up 80.9% from 2006; (£5,762,109); The Hills Have Eyes (£1,126,575); The Proposition (£205,594); Two for the Money (£165,003); #1 The Hills Have Eyes £1,126,575 1st week 331 screens (19.5% of top 10)
Up 52.5% from 2005 (£6,835,834); Hitch (expansion) (£4,230,857); Hostage (£807,171); The Chorus (£132,636); #1 Hitch £4,230,857 2nd week 1st #1 7,894% increase 448 screens (61.9% of top 10)
Up 88% from 2004 (£5,547,158); Mona Lisa Smile (£1,190,923); Honey (£1,064,398); Starsky & Hutch (limited) (£412,326); The Passion of the Christ (limited) (£229,426); #1 Mona Lisa Smile £1,190,923 1st week 414 screens (21.5% of top 10)
Up 34.9% from 2003 (£7,726,649); Maid In Manhattan (£2,424,584); Far from Heaven (£452,369); #1 Maid In Manhattan £2,424,584 1st week 422 screens (31.4% of top 10)
Up 44.8% from 2002 (£7,202,296); We Were Soldiers (E757,760); Hearts in Atlantis (£110,793); #1 Ocean’s Eleven £1,850,350 3-week #1 split 4th week 437 screens 29% drop (25.6% of top 10)
Next weekend 2022 (£6,823,697); Jujutsu Kaisen 0 (£825,529); The Nan Movie (£565,340); The Phantom of the Open (£456,829); X (£227,502); #1 The Batman £3,351,288 third weekend 55% drop 703 screens (49.1% of top 10)
US Box Office
- Scream VI – Paramount Pictures
Opened $44.44m; received positive reviews (76% Rotten Tomatoes) and B+ CinemaScore
Took $5.7m from Thursday midnights; 2022’s Scream $3.5m 2011’s Scream 4 $1m
While A Quiet Place Part II $4.9m (10.3% of $47.54m opening); Halloween Kills (9.9% of $49.4m); Candyman $1.9m (8.6% of $22m); Glass $3.7m (9.2% of $40.3m)
2022’s Scream (76%) B+; 2011’s Scream 4 (60%) B-; 2000’s Scream 3 (41%) B; 1997’s Scream 2 (82%) B+ and 1996’s Scream (80%).
323rd biggest opening between xXx and Nope (close to Mad Max: Fury Road, The Meg, Uncharted and Lucy).
PLF took 25% compared to 24% for 2022’s Scream with the addition of 22% of BO from 3D.
The audience breakdown was 50/50 male-female with 63% 18-34 and 41% 18-24 which is surprising as they weren’t alive when the original trilogy was released but this was similar to Creed III so likely to be front-loaded.
1996’s Scream opened with $6.35m taking $103.04m and $173.04m worldwide (after opening #4 behind Beavis and Butt-Head America, Jerry Maguire and 101 Dalmatians had a very strong word of mouth and held very strongly staying in the top 10 for 9 weeks)
1997’s Scream 2 opened $32.92m taking $101.36m and $172.36m WW
2000s Scream 3 opened $34.71m taking $89.14m and $161.83m WW.
2011’s Scream 4 opened #2 (behind Rio $39.22m) with $18.69m taking $38.18m and $97.23m WW
2022’s Scream opened $30.01m #1 taking $81.64m and $137.74m WW
EntTelligence reported 2.4m watched Scream over 3 days ($12.75 average), with 1m on opening day and 250K from Thursday night previews; it opened in 3,326 cinemas with 85,504 screenings 9% PLF (7,548) no IMAX
Scream opened internationally $18m from 50 territories; UK $3.4m; France $1.8m; Australia $1.5m; Russia $1.3m; Germany $1.1m; Mexico $1.1m.
Opened with $22.6m internationally from 53 territories; UK $3.6m; France $3.5m; Australia $2m; Mexico $2m; Brazil $1.8m.
- Creed III – MGM
Dropped 53% in the second weekend $27.25m taking $101.43m
250th biggest second weekend between Elf and The Perfect Storm (close to Planet of the Apes, Black Adam, Dunkirk and Gone Girl).
761st biggest film between Eagle Eye and The Prince of Egypt; 1,380th biggest inflated between The Rocketeer and Poltergeist II: The Other Side.
2015’s Creed dropped 49.4% by $14.98m and $64.58m of $109.76m and $173.56m worldwide
2018’s Creed II dropped 53.2% by $16.63m and $80.97m of $115.71m and $214.21m worldwide
The 8 Rocky films have taken almost $900m in the US and $1.7bn worldwide but as of course the first Rocky film opened almost 50 years ago, Rocky’s $225m worldwide BO would be $2.1bn worldwide.
The problem is the industry gets caught up with its hype over the film’s opening weekend, but the key weekend is its second and third, which could see Creed III dropping heavily against Scream VI and Shazam! Fury of the Gods as 66% of its opening audience was under 35, as Creed II dropped 53.2% in the second weekend and 40% in the third without any competition.
Creed III will lose IMAX/PLF and 4DX screens to Shazam! Fury of the Gods. The industry needs to slow down its response to how films open if a film is playing so heavily to those under 35s this is the audience who rushes to see these films over opening weekend and then quickly moves on to the next one opening the following weekend.
Took $24m (down 43%) internationally from 75 territories $78m total (110% more than Creed and 35% more than Creed II) and $179.4m worldwide; France $12.4m; UK $11.3m; Germany $7.9m; Italy $5.9m; Mexico $5.9m.
Took $17m globally from IMAX.
- Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania – Disney
Dropped 44% in the fourth weekend, taking $7.13m and $198.11m.
610th biggest fourth weekend between Planet of the Apes and Vanilla Sky (close to The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Tower Heist, Ghostbusters: Afterlife and The Last Boy Scout).
29th biggest MCU fourth weekend between Captain America: The First Avenger ($7.21m) and Black Widow Ant-Man ($6.47m) close to Eternals, Ant-Man and The Incredible Hulk).
231st biggest film between Monsters vs. Aliens and Happy Feet; 506th biggest inflated between Knocked Up and Hercules; 52nd biggest comic-book film between Superman Returns and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014); 69th biggest Disney film between Pearl Harbor and Toy Story.
Fourth weekends
2015’s Ant-Man dropped 38.2% taking $7.91m and $147.52m of $180.2m and $519.31m worldwide.
2018’s Ant-Man and the Wasp dropped 46.9% taking $8.76m and $183.49m of $216.64m and $622.67m worldwide.
Took $9.8m (56% drop) from 52 territories $249.6m total and $447.6m worldwide; China $39m; UK $22.1m; Mexico $17.4m; France $12.6m; Korea $12.5m.
283rd biggest worldwide between Tarzan and The Secret Life of Pets 2; 51st biggest comic-book film worldwide between Thor and Shang-Chi; 71st biggest Disney film between Tarzan and Beauty and the Beast (1991).
- Champions – Focus Features
Opened $5.14m; received mixed reviews (52% Rotten Tomatoes) and A CinemaScore
It’s the first film directed by Bobby Farrelly since 2014’s Dumb and Dumber To.
Audience reaction has been positive the problem it struggled to find an audience and will struggle to hold onto the screens as it will be released on PVOD in 10 days.
Opened with $827k internationally.
- 65 – Sony Pictures
Opened $12.32m, received poor reviews (36% Rotten Tomatoes) and C+ CinemaScope.
The film was dated March 10th but was then in December was delayed a week to avoid opening against Scream VI but then in February its release date was returned to March 10th. The film’s release date had changed five times from May 13, 2022, to April 29, 2022, to April 14, 2023, to April 28, 2023, and then March 10th, March 17th and then March 10th.
65 is one of several films they have shuffled release dates several times recently including Kraven the Hunter and Madame Web. Post-COVID with release schedules back to normal the shuffling of release dates often shows the studio doesn’t have much faith in the film and looking for a date where it can hide behind other films.
Took $7.2m from 32 territories and $8.5m total; UK $1.5m biggest territory.
UK Box Office Top 10
UK Box Office Preview
Buzz has been soft for Shazam! Fury Of The Gods despite having a world premiere in London last week, with early tracking in the US with $35m-$40m lower than the first film. The premiere reaction was positive but as always have to take that with a pinch of salt, but they do highlight the same issue that all DC films have had since 2013’s Man of Steel that the ending had far too much CGI. Since Man of Steel DC has tried to build a similarly extended universe as MCU but they have struggled both critically and at the BO, but at least they are trying different things with films like Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman, Shazam!, Joker and Birds of Prey while MCU is similar to how was in 2016. DC keeps changing which saw James Gunn join DC Studios announcing a new slate in January, whilst he is editing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3.
Shazam! in April 2019 received positive reviews opening three weeks before Avengers Endgame with £4,067,068 from 599 screens taking £12,873,300, this time around is sandwiched between Scream VI and John Wick Chapter Four.
Shazam! Fury Of The Gods is the first of four DC films set for release this year The Flash, Blue Beetle and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will open over the next 9 months.
Shazam! Fury Of The Gods will likely open similarly to Shazam! attracting the same audience who saw Creed III and Scream VI over the opening weekend and boosted by having IMAX and PLF screens. But as with Creed III and Scream VI will likely drop 50% in its second weekend against John Wick Chapter Four.
Scream VI will be double punched in its second weekend due to the opening being inflated with previews and Shazam! Fury Of The Gods targetting the same audience dropping 60% taking £1.1m-£1.3m (similar to 2022’s Scream second weekend £1,251,812 and 1998’s Scream 2 £1,213,184).
Creed III will also see a 50%+ third-weekend drop, taking a similar BO to Scream VI and 65 will also have a big second-weekend drop.
Allelujah based on Alan Bennett’s play will likely attract the similar grey pound as his other adaptions have done including 2015’s The Lady in the Van (opened £2,256,121 taking £12,660,028); 2006’s History Boys (£794,672 taking £4,024,741) and 1995’s The Madness Of King George (£308,417 13 screens taking £4,531,966). Like similar films, it will likely perform as strongly during the week as at the weekend.
Richard Eyre previously directed 2001’s Iris (opened £378,749 #6 from 84 screens taking £3,647,197) 2004’s Stage Beauty (opened £128,035 #11 from 177 screens taking £470,208) 2006’s Notes on a Scandal (opened £1,141,364 #4 from 300 screens taking £5,665,431) and 2017’s The Children Act (opened £517,378 #11 from 148 screens taking £2,875,350).
Rye Lane has received positive reviews with comparisons to Richard Curtis London-based rom-coms but the question is whether it will be able to find an audience as 2021’s Boxing Day was similarly compared to Richard Curtis and opened with £265,263 #7 from 441 screens taking £646,598.
The horror prequel Pearl to X opens in the UK 6 months after the US, as X opened with £227,502 #12 from 480 screens taking £485,800 the sequel had a small audience. The long gaps between US and UK were the norm in the 80s and 90s (with films like 1987’s Good Morning Vietnam opening 9 months after the US release in September 1988, while Warner opened the first John Wick film over 6 months after its US release in the UK opening April 2015.
X was released in the UK the week after the US by Entertainment Films but Pearl was released by Universal Pictures.
Despite three new releases Puss in Boots: The Last Wish could still stay in the top 5 for its 7th weekend as it gets close to taking £25m, as preview weeks it’s taking about 90% of its BO from Sat/Sun.
Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania will drop another 50% in its 5th weekend as it stumbles its way to £20m.
Scream VI opens on Thursday with double bill previews on Wednesday, it’s expected to open between $35m-$40m in the US. 2022’s Scream UK opening of £2.46m was 8.2% of US ($30m) but it didn’t have previews and Scream VI will likely add £700k from previews which should see it opening closer to 10%. This should see Scream VI open with £3m+ which should see it open #1 ahead of Creed III’s second weekend.
As the audience for Scream VI is similar to Creed III will likely have a bigger drop than the previous two films, about 50% taking £2.3m-£2.6m
As Creed II held better than Creed due to not having any competition, Creed had The Revenant #1, Star Wars: The Force Awakens #2 and Ride Along 2 opening #3 while Creed II had no direct competition until Aquaman opened two weeks later.
Opening in two weeks
- Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves – eOne
Fantasy action-adventure based on the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons starring Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis and Hugh Grant and directed by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley.
The film has been in development at several studios since 2013 Warner Bros, and Universal Pictures before moving to eOne and Paramount Pictures.
Premiered at South by Southwest receiving positive reviews.
John Francis Daley said the film’s influences included The Princess Bride, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, The Lord of the Rings, Willow and Indiana Jones. Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley previously directed 2018’s Game Night and 2015 Vacation and also wrote screenplays for Horrible Bosses, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 and Spider-Man: Homecoming, the trailers for Dungeons & Dragons feels tonally similar to them, which could make the film accessible to non-fans.
While the game has a loyal fanbase the question is whether it will attract a wider audience as the last adaption of Dungeons and Dragons took only $15.4m in the US and $34m worldwide in 2000 and opened with £366,840 in the UK taking £1,425,131.
It’s the fifth film over five weeks targeting males after Creed III, Scream VI, and Shazam! Fury of the Gods and John Wick: Chapter 4 are all likely to attract a similar audience.
It has immediate competition from The Super Mario Bros. Movie opening 5 days later.
Similar films have had mixed success at the box office including 2006’s Eragon, 1996’s Dragonheart, 2014’s Seventh Son, 2010’s Clash of the Titans, 1999’s The Mummy, 1988’s Willow, 1987’s Masters of the Universe, 2016’s Warcraft, 2002’s Reign of Fire, 1986’s Labyrinth, 1987’s The Princess Bride, 1986’s Highlander, 2007’s Beowulf and the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
- Mummies – Warner Bros
Animated comedy featuring voices of Joe Thomas, Eleanor Tomlinson, Celia Imrie, Hugh Bonneville and Sean Bean and directed by Juan Jesús García Galocha.
Mummies took $3.9m internationally from 56 territories and $33.7m total