- Tenet – £623,170 – £14,968,818
Down 18.6% in its fifth weekend; the first film since Joker to hold for 5 weeks but taking 74.5% less £2,446,200; previous films #1 for 5 weeks 2001’s Bridget Jones’s Diary and Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone all 5 weeks and next week it will become the first film since Avatar in 2010 to be #1 for 6 weeks along with 1995’s Star Trek Generations, 1999’s A Bugs Life and 1999’s The World’s Not Enough; Tenet did drop down to #2 with David Attenborough’s A Life On Our Planet #1 on Monday.
With Connected, Death on the Nile and Black Widow delayed Tenet will be #1 until No Time To Die to be the second-longest #1 after 1998’s Titanic the longest ever #1 with 13 consecutive weekends; 2000’s Toy Story 2 and Gladiator 7 weeks.
2D took £565,338 (90.7%) total £13,287,035 (88.7%); IMAX took £57,832 (9.3%) total £1,681,783 (11.3%).
Lowest #1 since June 9th, 2000 the 6th weekend of Gladiator taking £613,491 and £22,753,751 but has been about 100% ticket inflation since and 1998’s City of Angels (June) £674,705 (2nd weekend); (previous lowest was 1999’s The World is Not Enough £336,718 5th weekend (short Christmas Day weekend December 24th-26th); 1999’s Force of Nature took £493,897 (2nd weekend May 1999);
taking £25,347 more than Sunday estimate (£623,170) which was a similar increase to last weekend, most other films in the top 10 are a couple of thousand difference, whenever I see such a difference between amounts wonder if the distributor was holding back box office. Would have expected After We Collided to have a much stronger fourth weekend after expanding into almost 500 screens and the two films box office being much closer.
When film box office is close between two films one distributor always seems to find a little bit more when final figures are released, and Warner are normally awfully close with their estimates to finals while Disney often underestimates and see a much bigger bump when final figures are released.
Dunkirk #1 for 4 weeks; Interstellar #1 for 2 weeks; The Dark Knight Rises #1 for 2 weeks; Inception #1 for 1 week; The Dark Knight #1 for 2 weeks (returned #1 in 5th week); Batman Begins #1 for 2 weeks; Insomnia #1 for 1 week
After holding similar to Blade Runner 2049 over the first four weeks Tenet is holding better in its fifth weekend as Murder on the Orient Express opened in its fifth weekend taking £4,985,600 which saw Blade Runner drop to 8th taking £347,024 46% less, Blade Runner 2049 also had to contend with the second weekend of Thor Ragnarok (£4,617, 180) Jigsaw and The Death of Stalin.
Blade Runner 2049 opened with £6,071,625 14% more than Tenet (£5,335,654); while taking much more than Tenet in its second (£3,098,872 Vs £2,151,490) and third (£1,791,027 Vs £1,233,090) weekends in their fourth their box office was remarkably similar as both films despite their hype weren’t able to play beyond their fanbase. While Tenet will have longer legs this is only due to a lack of competition.
5th weekend
The Dark Knight #4 dropped 37% in 440 screens; #1 Hellboy 2: The Golden Army £2,969,602; (6 films took more than Tenet Hellboy 2: The Golden Army (£2,969,602); Mamma Mia! (£1,837,577); Get Smart (£1,542,005); The Dark Knight (£1,454,847); You Don’t Mess with the Zohan (£781,953); The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (£641,421)
Inception #2 dropping 26% in 472 screens; #1 Toy Story 3 £3,162,944 (8 films took more than Tenet, The Last Airbender (£1,653,776); Knight & Day (£1,529,478); The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (£1,140,532); Step Up 3 (£1,078,100); Karate Kid (£764,748); The A-Team (£762,570)
The Dark Knight Rises #5 31% drop in 440 screens; #1 Brave £5,269,402 (5 films took more than Tenet, Brave (£5,269,402); The Bourne Legacy (£4,620,289); Ted (£2,076,046); The Expendables 2 (£1,985,082) and The Dark Knight Rises (£1,506,178)
Interstellar #6 dropping 47% in 348 screens (5 films took more than Tenet, Paddington (£3,837,885); The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 (£2,249,045); Penguins of Madagascar (£1,575,949); The Imitation Game (£874,620); Horrible Bosses 2 (£642,627).
Dunkirk #2 dropped 27% in 647 screens (6 films took more than Tenet, The Hitman’s Bodyguard (£1,982,951); Dunkirk (£1,938,125); Annabelle: Creation (£1,193,210); The Emoji Movie (£1,028,182); The Dark Tower (£910,529); Despicable Me 3 (£633,634).
Took +86.8% Blade Runner 2049 (£347,024); and +22.4% Parasite (£529,550); +9.78% The Martian (£590,743).
-8.6% Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith (£709,777); -28% Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (£901,078); -40.67% Gravity (£1,092,998); -64.4% A Star Is Born (£1,821,004); -65.5% Black Panther (£1,881,691); 68.2% The Greatest Showman (£2,042,450); -70.7% Bohemian Rhapsody (£2,211,454); -72.7% 1917; 73.3% The King’s Speech (£2,739,204); -73.5% Joker (£2,446,199); -79.3% Star Wars: The Force Awakens (£3,137,258); -88.3% Avatar (£5,527,039).
Had the 6th biggest 5th weekend of 2020 after 1917 (£2,271,528); Jumanji: The Next Level (£1,691,901); Little Women (£1,004,904); Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (£901,078); Bad Boys For Life (£842,039) but ahead of The Gentlemen (£597,494; Parasite (£529,550); Sonic The Hedgehog (£397,171);); Dolittle (£362,693);
In normal circumstance would expected Tenet to take similar to 1917 and Joker in its 5th weekend taking about £3m+ Tenet has taken at least 50% less than most people would have expected it to take at the start of the year after 5 weeks.
398th biggest film in the UK between Twister and Oz: The Great and Powerful (close to Catch Me If You Can, Mission: Impossible III, Superman Returns and World War Z) and 590th biggest inflation inflated between The Polar Express and Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie (close to The X- Files, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Patriot Games and Scream).
63rd biggest Warner Bros opening between The Meg and Superman Returns (close to Ready Player One, Batman Begins, The Great Gatsby and The Fugitive) 88th biggest inflation inflated between The Polar Express and the Perfect Storm (close to Kong: Skull Island, Mad Max: Fury Road, Sweeney Todd and A.I.).
27th biggest sci-fi film in the UK between Star Trek Beyond and World War Z (close to Ready Player One, I, Robot, Alien: Covenant and Passengers) and 38th biggest inflation inflated between Star Trek Beyond and Alien3 (close to Blade Runner 2049, World War Z, Alien Resurrection and The Fifth Element).
Tenet second weekend took +755.12% Memento; +182.41% Insomnia; +53.50% Batman Begins; 6.26% Interstellar
But less than; -66.54% Dunkirk; -61.42% Inception; -56.94% The Dark Knight Rises; -55.42% The Dark Knight;
Tenet is holding similar to Batman Begins which took £13,871,254 after 25 days compared with Tenet taking 0.6% more £13,879,635 (85.7%) after 26 days went on to take £16,179,376, which would be over 50% less than Inception (£34,976,999) which is what most people expected from Tenet at the start of the year.
Tenet was comparable to Blade Runner 2049 as both films were critical darlings but regularly cinemagoers would see Tenet as pretentious style over substance film, while positive reviews often help films find their audience as soon as critics called Tenet the film for Nolan fans this probably turned off many.
Blade Runner 2049 took £18,820,009 and Tenet is likely to take similar, which is less than half what most people expected it to take and could have taken if delayed, As like other Christopher Nolan films that critics said were for Nolan fans they managed to play beyond because non-fans saw trailers before other films.
Tenet is the 5th biggest film of the year after 1917, Sonic the Hedgehog, Bad Boys For Life and overtaking Parasite and becoming Warner Bros biggest film of the year; at the start of the year most people would have expected Tenet to take £40m+ and be one of the biggest films of the year but now it’s unlikely to take over £18m.
Showing Tenet was never going to be the saviour of cinema that the industry believing it would the only Christopher Nolan film other than Tenet to be #1 for four weeks was Dunkirk. All other Christopher Nolan films opened in crowded marketplaces and that helped them attract a wide audience.
Tenet was meant to open July 16th against Top Gun: Maverick a week after Ghostbusters, two weeks after Minions: The Rise of Gru and a week before Jungle Cruise, which would have likely seen it open #1 but as with Inception be replaced from #1 by Jungle Cruise as inception was with Toy Story 3.
While Christopher Nolan might believe he is the saviour of cinema, but his films aren’t big or strong enough to do it on their own, the only film that was Dunkirk as it played to all demographics, Nolanites came, younger audiences Harry Styles and older audience because of the subject matter. Tenet was front and centre a Christopher Nolan film as people weren’t going to come because of John David Washington and Robert Pattinson unlike they did with Inception due to Leonardo DiCaprio.
It’s the failure of cinema industry to get people to feel safe going back to the cinema, exhibitors just thought all they had to do was reopen and people will come but mixed messages of mandatory masks and then mask removed in auditoriums has made the majority feel uncomfortable. Releasing Tenet now without any support has done more damage than good as Tenet wasn’t strong enough to be the saviour Nolan believed it was so rival studios weren’t willing to keep their films opening close to it so next 8 weeks will be incredibly soft and see cinemas closing again
Rather than blaming studios delaying films exhibitors need to take responsibility as didn’t get the message out as soon as cinemas shut in March UKCA and FDA should have planned relaunch cinema marketing campaign similar to 1985’s British Film Year and 1996’s National Cinema Day. The fault must lie on UKCA, NATO and UNIC who were in denial of Coronavirus before lockdown (6th March ‘not seeing any discernible impact in terms of cinema admissions’) and their reopening plan was Christopher Nolan will do it on his own and they didn’t need to do anything else
The trade bodies should have seen what happened in China closing cinemas days before the most lucrative time of the year and planned for worst-case scenario after spread across Asia, but it was ‘we are waiting on governmental guidance’ guidance from this incompetent government? In late February cinemas across Europe brought in seat separation and other safety policies but only Omniplex Cinemas launched them in the UK on March 10th.
The problem was UK cinemas were having an extraordinarily strong start of the year in January/February with industry ignoring what was happening in China and other countries who closed cinemas down.
While the reopening of cinemas on July 4th was geared to major exhibitors while most independent cinemas would take months longer to be able to reopen and some only managed to do so after receiving grants from the BFI. While there has been nervousness for the majority to return to major exhibitors people have been far happier to return to independent cinemas as they have implemented far stricter safety measures
Despite exhibitors belief, Tenet was never going to be strong enough film on its own as all of Christopher Nolan’s films have had been successful in part due to similar-sized films opening between them. Originally Tenet was going to open in the UK the same weekend as Top Gun: Maverick and week after Ghostbusters and week before Jungle Cruise and those films would have hugely benefited Tenet. The problem Tenet also had was critics saying it was a film for Nolan fans this was similar to Blade Runner 2049 when critics compared it to the original so mainstream audiences would see it similarly as pretentious.
The issue is how the cinema industry is going to get people back into cinemas as campaigns like #LoveCinema and #ThisIsOurCinema are a waste of time as won’t bring back the nervous majority.
As these campaigns just target the minority that has returned, cinema reopening has been a massive failure by UK Cinema Association and NATO, and they have poorly handled it from February always being reactive, not proactive putting all their faith into Nolan to be their saviour.
Cinema industry had a once in a lifetime chance to relaunch cinema to the world China has seen attendance almost return to normal after two months, but the US and UK won’t get back to pre-lockdown levels before 2022 due to their bull in a china shop rush to reopen far too soon.
UKCA waited for governmental guidance before doing anything in March by that time it was far too late and then rushed on the July 4th reopening date which was far too soon as all the research (even their own) said the majority wouldn’t return for up to 6 months. While exhibitors hurl abuse at Universal and Disney for releasing films directly to PVOD their anger should be against their leaders who have poorly managed the pandemic from the start, but if you dare criticise UKCA your excommunicated told you don’t know what you’re talking about.
Cineworld reported $1.6bn loss last week cinema industry will blame it on Coronavirus, but they and AMC were in trouble long before as both overstretched themselves trying to be the world’s #1 as before 2018 Cineworld were one of the best performing exhibitors as they didn’t have US cinemas. Everything changed for Cineworld when announced they were acquiring Regal Theatres in 2018 and Cineplex Theatres in 2019. Earlier this year they cancelled their purchase of Cineplex, when it was announced there were fears over Cineworld overstretching themselves with extremely high levels of debt currently $8bn. Rather going West with their acquisitions Cineworld and AMC should have gone East where there is still a lot of growth in the market.
After Tenet underperformed it was predictable that rival studios would delay all their films opening in September to November. The week after Tenet opened in the US Warner delayed Wonder Woman 1984 from October to Christmas Day, saying that Tenet needed a longer playing time, but when it does eventually open in New York and Los Angeles which is still unknown at the present time it’s unlikely to see the dramatic rise that it needs to have, while Warner Canada last week set a mid-December video release date.
The following week Universal delayed Candyman and Sony delayed Connected and last week Disney delayed many films including Death On the Nile from October to December and Black Widow from November to May next year. Disney did surprise many to keep Soul in November but that is sure because of Universal presumptuously bringing forward Croods 2 to Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving weekend has been historically Disney’s. The last time Disney didn’t release a film over thanksgiving weekend was 2014 with The Hunger Games: Mockingjay: Part 1.
This now leaves No Time To Die as the next canary in the coalmine in 8 weeks, while other studios can possibly take the gamble of opening a major film now James Bond is so important to MGM if it underperforms all of their current plans to rebuild the studio again could fall apart as while MGM might have one of the biggest libraries its Bond they depend on? The problem MGM/Universal have now is if they delay No Time To Die to next year they won’t get an as strong release date.
It was always expected cinephiles and Nolanites would be the only ones willing to go to the cinema to see Tenet as it was never going to be strong enough to be the saviour of cinema alone as all of Nolan’s other films have had support.
Unlike Asia, the reopening of cinemas has been poorly handled in the UK and the US with exhibitors behaving like a bull in a china shop despite all the research telling them it could be 6 months or more for before the majority return and cinemas should be for the many, not the few.
There doesn’t seem to have been any planning as soon as China closed cinemas in January before their most lucrative time of the year the rest of the world should have been concerned but it was business as normal until mid-March. 6th March ‘not seeing any discernible impact in terms of cinema admissions’ despite Pixar having the worst opening that weekend in the UK for Onward.
Safety measures should have been put in place at the start of March at that time cinemas in other countries were splitting customers, but exhibitors didn’t want to spook their customers even though they were the same one’s buying trolley loads of toilet paper and pasta.
Warner Bros. international distribution head Andrew Cripps defending the box office performance of Tenet saying “It’s a 30-day opening, not a 3-day opening” this would make sense had Tenet not been playing on so many screens in the UK opened in 600+ cinemas but 3,100+ screens having 60,000+ screenings over it’s opening 5 days this is expected for front-loaded Avengers or Star Wars, not for a film they want to have long legs?
Had it not been for Christopher Nolan, Warner and Disney wouldn’t have played out $2bn+ game of chicken during summer all films would have been delayed till November and exhibitors wouldn’t have rushed open cinemas far too soon as doing so did long-term damage and won’t return to normal till 2022.
Tenet had the same issue Blade Runner 2049 had and what many fear for Dune that it was a film made solely for Nolanites and would be much too pretentious for the mainstream. As with Blade Runner 2049 reviews hurt Tenet more than benefited it as many called it a film Nolan fans would love, which alienated non-fans. As Blade Runner 2049 Tenet opened stronger internationally but won’t have the legs industry hope it will as it will struggle to play beyond its fanbase.
Cinemas reopened far too soon and should have had much tougher safety measures that were discussed by exhibitors months earlier in a Deadline article, there was talk of checkboard seating, booking online only and temperature scanners before entry and a limited concessions being sold. H
To quote the great Ian Malcolm Warner were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should release Tenet now. If Warner had any sense they would announce Tenet going PVOD in the next few weeks alongside theatrical to avoid many watching it illegally online over the next few months, given that 80% not willing to return to the cinema anytime soon a chance to see it legally.
Cinemas have been reportedly been losing £5.7m a day over the last 24 weeks and over the last four weeks have probably taken about a quarter of this. With Wonder Woman 1984 and Connected already delay from next month and Death On the Nile and Black Widow also expected to be delayed it’s unlikely the UK will see UK box office take more than £5.7m a day until November 12th when No Tie To Die opens.
A second lockdown will do even more damage to confidence in cinema which was already very low after most believed cinemas had reopened far too soon and while from March exhibitors always had Tenet as their canary in the coal mine who will be willing to be the second one after Tenet experiment failed despite what many say.
The 9 Christopher Nolan films have taken almost £258m at the UK box office (almost £300m inflation inflated).
- After We Collided – £514,020 – £2,563,372
Down 13.5% in its fourth weekend; took £16,597 more than estimates (£497,423)
After the media completely ignored After We Collided ahead of its release as it did with the first film last year it generated a lot of media coverage after its “surprise” opening four weeks ago from 42 screens. Many articles followed calling it “the surprise of the summer” and the film expanded over its following weekends.
After We Collided went from 454 screens last weekend to over 500 this weekend, had the film really bee the surprise people thought it was After We Collided should have battled closely with Tenet for #1 but instead was £125,747 between them.
While most films have underperformed since cinemas reopened 13 weeks ago the two genres of films that have performed well are children’s films (Onward, 100% Wolf, Trolls World Tour and Pinocchio) all held well over the weeks from their low starting points and pre-teen/young teen films as they are a demographic who have been happy to return to the cinema since they reopened in July.
So, when you have a film like After We Collided that has a small but strong very loyal preteen/young teen following they will go and see the film, After We Collided has probably taken the same box office it would have taken in normal circumstances, the industry has only gone completely over the top with it over the last month as it’s been the one positive that has come out of the last 13 weeks.
Over the years studios have released many films based on young adult novels, they have received strong marketing and generate strong coverage on social media but this rarely becomes bums on seats and after the first film went to Netflix might have expected that the fans would then wait to see the sequel also on Netflix, but there was a lot of disappointment from the fanbase that the original film wasn’t released in cinemas which fuelled the demand for the sequel.
It will be interesting to see what happens with the two sequels will the production company stick with Shear Entertainment or will they be looking for a higher profile independent distributor. The third and fourth films will open much wider so be much more front-loaded as most young adult films are and will, of course, be opening against far tougher competition.
Away from breakout franchises including The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Twilight and Maze Runner most other young adult films have taken similar between 2015’s Paper Towns £3.4m and 2012’s he Perks Of Being A Wallflower £2.1m
The only difference with After We Collided is that it took several weeks to get to that level as it opened in only 42 screens rather than 400+ screen. The only difference with After We Collided to these films is that it was given a 15 certificate and a 15 certificate for these films like teen horrors hurts the box office potential for them as older teens won’t be interested in these films, This forces underage audiences to either buy tickets for other films as was the case with Blue Story or get their oldest looking friend to buy tickets, as teens will always buy tickets for older category films; I saw Fatal Attraction at the Plaza Regent Street when I was 14.
After We Collided doesn’t change anything as the Anna Todd One Direction fanfiction has been compared to 50 Shades of Grey fanfiction of Twilight and described as a PG-13 rated version of 50 Shades of Grey. After the first film went straight to Netflix in the UK last July after soft box office in the US in April 2019 the sequel was off the radar of all major exhibitors and distributors as neither saw much box office potential for the film.
There is a small but very loyal fanbase for After books in the UK and they were disappointed original film didn’t get a cinema release. While most films since the reopening have underperformed After We Collided has probably done as it would have done in normal circumstances as if it’s a film people want to see they will see it no matter what’s happening.
After opening in only 42 screens performing strongly then major exhibitors bookers took notice and added 336 screens going far too wide as so often happens.
Exhibitors have had little to smile about since early March, why they see the performance of After We Collided such a surprise, but it has more to do with film booker choices and using algorithms to predict box office rather than understanding the kind of audience these films play to and understanding the market. The problem is everyone thinks they are a box office expert, but you need to understand how different films work and that fans know when films open they don’t need expensive marketing campaigns.
Maybe that’s why Warner Bros tried to shield the box office results for Tenet as much as they could as they were concerned that the same media that built up Tenet for the last 6 months as the saviour of cinema would immediately call it out a flop if daily figures were revealed. I do have some sympathy for Warner, but they did put themselves into this position as the canary in the coalmine when they didn’t need to do so, and they were right to say that its opening was unique and couldn’t be compared to any other film.
They said Tenet was a marathon, not a sprint but then book it in over 3,111 screens having as many screenings as an Avengers or Star Wars film but was never going to perform anywhere like that and in doing so made the film front-loaded. Distributors have a careful balancing act when they book the number of screens a film will play to like a film like Tenet that Warner believed had long legs should have expanded over several weeks, but of course, exhibitors wanted the film playing on as many screens as possible immediately as they believed the hype that it would be their saviour.
While with a film like After We Collided they completely ignored as the original film flopped and didn’t have a theatrical release in the UK. While it didn’t break box office records across Europe it performed well and exhibitor bookers would see there was an opportunity with the film as the 42 cinemas who originally booked the film saw. It’s unfair on those exhibitors that After We Collided went so wide and the major exhibitors who refused to book the film originally have taken away potential box office for them.
Always go back to the film Big and Josh saying he doesn’t get it, despite being told if he read the industry breakdown their success in the action figure has climbed from 27% to 45%, while industry algorisms might see this, cinemagoers don’t choose their films by algorithms, why William Goldman’s famous quote from his 1983 book Adventures in the Screen Trade still rings true today “Nobody knows anything…… Not one person in the entire motion picture field knows for a certainty what’s going to work. Every time out it’s a guess and, if you’re lucky, an educated one.”
The problem is exhibitor bookers often don’t see films with regular cinemagoers, how you see a film affects the way you respond to a film as bookers as critics would see a film like After We Collided and think it’s trash but then the films target audience and fans of the books will love t. As often happens exhibitor bookers will hate a film that plays strongly to audiences like Mamma Mia!, Avatar, The Greatest Showman as you don’t get that vibe watching it with a couple of others.
When After We Collided opened far stronger than many expected taking £256k from 42 screens three weeks ago, major exhibitors took notice and immediately booked into 336 more screens taking £442,661 up 72% from 378 last weekend. In its third weekend increased another 30% and is expected to play in over 500 screens next weekend.
The sequel After We Collided was directed by Roger Kumble best known for directing 1999’s Cruel Intentions (took £4,080,631) and The Sweetest Thing (took £2,163,344) but in the years since is best known for directed many TV series including Pretty Little Liars and Suits.
After We Collided will be released in cinemas and on VOD in the US in October; After opened in April 2019 with $6m taking $12.13m but took $57.59m internationally and $69.73m worldwide; After We Collided has taken $30m from 18 territories over the last three weeks.
- Bill & Ted Face the Music – £216,790 – £834,981
Down 54.1% in its second weekend (33.9% not including previews £320,618)
Took £4,855 (£211,935) more than estimates far smaller increase than either Tenet or After We Collided).
Even if I had weekend box office numbers for the first two films to compare it would be impossible to compare Bill & Ted Face the Music with them as 31 years later since Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure the market has changed drastically as has the audience. In 1989 when the first film was released Keanu Reeves was an unknown actor who had small roles in two vastly different films Dangerous Liaisons and Parenthood.
While Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure was released in the UK by a small independent distributor Castle Pictures, so the film only had an extremely limited theatrical release in the UK, before finding a much wider audience on video.
Bill & Teds Bogus Journey took £5,290,335 in 1992 with 1,745,985 admissions an average ticket price of £3.03 (£12,606,013 inflation inflated 140% ticket inflation since); it was surprising to see Bill & Teds Bogus Journey was the 16th biggest film of 1992; one of 7 sequels in the top 20 Lethal Weapon 3, Batman Returns, Home Alone; Lost in New York, Alien 3, Patriot Games and three remakes Hook, Cape Fear and Father of the Bride.
Top 5 in 1992; Basic Instinct £15,480,560; Hook £13,099,578; Lethal Weapon £11,878,179; Batman Returns £10,979,599; Cape Fear £10,360,215; over 125% ticket inflation since.
Often films are heralded as “the movie we need right now” but Bill & Ted Face the Music is that film as it’s 90 minutes of popcorn fun, it’s a Ronseal film as the two Jumanji films were, it does exactly what it says on the can. Bill & Ted Face the Music might be the third film of the series but unlike a Christopher Nolan film, audiences don’t need to do homework before they go to the cinema and afterwards to try to make sense of the film.
It’s just a shame that more people didn’t go to see it, but it was the kind of film that would always struggle to find an audience at this current time, especially after the film was released in cinemas and VOD three weeks earlier in the US so many people had streamed it illegally before it opened in the UK.
The film was originally due to open on August 28th the same date as the US but was delayed after Tenet was moved there, it might have helped both films had it opened against Tenet as the problem Tenet had was it needed to open against other similar sized films.
After Orion Pictures released the film in cinemas and on VOD same day Warner should have done similar I the UK especially after it’s a three-week delay, the problem, of course, is major exhibitors wouldn’t book it and would have opened in a fraction of the 550+ screens it opened in.
As The New Mutants, Bill & Ted Face the Music will remain in the top 10 far longer than it would in normal circumstances due to a lack of new content but will attract a very limited audience both films should be allowed to go to PVOD now and as seen with films like Onward and Trolls World Tour those people who want to see it in the cinema can do but people can legally watch it online. The current theatrical window should be voided until the start of next year at the earlier with films being allowed to go to PVOD within two weeks of theatrical.
- Onward – £126,355 – £7,308,920
Took £1,746 more than Sunday estimates (£124,609)
Up 48.5% in the 16th week of its cinema release 30 weeks after opening in cinemas in March is still managing to attract cinemagoers; it took 72.4% of its total box office after 2 weeks on release due to lockdown; (Toy Story 4 was 41%)
Onward has taken £2,017,234 27.6% of its total box office over the last 13 weeks since cinemas reopened on July 4th despite being available on digital download since May and on video since June; Onward goes to Disney+ this week.
Onward has remained in the top 5 for most of the last 13 weeks
Onward is the 868th biggest film in the UK between The Shape of Water and GI Joe: Retaliation (close to Open Season, My Girl, Coraline and Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween) and 1,103th biggest inflation inflated film between The Shape of Water and Epic Movie (close to Sausage Party, Corpse Bride, Team America: World Police and ParaNorman).
Onward is currently the 11th biggest film of 2020 between Emma and The Invisible Man and The and will be Disney’s second-biggest film of 2020 with their next film (not including 20th Century Studios) with Soul still set to be released in November. (probably only because Universal decided to bring forward the release date of Croods 2 a month as they expected Disney would move Soul to Disney=.
Disney has been the #1 biggest studio in the UK since 2016 but will now lose its crown this year and next to Universal Pictures (who were also #1 in 2015) as Soul is likely to take a maximum of £30m.
Currently, with only one 2020 release from Disney and 6 from Fox they are surprisingly only the 6th biggest distributor of the year so far but splitting the two would put Disney 8th showing how the Coronavirus has seen the studio put Disney+ ahead of theatrical this year.
Current biggest UK distributors of 2020 so far
eOne £47.7m; Universal Pictures £32.3m; Warner Bros £25.7m; Paramount £22.4m;
Sony Pictures £20.5m; Disney/Fox £19.3m (1 Disney and 6 Fox); Entertainment £12.5m
Curzon £12.1m; Lionsgate £11m
After Disney’s record-breaking £464.50m 37% (plus £75.10m 6% share from Fox) they could take less than £100m this year probably double next year but will probably be back to #1 in 2022 with a small film called Avatar 2 finally due to be released amongst their slate for the year.
136th biggest animation film in the UK between Shaun The Sheep Movie 2 and Dr Seuss’ The Lorax (close to Coraline, Penguins of Madagascar, Spies In Disguise and Rango).
Onward is Disney’s second-lowest grossing animated film just ahead of 2001’s Atlantis: The Lost Empire £5.9m and £9.83m inflation inflated).
23 Pixar films have taken £692m at the box office since Toy Story in 1996 and £892m inflation inflated; Soul is Pixar’s 24th release opening in November and Luca is due for release next June.
- The New Mutants – £93,253 – £1,474,117
Down 48.3% in its 4th weekend; took £1,904 more than estimates (£91,349)
After having the lowest opening for an X-Men film in the UK The New Mutants had the best fourth-weekend hold dropping only 14%, the previous smallest drop was for 2006’s X- Men Last Stand dropping (16.1%) and 2005’s Fantastic For (31%). It’s surprising that the worst X-Men films had the smallest fourth-weekend drops, while Logan in comparison dropped 56.6%, but it’s unlikely to do anything with the films but the lack of competition as is the case with The New Mutants.
With Disney delaying Black Widow to May 2021 The New Mutants is the biggest Marvel film this year, as with X-Men: Dark Phoenix last year The New Mutants doesn’t deserve the negativity that surrounded the film, while there are many things wrong with it both are still far better comic-book films that many others including many other X-Men/Marvel films including two Fantastic Four films and their sequel, X- Men Last Stand and X-Men: Apocalypse.
I do believe that had they not been delayed so long which became the story rather than the film they would have done far better, the problem was when Disney acquired the studio everyone knew there was no future for the X-Men films in their current form, while the X-Men films have many issues I do think some are far superior to the MCU as they tell different stories. It was much easier for Marvel to launch the MCU after both 20th Century Fox and Sony Pictures had launched X-Men and Spider-Man.
The New Mutants is the 21st biggest film of the year between A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood and The Lighthouse.
The 18 X-Men films have taken almost £283m at the UK box office over the last 20 years (over £334m inflation inflated);
Also released
Rocky (Re: 2020) -£10,820 from 130 screens
Rocky 2 (Re: 2020) – £4,468 from 89 screens
Rocky 3 (Re: 2020) – £2,794 from 79 screens
Rocky 4 (Re: 2020) – £996 from 49 screens
In most cinemas, the Ricky films only had one screening over the weekend
UK box office in detail
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £1,873,279 down 21.2% from last weekend (£2,378,677)
The weekend admissions 263,471 down 19.4% from last week (327,027); admissions last year this week was 1,175,669 (77.6% down)
The latest estimate for 2020 box office is £605m less than half of last year’s £1.227bn but as UK BO was only £294m after 37 weeks; if the remaining were to perform as before lockdown box office could top £550m for the year which would be the lowest box office since 1999
Gower Street Analytics predicted next year’s box office could be down up to 30% on last year levels but I believe had UK exhibitors done what Chinese exhibitor has done bringing in far stricter safety measures at the start and delayed the reopening of cinemas till early August with the right product admission levels could be up from last year.
Top 3 took £1,379,327 73.6x% of £1,873,279; Tenet 34.6% (£648,517); After We Collided 27.4% (£514,020); Bill And Ted Face The Music 11.6% (£216,790)
Down 73% from 2019: Top three took 65.4% (£6,933,258) of the top 10 (£10,591,748); Downtown Abbey 30.9% (£3,280,442); Ad Astra 21.4% (£2,265,387); It Chapter Two 13.1% (£1,387,429); 12 films opened at weekend taking (£1,470,151); Ready Or Not 64.5% (£947,958); The Goldfinch 21.8% (£320,849); remaining 10 films shared 13.6% (£201,344)
Down 74.9% from 2018: (£7,469,063); Night School (£1,596,378); The Wife (£392,635); #1 Night School £1,596,378 1st week 452 screens (21.35% of top 10)
Down 80.8% from 2017: (£9,737,689); Goodbye Christopher Robin (£781,110); Flatliners (£486,721); Home Again (£484,124); #1 Kingsman: The Golden Circle £4,187,105 2nd week 620 down 51% (42.9% of the top 10)
Down 83.9% from 2016: (£11,647,518); The Magnificent Seven (£2,132,609); The Girl with All the Gifts (£432,529); The Rolling Stones: Havana Moon (£56,666); #1 Bridget Jones’s Baby £6,453,799 2nd week 648 screens 20% drop (55.4% of the top 10)
Down 73.8% from 2015; (£7,140,352); Miss You Already (£487,247); Solace (£340,537); Captive (£52,227); Life (£38,237); 99 Homes (£38,078); McFarland (£12,773); #1 Everest £1,996,439 2nd week 1st #1 598 screens 37% drop (27.9% of top 10)
Down76.6% from 2014: (£8,023,248); Billy Elliot The Musical Live 2014 (£1,904,098); The Equalizer (£1,890,146); What We Did on our Holiday (£811,087); Maps to the Stars (£131,057); I Origins (£14,953); #1 Billy Elliot The Musical Live 2014 £1,904,098 1st week 509 screens (33% drop (26.6% of top 10)
Down 70.9% from 2013: (£6,429,080); Prisoners (£1,365,527); Blue Jasmine (£833,798); Runner (£764,886); Filth (£247,860); The Wicker Man (Re: 2013) (£14,817); Girl Most Likely (£90,810); Austenland (£12,384); #1 Prisoners £1,365,527 1st week 400 screens (21.2% of top 10)
Down 75.5% from 2012 (£7,641,350); Looper (£2,427,994); Resident Evil: Retribution (£792,265); The Campaign (£772,102); Holy Motors (£66,087); #1 Looper £2,427,994 1st week 449 screens 12% drop (31.7% of top 10)
Down 64% from 2011 (£5,198,264); Abduction (£900,782); The Phantom of the Opera (25th Anniversary Concert) (£550,955); The Debt (£417,977); Shark Night 3D (£416,770); What’s Your Number? (£320,331); Melancholia (£132,437); Red State (£105,753); #1 Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy £1,064,901 3rd week 465 screens 49% drop (20.4% of top 10)
Down 71.7% from 2010: (£6,612,218); Eat Pray Love (£1,165,234); The Town (£1,005,039); 3-D The Hole (£906,722); #1 The Other Guys £1,292,144 2nd week 444 screens 35% drop (19.5% of top 10)
Down 73.3% from 2009; (£7,010,262); Fame (£2,408,242); Surrogates (£961,271); The Soloist (£373,151); Creation (£199,477); The Crimson Wing (£746);#1 Fame £2,408,242 1st week 459 screens (34.3% of top 10)
Down 70.3% from 2008; (£6,302,076); Taken (£1,165,986); Righteous Kill (£768,803); Death Race (£683,038); I’ve Loved You So Long (£116,990); Appaloosa (£90,673); Redbelt (£10,303); #1 Tropic Thunder £1,345,392 2nd week 461 screens 46% drop (21.3% of top 10)
Down 69.8% from 2007: (£6,203,477); Halloween (£620,844); Michael Clayton (£601,196); The Brave One (£497,838); Mr Woodcock (£483,017); War (£207,091); Mrs Ratcliffe’s Revolution (£15,600); Hot Rod (£44,241); Across the Universe (£27,471); #1 Run, Fat Boy, Run £988,788 4th week 398 screens 18% drop (15.9% of top 10)
Down 77.1% from 2006; (£8,159,980); Click (£1,797,073); Hoodwinked (£1,764,419); World Trade Centre (£1,667,589); Life and Lyrics (£95,724); #1 Click £1,797,073 1st week 402 screens (22.1% of top 10)
Down 69.4% from 2005 (£6,125,984); Revolver (£882,814); Land of the Dead (870,285); Howl’s Moving Castle (212,628); #1 Pride and Prejudice £1,934,083 2nd week 402 screens 24% drop (31.5% of top 10)
Down 71.6% from 2004 (£6,598,718); Wimbledon (£1,699,096); Hero (£1,005,571); Cellular (£427,365); The Punisher (£186,017); #1 Wimbledon £1,699,096 1st week 444 screens (25.7% of top 10)
Down 73.9% from 2003 (£7,175,270); Once Upon a Time in Mexico (£846,100); Young Adam (£228,692); Ned Kelly (£211,643); #1 Calendar Girls £1,761,985 4th week 2nd #1 439 screens 5% drop (24.5% of top 10)
Down 73.3% from 2002 (£7,031,358); Road To Perdition (expansion (£1,318,382); Van Wilder (£707,783); Divine Secrets Of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood (£124,269); #1 Signs £1,877,796 3rd week 431 screens 29% drop (26.8% of top 10)
Down 73.4% from 2001 (£7,048,276); Mike Bassett: England Manager (£835,219); Enigma (£796,776); The Score (£736,742); The Brothers (E59,542); #1 A.I. £1,556,911 2nd week 430 screens 32% drop (22.1% of top 10);
Next weekend in 2019: Top three took 85.7% (£16,103,371) of the top 10 (£18,790,335); Joker 66.8% (£12,555,328); Judy 11.1% (£2,086,969); Downtown Abbey 7.7% (£1,461,074); 15 films opened at weekend taking (£15,677,630); Joker 80.1% (£12,555,328); Judy 13.3% (£2,086,969); remaining 13 films shared 6.6% (£1,035,332);
UK Box Office since restart
848 cinemas were reopen before lockdown last weekend 659 cinemas had reopened 78% of cinemas have now reopened with most cinemas now from all of the major cinema chains with 164 independent cinemas still haven’t reopened. The reopening of cinema on July 4th was geared to major exhibitors leaving independent cinemas struggling until grants from the BFI before they were able to reopen with reduced capacity to follow the new safety measures. Independent cinemas are solely reopening with more opening over the next few months.
UK cinemas have now been open for 13 weeks with box office up 1,018% from £189,000 to £2,112,443 but with 1,110% more screens open than first weekend (from 42 cinemas+ drive-ins (460 screens) to 670 cinemas+ drive-ins (5,564 screens up 1,075%) last weekend) (Tenet took 30.7% of the weekends box office, last year #1 Downtown Abbey (£3,280,442) 27.7%
Week 1 £189,000 from 460 screens (73 cinemas) 141 films on release
Week 2; Up 76.2% £333,002 (182 films) from 1,059 screens (123 cinemas 85 from the UK the rest from Ireland and drive-ins) up 130.2%; The Empire Strikes Back (40th Anniversary opening with £50,406 from 1012 screens)
Week 3: Down 7.5% £308,154 (191 films) from 151 cinemas and 1,286 screens up 21.4%
Week 4: Up 30.7% £402,752 (214 films) from 185 cinemas and 1,734 screens Up 34.8%
Week 5: Up 61.8% £651,914 (218 films) from 3,016 screens (326 cinemas reopened) up 74%; Unhinged opened with £175,263 from 243 screens)
Week 6: Down 17.4% £538,716 (236 films) from 338 cinemas and 3,393 screens up 12.5%: American Pickle opened with £27,732 from 162 screens
Week 7: Up 85.2% £997,837 (269 films) from 366 cinemas; Inception: 10th Anniversary opened £207,675 from 313 screens
Week 8: Up 10.9% £1,107,153 (264 films) from 3,889 screens (491 cinemas) up 21.5%
Week 9: Up 462.2% £6,224,288 (204 films) from 3, 856 (629 cinemas); Tenet opened with 85.7% (£5,335,654)
Week 10: Down 39.8% £3,746,637 (198 films) 658 cinemas (198 films on release; 487 England
Week 11: Down 25% £2,812,496 from 5,522 screens
Week 12: Down 7.4% £2,603,624 from 5,401 screens; 613 cinemas
Week 13: Down 18.9% £2,112,443 from 5,564 screens 620 cinemas
This time last year UK box office was 80.5% more taking £10,814,830; top three took 54.6% (£4,978,947) of the top 10; Downtown Abbey 29.4% (£2,682,080); Ad Astra 14.1% (£1,284,924); Hustlers 11.1% (£1,011,943);
In Tenet’s opening week UK box office was £7.85m 50% down from what it took the same weekend last year (£17m) and the last weekend of August is normally a soft weekend being the last weekend of the summer holidays and a weekend distributors would dump films out. So with the release of Tenet, the biggest film to be released the last weekend of August for 20 years should have been much closer to last years box office levels especially as the opening included £2m from previews.
After 37 weeks 2020 box office had taken £294m about 30% of the UK box office at the same time in 2018 and 2019; the remaining films of the year expected to attract big audiences are No Time To Die, Soul, Crood 2, Soul, Peter Rabbit 2 and Wonder Woman 1984.
Unlike Asia, the reopening of cinemas has been poorly handled in the UK and the US with exhibitors behaving like a bull in a china shop despite all the research telling them it could be 6 months or more for before the majority return and cinemas should be for the many, not the few.
San Francisco cinemas will be allowed to reopen from October but unlike other cinemas that have reopened in the US, concessions will not be allowed to be sold. It will be interesting to see if exhibitors still reopen cinemas as with 1,200%+ mark-up on popcorn concessions are where exhibitors make their real money and why they see eating and drinking inside an auditorium as a necessity and see themselves as part of the hospitality sector.
There doesn’t seem to have been any planning as soon as China closed cinemas in January before their most lucrative time of the year the rest of the world should have been concerned but it was business as normal until mid-March. 6th March ‘not seeing any discernible impact in terms of cinema admissions’ despite Pixar having the worst opening that weekend in the UK for Onward.
Exhibitors were in complete denial of the situation as they always are when things aren’t going to plan and are always reactive to issues not proactive. If you dare to criticise UKCA your belittled told you don’t know what you’re talking about. Nothing changes if you’re surrounded by yes people which has been the problem for so long.
The problem the studios have is that delaying the film for a second time will be getting very expensive as it was weeks away from opening when cinemas shut in March as so it’s marketing was moving into fifth gear, it’s currently moving through the gears again now and only have a few weeks before they will have to open in November.
The problem the studios also have is that No Time To Die box office will be compared with the previous Daniel Craig films being his final film and that it’s the first at a new studio after the previous four were released by Sony.
The last four Daniel Craig James Bond films have taken over £300m at the UK after Spectre took £95,183,468 and Skyfall took £102,816,893 in normal circumstances No Time To Die would be expected to take upwards of £90m.
The Chinese box office is getting close to pre-lockdown levels with the huge success of The Eight Hundred and even though Chinese cinemas were closed between January and August China could overtake the US to be the biggest global territory this year.
China, Korea & Japan are now stable because unlike other countries including the USA and UK government demanded far stricter safety measures when cinemas reopened, and exhibitors are now reaping the benefits.
Asian countries dealt with COVID far quicker as immediately brought in draconian measures the West feared to implement including a far better big brother track and trace in February, as the West couldn’t do similar lockdown needed to be much longer.
While the West worried about privacy, civil liberties and GDPR Asian countries did what had to be done, as these countries got infected sooner than the West and have dealt with other COVIDs before the West should have done exactly what they did if they wanted to avoid the second wave.
The West should have followed in the footsteps of Japan, Vietnam, and South Korea, showing how successful they have been Vietnam’s COVID safety video has been watched over 63m times on YouTube.
The facts are if No Time To Die opens in November will take less than half it would have taken elsewhere, the problem is doubled as MGM depend on Bond so much if it’s not as big a hit as previous films it could affect the studios plans to rebuild the studio
International BO could have done similar had they waited as long as China did to reopen and brought in far stricter safety measures from the start and the loosened them as people felt more comfortable. Instead, UK and US probably won’t get back to pre-lockdown levels until 2022?
The short-term loss for long-term gain only need to see how China implemented far stricter safety measures when they reopened, and people returned at far higher numbers than the US or UK and capacity is being increased to 75% now.
I have followed the Coronavirus outbreak and how it has affected the cinema industry since January, so my comments are in hindsight I believed in late January when China shut their cinemas days before their New Year, the most lucrative time of the year for cinema in China, that the west should have prepared for the worst then, but I believe as cinema attendance was very strong in January and February the industry was in denial of the incoming pandemic, the fault must go with the industry bodies who weren’t prepared and have been reacting to issues ever since.
US Box Office
- Tenet – Warner Bros
Down 28% in its fourth weekend taking $3.4m and $41.2m total (14% of total worldwide box office) Tenet is expected to take about $65m just a little bit more than inception opened with 10 years ago and less than it was expected to open with at the start of the year; took $355k down 25% from IMAX taking $5.1m (12.4% of US BO).
Customers at Alamo Drafthouse can rent out an entire screen for themselves for $150 (+ minimum $150 in food and drink) after a successful test run. Over the US exhibitors have offered similar schemes to rent a screen for up to 30 people for a similar price.
Many people would love to go back to the cinema but the one thing that’s been stopping them is other cinemagoers, as long before lock-down the hygiene and the behaviour of cinemagoers has put many people off from going. Of course, you are still mixing with random strangers as you enter the cinema and get food and toilets where people are at most risk. Exhibitors are quick to say there haven’t been any breakouts in cinemas yet, but it’s probably much harder to trace people back to a cinema than a pub or restaurant as the people buying tickets might not be the one’s who actually use the cinema tickets as many cinemas have become cash-free since reopening.
While normally a 30% drop would be very impressive for a film Tenet started at such a low point and it’s dropped over the last two weekends have been bigger than The New Mutants which received terrible reviews and much worse word of mouth and negative media coverage for the last two years.
With no releases from studios for 5 weeks, it needs to hold far stronger than it is currently as otherwise in 4 weeks it will be #1 taking less than $1m.
Rumours are that Los Angeles movie theatres may reopen in the next few weeks as Coronavirus cases are in decline in the state, but then cases are in the increase in New York again. It’s unlikely there will be such a dramatic rise in the box office when Los Angeles reopens as the top markets for Tenet have been the drive-in cinemas in Los Angeles so anyone who has been despite to see Tenet has been able to see it; 8 out of the top 10 theatres this weekend were from California.
Have been many articles asking what exhibitors need to do to get people happy to go back to the cinema again, but exhibitors know exactly what they need to do as discussed what was required in Deadline article in April. Far tougher safety measures at the restart including MERV-13 filters, temperature scanners Adam Aron said he was ‘pricing out’ checkboard seating and masks mandatory at all times if you must eat you are given an inflatable face shield.
The short-term loss for long-term gain only need to see how China implemented far stricter safety measures when they reopened, and people returned at far higher numbers than the US or UK and capacity is being increased to 75% now. Japan and South Korea implemented far stricter safety measures when their cinemas and have seen a far quicker increase in admissions as territories that had weaker safety measures.
It was predictable exhibitors current safety measures wouldn’t make the majority feel safe going back to the cinema anytime soon as it was predictable the Tenet experiment was going to fail. If a studio is going to risk opening another major release before November exhibitors need to go much further on safety measures or else shut down again till late 2021.
This is different to China, Korea & Japan were admissions have been growing strongly over the weeks of cinemas reopening as their government demanded far stricter safety measures when cinemas reopened, and exhibitors are now reaping the benefits. Which was a very predictable short-term loss for long-term gain, but the problem is exhibitors only think short-term.
9th biggest film of 2020 between Onward and The Gentlemen; 2,109th biggest film in the US between A Walk to Remember and Private Parts; 351st biggest Warner Bros film between A Walk to Remember and Pee Wee’s Big Adventure; 3,090th biggest inflation inflated between The Big Easy and Ghost in the Shell.
Took $355k from 293 IMAX screens in the US 25% drop and $5.1m total; 12.4% of the total box office;
With Wonder Woman 1984 delayed Tenet could stay #1 for 11 weeks until No Time To Die (seems to be keeping its November release date as October 5th will e James Bond Day with Daniel Craig and Billie Eilish on Jimmy Fallon) the longest since Home Alone in 1990 (held #1 for 12 weeks third-longest); the two longest ever #1 1982’s Tootsie and 1984’s Beverly Hills Cop 13 weeks and 1997’s Titanic 15 weeks.
So after Tenet underperforms even with the huge media coverage surrounding it for months taking a third of what could have taken if delayed, the solution is to open more similar-sized films that will likely perform even worse as Coronavirus cases are dramatically increasing across Europe.
While Warner and Disney played out a $1bn game of chicken with Tenet and Mulan since the start of lockdown in March. At the start of the year, these two films could have taken $2bn+ between then, but now they will likely take a quarter as much. Universal, Paramount and Sony Pictures went for different approach delaying many of their films a year to 2021.
After Disney delayed several films last week NATO’s response was “We need big movies…We’d hoped that Disney would hold on, but studios have to make their decisions based on their marketing spend and their marketing plan. If they aren’t certain that theatres will be open, they’re going to delay. We’re gratified that they’re moving and not going to Disney+. That’s kind of an important statement. But until we get some of that certainty, we may be seeing theatres close back down again because it’s really tough, if you don’t have new movies coming in, to keep the lights on. To keep paying people. You lose money being closed, but you may end up losing more money if you can’t get audiences in and you’re open.”
Dunkirk took $520m WW; Interstellar $654m WW: The Dark Knight Rises $1.08bn WW; Inception $834m WW; The Dark Knight $1bn WW: Batman Begins $359m WW; Insomnia $114m WW.
Took $19.2m from 58 territories (down 35.3% from last weekend) $242m total and $283.2m worldwide; China $64.3m; UK $19.6m; France $18m; Germany $14.6m; Korea $13.1m; Japan $11.4m.
Took $1.8m in IMAX from 625 screens in 43 markets 11% of the total box office taking $32m globally worldwide from IMAX 11.3% of the total global box office and 32% of its box office came from PLF/Premium Large Formats including IMAX and Dolby Cinema.
We will of course never know if Tenet and Mulan would have performed much better away from The Eight Hundred and separate from each other. The game of chicken played by both Warner and Disney with Tenet and Mulan has been very costly for both studios as neither will be happy with the results as both films will end up taking about a third of what they could have done.
Tenet is the 5th biggest film of the year in the world after 1) Bad Boys For Life $424.61m; 2) The Eight Hundred $336.35m; 3) Sonic the Hedgehog $306.76m.
322nd biggest international film between The Angry Birds Movie and 300; 2nd biggest film internationally in 2020 between The Eight Hundred and Bad Boys For Life; 57th biggest Warner Bros film internationally between The Nun and 300.
527th biggest film worldwide between Lethal Weapon 4 and Wedding Crashers; 94th biggest Warner Bros film worldwide between Lethal Weapon 4 and Scooby-Doo; (Batman Begins #71; Dunkirk #26; Inception #21; The Dark Knight #6; The Dark Knight Rises #3
- Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back – Disney/Fox
Opened with $908k from over 2,097 screens (taking $360k from Friday)
Re-released in cinemas for its 40th anniversary as it was in the UK in July opening with £50,406 from 101 screens.
The film was previously re-released as part of the 30th anniversary of Star Wars: A New Hope in February 1997 opening with $21.97m from 2,111 screens taking $65.23m and $125m worldwide.
It was originally released in May 1980 opening with $4.91m opening in 126 screens taking $209.39m and $400.08m worldwide
Originally Disney planned to re-release The Empire Strikes Back in a restored 4K but ended up re-releasing it in 2K with the 4K going to Disney+
- The New Mutants – Disney/Fox
Dropped 28% in its fifth weekend taking $1.17m and $19.48m total
After Disney delayed Black Widow to May 2021 it means 20th Century Fox end 20 years of X-Men with The New Mutants being the biggest Marvel film of 2020 and it’s holding better than all MCU films dropping only 12.7% in its 4th weekend. It could still become the biggest comic-book film of 2020 as it’s still not certain Warner Bros will keep the Christmas Day release date for Wonder Woman 1984.
The 15 20th Century Fox X-Men films have taken over $2.45bn in the US; $2.89bn international and $6.07bn worldwide; X-Men films were the 7th biggest franchise series worldwide after MCU, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Spider-Man, James Bond, and Batman.
3,698th biggest film between Hero and Timeline; 4,539th biggest inflation inflated between Adventureland and Dirty Work; 14th biggest film of 2020 between The Photograph and Underwater; 96th biggest comic-book movie between Astro Boy and I, Frankenstein; 2nd biggest 20th Century Studios film after The Call of the Wild and 405th biggest 20th Century Fox film between The Fly II and Runner.
Took $1.4m from 41 territories $19.4m total and $38.9m worldwide; France $2.8m; Mexico $2m; UK $1.9m; Spain $1.3m.
3,145th biggest film internationally between In & Out and When a Stranger Calls; 25th biggest 2020 film internationally between Scoob! And Trolls: World Tour; 94th biggest comic-book film between Superman III and The Spirit.
3,315th biggest film worldwide between On the Basis of Sex and First Sunday; 14th biggest film worldwide between Fantasy Island and After We Collided; 94th biggest comic-book film between The Spirit and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace; 316th biggest 20th Century Fox film worldwide between Underwater and The Sitter.
UK Box Office Top 10
Added two more columns to my box office, average admissions per screen and average admissions per performance, the later rough guess of 9 shows a weekend for most films as Tenet would have three on average per day but Bill & Ted Face the Music could have 5, but then Bill ^ Ted is playing on 569 cinemas but Tenet is playing in 616 cinemas but still probably over 2,000 screens. Not having exact data only what is freely available these numbers are probably much bigger than they really are.
The lack of children’s films which is the one genre of films that have been successful since cinemas reopened will see The Elfkin perform much stronger than it would normally do as 100% Wolf previously did.
The UK this weekend
Tenet will become the longest #1 since Avatar next week, 6 weeks #1 and with no competition till No Time To Die will be there for many more weeks as it’s box office continues to decline as it will also become the lowest ever film to be #1 dropping below £500k this weekend; £400k in two weeks and £250k in three weeks.
The only new release likely to get into the top 5 is Sofia Coppola’s On the Rocks, that said it is also film targetting a demographic that isn’t comfortable going to the cinema at the moment and will prefer to watch in the comfort of their home in three weeks when it’s released on Apple TV.
UK Coming Soon
- Kajillionaire – Universal Pictures
Crime comedy-drama starring Evan Rachel Wood, Richard Jenkins, Debra Winger and Gina Rodriguez and written and directed by Miranda July; had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival receiving positive reviews (92% Rotten Tomatoes)
Was originally acquired by A24 but then Focus Features acquired US rights having already acquired internationally.
Was released in selected US cinemas on September 25 and will be released on VOD on October 16th;
After failing to find an audience in the US last weekend it will struggle to find an audience in the UK as will all adult dramas over the next few months as the target demographic aren’t going to back to the cinema anytime soon.
40 years ago Debra Winger starred in Urban Cowboy and was followed by An Officer and a Gentleman, Terms of Endearment, Legal Eagles and Black Widow and her career was on the up but then she got labelled as a difficult actress to work with and the acting roles were harder to come by over the following decades last seen on the cinema screen in 2007’s Rachel Getting Married.
Evan Rachel Wood is best known for 2003’s Thirteen and more recently Dolores Abernathy in TV series Westworld.
- Saint Maud – Studiocanal
British psychological horror starring Morfydd Clark and Jennifer Ehle and written and directed by Rose Glass; had its world premiere at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival receiving positive reviews (93% Rotten Tomatoes)
It received a special commendation in the official competition section of the London Film Festival and as originally due for release in April I the US and May in the UK, in June it was moved to October.