- A Minecraft Movie £15,013,136 – NE
Took £4.65m 30.97% Friday; £5.9m 39.3% Saturday; £4.46m 29.73%; took £2.49m Monday: £2.2m Tues.
37th biggest opening between LOTR: The Return of the King and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (close to Marvel Avengers Assemble, Fantastic Beasts, Batman Vs Superman and Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith) and 73rd biggest inflated opening between POTC: On Stranger Tides and Independence Day (close to Spider-Man 2, Captain America: Civil War, Deadpool and Toy Story 4)
Had the biggest opening of the year ahead of Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy (£12.3m) only three films have opened bigger since cinemas reopened after COVID; Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness (£15m), Spider-Man: No Way Home (£19.5m) and No Time To Die (£21m).
2nd biggest opening over the last 52 weeks, between Deadpool & Wolverine and Wicked (close to Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy, Moana 2, Sonic The Hedgehog 3 and Inside Out 2).
Had the biggest Friday £4.65m; Saturday £5.9m and Sunday £4.46m since Barbie took £6.35m Friday; £6.33m Saturday and £5.83m Sunday.
It’s the biggest three-day opening for a film based on a video game ahead of Sonic The Hedgehog 3 debuting at £11.7m (£7.7m previews); The Super Mario Bros. Movie had a bigger opening £15.6m but I included £6.9m previews.
The 78th widest opening in 677 cinemas (close to Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania, West Side Story, Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse and Nope) and 251st 600+ cinema opening since 2015’s Jurassic World.
Given the popularity of the video game Minecraft as popular as Super Mario Bros, it was surprising how industry estimates were so low. Only need to look at the numbers involved to realise if a tiny percentage of fans came out to see A Minecraft Movie as they did two years ago with Super Mario Bros, it was going to have a similar-sized opening.
Surprisingly, Phil Clapp said, “Cinema is slightly blindsided by it,” “No one had the first weekend of Minecraft down to make £15 million [in Britain], which is, I think, the third-biggest opening since the pandemic.” As advance sales surely would have given some indication of the size of its opening, this information isn’t made public as it isn’t UK tracking, so I went by what US tracking was estimating. I’ve said many times that more transparency is needed with UK BO data, but there is extremely limited data made public, unlike the US.
Took 91% of Friday’s top 5 BO; 19%+ Super Mario, 33%+ Across the Spider-Verse; 80%+ Inside Out 2 and more than twice all three Sonics films and Pokemon: Detective Pikachu.
Minecraft has over 204m users monthly, and the game has sold over 300m copies worldwide; almost 200k copies were sold in the UK in 2023 12th best-selling video game in 2023. Minecraft was bought by Microsoft in 2014 for $2.5bn.
An unfinished version of the film with VFX was leaked on the internet on Saturday.
A viral TikTok trend has seen Minecraft fans throw popcorn, shout out, swear and cheer when a character says, “Chicken jockey” and is filmed on their phones before posting it on TikTok. In one cinema in the US, the police were called. A similar thing happened three years ago with Minions: Rise of Gru, with fans dressed as Gentleminions and carrying bananas.
Cineworld held special “Chicken Jockey screenings” that actively encouraged fans to go crazy watching the film. With films like Minecraft playing on multiple screens, there should be screens for cinemagoers who want to experience films in different ways, like social screens, friendly screens, child-friendly and then 18-only screens for cinemagoers who want to watch films like Minecraft but without the madness. 11%nt of moviegoers are guilty of checking their phones during a film, according to a 2023 YouGov survey
Vue Cinemas said it was their biggest weekend since Barbie playing A Minecraft film in 92 cinemas across the UK, having 4,464 screenings over its opening weekend; Vue Cinemas having the most shows over the weekend were Cheshire Oaks 82; Birmingham 76; Manchester Printworks 74; Westfield Shepherds Bush 71; Romford 68; Plymouth 67; Leeds 67; Westfield Stratford 66; what would be interesting to see was the capacity sales levels.
Doing the math, 5,700 performances over the weekend with a screen capacity of 250 at an average price of £7.94 means it sold about a third more tickets than its capacity of 1.2m seats across the weekend. Showing the real average is far more than the industry claimed average, as there is no way all 5,700 shows were sold out over its opening weekend.
Reviews were mixed for A Minecraft Movie amongst adults, but its target audience loved it was surely a film many parents were dragged to see by their children over the weekend, and as it opened at the start of the Easter holiday now has two very lucrative weeks with no competition. 75% of children would recommend the film to friends, saying it is must-see; 36% expressed an interest in buying toys related to the film or watching it again at the cinemas.
Ahead of opening was guided by tracking companies who had it looking to open with $65m+ which would have seen it open similar to 2019’s Pokemon Detective Pikachu opened £4,951,838, taking £13,842,524; 2020’s Sonic The Hedgehog opened £4,733,768, taking £19,280,822; and 2022’s Uncharted opened £4,705,948, taking £24,091,881. Instead, it opened a little bit less than 2023’s Super Mario Bros opened £15,691,810, taking £54,578,335.
Other films that targeted a similar audience include.
2014’s The Lego Movie opened £8,051,140/£9,488,844, taking £32,887,286/£38,760,016
2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle opened £8,154,548, taking £36,968,605
2021’s Free Guy opened £2,477,891, taking £16,866,112
2022’s Uncharted opened £4,705,948 taking £24,091,881
Unlike many recent video game film adaptations, Minecraft is an open sandbox game similar to Lego with no plot, so the film can go in any direction, as was the case with 2014’s The Lego Movie.
The first teaser trailer was released in September 2024, reaction was negative. A second trailer was released with MGMT’s Time to Pretend and received positive reactions, and the final trailer was released in February.
- 2. Six The Musical £2,139,373L2 – NE
Took 100% from Sunday; £817k Tuesday.
Had the biggest opening for an Event Cinema theatre show ahead of 2014 Billy Elliott The Musical – Live opened £1,904,000 #1; it’s the 25th anniversary of the film; opened £1,541,109/£2,890,033, taking £16,972,531/£31,828,488; but 2023’s Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour had a bigger opening weekend £5,729,998 ad biggest opening day £2.25m taking £12.2m.
it’s impossible to compare Six The Musical with any other film as the average ticket price is over double the industry average for cinema tickets at £7.74 with cinemas charging £15+. Six The Musical plays in cinemas for another week at least.
It’s the second-biggest Event Cinema release of the year after Macbeth: David Tennant And Cush Jumbo (Theatre) (£2.3m).
Six The Musical opened in London in January 2019 after premiering at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2017; in June 2022, the original cast returned for the filmed version, which was released on Sunday. The musical has been seen by over 3.5m worldwide. It’s one of the most popular musicals of the 21st century, with a score having over 1bn in 2024.
- 3. Disney’s Snow White £669,793 – £7,991,067
Down 66.8% in the third weekend
Took £143k 21.4% (-57.6% 337k) Friday; £301k 45% (-66.3% £892k) Sat; £225k 33.6% (-85.7% £786k) Sun; took £169k Monday; £183k Tuesday.
975th biggest third weekend between A Fish Called Wanda and Wanted (close to Grown Ups 2, St. Trinian’s 2, Legally Blonde and Honey, I Blew Up the Kid) and the 1,309th biggest inflated third weekend between Ruthless People and Mirror Mirror (close to Encanto, Coraline, Real Steel and Shall We Dance?)
17th biggest Disney reimagination third weekend between Cruella and Pete’s Dragon (2016) (close to Oz: The Great And Powerful, Disney’s Christopher Robin, Alice Through The Looking Glass and Haunted Mansion (2023).
In a recent interview, Rachel Zegler said “It’s very important for the public to know that Disney has found this beautiful and delicate balance between the animated classic that everyone knows and loves from 1937, and at the same time, introduces it to this new generation, ”.. “Her superpower is her heart.” Rachel’s powerful singing voice is the best thing about Snow White, as was with Steven Spielberg’s recent West Side Story remake, again like Snow White completely unnecessary.
Third weekends
2012’s Mirror Mirror dropped 41.4% £535,093/£669,496 and £6,070,901 80.1% of £7,578,055/£9,422,009
2012’s Snow White and the Huntsman dropped 41.3% £1,297,559/£1,623,476 and £11,872,691 75.3% of £15,666,534/£19,478,642
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was last re-released in cinemas in 1992 and took £4,657,649/£11,491,769.
The biggest Disney re-imagination third weekends:
2017’s Beauty and the Beast dropped 45.3% £6,750,000/£7,182,577 and £51,385,248 70.94% of £72,430,579
2019’s The Lion King dropped 52% £5,158,311 #2 and £50,701,449 66.8% of £75,938,299/£83,826,626
2010’s Alice in Wonderland dropped 34% £4,847,129/£6,492,709 and £30,493,427 72.3% of £42,169,542
2016’s The Jungle Book dropped 28.9% £5,758,824/£6,194,039 and £30,201,705 65.3% of £46,235,032
2019’s Aladdin dropped 33.2% £2,345,046 and £17,692,002 70.4% of £36,710,978
2023’s The Little Mermaid dropped 49.7% £2,125,299 and £19,996,908 73.3% of £27,275,784
2015’s Cinderella dropped 39.8% £1,785,864/£1,974,110 and £15,190,144 71.38% of £20,982,668/£23,048,922
2013’s Maleficent dropped 39.7% £1,570,437/£1,689,120 and £13,620,598 70% of £19,453,353
944th biggest between The King’s Man and Pacific Rim (close to One Direction: This Is Us, One Day, Muriel’s Wedding and Along Came Polly) and 1,484th biggest inflated between The Gift and Epic Movie (close to Masters of the Universe, The Prince of Tides, Stakeout and High Fidelity).
- 4. Death Of A Unicorn £487,459 – NE
Took £152k 31.21% Friday; £181k 37.17% Saturday; £154k 31.62% Sunday; took £84k Monday.
The 70th biggest opening over the last 52 weeks between Tarot and The Strangers: Chapter 1
Death of A Unicorn is the latest horror not to find an audience over the last few months, including The Woman in the Yard, Heart Eyes, The Monkey, Companion, Wolf Man and Presence, Nosferatu opening the first week of January was the last horror having a strong opening. Far too many horrors have opened this year.
Drop opening Friday should be the first horror to find a wide audience as it received positive reviews and stars Meghann Fahy from White Lotus and is directed by Christopher Landon (Happy Death Day).
- 5. A Working Man £331,406 – £1,362,371
Down 49.6% in its second weekend
Took £96k 29% (-52.2% £201k) Friday; £148k 44.7% (-45.8% £273k) Sat; £87k 26.3% (-85.8% £384k) Sun; took £50k Monday.
2,435th biggest second weekend between Midsommar and Beavis and Butthead Do America (close to Bastille Day, Unlawful Entry, Untraceable and A Most Wanted Man) and 2,856th biggest second weekend inflated between Pretty in Pink and Diana (close to John Wick, Angel Heart, Dragnet and 3:10 To Yuma).
2024’s The Beekeeper dropped 28.7% £682,307 and £2,097,937 of £3,830,079
2003’s The Transporter dropped 61.4% £130,572/£232,912 and £492,921 of £623,493/£1,112,177
2005’s The Transporter 2 dropped 47.6% £217,304/£365,403 and £847,926 of £991,940/£1,667,976
Jason Statham’s first films were Guy Ritchie’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels in 1998 and 2000’s Snatch. since starred in many action films, including The Transporter, The Italian Job, Cellular, Crank, The Expendables, The Mechanic, several Fast & Furious sequels, Spy and The Meg and its sequel. Will star next in Fast X Part 2 and The Beekeeper 2.
2,883rd biggest between Curious George and The Wicker Man (close to Over the Top, Anaconda, Bad Company and The Abyss) and 3,156th biggest inflated between The Walk and Under the Skin (close to Child 44, Stir of Echoes, Fair Game and No Escape).
UK box office in detail
The weekend’s top 10 box office took £19,423,078, up 197.3% from last weekend’s £6,533,435: x admissions up x% from 829,481 admissions.
8th biggest weekend of the last 52 weeks between 03 January 2025 #1 Nosferatu £5,246,910 (26.73%) and 05 December 2024 #1 Moana 2 £6,904,866 (37.13%)
17th biggest since cinemas reopened out of 229 weeks between 01 July 2022 #1 Minions: The Rise of Gru £10,424,758 (53.33%) and 27 May 2022 #1 Top Gun Maverick £15,931,497 (82.60%)
93rd biggest top 10 of the last 22 years (out of 1,200) between 01 July 2022 #1 Minions: The Rise Of Gru £10,424,758 (53.33%) and 27 May 2022 #1 Top Gun Maverick £15,931,497 ( 82.60%) and 230th inflated between 26 December 2014 #1 The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies £4,249,226 (25.94%) and 30 March 2007 #1 Mr Beans Holiday £6,440,093 (52.37%)
The top 3 took (£17,822,302) 91.8%) of the top 10; A Minecraft Movie 77.3% (£15,013,136); Six The Musical (Musical) 11.01% (£2,139,373); Snow White 3.4% (£669,793)
38th biggest percentage share #1 (77.30%) between 17 May 2002 #1 Star Wars Ep II – Attack of the Clones £11,386,209 (77.31%) and 27 April 2012 #1 Marvel Avengers Assemble £15,778,074 (76.92%)
77h biggest admissions #1 (1,939,682) between 19 May 2006 #1 The Da Vinci Code £9,501,444 (1,951,015) and 19 May 2006 #1 Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides £11,634,860 (1,919,944) Up 111.9% from 2024; (£9,166,231); Monkey Man (£810,253); The First Omen (£521,573); Seize Them! (£132,207); Luca (£110,964); #1 Kung Fu Panda 4 2nd week £2,834,711 44% drop 721 screens (30.93% of top 10)
Down 8.32% from 2023; (£21,185,037); Super Mario Bros (£15,691,810); Air (£1,174,554); The Pope’s Exorcist (£707,050); Superman (45th Anniversary) (£15,399); #1 Super Mario Bros £15,691,810 1st week 718 screens (74.07% of top 10)
Up 65.9% from 2022 (£11,707,957); Fantastic Beasts 3 (£5,884,934); The Outfit (£96,600); Julia (£1,471); #1 Fantastic Beasts 3 £5,884,934 1st week 711 screens (50.3% of top 10)
2021 Lockdown
2020 Lockdown
Up 42.52% from 2019: (£13,628,514); Shazam! (£4,067,068); Pet Sematary (£1,554,881); Peppa Pig: Festival of Fun (£982,617); Missing Link (£644,649); The Sisters Brothers (£253,187); The Golden Age – Bolshoi Ballet 2019 (£76,563); A Clockwork Orange, (Re: 2019) (£45,913); #1 Shazam! £4,067,068 1st week 599 screens (29.84% of top 10)
Up 46.16% from 2018: (£13,288,645); A Quiet Place (£2,696,892); Love, Simon (£1,179,593); Ghost Stories (£591,787); Death Wish (£156,795); Giselle – Bolshoi 2018 (£124,824); 120 Beats per Minute (£76,509); Thoroughbreds (£50,811); Wonderstruck (£30,642); The Hurricane Heist (£23,348); #1 Peter Rabbit (£3,152,269) down 44% 4 weeks
Up 29.37% from 2017: (£15,013,493); The Boss Baby (£8,025,886); Peppa Pig: My First Cinema Experience (£1,050,962); Going in Style (£569,392); Table 19 (£130,602); City of Tiny Lights (£28,038); Raw (£67,042); #1 The Boss Baby £8,025,886 1st week.
Up 75.65% from 2016: (£11,079,652); The Huntsman: Winter’s War (£3,032,962); Midnight Special (£497,109); Hardcore Henry (£201,827); The Man Who Knew Infinity (£147,990); #1 The Huntsman: Winter’s War £3,032,962 1st week.
Down 12.02% from 2015; (£22,075,680); Fast & Furious 7 (£12,765,033); The Water Diviner (£521,546); While We’re Young (£427,151); Blade Runner: The Final Cut (Re: 2015) (£267,452); #1 Fast & Furious 7 £12,765,033 1st week.
Up 54.82% from 2014: (£12,545,501); Rio 2 (£2,882,680); Noah (£2,511,397); Divergent (£1,767,295); La Boheme – Met Opera 2014 (£374,522); The Double (£281,794); #1 Rio 2 £2,882,680 1st week.
Up 142.33% from 2013: (£8,015,138); Dark Skies (£1,031,948); Spring Breakers (£345,153); The Odd Life of Timothy Green (£269,465); A Late Quartet (£107,158); #1 The Croods £2,364,348 3rd week 28% drop
Up 40.78% from 2012 (£13,797,117); Titanic 3D (£2,856,540); Mirror Mirror (£2,389,033); The Pirates! In An Adventure with Scientists (£2,166,162); The Cold Light of Day (£503,985); Headhunters (£264,769); #1 Titanic 3D £2,856,540 1st week 427 screens (20.7% of top 10)
Up 307.16% from 2011; (£4,770,365); Rio (£1,515,853); The Roommate (£120,365); Mars Needs Mums (£113,559); Tomorrow, When the War Began (£85,841); Silent House (£8,539); #1 Rio £1,515,853 1st week.
Up 119.19% from 2010: (£8,861,394); Whip It! (£353,041); I Am Love (£171,959); Shelter (£141,452); The Infidel (£135,448); #1 Clash of the Titans £2,441,682 2nd week 57% drop.
Up 90.95% from 2009; (£10,172,026); Monsters vs. Aliens (£4,345,711); The Boat that Rocked (£1,804,773); Religulous (£18,736); #1 Monsters vs. Aliens £4,345,711 1st week.
Up 193.24% from 2008; (£6,623,644); Son of Rambow (£897,089); Never Back Down (£845,530); Awake (£546,562); One Missed Call (£432,327); Funny Games (£88,376); How She Move (£78,771); #1 27 Dresses £1,028,661 2nd week 41% drop.
Up 176.42% from 2007: (£7,026,692); Blades of Glory (£1,023,836); Sunshine (£1,021,063); The Messengers (262,562); #1 Mr Beans Holiday £2,451,283 2nd week 62% drop
Up 36.5% from 2006; (£14,229,376): Ice Age II (£9,775,974); She’s The Man (£994,304); Alien Autopsy (£796,119); The Dark (£265,084); #1 Ice Age II £9,775,974 1st week 502 screens (68.7% of top 10)
Up 183.36% from 2005 (£6,854,564); Sahara (£1,370,577); The Assassination of Richard Nixon (£157,756); Man of the House (£126,331); #1 Sahara £1,370,577 399 screens 1st week (20% of top 10)
Up 69.23% from 2004 (£11,477,491); Scooby-Doo Too (£3,549,487); The Cat in the Hat (£1,739,814); Gothika (£1,398,777); Monster (£320,983); #1 Scooby-Doo Too £3,549,487 489 screens 1st week (30.93%)
Up 354.8% from 2003 (£4,270,657); Shanghai Knights (£749,655); A Man Apart (£527,730); Blue Crush (£491,419); #1 The Recruit £923,834 2nd week (3rd weekend down 17% 378 screens (18.1% of top 10)
Up 200.39% from 2002 (£6,466,007); Collateral Damage (£434,639); 24 Hour Party People (£265,428); Kate & Leopold (£204,325); #1 Blade 2 £1,335,594 2nd week 47% drop
2024 Next week: (£9,940,796); Back To Black (£2,772,698); Civil War (£1,823,179); SUGA – Agust D TOUR ‘D-DAY’ THE MOVIE (£114,394); #1 Back To Black £2,772,698 1st week 719 screens (27.89% of top 10)
US Box Office
- A Minecraft Movie – Warner Bros
Opened $162.75m; received mixed reviews (49% Rotten Tomatoes); and B+ CinemaScore (Super Mario Bros (A)
Took $10.55m from Thursday previews; Five Nights at Freddy’s $10.3m; Wonder Woman $11m; Minions: The Rise of Gru $10.75m; The Little Mermaid $10.3m.
21st biggest opening between Batman v Superman and Barbie (close to Beauty and the Beast, Iron Man 3, The Dark Knight Rises and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire); its Warner Bros third biggest opening ever after Deathly Hallows Part 2 ($169m) and 2016’s Batman v Superman ($166m)
Opened in all IMAX/Dolby/PLF/4DX screens, taking $12.8m US and $8.6m internationally.
IMAX/PLF took a third of the BO with 15% 3D.
Advance sales were strong ahead of opening.
38% Super Mario Bros from IMAX/PLF/4DX and 3D 15% of opening; IMAX took $21.6m worldwide $16.6Mm US from 403 screens.
Why did the industry get A Minecraft Movie estimates so wrong? I went with their tracking to guide my predictions, but why wasn’t Super Mario Bros used as a comparison title?
Ahead of opening A Minecraft Movie was expected to open with $130m worldwide; $65m from the US and similar internationally. Warner Bros has had a disappointing few weeks with Barry Levinson’s $50M The Alto Knights and Bong Joon Ho’s Mickey 17 both underwhelming at the box office. Estimates for the US were between $65m-$90m ahead of opening; three weeks earlier, it was between $53m-$63m.
The video game is hugely popular, one of the biggest-selling games of all time, with over 300 million copies sold and 140 million active monthly users.
The Minecraft game has 45m+ active monthly users in the US, and like Super Mario Bros., the film attracted many of them, as well as millions of adults who took their children to see it.
43% 18–24; 35% 13-17; 54% men under 25; women under 25 (74%); men 25+ 13%; women 25+ 8%; 28% of the audience came due to social media; 10% online video ads; 10% cinema trailer and 10% online trailer.
RelishMix said social media received 772m posts; Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (530m); Jack Black at 32.7m; Jason Momoa 20.1m; Emma Myers at 9.8m.
It was always surprising that industry estimates were so low, especially after how Super Mario Bros opened in 2023, and surely Minecraft is more popular globally. $150m+ US opening $600m+ total US. With 80% of Minecraft monthly users internationally, especially in China, despite Trump’s tariffs (Mario took $24m) should take $2bn+ worldwide.
2019’s Pokemon Detective Pikachu opened $54.36m, taking $144.17m and $450.06m worldwide
2020’s Sonic The Hedgehog opened $58.01m, taking $148.97m and $319.71m worldwide
2022’s Uncharted opened $44.01m, taking $148.64m and $407.49m worldwide
2023’s Super Mario Bros opened $146.36m, taking $574.93m and $1.36bn worldwide
2014’s The Lego Movie opened $68.05m, taking $257.96m and $470.75m worldwide
2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle opened $36.16m, taking $404.54m and $962.54m WW
2021’s Free Guy opened $28.36m, taking $121.62m and $331.52m worldwide
Despite A Minecraft Movie opening BO is still 5.3% down from 2024 and 35% behind 2019
Opened with $144m from 75 territories in 32,000 screens and $301m worldwide; UK $19.9m; China $14.5m; Mexico $11.2m; Germany $10.6m; Australia $8.3m; Poland $6.2m; Brazil $5.8m; France $5.6m; Spain $5.6m; Italy $5.3m; Argentina $3.6m; Holland $3.0m.
International BO opened 228%+ Sonic the Hedgehog 2; 75%+ Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse; 61%+ Pokemon: Detective Pikachu; 60%+ Sonic 3; 31%+ Jumanji: The Next Level and just 14% below Mario.
2020’s Sonic The Hedgehog opened internationally with $43m from 40 territories: Mexico $6.7m; UK $6.2m; France $4.3m; Germany $3.3m; Brazil $3m.
2014’s The Lego Movie opened internationally with $69.1m from 34 territories: UK $13.4m; Australia $5.7m; Russia $3.9m; Mexico $3.8m; France $3.1m.
2023’s Super Mario Bros opened internationally with $172.8m; Mexico $27.4m; UK $19.6m; Germany $14m; China $12m; France $10.4m; Australia $8.3m; Italy $7.9m; Brazil $6.9m.
- A Working Man – Amazon/MGM Studios
Dropped 53% $7.27m and $27.81m
MGM acquired selected rights and Amazon acquired streaming rights.
2024’s The Beekeeper dropped 48.1% $8.6m and $31.25m of $66.22m and $162.61m worldwide
2002’s The Transporter dropped 44.2% $5.08m and $17.19m of $25.29m and $43.92m worldwide
2005’s Transporter 2 dropped 55.3% $7.39m and $20.1m of $43.09m and $89.08m worldwide
2008’s Transporter 3 dropped 61.3% $4.66m and $25.54m of $31.71m and $108.97m worldwide
Opened with $15m from 63 territories ($8.8m Warner Bros); China $2.9m; Germany $1.4m; Australia $1.1m; Mexico $1.1m; UK $867k.
- Snow White – Disney
Dropped 59% in the third weekend $5.94m and $77.31m
794th biggest second weekend between Downton Abbey and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (close to Smallfoot, Bridge to Terabithia, Tomorrowland and The Princess Diaries).
Third weekends
2019’s The Lion King dropped 49.7% $38.52m and $431.16m of $543.63m and $1.662bn worldwide
The Little Mermaid dropped 44.1% $23.15m and $229.17m of $298.17m and $569.62m worldwide.
2019’s Aladdin dropped 42.4% $24.68m and $232,56m of $355.5m and $1.054bn worldwide
2014’s Maleficent dropped 46.1% $18.5m and $163.02m of $241.41m and $759.85m worldwide
2010’s Alice in Wonderland dropped 45.5% $34.18m and $265.43m of $334.19m and $1.025bn worldwide
2015’s Cinderella dropped 51.3% $17.04m and $145.55m of $201.15m and $542.35m worldwide
2019’s Dumbo dropped 48.4% $9.4m and $90.16m of $114.76m and $353.28m worldwide
2012’s Mirror Mirror dropped 38.3% $6.84m and $49.31m of $64.93m and $183.01m worldwide
2012’s Snow White and the Huntsman dropped 42.5% $13.26m and $122.06m of $155.33m and $396.59m worldwide
At the start of the year Snow White was looking at opening with about $70m but over the months since estimates dropped down to $45m-$50m days before opening, being a reimagination of the most beloved Disney animated film it should have opened similarly to 2017’s Beauty and the Beast $174.75m taking $504.48m and $1.356bn worldwide and 2019’s The Lion King $191.77m taking $543.63m and $1.662bn worldwide.
A decade ago, Disney said a Snow White reimagination was off the table, along with Pocahontas and Song of the South. Who greenlit Snow White as Disney must have known it was always going to receive this kind of reaction.
Took $9m from 51 territories $90.9m total and $168.4m worldwide.
UK Box Office Top 10
UK Box Office Preview
A Minecraft Movie will drop about 50% in its second weekend, similar to 2023’s Super Mario Bros dropped 51.8% £7,568,523 and £35,855,948 65.7% of £54,578,335.
There are three new releases which should have strong openings, all playing to different demographics to A Minecraft Movie
Horror Drop from Blumhouse Productions has received positive reviews since its premiere at SXSW; Christopher Landon previously directed 2017’s Happy Death Day, opened £998,388, taking £2,678,427 and 2021’s Freaky opened £344,918, taking £685,870.
Have similarities to films like 2005’s Red Eye opened £891,582/£1,499,221, taking £3,414,662/£5,741,852, and 2003’s Phone Booth opened £1,385,040/£2,470,612, taking £6,340,355/£11,309,822?
Drop is a high-concept horror featuring Digidrops, similar to Apple’s AirDrop, which sends images directly to the phone. However, they need to be within 50 feet of each other.
Spy thriller The Amateur, starring Rami Malek, Rachel Brosnahan, Jon Bernthal, Michael Stuhlbarg, Holt McCallany, Julianne Nicholson and Laurence Fishburne, is directed by James Hawes. (Slow Horses TV series); likely to open similar to Black Bag (£915,376 taking £3.5m)
On Sunday, Andre Rieu’s 75th Birthday Celebration: The Dream Continues opens; last year’s 2024 Andre Rieu’s 2024 Maastricht Concert opened #5 £629,652 from 649 screens similar to the previous two years, so this year will open similarly.
The question is, will these three new releases be topped by the second weekend of Six The Musical after taking a surprise £2,139,373 last weekend, similar to Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, most of its shows are Sat-Sun.
These new releases will see Snow White drop out of the top 5 within 3 weeks despite being the Easter school holidays and Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy out of the top 10 after 8 weeks, coming short of its expected £50m+ after opening with £12,298,966, taking only 3.7x opening, it should have had far stronger legs.
Opening in three weeks
- Thunderbolts – Disney
The 36th film in the MCU featuring an ensemble cast of Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, Olga Kurylenko, Lewis Pullman, Geraldine Viswanathan, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus and directed by Jake Schreier.
Marvel started plans for Thunderbolts film in 2014 and started development in 2022; the cast was announced in September 2022 production started in February 2024.
It is the final film of Phase Five, which has been very disappointing, featuring Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, The Marvels, Deadpool & Wolverine and Captain America: Brave New World.
Thunderbolts are yet another comic-book movie about a group of antiheroes forced into a deadly mission that could bring them redemption, as seen in Guardians of the Galaxy and Suicide Squad. It features characters from many other MCUs.
The director compared Thunderbolts with films like Reservoir Dogs, Ronin and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011).
The footage was first seen at CineEurope in June 2024, the first teaser in September 2024, the second trailer was shown during the Superbowl in February 2025, and the final trailer in March.
Expectations are low for Thunderbolts compared to MCU’s released up to Avengers: Endgame in 2019. After all the tension in the build-up to Endgame, the films since film unnecessarily added little to the film series which now feels so exhausting to all but the biggest fans of the MCU. It’s all so predictable and uninspiring with the fourth Fantastic Four film opening after Thunderbolts and more Avengers films featuring X-Men, including many who featured in 20th Century Fox films.
Thunderbolts is likely to open similarly to Captain America: Brave New World £6,404,345, taking £17,388,961; similar to 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy £6,363,110, taking £28,326,152; advance bookings opened this week. Disney will, of course, say the 35 MCU films have taken almost £1.2bn since 2008 (£1.3bn inflated). Why are critics reacting differently to them now as they haven’t changed they are still the same films, The problem is they have added characters from their TV shows.
- Shadow Force – Lionsgate
Action thriller starring Kerry Washington, Omar Sy, Mark Strong, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, and Cliff “Method Man” Smith and directed by Joe Carnahan.
Development started in 2019, and Lionsgate acquired distribution rights the same year; production started in August 2022