1. Project Hail Mary £7,403,542 – NE

Includes £2,776,008 37.5% from previews (Sat/Sun/Thurs)

Took £1.23m 16.61% Friday; £1.88m 25.40% Saturday; £1.493m 20.17% Sunday.

IMAX took £1.2m from 53 screens (£23k average). BFI IMAX was 70mm IMAX.

185^th biggest opening between 1917 and Finding Nemo (close to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, The Day After Tomorrow and War for the Planet of the Apes) and Star Wars Special Edition and Starsky & Hutch (close to Rocky IV, Tomorrow Never Dies, Toy Story and Batman).

10^th biggest opening over the last 52 weeks between Wuthering Heights and F1 (close to The Fantastic Four, How To Train Your Dragon, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning and Superman).

All that glitters is not gold. On first glance, Project Hail Mary had a very strong opening in the UK, but it needed three days of previews, taking £2.8m to get there. This underlines how the market has structurally shifted. Adjusted for inflation, a £7.4m opening in 2015 was comfortably in the top 100; now it’s 185th.

Opened close to The LEGO Batman Movie, Jason Bourne, Taken 2, It Chapter 2, Mission Impossible: Fallout, Justice League, Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny, Men In Black, F1, X-Men 2, Independence Day and Superman.

The industry celebrates this as a strong result, but the numbers tell a different story: original, mid‑budget films that were once a staple of the top tier now need extended previews and an artificially inflated headline to be considered a success. The bar has lowered, and the thirst for leadership has become so acute that, as the American President put it, people drink the sand because they don’t know the difference.

39^th widest opening 692 cinemas (1,546 screens), similar to Thor: Love and Thunder and Incredibles 2; 300^th 600+ cinema opening since 2015’s Jurassic World.

Its UK to US opening was 9.2%, including 3 days of previews, but only 5.75% 3 day opening (£4,627,534).

Films like Project Hail Mary are more important to cinema than The Super Mario Galaxy Movie as they bring the infrequent cinemagoers back to the cinema; 70% of the audience was infrequent; with 61% male and 39% female and a steady balance across demographics 30% 12-24; 44% 25-44; 22% 45-64 and 5% 65+. This should see it have long legs as even with Super Mario opening next week the audience is broad enough not to be cannibalised by it.

In 2020, MGM acquired rights for Project Hail Mary with Ryan Gosling attached to star. Soon after, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were attached to direct, with Drew Goddard adapting the novel as he did with Andy Weir’s The Martian.

Project Hail Mary feels like the spiritual successor to The Martian in every way: same author, same screenwriter, same “sci-fi problem-solving” DNA, but the comparisons to Interstellar, Arrival, and Contact are inevitable given the scale and themes.

Buzz has been building for months for Project Hail Mary, and from critical and audience reactions, it lives up to the buzz received. The first trailer was released in June and had over 400m views; the second trailer was released in November, and the final trailer was shown during the Super Bowl in February.

Starring Ryan Gosling and directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, based on the 2021 novel by Andy Weir. It’s Ryan Gosling’s first film since 2024’s The Fall Guy, and next year he returns to space in Star Wars: Starfighter. Ryan Gosling’s previous sci-fi films include 2018’s First Man and 2017’s Blade Runner 2049. Despite starring in the massive Barbie, he hasn’t opened a film on his own until now.

It’s Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s first film since being replaced by Ron Howard due to “creative differences” in 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story

2015’s The Martian opened £6,531,734/£7,256,476 (including £1,630,490 previews) taking £23,578,878/£26,195,120

2013’s Gravity opened £6,238,375 #1 539 screens taking £32,756,514

2014’s Interstellar opened £5,378,220 #1 574 screens taking £21,173,601

2017’s Blade Runner 2049 opened £6,071,625 #1 634 screens taking £18,918,361

2016’s Arrival opened £2,924,059 #1 561 screens taking £9,144,719

2007’s I am Legend opened £11,009,365/£17,462,379 taking £25,348,532/£40,206,285

After taking £2.1m from previews last Sat/Sun and having previews on Thursday it surely should have opened close to 2024’s Dune Part 2 £9,279,080; £2.81m (19% IMAX) 30.28% Friday; £3.51m 37.83% Saturday; £2.959m 31.89% Sunday; it took 17.95% from 53 IMAX cinemas with a screen average of £31,346. It has had IMAX/PLF and other premium formats before The Super Mario Galaxy Movie opens, taking all of those screens.

Having IMAX screens is vital for films’ opening, as seen with Dune Part 3 holding its December release date despite Avengers: Doomsday moving to December. Everyone has expected Warner to move Dune part 3, but if they did, they wouldn’t get IMAX screens and be in a similar situation to Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, which was opening ahead of Oppenheimer.

IMAX books its slots a long time in advance, and with Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew having IMAX screens in November, Warner would have to move Dune Part 3 into 2027.

It’s Ryan Gosling’s first film since 2024’s The Fall Guy (opened £3,598,996, taking £12,126,013), and next year he returns to space in Star Wars: Starfighter. Ryan Gosling’s previous sci-fi films include 2018’s First Man (opened £2,415,330, taking £7,360,906/£8,166,324) and 2017’s Blade Runner 2049 (opened £6,071,625/£6,493,153 taking £18,918,361/£20,231,785)

Despite starring in the massive Barbie, he hasn’t opened a film on his own. While he has avoided doing sequels to his films as he has a “one and done” acting ethos, Barbie 2 feels very unlikely. Ryan Gosling used to go for quirky character driven roles that weren’t predictable commercial hits like Half Helson, Lars and the Real Girl, Blue Valentine, Drive, The Nice Guys, but since 2016’s La La Land has gone more commercial with his choice Blade Runner 2049, First Man, The Gray Man, Barbie and The Fall Guy and next year with Star Wars: Starfighter.

Ahead of the opening, Box Office Pro again predicted an impossibly low opening for Project Hail Mary; they did similarly with Wuthering Heights and other films. Do they do this on purpose, so openings are bigger than expected? As Project Hail Mail was never going to open with only £3m-£4m, especially as it took over half that the weekend before from previews?

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller previously directed.

2012’s 21 Jump Street opened £1,556,039/£1,956,652 taking £9,863,555/£12,402,995

2014’s The Lego Movie opened £8,051,140/£9,596,671 taking £32,887,286/£39,200,470

2014’s 22 Jump Street opened £4,854,991/£5,786,976 taking £18,322,998/£21,840,359. They also directed 2009’s Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

Project Hail Mary had its world premiere in London on March 9^th and then had its intergalactic premiere, becoming the first film to ever have its premiere in space in IMAX.

Ryan Gosling went viral when he met Elmo on Sesame Street; Elmo has had a long-standing feud with Zoe’s pet rock on Sesame Street, Rocco, as she treats the rock as her friend. Rocco first appeared in 1999.

After Project Hail Mary had three days of previews, even after receiving positive reviews, strong media coverage and excellent word of mouth, it’s going to drop 60%-70% in its second weekend, but 40% of that will be due to the preview BO, so without previews it will be about 30% drop. It has IMAX/PLF screens until next Tuesday as The Super Mario Galaxy Movie opens on April 1^st.

• 2. Dhurandhar: The Revenge £2,064,354 – NE

Includes £425,793 from Thursday previews.

Took £497k 24.08% Friday; £342k 16.57% Saturday; £414k 20.06% Sunday.

Dhurandhar: The Revenge took £470k on Thursday, overtaking 2023’s Pathaan, £319,348, to have the biggest opening day for a Hindi film in the UK. It opened in 282 cinemas, less than half of the cinemas Project Hail Mary opened, showing again that studio films don’t need to open so wide, as less is more, as Dhurandhar: The Revenge had more sold-out shows than Project Hail Mary, and it was playing in smaller auditoriums without premium formats.

910^th biggest opening between Evita and The Ring Two (close to Gangster Squad, There’s Something About Mary, Scream 4 and Bounty Hunter) and 1,378^th biggest inflated opening between Halloween: H20 and First Knight (close to The Green Mile, Predator, Point Break, and The Equaliser).

36^th biggest opening over the last 52 weeks between The Roses and Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie (close to The Running Man, Predator: Badlands, The Naked Gun and Tron: Ares).

the biggest ever opening for an Indian film ahead of Pathaan (£1.96m), Jawan (£1.34m) and L2: Empuraan (£1.21m).

It is also the third biggest opening for a film not in the English language after Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle (£3.46m) and Pokémon: The First Movie (£2.83m).

2025’s Dhurandhar opened £306,678 #7 136 screens.

• 3. Hoppers £1,231,382 – £9,510,888

Down 46.2% in its third weekend  

£170k 13.81% (-44.98% £309k) Fri; £564k 45.82% (-73.6% £981k) Sat; £497k 40.37% (-68.02% £998k) Sun.

517^th biggest third weekend between Tenet and School Of Rock (close to Anyone But You, Bend It Like Beckham, School Of Rock and The Pursuit Of Happyness) and 817^th biggest inflated third weekend between Philomena and The Polar Express (close to Early Man, Ant-Man, The Boxtrolls and Thunderbolts).

23^rd biggest Pixar third weekend between Cars 2 and Cars 3 (close to Elemental, Cars, The Good Dinosaur and Lightyear).

Pixar released Toy Story 5 in June and has Minions & Monsters opening only three weeks later; it’s the first time two massive Pixar and Illumination animations are opening so close together, both open away from school holidays and during the World Cup.

Performing similarly to recent Pixar films, including

2023’s Elemental dropped 42.3% £1,430,063 and £8,960,702 48.4% of £18,151,466

2022’s Lightyear dropped 62.3% £864,035 and £8,515,725 83.5% of £10,194,115

2025’s Elio dropped 9.7% £691,062 and £3,042,685 64.3% of £4,731,082

2018’s Coco dropped 28..7% £1,651,929 and £10,221,949 56.7% of £18,013,336

2015’s The Good Dinosaur dropped 25.1% £1,273,294/£1,414,575 and £6,748,842 45.6% of £14,810,130/£16,453,418

814^th biggest between Red Dragon and Cool Runnings (close to Three Men And A Baby, Alice Through the Looking Glass, Ticket To Paradise and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids) and 1,306^th biggest inflated between S.W.A.T and The Princess Diaries (close to Mean Girls (2004), Return of the Jedi (R97), Beverly Hills Cop III and Mean Girls (2024).

138^th biggest animated film between The Addams Family and Sherlock Gnomes (close to Antz, The Croods 2: A New Age, The LEGO Ninjago Movie and The Emperor’s New Groove) and 166^th biggest inflated animated film between Ferdinand and Pixels (close to The Tigger Movie, The Prince of Egypt, Rango and The Lady and the Tramp (re1989).

Hoppers will drop about 20%-30% in its fourth weekend, the start of the Easter school holidays.

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• 4. Reminders Of Him            £675,229 – £2,462,691

Down 37.6% in its second weekend

£216k 32% (-45.18% £394k) Fri; £259k 38.37% (-34.43% £395k) Sat; £492k 29.63% (+70.21% £292k) Sun.

1,624^th biggest second weekend between Total Recall (2012) and City of Angels (close to Meet Joe Black, The Princess Diaries 2, Sex Tape and The Dilemma) and 2,202^nd biggest inflated second weekend between The Good Liar and Their Finest (close to Circle of Friends, Just Like Heaven, Saving Mr Banks and Final Analysis).

45^th biggest second weekend over the last 52 weeks between Crime 101 and The Running Man (close to Send Help, Elio, Mothers Pride and Bugonia).

Having a slightly lower second weekend than last year’s Colleen Hoover adaptation, Regretting You, down 28.9% £907,655 and £3,854,463, 62.3% of £6,186,391

2024’s It Ends With Us dropped 37.2% £2,834,201 taking £11,384,454 52.9% of £21,241,321.

While similar films include

2025’s Materialists dropped 56.9% £554,097 and £2,593,725 70.3% of £3,688,491

2022’s Where the Crawdads Sing dropped 38.7% £855,842 and £3,767,061 46.4% of £8,115,231

With Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come having a disappointing opening Reminders Of Him surely should held stronger In its second weekend but similar to John Green and Nicholas Sparks adaptations including The Fault in Our Stars, Paper Towns, The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, The Longest Ride, Dear John, Safe Haven, The Lucky Ones and Nights in Rodanthe, they were mostly front heavy due to FOMO.

The next adaptation is Verity, opening in October, starring Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett for MGM.

Sony has wanted to make the sequel to It Ends with Us, It Starts With Us, but the legal battle between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, ever since the film opened, has delayed any potential sequel until the result of the court case.

Upcoming female-focused films for the rest of the year include The Devil Wears Prada 2, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, Moana, Practical Magic 2, Sense And Sensibility, Verity, Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew and The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping, Focker-In-Law. A mix of legacy sequels, reimaginations, comic-book, fantasy and comedy.

• 5. Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come £615,447 – NE

Took £170k 27.64% Friday; £232k 37.72% Saturday; £213k 34.63% Sunday.

2,495^th biggest opening between Tamara Drewe and Cinderella Man (close to Friend Request, Street Fighter (1995), The Net and Labyrinth) and 2,997^th biggest inflated opening between Going in Style and Postcards From the Edge (close to Highlander, The Shawshank Redemption, Pleasantville and John Wick).

69^th biggest opening over the last 52 weeks between Mercy and Caught Stealing (close to Roofman, A Working Man, Novocaine and M3GAN 2.0).

Ready or Not 2: Here I Come received a lot of media coverage over the last week after having its premiere at SXSW, and Sarah Michelle Gellar found out just before the premiere that Hulu had cancelled Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale without any warning. It was overshadowed by the news Sarah Michelle Gellar revealed to her fans on Instagram: Buffy: New Sunnydale had been cancelled by Hulu.

Searchlight Pictures started development on the sequel in 2024; It was a moderate success due to its low $6m budget, taking $28.7m in the US and $57.61m worldwide, but it found a much bigger audience worldwide when it was released on Netflix and in the top 10 in over 60 countries for weeks. During the first week, it was watched by 5.3m. It’s one of several Disney films that found a far bigger audience when it was on Netflix than in its cinema release.

2019’s Ready or Not was the last wide film release made by Fox Searchlight Pictures before Disney acquired the studio in 2020.

2019’s Ready Or Not opened £947,958, taking £1,637,064/£1,816,189

Ready or Not feels similar to films like Saltburn and The Menu, trying to parody privilege, trying to be too clever, but they’re not clever enough to justify their own cleverness. These modern versions are often clever without being angry. They perform critique without commitment. They want credit for saying something without actually saying it, but sometimes social horrors connect with audiences like Get Out.

J.B. Priestley understood something many filmmakers don’t: the audience must be implicated. The Inspector’s final speech isn’t about the Birlings, it’s about us: “We don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other. And I tell you that the time will soon come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish.”

That’s not just a critique of the rich. It’s a warning to everyone. The modern films let us off the hook. We can leave the cinema feeling righteous without ever examining our own small cruelties, our own tiny complicities.

Also opened

•             Moulin Rouge (25th Anniversary) – Park Circus

Opened £38,938 #24 from 254 screens.

The final part of Luhrmann’s Red Curtain Trilogy, after 1992’s Strictly Ballroom (1992) and 1996’s Romeo + Juliet.

Moulin Rouge premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and opened in the US soon afterwards, where it was a moderate success, but it was in the UK where it opened in September, where it was a much bigger hit (opened £2,403,378/£4,650,014 from 284 screens, taking £18,166,288/£35,147,818 7.6x opening. It opened #1 but was replaced by A.I. Artificial Intelligence after a week, but returned to #1 in its fifth weekend.

The film’s soundtrack sold over 6m copies worldwide.

And the film found a second and third life in the UK, first with hugely successful Secret Cinema events and the stage show musical.

Heath Ledger was one of the actors who auditioned for the role of Christian, and he starred in the jukebox musical A Knight’s Tale that was overshadowed by Moulin Rouge’s opening at the same time.

It was nominated for 8 Oscars, winning two and was nominated for 12 BAFTAs, winning three.

With Baz Lurhman’s documentary EPiC: Elvis Presley In Concert #3 in the chart last weekend, Park Circus re-released two of his classic films that both celebrate anniversaries this year, it’s the 25th anniversary since Moulin Rouge opened and 30 years (in the US) since Romeo + Juliet was released. His Elvis documentary was a visualised experience that blew audiences away.

This weekend Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet is re-released for its 20^th anniversary, but as so many of these anniversaries are, it’s tied to its US opening, as it opened in the UK this weekend in March 1997, 5 months after its US opening (£662,546/£1,303,930 taking £7,438,055/£14,638,531

• Midwinter Break – Universal Pictures

Opened £60,843 #17 from 200 screens.

Starring Lesley Manville and Ciarán Hinds and directed by Polly Findlay, based on the 2017 novel by Bernard MacLaverty.

In 2017, Film4 acquired rights for the 2017 novel Midwinter Break, with John Crowley attached to direct; in 2023, Polly Findlay replaced John Crowley as director.

It’s received mixed reviews, having its UK premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival in February, and also had a limited US release in February and will have a limited release in the UK in March.

While

• The Bride! – Warner Bros

Dropped 91% in its third weekend, taking £16,132 and £1.4m, but it will still not be released on VOD for another 3 weeks at least, even though it’s playing in a handful of screens.

Also dropping big Crime 101 85% £9,940 and £4,330,217; How To Make A Killing 71.2% in its second weekend taking £255,014 and £1,512,486; Scream 7 59.5% in its third weekend £199,074 and £7,594,885; Wuthering Heights dropped 64% in its sixth weekend taking £191,522 and £24,794,995 and EPiC: Elvis Presley In Concert dropped 76% in its fourth weekend taking £42,549 and £3.6m. With five new releases, with Project Hail Mary opening in over 1,500 screens, holdovers struggled to hold onto screens.

Other Box Office News

February’s admissions were 9.475m, down 15.1% from 2025, which had Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy and Captain America: Brave New World; this year’s Wuthering Heights and Goat were never going to get close.

2026 admissions are now 20.53m, down 4.8% from 2025; down 20.8% from 2019m, and down 30.1% o average. On the 6^th anniversary of the first lockdown, it shows that admissions are still 30% down from before COVID. This has been the issue for the last 6 years, as the focus has always been on getting BO to return to pre-pandemic levels rather than admissions. BO might get close to 2019 levels this year, but it will still be far from 2019 admissions.

Biggest February films

Wuthering Heights £20.13m

Goat £11.46m

Send Help £4.13m

Hamnet £4.01m

The Housemaid £3.83m

Zootropolis 2 £3.7m

Crime 101 £3.61m

Scream 7 £3.07m

Shelter £1.78m

Avatar: Fire and Ash £1.67m

When you have such a big gap between the second and third film and then have four films in the top 10 films that were released in previous months, you can see how soft February was, and historically it’s been very lucrative with half-term and family films taking three times as much as Goat.

Of course, people will say, look at the massive films still to open and will have The Super Mario Galaxy Movie opening next week with £15m+ similar to last year’s Minecraft Movie.

——————–

BO is currently up 4% from 2025.

The weekend’s top 10 box office took £13,295,685, up 102.5% from last weekend’s £6,566,972:  1,659,886 admissions, up 155.2% from 650,406 admissions.

17^th biggest weekend of the last 52 weeks between 18 July 2025 #1 Superman £4,877,459 (36.40%) and 13 June 2025 #1 How To Train Your Dragon £8,145,188 (61.34%)

66^th biggest since cinemas reopened out of 279 weeks between 30 June 2023 #1 Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny £7,144,441 (53.69%) and 13 June 2025 #1 How To Train Your Dragon £8,145,188 (61.34%)

369^th biggest top 10 of the last 25 years (out of 1,250) between 30 June 2023 #1 Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny £7,144,441 (53.69%) and 06 April 2018 #1 Peter Rabbit £3,152,269 (23.72%) and 659^th biggest inflated between 14 October 2011 #1 Johnny English Reborn £3,072,542 (30.53%) and 01 February 2013 #1 Les Miserables £2,785,143 (25.71%)  

The top 3 took £10,699,278 (80.5%) of the top 10; Project Hail Mary 55.68% (£7,403,542); Dhurandhar: The Revenge 15.53% (£2,064,354); Hoppers 9.26% (£1,231,382).

214^th biggest percentage share #1 (55.68%) between 13 December 2013 #1 The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug £9,325,626 (55.71%) and 22 December 2023 #1 Wonka £7,214,019 (55.58%)

324^th biggest admissions (924,287) between 10 November 2006 #1 Borat £4,510,657 (926,213) and 19 March 2004 #1 Starsky & Hutch £4,145,897 (923,362)

Up 54.25% from 2025; (£8,619,360); Snow White (£3,856,173); Ne Zha 2 (£1,235,546); Flow (£411,675); The Alto Knights (£388,530); London 2025 Romeo & Juliet ROH (£98,318); Hans Zimmer & Friends: Diamond In The Desert (£92,742); Y2K (£26,999); Bad Boys (30th Anniversary) (£12,691); #1 Snow White £3,856,173 1st week 654 screens 44.74% of top 10)

Up 50.48% from 2024; (£8,835,336); Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (£4,056,097); Immaculate (£522,583); Late Night With The Devil (£220,436); The Motive And The Cue – NT Live 2024 (£157,963); Romeo Et Juliette – Met Opera 2023/24 (£81,880); The Persian Version (£37,510); After Hours (4K Restoration) (£11,754); #1 Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire £4,056,097 687 screens 1st week (45.91% of top 10)

Up 40.82% from 2023; (£9,441,651); John Wick: Chapter 4 (£5,321,533); 80 For Brady (£158,937); Infinity Pool (£83,972); A Good Person (£71,007); #1 John Wick: Chapter 4 £5,321,533 1st week 651 screens (56.36%)

Up 208.99% 2022 (£4,302,969); RRR (£650,204); Ambulance (£521,049); Don Carlos – Met Opera 2022 (£72,610); Umma (£35,692); #1 The Batman £1,664,503 4th weekend 50% drop 683 screens (38.7% of top 10)

2021 Lockdown

2020 Lockdown

Up 38.53% from 2019: (£9,597,710); Us 74.2% (£2,766,839); The White Crow (£326,997); Five Feet Apart (£253,341); The Great Escape with Dan Snow: A Gala Screening On The 75th Anniversary (£172,550); #1 Captain Marvel £3,378,583 3rd week 632 screens 49% drop (32.5% of top 10)

Up 14.86% from 2018; (£11,575,592); Pacific Rim: Uprising (£1,655,186); A Wrinkle In Time (£655,542); Unsane (£478,451); Blade Runner: The Final Cut (Secret Cinema 2018) (£349,492); Proud Mary (£26,291); #1 Peter Rabbit (£4,595,239) 2nd week 37% drop (39.7% of top 10)

Down 29.19% 2017: (£18,777,727); Power Rangers (£1,574,624); Life (£743,281); The Lost City of Z (£270,139); CHiPs: Law and Disorder (£205,933); Idomeneo – Met Opera 2017 (£186,423); #1 Beauty and the Beast £12,334,338 2nd week 37% drop (65.7% of top 10)

Down 46.10% 2016: (£24,577,822); Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (£14,621,007); Zootropolis (£5,306,726); My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (£983,534); Capture the Flag (£86,104); #1 Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice £14,621,007 1st week (59.5% of top 10)

Up 12.73% 2015; (£11,794,092); Home (£6,025,917); The Divergent Series: Insurgent, (£2,938,860); The Gunman (£405,934); Wild Card (£152,034); The Voices (£118,255); #1 Home £6,025,917 1st week (51.09%)

Up 117.98% 2014: (£6,099,424); Starred Up (£495,181); A Long Way Down (£361,901); Labor Day (£278,726); About Last Night (£173,376); Yves Saint Laurent (£123,913); #1 The Grand Budapest Hotel £1,267,408 1st week 9 (2nd weekend) 3% drop.

Up 19.63% 2013: (11,114,309); The Croods (£5,372,290); Jack the Giant Slayer (£1,591,736); Identity Thief (£1,313,162); Stolen (£202,373); Compliance (£72,417); #1 The Croods £5,372,290 1st week.

Up 48.16% 2012: (£9,142,345); The Hunger Games (£4,900,177); Act of Valour (£262,935); The Kid with a Bike (£66,822); Wild Bill (£60,430); #1 The Hunger Games £4,900,177 1st week (54.6%)

Up 85.08% from 2011 (£7,183,735); Limitless (£2,087,363); A Turtle’s Tale (£1,122,067); The Eagle (£1,038,954); Faster (£157,169); Country Strong (£22,001); #1 Limitless £2,087,363 1st week (29.1% of top 10)

Up 29.46% from 2010: (£10,270,286); Nanny McPhee & the Big Bang (£2,586,760); The Blind Side (£1,313,317); #1 Nanny McPhee & the Big Bang £2,586,760 1st week (25.2% of top 10)

Up 86.04% 2009; (£7,146,864); Paul Blart: Mall Cop (£1,289,513); Duplicity (£796,244); Lesbian Vampire Killers (£648,634); The Age of Stupid (£101,752); Flash of Genius (£15,626); #1 Marley & Me £2,166,270 2nd week 51% drop (30.31%)

Up 6.23% from 2008; (£12,516,106); Horton Hears a Who (£2,947,089); The Spiderwick Chronicles (£2,555,791); Step Up 2 (£2,358,003); Meet the Spartans (£1,140,100); The Orphanage (£329,009); Love in the Time of Cholera (£91,784); Lars and the Real Girl (£78,707)); #1 Horton Hears a Who £2,947,089 1st week (23.55%)

Up 48.45% from 2007: (£8,956,317); 300 (£4,746,071); TMNT (£948,791); Amazing Grace (£431,967); I Want Candy (£349,301); #1 300 £4,746,071 1st week (53% of top 10)

Up 103.42% from 2006; (£6,536,128): Inside Man (£1,806,854); Hostel (£1,215,987); The Ringer (£560,520); Transamerica (£137,932); The Boys from County Clare (£36,708); #1 Inside Man £1,806,854 1st week (27.6% of top 10)

Up 77.53% 2005: (£7,489,470); Miss Congeniality 2 (£1,302,070); Valiant (£1,096,329); Melinda and Melinda (£129,257); Maria Full of Grace (£84,335); Mickybo and Me (£47,918); #1 Hitch £1,660,358 2nd week over 4 weeks (22.2% of top 10)

Up 72.57% 2004; (£7,704,369); Starsky & Hutch (wide up 905%) (£4,145,897); Open Range (£424,954); Zatoichi (£137,049); Grand Theft Parsons (£21,108); #1 Starsky & Hutch (+905%) £4,145,897 1st week (2nd week) (53.81%)

Up 209.20% from 2003 (£4,300,084); Just Married (£973,469); National Security (£426,698); Evelyn (£344,270); #1 Just Married £973,469 1st week (22.64%)

Up 30.98% from 2002 (£10,151,091); Ali G Indahouse (£3,231,673); Ice Age (£3,029,738); Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (£541,453); Return to Neverland (£266,149); #1 Ali G Indahouse £3,231,673 1st week (31.84%)

2025 Next week: (£6,533,435); L2: Empuraan (£1,210,579); A Working Man (£658,134); Novocaine (£544,179); Billy Elliot: The Musical Live (Re: 2024) (£295,143); Dr. Strangelove – NT Live 2025 (£203,070); The Woman In The Yard (£185,276); #1 Snow White £2,015,179 2^nd week 658 screens down 48% (30.84% of top 10)

US Box Office

• Project Hail Mary – MGM/Amazon

Opened $80.5m; received positive reviews (95% Rotten Tomatoes) and an A CinemaScore.

Took $12m from Thursday previews; Dune Part 2 $12m; Solo: A Star Wars Story $14m; Oppenheimer $10.5m; F1 $10m; Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning $8.3m; The Martian $2.5m.

The biggest original film opening since 2023’s Oppenheimer ($82.4m); only three non-sequel, non-franchise films have opened above $50m since 2020: Oppenheimer ($82.4m), F1: The Movie ($57m), and It Ends With Us ($50.01m)

132^nd biggest opening between Twisters and Black Widow (close to Dune: Part Two, Solo: A Star Wars Story, I Am Legend and Avatar)

Despite being a sci-fi film, it’s playing more like a family film, which affected Hopper’s third weekend, dropping much more than expected.

IMAX/PLF took 56% with IMAX 24% ($16.4m)

IMAX took $30.3m from IMAX worldwide; the biggest non-franchise opening since last year’s F1, which took $100m from IMAX worldwide, but Project Hail Mary only has IMAX screens for two weeks before The Super Mario Galaxy Movie opens.

It played in 15 screens in 70mm IMAX (including BFI IMAX), taking $2m with $122k screen average.

EntTelligence says it had 5m admissions; Oppenheimer had 5.9m; average ticket prices $15.53 (standard) and $18.89 (PLF/IMAX).

IMAX’s Rich Gelfond said “Project Hail Mary is an excellent film for which Amazon/MGM ran a brilliant campaign, leaning heavily on the power of Imax as a global launch platform across production, marketing, and distribution,” …  “Going back decades to some of our earliest documentaries, there is an enduring connection between Imax and space, and this film’s stunning depiction of the cosmos stands among the best — it truly demands to be experienced in Imax.”

Why it matters for the industry: This is the blueprint for the post‑Oppenheimer, post‑Dune era: a director‑driven, adult‑skewing original that uses IMAX as both a production tool and a marketing hook to carve out a place in a franchise‑dominated landscape. It also explains why Warner Bros. is holding Dune: Part Three against Avengers: Doomsday, IMAX bookings are locked in advance, and surrendering that window would cost them a similar premium‑format advantage.

57% males; 60% under 35.

Ahead of opening, it was tracking to open between $55m-$60m, but that always felt low for this film. The issue is the high percentage of IMAX/PLF that makes tracking hard to incorporate, as it opened then similar to $50m-$60m, as IMAX/PLF added about 30% to its BO.

2015’s The Martian opened $54.3m/$67.83m (45% 3D), taking $228.43m and $630.62m worldwide

The Martian opened with $6m from 375 PLF screens; Robert Zemeckis’s The Walk opened exclusively in 348 IMAX screens, taking only $1.56m. The Martian generated strong buzz since the Toronto Film Festival

2024’s Dune Part 2 opened $82.5m, taking $282.14m and $714.84m worldwide

2021’s Dune opened $40.1m, taking $108.89m and $433.79m worldwide

2010’s Inception opened $62.78m ($83.79m), taking $292.58m and $839.03m worldwide

2023’s Oppenheimer opened $82.45m, taking $329.01m and $957.59m worldwide

2013’s Gravity opened $55.78m ($72.25m), taking $274.09m and $773.03m worldwide

2014’s Interstellar opened $47.51m ($61.23m), taking $188.02m and $731.07m worldwide

2016’s Arrival opened $24.07m ($29.3m), taking $100.54m and $203.38m worldwide

2017’s Blade Runner 2049 opened $32.75m ($38.44m), and $92.07m and $267.68m worldwide

Amazon/MGM first screened footage a year ago at CinemaCon, which wowed audiences. The first trailer was seen over 400m times. Ryan Gosling went on a global media tour that included stops in London, Paris, Mexico City and NYC (including Sesame Street and Saturday Night Live).

Social media had 520.8m across Facebook, X, TikTok, and YouTube, close to Dune: Part 2, 575.7m.

Opened with $60.4m from 82 territories; UK $10.2m; Australia $5m; Germany $4.1m; Mexico $3m; France $2.6m; Japan $2.6m; Italy $1.5m; Brazil $1.3m; IMAX $11.2m internationally; UK 16.4%; Japan 29%; Hong Kong 33%; South Korea 25%; Mexico 16%; Brazil 12%

In 2015, The Martian opened with $44.6m in 46 territories (9,299 screens; UK $10.4m (1,040 screens); Australia $4.5m; Mexico $2.9m; Hong Kong $2.88m; Italy $2.8m; Brazil $1.89m.

Dune Part 2 opened internationally with $97m from 71 territories and $178.5m worldwide; opened in 809 IMAX screens in 81 countries, including 12 cinemas in 70mm taking $32.2m, taking $13.7m internationally from IMAX; UK $11.8m; France $9.6m. Germany $9.1m; S. Korea $6.9m; Australia $6m; Italy $3.9m; Mexico $3.9m; Spain $3.5m; Poland $2.7m; Taiwan $2.6m; Holland $2.5m; Sweden $2m.

• Hoppers – Disney

Dropped 38% in its third weekend, $17.8m and $120.18m.

240^th biggest third weekend between Logan and Doctor Strange (close to Ice Age, Ratatouille, Happy Feet and Trolls)

Hoppers has overtaken Pixar’s Lightyear $118.3m, and will shortly overtake The Good Dinosaur, $123m.

2023’s Elemental dropped 34.2% $12.12m and $89.6m of $154.42m and $496.44m worldwide

2024’s The Wild Robot dropped 25.9% $14m and $84.28m of $143.9m and $334.53m worldwide

2017’s Coco dropped 33% $18.45m and $135.65m from $210.46 m and $814.64m worldwide

Took $34.2m internationally from 51 territories and $242.6m worldwide; UK $12.7m; Mexico $11.2m; China $9.6m; Germany $9.6m; France $7.7m; Spain $6.4m; Japan $6.1m; Italy $5m; Brazil $4.4m; South Korea $4.3m.

• Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come

Opened $9.07m; received positive reviews (79% Rotten Tomatoes) and a B+ CinemaScore.

Took $1.2m from Thursday reviews; Ready Or Not $730k.

PLFs took 10% from 310 PLF and 150 motion seats screens.

2019’s Ready Or Not opened $8.01m, taking $28.71m and $57.61m

Ready or Not became the surprise hit of the late summer in 2019. It had a $6m budget and opened with $8.01m and held strongly in its second weekend. It was also a huge hit on streaming and had strong buzz building up to its world premiere at SXSW, where it received positive reviews. But then Sarah Michelle Gellar revealed on Instagram that Hulu had cancelled Buffy: New Sunnydale.

The timing of the cancellation was dreadful. Why did Hulu tell her days before she was appearing at the premiere of Searchlight Pictures’ Ready or Not 2: Here I Come? They surely could have revealed it anytime, but to do that, they must have felt like a knife in the back, especially as it was revealed that the decision was made by a Disney executive who openly told her that he didn’t like the original show, having never watched it. Sarah Michelle Gellar told her fans not to boycott Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, as she was proud of the film, but surely many did, as it should have opened far bigger than the first film.

Sarah Michelle Gellar of course is best known for playing Buffy Summer in Buffy the Vampire Slayer for 7 series, but apart from 1999’s Cruel Intentions, Scooby-Doo and I Know What You Did Last Summer hasn’t been able to repeat that success with films having cameo roles in many films like Scream 2, Small Soldiers and last year in I Know What You Did Last Summer.

Opened with $2.8m from 21 territories; UK $800k; Australia $400k; Brazil $200k.

• Reminders of Him – Universal Pictures

Dropped 55% in in its second weekend, $8m and $33.17m

Social media 349m across TikTok, YouTube, X, Instagram and Facebook, ahead of It Ends With Us (337.4m). YouTube 94.6m is ahead of It Ends With Us (56m). It Ends With Us had bigger Instagram views, 157.1m to 117m; Rudy Pankow had 8m fans, Lauren Graham at 2.1m, Hoover 4.4m, Withers at 466k and Monroe at 406K.

The third Colleen Hoover adaptation after

2025’s Regretting You dropped 42.9% $7.81m and $27.25m of $48.85m and $90.45m worldwide

2024’s It Ends with Us dropped 52.4% $23.8m and $97.59m of $148.51m and $351.44m worldwide

2022’s Ticket to Paradise dropped 40.3% $9.85m and $33.58m of $68.27m and $168.77m worldwide

2022’s Don’t Worry Darling dropped 64.6% $6.84m and $32.35m from $45.3 m and $87.6m worldwide

2025’s Materialist dropped 49.1% $5.77m and $23.87m from $36 m.52 m, and $107.94m worldwide

2022’s Where the Crawdads Sing dropped 40% $10.35m and $38.35m of $90.23m and $144.35m worldwide

After the success of 2024’s It Ends with Us studios have been quick to adapt other Colleen Hoover novels this is similar to a decade ago when there were many John Green adaptations (The Fault in Our Stars, Paper Towns and Let It Snow) and Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, The Longest Ride, Dear John, Safe Haven, The Lucky Ones, Nights in Rodanthe and A Walk to Remember and Message in a Bottle).

Over the years that followed, Netflix became the home of these female-targeted films, including Jenny Han’s To All the Boys trilogy, Emily Henry’s People We Meet on Vacation, and Amazon made Anne Hathaway star in The Idea of You. Anna Todd’s After We Collided performed well in autumn 2020 as it was one of a few new releases after cinemas reopened after COVID, but the sequels struggled to find an audience.

The next adaptation is Verity, opening in October, starring Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett for MGM.

Sony has wanted to make the sequel to It Ends with Us, It Starts With Us, but the legal battle between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, ever since the film opened, has delayed any potential sequel until the result of the court case.

Days before the opening of the film, Universal Pictures announced they were extending the theatrical run for all films, including Remainders of Him, to 6 weeks this year and 7 from next year. While films like The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Minions & Monsters and The Odyssey will have long playing time, films like Remainders of Him don’t normally have the same legs and are often played out after 4 weeks.

Took $7.1m internationally from 65 territories (5,091 screens) and $54m worldwide; Germany $5m; UK $3.3m; Australia $2.4m

• Scream 7 – Paramount Pictures

Dropped 49% in its fourth weekend, $4.32m and $114.55m

Fourth weekends

1996’s Scream dropped 25.7% #4, taking $7.43m and $50.02m, 48.5% of $103.04m and $173.04m worldwide; had an extraordinarily strong word of mouth and held very strongly, staying in the top 10 for 9 weeks)

1997’s Scream 2 dropped 19.8% $7.28m #5 and $85.49m, 84.3% of $101.36m and $172.36m WW

2000s Scream 3 dropped 41.7% $5.02m #8 and $78.1m 87.6% of $89.14m and $161.83m WW.

2011’s Scream 4 dropped 67.8% of $701,100 #16 and $36.92m 96.7% of $38.18m and $97.23m WW

1996’s Scream dropped 0% #6, taking $7.34m and $59.47m, 57.7% of $103.04m and $173.04m worldwide; had an extraordinarily strong word of mouth and held very strongly, staying in the top 10 for 9 weeks)

2022’s Scream dropped 34.2% $4.75m #4 and $68.96m, 84.5% of $81.64m and $137.74m WW

2023’s Scream VI dropped 36% i$5.33m and $98.26m of $108.39m and $166.57m WW

Internationally

2022’s Scream took $4.3m from 55 territories in its 4th weekend and $51.4m total international and $120.3m worldwide; UK $8.3m; Australia $3.8m; France $3.7m.

2023’s Scream VI took $3.5m internationally from 54 territories, $49.35m total and $147.62m worldwide

Took $6.7m from 57 territories, $73.9m total and $193.83m worldwide; France $8.5m; Germany $5.1m; Mexico $6.5m; Brazil $5.6m.

Other box office news

Big drops for many other holdovers, including last week’s surprise horror Undertone, despite getting positive reviews, the C CinemaScore saw it predictably heavily in its second weekend, 68% $3.01m, taking $15.21m

Others dropped much more Wuthering Heights dropped 70% in its sixth weekend $496,983 taking $83.32m; Crime 101 dropped 75% also in its sixth weekend $280,312 taking $36.34m; EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert dropped 72% in its fifth weekend $205,537 taking $13.18m; Send Help dropped 75% in its eighth weekend taking $64.54m and of course The Bride dropped 86% in its third weekend $285,508 taking $12.55m.

All these big drops highlight again that fixed windows of any length aren’t the answer, as going into these films’ opening, most of them would have had at least 45-day windows.

After winning Best Director and Picture, One Battle After Another had a slight increase, up 24% in its 26^th week on release, $197,514, taking $72.81m

UK Box Office Top 10

Box Office Preview

Project Hail Mary will hold #1 for a second weekend, but after taking 38% of its opening from 3 days of previews, it could drop 60%-70% despite strong word of mouth (about 30%-40% drop without previews). Taking between £2.2m-£2.8m in its second weekend.

The Magic Faraway Tree is hard to predict. It could be embraced by audiences as a beloved Enid Blyton adaptation, with a screenplay by Simon Farnaby (Paddington 2, Wonka) and a cast that includes Andrew Garfield, Nicola Coughlan, and Rebecca Ferguson. It’s a whimsical British portal fantasy, children discovering a whole other world, which naturally invites comparisons to C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Enid Blyton books have sold over 600m copies worldwide, placing her among the top 10 best‑selling authors of all time, alongside Shakespeare, Agatha Christie, and J.K. Rowling.

But will it follow the path of other beloved children’s classics? 2016’s Swallows and Amazons opened to £676k and finished with £3.1m; 2022’s The Railway Children Return opened to £365k and ended at £3.0m. Both were well‑reviewed, warmly nostalgic, and quickly forgotten. The question is whether Faraway Tree can break out into mainstream audiences, or whether it will settle into the same slow-burning, modestly performing lane as the Nativity films, playing steadily in the background while Super Mario Galaxy Movie dominates the Easter holidays.

Reviews have been positive, but the target audience isn’t critics; it’s children. And the real question is whether today’s kids, raised on video games and blockbuster IP, will embrace a story that feels more like a stage panto than an epic fantasy. Narnia broke through because it had scale, stakes, and a 12A edge. The Magic Faraway Tree has charm, whimsy, and a U certificate, and in the current market, which may not be enough.

The Magic Faraway Tree could open anywhere between £1m -£2m as it’s a genuine wildcard.

Dhurandhar: The Revenge will drop 60%-70% in its second weekend.

Action-comedy horror They Will Kill You received positive reviews last week at SXSW and plays to a similar audience to Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come, which will see it having a similar opening and also mean Ready Or Not 2 drops 60%+ in its second weekend.

The weekend is the calm before the storm of Super Mario Galaxy Movie opening next Wednesday, with £15m+ over its 5-day weekend. Opening on Wednesday, it takes over cinemas with Vue Westfield and Stratford having 37 shows each over opening day. Films like Super Mario Galaxy Movie don’t open in cinemas; they consume, as they cannibalise the marketplace, sucking up all the oxygen for a massive opening and then a massive second weekend drop when it still has the market for itself, as rival studios won’t risk opening against it.

This surely is the complete opposite of exhibitors wanting films to have a much longer theatrical window, as this is about taking as much money as possible in the first three weeks, so it plays completely to the shorter theatrical window. In three weeks, FOMO would have gone and moved on to the next shiny new film. So, by doing this, exhibitors are doing the very thing they get angry about with studios, as they are shortening the weeks the film will play.

As this is the complete opposite of the predecessors of the films that follow Super Mario, Bohemian Rhapsody, and The Devil Wears Prada, they both had long legs, but Michael and The Devil Wears Prada 2 hype, and FOMO will bring out audiences to their opening weekends, and then audiences will move on to the next film opening the week after.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie will surely open similarly to the first; 2023’s Super Mario Bros opened £15,691,810, including £6,943,163 from previews (£3.9m Weds and £3.02m on Thurs); £3.81m Fri; £3.04m Sat; £1.8m Sunday; its biggest day on Easter Monday £4.1m; taking £54,578,335/£55,198,543.

And also 2025’s A Minecraft Movie opened £15,013,136; £4.65m Fri; £5.9m Sat, £4.46m Sun and £2.49m Monday: £2.2m Tues; taking £55,508,185.

As with Super Mario Bros, the sequel opens at the start of the Easter holidays and the weekend of Easter. Super Mario Galaxy Movie will have the biggest opening in the UK since Wicked: For Good (£18,858,825). With no competition over the Easter holidays, it should take £60m+.

Coming Soon

• Undertone – Vertigo Releasing

Supernatural horror starring Nina Kiri and Adam DiMarco and directed by Ian Tuason.

The film premiered at the Fantasia International Film Festival, and A24 acquired world rights.

The film cost only $500k to make. Director Ian Tuason already has plans to make a trilogy of films.

Ian Tuason was signed last year to direct Paranormal Activity 8. 2015’s Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension was the last film to have a theatrical release.

• You, Me & Tuscany – Universal Pictures

Romantic comedy starring Halle Bailey, Regé-Jean Page and Marco Calvani and directed by Kat Coiro

• California Schemin’ – Studiocanal

Musical biographical starring Séamus McLean Ross, Samuel Bottomley, Lucy Halliday, Rebekah Murrell, James McAvoy and directed by James McAvoy based on Gavin Bain’s 2010 memoir California Schemin’: How Two Lads from Scotland Conned the Music Industry.

Had its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, receiving positive reviews, and had its UK premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival; it was acquired by Studiocanal in September 2024.

• Stand By Me (40th Anniversary 4K Restoration – Park Circus

Beloved coming-of-age drama starring Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O’Connell, Kiefer Sutherland, and directed by Rob Reiner, based on Stephen King’s 1982 novella The Body. The film’s title was changed to Stand by Me after Columbia Pictures was concerned about the original title, The Body, as it sounded like a sex film.

The 40th anniversary of Stand By Me is even more poignant as it comes soon after the sad death of its director, Rob Reiner, in December.

Ben E. King’s 1961 song Stand by Me plays on the end credits. Like so many Stephen King film adaptations, it wasn’t a big hit when it was first released. In the UK, it only had a very limited cinema release in February 1987, despite being a big hit in the US in August 1986.

Michael Jackson was originally asked to record a cover of Stand By Me, but Rob Reiner decided to go with the original version.

Stand By Me was nominated for Best Motion Picture – Drama and Best Director at the Golden Globes. Despite directing The Sure Thing, The Princess Bride, Stand By Me, When Harry Met Sally, This Is Spinal Tap, A Few Good Men, Misery and The American President, Rob Reiner was never nominated for Best Director at either the BAFTAs or the Oscars. His only Oscar nomination was as a producer for A Few Good Men.

After the critical and commercial failure of 1994’s North, a $40m flop that Roger Ebert memorably said he “hated hated hated hated hated”, Reiner’s career shifted. He continued directing, but on a smaller scale: Ghosts of Mississippi, The Story of Us, Rumour Has It, The Bucket List, and Flipped.

North was one of those films that arrived with high expectations; it was, after all, a Rob Reiner picture, coming off an extraordinary run that included This Is Spinal Tap, Stand By Me, When Harry Met Sally…, Misery, and A Few Good Men. But it was a vanity project, and like Barry Levinson’s Toys two years earlier, it was a case of a gifted filmmaker losing the thread. Both films were ambitious, expensive, and mystifyingly wrong-headed fantasies that forgot to be magical, satires that forgot to be funny.

The actors, however, moved on immediately. 32 years later, Elijah Wood, who had already proven himself in The Good Son and The Adventures of Huck Finn, would become Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings, a role that defined a generation. And Scarlett Johansson, who made her film debut in North at age nine, would go on to become the highest-grossing actress of all time, a two-time Oscar nominee, and the defining action star of her generation as Black Widow. The film that sank its director barely registered as a footnote in their careers.

I was a projectionist at Rank in 1994, and North was a film the company was eagerly looking forward to. It was seen as a coup, a Rob Reiner picture, coming off A Few Good Men, for heaven’s sake. The booking sheets were already marked up, the managers were talking about the screens we’d allocate, and the long run we’d give it. We expected the kind of film that makes a cinema feel important.

Then the bosses saw it.

I remember the first screening. The film starts, the credits roll, and there’s that strange, off-key tone from the beginning, something between a fable and a fever dream, a child wandering through a world that felt more like a distraction than a story. Bruce Willis in a bunny suit. Elijah Wood looks lost. Jokes that landed like thuds. By the time the lights came on, there was stunned silence as they left the preview theatre.

Five years later, I saw the same expression. It was at 20th Century Fox, after the bosses watched Star Wars: The Phantom Menace for the first time. That same silence. That same dawning realisation that something they had been waiting for since Return of the Jedi didn’t live up to their expectations, the difference was two months later, The Phantom Menace was still a massive box office success in the UK.