Dropped 55.4% in its second weekend (44.5% without previews); dropping much lower than expected as Sunday estimates had F9 taking £2.1m in its second weekend so after a soft Saturday, Sunday must have perked up;
Would be interesting to see how box office compared from opening Saturday which was £2m+ to last Saturday as 25+ watched England beat Ukraine in Euro 2020 and also how box office for last Tuesday and today Wednesday 7th July is when England play Denmark, but the daily box office is rarely made public in the UK, unlike the US where you can see daily box office freely online. Vista Group is launching their Numero box office service in Europe it would be great if that included a similar database of the daily box and historical box office from European countries.
252nd biggest second weekend in the UK between Die Hard with a Vengeance and Pitch Perfect 2 (close to Die Hard with a Vengeance, Bad Boys For Life, Mad Max: Fury Road and Fast Five); and 400th biggest inflation inflated the second weekend between Brave and World War Z (close to Rush Hour 2, Enemy of the State, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and Kong: Skull Island)
5th biggest Fast and Furious second weekend in the UK between Hobbs & Shaw and Fast Five.
106th biggest Universal Pictures film in the UK (and their 118th film to take over £10m) the second weekend between The Bourne Legacy and Back to the Future Part II (close to Kick-Ass, The Bourne Supremacy, Get Out and Wanted) and 153rd biggest inflation inflated between Small Soldiers and Shaun of the Dead (close to Backdraft, The Fast and the Furious, Miami Vice and Battleship).
Two years ago, this weekend there were record high temperatures across the UK despite that Toy Story 4 only dropped 37.7% in its second weekend (taking Toy Story 4 £8,284,437 and £26.98m 41% of its £66.03m total) this year the weather was perfect summer cinemagoing weather but F9 dropped much more heavily. The industry was predictably far too quick to announce last week cinema was back as Fast and Furious films are very front-loaded and even without Euro 2020 England Vs Ukraine match on Saturday night it would have still dropped 60%+ as it did in the US.
It was always a massive gamble to open a film targetting male audiences during European Championships and World Cup but as film release dates for tentpoles are global dates local territories aren’t able to deviant from those plans. As F9 opening on, June 24 Black Widow opening July 7th the day of the Euro semi-final of England Vs Denmark at Wembley Stadium will mean it will also open lower than expected. Both studios will be nervously awaiting the result as if England were to get to the final it will obliterate the box office for next Sunday.
What was far more important than the opening weekend now in its second weekend as films targeting 16-34 like F9 were always going to open with £6m+ and Black Widow £7m+ next week) but films are still opening about a third less than normal circumstances (F8 opened with £14,026,301 in April 2018 including £5,380,621 38% from previews) would normal expected F9 to open with £9m+.
Historically Fast and Furious films are front-loaded, the majority have dropped around 60% in the second weekend. F9 had a lower second drop than Fast & Furious 6, Fast & Furious 7 and The Fate of the Furious due to not opening as big as the bigger a film opens the bigger the second-weekend drop, instead it was similar to Fast Five and Hobbs & Shaw which had similar openings. Which would see F9 taking between £18m-£21m it all depends on how it holds against Black Widow as would expect 60% this weekend or more if England gets to the final as it will lose all of the IMAX, 3DX, PLF and Dolby Cinema screens.
After two weeks Fast & Furious 7 had taken 69.35% £26,250,373 of its £38,385,021
The Fate of the Furious taken 81.79% £23,004,524 of £29,630,188 while Hobbs & Shaw took 62.60%; The Fast and the Furious 33.34%; 2 Fast 2 Furious 41.82%; The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift 43.47%
As the central theme of Fast & Furious, Mission Impossible and James Bond films are similar producers feel the need to outdo the previous films locations and stunts the problem you get with F9 is it feels like it’s jumped the shark.
In series 5 of Happy Days, Fonzie jumps a shark and was seen as the moment the TV show felt they needed gimmicks to keep views interest, rather than just be reliant on the show itself, (the same could be said for cinema with the likes of 3D, 4DX and ScreenX). It wasn’t until a year after Happy Days finished after 11 series that the phrase was invented as at the time of its broadcast in 1977 Happy Days was still hugely popular getting over 30m viewers a week.
While the last three films had very big openings they also dropped heavily in their second weekends
The Fate of the Furious (-74.4%); Fast & Furious 7 (-57.6%); Fast & Furious 6 (-59.4%) Hobbs & Shaw dropped a little less (-53.9%) but benefited being released during the summer holidays.
F10 was going to be the final part of the film series but it has since been announced there will be two more films before the series ends along with a Hobbs & Shaw sequel. It opened in Asia on May 19th receiving mixed reviews taking $268.9m from 8 territories including $212.2m from China (79%) $268.9m total; 2017’s The Fate of the Furious took $392.8m total took 32% of its global $1.236bn in China; has taken About 45% less F8 took $466m.
While the Fast and Furious series was very successful from the first film in the US it didn’t become globally successful till the fourth film in 2009 Fast and Furious opened with £4,928,784 taking £13,539,304 with 2017’s The Fate of the Furious taking more in its opening weekend (£14,026,301).
2019’s Hobbs & Shaw had the fourth biggest opening (£6,377,583 taking £1,468,289 23% from Thursday previews) of the Fast and Furious film series after The Fate of the Furious, Fast & Furious 7 and Fast & Furious 6; The 9 Fast and Furious films have taken over £171m at the box office since 2001 (3.8% of global box office) and over £190m inflation inflated; taking $1.691bn in the US (27.4% of global) and $6.16bn worldwide (4.472bn internationally 72.6%).
The 10 films have taken over £175m in the UK to date and almost £200m inflation inflated since 2001 with at least two more Furious films and Hobbs & Shaw sequel there is still a lot of mileage in this franchise but it’s unlikely to ever match its Furious 7 peak and there is also the question of China and if they are losing interest in the franchise and their taste in US movies.
2. Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway – £830,560 – £17,416,535
Down 0.2% in its seventh weekend; held very strongly over the last few weeks being the only major children’s film on release these changes in two weeks with The Croods 2 and Space Jam: Legacy
318th biggest film in the UK between Justice League and Goldeneye (close to Bolt, Stuart Little, Ralph Breaks The Internet and How to Train Your Dragon) and 522nd biggest inflation inflated film in the UK between Tenet and Django Unchained (close to G-Force, Gulliver’s Travels, Antz and Puss in Boots).
Peter Rabbit 2 is now only £50,524 away from overtaking last year’s saviour of cinema Tenet (£17,467,059); depending on how it holds over the next few weeks still has a chance to top £20m but will it be Peter Rabbit 2, F9 or Black Widow that gets there first, as Black Widow will likely to £20m by July 25 with F9 around similar time (depending on how it holds against Black Widow) but Peter Rabbit 2 could do it the weekend before.
Sony Pictures 31st biggest film in the UK between Stuart Little and Hitch (close to Hotel Transylvania 2, Hotel Transylvania 3, The Smurfs and Bad Boys For Life; 54th biggest inflation inflated between Jerry Maguire and Django Unchained (close to Hotel Transylvania 3, Matilda, My Girl and The Emoji Movie).
Peter Rabbit is the 67th biggest film in the UK taking £40,999,583 (Paddington 2 is just slightly ahead #63 taking £42,642,938) and is Sony Pictures UK’s 5th biggest film in the UK (behind Skyfall, Spectre, Casino Royale, and Quantum of Solace) as they have lost distribution rights to James Bond films Peter Rabbit is their MVP.
In 2018 Peter Rabbit up 20% in its seventh weekend taking £585,713 #5 585 screens £39,634,873 96.7% of £40,999,583.
Peter Rabbit took more than 2014’s Paddington £37.9m 2005’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory £37.35m, 2005’s Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit £31.95m 2016’s The BFG £30.51m also based on classic children’s characters as well as 2001’s Monster’s Inc £37.9m, 2003’s Finding Nemo £37.4m and 2016’s The Secret Life of Pets £36.6m.
Other British sourced children’s seventh weekend drops
2017’s Paddington 2 up 20% #5 taking £1,625,960 631 screens and £34,250,039 (80.4%) of total £42,614,170
2016’s The BFG up 6% #6 taking £703,375 from 510 screens and £28,660,479 (94%) of total £30,514,629
2014’s Paddington down 56% #5 taking £1,268,785 569 screens and £32,834,123 (87.3%) of total £37,608,112
Studiocanal have just announced Paddington 3 will start production in mid-2022 probably for a November 2023 release as the first two films.
Their popularity is seen by their performances at the UK box office with their adaptions including Paddington, The BFG, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Borrowers, Matilda, The Jungle Book, and Nanny McPhee all performed far stronger in the UK than anywhere else in the world.
Had Peter Rabbit 2 had two-week school holidays as the original and opened in normal conditions it would have likely taken a third more taking over £30m over 7 weeks on release.
3. In the Heights – £466,156 – £3,318,071
Down 32.3% in its third weekend; after dropping heavily in the US after its soft opening many expected In the Height to do similar in the UK, but musicals are extremely popular in the UK including Mamma Mia!, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, Bohemian Rhapsody, The Greatest Showman, Les Miserables, La La Land, Moulin Rouge, Chicago, Evita and Hairspray.
28th biggest musical in the UK between Dreamgirls and The Producers
20 years ago, Moulin Rouge opened in the UK four months after the US in September performing far stronger than it did in the US opening with £2,403,378 down 22.6% in its second weekend taking £1,859,732 and £5,668,964 (31.21% of total box office) taking £18,166,288 (£31,681,304 inflation inflated) was in the top 15 for almost 3 months.
Likewise, 2017’s The Greatest Showman opened with £4,754,049 (including £2,575,147 previews) down 49% in its second weekend taking £2,409,143 and £9,998,783 (20.1% of total box office taking £49,523,728 and played wide in cinemas for over 16 weeks, was still in the top 10 when it was released on DVD.
Upcoming musicals include Dear Evan Hansen, West Side Story, Cyrano, The Little Mermaid, Matilda (the UK release in cinemas Netflix rest of the world opening December 2022) and The Colour Purple. Tick, Tick… Boom and 13 for Netflix and Everybody’s Talking About Jamie and Cinderella were due to have cinema releases but were sold to Amazon due to studios concerns over opening riskier films during COVID. Everybody’s Talking About Jamie should have a similar cinema only release in the UK but as it was a 20th Century Fox film Disney have little interest in it why they sold it.
4. A Quiet Place Part 2 £425,798 – £10,470,601
Down 28.5% in its sixth weekend.
Took 17.9% more than A Quiet Place (£425,798 Vs £361,029) and taken 9% less (£10,379,601 Vs £11,402,134) sequel had two extra days play.
593rd biggest film in the UK (620th film to take £10m+) between Angry Birds and East Is East (close to Sweeney Todd, Shutter Island, Cape Fear and Final Destination and 861st biggest inflation inflated between Blood Diamond and Dangerous Minds (close to Dark Crystal, Sin City, The Conjuring and Edward Scissorhands.
43rd biggest Paramount Pictures film in the UK between Instant Family and Noah (close to Paranormal Activity 2, Paranormal Activity 3, Paranormal Activity and Cloverfield).
15th biggest horror in the UK between Paranormal Activity 3 and Final Destination (close to Paranormal Activity 2, The Conjuring 2: The Enfield Case, Get Out and The Conjuring ).
2018’s A Quiet Place dropped 9% in its sixth weekend #6 £361,029 386 screens taking £11,402,134; took dropped 65% in its 7th weekend taking £126,334 and £11,634,986;
5. . Cruella – £410,789 – £8,441,191
Down 34% in its sixth weekend
Comparisons were made with 2006’s The Devil Wears Pada #9 sixth weekend £347,306 down 25% taking £13,382,014 of 97.8% £13,681,185 (£20,282,989 inflation inflated);
736th biggest film in the UK between Pulp Fiction and The X- Files (close to Spice World, Goosebumps, The Boxtrolls and Home Alone); 1,025th biggest inflation inflated between Wild Hogs and The Mummy (close to Mirror Mirror, Safe House, Eddie the Eagle and The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps).
Disney 122nd biggest film in the UK between Pulp Fiction and Little Voice (close to National Treasure 2, Cool Runnings, The Haunted Mansion and Confessions of a Shopaholic); 156th biggest inflation inflated between Wild Hogs and Crimson Tide (close to The Santa Clause 3, Spy Kids 2, Muppets Most Wanted and Onward).
Sixth weekends
2013’s Oz: The Great and Powerful #7 dropped 32% taking £391,733 420 screens and £14,668,721 of £14,987,064
2014’s Maleficent #6 dropped 45% taking £448,697 437 screens and £17,364,817 of £19,292,000
2015’s Into the Woods #12 dropped 46% taking £175,587 293 screens and £9,157,880 of £9,644,236
2019’s Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil #9 dropped 66% taking £237,581 438 screens and £14,422,190
The 14 Disney reimaginations have taken over £420m at the UK box office, the next to be released in cinemas The Little Mermaid (currently undated) and Snow-White, with Peter Pan & Wendy, Pinocchio, The Sword in the Stone, Robin Hood and Lilo & Stitch to be released straight to Disney+.
Also opened.
• Freaky – Universal Pictures
Opened with £344,918 from 523 screens.
Freaky received positive reviews in the US opening November 13th with $3.7m taking $6.2m and $15.2m worldwide and was released on VOD in the US on December 4th.
Due to COVID Freaky had several release dates in the UK but surprising that Universal Pictures didn’t release the film straight to Sky Cinema as they did with Promising Young Woman in April, as teen horrors like Freaky, Truth Or Dare, Ouija, Happy Death Day, and Black Christmas struggle to find an audience in the UK as while they are PG-13s in the US are given 15s in the UK so much of their target audience can’t legally see them.
This is why they do far better in the US than the UK, but for me, as someone that doesn’t do horror they are enjoyable as the Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer films were.
Blumhouse teen horrors repeat the same formula of 90s horrors including Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer featuring popular TV actors, the difference was they were R rated/18 in the UK, while Blumhouse horrors are targetting a younger audience.
Teen horror Gremlins was re-released in December 2019 to celebrate the films 35th-anniversary opening with £162,528, the film was one of the first to receive PG-13 in the US and in 1989 BBFC launched 12 certificates. The 12 certificate was replaced by 12A in 2002 which pushed many non-tentpole PG-13 films like Black Christmas into 15s, which is problematic to teen horrors. It always surprised me that the BBFC didn’t keep the 12 certificates along with the 12A as many films need a higher corticate than 12A but don’t deserve a 15.
Other female lead Blumhouse Production horrors
2017’s Happy Death Day opened with £998,388 taking £2,678,427
2018’s Truth or Dare opened with £931,250 taking £2,400,490
2019’s Happy Death Day 2U opened with £735,454 including £266,079 from previews) taking £1,318,935
2014’s Ouija opened with £1,373,907 taking £3,207,638
2016’s Ouija: Origin of Evil opened with £779,626 taking £2,524,013
2015’s Christmas horror Krampus opened with £412,713 taking £1,184,159 and 2019’s Black Christmas opened with £283,507.
• Another Round – Studiocanal
Opened with £205,266 from 130 screens second-best screen average in the top 10.
Won Best Foreign Film at the Oscars and BAFTAs and European Film Award for Best Film and was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Golden Globes.
As with Nomadland, The Father and Supernova, Another Round target the older demographic who have been much slower to return to cinemas since they reopened in May (and also last July) and will struggle to find an audience.
While UK exhibitors celebrated the news yesterday when Boris Johnson announced the end of social distancing and mandatory face masks this will likely see films like these continue to struggle to find an audience in cinemas for the next few months as older audiences haven’t felt comfortable returning to cinemas ever since they reopened for the first time last July.
The thought of being in a crowded cinema without any distancing measures will put many people returning to the cinema for the foreseeable future, this is definitely the case for me, I‘ve not been to a paid screening since December 2019 (the longest time I’ve not been to the cinema for over 40 years) and have no plans to do so over the next few months.
Surely after Nomadland, The Father and Supernova and Another Round all predictably fell short distributors and FDA should be talking to exhibitors about how they can make older cinemagoers feel comfortable to go back to the cinema or distributors will be forced to release these films onto streaming services or VOD alongside the theatrical release.
UK box office in detail
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £5,982,414 down 39.8% from last weekend £9,931,625 and down 55.8% from 2019 (£13,549,874)
The weekend admissions 841,408 down 39.8% 1,396,853 from last week; admissions in 2019 this week was xx (down 44.2%)
Top 3 took £7,535,154 79.5% of the top 10; F9 44.8% (£2,681,393); Peter Rabbit 2 13.8% (£830,560); In the Heights 7.8% (£466,156).
2020 cinemas closed.
Down 55.8% from 2019 (£13,549,874) Top three took (£11,191,533) of the top 10; Toy Story 4 (61.1%) (£8,284,437); Yesterday 16.2% £2,212,380); Aladdin 5.1% (£694,716); #1 Toy Story 4 £8,284,437 2nd weekend.
The weekend up 109.1% from 2018: (£6,480,095); Sicario 2: Soldado (£698,466); Tag (£475,373); Adrift (£405,240); Patrick (£299,862); The Bookshop (£65,558); Leave No Trace (£50,445); Zoo (£12,516); #1 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom £2,001,876 3rd week 4th week on release 633 screens 38% drop (30.9% of top 10)
Down 69.5% from 2017: (£19,630,337); Despicable Me 3 (£11,154,904); Baby Driver (£3,605,705); All Eyez on Me (£912,662); The House (£487,542); Alone in Berlin (£108,047); #1 Despicable Me 3 £11,154,904 1st week 608 screens (56.8% of top 10)
Down 61.1% from 2016: (£15,368,987); Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie (£4,042,959); Central Intelligence (£3,050,261); Notes on Blindness (£20,049); #1 The Secret Life Of Pets £4,739,295 2nd week 601 screens 51% drop (30.8% of the top 10)
Down 69.6% from 2015; (£19,704,414); Minions (£11,558,946); Knock Knock (£250,825); Slow West (£140,858); The Terminator (Re: 2015) (£66,492); She’s Funny That Way (£22,311); Going Clear: Scientology And The Prison Of Belief (£16,849); Everly (£160); #1 Minions £11,558,946 1st week 571 screens (58.6% of top 10)
Down 42.8% from 2014: (£10,468,569); Mrs. Brown’s Boys d’Movie (£4,301,306); Chef (£605,976); How to Train Your Dragon 2 (Scotland) (£604,325); Walking on Sunshine (£403,490); Cold in July (£156,783); Seve (£47,294); #1 Mrs. Brown’s Boys d’Movie £4,301,306 1st week 522 screens (41.1% of top 10)
Down 72.8% from 2013: (£21,973,402); Despicable Me 2 (£14,822,427); This is the End (£1,390,323); Hummingbird (£206,731); The East (£65,523); Stand Up Guys (£44,845); #1 Despicable Me 2 £14,822,427 1st week 534 screens (67.4% of top 10)
Up 15.9% from 2012 (£5,161,480); Ice Age: Continental Drift – Scotland only (£853,226); Friends with Kids (£357,520); Killer Joe (£208,553); Storage 24 (£131,342); Your Sister’s Sister (£81,098); Joyful Noise (£32,205); #1 Ice Age: Continental Drift (Scotland only) £853,226 1st week 134 screens (16.5% of top 10)
Down 61.2% from 2011 (£15,422,378); Transformers: Dark of the Moon (£10,728,503); Larry Crowne (£346,486); A Separation (£55,511); The Conspirator (£39,217); #1 Transformers: Dark of the Moon £10,728,503 1st week 521 screens (69.5% of top 10)
Up 90.2% from 2010: (£3,145,120); Get Him to the Greek (£1,569,556); The Collector (£109,519); Whatever Works (£72,678); When in Rome (£61,512); #1 Get Him to the Greek £1,569,556 1st week 389 screens (49.9% of top 10)
Down 38.8% from 2009; (£9,778,033); Year One (£978,008); My Sister’s Keeper (£922,947); Blood: The Last Vampire (£232,190); #1 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen £4,368,024 2nd week 521 screens 48% drop (44.6% of top 10)
Down 46.4% from 2008; (£11,174,084); Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (£4,060,532); Wanted (£3,814,055); Female Agents (£68,412); A Complete History of My Sexual Failures (£12,772); #1 Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian £4,060,532 1st week 546 screens (36.3% of top 10)
Down 71.7% from 2007:(£21,135,733); Shrek the Third (£16,671,727); Hostel 2 (£681,426); The Flying Scotsman (£60,754);#1 Shrek the Third £16,671,727 1st week 536 screens (78.8% of top 10)
Down 6% from 2006; (£6,362,835); Over the Hedge (£3,589,038); Just My Luck (£579,306); Cave of the Yellow Dog (£12,623); #1 Over the Hedge £3,589,038 1st week 504 screens (56.4% of top 10)
Down 49.8% from 2005 (£11,909,005); War of the Worlds (£8,644,787); #1 War of the Worlds £8,644,787 1st week 507 screens (72.6% of top 10)
Up 11% from 2004 (£5,390,891); The Ladykillers (£565,137); The Notebook (£309,507); Eurotrip (£147,439); You Got Served (£68,255); #1 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban £2,029,289 4th week 499 screens 40% drop (37.6% of top 10)
Down 42.1% from 2003 (£10,329,409); Bruce Almighty (£7,260,467); Wrong Turn (£370,562); Nicholas Nickleby (£222,376); Biker Boyz (£65,412); Feardotcom (£23,025); #1 Bruce Almighty £7,260,467 1st week 446 screens (70.3% of top 10)
Up 9.1% from 2002 (£5,480,099); Murder By Numbers (£729,164); Big Fat Liar (£406,105); Birthday Girl (£237,165); Rollerball (£136,243); What’s The Worst That Could Happen? (£69,194); #1 Spider-Man: The Movie £2,605,993 3rd week 507 screens 39% drop (47.5% of top 10)
Next weekend in 2019 (£24,700,057); Top three took 86.3% (£21,320,144) of the top 10; Spider-Man: Far from Home (57.3%) (£14,148,624); Toy Story 4 (22.4%) (£5,543,052); Yesterday 6.6% (£1,628,468); #1 Spider-Man: Far from Home £14,148,624 1st week (57.3% of the top 10)
US Box Office
- F9 – Universal Pictures
Dropped 67% in its second weekend taking $23.01m from 3 days and $32.95m from 4 days and $116.1m.
542nd biggest film in the US between G.I. Joe: Retaliation and Clear and Present Danger; $100m US box office for decades used to be a sign of a film’s success at the box office, A Quiet Place Part 2 was the 769th film to do so since Mary Poppins in 1964 took $102,272,727 ($888,106,669 today).
While both A Quiet Place Part 2 took several weeks to top $100m F9 and Black Widow will take $100m+ within a week; 74th biggest Universal Pictures film between Nutty Professor II: The Klumps and The Bourne Identity.
It was always expected F9 would have the biggest post-pandemic opening to date, but as seen elsewhere in the world word of mouth has been mixed and it had big second weekend drops as the film series feels like it has jumped the shark, (saying that many thought the same many films ago) with the film having a space sequence.
As with the Mission Impossible films, producers feel they need to go further each time with the outlandish events and stunts, but even Chinese audiences have found these scenes a bit too much. If F9 went into space where can the next two go where the other films haven’t been?
Second weekends
2001’s The Fast and the Furious dropped 50% taking $20.05m and $77.86m taking $144.51m in the US; $206.45m WW
2003’s 2 Fast 2 Furious dropped 63% taking $18.67m and $83.58m taking $127.12m in the US; $236.41m WW
2006’s FF: Tokyo Drift dropped 59.1% taking $9.8m and $43.14m taking $62.61m; $157.79m WW
2009’s Fast & Furious dropped 61.6% taking $27.23m and $116.49m taking $155.06m in the US; $359.34m WW
2011’s Fast Five dropped 62.4% taking $32.44m and $139.77m taking $210,03m in the US; $630.16m WW
2013’s Fast and Furious 6 dropped 63.9% taking $35.16m and $171.03m taking $238.67m in the US; $789.3m WW
2015’s Furious 7 dropped 59.5% taking $59.58m and $251.51m taking $353.1m in the US; $1.516bn WW
2017’s The Fate of the Furious dropped 61.1% taking $38.4m and $163.3m taking $225.76m in the US; $1.236bn WW
2019’s Hobbs & Shaw dropped 57.9% taking $24.26m and $108.37m taking $173.95m in the US; $760.37m WW
The 10 Fast and the Furious films have taken over $1.81bn in the US and over $6.39bn worldwide.
Hype brings out the 16-34 audiences for films like F9 opening $70m Black Widow $85m+ in two weeks, both opening was predictable what is far more important now than opening weekends is their second weekend.
Took $23.82m from 50 territories $374.4m total international and $491.5m worldwide; crossed $500m worldwide on Monday the first US film to do so since 2019 (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and Jumanji: The Next Level) and the third film in 2021 and 2021.
215th biggest film worldwide between Aladdin (1992) and Sherlock Holmes; 3rd biggest film worldwide in 2021 between Tang Ren Jie Tan An 3 (Detective Chinatown 3) and Godzilla vs. Kong; 24th biggest Universal Pictures film worldwide between Dr Seuss’ The Grinch and Bruce Almighty.
In 2017 The Fate of the Furious had taken $908.4m after 10 days of global opening while F9 is in its second weekend in the US and UK it opened in across Asia 7 weeks taking $203.88m in China and with Black Widow opening this weekend its likely to be the lowest-grossing film of the franchise since 2011’s Fast Five taking $630.16m worldwide. Many will use COVID as an excuse, but it took a third less than The Fate of the Furious in China which after a record-breaking Chinese New Year is close to normal. 18 months ago, F9 was expected to take $1bn+ worldwide.
F9 taking a third less in China shows that interest in the franchise is waning in China and it can’t be relied on its box office, as is the case with all US movies. Will be interesting to see if Black Widow and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings buck this trend as the last big US hit in China was 2019’s, Hobbs & Shaw.
- The Forever Purge – Universal Pictures
Opened with $10m from 3 days and $12.55m from 4 days; received poor reviews (45% Rotten Tomatoes) and B- CinemaScore
2018’s The First Purge opened with $17.37m and $31.28m after five days: received 52% Rotten Tomatoes score and B- CinemaScore taking $69.48m
2013’s The Purge opened with $34.05m taking $64.47m
2014’s The Purge: Anarchy opened $29.81m taking $71.96m
2016’s The Purge: Election Year opened July 2016 with $31.51m taking $79.21m.
The five films have taken almost $300m in the US and almost $475m worldwide; the budgets for all five films were under $20m and the film series has been very profitable for Universal Pictures.
Opened with $3.56m from 22 territories; apart from 2018’s The First Purge the film series hasn’t been as successful internationally with the US taking over 65% of the box office.
- The Boss Baby: Family Business – Universal Pictures
Opened with $16m from 3 days and $23.2m from 4 days; received poor reviews (47% Rotten Tomatoes) and A CinemaScore
2017’s The Boss Baby opened with $50.19m taking $175m in the US and $527.96m worldwide.
The Boss Baby: Family Business was due to open September 17th, in May Universal Pictures brought forward its release date to July 2nd opening it in cinemas and on Peacock streaming service. (has 42m subscribers).
Over the last 18 months studios released several theatrical films to streaming services and Universal Pictures in March after cinemas closed due to COVID decided to release Trolls World Tour on PVOD rather than hold it back until cinemas reopened.
- A Quiet Place Part 2 – Paramount Pictures
Dropped 34% in its sixth weekend taking $4.1m from 3 days and $5.3m 4 days and $144.32m
Sunday was its 38 days on release and its set to be released on PVOD week beginning 12th July (45 days) showing that the shortened window had no impact at all on people wanting to see the film in cinemas, so exhibitors claiming shortened theatrical window would damage box office was predictably wrong.
Paramount Pictures had the last film to take $100m at the US box office before the pandemic, Sonic the Hedgehog in February 2020 and they also have had the first film to take over $100m.
2018’s A Quiet Place dropped 16.8% in its sixth weekend taking $6.45m and $169.6m 90.2% of $188.02m (3.7x opening) and $341m worldwide.
395th biggest film between Lilo & Stitch and The Santa Clause; 821st biggest inflation inflated film between Two Weeks’ Notice and Prometheus and 55th biggest Paramount Pictures film between Sonic The Hedgehog and Deep Impact; (106th $100m+ film since Love Story (1970).
Took $9.6m from 48 territories taking $112.1m and $248.48m worldwide; 654th biggest film worldwide between Four Weddings and a Funeral and Daddy’s Home; 5th biggest film 2021 film worldwide between F9 and Song Ni Yi Duo Xiao Hong Hua (A Little Red Flower); 79th biggest Paramount Pictures film worldwide between Hercules and Daddy’s Home.
- Cruella – Disney
Dropped 32% in its sixth weekend taking $2.38m from 4-days and $3.6m and $75.42m
1,040th biggest film in the US between The A-Team and U-571; 1,800th biggest inflation inflated between Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters and Baby Mama; 3rd biggest 2021 film between Godzilla vs. Kong and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It; 169th biggest Disney film between The Nightmare Before Christmas and Alice Through the Looking Glass
Disney previously made a reimagination of 101 Dalmatians in 1996 taking $136.2m and $320.7m worldwide and in 2000s 102 Dalmatians taking $67m and $183.6m worldwide.
Took $10.6m from 42 territories and $127.74m total and $204.93m worldwide; China $20.9m; Korea $12.6m; UK $11m; Mexico $10.3m; Russia $9m; Saudi Arabia $6.5m; Australia $5.7m; Spain $4.3m; Japan $4.1m
81st biggest film worldwide between The Holiday and Yogi Bear; 127th biggest Disney film worldwide between Tomorrowland and King Arthur.
- Zola – A24
Opened with $1.23mm from 3 days and $1.6m from 4 days; received positive reviews (87% Rotten Tomatoes)
Zola is a black comedy film based on a viral Twitter thread by Aziah “Zola” King and Rolling Stone article Zola Tells All: The Real Story Behind the Greatest Stripper Saga Ever Tweeted by David Kushner.
Will the UK get a similar film in a few years’ time Wagatha Christie scandal current in UK courts about Coleen Rooney’s Instagram scandal with Rebekah Vardy.
Sony Pictures release it in the UK in August.
UK Box Office Top 10
Opening in two weeks
- The Forever Purge – Universal Pictures
The action-horror sequel starring Ana de la Reguera, Tenoch Huerta, Josh Lucas, Cassidy Freeman, Leven Rambin, Alejandro Edda and Will Patton and directed by Everardo Gout, it is the fifth and final film in The Purge franchise and direct sequel to 2016’s The Purge: Election Year; was originally set for July 2020 delayed a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In October 2018, James DeMonaco, the creator of the Purge franchise said he would write another film as he had a “really cool ending” to the series; opened July 2nd in the US.
2018’s The First Purge opened with £1,778,157 (including £618,396 from 2 days of previews; (dropped 55% in its second weekend taking £798,455 and £3,367,946) £6,085,402 total.
Despite opening during the World Cup and hot weather, The First Purge had the biggest opening of the series. Showing that despite the World Cup and the hot weather people still wanted to go to the cinema and anyways believe if a distributor released the right film as Universal Pictures and 20th Century Fox did in 2014 with Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie and The Fault in Our Stars to quote Field of Dreams “people will come” no matter the weather or other non-film related issues.
The Purge opened May 31st, 2013, with £1,019,877 taking £3.36m
The Purge: Anarchy opened 25th July 2014 with £1,165,143 taking £4.43m
The Purge: Election Year opened 26th August 2016 with £807,803 taking £1.91m (was due for release on 15th July in the UK but was delayed 6 weeks only a couple of weeks before its release date).
Historically in the 90s and early 00s, distributors held back their female-targeted films to open during the Euro’s or the World Cup, in 2018 Warner Bros opened Ocean’s Eight with £4,347,070 on June 18th (including £2,042,638 47% from previews taking £10,465,765.
While Universal Pictures brought forward Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom two weeks internationally opened with 26% (£19,350,727 Vs £14,334,894) taking 35% less (£63,674,773 Vs £41,573,492) and opened with 29.1% less in the US ($208,806,270 Vs $148,024,610); while Edge of Tomorrow had one of the lowest openings in the UK for a Tom Cruise film (£1,886,096) despite receiving positive reviews and strong legs taking only 55% of its total (£7,756,477) but the damage was done after it’s opening weekend. The week later 22 Jump Street opened with 157% more (£4,854,991) taking £18,322,998 136% more.
Warner brought forward the release of Edge of Tomorrow forward in 2014 opening against Maleficent and Universal Pictures brought forward Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom in 2018 by two weeks, as F9 would have opened against Black Widow if it stayed on July 9th maybe Universal Pictures thought opening against European Championships was a lesser gamble.
It could also be seen as a test for next year’s Qatar World Cup November 21 – December 18, 2022, currently are untitled films for Warner and Disney for Thanksgiving and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and Avatar 2 dated for December 16th.
- Space Jam: A New Legacy – Warner Bros
Live-action animated sports comedy starring LeBron James, Don Cheadle, Khris Davis, and the Looney Tunes and directed by Malcolm D. Lee; its sequel to 1996’s Space Jam and the first film to feature the Looney Tunes characters since 2003’s Looney Tunes: Back in Action
It’s surprising Warner Bros made a sequel to Space Jam for many reasons, it is 25 years after the first film was released, while the film was a big hit (at that time) in 1996 in the US opening with $26.52m ($48m inflation inflated) taking $90.41m ($160m inflation inflated) and $230.51m worldwide $398m inflation inflated).
Was the 15th biggest film of 1996 in the US behind Independence Day, Twister, Mission: Impossible, The Rock, The Nutty Professor, Ransom, The Birdcage, A Time to Kill, 101 Dalmatians, The First Wives Club, Eraser, Phenomenon, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Star Trek: First Contact.
The problem with the film is that while the Looney Tunes are globally known basketball and the basketball players that featured aren’t so well known outside of the US. While 25 years ago this was normal as US studios were making films primarily for the US market but now films need to play globally. The problem studios have is as original films aren’t finding audiences in cinemas they have to search their libraries for potential sequels, remakes and reimaginations, but now having to go back future to find these films.
In 1996 Space Jam was an expensive film to make $80m (most films made by studios were half as much) the sequel budget is almost twice as much $150m but as with many of these long gap sequels, it’s unlikely to take twice the box office. As was the case with Independence Day opened the same year taking $306.16m in the US ($526m inflation inflated) and $817.5m worldwide ($1.4bn inflation inflated) 2016’s Independence Day: Resurgence took a third less $103.14m in the US and less than half $389.68m worldwide despite production and marketing costs doubling along with ticket prices.
Space Jam opened in the UK 5 months after the US in March 1997 ahead of Easter the same weekend 20th Century Fox released Star Wars: A New Hope Special Edition (opening with £3.8m) can’t find opening weekend box office for Space Jam but was the third biggest film in April 1997 after A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back special editions and ahead of The English Patient and Romeo & Juliet, and took £11,648,511 (£20,663,943 inflation inflated) was the 11th biggest film of 1997 behind The Full Monty, Men In Black. The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Tomorrow Never Dies, Bean, Star Wars Special Edition, Batman and Robin, Evita, Ransom and Liar Liar.
The problem is there is little accurate UK box office data online pre-July 2001, unlike the US when you have BoxofficeMojo and The Numbers, been rumours over the years of it happening as with all these long gap sequels it would be interesting to see how they opened and how their inflation inflated openings compare to now.
2003’s Looney Tunes: Back in Action opened with £926,447 (including £300,059 previews 32%) £1,489,743 inflation inflated taking £5,153,828 and £8,287,447 inflation inflated. Found the UK box office of some of the earliest James Bond films
1964’s Goldfinger took £2,330,000 (£98,956,471 inflation inflated)
1965’s Thunderball took £2,950,000 (£101,423,810 inflation inflated)
1967’s You Only Live Twice took £1,810,000 (£59,400,909 inflation inflated)
1973’s Live and Let Die took £3,890,000 (£65,315,814 inflation inflated)
1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me took £10,290,000 (£90,602,195 inflation inflated)
1979’s Moonraker took £10,659,000 (£68,104,407 inflation inflated)
1981’s For Your Eyes Only took £9,500,000 (£43,687,898 inflation inflated)
1983’s Octopussy took £8,305,000 (£33,128,232 inflation inflated)
1985’s A View to A Kill took £7,400,000 (£29,518,232 inflation inflated)
Even 1987’s The Living Daylights took £8,082,000 (£34,324,729 inflation inflated)
Almost all of them would feature in the biggest top 50 films inflation inflated today showing it’s complete nonsense from exhibitors over the last year that the pent-up demand to return to the cinema is unlike anything seen before, as since 2002 it’s all been about ticket inflation. It’s incredible to see Goldfinger, Thunderball (average ticket price was 17p 4, 147.06% less than Skyfall and Spectre) and The Spy Who Loved Me match the inflation inflated box office Skyfall and Spectre released 50 years later.
A sequel to Space Jam started soon after the first film opened but as Michael Jordan didn’t agree to the sequel plans fell apart, instead made Looney Tunes: Back in Action with a Space Jam sequel to be made soon after but after its poor performance plans for the sequel were ended. In 2014 Warner Bros announced plans for a sequel starring LeBron James.
On April 3rd Warner Bros released the first trailer with fans comparing it to Tron Legacy and Ready Player One as it had cameos of characters from Warner Bros franchises and many Hanna-Barbera shows (over 30); in June, a second trailer was released.
There was controversy surrounding the design of Lola Bunny she is much less sexualized than in Space Jam, she is wearing a full-length uniform instead of the crop top she wore in the first film.
Director Malcolm D. Lee said in the first film “Lola was very sexualized, like Betty Boop mix with Jessica Rabbit,”… “Lola was not politically correct…. This is a kids’ movie, why is she in a crop top? It just felt unnecessary, but at the same time there’s a long history of that in cartoons.”
- Escape Room: Tournament of Champions – Sony Pictures
Psychological horror sequel starring Taylor Russell and Logan Miller and directed by Adam Robitel; it was released in Australia on July 1st.
The sequel was delayed several times from last year due to COVID but surprising its opening on July 16th on the UK opening against The Forever Purge (never made any sense opening two horrors against each other) and opening at the start of the summer holidays.
Escape Room opened in February 2019 #4 behind How to Train Your Dragon 3, Green Book and Glass taking £820,218 from 363 screens; dropping 46% in the second weekend taking £441,358 and £1,636,555 only lasting two weeks in the top 15, so the sequel is likely to be even more front-loaded so why make it even harder for itself opening against The Forever Purge, while The purge films aren’t as successful in the UK as the US opening the two the same weekend will just cannibalize the little box office they could each get.
Distributors used to date films well, but over recent years this has become poor, a lot has to do studios believing that almost every film needs to open day and date, but as seen with the reopening after COVID it doesn’t while there is a piracy issue if they are films people want to see in the cinema, they will see them in the cinema as will be with The Croods 2.
Maybe instead of release dates being chosen after discussions with marketing and sales teams, they are now chosen by AI looking at historical data, but that only works if the ducks are in a row, but their rival studios are using the same data and coming up with the same conclusions so opening similar films next to each other with predictable results.
This weekend is historically the first weekend of summer in the 90s saw huge launches for Jurassic Park and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, both opening more than a month after the US, and in 2019 The Lion King opened this weekend.
- The Croods 2: A New Age – Universal Pictures
The animated sequel to 2013’s The Croods featuring the voices of Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Catherine Keener, Peter Dinklage, Leslie Mann, and Kelly Marie Tran and directed by Joel Crawford.
The sequel was first announced in 2013 due to be released in November 2017 but was cancelled released on November 3, 2017; in November 2016 after Universal’s acquisition of DreamWorks (for $3.8bn) and was revived in 2017.
It was released in the US in November 2020 receiving positive reviews opened with $9.72m (when most cinemas were still closed) taking $58.56m in the US and $171.06m and released PVOD release in December.
2013’s The Croods took $188.16m in the US and $587.2m opening in the UK with £5,372,290 (including £1,850,943 34% in previews) taking £26,328,511
As with Freaky opening two weeks earlier, it was surprising that Universal Pictures still decided to give The Croods 2: A New Age a theatrical release in the UK opening over 8 months after opening in the US especially after they brought forward the release of The Boss Baby: Family Business in the US to July 2, due for release 22 October making a very crowded Halloween half-term for children’s films with Hotel Transylvania: Transformania and The Addams Family 2 opening three weeks earlier.
After sacrificing trolls World Tour in April 2020 to PVOD release after cinemas closed in March would have thought The Croods 2: A New Age might have also gone to PVOD but as both original films were big hits in the UK, The Croods taking £26,328,511 and 2017’s The Boss Baby were big hits in the UK opened with £8,025,886 (including £5,227,582 65% from previews) taking £28,682,992 surely wanted to release both in the UK especially after missing out on Troll World Tour (as 2016’s Trolls opened with £5,440,878 (including £2,426,072 previews 44%) taking £23,364,692); they were the three biggest Dreamworks Animation films 20th Century Fox released when they had a distribution deal with them.
Opening the weekend before summer holidays open The Croods 2: A New Age should perform stronger but won’t be anywhere nearly as successful as the original film as far more competition like opening directly opposite Space Jam: A New Legacy.
- Summer Of Soul (Or When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) Disney/Searchlight
Documentary directed by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival featuring performances from Sly and the Family Stone, Nina Simone, Mahalia Jackson, the Staples Sisters, Stevie Wonder, Glady Knight and the Pips, Max Roach and Abby Lincoln.
It had a world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival winning Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award; received critical acclaim (98% Rotten Tomatoes) Rolling Stone said it was “the Perfect Movie to Kick Off Sundance 2021” and was “an incredible, vital act of restoration and reclamation”.
The first trailer premiered during the Oscars in April; Searchlight and Hulu acquired rights to Summer Of Soul in February