2017 UK Film Preview by Distributor
2016 top 10 films took over £415m of the year’s box office about 31%; top 20 films took £620m 50% of the annual box office of £1.236 billion breaking down that same amount. The top 100 films of 2016 took £1.048bn leaving about £300m to be shared with the other 800 films released. (all figures are estimates).
This is lower than 2015 (due to Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Spectre taking £191.5m between them). Top 20 films took £712.24m and top 100 £1.130bn (all figures are estimates) of a total box office for 2015 of £1.236bn.
Biggest films 2016 Vs Biggest film predictions for 2017
| Star Wars Episode VIII | £100m+ | Rogue One* | £61m* | 2.89x* |
| Beauty and the Beast | £45m+ | Fantastic Beasts* | £48m* | 3.13x* |
| Despicable Me 3 | £40m+ | Bridget Jones’s Baby | £47.87m | 5.96x |
| Paddington 2 | £35m+ | The Jungle Book | £46.19m | 4.68x |
| Spider-Man: Homecoming | £30m+ | Finding Dory | £42.86m | 5.28x |
| Guardians of the Galaxy Vol, 2 | £30m+ | Deadpool | £37.73m | 2.74x |
| Fifty Shades Darker | £30m+ | Captain America: Civil War | £26.94m | 2.55x |
| The Fate of the Furious | £30m+ | Batman Vs Superman | £36.17m | 2.47x |
| The Lego Batman Movie | £30m+ | The Secret Life of Pets | £36.04m | 3.76x |
| War For the Planet of the Apes | £30m+ | Suicide Squad | £33.41m | 2.98x |
| Sing | £25m+ | The BFG | £30.64m | 5.80x |
| Dunkirk | £25m+ | The Girl on the Train | £23.65m | 3.40x |
| Wonder Woman | £25m+ | Zootropolis | £23.61m | 4.45x |
| Thor 3: Ragnarok | £20m+ | Jason Bourne | £23.11m | 3.04x |
| Pirates of the Caribbean 5 | £20m+ | Doctor Strange | £23.01m | 2.48x |
| Transformers: The Last Knight | £17.5m+ | The Revenant | £22.86m | 4.51x |
| Alien: Covenant | £17.5m+ | Trolls | £22.74m | 4.19x |
| Kong: Skull Island | £15m+ | X-Men: Apocalypse | £18.34m | 2.50x |
| The Mummy | £15m+ | Alvin and the Chipmunks 4 | £15.45m | 3.83x |
| Coco | £15m+ | Absolutely Fabulous The Movie | £16.01m | 3.99x |
Disney
After very successful 2016 taking £212.25m (up to Dec 18) from only 11 films. Will be similar as their box office £268.76m from 12 releases.
In 2017 has currently only 7 films set for release more than a third less than their rivals but all are franchises titles expected to perform strongly at the box office;2017 films will likely take £250m+ having the two biggest films of 2017. The problem with studios being reliant on these films is they are playing to same audiences not expanding the marketplace as a mixed genre title slate.
Beauty and the Beauty – March 17th
Disney had huge success in 2016 with their Jungle Book reimagination and expected to do even better with their reimagining of Beauty and the Beauty of their 1991 classic animated film.
Starring Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Kevin Kline and Josh Gad and the voices of Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Ian McKellen and Emma Thompson and directed by Bill Condon.
The teaser released in May was viewed 91.8 million times which was more than Star Wars: The Force Awakens and the second released in November viewed 127.6 million in 24 hours.
Beauty and the Beast opens a week after Kong: Skull island the two films will be playing to different demographics while Kong: Skull Island is likely to be front-loaded Beauty and the Beast is likely to have strong legs similar to last years The Jungle Book stayed in the top 10 for 9 weeks and Star Wars: The Force Awakens 10 weeks’ films rarely stay in the top 10 for more than 6 weeks.
| Though the Looking Glass | 27 May 2016 | £2.22m | 4.01x | £9.91m |
| The Jungle Book | 15 Apr 2016 | £9.86m | 4.68x | £46.19m |
| Cinderella | 27 Mar 2015 | £3.79m | 5.54x | £21.02m |
| Into the Woods | 9 Jan 2015 | £2.48m | 3.96x | £9.83m |
| Maleficent | 28 May 2014 | £6.59m | 2.81x | £18.52m |
| Oz the Great and Powerful | 8 March 2013 | £3.71m | 4.03x | £14.98m |
| Alice in Wonderland | 5 March 2010 | £10.56m | 3.99x | £42.16m |
With so many teasers showing so much footage it was refreshing so little was seen in the teaser. the second trailer was like their 1991 animated classic;
It’s incredible to think especially with their rivalry today Warner Bros released Beauty and the Beast in October 1992 which was one of their last films they released before Disney set up their own distribution in 1993.
Upcoming live action reimagining’s of Disney animated classics included The Lion King, Dumbo, Cruella, Mulan, Winnie the Pooh, Pinocchio, Peter Pan and a Jungle Book and Maleficent sequel.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 – April 28th
In April the first of two Marvel films of the year the eagerly awaited Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. The first film released in 2014 opened with £6.35m and went on to take £28.53m. Second is Thor 3: Ragnarok opening in October while many will confuse Spider-Man – Homecoming as being Marvel’s third film of the year.
The teaser released in December 2016 became Marvel’s biggest ever teaser and second most watched trailer after Captain America: Civil War; 81 million views in its first 24 hours online.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 opens two weeks after The Fate of the Furious similar to Avengers: Age of Ultron opened 2 weeks after Furious 7 in 2015.
| Avengers Assemble | 26th April 2012 | £15.78m | 30.3% | 3.28x | £51.91m |
| Avengers: Age of Ultron | 23 April 2015 | £17.99m | 37.2% | 2.68x | £48.32m |
| CA: Civil War | 29th April 2016 | £14.46m | 39.1% | 2.55x | £36.94m |
| Iron Man 3 | 25th April 2013 | £11.39m | 31.1% | 3.22x | £36.68m |
| Guardians of the Galaxy | 31st July 2014 | £6.35m | 22.3% | 4.49x | £28.53m |
| Doctor Strange* | 25th October 2016 | £9.28m | 40.3% | 2.47x | £23.01m |
| Iron Man 2 | 30th April 2010 | £7.68m | 36.7% | 2.72x | £20.92m |
| CA: Winter Soldier | 26th March 2014 | £6.03m | 31.2% | 3.20x | £19.31m |
| Thor: The Dark World | 30th October 2013 | £8.65m | 43.8% | 2.27x | £19.71m |
| Iron Man | 2nd May 2008 | £5.46m | 31.8% | 3.13x | £17.13m |
| Ant-Man | 17th July 2015 | £4.01m | 24.6% | 4.06x | £16.29m |
| Thor | 27th April 2011 | £5.44m | 39.3% | 2.54x | £13.84m |
| CA: The First Avenger | 29th July 2011 | £2.98m | 32.3% | 3.09x | £9.21m |
| The incredible Hulk | 13th June 2008 | £3.25m | 36.7% | 2.48x | £8.06m |
Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge (May 26th) and Cars 3 (July 14th)
Their summer films are the two unknowns of the year after 2015’s disappointing performance of Alice Through the Looking Glass it’s been a while since Johnny Depp has had a success and its 6 years since last Pirates film.
| The Curse of the Black Pearl | 8th Aug 2003 | £3.76m | 7.47x | £28.1m |
| Dead Man’s Chest | 6th July 2006 | £13.74m | 3.76x | £51.73m |
| At World’s End | 24th May 2007 | £13.41m | 2.99x | £40.12m |
| On Stranger Tides | 18th May 2011 | £11.63m | 2.80x | £32.67m |
Cars and Cars 2 have been underwhelming Pixar performers in the UK first opened July 2006 with £2.66m taking £16.1m and Cars 2 in July 2011 with £3.54m taking £15.09m.
The teaser for Cars 3 has been surprisingly scary but maybe this is being done on purpose to try to break out of the shadows of opening two weeks after Despicable Me 3 will likely be overshadowed as Monsters University was against Despicable Me 2 in 2013 £46.1m Vs £29.48m.
Thor 3: Ragnarok – October 27th
Marvel’s second or if you count Spider-Man: Homecoming their third film of the year as with Captain America: Civil War in 2016 it will be more of an Avengers 2.1 with several Avengers featuring so likely to do far better than previous two Thor films:
Thor opened April 2011 with £5.44m taking £13.84m; Thor: The Dark World opened October 2013 with £8.65m taking £19.71m.
Coco – December 8th
Pixar’s second film of the year by the Mexican holiday Día de los Muertos opening two years after the underwhelming opening of The Good Dinosaur opening three weeks after Paddington 2 which could be problematic as second family films often suffer.
| Toy Story 3 | 19th July 2010 | £21.18m | 3.46x | £73.40m |
| Cars 2 | 22nd July 2011 | £3.54m | 4.26x | £15.09m |
| Brave | 17th Aug 2012* | £5.26m | 4.18x | £22.01m |
| Monster University | 12th July 2013 | £3.46m | 8.52x | £29.48m |
| Inside Out | 24th July 2015 | £7.34m | 5.31x | £38.91m |
| The Good Dinosaur | 27th Nov 2015 | £2.91m | 4.84x | £14.10m |
| Finding Dory | 29th July 2016 | £8.12m | 5.27x | £42.86m |
Pixar has had mixed success with their original films in 2015 while Inside Out was a massive success The Good Dinosaur disappointed which wad their last original film. For a studio built on originality, it’s a shame that so many of their recent films have been sequels. Since Up was released in 2009 their seven of Pixar eleven films are sequels.
For a studio built on originality, it’s a shame that so many of their recent films have been sequels. Since Up was released in 2009 their seven of Pixar eleven films are sequels; Toy Story 3 Cars 2, Monsters University, Finding Dory, Cars 3, The Incredibles 2 and Toy Story 4. only original films have been Brave, Inside Out, The Good Dinosaur, and Coco probably the currently untitled March 13th and June 19th, 2020 will be original films.
Star Wars Episode VIII – December 15th
After Rogue One’s disappointing but expected lesser opening to Star Wars: The Force Awakens much is expected from Episode VIII. After the hype, had gone audience reaction to The Force Awakens was mixed but that was after opening with £33.9m and taking £123m at the box office.
Rogue One opened in December 2016 with £17.3m likely to take £50m+ but was always expected to do less than the episodes as aren’t as accessible to non-fans.
To avoid overshadowing the release of Rogue One its marketing campaign is likely to start in Spring 2017 with the title likely to be announced in March with first trailer screened at Star Wars Celebrations and attached to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 with another Spiderman: Homecoming and Thor 3: Ragnarok.
| UK Release | O WE | Av P | 2016 d | T BO | |||
| A New Hope | 27 Dec 1977 | n/a | £0.86 | n/a | +800% | £17.14 | 20,760,000 |
| Empire Strikes Back | 21May 1980 | n/a | £1.41 | n/a | +448.9% | n/a | n/a |
| Return of the Jedi | 2 June 1983 | n/a | £1.89 | n/a | +309.3% | n/a | n/a |
| The Phantom Menace | 18 July 1999 | £9.51 | £4.15 | 2,291,567 | +86.5% | £50.74 | 12,226,507 |
| Attack of the Clones | 19 May 2002 | £11.38 | £4.29 | 2,652,681 | +80.4% | £37.23 | 8,678,322 |
| Revenge of the Sith | 22 May 2005 | £14.36 | £4.71 | 3,048,833 | +64.3% | £39.18 | 8,318,472 |
| The Force Awakens | 17 Dec 2015 | £33.90 | £7.21 | 4,701,804 | +7.3% | £123m | 17,059,631 |
| Rogue One | 17 Dec 2016 | £17.01 | £7.74 | 2,206,078 | £50m* | 6,459,949 |
20th Century Fox
Had a very mixed 2016 starting so well with Oscar winner The Revenant and Deadpool but then had several big disappointments but then also a couple of surprises Absoutely Fabulous: The Movie and Trolls; 19 films took £192.67m (up to December 18); 2016 compares to their 2015 with their 27 films taking £174.14m
As with previous year’s 20th Century Fox have a mixed slate of genres starting the year with Assassin’s Creed based on the computer game which hasn’t received good reviews opening in the shadows of Rogue One unlikely to interest anyone except fans of the games.
Hidden Figures – February 17th
Will need strong reviews and award buzz to find the audience that it deserves to have; Michelle Obama had a screening at the White House in December talking about how important this film was for all women.
Logan – March 2nd
The tenth, Marvel X-Men film and the third and final solo Wolverine film and Hugh Jackman’s final film as Wolverine after 17 years of playing the character.
First X-Men film opened with £4.7m in 2000 with X-Men 2 in 2003 opened with £7.03m and X-Men 3 in 2006 with £7.09m. X-Men Origins: Wolverine opened April 2009 with £6.6m and The Wolverine opened with £4.6m in 2013. -Men First Class opened with £4.75m in 2011, X-Men Days of Future Past opened May 2014 with £9.1m, X-Men Apocalypse opened in May 2016 with £7.33m.
Boss Baby (April 7th) and Captain Underpants (May 26th)
20th Century Fox last two Dreamworks Animation films; with the exception, of Penguins of Madagascar which opened in the shadows of Paddington in 2014 the eight Dreamworks Animation they have released have performed well; of course, not at the heights of Disney, Pixar or Illumination and these last two are likely to perform similar. 20th Century Fox has their own animated film Ferdinand opening in December as they look to fill the two film a year gap from 2018.
| Trolls | 21 Oct 2016 | £5.43m | 23.8% | x4.18 | £22.74m |
| Kung Fu Panda 3 | 18 March 2016 | £4.76m | 34.1% | x2.93 | £13.99m |
| Home | 20 March 2015 | £6.02m | 24.1% | x4.15 | £24.97m |
| Penguins of Madagascar | 5 December 2014 | £1.61m | 20.2% | x4.94 | £7.96m |
| How to Train Your Dragon 2 | 11 July 2014 | £7.81m | 32.2% | x3.15 | £24.25m |
| Mr Peaboy & Sherman | 7 February 2014 | £3.91m | 28.8% | x3.46 | £13.55m |
| Turbo | 17 October 2013 | £3.89m | 34.3% | x2.91 | £11.32m |
| The Croods | 22 March 2013 | £5.37m | 20.5% | x4.87 | £26.15m |
Alien: Covenant (May 19th) and War for the Planet of the Apes – (July 14th)
Sequels to their classic sci-fi movie series;
Alien: Covenant sequel to Ridley Scott’s 2012’s Prometheus which opened with £6.23m taking £23.1m.
War for the Planet of the Apes is the third film of the rebooted Planet of the Apes series; Rise of the Planet of the Apes opened August 2011 £5.83m taking £20.54m and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes opened in July 2014 £8.70m taking £32.71m.
Kingsman: The Golden Circle – September 29th
Sequel to the surprise hit Kingsman: The Secret Service opened February 2015 with $4.23m taking £16.4m) was recently moved from summer slot opening a week earlier in the UK.
20th Century Fox autumn films are based on best-selling novels
The Mountain Between Us – October 20th
Disaster film starring Idris Elba and Kate Winslet opening in October;
Red Sparrow – November 18th
Jennifer Lawrence stars in the thriller directed by Francis Lawrence
Murder on the Orient Express – November 24th
Based on Agatha Christie novel directed by Kenneth Branagh and featuring an ensemble cast including Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Derek Jacobi, Michael Peña, Michelle Pfeiffer and Daisy Ridley. (Has London Film Festival closing film written all over it)
Ferdinand – December 22nd
Based on children’s book by Munro Leaf the book outsold Gone with the Wind in 1938. Disney adapted the book as a short Ferdinand the Bull released in 1938 released by RKO in 1938 Life Magazine called Ferdinand the greatest children’s classic since Winnie the Pooh.
The book was banned in many countries accused of being a political symbol in Nazi Germany book was ordered to be burned by Hitler as degenerate democratic propaganda. Following the end of the Second World War copies were given out for free to the country’s children to encourage peace.
In 2011 20th Century Fox Animation acquired rights to be produced by Blue Sky Studios originally dated for April 7th 2016 before moving to December 22nd 2017 replacing The Croods 2.
Also, released:
Rules Don’t Apply, A Cure for Wellness, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul, Gifted, My Cousin Rachel, Table 19, Wilson, Untitled A.A Milne film, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, The Shape of Water, Super Troopers 2 and Battle of the Sexes.
Paramount Pictures
Another disappointing year releasing 12 films taking £51.91m (up to December 18th); down slightly from 2015 when they took £54.29 from 12 releases.
Biggest film in 2016 was Star Trek: Beyond taking £14.98m which was a disappointment compared with previous films. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back was their second biggest.
Have 8 films currently set for release in 2017
XxX3: The Return of Xander Cage – January 19th
Opening 15 years after the first film xXx released by Sony performed well opening with £2.43m in October 2002 taking £11.41m. Its sequel xXx2: The Next Level not so well opening with £920,506 I May 2005 taking £2.62m. There have been rumours of a third film for many years even though Xander Cage died in the sequel.
The trailers are even crazier than Mechanic: Resurrection but you must ask is this really a film audiences want but the same could be said for Bad Boys 3 opening 14 years after the sequel. For Paramount, it gave them a much need franchise film.
Vin Diesel made a Brazilian journalist very uncomfortable during a junket interview in December. Having behaved similarly with her for a previous junket interview.
Ghost in the Shell – March 31st
Sci-Fi action remake starring Scarlett Johansson, Pilou Asbæk, Takeshi Kitano, Juliette Binoche and Michael Pitt and directed by Rupert Sanders.
Originally a Dreamworks Paramount co-production with Paramount releasing international and Disney in the US but Paramount over US rights in January.
The casting of Scarlett Johansson caused accusations of whitewashing with CGI used to make her ethnicity appear Asian but Paramount said they were just tests.
Comparisons will be made with Scarlett Johansson film Lucy which opened with £3.07m in August 2014 taking £14.12m along with her Black Widow character in Avengers films.
Baywatch – May 26th
Based on the 80s TV show starring Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron, Priyanka Chopra, David Hasselhoff and Pamela Anderson directed by Seth Gordon.
In 2001 Tom Cruise was Forbes world’s highest-paid actor when Dwayne Johnson made his movie debut in The Mummy Returns then as The Rock no one would have possibly imagined that 15 years later he would become Forbes world’s highest-paid actor in 2016 after earning $64.5m for Central Intelligence, Fast 8 and Baywatch (Tom Cruise is now fourth). In recent years, a big-name actor no longer guarantees a film will open big with Baywatch and Jumanji we will see if he can as both carry much baggage as can he possibly fill David Hasselhoff or Robin Williams shoes as his feet must be far too big for their shoes?
While film to TV has often been successful TV to film is similar to computer game to movie much harder to transformer a 25-minute TV show into a 90-minute film for every good adaption 21 Jump Street, The Brady Bunch Movie, Charlie’s Angels (first film), Dragnet, Get Smart, The Man From U.N.C.L.E and Naked Gun there are many more bad ones including Bewitched, The A-Team, Dukes of Hazard, Entourage, I Spy, Life on the Road, St Bilko, Thunderbirds and Wild Wild West.
Baywatch is directed by Seth Gordon previously directed Horrible Bosses and Identity Thief but also episodes of great TV shows including The Office, Modern Family and The Goldberg’s if he can get the right tone for Baywatch could be a winner and be real competition for Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge opening like 22 Jump Street’s £4.83m and repeating last year’s Central Intelligence opening £3.04m taking £8.32m if it doesn’t will be opening similar to 21 Jump Street £1.6m.
Transformers: The Last Knight – June 23rd
The fifth installment of the film series starring Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, and John Turturro and directed by Michael Bay.
Paramount planning to have an extended Universe with sequels, prequels and spinoffs the first being released in 2018,
The first teaser was released on December 5th within 24 hours had been viewed 93.6 million views the third highest-viewed trailer of 2016, behind Beauty and the Beast 127.6 million and Fifty Shades Darker 114 million views in 24 hours.
| Transformers | 27 Jul 2007 | £8.71m | 2.66x | £23.25m |
| Revenge of the Fallen | 19 June 2009 | £8.34m | 3.15x | £26.53m |
| Dark of the Moon | 29 Jun 2011 | £10.72m | 2.59x | £27.86m |
| Age of Extinction | 5 July 2014 | £11.70m | 1.62x | £19.07m |
Cloverfield 3 aka God Particle – October 27th
In October 2016 Paramount surprised everyone including the cast of God Particle to announce God Particle would be delayed to October and be retitled as Cloverfield 3. This will be probably similar to 10 Cloverfield Lane which was originally called The Cellar but became the Cloverfield sequel in the editing room.
10 Cloverfield Lane – opened 18th March 2016 – £1.6m taking £5.02m
Cloverfield – opened 1st February 2008 – £3.48m taking £9.12m
Rings (February 3rd) and Friday the 13th (October 13th)
Rings has been moved almost as many times as Paramount Pictures Monster Tracks and their Friday 13th reboot. Originally set for November 13th 2015, moved to April 1st 2016 and then October 28th 2016 but then moved to November 4th the weekend after Halloween which seems rather a strange move.
At CinemaCon Paramount Pictures Rob Moore said if Rings is successful Rings could become an annual Halloween event as Paranormal Activity films were for five years. Maybe we could have Rings Extended Universe including Paranormal Activity, Friday 13th and The Grudge?
The Ring opened in October 2002 with £3.2m taking £9.45m
The Ring 2 opened April 2005 with £2.06m taking £5.16m
The Friday 13th series was launched in 1980 to cash in on the success of Halloween in 1978 the first film was released in the US by Paramount in 1980 who took ownership of the film series sharing rights with Warner Bros taking international before New Line Cinema acquired rights in the early 90s.
Friday the 13th was rebooted in 2009 by Michael Bay Paramount Pictures released in US and Warner international opening with $40.5m taking $65m and it was expected sequels would follow soon after.
In 2013 Warner Bros wanted to co-produce Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar which was in development at Paramount it gave up rights to Friday the 13th and South Park. But Paramount only has those rights for 5 years which will end in 2018 so its surprising its taking this long to make a new Friday the 13th film which was originally due to be released May 13th 2016 before being delayed to January 13th 2017 and finally October 13th 2017.
Last three Friday 13th films box office in the UK
Jason X – opened 19th July 2002 – £233,090 taking £414,224
Freddy Vs Jason – opened 15th August 2003 – £785,870 taking £2,485,267
Friday the 13th – opened 13th February 2009 – £1,198,653 taking £1,955,271
The horror genre has changed over the years since the last Friday the 13th film was released similar to all the other nostalgic films opening in 2017 how will younger audiences react to Friday the 13th. When Warner Bros re-released The Exorcist in cinemas in 1998 received a very different reaction from cinemagoers to how audiences responded when it originally was released.
Fences – February 17th
Drama starring Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, Stephen Henderson, Jovan Adepo, Russell Hornsby, Mykelti Williamson, and Saniyya Sidney and directed by Denzel Washington his third film as a director.
The film adaption of the play has been in development for over 10 years delayed due to August Wilson’s insistence of having an African American director until 2013 when Denzel Washington expressed an interest in directing and starring in a film adaption.
Denzel Washington ever since his film debut in 1987’s Richard Attenborough’s Cry Freedom has had continued success at the UK box office as an actor but his previous two films as a director his first Antwone Fisher had a limited opening in the UK opening with £59,976 from 46 screens in 18th May 2003 but his second The Great Debaters in 2007 didn’t have a theatrical release in the UK.
In 2013 Fences was last performed on stage in London’s West End starring Lenny Henry as Troy Maxson.
Fences will need reviews and award nominations to help it find an audience in the UK especially opening the same weekend as likely fellow award contenders Hidden Figures and The Founder. Denzel Washington and Viola Davis are expected to receive Acting nominations.
Also, released:
Untitled IMAX horror, Downsizing.
Sony Pictures
Another disappointing year releasing 21 films in 2016 taking £69.6m (up to 18th December); suffering a 64% decline from 2015 which took £151.44m from 18 releases.
2015 Spectre £94.25m was 62% of their box office of 2015. Still unconfirmed if Sony Pictures will distribute Bond 25 which is set for release in 2018 who will direct and if Daniel Craig will return.
2016’s biggest films were The Angry Birds Movie £10.31m and Ghostbusters £10.39m which was a massive disappointment.
Have 18 films currently dated for 2017 having a far stronger slate than in recent years as not being reliant on just one film as they have been in 2012 with Skyfall and 2015 with Spectre.
But their slate is nostalgia (memberries) heavy with long in the works sequels, reboots or been in development for many years Bladerunner 2049, Flatliners, Trainspotting and Jumanji are over 20 years from their originals the same said for Independence Day but its sequel 20 years later disappointed as did their reboot of Ghostbusters. Audiences are fickle when it comes to reboots, remakes and sequels complain about them, but then Finding Dory, The Jungle Book, Jason Bourne and comic-book movies are far more successful than original films.
T2: Trainspotting – January 27th
Opening 21 years after original featuring the original cast Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, and Robert Carlyle directed by Danny Boyle and screenplay by John Hodge.
For years after the original film was released were rumours of a sequel but it was only in 2009 when Danny Boyle said he wanted to make a sequel. Danny Boyle was premiering Steve Jobs at the Telluride Film Festival in September 2015 saying his next film would be Trainspotting 2.
In December 2015 was announced Sony Pictures had acquired world rights and starting filming in March 2016 in Edinburgh. The first teaser trailer was released in July with the trailer released in November (similar to teaser trailer for Trainspotting in July and November 1995) which felt like a remake of the 1995 trailer just updated with Choose Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Few sequels made years after the original can ever match up to their predecessor despite the hype they receive. The original film opened limited release in London’s West End and Scotland going wide February 23rd, 1996 against Sense and Sensibility and Casino before going wide two weeks later taking £12.43m and was the tenth biggest film of 1996; the sequel should take more than Trainspotting but unlikely to be anywhere nearly as successful asking the question which is asked with so many films like this why bother as it can never live up to the hype and expectation that will be surrounding its release.
After Trainspotting was released Danny Boyle was offered to direct a James Bond film and Alien Resurrection (was 20th Century Fox’s first choice) instead followed up Trainspotting with A Life Less Ordinary in 1997 starring Ewan McGregor and Cameron Diaz (and the team that made Trainspotting released by Polygram who also released Shallow Grave through Rank Film Distributors and Trainspotting) which took only £3.37m the #42 biggest film of 1997.
The Beach followed in 2000 which caused a falling out with Ewan McGregor after he didn’t cast him in the film instead they cast some unknown US actor called Leonardo DiCaprio who previously starred in a film about a boat. Was success opening in the UK in February 2000 with £2.41m taking £13.1m.
Spider-Man – Homecoming – July 7th
The third retelling of the Spider-Man story in 15 years this time produced by Marvel but still released by Sony allowing Spider-Man to cross-over into other Marvel films and other Marvel characters to feature in Spider-Man which was seen in Captain America: Civil War.
| Spider-Man | 14 June 2002 | £9.24m | £28.59m |
| Spider- Man 2 | 16 July 2004 | £8.76m | £26.41m |
| Spider-Man 3 | 4 May 2007 | £11.82m | £33.45m |
| The Amazing Spider-Man | 3 July 2012 | £11.89m | £25.74m |
| The Amazing Spider-Man 2 | 16 April 2014 | £9.01m | £23.64m |
Sony will be hoping the addition of Marvel within the Spider-Man world will be like Captain America: Civil War last year making the film more than just a Spider-Man film. Tonally the trailer shows the Marvel influence as Sony always feel the need to add more and more to their films which often makes them feel tiresome. The addition of Tony Stark/Iron Man in Spider-Man: Homecoming along with the John Hughes feel of the film will be more appealing to.
Spider-Man: Homecoming opens the week after Despicable Me 3 if the film performs as Despicable Me 2 in June 2013 which took £3.9m or Minions in July 2015 £6.23m in their second weekends Spider-Man: Homecoming will have a real battle on its hands.
Disney has recently said women directors need experience before they are given the opportunity to direct big budget films but then men are able to make big budget films without gaining this same experience. Director of Spider-Man Homecoming Jon Watts, Nikolaj Arcel (The Dark Tower) and Jordan Vogt-Roberts (Kong: Skull: Island) among many others have gone from making independent films to mega-movies and was like previous directors of Spiderman films Sam Raimi (previously directed a couple of genre studio films Spider-Man in 2002 was his first big budget film) and Marc Webb.
The Dark Tower – July 28th
Sci-fi fantasy western based in a series of novels by Stephen King has been in development since 2007 originally with J.J Abrams attached to direct. The project moved to Universal in 2010 with Ron Howard attached to direct with a May 17th, 2013 release date planned. In March 2012 was reported to be in turnaround at Universal with Warner Bros interested by then Media Rights Capital took over film with Sony Pictures releasing with Nikolaj Arcel directing his first US film and his first since 2012’s A Royal Affair.
Was originally set for February 17th, 2017 release but was pushed back to July 28th release in November, Trailer was set for release in November after premiering at EW Pop Fest in October; an unfinished version of the trailer leaked online in early October.
| Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey | 14 Dec 2012 | £11.6m | 22.3% | £51.99m |
| Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug | 13 Dec 2013 | £9.32m | 21.8% | £42.69m |
| Hobbit: The Battle of the 5 Armies | 12 Dec 2014 | £9.75m | 23.6% | £41.21m |
Blade Runner 2049 – October 6th
Long in development sequel to the 1982 classic film directed by Ridley Scott starring Harrison Ford, Ryan Gosling, Robin Wright, Mackenzie Davis, Dave Bautista, and Jared Leto and directed by Denis Villeneuve.
Development started in 1999 based on The Edge of Human, titled Blade Runner Down which was shelved due to rights issues, Ridley Scott then started developing a sequel titled Metropolis. Ten years later was reported Ridley Scott was working on a sequel with his brother Tony but still had many development delays until February 2015 when Denis Villeneuve was officially announced he would direct with Harrison Ford returning. In July 2015 was announced Warner Bros would release in the US and Sony Pictures would release the film internationally.
The original opened 35 years ago while becoming a cult classic never match up to the box office success of other sci-fi films of the time like Star Wars and Star Trek.
For many years after was the talk of a sequel but the problem will be similar to Star Wars and their prequels and The Force Awakens and Trainspotting 2 will the sequel possibly live up to 35 years of expectations?
While Blade Runner 2049 will have much nostalgia for older audiences will younger audiences be so interested especially with Kingsman: The Golden Circle opening against it. Of course, autumn adult sci-fi over recent years have been very successful Gravity, Interstellar, The Martian and Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 has the advantage over all of them as is a sequel.
The first teaser trailer was released in December.
Jumanji – December 29th
Described as a spiritual sequel to 1995 film starring Robin Williams starring Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Karen Gillan and Nick Jonas and directed by Jake Kasdan.
When the remake was first announced in August 2015 internet response was negative with many saying it was too soon after Robin Williams death. The casting of Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart of eased some of that negativity but then when the first picture was released in September was an outcry over Karen Gillan’s revealing costume, are the criticism the filmmakers said the film would explain why she is wearing the outfit.
2002 film Zathura as also marketed as the spiritual sequel to Jumanji with the tagline “A new adventure from the world of Jumanji” the film received positive reviews from critics but flopped at the box office opened in February 2006 with £1.31m taking £4.11m. The original film opened in February 1996 with £2.1m taking £13.41m.
Also, released
Underworld: Blood Wars, Resident Evil 6, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, Life, The Smurfs: The Lost Village, Keep Watching, Rock that Body, The Emoji Movie, Baby Driver, Solutrean, Flatliners, Insidious Chapter 4, The Star, Patient Zero
Universal Pictures
After their record-breaking 2015 taking £273.53m from 26 releases had a steady 2016 taking £175.9m but still down 35% from 2015 (till December 18th) from 24 films; three films The Secret Life of Pets, Jason Bourne and Bridget Jones’s Baby taking over 60% of their total box office for the year. 2017 has sequels to several of their 2015 biggest films 50 Shades of Grey, Furious 7, Minions and Pitch Perfect 2.
Have 16 films currently dated for 2016
Fifty Shades Darker – February 10th
Sequel to 2015’s Fifty Shades of Grey starring Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan and directed by James Foley. James Foley for many is best known for 1992’s Glengarry Glen Ross would seem a strange choice as a director but also directed At Close Range, Who’s That Girl, Fear, and Perfect Stranger but most recently is better known for directing TV episodes of House of Cards and Billions.
In 2015 Ellie Goulding Love Me Like You Do was the theme song for the first film; the sequel is I Don’t Wanna Live Forever by ZAYN and Taylor Swift was released on December 9, 2016
First trailer released September 15th receiving 114 million views in its first 24 hours; 39.4 million from North America and 74.6 million from international breaking previous record held by Star Wars: The Force Awakens of 112 million in October 2015; its record overtaken by the second trailer for Disney’s Beauty and the Beast with 127.6 million in November 2016.
50 Shades of Grey opened February 2015 with £13,271,409 taking £4.61m on its opening day. The opening was as the Twilight movies were fan fiction of dropping a similar 66% in its second weekend.
In 2015 50 Shades of Grey had it all going its way the massive hype and expectations along with rival studios keeping their distance Kingsman: The Secret Service was originally set to open on it as it did in the US but opened two weeks earlier, Jupiter Ascending opened the weekend before but nothing was expected of it and with being half-term holidays audience of Big Hero 6 and Shaun the Sheep Movie was unlikely to affect it.
Fifty Shades Darker opens two weeks after Trainspotting 2 but the same weekend as The Lego Batman Movie while not targeting its audience apart from those who like to dress up in S&M as Batman The Lego Batman Movie has The Lego Movie audience as well as the comic-book audience. Second parts of film trilogies are often not as successful as their first part.
| Second weekend drops | |||||||||||||
| Film | Year | O W/E | 2nd W/E | Drop | 2 W/E T | final BO | % o /e | ||||||
| Sex and the City | Ent | 2008 | £8.76m | £3.08m | 65% | £16.06m | £26.4m | 33.1% | |||||
| Twilight: New Moon | eOne | 2009 | £11.68m | £4.30m | 63% | £20.32m | £27.4m | 42.6% | |||||
| Sex and the City 2 | WB | 2010 | £6.14m | £2.47m | 60% | £13.65m | £21.6m | 28.4% | |||||
| Twilight: Eclipse | eOne | 2010 | £13.76m | £3.39m | 75% | £22.09m | £29.7m | 46.3% | |||||
| Twilight Breaking Dawn P 1 | eOne | 2011 | £13.91m | £4.57m | 67% | £23.10m | £30.7m | 45.3% | |||||
| Twilight Breaking Dawn P 2 | eOne | 2012 | £15.85m | £5.34m | 66% | £26.97m | £35.8m | 44.2% | |||||
| 50 Shades of Grey | Univ | 2015 | £13.27m | £4.56m | 66% | £25.2m | £35.01m | 37.9% | |||||
The Fate of the Furious – April 14th
The eighth part of the film series starring star Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Kurt Russell, Charlize Theron and Helen Mirren and directed by F. Gary Gray. (Universal have already dated Furious 9 for April 2019 and Furious 10 for April 2021).
After the massive success, both critically (critics were in tears coming out of screenings) and at the box office taking a third more than Fast & Furious 6 can part 8 possibly get bigger; if the trailer is anything to go by then maybe as it’s crazier than ever trailers for similar Mechanic: Resurrection and XxX3: The Return of Xander Cage have been equally insane.
During filming break of Furious 7 in November 2013 Paul Walker died and Universal put the film on hold indefinitely but in December Vin Diesel announced on his Facebook page it would be released April 10th 2015 many seeing it the film as memorial to Paul Walker as the theme song was with Wiz Khalifa – See You Again ft. Charlie Puth which has received 2.28 billion views. Paul Walker.
it will be the first Furious film since The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift not to star him which was the lowest performing film of the series in the UK/US and worldwide.
| The Fast and the Furious | 14th Sept 2001 | £1.76m | 3.68x | £6.49m |
| 2 Fast 2 Furious | 30 June 2003 | £2.74m | 2.56x | £7.04m |
| The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift | 16th June 2006 | £1.81m | 3.12x | £5.66m |
| Fast & Furious | 10 April 2009 | £4.92m | 2.75x | £13.53m |
| Fast & Furious 5 | 21 April 2011 | £5.33m | 3.37x | £18.01m |
| Fast & Furious 6 | 17 May 2013 | £8.72m | 2.78x | £24.3m |
| Fast & Furious 7 | 3 April 2015 | £12.74m | 3.01x | £38.38m |
The Mummy – June 9th
Action adventure horror starring Tom Cruise, Sofia Boutella, Annabelle Wallis, Jake Johnson, Courtney B. Vance and Russell Crowe and directed by Alex Kurtzman. The first part of Universal’s planned Monsters Shared Universe.
Dracula Untold was originally planned as the first part of the Monsters Universe which opened October 2014 with £1.71m taking £4.5m.
IMAX accidently released in December the trailer without effects online which makes for a completely different viewing experience
| The Mummy | 25th June 1999 | £3.77m | 4.60x | £17.36m |
| The Mummy Returns | 18th May 2001 | £5.92m | 3.43x | £20.32m |
| The Scorpion King | 19th April 2002 | £1.61m | 3.06x | £4.94m |
| Van Helsing | 7th May 2004 | £5.42m | 2.76x | £15.01m |
Universal previously rebooting The Mummy films in 1999 starring Brenden Fraser and Rachel Weisz; first film opened in June 1999; The Mummy Returns opened May 2001 (the film that launched Dwayne Johnson then The Rock acting career) and The Scorpion King a spinoff opened in April 2002 three directed to video sequels were released over the following 13 years.
Despicable Me 3 – June 30th
The third part of the film series and fourth of the franchise; sequel to the 2013 film; the first trailer was released on December 14th.
Despicable Me opened October 2010 with £3.66m, including £205,000 in previews (17% of final box office). The 8th biggest film of 2010 taking £21.2m
Despicable Me 2 opened July 2013 with £14.78m (including £4.9m from previews from the weekend before) £10m taken Fri-Sun (31% of final box office); biggest film of 2013 taking £47.4m.
Minions opened June 26th, 2015 with £11.55m taking £47.25m.
Illumination Entertainment’s The Secret Life of Pets opened June 24th, 2016 with £9.58m taking £36.04m.
Universal Pictures also release Illumination Sing on January 27th, 2017 for half term holidays; surprisingly they opted to open it for one week of half term rather than the two week lucrative Christmas holidays having to compete against The Lego Batman Movie for half term holidays.
Audiences are likely to confuse Sing as a sequel to Zootropolis.
Pitch Perfect 3 – December 22nd
The first film opened December 21st, 2012 opening with £952,000 taking £6.7m the sequel opened May 15th, 2015 with £4.92m (up 425% from the original film) taking £1.59m on its opening day went on to take £17.23m.
After the massive success of the sequel, a third film was soon announced with a July 21st, 2017 date announced before being pushed back to August 4th it was pushed back to December in October.
Elizabeth Banks was attached to direct and has since been replaced by Trish Sie he only film previously was 2014’s Step Up: All In, the fifth part of the dance film series.
Also, released
Split, Loving, The Great Wall, Get Out, The Zookeeper’s Wife, The Beguiled, The Coldest City, American Made, The Snowman, Let It Snow, Girl Trip, Victoria, and Abdul.
Warner Bros
As always has had a strong year releasing 26 films more than any of their rival studios taking £186.42m (up to 18th December); while Disney received all the praise with the success of their films in 2016 despite all the negativity surrounding their DC films Warner Bros have had a massive increase from 2015 doubling their box office last year of £96.94m from 24 releases.
Biggest three films of 2016 Batman Vs Superman, Suicide Squad and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them took 61% of their total box office.
Have 17 films currently dated for 2017
The Lego Batman Movie – February 10th
After the massive success of 2014’s The Lego Movie opening with £8.05m taking £33.15m;
We saw a different side of Batman that we have previously seen in other films which will be taken further in The Lego Batman Movie and from all the trailers so far released will be the DC film fans have wanted to see.
Featuring the voices of Will Arnett, Zach Galifianakis, Michael Cera, Rosario Dawson, and Ralph Fiennes.
The first teaser trailer was released in March 2016 attached to Batman Vs Superman a second a few days later, a third in July and a fourth in November.
Kong: Skull Island – March 10th
The second part of the Godzilla- King Kong film series; first film was 2014’s Godzilla and upcoming films are Godzilla 2 in 2019 leading up to Godzilla Vs Kong in 2020.
Features an ensemble cast Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, John Goodman, Jing Tian, Toby Kebbell and John C. Reilly directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts.
Legendary Pictures announced at Comic-Con in 2014 Skull Island with a November 4th, 2016 release date with Universal Pictures releasing. In December, it was retitled as Kong: Skull Island and in September 2015 was announced the film would move to Warner Bros so they could do a future Kong and Godzilla movie in the future.
Peter Jackson’s King Kong remake opened December 2005 taking £6.94m and £29.66m and Godzilla opened with £6.38m in May 2014 taking £17.07m with the 1998 version opening July 1998 with £4.17m taking £15.92m.
Wonder Woman – June 2nd
The fourth film of the DC Extended Universe starring Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Connie Nielsen, Robin Wright, Lucy Davis, Danny Huston and David Thewlis and directed by Patty Jenkins.
Development of Wonder Woman film started in 1996 with Ivan Reitman attached as producer and possible director; 3 years later Jon Cohen was attached to direct and Sandra Bullock attached to star.
The film went through many drafts before in March 2005 Warner Bros announced Joss Whedon would write and direct but then left the project in 2007. When through much more development over the next few years with many directors attached until February 2014 when Patty Jenkins was attached to be the first summer tentpole superhero film to be directed by a woman featuring a female hero.
While Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice was criticized by many the highlight of the film was the arrival of Wonder Woman which made the stand-alone film a film comic-book fans are eagerly awaiting.
2016’s comic book openings
| Deadpool | 10 February 2016 | £13.79m | 2.73x | £37.73m |
| Batman Vs Superman | 25 March 2016 | £14.62m | 2.47x | £36.17m |
| Captain America: Civil War | 29 April 2016 | £14.46m | 2.55x | £36.94m |
| X-Men: Apocalypse | 20 May 2016 | £7.35m | 2.49x | £18.34m |
| TMNT2 | 30 May 2016 | £3.49m | 1.66x | £5.82m |
| Suicide Squad | 5 August 2016 | £11.21m | 2.97x | £33.4m |
| Doctor Strange | 25 Oct 2016 | £9.28m | 2.47x | £23.01m |
Dunkirk – July 21st
Action thriller starring Tom Hardy, Kenneth Branagh, Mark Rylance, Harry Styles and Cillian Murphy directed by Christopher Nolan shot in IMAX 65MM. Will be released two days earlier in 70mm IMAX, 70mm and 35mm.
The first trailer was released in August with Suicide Squad the second trailer was released in December 2016 screened with Rogue One while in selective IMAX screenings of Rogue One they screened a seven-minute preview.
Opening Dunkirk the week after War for the Planet of the Apes both adult war thrillers will be targeting similar audiences which could be problematic?
Christopher Nolan’s last film Interstellar opened November 2014 with £5.37m taking £20.06m.
Pearl Harbour opened June 2001 with £3.07m taking £14.22m
Saving Private Ryan opened September 1998 with £2.7m taking £18.74m
Justice League – November 17th
The fifth part of the DC Extended Universe starring Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa, Ray Fisher, and Ciarán Hinds and directed by Zack Snyder.
Warner Bros started development of Justice League in 2007 with George Miller signed to direct but then the writers’ strike put the film on hold was due to start filming in summer 2008 with release summer 2009. But after the success of The Dark Knight Warner Bros decided to focus on the Batman trilogy and made Green Lantern in 2011 which was a flop (opening with £2.41m). Instead went to coventrate on Man of Steel and Batman Vs Superman which was to set up Justice League. In October 2014 Warner Bros announced plans to release two films the first in November 2017 and the second in June 2019; started shooting at Leavesden Studios in April 2016 wrapping production in October.
It’s rumored the second part might be delayed for the release of Ben Affleck’s The Batman expected to be released in 2018.
| Suicide Squad | August 2016 | £11.2m | 2.47x | £33.41m |
| Batman Vs Superman | March 2016 | £14.62m | 2..47x | £36.17m |
| Man of Steel | June 2013 | £11.19m | 2.65x | £29.76m |
Also, released
Live By Night, Who’s The Daddy, john Wick 2, Fist Fight, Going in Style, Unforgettable, King Arthur, The House, Annabelle, It, Ninago, Geostorm, Chips and Everything, Everything.
Best of the Rest
eOne
After having one of their best years releasing 21 films taking £102.57m (up to 18th December), compared with the only £39.74m in 2015; The BFG taking £30.64m and The Girl on the Train £23.65m both performing far stronger in the UK than the US.
After The BFG had a disappointing opening in the US many expected to do similar here but The BFG-based on Roald Dahl book and the films like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory are beloved by British audiences as Paddington is so was always likely to open similarly. Opening the week before Finding Dory was key for its success as the first family film to open always has the advantage enabling both to perform strongly last summer. Had Finding Dory opened first The BFG would of likely of taken far less and Finding Dory a lot more. Likewise, The Girl on the Train was helped by the success of Bridget Jones’s Baby as it was trailered before it; in the US both Bridget Jones’s Baby and The Girl on the Train underwhelmed at the box office.
2017 starts off with several possible award contenders A Monster Calls, Jackie, Denial, 20th Century Women, Miss Sloane but are lacking any real definite box office hits maybe Peppa Pig: My First Cinema Experience.
Remaining films are lacking the big guns that 201 had A Dog’s Purpose, Animal Crackers, Amityville, Finding Your Feet, Funny Cow and Thank You for Your Service none really grab you.
Lionsgate
Had a mixed 2016 with the first year without Hunger Games film which has been their biggest earners over the last few years. Their 18 main releases took £47.12m biggest success was the surprising performance of London Has Fallen taking £10.97m and Eddie the Eagle taking £8.62m.
Despite not having a Hunger Games film in 2016 their box office for the year was up from £39.74m (Mockingjay Part 2 £28.46m took 72% of their total box office for 2015)
Start the year with the wonderful La La Land expected to be a major award contender but with such a busy January for similar films, it will still find it hard to find its audience. Hacksaw Ridge and Patriots Day are two other potential award contenders neither are likely to find big audiences.
It used to be with films like La La Land they would get platform release as they do still in the US which gives them a chance to build awareness and word of mouth but nowadays in the UK these films will open wide on their opening day due in part to the sheer amount of films opening.
On January 13th, La La Land opens against award contenders Manchester by the Sea and Live By Night but also Underworld: Blood Wars and The Bye Bye Man with Jackie, Split and XxX3 opening the following weekend and Trainspotting 2 and Sing the week after doesn’t give these films any wiggle room to find their audiences anymore.
La La Land is a lovely film but as so many award contenders it has been over hyped as there are I’m sure far better films deserving of Oscar success but it is a perfect film for Academy members about the magic of movies and musical and set in Los Angeles. While watching, it reminded me of Steve Martin’s LA Story and Grand Canyon both incredibly 25 years old.
Opening the same weekend as Manchester by the Sea and Live By Night but also Underworld: Blood Wars and The Bye Bye Man on January 13th likely to open similar to January 2016’s award contender Spotlight which opened with £1.05m going on to take £5.85m.
But this cannibalization of award contenders is nothing new as distributors do similar in September/October with films targeting adult audiences the only difference in January is distributors open films earlier for half term.
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
Sci-fi starring Dane DeHaan, Cara Delevingne, Clive Owen, Rihanna, John Goodman and Ethan Hawke and directed by Luc Besson his first sci-fi film since 1997’s The Fifth Element and his first film since 2014’s Lucy; has the biggest budget for a French film $180m.
The first trailer was released in November; part of its unique marketing campaign if someone shared the trailer on Twitter would get a personalized version of the trailer.
Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element took £7.08m in June 1997 being the 22nd biggest film of 1997; the biggest films of 1997 were The Full Monty £40.81m, Men in Black £35.8m and The Lost World: Jurassic Park £25.79m
Leon opened February 3rd taking £3.68m the 34th biggest film of 1995 but in the years since has become a cult classic similar to Shawshank Redemption opened two weeks after took only £2.63m 49th biggest film of 1995. The biggest films of 1995 were Batman Forever £20.01m, Casper £15.96m, Braveheart £11.02m
Power Rangers
Based on the 90s US Mighty Morphin Power Rangers live action superhero TV series which was based on a Japanese TV series.
In May 2016 Lionsgate released the first photo of the Rangers in their costumes which were criticized as being more Tony Stark than the lycra and the female costumes as so often were feminized with enlarged breastplates and high heels. You would have hoped the outfits would be gender neutral as they were in the TV series but always seems to be the case with women superhero costumes.
The last film version was 1995’s Mighty Morphin Power Rangers opened July 21st 1995 taking £4.12m was very much aimed for children Power Rangers is aimed at the comic-book audience with a much grittier version with the trailers looking similar to Chronicle which opened with £2.19m in February 2012 £6.87m, Project Almanac which was director Dean Israelite the last film opened February with £0.86m taking £1.21m and Fantastic Four opening with £2.68m in August 2015 taking £5.65m.
Lionsgate expects the film to launch another franchise for the studio with plans to make six or seven of them.
Also, released
Wonder, The Hitman’s Bodyguard, Granite Mountain, My Little Pony and Saw Legacy
Studiocanal
Had a quiet 2016 their 13 main releases taking only £17.16m down from £40m from 2015 (Legend £18.35m and Shaun The Sheep £13.72m)
the highest performing was Room with £3.77m showing up the problem being an independent distributor as you reliant on the product that is available. But distributors like Studiocanal, Lionsgate and eOne add own productions to slate but acquisitions are always the major part of their slates.
Starting 2017 with Martin Scorsese’s Silence, Manchester By the Sea and The Founder all possible award contenders.
Paddington 2 – November 10th
Sequel to the 2014 film with Hugh Grant and Brendan Gleeson joining the original cast of Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Peter Capaldi, Ben Whishaw and Imelda Staunton.
Paddington opened November 28th, 2014 with £5.11m, dropping 25% and 24% in its second and third weekends taking £14.3m but then doubled its box office adding £15.1m over the two lucrative weeks of Christmas holidays going on to take £37.8m.
The BFG performed similarly to Paddington in July 2016 opening with £5.28m and going on to take £30.64m becoming one of Steven Spielberg’s biggest films ever in the UK; both based on beloved children’s characters.
Being the first family film out for Christmas 2017 as original was in 2014 Disney are opening Coco two weeks after US opening to try to avoid suffering the same fate as Penguins of Madagascar suffered opening the weekend after Paddington. While Disney has had success with their summer animated film release Frozen in 2013 was the last time they have had similar success at Christmas.
If the sequel is received as positively as the original, it should be one of the biggest films of the year.
Also, released
The Mercy, Gold, The Sense of Ending, Free Fire, Mindhorn, From the Land of the Moon, The Son of Bigfoot, The Commuter, Lost City of Z and The Circle.