Top 5 Breakdown

1. American Made £ 968,068 – £3,024,863

The first Tom Cruise film to hold #1 for more than one week since Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol in January 2012 which took more than double £2.22m. But American Made taking less than £1m was the lowest #1 since The House Bunny in October 2008 taking £894,188 and was the first #1 under £1m since Prisoners October 2013.

There is no excuse for American Made to be the lowest #1 since The House Bunny in 2008 but as ticket prices are 46% more than they were in 2008 so more likely the lowest #1 since The Polar Express £688,859 December 24^th-26^th 2004. But as ticket inflation is 69%+ since it would be £1.44m today having gone back to 2001 not found a weekend worse so this weekend must be the worst for over 16 years. After the last few weeks of disappointing box office apart from Dunkirk the everyone is looking at It to revitalizing the box office. 

American Made will likely be Tom Cruise’s worst performing film in the UK since Rock of Ages in 2012 which took £2.56m but as that was the last film he has appeared in a non-Tom Cruise role American Made can’t really be compared to it. It will be his worst performing film (not including 2007’s Lions for Lambs as was such a different kind of film) since 1999’s Eyes Wide Shut which highlights how disappointing American Made performance was but as reviews were mostly positive the sad thing is it didn’t need to be this way. As American Made had Tom Cruise’s lowest second weekend drop after having a very disappointing opening holding similarly as strong as his previous film with director Doug Liman Edge of Tomorrow showing similarly had American Made been given a proper release date with a premiere as all previous Tom Cruise films have had since The Firm in 1993 American Made could have performed far stronger. Instead opening the same weekend as Logan Lucky and week after The Hitman’s Bodyguard all three films targeting similar demographics cannibalized each other and you wouldn’t normally expect this to happen with a Tom Cruise film and similarly you would expect a studio to poorly handle a Tom Cruise film as poorly as Universal has done with American Made.

Have been some massive highs this year with openings of La La Land (crazy overhype) Beauty and the Beast and Dunkirk (thanks to the Brit boost) but then also some massive lows like this weekend and June 16^th-18^th had the lowest top 10 since September 30th, 2011 (Abduction, The Debt and Shark Night 3D opened with top 10 total of £5,198,264) this was the weekend after Wonder Woman had a disappointing UK opening caused by many non-film events including the One Love Manchester Concert on June 11^thwhich saw 15m+ watch their real life Wonder Woman Ariana Grande perform a few weeks after the terrorist attack at the end of her Manchester concert in Manchester. Cinema audiences have become much pickier in the film they pay to see and those they wait to see a Tom Cruise film used to be one of those they pay to see but after Jack Reacher: Never Go Back and The Mummy has become one they can wait to see.  

Tom Cruise previously #1 for two weeks in 2008 Tropic Thunder but his role was more of an extended cameo. In 2006 Mission Impossible 3 stayed #1 for two weekends as did War of the Worlds the year before.

The low drops of most of the films in the top 10 might be impressive but as last year most films in the top 10 had low drops but had four films taking more than American Made three of them Sausage Party, Brotherhood and Bad Moms having a far lower profile than a Tom Cruise film while the other Finding Dory was in its sixth week of release. This weekend was close to 2015 which saw Straight Outta Compton top with £1.36m but the rest underwhelm as the three newcomers No Escape, The Transporter Refuelled and American Ultra. In 2014 Sex Tape opened with £1.43m and Lucy in its third weekend took £1.19m and its newcomers also disappointed Before I Go to Sleep and The Hundred-foot Journey. But in 2013 About Time opened with £1.76m and Riddick £1.41m, One Direction: This is Us £1.12m in its second weekend and We’re the Millers £918,971 in its third weekend shows that if there is good content audiences will come out. Was then surprising only The Limehouse Golem and Patti Cakes$ opened neither were likely to spark up much interest so surprising STX decided to open Wind River against It rather than a week earlier when it could have performed far stronger.

Big questions must be asked over Universal Pictures decision to open a Tom Cruise film 5 weeks before US opening against similar demographic targeting Logan Lucky they would know starring Daniel Craig would get much media coverage. By choosing to open early the film needed a UK premiere to build awareness as in the weeks before American Made opening you would barely know it was being released this is not what is expected from a Tom Cruise film, while his last film The Mummy also from Universal underwhelmed at the box office but its failure had little to do with him but more to do with the film as with King Arthur being far too busy trying to set up the franchise than worry about the film. The addition of Tom Cruise to the film was a strange as it just turned the film into a Mission Impossible movie but that should have been a good thing as while many of Tom Cruise’s films have underwhelmed at the box office over recent years the one film series that is going from strength to strength is the Mission Impossible films. American Made was originally set to be released in January and it probably would have been more successful to open before The Mummy rather than after as the film was Tom Cruise being Tom Cruise but after Jack Reacher: Never Go Back and then The Mummy disappointment American Made was seen as just another film and not as an event as a Tom Cruise film used to be as many were looking forward to seeing it after the loved his previous film with director Doug Liman Edge of Tomorrow which similarly underwhelmed in 2014 more to poor dating.

After disappointing in the UK and other internationally American Made opens at the end of the month sandwiched between Kingsman: The Golden Circle which is generating strong buzz and Blade Runner 2049 also doing (despite Blade Runner sequel getting strong buzz do wonder who the film is targeting is it the teens that saw the original in 1982 now almost 60 or the millennials of today?). American Made is unlikely to open top September 29^th with Kingsman and possibly Flatliners remake opening ahead of it close to Edge of Tomorrow opening behind The Fault in our Stars and Maleficent but Edge of Tomorrow opened with $28.76m American Made is likely to open with less than last year’s Jack Reacher: Never Go Back. It’s then no wonder that Tom Cruise is currently making Mission Impossible 6 opening next July and will start shooting Top Gun: Maverick opening July 2019 33 years after the first film.

2. Dunkirk – £935,980 – £53,735,483

Down 7.56% in its seventh weekend and will now just squeeze past 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises £56.24m;

Currently, 21^st biggest film in the UK and will shortly climb into the top 20 films by next weekend overtaking Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

After seven weeks on release Saving Private Ryan had taken 85.1% of its final box office which went on to play in cinemas for over 27 weeks from September 1998 to March 1999. If Dunkirk was holding close to Saving Private Ryan it would be looking at £63m final box office but instead has taken about 92% of its final box office which will see it ends with £58.45m will see it becomes the 15^th biggest film in the UK ahead of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Casino Royale, The Dark Knight Rises, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace and Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Dunkirk will do it with only 7.67m admissions almost half of The Two Towers 13.43m and The Phantom Menace 13.69m and less than Casino Royale 11.42m and Chamber of Secrets 12.77m showing how ticket price has impacted on admissions over the last 19 years. As much of Dunkirk box office came from PLF and IMAX its average ticket price is far higher than the claimed £7.62 so while it might be the 15^th biggest film in a few weeks’ time it will have the lowest admissions of the top 20 by far.

But of course, these films were released over 5 years ago their admissions tell a different story with when Dunkirk does overtake The Dark Knight Rises would have had 7,391,590 admissions 21% less than The Dark Knight 9,362,532 and 16% less than The Dark Knight Rises 8,830,070. As Dunkirk admissions are calculated using UK Cinema Association/BFI claimed average for the year rather than the real average of £10.50 if this was used Inception would have taken £62.32m, The Dark Knight Rises £92.71m, and The Dark Knight £98.3m.

Saving Private Ryan took £423,342 in its sixth weekend in October 1998 taking £15,956,810 going on to take £18,740,016 (4.604m admissions); can’t make direct comparisons with Dunkirk as average ticket prices almost three times what they were in 1998 (£4.07) along with the 40 IMAX screens. By comparing admissions Saving Private Ryan would have taken £29.87m on its way to £35.08m if using the claimed £7.62 average. But as the average for Dunkirk with IMAX surcharges is nearer £12.50 would be £37.37m going on to take £57.55m which will be close to the final box office for Dunkirk.

3. The Hitman’s Bodyguard £718,329 – £5,661,650

Down 18.7% in its third weekend with the arrival of both American Made and Logan Lucky The Hitman’s Bodyguard was always likely to have a heavy second-weekend drop.

The Hitman’s Bodyguard has overtaken Hacksaw Ridge to be Lionsgate UK’s second biggest film for 2017 behind La La Land; their 13 films have taken £58m far this year more than their 22 films they released last year taking £54.2m. Lionsgate’s remaining films for 2017 include American Assassin, Maze, The Glass Castle, My Little Pony, Jigsaw, Only the Brave, Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool, Wonder and Stronger.

4. The Emoji Movie £716,139 – £12,289,905

Up 4.29% in its fifth weekend after all the negativity surrounding the film pre-release and opening a week after the US most would have hoped and expected Emoji Movie would have a very short run in cinemas. By delaying the film, a week Sony Pictures UK took a risk but knew children don’t read reviews that would have little impact on them wanting to see the movie featuring all their favorite emojis. In doing so avoided it from being cannibalized by Cars 3 and Captain Underpants both opened only three weeks after Despicable Me 3. Opening five weeks after Despicable Me 3 and at the start of August Emoji Movie was the only children’s film in play Cars 3 and Captain Underpants cannibalized each other despite Captain Underpants getting rave reviews children don’t care about.

The Emoji Movie has become the 20^th biggest film in the UK and will shortly overtake Baby Driver showing how up and down this summer has been and how blaming failures on Rotten Tomatoes algorithms is just an excuse. As The Emoji Movieand Baby Driver shouldn’t be anywhere near each other with their box office if this was true. 

In recent years Sony Pictures UK have been heavily dependent on James Bond films with fewer franchises than their rivals but thanks to T2: Trainspotting £16.95m, Baby Driver £12.90, Spider-Man: Homecoming £30.08m (which will shortly overtake La La Land to become the fifth biggest film of the year so far) and Emoji Movie £12.3m will shortly overtake their total box office for 2016 with almost three months to go currently £86m Vs £87.6m compared with £151.2m in 2015 (62% £94m came from Spectre). With Blade Runner 2049 and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Flatliners still to come they should top £100m+ for 2017.

In 2018 Sony have several sequels Hotel Transylvania 3, The Equalizer 2, The Angry Birds 2 and Goosebumps 2 but none are likely to be as successful as their 2017 sequels.

5. Logan Lucky £632,648 – £2,121,222

Down 10.2% in its second weekend holding close to Steven Soderbergh’s Side Effects which took £759,363 in its second weekend taking £2,277,861 going on to take £4,749,799.

Studiocanal strangely expanded Logan Lucky release in its second weekend adding 250 more screens would of made far more sense seeing that American Made and The Hitman’s Bodyguard were opening close to its release date and opened it September 1^st seeing how The Sausage Party opened strongly last year over the same weekend instead its expansion was wasted as it still dropped in its second weekend.

While many critics called Logan Lucky a redneck Ocean’s Eleven next year Warner Bros release their female Ocean’s spinoff Ocean’s Eight starring Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, Rihanna, Mindy Kaling and Sarah Paulson and produced by Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney and directed by Gary Ross. Opening the same weekend Wonder Woman had so much success this year in the US but opening two weeks later in the UK due to the World Cup. 

The biggest failure this summer wasn’t the films as many have written as while there have been the usually pointless sequels and ill-conceived remakes and reboots there have also been many well-received films but probably for many of them is dating cannibalization as seen with Logan Lucky opening against American Made and The Hitman’s Bodyguard the week before earlier in the summer had Spider-Man: Homecoming, War for the Planet of the Apes and Dunkirk similarly targeting same demographics. While many weren’t expecting Dunkirk to do as it did it had that “Brit Effect” and became the film audiences young and old needed to see.

Many thought opening a week after War for the Planet of the Apes would of hurt Dunkirk instead it hurt War for the Planet of the Apes as it should have been moved to early August when 20^th Century Fox brought forward Alien: Covenant its move to May from August I believe was the catalyst to the biggest issues of the summer dating cannibalization which has been the bigger issue over the last few years which studios are seemingly ignoring. Happened last summer with Star Trek: Beyond, Jason Bourne and Suicide Squad and happened again this year and will happen again next year thanks to the World Cup with Star Wars Han Solo, Deadpool 2 and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom opening over three weeks all targeting similar audiences if they were separated would expect Jurassic World 2 and Han Solo to take £70m+ and Deadpool 2 £40m+ but opening them so close together they will open big and drop big. 

After the failure of the summer, William Goldman famously wrote in 1989

Similarly, no one learns anything as in 1991 Jeffrey Katzenberg wrote infamous memo after poor 1990 summer in the years since has only gotten far worse.

Exhibitors and studios this summer created a perfect storm but the saddest and most shocking thing of the failure is it was so predictable. Summer slate full of past their sell by date sequels poorly conceived reboots and remakes that were cannibalized opening against each other. While exhibitors will as always do blame exhibitors on poor product failures of Patti Cakes Ingrid Goes West and many others shows problem this summer hasn’t been just the films the issues lies with them too as has been for the last decade these issues were hidden by 3D surcharges and ticket inflation.

Logan Lucky will shortly overtake 2012’s Haywire £2.34m and should also overtake 2013’s Behind the Candelabra and 1998’s Out of Sight but will likely come short of matching 2013’s Side Effects £4.74m.

Studiocanal released an incredible 60 film last year taking £21.4m and have released 29 films so far in 2017 taking only £13.83m with many films underperforming including Silence and Free Fire their biggest film to date was the Oscar winning Manchester By the Sea with £3.21m; will release only three more films this year but of course one of them Paddington 2 is the sequel to the 2014 film which took £34.07m at the box office in 2014.

One film can make or break an independent film distributor last year eOne had The BFG and The Girl on the Train with their 27 films taking £109.9m this year have released the same amount of films but their biggest hit of the year is still Peppa Pig and their total box office will be half of 2016.

While Lionsgate started the year with a bang with the overhyped La La Land taking 53% of their current total box office of the year with the other 13 films almost totally what La La Land took. This week STX Entertainment launch their UK distribution while they have a strong line-up have none likely to break out.

Also released

Picturehouse Entertainment – God’s Own Country – £167,824 from 45 screens

20^th Century Fox – Patti Cake$ – opened £141,450 from 227 screens; surprising after it has been a slow starter on limited release in the US 20^th Century Fox choose to open so wide for the film with limited awareness despite premiering last month at Somerset House, having a big talker screening program and received positive reviews these films rarely find an audience in the UK.

IMAX- Inhumans – £81,229 from 39 screens; as with the US IMAX attempt to add non-film content to their cinemas failed due in part to the poor reviews and the price with IMAX cinemas charging the same price for Inhumans as Dunkirk.

As with Event Cinema IMAX offering more content in IMAX is great but it needs to be priced accordingly to what the content is which for Inhuman was a poorly conceived TV series which many have called the worst thing Marvel has done. Originally conceived as a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with a 2018 release date it was then switched to TV which is never a bad idea given that there are so many great TV series based on Marvel and DC properties but Inhumans isn’t one of them.

UK box office in detail

Despite Dunkirk success at the UK box office, August was still down 16% from last year when Suicide Squad despite the negativity surrounding it took over £34m and holdover films Finding Dory and Jason Bourne also did well. This year Dunkirk was the only positive with films like Annabelle: Creation, Emoji Movie, and The Hitman’s Bodyguard much further behind. 

Despite Jan – July being 8% up from last year box office is flat with last year while there are some big films opening over the next few months September is lacking a film like Bridget Jones’s Diary which took £48m while It and Kingsman are likely to perform well the two together will be no match for Bridget Jones. Likewise, Paddington 2 is unlikely to match last year’s Fantastic Beasts but unlike last year there was only one comic-book movie this year there is Thor: Ragnarok and Justice League while Star Wars: The Last Jedi will do far more than last year’s Rogue One so despite a record March/April since 2002 admissions will likely be similar to 2015 but of course due to ticket inflation box office will be up.

This weekend’s top 10 box office took £6,193,483 down 7.56% from last weekend £6,700,471     

The weekend admissions 812,793 down 7.56% from last weekend 879,327 (average price £7.62 by UK Cinema Association/BFI for 2017).

11 films opened at weekend taking £743,140; The Limehouse Golem took 49.9% (£371,412); with the remaining 10 films sharing £371,728 (50.02%)

The weekend was down 43.77% from last year (£11,014,615): Sausage Party £2,690,156, Brotherhood £1,979,309, Café Society £494,457 and Morgan £193,686.

Down 46.32% from 2015: (£11,539,308): Legend £5,189,074, The Maze Runner: Scorch Trials £2,799,428, The Visit £1,031,292, Irrational Man £197,188.

Next weekend in 2016: (£13,181,394) Bridget Jones’s Baby £8,111,077, Blair Witch £959,401, The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years £654,726, The Infiltrator £370,439.

 

UK Box Office Top 10

 

US Box Office Top 10

US Box office

Lionsgate – The Hitman’s Bodyguard – drops 0.1% in its third weekend taking $10.25m and $54.94m; The Hitman’s Bodyguard was the only film this summer to stay #1 for three weeks.

The Hitman’s Bodyguard is the 29^th biggest Lionsgate film by next weekend will become one of their biggest 20 films over its 22-year history showing how hard it is to be an independent studio now.

Has also overtaken Samuel Jackson’s films The Hateful Eight and will shortly overtake Robocop. 

Warner Bros – Annabelle: Creation – drops 5% in its fourth weekend taking $7.3m and $88.97m overtaking the final box office of the previous film $84.27m. The three previous films have taken over $413m in the US and over $1.15 billion globally; The fifth part of the franchise The Nun will be released next July with The Conjuring 3 expected probably in 2019.

Annabelle Creation took $15.6m from international total $164.4m and $253.4m globally and will this week overtake global box office of the original films $256.87m.

Weinstein Co- Wind River expands into 2,602 screens (adding 507 screens) up 27.4% taking $5.86m taking $18.28m; expanding much quicker than last year’s Hell or High Water which suffered from expanding too fast. Will Wind River hold better as had limited competition these past few weeks but with It this weekend and then All I See Is You, American Assassin and mother! opening in two weeks’ time getting very crowded very quickly. 

Weinstein Co – Leap! up 3.3% in its second weekend with $4.88m taking $11.38m having a decent hold being the end of the school holidays but will likely drop heavily in the coming weeks and find a proper home for home entertainment in a few weeks’ time as it’s a sweet animated film for young children but these films find it very hard to find a wide audience these days.

Bleecker Street – Logan Lucky – up 4.2% $4.42m in its third weekend taking $21.45m; disappointing return for Steven Soderbergh after receiving positive reviews was expected to perform far stronger but as with so many films recently and especially this summer, the problem wasn’t the film it was poor dating. Logan Lucky could have opened anytime this summer but choose to open it against the direct competition of The Hitman’s Bodyguard while receiving poor reviews had a far stronger marketing campaign. 

Warner Bros- Dunkirk up 4.5% in its seventh weekend $4.12m taking $178.75m;

Comparing with previous Christopher Nolan film 2014’s Interstellar took $2.7m in its seventh weekend and $175.53m (93.35% of the final box office of $188.02m) while 2010’s Inception took $4.86m and $270.51m. (92.45% of final box office of $292.57m)

If Dunkirk continues to hold as it is currently will likely now take less $195m+ less than Saving Private Ryan’s $216.54m 1998 box office showing how much the ‘Brit effect’ has inflated its UK box office.

As Saving Private Ryan took $6.79m dropping only 16.1% taking $165.03m (76.21% of final box office of $216.54m; if Dunkirk held as strongly it would have ended with $235m+) was released 19 years ago when average ticket price was $4.69 compared to $8.95 and was no IMAX surcharges; Saving Private Ryan admissions 22.11m (2017 box office would be 91% more $197.88m) Vs Dunkirk 14.92m (1998 box office would be 48% less $69.98m).

Dunkirk took $36.5m internationally (thanks to over $30m from China) $280m total with global box office of $460.3m #204 biggest film in the world overtaking La La Land, Pearl Harbour, Gladiator, and Mission Impossible and will shortly overtake Lucy, Pretty Woman, The Matrix, The Lego Movie, Jaws, Home Alone and Saving Private Ryan

In 2014 Interstellar took $675.12m and in 2010 Inception took $825.53m globally while Saving Private Ryan took $481.84m globally which would be about $919.5m total.

In its 14^th week on release Warner Bros – Wonder Woman took $1.9m taking $408.9m overtaking Captain America: Civil War and The Hunger Games this weekend to become the sixth biggest comic-book movie and on Monday overtook Iron Man 3 to become the 20^th biggest film in the US $409.49m

International has taken $403.7m with a global take of $813.2m now #65 biggest globally and will shortly overtake Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Chinese mega hit World Warrior 2. The UK was one of the countries where Wonder Woman disappointed after months of strong buzz and huge awareness it was hurt by several non-film events the tragic events at the end of the Ariana Grande Concert in March which saw Warner Bros cancel the UK premiere and then on its opening Sunday Ariana Grande held her One Love Manchester Concert watched by over 11m many of those who watched would have been those who would have gone to see Wonder Woman over the weekend. Then the weekend after Wonder Woman opened had some of the hottest temperatures of the summer which saw the top ten being the lowest since 2011. That was a double punch even Wonder Woman couldn’t survive even though the film recieved great reviews. 

The UK was one of the countries where Wonder Woman disappointed after months of strong buzz and huge awareness it was hurt by several non-film events the tragic events at the end of the Ariana Grande Concert in March which saw Warner Bros cancel the UK premiere and then on its opening Sunday Ariana Grande held her One Love Manchester Concert watched by over 11m many of those who watched would have been those who would have gone to see Wonder Woman over the weekend. Then the weekend after Wonder Woman opened had some of the hottest temperatures of the summer which saw the top ten being the lowest since 2011. That was a double punch even Wonder Woman couldn’t survive even though the film recieved great reviews. 

Sony Pictures – Close Encounters of The Third Kind – $1.76m from 901 screens; to celebrate the 40^th anniversary of Steven Spielberg’s classic Close Encounters of The Third Kind Sony Pictures gave their 4K restoration a theatrical release for one week before being released on 4K Ultra HD.  The re-released version is a re-edited version of the 1997 version which without the scenes inside the mothership. The problem for the film restoration team was the 1980 special edition was created from the original negative and some of the material was lost in labs in the 70s but when Metrocolor closed in 80s they came across some of the missing footage.

IMAX- Inhumans –opened with $1.5m from 393 screens; screening for two weeks ahead of its TV broadcast at the end of the month was poorly received by critics described as the worst thing made by Marvel. IMAX have wanted to add their own content to not be reliant on studios 52 weeks of the year. But what IMAX failed to understand was that Inhumans was different to regular film content created for cinema Inhumans was made for TV and being broadcast two weeks later shouldn’t have the same premium ticket pricing as regular IMAX content as tickets for Inhumans was the same price as Dunkirk.

Weinstein – Tulip Fever opened with $1.15m; after premiering footage at Cannes Film Festival two years ago the film has been delayed many times which made many people believe the film was a terrible film but it is far from turkey but it is far from a costume drama version of Gigli. Those who have seen its close to The Other Boleyn Girl and if you enjoyed that then will also enjoy Tulip Fever. The problem with the film is that it was filmed in 2014 and has gone through many edits and characters seen to come and go without making much sense.

Opened September 8^th

Opening UK

• It – Warner Bros

Horror based on Stephen King’s 1986 novel the first instalment in a planned duology; novel was previously adapted into a 1990 miniseries.

Starring Jaeden Lieberher, Bill Skarsgård, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, Wyatt Oleff, Chosen Jacobs, Jack Dylan Grazer, Nicholas Hamilton and Jackson Robert Scott and directed by Andy Muschietti.

In some countries, it is being called It: Part 1 – The Losers’ Club as the 1,138-page book is split into two films the sequel recently confirmed which will likely be released in 2019. 

The film had been in development since 2009 by Cary Fukunaga but left the project in 2015 after creative differences over its budget and his controversial script. Fukunaga didn’t share the same vision New Line had of Pennywise saying recently that he wanted was an elevated horror with actual characters but Warner wanted it to be inoffensive and conventional and he believed that you can’t do Stephen King and make it inoffensive. He believed scares worked best if you’re invested in the characters but Warner was far more interested in the scares. A draft of his It script leaked online in 2014.

In March Warner Bros released the first teaser trailer and as seen over 197 million times in the first 24 hours (with 81m views on Facebook) shattering the previous record set by The Fate of the Furious of 139m in December 2016. After 36 hours, the trailer had been seen 246m times. Of course, just because a trailer is seen much time this doesn’t always cross over into box office as trailers for Beauty and the Beast 128 million views, Fifty Shades Darker 114 million, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens 112 million had differing performances at the box office 

While Warner Bros made a big deal about It teaser trailer views there is no such information available for the full trailer views in July which viewers found even scarier. Which is surprising as the trailer often gets higher views than the teaser.  Star Wars: The Last Jedi teaser in April seen by 43m, Star Wars: The Force Awakens teaser in November 2014 by 55m but then the trailer was seen by 88m in April 2015; The Last Jedi trailer which is expected later this month is expected to more than double its teaser views. Similarly, Beauty and the Beast teaser 91.4m in May 2016 but the trailer in November 2016 received 127.6m.

Hard to compare It with other horror films as few have had the awareness and media coverage being based on Stephen King’s 80s novel; Stephen King has written more than 50 books selling over 350 million copies many of those books have been adapted into films from horrors The Shining, Carrie, Pet Sematary, The Mist, Misery, to The Running Man, The Shawshank Redemption, Green Mile, Stand By Me and most recently The Dark Tower.

The most high-profile horror in the last 20 years was The Blair Witch Project which took £5.875m in its second weekend after taking £750,822 on limited release from 36 screens went on to take £14.9m. A similarly sized opening is likely but unlikely to have an inflation inflated opening which would be over 80% more £10.3m.

September has been hit and miss for film successes over the years and has seen many British films launching while many others have been films delayed from summer release in the US; in 2016 Bridget Jones’s Baby opened with £8.11m and in 2015 Legend with £5.18m but 2013 was poor was poor while in 2014 Insidious 2 £2.87m and Rush £2.09m 2012 was poor; in 2011 Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy £2.81m, but 2010 and 2009 were poor; in 2008 Tropic Thunder £2.48m, but 2007 was poor and was 2006; 2005 Pride and Prejudice £2.52m, 2004 Collateral £2.23m, 2003 Calendar Girls £1.76m, The Italian Job £2.29m; 2002 The Bourne Identity £2.15m , Signs £3.76m,; 2001 Moulin Rouge £2.4m, A.I £2.28m

After a quiet August for new releases, It should be the film that gets audiences back to cinemas.

The Peckhamplex cinema in London is being renamed the PennyPlex with an immersive experience from the creative team behind some of David Copperfield, Paul Daniels, and Simon Drake’s illusions.

As part of It marketing campaign in Australia red balloons were being attached to sewer drains with a caption saying ‘it is closer than you think’

Warner Bros also released IT: Float – A Cinematic VR Experience is a 360-degree experience

• Wind River – STX

Murder mystery thriller starring Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen and written and directed by Taylor Sheridan; premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival receiving positive reviews. Opened on platform release last month in the US expanding from 4 screens to 2,095 over four weekends performed well on limited release but despite a lack of new releases failed to build over expansion adding 1,401 two weeks ago but only increasing its box office by 54.6%. This happened last year with Hell or High Water and so many other films recently that expand too quickly.

Wind River has been compared to last year’s Hell or High Water which opened the same weekend last year taking £552,230 from 264 screens.

Wind River is the first film to be released by STX Entertainment in the UK the US studio was launched in 2014 with plans to make the mid-range budget star driven films studios aren’t making as much these years. A year later signed a deal with Huayi Bros. to co-finance at least 18 films over three years; STX have had mixed success with the 14 films they have released to date in the US with their biggest hit Bad Moms taking $183.9m worldwide last year with the sequel A Bad Moms Christmas opening in November but it will be released through Entertainment Film Distributors in the UK.

In Cannes 2016 STX Entertainment announced they had acquired international rights to Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman for $50m to star Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and Al Pacino which Paramount Pictures had US rights but after Martin Scorsese’s Silence flopped Paramount let go of the project and Netflix pounced to acquire world rights.

STX have built up a steady line-up of releases Home Again, Breathe (opening the London Film Festival next month), Den of Thieves, Gringo, I Feel Pretty, The Happytime Murders, Uglydolls, and Adrift but The Irishman would have made a big statement to the industry to show they weren’t here to make up the numbers they were going to hit the ground running with massive high profile release. STX did later acquire international rights to Ridley Scott’s All the Money in the World but he has had mixed success in recent years after having massive success with The Martian in 2015 Alien: Covenant underwhelmed both critically and at the box office this summer.  All the Money in the World will be the first Ridley Scott film not released by a studio since 1997; Vestron Pictures UK were relaunched as First Independent Films acquired both White Squall and G.I Jane but both disappointed which helped to kill off the distributor.

The UK as the US are two very tough markets to launch film distribution over the years many have tried and failed or been acquired by the US or foreign companies e.g.: British Redbus Film Distributors launched in 1997 was acquired by German company Helkon Media in 2001 and was then acquired by Lionsgate in 2005 while Electric Pictures were acquired by Canadian Alliance Film which became Momentum Pictures which then brought by eOne Films in 2012.

Opening in US

• It – Warner Bros

Tracking for It started at $50m and has since risen to $60m+ after positive buzz from early reviews but having a generic title as It makes monitoring its social media coverage very difficult and to track the films awareness.

Alamo Drafthouse is hosting clown only screenings for It close to the women only screenings they held for Wonder Woman which turned out to be illegal under anti-discrimination laws which prevent excluding people by gender.

Police in Pennsylvania are concerned that It will trigger the return of the creepy clown craze which happened in the US last summer with children chased down the road with people dressed as clowns this come to the UK last Halloween and is a fear the film could bring this craze back.

Was also a reported the film was causing legit clowns to lose work with school and library shows being canceled according to the World Clown Association. But many children have had clown phobia for clowns for a long time before Stephen King’s It novel was published.

New Line Cinema was an independent studio for almost 30 years before it was acquired by Turner Broadcasting System in 1994 which merged into Warner Bros in 1996 for the next 12 years New Line Cinema kept its independence from Warner Bros making the films they wanted and releasing them via New Line in the US and to independent distributors internationally. Over the years that followed they made a wide slate of films having huge success with the Lord of the Rings trilogy. As a follow-up to Lord of the Rings in 2002, they announced plans to adapt Philip Pullman’s trilogy His Dark Materials the first film The Golden Compass with a budget of $180m was one of their highest budgeted films but only took $70m in the US and $32m globally. The failure of The Golden Compass (Daniel Craig’s second film after Casino Royale) saw Warner Bros incorporate New Line Cinema within the studio to become a production house with their films released globally by Warner and they would make lower budget films.

Their first film made for Warner Bros was 2010’s Valentine’s Day which followed with Sex and the City 2 and Horrible Bosses which were successful but also had many disappointments including 2012’s Rock of Ages. But in 2013 made the low budget horror The Conjuring which was a massive success which created the four-film franchise which has taken over $1 billion globally to date. Having mixed success from the other films they still make with more success with the low budget comedies and dramas Me Before You, How to Be Single and Creed so when Warner Bros was developing It New Line was the perfect home for it. New Line Cinema made its name from launching A Nightmare on Elm Street but in recent years Jason Blum’s Blumhouse Productions has had a lot of success with low-budget horror including The Purge, Get Out, Split and upcoming Happy Death Day and Insidious: The Last Key.

After the summer season had week after week of PG-13 films many of which cannibalized each other as they targeted similar demographics the same is likely for the autumn with American Assassin, mother! Kingsman The Golden Circle, Flatliners and Blade Runner 2049 all R-rated opening over the next four weeks.

What was most surprising was Paramount Pictures brought forward the release of Darren Aronofsky’s Mother by a month in July to open a week after It as if It does open as expected with $60m+ it’s likely to have a second weekend of $30m+. Despite Jennifer Lawrence is the second most highly paid actress in 2017 (replaced this year by Emma Stone) she still hasn’t proven herself at the box office as leading actress with her biggest openings X-Men and The Hunger Games movies. The closest she got to it was last year with Passengers starring opposite Chris Pratt which despite receiving negative reviews and opening with $14.86m still went on to take $100m in the US and $303m globally. But mother! is a very different darker film than previous Jennifer Lawrence films.

• Home Again – Open Road Films

Romantic comedy starring Reese Witherspoon, Nat Wolff, Jon Rudnitsky, Pico Alexander, Michael Sheen and Candice Bergen and directed by Hallie Meyers-Shyer.

Reece Witherspoon used to be the queen of the rom-com but as she said herself in a recent interview it’s time to reinvent them as while they were a mainstay at the cinema over the decades in recent years they have failed to make much impact at the box office with going for more gross-out comedy.

The Big Sick was hyped since Sundance as the new look rom-com taking $40m at the box office. Reece Witherspoon has starred in many from Just Like Heaven and Legally Blonde to Sweet Home Alabama to Pleasantville and recently produced Gone Girl which she was central to the development of the film with producer Leslie Dixon approaching her in 2011 before the book was published and a year later 20th Century Fox acquired the rights. This year she also produced and starred with Nicole Kidman in the excellent HBO drama Big Little Lies.

Since winning Best Actress Oscar for Walk the Line in 2005 hasn’t had mixed success at the box office her biggest hits have been animated films Monsters Vs Aliens and Sing. As with so many other actresses who win Best Actress Oscar their follow-up films aren’t nearly as successful. After starring in Walk the Line starred in Rendition, Penelope, Four Christmas (which was a success) but then the James L Brooks flop How Do You Know, Water for Elephants and This Means War were did ok but then The Good Lie, Wild, Inherent Vice and Hot Pursuit all disappointed so maybe going back to something like Home Again doing what she did so well before winning the Oscar and then starring in Alexander Payne’s Downsizing is a chance to make the big screen comeback alongside the small screen. Early in her career starred in films like Freeway, Pleasantville, Cruel Intentions, election, Best Laid Plans and American Psycho all very different and interesting roles before starring as Elle Woods in the sweet and very fun Legally Blonde which made her a rom-com star.

After starring in Walk the Line starred in Rendition, Penelope, Four Christmas (which was a success) but then the James L Brooks flop How Do You Know, Water for Elephants and This Means War were did ok but then The Good Lie, Wild, Inherent Vice and Hot Pursuit all disappointed so maybe going back to something like Home Again doing what she did so well before winning the Oscar and then starring in Alexander Payne’s Downsizing is a chance to make the big screen comeback alongside the small screen. Early in her career starred in films like Freeway, Pleasantville, Cruel Intentions, Election, Best Laid Plans and American Psycho all very different and interesting roles before starring as Elle Woods in the sweet and very fun Legally Blonde which made her a rom-com star.

Reece Witherspoon was previously attached to Nancy Meyers 2015 comedy The Intern starring opposite Robert De Niro after dropping out Anne Hathaway replaced her. In August 2016, it was announced Reece replaced Rose Byrne Home Again is written and directed by Hallie Meyers-Shyer daughter of Nancy Meyers. After producing and starring in Big Little Lies it’s perhaps a little surprising she would then go back to rom-com.