- A Quiet Place II – £3,567,048 – NE
Took £1,316,513 from 3 days of previews (on last week on Sunday/Bank Holiday Monday and Thursday (#2 on both days)
Opened 24.4% more than A Quiet Place but had two extra days of previews; took 36.91% of it’s opening from previews, without previews Fri-Sun £2,250,535 opening 12.9% more than A Quiet Place (£1,992,514).
Took 2D with £2,068,910 (58.2%) with previews included £3,285,065 (92.3%); IMAX £171,886 (4.9%) with previews included £270,759 (7.6%)
Had the biggest IMAX opening in the UK since Tenet in August
415th biggest opening in the UK between The A-Team and John Wick: Chapter 3: Parabellum (close to Paranormal Activity, The Final Destination, Cloverfield and Glass) and 576th biggest inflation inflated between Dead Again and Beverly Hills Cop II (close to The Woman in Black, The Ring, Saw IV and Warcraft: The Beginning).
37th biggest Paramount Pictures opening between Jack Reacher and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 (close to Paranormal Activity 2, Paranormal Activity, Cloverfield and Paranormal Activity 3).
A Quiet Place opened in April 2018 #2 with £2,696,892 including £704,378 previews (£1,992,514 Fri-Sun) dropping 29% in its second weekend taking £1,907,585 and £6,350,119 going on to take £11,801,912; Peter Rabbit #1 for fourth weekend £3,152,269 with Ready Player One #3 £2,395,663 without previews it would have opened third (£1,992,514).
A Quiet Place Part II opens a week after The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, while they are two very different kinds of horrors A Quiet Place was huge hit in the US but wasn’t so big in the UK as it’s one of many PG-13 films that gets pushed up to a 15, while blockbusters get the lower 12A, meaning much of its target demographic can’t legally see it, why the 12 certificate needs to return alongside 12A for more grown-up films.
The BBFC launched the 12 certificates in 1989 with Batman, before this many teen films were given 15 certificates so a lot of its target audience couldn’t see the films legally. In 2002 BBFC launched the 12A Spider-Man. The 12A has helped many films attract a wider audience that they would have done as the different between the two is 12A allows younger children into see the films if they go with someone 12 or older.
Had double-bill screenings with the original on Sunday and previews on Monday before opening on Thursday having 6 day opening weekend next week which should see the sequel open #1 in the UK. The original opened second behind fourth weekend of Peter Rabbit (£3,152,269) over Easter weekend taking £704,378 from 478 previews on Easter Monday/Thursday.
After A Quiet Place first opening in April 2018 director John Krasinski had no plans for a sequel saying, “I had no intention of doing a sequel because I’m an audience member first, before a director, writer, actor. When I see sequels, a lot of the time I do the eye roll and go, ‘Oh man, it’s just a cash grab studio kind of move. It’s not going to be nearly as good as the first.’ And I didn’t want that to happen, so I just said no”. But a few months later John Krasinski came up with an idea for the sequel the film came together very quickly. In August 2018 he wrote the screenplay and 9 months later in June 2019 started production for a March 2020 release.
Paramount were eager for the sequel to be made after A Quiet Place took $188m in the US (#236 biggest film in the US between Wreck-It Ralph and Interstellar) and $341m worldwide (#418 biggest worldwide between The Flintstones and Enchanted). A Quiet Place was one of the first films made under Jim Gianopulos (script was acquired by the studio a few weeks before he joined the studio), after several disappointing years for the studio since losing Marvel and Dreamworks, (in 2011 Paramount were the biggest studio in the US and globally) A Quiet Place was seen as the film that would see the studio revitalised and it had the biggest opening in the US since 2016’s Star Trek Beyond.
Originally A Quiet Place was seen as a film within Cloverfield Universe as 2016’s The Cellar and 2018’s God Particle became, (10 Cloverfield Lane and The Cloverfield Paradox) but Paramount believed the original film was strong enough to be a standalone film.
But could the two universes crossover in future as Paramount Pictures announced on Friday untitled A Quiet Place film dated for March 31, 2023, Jeff Nichols is writing and directing which will in addition to a third film John Krasinski will direct, he said that he put some Easter eggs in the sequel that set up the third film.
In March 2020 Paramount delayed the release of A Quiet Place Part 2 several times but while they sold rights to several of their films to streaming services including Coming 2 America, Lovebirds and The Trial of the Chicago 7 and moved Infinite to Paramount+ they knew the sequel could perform similar to the original film if they gave the film the right date. After Universal Pictures surprisingly delayed F9 in March to June 25 (before bringing forward its Asian release to May 21st).
Paramount saw the opportunity to move A Quiet Place Part 2 to Memorial Day, only problem was that meant opening a week after The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It internationally. While they are two different horrors, in the UK both are 15 certificates but in the US A Quiet Place Part 2 is a PG-13.
Paramount announced in February the film would be available on Paramount+ 45 days after opening in cinemas in the US (12 July), as Paramount+ isn’t available in the UK that will probably mean all normal VOD services.
John Krasinski generated much positivity last March with his excellent web series Some Good News, his weekly videos featuring good news over nine weeks, watched by millions every week, it featured A Hamilton cast Zoom performance and an Office reunion. He sold the brand to ViacomCBS in May 2020.
Director William Friedkin tweeted on Saturday “A Quiet Place 2 is a classic horror film…Cinema is back”.
The day before Ryan Reynolds Tweeted “My friend @johnkrasinski can try to shush me all he wants but I won’t be silent about how good the second @quietplacemovie is. I will not scream it, though. That would be indecorous.”
And director Edgar Wright tweeted “I applaud Mr. @johnkrasinski for going all out to support theatres at this time. The first Quiet Place was an unforgettable experience with a crowd & I love that he’s leading the charge to bring the big screen experience back for the many who have missed it. Can’t wait to see it.” He went to screening at Picturehouse Central over it’s opening weekend.
While in the US The Conjuring saw A Quiet Place Part 2 drop much heavier than the first film, non-film related issues will be the biggest competition for it in the UK with the Euro’s starting on Friday and even hotter temperatures as Nobody and The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard won’t be much competition for it.
A Quiet Place took £1,907,585 down 29% (4% without previews) taking £6,350,119 53.8% of £11,801,912, A Quiet Place Part 2 will likely drop 60% (40% without previews) taking £1.5m-£2m.
2. Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway – £2,045,576 – £12,615,157
Down 0.6% in its third weekend; with Friday being half-term weekend box office for both Peter Rabbit 2 and Cruella were always likely to have minimal drops, often they see increases. (Tom & Jerry The Movie and Raya And The Last Dragon both increased by 22% despite both available to watch at home). Many other children’s films also increased their box office from last weekend.
Mon-Weds box office was up 247% from last week taking £2.23m including £737,434 on Bank Holiday Monday (226% more than opening day), due to half-term holidays, despite each of those days being hotter than the previous; opening week took £796,965 from previews Mon-Thurs; £226,840 from Monday; £167,001 on Tuesday (down 26.4%); £235,472 from Wednesday (Cineworld cinemas reopening) (up 41%); £167,652 Thursday (down 28.8%)
In 2018 Peter Rabbit increased 30% (due to Good Friday) in its third weekend taking £5,610,556 (+63.5%) and £21,643,421 (+41.7%) 52.8% of £40,999,583; took £2.3m on Good Friday and another £2.6m from Easter Monday, showing that while Peter Rabbit 2 taking £2.23m is good the marketplace is from being back to normal.
If Peter Rabbit 2 were to hold as strongly as the first film it will take upwards on £20m making it the biggest film since 1917, by next weekend it will be close to overtaking Tenet (£15.1m) and become the biggest film in the UK since Sonic the Hedgehog.
Peter Rabbit is the 67th biggest film in the UK taking £40,999,583 (Paddington 2 is just slightly ahead #63 taking £42,642,938) and is Sony Pictures UK’s 5th biggest film in the UK (behind Skyfall, Spectre, Casino Royale, and Quantum of Solace) as they have lost distribution rights to James Bond films Peter Rabbit is their MVP.
It’s unlikely Peter Rabbit 2 will come close to the original films box office despite it being a far better film, the positive for Peter Rabbit 2 is it has 8 weeks before the next major family release Space Jam: A New Legacy and The Croods 2: A New Age on July 16 so could do steady weekend box office until then.
Other British sourced children’s third weekend drops
2017’s Paddington 2 – dropped 32% taking £4,545,218 and £22,990,836 (53.9%) of total £42,614,170
2016’s The BFG – dropped 49% taking £1,713,088 and £20,207,813 (66.2%) of total £30,514,629
2014’s Paddington – dropped 24% taking £2,909,674 and £14,306,197 (38.04%) of total £37,608,112
20005’s The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – dropped 41% taking £2,843,353 and £24,677,956 (56.5%) of its £43,641,024
2005’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – dropped 35% taking £2,886,352 and £26,058,703 (69.7%) of its £37,354,584
2005’s Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit – dropped 23% taking £3,593,266 and £25,840,863 (80.8%) of its £31,956,705
2005’s Nanny McPhee – dropped 46% taking £1,656,113 and £12,751,179 (77.6%) of its £16,428,714
Hard to compare Peter Rabbit third weekends with most of these other releases as apart from The BFG and The Chronicles of Narnia all other third weekends were during school term.
Other animal based animated children’s films third weekends.
1999’s Stuart Little – dropped 25% taking £1,045,603 and £9,391,578 (53.9%) of its £17,392,023
2016’s Zootropolis – dropped 14% taking £2,365,457 and £18,607,656 (80.3%) of its £23,144,354
2016’s The Angry Birds Movie – dropped 54% taking £919,519 and £5,771,901 (58.1%) of its £9,929,464
2011’s Hop up 29% taking £788,809 and £4,622,392 (61.8) of its £7,479,597
2007’s Charlotte’s Web – down 31.1% taking £1,304,946 and £8,982,070 (84.7%) of its £10,593,589
Peter Rabbit 2 was originally due to be released just before Easter last year as the original film was in 2018 and rabbits of course extremely popular at Easter with films including Zootropolis and Hop and Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and Who Framed Roger Rabbit released later in the year.
Sony Pictures had a multi-million-pound promotion campaign running for Peter Rabbit 2 with Cadbury’s (as they did with the first film) when it’s release date was delayed, which must have been costly for both. Being delayed to May 2021 it meant that they couldn’t repeat the same promotional campaign this year.
While Peter Rabbit films might have more in common with The Emoji than to the classic books written by Beatrix Potter the book first published in the early 19th Century sold millions her first look The Tale of Peter Rabbit has sold over 45 million copies. The books have been read by generations of parents to their children as Winnie the Pooh, Paddington, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Gruffalo over the decades since which has made the books part of our childhood and the books parents turn to read to their children.
Their popularity is seen by their performances at the UK box office with their adaptions including Paddington, The BFG, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Borrowers, Matilda, The Jungle Book, and Nanny McPhee all performed far stronger in the UK than anywhere else in the world.
While critics slated the original Peter Rabbit film in 2018 with Rotten Tomatoes score of 63%, they were far more positive about the sequel as director Will Gluck had listen to critics issues with the film and the sequel is self-ware of itself with jokes for the adults dragged to see it by their children.
Before directing the first Peter Rabbit film Will Gluck directed 2010’s Easy A (a fabulous modern-day version of the Scarlet Woman starring Emma Stone) and 2011’s Friends with Benefits (a fun modern romantic comedy starring Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis), but then came 2014’s Annie remake which was both poorly received critically and at the box office.
So, when he directed Peter Rabbit probably had to tone down his ideas and was guided by Sony in how they wanted the film to play, but after the film was a huge success becoming the studios biggest non-comic-book movie franchise he was able to have much more fun with the sequel and why reaction from critics has been far more positive. Will Gluck said that he has written the script for the third film which will likely be released in 2023.
3. Cruella – £1,284,098 – £4,494,976
Down 11.6% in its second weekend
681st biggest second weekend in the UK between Ad Astra and Ocean’s Eight (close to The Hannah Montana Movie, Puss in Boots, Pokemon: The First Movie and Jack the Giant Slayer) and 945th biggest inflation inflated second weekend Ad Astra and Ocean’s Eight (close to A Peanuts Movie, The LEGO Ninjago Movie, Onward and The Smurfs 2) and 114th biggest Disney second weekend between Confessions of a Shopaholic and Onward (close to Alice Through the Looking Glass, The Haunted Mansion, Flubber and Mulan).
Comparisons were made with 2006’s The Devil Wears Pada second weekend £1,870,080 down 42.7% taking £6,751,301 of £13,681,185 (£20,282,989 inflation inflated) and had a similar second weekend to Birds of Prey taking £1,773,023 and £5,820,838 66% of £8,820,000.
While 1996’s 101 Dalmatians reimagination took £20.4m (£39.8m inflation inflated)
Had the lowest second weekend for Disney reimagination.
Disney surprisingly announced on Friday they were developing a sequel to Cruella saying, “We are very pleased with Cruella’s box office success, in conjunction with its strong Disney+ Premier Access performance to date.” But the film had the lowest opening of a Disney reimagination since 2000’s 102 Dalmatians and SambaTV reported only 686k households in the US paid $29.99 to watch it over opening weekend (37% less than those who streamed Mulan) and 83k paid £19.99 to watch it in the UK and 15k in Germany. (This is a tiny fraction of Disney+ subscribers in the US (40m+) and the UK (4m+)
Cruella 13th Disney reimagination since 2010 released in cinemas (Mulan was due to be released but was released straight to Disney+ last year as was Lady and the Tramp) and their first reimagination of a reimagination as Disney previously made a live-action remake of 101 Dalmatians in 1996, but while that was a straight remake, but when the trailers were released for Cruella many compared it to Joker,
Emma Stone said at the time “It’s very different from Joker in many ways…I would never even remotely compare myself to Joaquin Phoenix. I wish I were more like him.” (Joker was a 15 certificate (R) while Cruella is a 12A (PG-13).
It was a surprising decision for Disney to go for PG-13 rather than PG for Cruella as all other reimaginations have been PG (the 1996 reimagination of 101 Dalmatians was U) but hiring director Craig Gillespie who previously directed the dark comedy I, Tonya as well as Lars and the Real Girl and Fright Night must have expected he would go darker than other reimaginations.
Disney probably would have had similar issues with Mulan last year had they released it in cinemas as it was also given a 12A certificate while the 1998 animated film was a U.
Cruella is a similar Disney reimagination to 101 Dalmatians as Maleficent was to Sleeping Beauty switching the story to the villains side which is often the more interesting story that isn’t often developed in these films as they are normally told from the heroes perspective.
Emma Stone acting career has been on the rise since 2007’s Superbad, followed up with cult favourites Zombieland and Easy A (directed by Will Gluck director of the two Peter Rabbit films) moving to more grown-up films over the last 5 years with her Oscar winning performance in La Land, but probably far better performance as Billie Jean King the following year in Battle of the Sexes. As many actors Emma Stone to find more interesting roles she will go back to TV next year in The Curse for Showtime.
The 13 Disney reimaginations have taken over £408m at the UK box office, Mulan was due to be released in cinemas last March but was moved to Disney+ last year when cinemas closed, and Disney have also moved several other reimaginations originally planned as cinema releases to Disney+.
4. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It – – £1,039,094 – £5,312,625
Down 61.6% in its second weekend (without previews dropped 44%)
with A Quiet Place Part 2 opening it was always going to drop heavily in its second weekend, while both films are vastly different horrors they both are 15s in the UK so attract similar audiences.
861st biggest second weekend in the UK between Emma (1996) and Police Academy 4: Citizens On Patrol (close to The Man from U.N.C.L.E, Contagion, Saw and Cabin in the Woods) and
1,090th biggest inflation inflated second weekend between Battle: Los Angeles and The Personal History Of David Copperfield (close to X-Men: Dark Phoenix, The Hills Have Eyes, Hide and Seek and Insidious: The Last Key).
161st biggest Warner Bros film between Happy Feet 2 and Argo (close to Under Siege, Contagion, The Devil’s Advocate and The Accountant).
The eighth film in the Conjuring Universe franchise and the third Conjuring film, the first was released in 2013 and sequel in 2016, with spinoffs Annabelle (2014), Annabelle: Creation (2017), The Nun (2018), The Curse of La Llorona (2019) and Annabelle Comes Home (2019). There are two more films in development The Nun sequel and The Crooked Man.
The previous The Conjuring films have taken almost £60m in the UK, the biggest 2018’s The Nun taking £11.3m; 2013’s The Conjuring opened with £2,156,124 taking £9,337,626; 2016’s The Conjuring 2 opened with £4,637,862 (including previews) taking £10,896,992.
5. Dream Horse – £ 209,389 – NE
Took £11,079 from previews.
These feel-good British comedy dramas used to be hugely successful at the UK box office, but in recent years they have struggled to find an audience as they don’t hold on to screens, but with the European Championships starting on June 11th it could be hold on to screens for much longer.
Fisherman’s Friends opened in March 2019 with £1,154,864, dropped only 15.7% in its second weekend taking £972,996 and £3,361,336 and £7,380,488; Entertainment Films opens sequel next year.
Sunshine on Leith opened in October 2013 with £770,239 taking £4,499,183.
Finding Your Feet opened February 2018 with £923,220 taking £5,436,523.
Swimming with Men opened July 2018 with £59,301 taking £322,555.
Its 27 years ago since Four Weddings and a Funeral opened with £1,432,424 taking £27,369,755 (£60,802,963 inflation inflated) three years later The Full Monty opened with £1,600,000 taking £52,232,058 (£92,657,361 inflation inflated)
Over the years since there have many more feel-good British films from Billy Elliot to Calendar Girls that have had similar success all opening with similar box office (about a third more than Fisherman’s Friends. With ticket inflation over 50% since these films opened it does show have these films have been squeezed at the box office, and these films that would previously had long legs don’t last as long.
Always surprises me when a distributor choosing to open a film like Dream Horse in over 500 screens as often a distributor would open a film limited wide and then expand further the following weekend after strong word of mouth as a film like Dream Horse wouldn’t be a film people would rush out to see over opening weekend.
Had world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2020 receiving positive reviews (90% Rotten Tomatoes) was originally due to be released in April 2020 but delayed due to COVID; opened In the US on May 21st with $796,000 from 1,254 screens.
Similar horse racing films include 2003’s Seabiscuit and 2010’s Secretariat.
Also Opened
Land – Universal Pictures
Opened with £14,615 from 145 screens, showing how tough the marketplace is for films targetting older audiences, it will be interesting to see if The Father can buck that trend this weekend. The Father is Anthony Hopkins first major film role since 2013’s Hitchcock.
It will be almost 30 years to the day his Oscar winning The Silence of the Lambs opened in the UK (June 4th wide opened week earlier exclusive at Odeon Leicester Square) with £4,348,483 (£10,361,732 inflation inflated) taking £17,119,333 (£40,792,602 inflation inflated)
Other Box Office News
After the UK opening of cinema on May 17 the industry heralded it as a comeback, but the problem is nothing has really changed, many of the issues facing the industry that they should have used the months cinemas were closed to deal nothing was done. It will need much more than one summer as the cinema industry needs to realise streaming isn’t the enemy as even UKCAs Phil Clapp said “It’s not a competition between us and the streaming sites” …. “People with a voracious appetite for films use streaming and want to go to cinemas”. While BO increased over the last decade admissions haven’t increased in the US since 2002 and only 1% since in the UK, likewise PVOD this should have been dealt with in 2016 but industry is scared of change.
The cinema industry only needs to look at what happened to Blockbuster, AOL, and Yahoo (both $100bn+ companies 20 years ago sold for $5bn last month) to see what happens to businesses that don’t think they need to change.
Previously it was exhibitors Vs streaming seen by major exhibitors refusing to book Netflix or Sky Cinema films, but now UKCA said “It’s not a competition between us and the streaming sites,” … “People with a voracious appetite for films use streaming and want to go to cinemas. We’re more worried about bars and restaurants. That, and the reinvention of golf and darts as shared communal experiences.”
A few years ago, it was live sport and theatre they compared cinema to, but going to the cinema used to be something many people would do as often as they went to the pub. As many say we will have the return of the Roaring Twenties, in 1920s over 20m people went to the cinema in the UK every week, more than half the population of the UK, before COVID was about 2.5%, last weekend 46m attended indoor hospitality with cinema less than 1m of that.
Streaming has never been competition for cinemas, the biggest issue cinema has had over the last 18 years is themselves, pricing out many going often, as for more than a century was a cheap night out, in the 80s was the cost of a Big Mac meal (£1.52) now (£4.79) 50%+.
Last year UKCA wanted cinemas to be classed within hospitality sector as it benefited cinemas, as they were able to get VAT reduced from July last year to September 30th this year, but unlike the majority of the hospitality sector cinemas didn’t pass on the VAT reduction to all customers, only their subscription cinema customers (Cineworld Unlimited and Odeon Limitless) while Vue cinemas have incorporated their service charge within ticket price, it used to be an additional 75p per ticket booking online. But now it disadvantages, they can’t have it both ways, their own website says each cinema ‘runs a significant hospitality business’.
All the research shows that those who stream regularly also go to the cinema regularly, they were never the competition but should have been seen as services that should work alongside each other.
Research from 2004 highlights what I’ve said for many years that analysts predicted far stronger growth in cinema attendance. In Screen International review of 1993 analyst were predicting admissions would top 200m by 2000. Admissions grew steadily over the rest of the decade and up to 2002 topping out at 175m.
Dodona Research from 2004 said cinema was on track to have 200m+ admissions and £1bn+ box office by 2008, this was despite a drop of 8.5m admissions in 2003. In reality it was 2011 until box office topped £1bn but admissions only grew 1% between 2002 and 2017.
In 2004 UK box office was £769.6m, in 2008 increased to £854.4m despite admissions being flat, so increase was ticket inflation as was its increase to £1bn+ in 2011.
The question always ask is why cinema industry didn’t see admissions had declined in 2003 after 17 years of growth and realise that things needed to change, but only thing that did was prices increased dramatically over the following years. Then came 3D which allowed exhibitors to add 30%+ surcharges and PLF and IMAX to do similar.
At the same time box office was flat streaming service in UK grew with LoveFilm/Amazon and Netflix growing dramatically.
UK box office in detail
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £8,645,168 up 12.4% from last weekend £7,692,672 and down 48.8% from 2019 (£16,880,406)
The weekend admissions 1,215,917 up 12.4% 1,081,951 from last week; admissions in 2019 this week was 2,338,006 (down 48%)
Top 3 took £6,896,722 79.8% of the top 10; A Quiet Place Part 2 41.2% (£3,567,048); Peter Rabbit 2 23.6% (£2,045,576); Cruella 14.8% (£1,284,098).
2020 cinemas closed.
Down 48.8% from 2019 (£16,880,406) Top three took 67.2% (£11,337,483) of the top 10; Aladdin 28.9% (£4,888,931); Godzilla: King of The Monster 20.8% (£3,507,717); The Secret Life of Pets 2 17.4% (£2,940,835; #1 Aladdin £4,888,931 2nd week
Down 11.8% from 2018: (£9,802,656); Book Club (£720,858); My Friend Dahmer (£37,940); #1 Solo: A Star Wars Story £3,147,338 684 screens 48% drop (32.1% of top 10)
Down 46.3% from 2017: (£16,108,699); Wonder Woman (£6,179,616); Baywatch (£4,631,244); My Life as a Courgette (£55,566); Dough (£51,426); #1 Wonder Woman £6,179,616 1st week 599 screens (38.3% of top 10)
Down 40.7% from 2016: (£14,572,147); Warcraft: The Beginning (£3,623,725); Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (£3,495,445); Me Before You (£1,790,657); The Nice Guys (£1,004,622); Race (£39,990); #1 Warcraft: The Beginning £3,623,725 500 screens 1st week (24.8% of top 10)
Down 30.2% from 2015; (£12,383,288); San Andreas (£4,628,394); Man Up (£528,748); Danny Collins (£225,308); The Connection (£82,486); #1 San Andreas £4,628,394 505 screens 1st week (37.3% of top 10)
Up 6.6% from 2014: (£15,825,863); Maleficent (£6,590,071); Edge of Tomorrow (£1,886,096); A Million Ways to Die in the West (£1,240,465); Jimmy’s Hall (£131,703); Heaven is for Real (£7,762); #1 Maleficent £6,590,071 486 screens 1st week (41.6% of top 10)
Down 28.8% from 2013: (£12,145,608); The Purge (£1,019,877); The Big Wedding (£595,956); Byzantium (£114,339); Populaire (£106,192); #1 The Hangover Part III £2,917,887 498 screens 51% drop 2nd week (24.1% of top 10)
Down 47% from 2012 (£16,285,480); Prometheus (£6,236,580); Snow White and the Huntsman (£3,589,027); Top Cat – The Movie (£457,287); The Angels’ Share (£256,446); LOL (£114,545); #1 Prometheus £6,236,580 1st week 514 screens (38.2% of top 10)
Down 35.3% from 2011 (£13,361,869); X-Men: First Class (£5,438,386); Eyes Wide Open 3D (£463,914); Senna (£375,173); Last Night (£51,245); Prom (£34,885); Screwed (£9,297); #1 X-Men: First Class £5,438,386 1st week 507 screens (40.7% of top 10)
Down 36.5% from 2010: (£13,625,923); Sex and the City 2 (£6,142,718); The Tooth Fairy (£844,889); Space Chimps 2 (£434,883); The Losers (£391,938); Rec 2 (£70,367); #1 Sex and the City 2 £6,142,718 1st week 530 screens (45.1% of top 10)
Up 19.6% from 2009; (£7,228,664); Drag Me to Hell (£1,907,731); 12 Rounds (£326,804); Obsessed (£154,344); Jonas Brothers 3D Concert Experience (£117,060); Fireflies in the Garden (£20,828); #1 Night at the Museum 2 £2,054,769 520 screens 51% drop 2nd week (28.4% of top 10)
Down 47.3% from 2008; (£16,421,392); Sex and the City (£8,767,265); Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (£265,346); Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins (£40,380); #1 Sex and the City £8,767,265 460 screens 1st weeks (53.4% of top 10)
Up 5.7% from 2007:(£8,174,672); Wedding Daze (£803,471); Paradise Lost (£406,822); The Hitcher (£217,973); Flyboys (£38,531); #1 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End £5,381,920 2nd week 550 screens 60% drop (65.8% of top 10)
Up 13.3% from 2006; (£7,629,707); Poseidon (£1,349,080); United 93 (£616,882); Wah-Wah (£46,159); Benchwarmers (£40,366); #1 X-Men: The Last Stand £ 2,310,683 2nd week 448 screens 67% drop (30.3% of top 10)
Down 3.5% from 2005 (£8,963,845); Sin City (£2,452,299); The League of Gentlemen’s Apocalypse (£555,996); #1 Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith £3,313,328 3rd week 490 screens 39% drop (36.9% of top 10)
Down 25.2% from 2004 (£11,556,263); The Day After Tomorrow (£7,321,633); #1 The Day After Tomorrow £7,321,633 1st 429 screens (63.3% of top 10)
Up 34.1% from 2003 (£6,447,499); Bringing Down the House (£1,133,139); Ripley’s Game (£244,457); #1 The Matrix Reloaded £3,783,905 2nd week 481 screens 69% drop (58.6% of top 10)
Up 43.9% from 2002 (£6,007,556); 40 Days and 40 Nights (£1,027,578); The Time Machine (£808,389); Snow Dogs (£331,432); #1 Star Wars Ep II – Attack of the Clones £2,442,698 471 screens 3rd week 40.6% drop (61.9% of top 10)
Next weekend in 2019 (£16,708,373) X-Men: Dark Phoenix (£3,771,153); Take That – Greatest Hits Live (Concert) (£1,834,379); Casino Royale (Secret Cinema 2019) (£493,243); #1 Aladdin £3,929,625 654 screens 20% drop 3rd week (23.5% of top 10)
US Box Office
- The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It – Warner Bros
Opened with $24m; received mixed reviews (62% Rotten Tomatoes) and B+ CinemaScore; 20% of BO came from IMAX (8.8% $1.2m)/PLF/Dolby Cinema
Opened with $9.84m on Friday, didn’t have Thursday night previews (unlike A Quiet Place Part 2 last week)
SambaTV reported that 1.6m people watch the film on HBO Max which was almost double the amount who watched Cruella over opening weekend on Disney+ in the US, paying $29.99.
Many were surprised by The Conjuring 3 opening, but it probably opened as expected, but what was more surprising that it cannibalized into A Quiet Place Part 2 second weekend.
The problem with the US BO over last few weeks is there’s no stability, films are now opening well but then heavily dropping second w/e, these films should be having much longer legs, but exhibitors recently ending the mask mandate is probably responsible for this not happening.
This probably won’t improve dramatic until after July 4th with July 9th-11th will be the first weekend 2021 tops 2019 levels and will also August 6th-8th and then do multiple times in September and should then be steady with 2019 for the rest of the year.
The Conjuring Universe 8 films have taken over $700m in the US and $1.94bn since 2013.
2019’s Annabelle Comes Home opened $20.26m taking $74.15m and $228.51m worldwide
2019’s The Curse of La Llorona opened $26.34m taking $54.73m and $121.66m worldwide
2018’s The Nun opened $53.8m taking $117.45m and $36.39m worldwide
2017’s Annabelle: Creation opened $35.01m taking $102.1m and $305.38m worldwide
2016’s The Conjuring 2 opened $40.4m taking $102.47m and $310.2m worldwide
2014’s Annabelle opened $37.13m taking $84.27m and $256.86m worldwide
2013’s The Conjuring opened $41.85m and $137.4m and $317.78m worldwide
The Conjuring 3 is the 5th film this year to open #1 and Warner Bros has spent 10 of the last 23 weeks of 2021 at #1
Took $26.79m internationally from 44 territories from over 10,000 screens (opened #1 in 31 of them) $33.12m total and $57.2m worldwide (IMAX $1.2m; 4.6 admissions); opens in another 12 territories this weekend, with The Conjuring 3 opening globally so close to A Quiet Place Part 2 both films are likely to come short of their potential, but still has 29 territories to open in.
- A Quiet Place Part 2 – Paramount
Dropped 59% in its second weekend taking $19.26m and $88.37m; took $1.1m from IMAX.
2018’s A Quiet Place dropped 34.3% in its second weekend taking $32.97m and $100m 53.2% of $188.02m (3.7x opening) and $341m worldwide.
871st biggest film between The Muppets and Waterworld; 1,580th biggest inflation inflated film between Seven Pounds and Open Range and 117th biggest Paramount Pictures film between Failure to Launch and The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear.
The sequel was always likely to drop heavier than the original film due to The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It opening a week after and even though they are two quite different horrors they were likely to cannibalize each other.
What helped for A Quiet Place open as strongly as it did was the Superbowl spot, buzz from SXSW and incredibly positive reviews which gave the film strong word of mouth along with it playing to a younger audience receiving a PG-13 as 2017’s Split opening with $40m while R rated horrors 2017’s Get Out opened with $33.4m and 2016’s The Conjuring 2 $40.4m.
Analysts were comparing A Quiet Place Part II opening to Us ($71.1m), Halloween ($76.2m), and It Chapter 2 ($91m). Tracking has become unreliable over the last decade especially with films with high positive/negative word of mouth and also need to remember this is Memorial Day weekend historical one of the biggest weekends of the year A Quiet Place 2 $57m #21 biggest between The Longest Yard and Mission: Impossible.
If tracking was poor pre-COVID then it must be even worse now, tracking was never intended to be a method to predict BO, it was to gauge how advertising was received, so why does industry still trust it for BO especially as it has been so unreliable over recent years?
There is a lot of genuine love for John Krasinski, he said In March 2020 “I had no intention of doing a sequel because I didn’t think that I could come up with anything as organic as the first one was to me and certainly nothing as personal as the first one was to me,” … “And so, when the studio came to me and asked if I’d do a second one, I said no. As an audience member, I’m wary of sequels. I just didn’t want it to feel like a cash grab from the studio and all those things, so I just opted out. But I had one tiny idea in my head, and when I realized that I could do this, it was because it was organic.”
15 months of low or no BO has really lowered expectations as need to remember this is Memorial Day weekend one of the most lucrative weekends of the year in normal circumstances would expect one of either A Quiet Place 2 or Cruella to open with upwards of $100m over 4 days.
The film will have a 45-day theatrical window so will be released on PVOD in early July.
Took $19.2m from 16 territories taking $50m currently 15% ahead of A Quiet Place; expands into a further 22 territories this weekend; including $29m from China; 1,377th biggest film worldwide between The Theory of Everything and The Lego Ninjago Movie; 9th biggest film 2021 film worldwide between Wo de jie jie (My Sister) and Tom and Jerry; 158th biggest Paramount Pictures film worldwide between Staying Alive and Hotel for Dogs.
- Cruella – Disney
Dropped 49% in its second weekend taking $11m and $43.44m.
2,013th biggest film in the US between Everest and City Slickers II; 3,011st biggest inflation inflated between Some Kind of Wonderful and Money Monster; 6th biggest 2021 film between Tom and Jerry and Mortal Kombat; 275th biggest Disney film between Need for Speed and Reign of Fire.
Disney previously made a reimagination of 101 Dalmatians in 1996 dropped 58.4% taking $13.84m and $63.69m taking $136.2m and $320.7m worldwide and 2000’s 102 Dalmatians dropped 58.3% taking $8.29m and $37.6m taking $67m and $183.6m worldwide. (Both opened over Thanksgiving and week after always sees films drop heavily).
It was surprising to see Disney saying Cruella had a successful opening as success used to be for a Disney reimagination a $50m+ opening, instead it had the lowest opening for a Disney reimagination since 102 Dalmatians in 2000, but despite this they announced plans for a sequel, which will likely be straight to Disney+.
It’s reported Cruella had a budget of over $200m, global marketing is normally about the same as production costs so it would need to take $600m+ to turn a profit but is unlikely to take half that. Of course, we don’t know the actual figures of those who paid to watch it on Disney+ $29.99 or £19.99 and this is revenue Disney don’t share and last weekend according to SambaTv it was watched 686K in the US and 83k times in the UK, both were the equivalent of their box office openings.
Took $18.6m from 36 territories and $54.4m total and $87.1m worldwide; UK $6.2m; Mexico $5.8m; Korea $5.7m; Australia $2.6m; Russia $2.4m; Saudi Arabia $2.2m; Spain $2.1m; Japan $1.9m; China $1.8m; UAE $1.8m
#1 in Ukraine, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Hong Kong and #2 film in Italy, Russia, Spain, Portugal, Slovakia, Switzerland, Kuwait, Korea, Singapore, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Trinidad, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Colombia.
- Spirit Untamed – Universal Pictures
Opened with $6.1m; received mixed reviews (45% Rotten Tomatoes) and A CinemaScore
Spirit Untamed is a spinoff of the DreamWorks Animation TV series Spirit Riding Free on Netflix since 2017 which was a spinoff of the Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
2002’s Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron opened $17.77m taking $73.28m and $122.56m worldwide
Opened with $1.3m internationally.
International Box Office
F9 – Universal Pictures
Dropped 57% in its third weekend to $13.3m from 8 territories; taking $203.8m from China (80.3%) $253.9m total; 2017’s The Fate of the Furious took $392.8m total took 32% of it’s global $1.236bn in China.
F9 expands its global release on June 25th opening in both the US and the UK; was announced on Monday F9 will receive it’s French premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in July, it opens on July 14 in France one of the last international territories. It was a strange choice to choose as the festival’s mystery blockbuster but is limited choice of other films available to premiere in July, as Dune will premiere in Venice and No Time to Die in London.
Over the last decade the Cannes Film Festival has lost its status as a global film festival to Venice and Toronto were far more award contenders now receive their world premieres. While Cannes has the history and the glamour and often media coverage it doesn’t transfer into box office. Wes Anderson’s The French Despatch will premiere at the film festival next month but as it opens in October it will have little impact.
UK Box Office Top 10
Opening Next week
- The Father – Lionsgate
Drama starring Anthony Hopkins, Olivia Colman, Mark Gatiss, Imogen Poots, Rufus Sewell, and Olivia Williams and co-written and directed by Florian Zeller (his directorial debut) co-wrote it with Christopher Hampton based on Zeller’s 2012 play Le Père.
Had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2020 receiving critical acclaim (98% Rotten Tomatoes) lauding the performances by Hopkins and Colman and its portrayal of dementia.
Won Best Actor for Anthony Hopkins and Best Adapted Screenplay at Oscars and BAFTAs; Anthony Hopkins failed to attend both award ceremonies to receive the awards.
The Father opened in the US in February and has taken The Father has grossed $2.1m and $7.8m internationally taking $9.9m worldwide.
Lionsgate acquired UK rights in May 2019.
As Nomadland, The Father is aimed at older audiences who have been much slower to return to cinemas, so its surprising Lionsgate aren’t releasing the film on VOD at the same time as cinema.
Normally the audience for award contenders would help each other as they often attract similar demographics, so those who went to see Nomadland, and Sound of Metal would then go to see The Father.
Will be interesting to see how wide Lionsgate open The Father as often distributors open these films far too wide too quickly rather than allow it to expand over several weeks.
Similar films include.
2002’s Iris opened #6 with £378,749 from 84 screens taking £3,647,197
2003’s About Schmidt opened #7 with £757,325 from 2290 screens taking £3,201,355
2004’s The Notebook opened #5 with £309,507 from 256 screens taking £1,109,047
2008’s The Savages opened #17 with £72,823 from 34 screens
2012’s Amour opened #12 with £115,700 from 29 screens taking £287,839
2015’s Still Alice opened #8 with £401,565 from 86 screens taking £2,332,764
The Father is one of two films opening over the next few weeks about the fear and loss that comes with dementia with Supernova opening in July.
This weekend will see the hottest temperatures of the year to date, with England playing their first European Championships game on Sunday will see many staying at home with barbeques and see box office drop off after the last three weeks of steady box office, but this always happens during the Euro’s and World Cup. Normally distributors will target female audiences, but this year sees three action films opening over three weeks Nobody, The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard (on Monday June 14th) and F9 on June 24th.
- The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard – Lionsgate (Monday)
Action-comedy sequel to the 2017 film The Hitman’s Bodyguard, starring Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, Salma Hayek, Frank Grillo, Richard E. Grant, Tom Hopper, Antonio Banderas, and Morgan Freeman and directed by Patrick Hughes.
It was due to open in August 2020 before being delayed to August 2021 due to COVID, was brought forward in March to June 16th when F9 was brought forward and opens in the UK a few days ahead of the US.
2017’s The Hitman’s Bodyguard opened #1 with £1,982,951 (taking £7,111,031) squeezed past Dunkirk #2 due to taking £364,919 from Thursday previews, without which it would have taken £1.62m Fri-Sun and Dunkirk would have been the first film since Avatar in January 2010 to be top for five weekends.
The Hitman’s Bodyguard opened close to This Mean’s War opened March 2012 £1,821,698 which took £4,826,653.
The Transporter opened January 2003 with £338,420 taking £623,493.
Transporter 2 opened November 2005 with £414,400 taking £991,940.
Transporter 3 opened December 2008 with £958,615 taking £2,446,717.
The Bodyguard opened £2.48m December 1992 taking £16.83m
Despite poor reviews The Hitman’s Bodyguard was helped with its strong marketing campaign with the pairing of Deadpool meets Nick Fury with Samuel L Jackson and Ryan Reynolds and the first red-band trailer released in April parodying 1992’s The Bodyguard with Whitney Houston I Will Always Love You featuring on the trailer and its poster Samuel L Jackson being carried by Ryan Reynolds.
The Hitman’s Bodyguard was helped with the films marketing campaign using Ryan Reynolds to replicate marketing for Deadpool breaking the fourth wall with a TV spot voiced by Jon Bailey who does the excellent Honest Trailers replacing positive review quote with comments from Reynolds and Jackson about each other. Paramount tried to do similar with Baywatch marketing but while its marketing was strong the film was poor.
Many films over the years have broken the fourth wall with characters talking directly to the audience including American Psycho, Fight Club, Spaceballs, High Fidelity, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Trading Places, Annie Hall, Blazing Saddles and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
Monday openings rarely work unless they are for children’s films or James Bond as all they do is spread the box office over 7 days and if the film has bad of mouth like Warcraft and The Happytime Murders the films are DOA by the weekend. They are of course done to artificially inflate films opening weekend, but then will mean they often drop very heavily 80%+ in their second weekend, but with F9 opening the following week Lionsgate probably think The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard has probably only one week playing time.