Top 5 Breakdown
1. Star Wars: The Force Awakens – £5,948,383 – £108,377,165
(2D 65.1%) 2D £3,868,391 total £63,132,251 (58.2% of total)
(3D 20.3%) 3D took £1,207,746 total £32,847,436 (30.3% of total)
(IMAX 14.6%) IMAX 3D £872,246 total £12,104,093 from 41 screens (11.1% of total)
After 22 days on release had overtaken Skyfall to become the biggest film ever in the UK.
Dropping 42.2% in its fourth weekend its performing similar to how most mega-movies perform after their second weekends as the first 17 days of release were part of the most lucrative days of the year so couldn’t be compared against any others.
After waiting almost two years for a film to stay top for four weekends The Force Awakens follows The Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 2 as second film to do so but after Golden Globe successes yesterday The Revenant
While Academy screeners haven’t leaked even with security tight in cinema poor cam versions have been uploaded to the net and recently tele-sync versions are now online quality is still poor but in the weeks to come better quality versions will likely be seen online.
Received four technical BAFTA awards many expected even if some thought it might get a Best Picture award.
For months many asked Where’s Rey in merchandise for film with all the other male characters featuring but Rey mysteriously missing. It’s not the first time Disney have been lacking merchandise on female characters Gamora from Guardians of the Galaxy and Black Widow from The Avengers both were lacking.
It came to a head this week after an 8-year-old girl Tweeted Hasbro asking why there wasn’t a Rey in Star Wars Monopoly.
This Tweet went viral and Hasbro gave some crazy excuse that she was missing to avoid spoilers. The Monopoly game was released in September 2015 11 months after Disney released the first teaser so made no sense. JJ Abrams said he was very disappointed to read the about Rey being missing in Star Wars Monopoly as didn’t make any sense to him why she was seen as a spoiler.
He also spoke about the issue many had with the film it was a more of a reimagining of first film saying he felt they needed to go backwards to go forwards. Also saying the DVD will feature some of the footage that was cut but there won’t be an extended cut.
One massive thing missing from The Force Awakens was the Titanic Céline Dion end credit song China have given this to us now.
2. The Hateful Eight £2,767,886 – NE
Quentin Tarantino’s eight film had a strong opening which was just below Django Unchained opening of £2.8m in January 2013 and ahead of Kill Bill Part 2 opening in April 2004 £2.67m and Kill Bill Part 1 expansion in October 2003 £2.69m.
Inglourious Basterds was Tarantino’s biggest opening in August 2009 with £3.59m. Django Unchained is his biggest box office success with £15.17m. The Hateful Eight is unlikely to match this with The Revenant opening this weekend.
Last week Cineworld, Curzon and Picturehouse Cinemas pulled the film from their cinemas (Cineworld have 82 cinemas, Picturehouse have 24 and Curzon 11) as the distributor gave West End exclusivity to Odeon Leicester Square to show the 70mm Roadshow edition. Picturehouse had 70mm installed in their Central cinema wanting to screen it there pulling their toys out of the pram when Entertainment refused their request.
It used to be when a film opened at a Leicester Square cinema it didn’t play in cinemas close by until the MGM Trocadero opened in 1991. Nowadays with films like SPECTRE and Star Wars even though both played at Odeon and Empire it still was showing at Picturehouse Central.
Irish Multiplex Cinemas ended its 10-year dispute with Entertainment to show The Hateful Eight.
With only three major exhibitors in the UK they normally have the power over the studio but recently gave into demands requested from Disney for The Force Awakens but thought they could dictate terms for The Hateful Eight but Entertainment Films held their ground and the only losers were the three cinema chains that pulled it as other exhibitors offered Cineworld Unlimited cardholders discounts and unlimited popcorn if they watched it at their cinemas.
3. Daddy’s Home £2,260,886 – total £11,853,382
Holding surprisingly strongly down only 21.7% in its third weekend despite mixed reviews, school holidays ending and the Christmas themed plot.
But with limited comedy choices and after Sisters disappointed there is limited choices for younger audiences similar to Hotel Transylvania 2 surprised Daddy’s Home has done so too.
4. The Danish Girl £1,290,143- total £3,790,295
Down only 5.8% in its second weekend less than Eddie Redmayne’s The Theory of Everything dropping 17% last year after
was always going to be a harder sale to audiences than last The Theory of Everything and was always unlikely to match the success of The Kings Speech and Les Misérables.
5. Joy £1,042,827 – total £3,360,213
Down two places but surprisingly holding well only 21.7% in its second weekend after getting such mixed reaction from critics and audiences even more than David O. Russell’s previous films.
On Friday Jennifer Lawrence was surprisingly snubbed from a BAFTA Best Actress nomination but then won Best Actress Comedy at Golden Globes so will likely also get Best Actress Oscar nomination this week.
Joy is holding better than American Hustle which dropped 44% in its second weekend but had taken double £6.7m at the box office and performing stronger than Silver Linings Playbook dropped 41% in second weekend taking £2.7m total.
At the press conference after Golden Globes ceremony Jennifer Lawrence told one reporter to stop looking at his phone telling him “You can’t live your whole life behind your phone, bro,” she said, literally wagging a finger at him. “You can’t do that. You have to live in the now.”
Also opened
A War – Studiocanal – £17,916 from 13 screens
Other box office news:
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £15,055,478 down 21.8% from last weekend £19,267,045 was down 19.2% from same weekend last year. (£17,955,580); when Taken 3 opened with £6.7m, Into the Woods £2.48m, Foxcatcher £876,379
Star Wars The Force Awakens took 39.5% of top 10 box office
This weekend last year American Sniper opened with £2,528,401, Whiplash £572,739, Wild £524,721 and The Merry Widow Opera £460,519.
This weekend in 2014 The Wolf of Wall Street opened with £4,511,304 if The Revenant was to open similar it will definitely overtake The Force Awakens this weekend.
Complete UK Box office top 10 – January 15th 17th 2016
US Box Office
1. Disney’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens $41.63m down 53.9% in its fourth weekend and $812.1m to date; will now definitely lose top spot this weekend after its incredibly lucrative 17 days is now showing it’s as front-loaded as all mega-movies.
Many compared its box office performance to Avatar after first 2 weeks was similar following two weeks has performed less than; same weekend Avatar took $50.3m 21% more not including 15%+ rise in ticket prices in the 6 years since.
2. 20th Century Fox The Revenant expanded from 4 screens to 3,375 up 8,385% taking almost double many predicted $38m and $39.55m total.
3. Paramount Pictures Daddy’s Home dropped 48.6% $15m with $116.3m total.
4. Gramercy’s The Forest opened with $13.088m.
5. Universal’s Sisters dropped 43.8% taking $7.1m and $74.8m total.
6. Weinstein’s The Hateful Eight dropped 59.6% taking $6.3m $41.4m to date.
7. Paramount Pictures The Big Short expanded adding 941 screens but still dropped 30.5% $6.3m and $42.8m total.
8. 20th Century Fox’s Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip dropped 54.4% $5.5m and $75.6m total.
9. 20th Century Fox’s Joy dropped 55.9% $4.5m and $46.5m total.
10. Sony’s Concussion $8m dropping 60.1% $3.05m and $30.9m total.
On limited released
Paramount’s Anomalisa added 13 screens up 63.4% took $221,000 and $490,532 total.
The Danish Girl –Focus – dropped 46.5% $826,000 $7,586,3056m total.
Carol – Weinstein Co – expanded adding 336 screens up 24.8% $1.4m total $6,992,293.
Son of Saul – Sony Pictures Classics – dropped 78.4% $7,083 and $204,868.
