- Uncharted – £3,084,101 – £18,097,781
Dropped 18.3% in its third weekend; took £1,146,162 more than Sonic the Hedgehog
Uncharted took £8.3m over its opening 7 days taking £4.7m Fri-Sun and £3.6m Mon-Thurs; down 21.2% in its second 7 days taking £6.61m taking £3.77m Fri-Sun (down 20%) and £2.86m (down 21%) Mon-Thurs taking £15m after 14 days.
Uncharted has overtaken The Mummy (£17.5m), The Mask (£17.3m), Free Guy (£16.8m), Ready Player One (£16.2m), Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn (£16m), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (£15.9m), Gulliver’s Travels (£15.1m) and Raiders of the Lost Ark (£13.4m) none including inflation.
But the combination of opening the weekend before half-term and Hollanders was always likely to take similar to Sonic The Hedgehog. As with the US, it seems like the industry has lowered its expectations on how films should open and perform even after No Time To Die and Spider-Man No Way Home.
310th biggest film in the UK (642nd film to take £10m+) between Moulin Rouge and Fifty Shades Freed (close to 22 Jump Street, Jurassic Park 3, The Mummy and Tenet) and 535th biggest inflation inflated between Hairspray and Ant-Man and The Wasp (close to Gulliver’s Travels, G-Force, Antz and Waterworld).
It was all about timing for Uncharted, while it might have received poor reviews (calling it a Tomb Raider, National Treasure (took £7,054,178) and Raiders of the Lost Ark (£13.9m/£64.5m inflation inflated) rip-off) its target demographic won’t read them and also attracted the Tom Holland’s tween/teen girl fanbase who had to seem Spider-Man No Way Home.
The Uncharted video games have sold almost 50 million copies worldwide with the latest Uncharted 4 selling over 15m copies making it one of the best-selling PlayStation 4 games of all time. So if just 10% of those who brought the video game and 10% who saw Spider-Man No Way Home then Uncharted was on its way to having a successful launch.
Recent video game third weekends
2020’s Sonic The Hedgehog down #2 54% £1,937,939 637 screens and £17,215,552 89.3% of £19,280,822
2018’s Tomb Raider #9 dropped 52% £570,156 466 screens and £6,726,617 86.9% of £7,739,354
2017’s Assassin’s Creed #9 dropped 64% £342,277 413 screens and £7,662,432
£6,949,314 95.8% of £7,996,695
2010’s Prince of Persia #3 dropped 50% £821,661 477 screens and £6,362,459 72% of £8,829,805
2019’s Pokémon Detective Pikachu #5 dropped 63% £1,009,717 and £10,544,424 78.9% of £13,368,175
2018’s Rampage #4 dropped 48% £735,856 499 screens and £7,816,910 89.9% of £8,695,722
Sonic The Hedgehog (sequel opening in April) with sequels for Mortal Kombat and Tomb Raider in development.
While a similarly themed film based on a fictional video game
2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle #1 dropped 25% £3,895,450 579 screens and £26,272,798
taking £5,210,725 and £17,835,902 71.1% of £36,968,605
2019’s Jumanji: The Next Level up 24% (Christmas) £3,638,441 584 screens and £21,290,012 and £14,724,635 59% of £36,079,399
Again Uncharted can’t be compared with most of these films as they either had previews inflating their openings, so dropped more heavily or the films opened during term time.
2. Sing 2 – £2,672,588 – £29,040,876
Down 15.3% in its fifth weekend; took £1,196,440 more than Sing in io its fifth weekend and has taken £2,487,016 more than Sing £26,553,860 after 5 weeks taking only £351k less than Sing took £29.2m, but the first film had far tougher competition from The LEGO Batman Movie taking £26.78m
Despite the end of half-term Sing 2 was #1 Mon-Thurs last week
Sing 2 is the 268th film to take £20m+ at the UK box office; 7th Illumination Entertainment to take £20m+; 6th film to take £20m+ since cinemas reopened after No Time to Die, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Dune, Shang Chi, Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway and the 3rd biggest film since cinemas reopened and the biggest animated film since Frozen 2; by the weekend Sing 2 will become 130th film to take £30m+ at the UK BO.
Sing 2 is Illumination Entertainment’s 11th film and biggest fifth weekend close to Despicable Me 3 £2,250,597 #3 down 27% 632 screens £35,851,868 75.4% of £47,562,575;
2015’s Minions £2,268,007 #3 down 16% taking £37,097,156 580 screens 77.8% of £47,645,626);
2013’s Despicable Me 2 £2,085,392 #3 up 12% taking £34,676,246 560 screens 73.1% of £47,436,199;
2018’s The Grinch £2,001,599 #2 down 14% taking £19,491,601 614 screens 70.6% of £27,610,501
2017’s Sing £1,476,148 #3 down 30% taking £26,553,860 595 screens 92.1% of £28,840,000);
2016’s The Secret Life of Pets £1,212,213 #5 down 41% taking £28,000,720 573 screens 78.2% of £35,825,195;
2010’s Despicable Me £1,089,160 #3 down 8% 520 screens taking £18,171,850 92.4% of £19,670,786;
2019’s The Secret Life of Pets 2 £480,072 #6 down 68.3% (Toy Story 4 opened) 549 screens taking 17,609,425 94.5% of £18,638,365;
2011’s Hop £314,829 #7 down 33% 461 screens taking £6,727,678 91.9% of £7,320,425);
2012’s Dr Seuss’ The Lorax £152,079 #15 down 23% 323 screens taking £7,017,256)
29th biggest animated film between Ice Age: Continental Drift and Shrek (close to Monsters University, Chicken Run, The Croods and Ratatouille) and 42nd biggest animated film inflation inflated between Monsters vs. Aliens and Sing (close to Wall·E, Madagascar, Wreck-It Ralph and Despicable Me).
145th biggest film in the UK between The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 and Shrek (close to A Bug’s Life, The BFG, The Boss Baby and The LEGO Batman Movie) and 280th biggest inflation inflated between Prometheus and Sing (close to Superman III, Stuart Little, Kung Fu Panda and Happy Feet).
Sing 2 is the first of three Illumination Entertainment films released this year with Minions The Rise of Gru (delayed from 2021) opening in July (two weeks after Lightyear the first time Pixar and Illumination Entertainment have gone head-to-head with two major franchises out of school holidays) and Mario opening December 23rd (based on Super Mario Bros video game previously made in a live-action film in 1993 both a critical and box office flop)
Illumination Entertainment announced release dates for Migration June 30, 2023, and Despicable Me 4 July 3, 2024.
With no children’s films released now until Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in 5 weeks (April 1st) Sing 2 will likely have similar long legs as other children’s films have recently; Clifford The Big Red Dog #11 £98,146 took in 10th weekend and Encanto #12 £91,266 in 12th weekend.
While No Time To Die and Spider-Man No Way Home received plaudits from the industry it’s children’s films that have been the strongest performing genre of films since cinemas reopening in July 2021. What is surprising is many of these children were available to watch at home but parents still choose to take their children to see these films in cinemas despite being more expensive to watch them in the cinema than at home.
3. The Duke – £992,659 NE
Having similar opening as 2019’s The Good Liar £960,536 starring Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen and also close to Notes on a Scandal (£1,141,364), The Death of Stalin (£995,458), The Thomas Crown Affair (£916,452) and The Queen (£856,273).
As with Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast opening 6 weeks ago, The Duke received strong media coverage due to its cast Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren as much as its subject matter telling the story of a man who stole a Goya painting from the National Portrait Gallery in the 1960 and ransomed it for pensioners to get free TV licence.
The Duke had director Roger Michell’s biggest opening in the UK ahead of overtaking 2002’x Changing Lanes (£808k taking £2,823,244), 1999’s Notting Hill (£755k as it went on to take £31m in 1999) and 2011’s Morning Glory #8 opened £524,356; director Roger Michell died last September.
The film had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in 2020 and was originally due to be released via Disney through Pathe’s distribution deal with 20th Century Fox in November 2020 (Pathe’s distribution deal with 20th Century Fox ended in 2020). In June 2021 Pathe announced a distribution deal with Warner Bros and the film was moved to September 2021.
In July 2021 was delayed to February 25th, 2022, due to increasing cases of COVID and that older audience was very slow to return to the cinema. Opening February The Duke opened after Belfast and Death on the Nile both attracting older audiences targetting a similar demographic as The Duke; the film received critical acclaim (94% Rotten Tomatoes)
Opened on a very wide 651 screens similar to Cyrano opening #7 in 613 screens. These films are opening in about a third as many screens they would have done only a few years ago as Roger Michell’s previous film opened in 467 screens 2017’s My Cousin Rachel #6 £637,704 taking £2,361,939 from 374 screens
The Duke is the second film released this year by Pathe after Parallel Mothers in January opened with £301,877 from 186 screens and has taken £1m to date.
Opened ahead of 2015’s Woman In Gold £494,512 #7 (from 226 screens) and 2019’s The Good Liar £960,536 taking £3,844,314 taking £2,825,294 and 2019’s Mr Holmes £741,080 #4 from 489 screens taking £2,268,824.
As with Belfast and Death on the Nile, The Duke will perform as well during the week as it did during the weekend and should have a stronghold in its second weekend as it’s unlikely the audience who will see The Duke have any interest in seeing The Batman.
After opening #3 Fri-Sun and Monday The Duke was #1 on Tuesday.
4. Death on the Nile – £764,438 – £6,455,215
Down 43.3% in its third weekend taking 66.5% less than Murder on the Orient Express third weekend and 63.6% less after 17 days
Third weekends; normally films playing to older audiences have longer legs as older demographics don’t rush out to see films over opening weekend and the box office is shared more across the week.
2017’s Murder on the Orient Express #3 dropped 48% (Justice League opened) £2,279,200 (from 617 screens) taking £17,753,371 73.3% of £24,224,914; stayed in the top 10 for 7 weeks (taking £196,186 in its 7th) Death on the Nile has a 45-day theatrical window and will be available on Disney+ on March 28th.
2021’s House of Gucci #3 £635,387 dropped 50% and £4,217,850 43.3% of £9,964,144
2012’s The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel #2 £1,787,352 down 24% 499 screens and £10,855,596 53.4% of £20,308,480.
2015’s The Lady in the Van #6 £950,961 down 41% 548 screens and £9,047,439 71.5% of £12,660,028.
2015’s The Second-Best Marigold Hotel #1 £1,409,311 down 29% 592 screens and £11,731,915 75.3% of £15,575,797.
2015’s Suffragette #5 £594,930 down 56% (SPECTRE opened) 441 screens and £7,447,800 70.2% of £10,600,616
1,004th biggest film between The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and The Mask Of Zorro (close to Master and Commander, Road to Perdition, Red Sparrow and Out of Africa) and 1,289th biggest inflation inflated between BlacKkKlansman and Empire of the Sun (close to The Monuments Men, Widows, Far From The Madding Crowd and Isle of Dogs).
In a recent interview, Kenneth Branagh has talked about wanting to make a Christie-Verse, that would include Miss Marple alongside Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie always kept the two detectives in her novels. In 2016 20th Century Fox had planned to make Witness For the Prosecution with Ben Affleck attached to direct and star, but then he was caught up starring in Batman Vs Superman and then attached to direct The Batman and then Disney acquired Fox and it was likely one of the many projects that were shut down.
While Kenneth Branagh might want to make a Christie-Verse and it probably would have happened had 20th Century Fox not been acquired by Disney, similar to the plans the studio had with Matthew Vaughn for further Kingman films. As both Death on the Nile and The King’s Man failed to get anywhere near previous films it’s unlikely either will be developed further into more films.
5. Dog – £650,852 – £2,114,985
Down 20.8% in its second weekend; held similar to
2016’s A Street Cat Named Bob dropped 12% taking £864,654 #5 and £2,609,103 taking £4,182,976;
2017’s A Dog’s Purpose dropped 62.2% (due to previews) taking £490,942 and £2,040,728 71.8% of £3.2m;
2020’s The Call of the Wild dropped 65% taking £507,281 #8 and £2,315,914 (from 500 screens) taking £2.77m.
2021’s Clifford The Big Red Dog dropped 40.7% taking £766,122 and £2,380,042 24.4% of £9,759,922
Channing Tatum (first leading role since 2017’s Lucky Logan he stars next alongside Sandra Bullock and Brad Pitt in The Lost City in April). Films about a man and his relationship with his dog have been popular over the years with films like Turner and Hooch (£4.1m total), K9 (£0.9m total) and similar themed 2015’s Max (opening #18 £38,901 from 118 screens).
But normally these films are family comedies that get PG certificates but Dog has a 12A (similar to Max) but starring Channing Tatum it was a double dose of cuteness for cinemagoers.
Other films about cats and dogs and their relationships with humans include
2009’s Marley And Me took £15.4m; 1992’s Beethoven £6.8m; 1993’s Beethoven’s 2nd £5.8m;
2010’s Hachi: A Dog’s Tale took £1,048,876, and 2018’s Patrick £299,861.
Far more successful were the animated The Secret Life of Pets films, the first opened with £9,580,039 in 2016 taking £35,825,195, the second in £3,490,598 taking £18,638,365.
Disney made many adventure films starring dogs in the 90s including White Fang, Eight Below, Iron Will, Snow Dogs, Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey
On Sunday afternoon Marley & Me and Patrick were on TV, Marley & Me is still as enjoyable (apart from the end) as it was on first viewing while Patrick is a fun Sunday afternoon family film.
On Graham Norton Show Channing Tatum described the film as a good little dog, I’m very proud of it, we didn’t make The Godfather, it’s a little dog movie…. It’s not a sad movie as Marley & Me really scared people… the dog doesn’t have a horrible ending”
The top 5 took at almost £8.2m down 17% from last weekend (£9.85m) with third to tenth film sharing 43% as box office is more evenly shared over many films as last week the top 10 films are playing across all demographics. Things will of course change this weekend with The Batman taking a large percentage of the box office but being a 15 certificate there will still be room for Uncharted, Sing 2, The Duke and Dog as they will all be targetting different demographic to The Batman.
Also Opened
- The Godfather (50th anniversary) – Paramount Pictures
Took £267,095 #10 from 466 screens
The Godfather 50 years after originally released is still the 55th biggest ever film in the UK with 11 million admissions when it was released in 1970 the equivalent of £82,720,000 similar to the box office of Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Casino Royale. This does show it’s impossible to compare current releases box office with films that opened only a decade ago.
It also took $965,375 from 156 screens #12 in the US with screen average of $6,188
458th biggest film in the US between Argo and Anger Management taking $135.93m; 58th biggest Paramount Pictures film between Saturday Night Fever and Mission: Impossible III.
• Cyrano – Universal Pictures
Opened £398,650 #7 from 623 screens
It’s the eleventh direct adaption of the play and several films based on it including 1987’s Roxanne starring Steve Martin and Daryl Hannah, 1996’s The Truth About Cats & Dogs and 2010’s Megamind.
Director Joe Wright the last film was The Woman in the Window the last film made by Fox 2000 was delayed many times before being sold to Netflix.
Previously directed 2017’s Darkest Hour; 2015’s Pan; 2012’s Anna Karenina; 2011’s Hanna; 2009’s The Soloist; 2007’s Atonement and 2003’s Pride & Prejudice
Other Film News
Saturday was Cineworld Day with all Cineworld and Picturehouse cinemas £3 with over 650,000 admissions. Cineworld Day was according to their website to celebrate the 113th anniversary of the first colour film screening in the UK on February 26th, 1909, at London’s Palace Theatre. If this was the case why was it only Cineworld cinemas taking part as 26 years ago to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first film screening in the UK there was National Cinema Day on June 15th, 1996, when all cinemas were £1 and there were over 1.5m admissions. It was repeated in 1997 with similar admissions but the 1998 event wasn’t as popular as tickets were half price.
Last year was the 125th anniversary and would have been the perfect way to relaunch the cinema experience in the streaming era when cinemas reopened to get people back into the cinemagoing habit, as the Love Cinema campaign the industry launched in August 2020 was never going to attract audiences and neither was Nicole Kidman’s AMC or Vin Diesel F9 advert.
UK box office in detail
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £10,074,419 down 13.6% from last weekend’s £11,663,825
The weekend admissions were 1,339,683 down 13.6% 1,551,041 from last week; using the average price of £7.52 calculated by CAA 2021 admissions 74m with UK BO of £556.9m; This is up 11.4% from 2020 (£6.75)
Top 3 took £6,749,348 70% of the top 10; Uncharted 30.6% (£3,084,101); Sing 2 26.5% (£2,672,588); The Duke 9.9% (£992,659)
2021 n/a cinemas closed
Up 8.9% from 2020 (£9,249,289); The Invisible Man (£2,163,798); Dark Waters (£860,942); Portrait Of A Lady On Fire (£229,678); Agrippina – Met Opera 2020 (£216,109); Downhill (£188,720); True History Of The Kelly Gang (£85,847); #1 The Invisible Man £2,163,798 1st week 580 screens (23.4% of top 10)
Up 18.7% from 2019; (£8,486,971); Fighting With My Family (£2,022,174); The Aftermath (£595,657); La Fille Du Regiment – Met Opera 2019 (£240,965); Alien (40th Anniversary) (£129,245); What They Had (£16,686); #1 Fighting With My Family £2,022,174 1st week 573 screens (23.8% of top 10)
Down 11.6% from 2018: (£11,400,044); Red Sparrow (£1,843,124); Game Night (£1,094,478); Monster Family (£126,235); A Fantastic Woman (£98,445); The Flames of Paris – Bolshoi 2018 (£74,391); #1 Black Panther £3,736,954 3rd week 599 screens 46% drop (32.8% of top 10)
Down 11.3% from 2017: (£11,360,198); Patriots Day (£843,380); A Cure for Wellness (£409,540); Rusalka – Met Opera 2017 (£215,774); Within (£8,364); #1 The LEGO Batman Movie £2,893,337 3rd week 610 screens 35% drop (25.4% of top 10)
Up 6.7% from 2016: (£9,440,280); Grimsby (£1,928,789); The Forest (£448,258); Secret In Their Eyes (£117,094); #1 Deadpool £2,987,877 3rd week 568 screens 48% drop (31.6% of top 10)
Down 18.1% from 2015; (£12,304,244); The Second-Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (£3,771,852); Focus (£1,910,245); The Boy Next Door (£406,174); It Follows (£371,142); Catch Me Daddy (£37,679); #1 The Second-Best Exotic Marigold Hotel £3,771,852 1st week 589 screens (30.6% of top 10)
Down 15.1% from 2014: (£11,864,224); Non-Stop (£2,652,364); Ride Along (£1,420,992); The Book Thief (expansion) (£1,370,649); Prince Igor – Metropolitan Opera 2014 (£259,667); Nymphomaniac Part 2 (£15,354); Unforgiven (£4,778); #1 The Lego Movie £3,266,594 3rd week 549 screens 45% drop (27.5% of top 10)
Up 29.3% from 2013 (£7,788,702); Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (£1,502,782); Safe Haven (£812,460); Broken City (£499,283); Arbitrage (£402,873); Stoker (£367,509); #1 Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters £1,502,782 1st week 404 screens (19.3% of top 10)
Down 6.2% from 2012 (£10,741,377); The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (£2,222,051); Safe House (£2,142,872); One for the Money (£316,762); Black Gold (£11,004); #1 The Woman in Black £2,432,580 3rd week 451 screens 31% up (22.6% of top 10)
Down 27.1% from 2011 (£13,823,666); I am Number Four (£1,628,523); No Strings Attached (£978,974); West is West (£758,226); Drive Angry (£651,344); The Rite (£626,159); Animal Kingdom (£155,081); #1 Gnomeo and Juliet £2,502,806 3rd week 1st #1 487 screens 13% up (18.1% of top 10)
Up 8.5% from 2010: (£9,286,544); The Crazies (£1,194,207); Leap Year (£728,251); From Paris With Love (£678,950); Extraordinary Measures (£131,759); Everybody’s Fine (£68,948); Capitalism: A Love Story (£29,595); #1 Avatar £2,260,319 11th week (10 weeks #1 with week gap) 398 screens (24.4% of top 10)
Up 3.1% from 2009; (£9,768,713); The Unborn (£1,300,543); The International (£760,382O; New in Town (£438,979); Franklyn (£52,567); #1 Slumdog Millionaire £1,676,508 8 week split over several weeks 449 screens up 7% (17.2% of top 10)
Up 50.9% from 2008; (£6,676,677); The Bank Job (£951,013); Semi-Pro (£774,698); The Accidental Husband (£703,631); Untraceable (£549,524); Margot at the Wedding (£33,958); #1 The Bank Job £951,013 1st week 324 screens (14.2% of top 10)
Up 24.7% from 2007: (£8,075,563); Ghost Rider (£1,851,897); The Illusionist (£675,293); Material Girls (£300,962); Freedom Writers (£233,382); #1 Hot Fuzz £2,219,655 3rd week 441 screens 33% drop (27.5% of top 10)
Up 36.3% from 2006; (£7,442,296); Date Movie (£1,288,089); Lucky Number Slevin (£1,074,550); Capote (£236,444); The Fog (£210,525); #1 Date Movie £1,288,089 1st week 354 screens (17.3% of top 10)
Up 45.8% from 2005 (£6,908,179); Hide and Seek (1,594,508); Coach Carter (£469,062); The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (expansion) (£455,722); Hotel Rwanda (£81,476); #1 Hide and Seek £1,594,508 1st week 345 screens (23.1% of top 10)
Up 48.8% from 2004 (£6,768,162); Along Came Polly (£2,252,808); The Missing (£497,573); House of Sand and Fog (£132,163); 1st week 385 screens (33.3% of top 10)
Up 20.2% from 2003 (£8,381,722); Jackass: The Movie (£1,314,740); Analyze That (£575,278); Solaris (£313,804); Adaptation (£238,958); #1 The Ring £1,692,154 2nd week 398 screens 23% drop (20.2% of top 10)
Up 2.2% from 2002 (£9,851,530); A Beautiful Mind (expansion) (£1,226,446); The Mothman Prophecies (£762,516); The Shipping News (limited) (£96,694); #1 Ocean’s Eleven £2,623,689 2-week #1 split 3rd week 437 screens 27% drop (26.6% of top 10)
Next weekend in 2020 (£9,259,952); Onward (£3,419,500); Military Wives (£968,468); Blumhouse’s Fantasy Island (£392,857); Riverdance 25th Anniversary Show (£313,001); The Photograph (£29,579); #1 Onward £3,419,500 1st week 632 screens (36.9% of top 10)
US Box Office
- Uncharted – Sony Pictures
Down 48% in its second weekend taking $23m and $83.13m
The industry has heralded Uncharted BO performance as they did with Scream and Jackass Forever, all three films targeted under 35s (Millennials and GenZ) who came back to cinemas very quickly after the reopened. But surely with Uncharted being trailered before Spider-Man No Way Home and with Tom Holland fanbase, it should be performing similar to Jumanji rather than other video game films.
929th biggest in the US between Paranormal Activity 2 and Tammy; 1,664th biggest inflation inflated between Dinner for Schmucks and The Dead Pool; 123rd biggest Sony Pictures film between Open Season and Cliffhanger.
EntTelligence estimated an average of $13.48 due to about a third of BO from IMAX/PLF
As with the UK, Tom Holland attracted a younger female audience (tween/teens) that wouldn’t normally happen with a film based on a video game they probably have never played due to seeing Spider-Man No Way Home many times in cinemas over the last few months. But having a $120m budget it’s going to be a challenge for the film to turn a profit and Sony to greenlit the sequel that the film sets up.
Uncharted is the fifth film Ruben Fleischer has directed for Sony Pictures (Zombieland, 30 Minutes, Venom, Zombieland 2 and Uncharted.
Video games second weekends include
2018’s Tomb Raider dropped 57.3% $10.1m taking $41.42m taking $58.25m and $274.65m WW
2001’s Tomb Raider dropped 58.6% $19.78m and $83.82m taking $131.16m and $274.7m WW
2008’s Max Payne dropped 55.8% $7.79m and $29.85m taking $40.68m and $87.06m WW
2016’s Assassin’s Creed dropped 15.6% (Christmas) $8.67m taking $39.72m and $240.7m WW
2010’s Prince of Persia dropped 53.4% $14.01m and $59.62m taking $90.75m and $336.36m worldwide
2019’s Pokémon Detective Pikachu dropped 53.8% $25.1m and $94.29m taking $144.1m and $433.51m worldwide
2020’s Sonic The Hedgehog dropped 54.9% $26.19m and $106.49m taking $148.97m and $319.71m worldwide;
1993’s Super Mario Bros dropped 50.4% $4.23m and $13.9m taking $20.91m (Illumination Entertainment release animated Mario in December)
2018’s Rampage dropped 43.8% $20.09m and $65.69m taking $101.02m and $428.02m worldwide
While a similarly themed film based on a fictional video game
2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle up 38.4% (Christmas) $50.05m and $169m taking $404.54m and $962.54m worldwide
2019’s Jumanji: The Next Level dropped 55.3% $26.5m and $102.31m taking $320.31m and $800.05m worldwide
Took $35m from 64 territories and $143m total and $226.4m worldwide; UK $24.8m; France $12.2m; Spain $8.8m; Australia $7.8m; Germany $6.7m; IMAX took $15.7m worldwide with $8.7m internationally.
717th biggest film worldwide between Chicken Run and The Imitation Game; 86th biggest Sony Pictures film worldwide between Sleepless in Seattle and Baby Driver.
- Dog -MGM
Down 32% in its second weekend taking $10.15m and $30.93m
Holding strongly due to positive reviews and strong word of mouth, it is a kind of film that used to be successful but now often struggle to find an audience, so a lot of credit goes to Channing Tatum on his directorial debut.
2015’s Max dropped 45.6% $6.61m and $25.37m taking $42.65m
1989’s Turner and Hooch dropped 30.2% $8.51m and $27.64m taking $71.07m
- Death on the Nile – Disney
Dropped 32% in its third weekend taking $4.49m and $32.74m
2,655th biggest film in the US between The Last House on the Left and Hereafter; 3,604th biggest inflation inflated between The Wizard and That Old Feeling; 496th biggest sequel between Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter and Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco; 237th biggest thriller between Mercury Rising and Annihilation.
Third weekends
2017’s Murder on the Orient Express #6 dropped 4.6% taking $13.17m and $74.36m and $352.79m worldwide
2021’s House of Gucci #4 dropped 41.3% taking $4.11m and $41.08m taking $53.7m and $152.1m worldwide
Took $10.3m from 47 territories and $68.4m total and $101.3m worldwide; China down 77% $8.9m; UK $8.8m; Russia $6.8m; France $5.6m; Italy $5m.
1,673rd biggest worldwide between Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous and The Recruit; 7th biggest 2022 worldwide between Scream and Jackass Forever,
- Spider-Man No Way Home – Sony Pictures
Dropped 22% in its eleventh weekend taking $5.8m and $779.93m
3rd biggest film in the US between Avengers Endgame and Avatar and Black Panther (the 5th film to take over $700m since Avatar in 2009) and the 2nd biggest comic-book movie between Avengers Endgame and Black Panther; 12th biggest inflation inflated between Star Wars Ep. I: The Phantom Menace and Forrest Gump.
Eleventh weekends
2019’s Avengers Endgame #9 down 49% taking $3.11m and $847.88m 98.7% of $858.37m
2009’s Avatar #4 down 15.9% taking $13.65m and $706.56m 94.2% of $749.76m
2015’s Star Wars The Force Awakens #11 dropped 23.6% taking $2.98m and $925.98m 98.8% of $936.6m
2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle #7 dropped 21.5% taking $4.43m and $393.13m 97.2% of $404.54m
Took $7m from 63 territories $1.072bn total and $1.85bn worldwide; 6th biggest film worldwide between Avengers: Infinity War and Jurassic World (46th film to take over $1bn worldwide since Jurassic Park in 1993); the UK $127.3m; Mexico $76.2m; France $65.2m; Korea $63.1m; Australia $67.9m.
UK Box Office Top 10
UK Box Office Preview
Opening on Thursday Matt Reeves eagerly awaited The Batman starring Robert Pattinson. Has received positive reviews (86% Rotten Tomatoes) calling it the darkest Batman film to date that feels more like detective thrillers Se7en and Zodiac than comic-book films similar to 2009’s Watchmen (opened the same weekend in 2009 with £3,243,001 taking £8,639,867).
It’s the third reboot of the Batman film franchise (after 1989’s Tim Burton’s Batman with sequels Batman Returns, Batman and Robin and Batman Forever and Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins with sequels The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises).
The film has been given a 15 certificate and runs for almost 3 hours (176 minutes) making it the longest Batman film and the third-longest comic-book film after Zack Snyder’s Justice League and Avengers: Endgame. The film received PG-13 in the US but a 15 in the UK, highlighting the problem with UK certification as PG-13 blockbusters normally get a 12A or 15. 1989’s Batman was the first film to receive a 12 certificate as PG-13’s used to get 15’s.
Having a 4-day opening The Batman must be looking at an opening similar to Batman Vs Superman (£14,621,007); Captain America: Civil War (£14,466,681); The Dark Knight Rises (£14,362,443); Deadpool (£13,729,803); Deadpool 2 (£12,974,669); Joker (£12,555,328); Suicide Squad (£11,252,225); The Dark Knight (£11,191,824);
Logan opened the same weekend in 2017 with £9,443,363 including £2,497,845 (26.4%) 10.7% of US opening ($88,411,916).
Not having access to booking data always use BFI IMAX as the guide to see how its bookings are (the UK advance booking data is rarely made publicly available on Tuesday evening as writing this there are no sold-out screenings of The Batman, a few evening shows are almost sold out.
In comparison 10 years ago two days before The Dark Knight Rises opened BFI IMAX sold 62,300 tickets for The Dark Knight Rises taking £1,001,300 (£16 average price)
It had beaten the cinema’s previous best-ever advance sales for Avatar in December 2009 (£607,000 sales for 47,000 tickets (£13 average price)
The Dark Knight Rises also had the highest first-day sales (24,754 tickets taking £409,838) and the highest first week (38,658 tickets taking £634,013). Those records were previously held by Prometheus.
There were 43 shows now sold out, including screenings at 04.25 and 04.55.
These records surely have been broken since with massive openings of Star Wars, Avengers, James Bond and Spider No Way Home opening there over the years since and ticket prices for The Batman £27.50 double the price of Avatar tickets 12 years ago. But there is no data online for sales.
While BFI IMAX is one of only a handful of real IMAX cinemas in the UK there are now over 45 IMAX cinemas in the UK so many who might have gone to BFI IMAX previously probably will see films in a more local IMAX cinema despite not being real IMAX as the screen is small despite having similar price.
In the US The Batman is expected to open with $120m+ taking about $400m (similar to The Dark Knight $158.41m taking $534.86m and $1bn worldwide; The Dark Knight Rises $160.88m taking $448.13m and $1.07bn worldwide) but of course, they were released a decade ago and The Batman will open in many more IMAX cinemas than they did; has a 45-day theatrical window.
One of the first countries to get The Batman was to be Russia on March 2nd but after they invade Ukraine last week Warner Bros announced on Monday they would not release it in Russia and Disney, Paramount and Sony also announced wouldn’t also release upcoming films in Russia.
After Eurovision announced on Friday Russia was banned from this year’s competition why did it take several more days for US studios to announce a ban. But as with COVID two years ago when individual studios announced the delay for film releases globally it should surely be the MPA announcing it on behalf of the industry, as was the case with FIFA and UEFA banning Russia and Russian football teams after individual countries refused to play against them. Why did it take the film industry so long to decide up to Monday afternoon Warner Bros were still planning to open The Batman in Russia on March 2nd, but then late Monday Disney became the first studio to pull their films which forced Warner Bros to do too.
When a tentpole opens they will normally cannibalize the box office taking 80%+ of the weekend’s BO (in October 2019 Joker took 67% of the top 10), but as The Batman is a 15 Uncharted and Sing 2 are unlikely to be affected as their target demographic is much younger. (Of course, 12+ will try to buy tickets for The Batman as they will buy tickets for Uncharted and then try to sneak into The Batman). While The Duke is playing to a much older demographic. With Uncharted losing IMAX/PLF screens it will likely switch places with Sing 2.
Opening next week
As often happens the week after a major release (The Batman) the week after has few wide releases and then two weeks afterwards store are several wide releases as screens become available after a film like The Batman will open big and drop big, unlike No Time To Die and Spider-Man No Way Home.
- Red Rocket – Universal Pictures
Comedy-drama starring Simon Rex, Bree Elrod and Suzanna Son and directed by Sean Baker; premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in competition for the Palme d’Or with a limited release in the US in December; received positive reviews (87% Rotten Tomatoes)
Received UK premiere at the London Film Festival in October; will have a limited release in the UK.