Top 5 Breakdown

1. Christopher Robin – £2,553,810 – NE

Christopher Robin had previews on Thursday in aid of MediCinema with all money going to them, but the money taken was included in its weekend box office and pushing it above The Equalizer, The Meg and Mamma Mia 2.

Christopher Robin had the 478^th biggest opening in the UK between Spy and Split and the 546^th inflation inflated biggest opening between Passengers and Muppets Most Wanted.

Had the third lowest opening of Disney’s recent re-imaginations (starting with 2010’sAlice in Wonderland) below 2016’s Into the Woods (a grown-up musical) £2,476,409 and Alice Through the Looking Glass £2,229,399 (opened weeks after Johnny Depp marriage breakdown).

Opening was 48% of 2014’s Paddington £5,125,519; 30% of 2017’s Paddington 2 £8,260,160 and 34% of Peter Rabbit but while Winnie the Pooh is one of the most beloved children’s books in the UK Christopher Robin was unlikely to open anywhere near those films as it was a very different kind of film.

Christopher Robin was much more similar to Finding Neverland (also directed by Marc Forster) opened October 2004 with £776,124 taking £3,306,342 and Saving Mr Banks opened November 2013 with £795,615 taking £4,347,734; while its unofficial prequel Goodbye Christopher Robin opened last September with £0.78m taking £2.72m; but all three films were much more adult dramas whereas Christopher Robin is a family film trying to be more Mary Poppins.

With Mary Poppins Returns opening in December it’s interesting how Disney has incorporated Mary Poppins elements in Star Wars: The Last Jedi with Princess Leia flying through space using the force she has never used before and in Christopher Robin Ewan McGregor a stressed-out banker reminds you of Mary Poppins as does the film’s artwork. 

Christopher Robin had an unusual approach for the reimagination compared with others Disney reimaginations have made over recent years but that was always likely when the screenplay was written by Tom McCarthy who previously wrote the screenplay to Oscar winning Spotlight. He also wrote the screenplay to Disney’s Million Dollar Arm (Disney screened footage at CinemaCon in March 2014 Alan Horn said at the time it was the highest testing film he has ever had but the film underwhelmed when it opened in May).

Many thought it was an unusual approach that everyone could see Winnie the Pooh as in other films the stressed-out character sees them, but others can’t, but it did make some see it as dark and twisted that Winnie the Pooh is being controlled by Christopher Robin as he doesn’t have free will. Was an interesting video on Screencrush making Christopher Robin anything but a children’s film? As have been films in the past when Someone imagines characters in stressful situations that they can only see and of course with Toy Story, the toys exist but aren’t alive around humans.

It is the 10th Disney reimagination of their classic animated films first was 1994’s The Jungle Book and 1996 101 Dalmatians (sequel 102 Dalmatians in 2000) but was a one off. 2010’s Alice in Wonderland was the start of their reimagination all of their older animated classics Maleficent, Cinderella, The Jungle Book, Alice Through the Looking Glass and Beauty and the Beast. With Dumbo, Aladdin and The Lion King released next year and Mulan and Maleficent 2 in 2020. Cruella, Lady and the Tramp, The Little Mermaid, Peter Pan, Pinocchio, The Sword in the Stone. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and The Jungle Book 2.

For decades Disney would re-release a Disney classic animated film into cinemas for a limited release before the films were sent to the vaults. This was a regular occurrence up into the 90s when they would re-release an animated classic and then bring it to home video for the first time for a limited time. The reimaginations feel like they are an extension to this remaking the classics rather than as they used to re-release and despite having the original animated classic at home audiences are more than willing to pay to see these reimaginations even though many are inferior to their original classic animated films.

Christopher Robin is a re-imagination of Winnie the Pooh but could also be seen as a sequel to Goodbye Christopher Robin released last year. With extended universes for comic book films and other franchises filling out release schedules are several original films that could be seen now as part of extended universes. Last years The Post is the prequel to All the Presidents Men and Frost/Nixon while upcoming First Man could be seen as a sequel to Hidden Figures and Mary Queen of Scots the third part of the Elizabeth extended Universe.

As with A Wrinkle in Time, Ant-Man and the Wasp Disney decided to open Christopher Robin a couple of weeks after its US opening which again likely affected its opening. The delay of Christopher Robin was most surprising as Winnie the Pooh as Paddington is far more popular in the UK than the US. Christopher Robin was filmed in the UK with a mostly British cast. 

With day and date releasing the norm for Disney unless it’s the summer animated film it’s surprising they opted to open Patrick at the end of June instead of Ant-Man and the Wasp, which would have meant Christopher Robin could have opened the same date as the US and Patrick opened last weekend.

The way studios dated films was an art and were helped by distributors being able to date their films locally now most films have global launches which are best selected for the US. Studios rely on data to select the best date but the problem with this is that information is similar to what all their rivals get so end up having similar genres of films opening much closer together. This is why the middle of August has become very crowded in recent years as studios holdback some films from earlier in the summer and they are added with a few British films as mid-August has been very lucrative over the last decade with films like The Inbetweeners and Alan Partridge Alpha Papa.

2. Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! – £2,241,507  – £54,523,054  

Down 37.1% in its fifth weekend; becoming the second biggest film of the year and Universal Pictures third biggest film in the UK after Mamma Mia! and Jurassic World.

Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! is now only £15m away from overtaking Mamma Mia! total took £69,166,087 in 2008 but with about 50% ticket inflation would now be about £105m today.

It has become the 32^nd film (since The Full Monty in 1997) to take £50m+ at the UK box office (Incredibles 2 will shortly become 33^rd film) become the 24^th biggest film in the UK; it’s the 62^nd inflation inflated the biggest film in the UK between Gladiator and Wallace and Gromit The Curse of the WereRabbit.

Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! will likely match the box office total of Mamma Mia! its opening was only 9.5% of its final box office (£6,594,058) the seventh smallest of the biggest 100 films in the UK under The Full Monty, The Greatest Showman, Slumdog Millionaire, Titanic, The Kings Speech and Avatar. Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! will likely be thirteenth smallest between Paddington and Bridget Jones’s Diary.

Despite Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! opening bigger than Mamma Mia! five weeks again it took 21% less in its fifth weekend than Mamma Mia! taking £2,803,272 showing that the sequel won’t have the legs of the sequel. Its fifth weekend is much closer to The Greatest Showman £2,042,450 which was holding far stronger after opening with far less.

Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! has taken 39% more than Mamma Mia! after five weeks (£39,168,064) but has now also dropped below its inflation inflated total for the first time on release (£59,279,358) with 500,000 fewer people seeing the sequel compared to the original 6,927,961 Vs 7,532,320. This again highlights what I have been saying for years how ticket inflation over the last 16 years has artificially inflated box office and admissions with real admissions probably closer to levels of 20 years ago. 

The problem is the industry doesn’t seem to care that it is fake news as the real story is the regular complaint by customers over the cost of going to the cinema which for over a century was a cheap night out costing the price of a pint of Guinness or a Big Mac meal now your popcorn will cost more than that.

As most sequels are released a few years later you can compare directly with their box office but when the gap is over 5 years ticket inflation grows above 25% and you can’t make direct comparisons.

For the previous three weeks Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again had been expected to return to #1 but while it was #1 Fri-Sun but not for the weekend against Mission Impossible: Fallout and Ant-Man and the Wasp and last week The Meg overperformed. But this weekend after the underwhelming opening of Christopher Robin in the US last month Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again should have held better in its fifth weekend. This weekend is probably the last chance it has to return to #1 in its sixth weekend (The Greatest Showman became #1 in its sixth weekend).

Next weekend Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again will likely take less than The Greatest Showman in its sixth weekend £2,201,523 taking less than £2m for the first time.

Mamma Mia! stayed in the top 3 for 11 weeks until the end of September until Taken, Righteous Kill and Death Race opened; taking over £1m at the box office for 10 weekends and staying in the top 5 for 13 weeks (#13 £479,057) and in the top 10 for 17 weeks (#17 £142,664)

In comparison The Greatest Showman was in the top three for two weeks (took £2,142,337 in the third weekend) became #1 in its sixth weekend taking £2,201,523 up 8% and £23,226,869; in the top five for 12 weeks (#12 £753,420) and in top 10 for 17 weeks (#17 £300,947) only dropping out of the charts because of four new releases and the film released on DVD. In its fifth-weekend #4 down only -3% taking £2,042,450 and £19,965,506 only 42.4% of its final box office in comparison Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! has taken about 80% of its final total of £65m+; Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! and Mamma Mia! opened at the start of the summer holidays so have much more lucrative Friday box offices as The Greatest Showman only had two over the Christmas holidays.

3. The Meg – £2,113,490  – £8,561,776

Down 42.4% in its second weekend, a very strong hold for The Meg while critical reaction had been mixed for the film audience reaction has been far more positive being the dumb fun summer film audiences go for the cinema.

It’s brainless and stupid with Jason Statham literately jumping the shark but it’s what going to the cinema is all about rather than worrying about settling up story arcs for further films as s often happens with original films it does exactly what it says on the tin its Jason Statham Vs a Shark.

As films like Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and The Greatest Showman the Meg is a 105-minute film that audiences will enjoy and not overthink will have great fun watching with an audience and not worry about the details.

The Meg for me is what going to the cinema is all about and the problem with so many of these franchises properties filmmakers are far too busy trying to connect them to previous films and being a set up to further films they forget that the film needs to entertain and give audiences a reason why they want the story to continue.

Was 312^th biggest second weekend in the UK between Alien: Covenant and Ice Age: Continental Drift (more than Lucy,

 and 412^th second biggest weekend biggest inflation inflated between Watchman and Split (more than London Has Fallen, San Andreas and The Legend of Tarzan)while Deep Blue Sea inflation inflated opening would be £3,638,621. A Quiet Place and XXX)

The Meg continues to perform similarly to 1999’s Deep Blue Sea inflation inflated box office; in October 1999 Deep Blue Sea took £1,450,848 and £4,310,464 total which would be £2,712,155 in 2018 with a total of £8,057,803 went on to take £8,087,585 which would be £15,118,597 today.

2017’s 47 Meters Down took £1,326,136

2016’s The Shallows took £1,723,386

2004’s Open Water took £4,818,915

1999’s Deep Blue Sea took £8,087,585

Jason Statham films are crowd pleasers (Fast & Furious, The Transporter, The Mechanic, The Expendables and Crank) performed strongly in August ever since he starred in Guy Ritchie’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels 20 years ago opened August 1998 taking £11,399,953 now £22,262,439

4. The Equalizer 2 – £1,980,754 – NE

As in the US, the sequel opened similar to the original film opening in September 2014 with £1,890,146 (dropped 36% in its second weekend taking £1,207,129 and £4,280,077) taking £6,669,034.

Three years ago, The Equalizer missed out on being #1 because of Billy Elliot the Musical Live taking £1,904,098 from one day while the sequel opened two further places further down the chart due to a very crowded marketplace with the top three separated by less than £400k.

The Equalizer 2 became Denzel Washington’s biggest opening in the UK overtaking 2009’s The Taking of Pelham 123 £1.78m and Unstoppable with £1.7m in 2010.

The first film received strong media coverage having the world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival and Denzel Washington and director Antoine Fuqua in the UK. The film also received decent reviews. It was Denzel Washington’s biggest opening in the UK beating 2009’s The Taking of Pelham 123 £1.78m and Unstoppable with £1.7m in 2010.

Many believe UK opening for films is about 10% of US the Equalizer opened with $34m but its opening was only 5.4% of US opening (taking 6.59% of it US total which is similar to A Quiet Place, Den of Thieves, John Wick 2 and Atomic Blonde) but  an opening of over £2.5m must have been expected.

5. The Festival – £1,423,410 – NE

Opened on Tuesday taking £600,000 and £836,413 Fri-Sun

The film was made by Iain Morris, co-creator of The Inbetweeners and the trailers felt like an unofficial sequel to The Inbetweeners films but its four years ago since the sequel and it was unlikely The Festival would open anywhere nearly as big especially in a crowded marketplace. 

It is the first film to be greenlit under a four-picture pact Fudge Park has with Film4 and Entertainment Film Distributors; Fudge Park was formed by The Inbetweeners writers and exec producers Iain Morris and Damon Beesley.

In August 2011 The Inbetweeners Movie opened with £13,200,000 taking £45,030,412 and three years later in August 2014 The Inbetweeners Movie 2 opened with £9,325,626 taking £33,386,962.

While The Festival might feel like an unofficial Inbetweeners film has much more in common with The Bad Education Movie opened with £594,861 in 2015 taking £2.04m and David Brent: Life on the Road opened in 2016 with £1,460,290 taking £3.66m; interestingly both films and the first Inbetweeners film opened the same weekend.

Mid-August over the last decade has been a time when distributors will often release a British comedy. The second weekend in September is also a time when distributors have opened British films with Legend and Bridget Jones’s Baby opening in the last few years and this year King of Thieves and next year the Danny Boyle Untitled Musical film.

2018 is the 40^th anniversary of Entertainment Film Distributors who started as so many UK film distributors in the late 70s early 80s as a video distributor with one of their early hits being 1985’s Teen Wolf.

In the 90s and early 00s were regularly the biggest independent distributor in the UK  they had output deals with many major US production companies. Including New Line. They released The Lord of the Rings trilogy between 2001 and 2003 taking over £180m at the UK box office and are still among the biggest 20 films at the UK box office. Also released several Oscar-winning films including The Departed, Million Dollar Baby, Gosford Park, Brokeback Mountain and The Artist.

But after several big-budget flops, Warner Bros took New Line in-house and it became a label within the studio (is likely what 20^th Century Fox will be next year when its owned by Disney). At the same time eOne, Lionsgate and Studiocanal were expanding and had much deeper pockets and could buy films for multi-territories which saw Entertainment Film drop down the pecking order.

From 2008 they were the main distributor for The Weinstein Company in the UK but suffered heavily after Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse claims as for all the films they had acquired from them as part of the output deal where put o hold. A similar output deal with STX ended last year after the company set up UK operations but Entertainment Films kept hold of Abad Moms Christmas having released Bad Moms a year earlier.

The independent film marketplace in the UK over the last 40 years has seen many casualties including most famously Palace Films and Rank Film Distributors so for Entertainment Film Distributors to still be around despite the competition from the bigger international independents is a massive achievement.

UK box office in detail

This weekend’s top 10 box office took £15,143,203 down 7.8% from last weekend £16,439,374  

The weekend admissions 1,909,824 down 8.57% from last weekend 2,088,866; 2018 average ticket up 3.87% from last year’s £7.49 to £7.87 for 2018 according to six-month box office results.

13 films opened at weekend taking £6,223,265; Christopher Robin 41.03% (£2,553,810); The Equalizer 2 31.82% (£1,980,654); The Festival 22.87% (£1,423,410); remaining 11 films shared 4.26% (£265,391): top 2 films took 31.66 of top 10; Christopher Robin took 16.86% and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again took 14.8%

The weekend was up 57.7% from 2017 (£9,602,352): The Hitman’s Bodyguard £1,982,951; The Dark Tower £910,529; Everything, Everything £453,401; An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power £201,130

Up 16.3% from 2016: (£13,012,003): David Brent: Life on the Road £1,460,290; Lights Out £1,126,543; Swallows and Amazons £676,175; Nine Lives £636,804; Tickled £25,602;

Up 61.2% from 2015; (£9,389,554); Paper Towns £2,072,789; Sinister 2 £1,069,261; Vacation £608,748; The Bad Education Movie £594,861; Strange Magic £56,127; Good People £25,454

Up 30.1% from 2014: £11,641,259); The Expendables 3 £1,689,927; Hector and the Search for Happiness £240,222; The Rover £73,696; The Congress £48,454; Blood Ties £20,258

Up 27.04% from 2013: (£11,919,587); Kick-Ass 2 £2,482,187; Planes £1,735,940; 2 Guns £1,423,738; Bachelorette £19,396; Aftershock £1,442

Up 23.9% from 2012 (£12,214,133);  Brave (England opening) £5,269,402; The Bourne Legacy £4,620,289; The Expendables 2 £1,985,082; The Wedding Video £333,079; Take this Waltz £70,358;

Down 31.3% from 2011 (£22,058,353): The Inbetweeners Movie £13,216,736; Cowboys & Aliens £1,777,320; Spy Kids: All the Time in the World 4D £703,078; Glee: The 3D Concert Movie £356,271; The Guard (UK release) £163,751;

Up 6.4% from 2010: (£14,228,206): The Expendables £3,935,700; Salt £2,166,715; Piranha 3-D £1,325,324; Marmaduke £1,243,789; The Illusionist £164,950; The Human Centipede £6,145

Up 83.6% from 2009 (£8,247,544); The Time Traveller’s Wife £1,410,333; Aliens in the Attic £1,323,575; Bandslam £628,957; A Perfect Getaway £418,703; Imagine That £109,722

Up 38.2% from 2008 (£10,950,396); You Don’t Mess with the Zohan £1,520,637; Wild Child £1,177,472; Star Wars: The Clone Wars £895,300; Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day £90,878;

Up 4.2% from 2007 (£14,527,913); The Bourne Ultimatum £6,553,704; Bratz: The Movie £1,247,588; Eagle vs. Shark £47,845;

Up 125.6% from 2006; (£6,725,494); Snakes on a Plane £1,069,608; John Tucker Must Die £845,633; Harsh Times £281,609; A Scanner Darkly £242,990

Up 129.8% from 2005 (£6,589,529); Bewitched £1,053,432; Crash £736,288; The Perfect Man £186,460; Unleashed £498,058;

Up 77.3% from 2004 (£8,540,203): The Village £2,945,763; A Cinderella Story £611,209;

Up 43.9% from 2003 (£10,523,339); American Pie: The Wedding £4,151,788; Freddy vs. Jason £785,870;

Up 135.7% from 2002 (£6,423,296): The Sum of All Fears £1,144,501; Spy Kids 2 £1,069,090;

Up 36.5% from 2001 (£11,086,365); Planet of the Apes £5,445,983

Average ticket prices are up almost 100% since 2001 from £4.14 to £7.97 but box office is only up 50%  from 2011-2003 highlights the issues I have been saying for years the industry fails to deal with.

Next weekend in 2017: (£6,700,471): American Made £1,067,075; Logan Lucky £705,087; Detroit £658,028; Rough Night £244,462; Mayweather Vs. McGregor £171,256;

UK Box Office Top 10

US Box office

• Crazy Rich Asians – Warner

Opens with $26.51m and $35.27m total; received positive reviews 92% Rotten Tomatoes score and A CinemaScore; opening close to last years comedy Girls Trip $31.2m taking $115m

Much was made about Black Panther is the first non-white leading comic-book (wasn’t true as that was Blade 20 years earlier) but Crazy Rich Asians is a far bigger deal as it’s the first studio Asian lead film since The Joy Luck Club 25 years ago and Memoirs of a Geisha in 2005 (but was originally going to be directed by Steven Spielberg before Rob Marshall made it his follow up to his Oscar-winning Chicago).

While the Black Panther was launched in Captain America: Civil War Crazy Rich Asians while based on a bestseller novel was completely different and a bigger unknown, especially as the rom-com genre, hasn’t performed well over the last decade.

Crazy Rich Asians opened on Wednesday, but the weekend box office includes only includes the box office the film took between Fri-Sun unlike the US when all preview box office is included in its opening artificially inflating their openings over the last decade. Those previews used to be as US evening previews the evening before and midnight previews but now can add up to 10 days of box office to their openings.

Always surprised how important a film opening in the US has become over the past decade studios haven’t tried to extend films openings as they do in the UK as being the #1 film of the weekend can boost the films media awareness.

The film had strong social media awareness almost 116m fans with 34.7m from Facebook Fans,  37m Facebook video views, 8.6m Twitter followers, 31m YouTube views and 4.6m   Instagram followers.

After Warner Bros had a disappointing start of the year with Tomb Raider, Ready Player One and Rampage they had far better success with their comedies Game Night, Tag and Life of the Party and Oceans Eight earlier in the summer. Showing audiences do still want films that aren’t reboots, remakes, sequels and franchises; it’s the fifth time this year Warner have had #1 film Ready Player One, Rampage, Ocean’s 8 and The Meg with The Nun next month expected to be their sixth.

Internationally it had a very limited opening in only Holland and UAE taking $730k; opening in Germany, Austria, Iceland, Israel, South Africa, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan this weekend and Australia at the end of the month and then opens in the UK in November. Crazy Rich Asians were originally due to be released in the UK a week after the US but was pushed back first to September and then November after the first trailer was released. After its strong opening in the US, it’s been brought forward to September 14^th.  

• The Meg – Warner Bros

Drops 53.4% in its second weekend taking $21.15m and $83.76m total.

Took $67m internationally from 55 territories (including $117.2m in China) total $230.4m and globally $314.1m #406 biggest film globally between As Good as It Gets and A Beautiful Mind

• Mission: Impossible: Fallout – Paramount Pictures

Down 45.7% in its fourth weekend taking $10.77m and $181.02m total has overtaken Thor to be Paramount Pictures #31 biggest film; will shortly overtake What Women Want (releasing the female version What Men Want in January) and A Quiet Place to become their biggest film of the year.

Mission Impossible Fallout is ahead of all previous films of the Mission Impossible series after 17 days on release only Ghost Protocol took more in its third weekend due to its IMAX platform release it was its second-wide weekend over lucrative Christmas holidays.

Mission: Impossible: Fallout should take $220m+ which would see it become Paramount’s biggest film at the US box office since 2014’s Transformers: Age of Extinction.

But being a 22-year-old film series is having 20% increase in box office from Mission Impossible in 1996 really a success especially as the budget and marketing costs have more than doubled since as have ticket prices so these films are being seen but half the audience that saw the first film.

Fourth weekends  

Mission: Impossible $8.6m  -41.3% – $145.08m  – of $180,981,856

Mission: Impossible II $11.36m – -34.1% – $176.58m – of $215,409,889

Mission: Impossible III $7m  – -38.3% -$114.27m- of $134,029,801

MI: Ghost Protocol $19.86m  – -32.5% – $169.56m – of $209,397,903

MI: Rogue Nation $11.45m  -33.4% –  $157.5m – of $195,042,377

Mission Impossible: Fallout is expected to take about 3.5x opening which would be similar to Rogue Nation and all other films apart from Ghost Protocol as that had the IMAX staggered opening over lucrative Christmas.

The 6 Mission Impossible films have taken $1.1bn in the US and almost $3.25bn worldwide; with Transformers box office dropping off in recent years Mission Impossible is the studios MVP having lost Marvel Cinematic Universe, Dreamworks Animation and Indiana Jones franchises to rival studios (17 of their biggest 50 films in the US are from those IP’s)

Tom Cruise 39 films have taken almost $4bn at the US box office since making his acting debut in 1981’s Endless Love and $9.8bn worldwide.

Took $20.5m from 61 territories $320.7m total and $501.44m worldwide (opening in China August 31^st) #189 biggest worldwide between Aladdin and Rio 2; has overtaken global box office for Mission Impossible and $457.7m and Mission Impossible 3 $398m and by next weekend should have overtaken Mission: Impossible II $546m. Depending on how it does in China could take over $800m worldwide (fourth biggest Paramount Pictures film)

• Mile 22 – STX Entertainment

Opens with $13.71m; received poor reviews only 20% Rotten Tomatoes score and B- CinemaScore

Opened below tracking predicted which was high teens not helped with Mission Impossible: Fallout and The Meg holding well; the film had a budget about $65m and P&A  of $30m but STX pre-sold most international territories so could still make some money from it but its doubtful enough to make it likely they would have a sequel as they planned. As with Den of Thieves feels it’s a home entertainment film now made 20 years to late.

Received the worst reviews for a film starring Mark Wahlberg and directed by Peter Berg; Lone Survivor opened with $37.8m taking $125m; Deepwater Horizon $20.2m taking $61.4m and Patriots Day $11.6m taking $31.9m. Also opened less than Den of Thieves which opened with $15.2m in January taking $45m and he Commuter $13.7m taking $36.3m.

STX flipped release dates of Mile 22 and The Happytime Murders but a late August/Labour Day weekend would have suited Mile 22 better.

• Christopher Robin – Disney

Down 31.6% in its third weekend taking $8.86m and $66.87m   

Took $7.9m from 34 territories internationally ($3.4m from the UK) and $22.8m total with a global total of $89.7m.

Christopher Robin was always unlikely to perform like other Disney reimaginations with the UK its key territory similar to the Paddington films, but they opened in China where Winnie the Pooh is banned; still has many major territories to open in the opening over the next three months.

• Alpha – Sony Pictures

Opens with $10.32m; received 84% Rotten Tomatoes and B+ CinemaScore

The Ice Age adventure received positive reviews called an old-fashioned action-adventure similar to the kind Disney used to make in the 80s and 90s, but audiences weren’t that interested; the film had a $50m+ budget having been delayed almost a year before finally being given an August release date.

• Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! – Universal Pictures

Dropped 41.9% in its fifth weekend taking $3.4m and $111.2m;

Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! has now taken less than Mamma Mia! which opened 10 years ago but ticket prices are up over 30% since with budgets and marketing costs also increased its performance is far less

Mamma Mia! in its fourth weekend dropped 25.7% taking $6.09m and $116.01m total $144.13m in July 2008;

While Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! Will take more than The Greatest Showman $434.54m internationally it won’t match its success in the US and will take less than the original film. But the sequel wasn’t made for US audiences but much more international the UK, Europe and Australia where ABBA is far more popular as was the original film.

Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! Took $15.3m internationally from 62 territories and $207.6m total with a global total of $319m #406 biggest film worldwide between The Conjuring and The Proposal.

It is unlikely Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! will take more than Mamma Mia! $609.8m (worldwide #138) and is still $115m away from overtaking The Greatest Showman global box office (taking $434.6m #240 worldwide with $174.3m US and $260.2m international).

Opens in Japan this weekend which was the second highest internationally territory for Mamma Mia! after the UK female-friendly films often perform very strongly in Japan with The Greatest Showman taking $48m (again second highest internationally territory after the UK) and Frozen is one of their biggest ever films.

So, the question is the sequel really the big hit it has been claimed to be as while it should overtake Mamma Mia! UK box office that was 10 years ago and after excellent reviews, great word of mouth and The Greatest Showman should have done far better opening ten years after the original.

• BlacKkKlansman – Focus

Drops 31.9% in its second weekend taking $7.38m and $23.39m;

Despite adding  276 screens and receiving strong buzz after excellent reviews and strong media coverage during these politically charged times would have thought BlacKkKlansman might have held better

Took $1.2m 400k from 10 territories international (including $798k from Australia from 198 screens) and $1.9m total; as with Crazy Rich Asians the film will slowly expand internationally over the next few weeks opening in the UK, France, Germany, Austria, Norway, Chile this weekend

UK Box Office Predictions

With eight films taking £1m+ last weekend it will be hard for most of the new releases to find space in the crowded marketplace with The Spy Who Dumped Me the only new release likely to enter into the top 10 boosted by two days of previews.

After the last four weeks missing out on returning to #1 Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again probably has its last chance to do so all depends on Christopher Robin second weekend likely to drop about 40% and Mamma Mia 2 a similar amount.

Other new releases will find it harder so it’s surprising BlacKkKlansman and The Children’s Act open in August while Slenderman, Luis and the Aliens and Alpha will have limited appeal and will all find it hard breaking into the bottom of the top 10. As the top 10 will have another congested weekend with The Equalizer, The Meg, Ant-Man and the Wasp and The Festival most likely to suffer bigger drops than the other releases.

Opening in UK

• The Spy Who Dumped Me – Lionsgate

Action comedy starring Mila Kunis, Kate McKinnon, Justin Theroux, and Sam Heughan and directed by Susanna Fogel; received mixed reviews from critics opened with $12.1m taking $24.42m.

Opens Wednesday to give it a five-day opening weekend the film is Bad Moms meets Spy; Bad Moms opened 25^th August £1,471,466 including previews of £253,739 taking 8,141,704 and Spy opened June 2015 with £2,557,824 taking £9,654,086.

Its Mila Kunis first film since last years A Bad Mums Christmas and Kate McKinnon’s since  Rough Night and Office Christmas Party also last year.

• Alpha – Sony Pictures

Historical drama adventure starring Kodi Smit-McPhee, Leonor Varela and Jens Hultén and directed by Albert Hughes; the film was shot in IMAX 3D; originally called The Solutrean and changed to Alpha in June 2017; received positive reviews with many calling it an old fashion adventure film and one of the summers most pleasant surprises.

• BlacKkKlansman – Universal Pictures

Biographical crime drama John David Washington, Adam Driver, Laura Harrier and Topher Grace and directed by Spike Lee, based on the autobiographical book Black Klansman by Ron Stallworth; premiered at the Cannes Film Festival receiving critical acclaim 96% Rotten Tomatoes and won the Grand Prix.

In the US BlacKkKlansman had the biggest opening of a Spike Lee film since 2006’s inside Man opening with £1,806,854 taking £8,106,743

• Luis and the Aliens – Warner Bros

Germany animated film directed by Oscar-winning brothers Christoph and Wolfgang Lauenstein (won an Oscar for their animated short Balance)

also known as Luis and His Friends from Outer Space Warner Bros acquired UK rights earlier this year.

Warner Bros occasionally acquire animated films 2014’s The Nut Job and its sequel Nutty by Nature which opened last year to complement their own animated films. Opening late summer might generate some interest as the big guns are almost played out.

• Slenderman – Sony Pictures

Supernatural horror starring Joey King, Julia Goldani Telles, Jaz Sinclair, Annalise Basso, and Javier Botet and directed by Sylvain White.

Was previously set for release in May but was delayed due to a disagreement between Sony and Blumhouse Productions over its marketing spend. Sony wanted to spend far less on the film than marketing which saw the film shopped around to other distributions and Netflix in May.

Was also social media backlash after a petition to pull the film attracted over 19,000 names after a father of one of the two girls who stabbed Leutner criticised the film as “extremely distasteful” and has said it is “popularizing a tragedy.”

The first trailer was released in January and a second trailer was released in July.

Will have limited appeal in the UK as it is not as well known in the UK.

• The Children Act – eOne

Drama starring Emma Thompson, Stanley Tucci, and Fionn Whitehead; directed by Richard Eyre, produced by Duncan Kenworthy, and written by Ian McEwan, based on his 2014 novel; had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last year opens in the UK a week after its released on PVOD in the US before having a limited theatrical release in September by A24.

The film received positive reviews from critics (85% Rotten Tomatoes) with Variety saying, “it is that rarest of things: an adult drama, written and interpreted with a sensitivity to mature human concerns.” And Hollywood Reporter said “The two central performances could hardly be better. Thompson works here with remarkable subtlety.”

So why after receiving such positive reviews is The Children Act opening almost a year after it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and opening in late August where it feels it is being dumped; was surprising it wasn’t screened at the London Film Festival last year instead received its UK premiere last week at the Curzon Mayfair.

Was originally set for release in late April which is normally a good time to open an adult drama. Maybe the UK release was dictated on eOne by the US distributor even though it is made by BBC Films. Or maybe they felt they needed to distant it from On Chesil Beach has also written by Ian McEwan which opened in May after London Film Festival premiere.

• The Happytime Murders – STX International

Puppet comedy thriller starring Melissa McCarthy, Bill Barretta, Maya Rudolph, Joel McHale, and Elizabeth Banks and directed by Brian Henson his first films since directing The Muppet Christmas Carol and Muppets Treasure Island over 20 years ago.

Puppet films are better known for family films and TV shows like The Muppets or Fraggle Rock but there have been also Peter Jackson’s 1989 Meet the Feebles, Team America and of course Gremlins. The combination of muppets and humans worked very well in the Muppet films but as a thriller is an interesting idea which does remind me of the very bad 1992 film Cool World which was a live-action/animated crossover film as well as 2001’s Monkeybone both was shockingly bad films.

In May STX released the first trailer for The Happytime Murders using the tagline “No Sesame, all Street” with the Sesame Workshop filing a suit against them as felt STX Productions has created confusion among the public into believing the film is connected to the show and infringed on the Sesame Street trademark and the tagline has confused and appalled viewers because of what they believe to be a serious breach of trust,”

In response STX issued a statement using one of the film’s characters attorney Fred ““STX loved the idea of working closely with Brian Henson and the Jim Henson Company to tell the untold story of the active lives of Henson puppets when they’re not performing in front of children,” “While we’re disappointed that Sesame Street does not share in the fun, we are confident in our legal position,”

A few days later judge ruled STX hadn’t demonstrated that moviegoers were confused with the tagline and Sesame Street dropped their claims.

Similar adult puppet/animated films include

Sausage Party opened in August 2016 with £2,690,156 including previews of £363,044 taking £7,580,034

South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut opened August 1999 with £1,496,581 taking £6,367,065

Beavis and Butt-Head Do America opened May 1997 with £586,855 taking £2,100,000

Team America: World Police opened January 2005 with £1,526,329 taking £4,688,765

While Melissa McCarthy’s last film Life of the Party opened in May with £0.61m taking £1.66m  

Opening Monday giving it a seven-day opening could help it open close to Sausage Party are a strong trailer which got a lot of free publicity in May but likely to be front-loaded as most seven-day openers are.

Its almost 30 years ago since Who Framed Roger Rabbit opened December 1988 taking £15.6m now (would be £50m+ today)

Opening in US

• The Happytime Murders – STX Entertainment

The trailers received positive reaction and the film will be targetting similar audience to 2016’s Sausage Party opened with $34,263,534 taking $97,685,686 and 2004’s Team America: World Police opening with $12,120,358 taking $32,786,074.

Tracking to open high teens and taking $40m+ .      

Footage from the film apart from the regular trailer and the red-band has been limited which could be a concern with the embargo breaking on Wednesday.

• Searching – Sony Pictures

Psychological thriller starring John Cho and Debra Messing and directed by Aneesh; film is shot from the point-of-view of smartphones and computer screens; premiered at the Sundance Film Festival (where Sony Pictures acquired global rights) receiving positive reviews.

Over the years have been many techno-thrillers including War Games, Eagle Eye, The Net, Antitrust, Transcendence, Untraceable, Disclosure, Nerve, The Circle, Hackers, Blackhat, The Social Network, Enemy of the State, I, Robot, Sneakers, Die Hard 4.0 and Unfriended.

Few have really been able to show technology as it really is as its never as exciting as sounds, in reality, a group of computer programmers uploading code that destroys the world or changes the world. Searching gives audiences, a different way of experience.

Despite positive reviews, Sony Pictures are opening on a limited release first before expansion next weekend.