1. 1917 –  £4,518,270  – £26,297,179

Down only 27.3% in its third weekend thanks to very positive word of mouth but dropped slightly more than 2017’s Dunkirk (17.8%).

27^th biggest third weekend in the UK between Paddington 2 and Mary Poppins Returns (close to Bohemian Rhapsody, Dunkirk, Titanic and The Kings Speech).

After 17 days 1917 has become eOne’s 7^th biggest film in the UK between The Twilight Saga: New Moon and The Girl on the Train; by next weekend 1917 will become the 127^th film to take over £30m at the box office and eOne’s 4^th and with BAFTA and Oscar wins will likely overtake 2011’s The King’s Speech to be their biggest ever film in the UK

160^th biggest film in the UK between The Croods and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (close to Downton Abbey, Life of Pi, The Golden Compass and The Sixth Sense) and 250^th biggest inflation inflated between Scooby-Doo Too and Sex and the City 2 (close to The Hunger Games, Billy Elliot, Chicago and The Blair Witch Project).

Third weekend

Took more than

89.1%  Gravity (£2,389,193); 60.9% Slumdog Millionaire (£2,806,996); 29.9% Titanic (£20,238,044); 14.3% Paddington 2 (£22,990,836); 6.9% The King’s Speech (£4,226,074); 5.7%+ Titanic (£4,274,375); 1.6%- Mary Poppins Returns (£4,444,023);

Took less than

43.8% Joker (£5,489,716); 30.4% LOTR: Return of the King (£6,496,723); 23.9% Avatar (£5,940,479); 2.3% Dunkirk (£4,624,570);; 0.9% Bohemian Rhapsody (£4,559,647)

After 17 days on release 1917

Has taken more than

99% Little Women (£13,215,006); 94.2% The Greatest Showman (£13,537,211); 76.7% A Star Born (£14,874,834); 43.6% The King’s Speech (£18,312,482); 24.7% Love Actually (£21,079,416);

But less than

34.7% Joker (£40,302,422); 31.1% Dunkirk (£38,191,064); 19.9% Avatar (£32,815,618); 9% Bohemian Rhapsody (£28,907,411)

But after three weeks the momentum many of those films had was diminishing it is growing for 1917 after Sam Mendes won DGA Best Director award last week Sam Mendes is now favourite to win Best Director at the BAFTAs this weekend and then Best Director Oscar in two weeks’ time; It will be almost 20 years after Sam Mendes previously won Best Director for American Beauty in 2000.

Away from James Bond Spectre and Skyfall, Sam Mendes directed 2009’s Revolutionary Road (took £2,751,902; 2006’s Jarhead (took £5,155,997; 2002’s Road to Perdition (took £6,471,752 (£11,286,485 inflation inflated); 20 years ago Sam Mendes directed the Oscar winning American took £21,261,601 (£34,888,354 inflation inflated).

Over the last few years, eOne have released many award contenders and if 1917 was to win Best Picture Oscar eOne would have won 5 of the last 10 Best Picture Oscars an incredible performance for an independent distributor.

The second weekend of January has been a popular release date for the Best Picture Oscar favourite as it’s the week BAFTA and Oscar nominations are announced and 1917 is this year must-see Oscar nominee that also has the Brit boost Slumdog Millionaire, The Kings Speech and Darkest Hour had, which saw them open strongly and have very long legs.

3^rd weekend

1998’s Saving Private Ryan took £1,695,902 18.3% drop (£3,023,312 inflation inflated) and £9,760,779 (£17,400,697 inflation inflated) 52.1% of £18,740,016 (£33,573,924 inflation inflated)  

2012’s War Horse took £2,081,490 35% drop and £13,418,627 72.2% of £18,574,862

2017’s Dunkirk took £4,624,570 44% drop and £38,191,064 67.5% of £56,585,035

Every year there is one must-see Oscar nominee and 1917 with BAFTA and Oscar nominations will be this year and is now favourite to win many Oscars and BAFTAs along with Parasite.

Over recent years many of these have been released over the first two weeks of January including Slumdog Millionaire (£41,995,981), The Kings Speech (£54,036,062), 12 Years A Slave (£21,517,696), Birdman (£5,681,710), Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (£15,238,741) and Darkest Hour (£24,112,875). As it gives them to distance from Christmas releases and is close to BAFTA and Oscar nominations being revealed.

1917 should take at least £40m and could take closer to £50m if it does as most expect to win BAFTA and Oscar awards over the next few weeks which will see it become eOne’s biggest ever film in the UK and probably one of the biggest films of 2020.

Much has been said that this year’s film slate isn’t as strong as last year and while it was predictable that the seven Disney films took £50m+ at the box office, the only surprise was the success of Joker.  While 2020 films apart from No Time To Die it’s much harder to see what other films will take £50m+. There will likely be many more £30m+ films as box office will be more evenly spread out between distributors. While last year felt like a sequel to either 1989 or 1999, 2020 feels like a sequel to 1990 a year that had many sequels, many of which underwhelmed but original films including Pretty Woman, Ghost and Home Alone were all very successful.

2. Bad Boys For Life –  £2,744,312   – £8,276,495

Down surprisingly only 26% in its second weekend a very low drop for an action film, normally these films will drop over 50%, but as its opening wasn’t as big as the US last weekend with less competition and strong word of mouth held strongly.

241^st biggest second weekend in the UK between How to Train Your Dragon 3 and High School Musical 3 (close to Mission: Impossible III, The Bourne Ultimatum, Die Hard with a Vengeance and Mad Max: Fury Road) and 366^th biggest second-weekend inflation between Iron Man and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (close to Die Hard 4.0, Clear And Present Danger, Enemy of the State and Rush Hour 2).

Sony Pictures 67^th biggest between Pixels and Grown Ups 2 (close to Bad Boys 2, The Pursuit of Happyness, Fury and The Panic Room) Bad Boys 2 #65 and Bad Boys #121 biggest and 96^th biggest inflation inflated between Wold and 13 Going On 30.

It’s interesting that Bad Boys For Life opening with £3.78m was seen as a good opening but it was similar to Terminator: Genisys, X-Men: Dark Phoenix, Battleship and Warcraft: The Beginning all were seen as disappointing openings.

The second sequel to 1995’s Bad Boys that launched Will Smith’s acting career, he followed it up with Independence Day and Men In Black followed over the next two years.

Second weekend

1995’s Bad Boys took £763,060 (£1,367,070 inflation inflated) taking £3,197,132 (£5,727,864 inflation inflated) and £8,408,498 (£13,673,278 inflation inflated)

2003’s Bad Boys 2 dropped 53.1% taking £1,488,626 (£2,420,694 inflation inflated) and £5,904,665 taking £8,141,704 (£13,673,278 inflation inflated

After reuniting with two films with Will Smith, Jerry Bruckheimer will also reunite with Tom Cruise this summer in Top Gun: Maverick 34 years after the original film opened and 30 years after they previously worked together on Days of Thunder.

Bad Boys For Life should hold again well this weekend before facing competition from Birds of Prey in two weeks’ time.

3. The Personal History of David Copperfield –  £1,524,147    – NE

Opened in 656 screens Lionsgate’s widest ever release, never understand why distributor open these kinds of films so wide as especially with 1917 holding strongly it will be a film people will discover by word of mouth.

1,007^th biggest opening between Birdman and The Guru (close to The Grand Budapest Hotel, King of Thieves and Fantastic Mr Fox) and 1,162^nd biggest inflation inflated opening between Ride Along and Evil Dead (close to Argo, The Constant Gardener, Prisoners and Joy).

36^th biggest Lionsgate opening in the UK between Jeepers Creepers and Hacksaw Ridge (close to Sicario, A Simple Favour, Wonder and The Railway Man).

Armando Iannucci’s first film since 2017’s The Death of Stalin opened with £995,458 taking £5,013,045;  It also had a strange release after receiving positive reviews at Toronto Film Festival premiere opened in 138 screens over a busy weekend in October in fifth, the film expanded further over the following weeks.

He previously directed 2009’s In The Loop which opened with £468,954 from 104 screens taking £2,123,530.

While previous Charles Dickens films didn’t open particularly well at the UK box office David Copperfield was a very different adaptation directed by Armando Iannucci and starring an ensemble cast including Dev Patel.

2005’ Roman Polanski’s Oliver Twist opened with £692,494 taking £2.58m

2012’s Mike Newell’s Great Expectations opened with £544,636 taking £2.53m

1998’s Alfonso Cuarón’s Great Expectations opened with £672,376 taking £1.87m

2003’s Nicholas Nickleby opened with £222,376 taking £1.25m.

The most successful Charles Dickens adaptions have been based on A Christmas Carol

1992’s The Muppet Christmas Carol opened with £1.15m taking £2.64m (but since has been a Christmas favourite for young and old since).

2009’s A Christmas Carol opened with £1.91m taking £20.37m

Since starring in 2009’s Slumdog Millionaire opened with £1,827,457 taking £31,664,346

Dev Patel is best known for starring in

2012’s The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel opened with £2,222,051 taking £20,308,480

2017’s Lion opened with £1,265,282 taking £11,742,907

Had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and UK premiere opening the London Film Festival in October receiving positive reviews (96% Rotten Tomatoes).

The film qualified for this year’s BAFTA awards but only received one nomination despite receiving 11 British Independent Film Awards and winning four awards. The film was acquired by Fox Searchlight for the US in August set for release in May.

There are two types of films that receive the premieres during the London Film Festival, those that open within a month of release and then others that are held back to January and February in the hope they get BAFTA or Oscar nominations. The problem with holding back a film to January and February is distributors have to double up with the film’s marketing as the film receives its premiere in October with the cast in attendance, but then need to do it again in January and February.

Originally Lionsgate dated the film for early January but held it back to distance itself from Oscar nominees Little Women, 1917 and Jojo Rabbit and probably to tie it into the TV premiere of Armando Iannucci new TV series Avenue 5 on Sky One.

4. Little Women – £1,004,904 – £18,498,695

Down 32.4% in its fifth weekend

283^rd biggest film in the UK between Angels and Demons and Fast Five (close to War Horse, Maleficent, Last Christmas and Moulin Rouge) and 403^rd inflation inflated the biggest film between Robots and The Last Samurai (close to Black Swan, Bend It Like Beckham, The Holiday and Erin Brockovich).

27^th biggest Sony Pictures film between Angels and Demons and 22 Jump Street (close to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Hitch) and 41^st biggest inflation inflated between Stuart Little 2 and Blade Runner 2049 (close to Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle and Erin Brockovich).

Little Women received 6 Oscar nominations including Best Picture, Best Actress (Saoirse Ronan), Best Supporting Actress (Florence Pugh) and Best Adapted Screenplay but failed to receive Best Director nomination for Greta Gerwig as she also failed to receive for Lady Bird two years ago.

Greta Gerwig also failed to receive Best Director nomination last week after the film received 5 nominations including Best Actress Saoirse Ronan, Best Supporting Actress Florence Pugh, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Score.

Has been much debate that it’s a snub by the Academy but that’s the problem when you can have up to 10 Best Picture nominees but only have 5 Best Directors there will also be up to 5 films missing out on Best Director nomination. Just because BAFTA and The Academy think a film or performance is best its only their opinion, so really don’t understand why non-members care when they deem to be best.

In an interview this week at Sundance Film Festival Hilary Clinton said she loved Little Women and thought director Greta Gerwig should have been nominated as the film was beautifully made and how it was constructed made the best use of the book.

34th biggest Sony Pictures UK film between The Pirates! In an Adventure With Scientists and The Smurfs (close to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Blade Runner 2049), 45th biggest inflation inflated biggest Sony Pictures UK film between Django Unchained and T2 Trainspotting 2 (close to Erin Brockovich and The Lady in the Van.

Little Women is likely to be one of those films that get nominated but doesn’t win as didn’t win any Golden Globes on Sunday, while Lady Bird received 5 Oscar nominations and 3 BAFTA nominations but won two Golden Globe Awards but no Oscars or BAFTAs. As the 1995 version was also nominated for 3 Oscars including Best Actress Winona Ryder but didn’t win any.

While Little Women took much more than fifth weekends of The Favourite, Pride and Prejudice and Sense And Sensibility, Little Women took similar to Pride and Prejudice and Sense And Sensibility inflation inflated fifth-weekend box office.

145.1% more than 2019’s The Favourite dropped 57% taking £410,001 and £14,019,668 82.6% of £16,965,411.

66.9% more than 2005’s Pride and Prejudice dropped 34% taking £594,792 (£911,762 inflation inflated) and £12,651,399 (£19,393,440 inflation inflated) 86.8% of £14,562,448 (£22,322,903 inflation inflated)

93.4% more than 1996’s Sense And Sensibility £519,499 (£1,013,725) and £12,033,041 (£23,480,691 inflation inflated) 78.8% of £13,539,000 (£25,907,059).

1995’s Little Women took £3.4m (£7.2m inflation inflated).

The success of Little Women will help the new adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma opening next month also 25 years after Gwyneth Paltrow’s Emma opened with £2,081,141 (£4,061,037 inflation inflated) taking £4,305,395 (£8,401,338 inflation inflated).

5. Jumanji: The Next Level – £921,225  – £33,592,531

Dropped 13% in its seventh weekend

Having better legs than Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle despite opening a week before Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and being a sequel would have expected it to drop much faster as most sequels do. Took 5.3% more than 2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle #9 in its seventh weekend down 28% (£874,788) and 4.9% less (£35,343,483)

102^nd biggest film in the UK between Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and 169^th biggest inflation inflated between The Bourne Ultimatum and Saving Private Ryan.

126^th film since 1993 to take £30m+ at the UK box office and Sony Pictures 9^th biggest film in the UK between Men in Black and Spider-Man 3 and

While Jumanji: The Next Level will likely drop out of the top 5 next weekend with half term in three weeks should hold well over the coming weeks.

UK box office in detail

This weekend’s top 10 box office took £13,633,69 down 19.6% from last weekend £16,951,901

The weekend admissions 1,949,486 down 18.6% from last weekend 2,394,336

16 films opened at weekend taking (£3,337,050); The Personal History Of David Copperfield 45.6% (£1,524,147); Paw Patrol: Ready, Race, Rescue 14.5% (£483,886); The Grudge 13.8% (£461,921);The Turning 3.1% (£104,459 ); remaining 12 films shared 22.8% (£762,637);

Top three took 64.4% (£8,786,729)) of the top 10; 1917 33.1% (£4,518,270); Bad Boys For Life 20.1% (£2,744,312); The Personal History Of David Copperfield 11.2% (£1,524,147);

Up 28.4% from 2019; ((£10,612,230); Vice (£1,327,464); Dragon Ball Super: Broly (£851,508); The Mule (£725,554); A Dog’s Way Home (£705,875); Love Yourself In Seoul – BTS World Tour 2019 (£518,810); Second Act (£403,211); Destroyer (£106,410); Schindler’s List (25th Anniversary) (£29,745); #1 Glass £1,936,631 2nd week 559 screens 44% drop (18.2% of top 10)

Down 21.4% from 2018: (£17,354,267); Maze Runner: The Death Cure (£2,247,915); Early Man (£2,020,653); Downsizing (£1,131,687); 12 Strong (£421,515); Tosca – Met Opera 2018 (£404,994); Last Flag Flying (£16,867); #1 Darkest Hour £2,672,022 3^rd week 2^nd week #1 over 3 weeks 641 screens 15% drop (15.4% of top 10)

Down 47.2% from 2017: (£25,816,418); Sing (£10,487,380); T2 Trainspotting (£5,146,791); Hacksaw Ridge (£1,490,158); Denial (£229,067); #1 Sing £10,487,380 1^st week 554 screens (40.6% of top 10)

Up 0.9% from 2016: (£13,620,775); Ride Along 2 (£2,141,341); The Big Short (£1,302,205); The 5th Wave (£497,568); The Taming of the Shrew – Bolshoi 2016 (£160,323); The Assassin (£76,542); Our Brand Is Crisis (£27,723); Dark Places (£625); #1 The Revenant £3,856,489 2^nd week 623 screens 26% drop (28.3% of top 10)

Up 26.8% from 2015; (£10,751,450); Ex Machina (£1,093,952); Mortdecai (£484,878); The Gambler (£381,554); Swan Lake – Bolshoi 2014 (£284,344); A Most Violent Year (£216,538); #1 American Sniper £2,539,534 2^nd week 1^st #1 457 screens 0% drop (23.6% of top 10)

Up 16% from 2014: (£11,753,522); Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (£1,278,187); Inside Llewyn Davis (£718,401); August: Osage County (£537,310); Grudge Match (£265,643); #1 The Wolf of Wall Street £3,608,968 2^nd week 506 screens 23% drop (30.7% of top 10)

Down 2.1% from 2013 (£13,926,746); Lincoln (£1,657,337); Zero Dark Thirty (£1,052,845); Movie 43 (£787,648); The Last Stand (£538,867); Won’t Back Down (£736); #1 Les Miserables £4,016,611 3^rd week 591 screens 9% drop (28.8% of top 10)

Up 41.2% from 2012 (£9,656,063); The Descendants (£1,797,939); The Grey (£1,094,338); A Monster in Paris (£1,043,531); Like Crazy (£93,981); #1 War Horse £2,081,490 3^rd week 510 screens 35% drop (21.5% of top 10)

Up 5.5% from 2011 (£12,916,152); Black Swan (£2,762,429); The Dilemma (£1,102,798); Morning Glory (£524,356); N.E.D.S. (£283,210); Breakfast at Tiffany’s (50th Anniversary) (£10,498); Get Low (£4,608); #1 The King’s Speech £4,226,074 3^rd week 502 screens 4% drop (32.7% of top 10)

Up 1.5% from 2010: (£13,422,186); Toy Story 2 (Digital 3-D) (£909,093); Brothers (£366,290); A Prophet (£312,237); Ninja Assassin (£187,285); The Boys Are Back (£64,465); Armoured (£64,931); #1 Avatar £5,155,844 6^th week 428 screens 7% drop (38.4% of top 10)  

Up 16.1% from 2009; (£11,743,640); Valkyrie (£1,854,195); Underworld 3 (£990,285); Frost/Nixon (£591,411); Milk (£336,027); Rachel Getting Married (£84,652); #1 Slumdog Millionaire £2,806,996 3^rd week 2^nd #1 379 screens 7% increase (23.9% of top 10)

Up 30.3% from 2008; (£10,462,095); Sweeney Todd (£4,525,246); In the Valley of Elah (£345,185); The Savages (£72,823); #1 Sweeney Todd £4,525,246 1^st week 436 screens (43.2% of top 10)

Up 70.4% from 2007: (£7,954,979); Blood Diamond (£1,471,104); Venus (£317,426); Bobby (£285,057); #1 Rocky Balboa £1,705,180 2^nd week 411 screens 53% drop (21.4% of top 10)

Up 85.9% from 2006; (£7,333,608); Munich (£1,209,970); Rumour Has It (£816,743); Hidden (Caché) (£169,234); #1 Fun with Dick and Jane £1,381,737 2^nd week 419 screens 29% drop (18.8% of top 10)

Up 71.5% from 2005 (£7,950,505); Elektra (£791,914); Ray (£485,005); A Very Long Engagement (£312,042); Dear Frankie (£57,214); #1 Closer £1,587,136 2^nd week £1,568,526 332 screens 1% increase (19.9% of top 10)

Up 35.6% from 2004 (£10,047,733); Scary Movie 3 (£3,490,585); Big Fish (limited) (£126,899); #1 Scary Movie 3 £3,490,585 1^st week 418 screens (34.7% of top 10)

Up 28.3% from 2003 (£10,625,350); I Spy (£878,229); Ghost Ship (£784,565); About Schmidt (£757,325); The Pianist (£195,222); #1 8 Mile £2,514,467 2^nd week 423 screens 43% drop (23.6% of top 10)

Up 46.1% from 2002 (£9,329,000); Vanilla Sky (£2,978,264); In the Bedroom (£87,294); #1 Vanilla Sky £2,978,264 1^st week 425 screens (31.9% of top 10)

Next weekend in 2019: (£11,997,508); How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (£5,323,448); Green Book (£1,672,562); Escape Room (£820,218); Can You Ever Forgive Me? (£518,230); Carmen – Met Opera 2019 (£293,456); #1 How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World £5,323,448 1^st week 556 screens (44.3% of top 10)

Also Opened

• Paw Patrol: Ready Race Rescue – Paramount Pictures

Opened with £483,886 from 524 screens

The film was in 10^th in the chart but as tickets were about a third cheaper in many cinemas (£5.25 in Cineworld, Odeon and Vue) would have charted in 7^th ahead of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Paw Patrol: Ready Race Rescue is a 48-minute film so even the reduced price of £5.25 seemed expensive especially as episodes of Paw Patrol are on Channel 5 every day. As with the Peppa Pig cinema films, Paw Patrol is likely to be children’s first trip to the cinema and 48-minute run time is the perfect length of a film for them to get used to going to the cinema, but the price still seems a little steep for its run time?

As surely exhibitors should be looking at it as an investment if children enjoy their first cinema experience they will be back again and again, but if parents feel they are being ripped-off paying £5.25 for a short they might just go back to streaming services.

In November 2017 as Disney showed Olaf’s Christmas Adventure short along with a screening of Frozen in cinemas for £1 opening with £1,115,689 from 611 cinemas.

Last year Paw Patrol Mighty Pups opened with £521,505 taking £1,265,526

• The Turning – eOne

Opened with £104,459 from 249 screens

• The Grudge – Sony Pictures

Opened with £461,920 from 390 screens

horror reboot of the 2004 US remake of the Japanese horror film Ju-On: The Grudge.

2004’s The Grudge opened with £2,261,710 taking £7,743,528 and $187.28m worldwide

2006’s The Grudge 2 opened with £773,422 taking £1,712,225 and $70.71m worldwide

After receiving poor reviews and flopping in the US earlier this month it will do similar when it opens in the UK, always amazes me when so many films open day and date that distributors don’t open films that are likely to receive poor reviews as the gap between US and UK means they will always be DOA as will also be the case next week with Dolittle and Underwater.

 Other Box Office News

The Financial Times wrote an article two weeks ago  “Hollywood holds ‘vigil’ as cinema feels the squeeze” about how the lack of growth in global cinema with the growth of streaming and the lack megamovies in 2020 and as always the cinema industry went on the defensive closing ranks. (this happened to me many times before when I dared to question that everything might not be awesome and “growth” since 2002 has been purely ticket inflation).

While I understand that people working in the business don’t want to be told “the sky is falling” but they shouldn’t be so closed-minded and take criticism as you only learn from others and not be so blinkered or in denial. Surely the cinema industry saw what disruptors did with the music industry and their next target would be home video (Blockbusters) and cinema. While cinema won’t die people have become much more selective with the films they pay to see in cinemas and those they wait to see, as only need to see the share of the box office the top 10, top 20 top 50 and top 100 films of 2019 took and what the others took.

 

ComScore reported that almost 1,000 titles were released in 2019, from my research about 150 (90% share) were from the major distributors and major independents with a probably similar amount of Event Cinema screenings that took over £53m (4% share). This left almost 700 films sharing only 6% of the box office.

 

People went to the library in the UK almost twice as many times (4.2x)  than they went to the cinema (2.6x) this is despite the closure of over 800 libraries in the UK since 2010 and many having their hours shortened. When I was younger went to the library at least once a week to get books, music and research now most people do all those things from their phones sitting in coffee shops.

I believe that had admissions not stopped growing in 2002 (have asked the question many times why admissions stopped growing that year as the films were no different in 2003 and all the years that followed) admissions would have topped 250m by now. The only thing that changed in the years that followed in cinemas was ticket prices and that ticket inflation has helped box office almost double since (industry claims average is up 65% but its probably closer to double).

Admissions only dropped 0.5% in 2019 because industry claimed average dropped 2%, while Vue Cinemas have dropped prices of many of their cinemas the vast majority of cinema prices were still increasing. While Vue has reduced their prices they are also adding recliners to many of these cinemas they reduced prices and then increasing ticket prices from £5.99/£6.99 to £7.99/£8.99..

What would be very interesting to know is how much of the box office now is from subscription cinema, how many subscribers do Cineworld and Odeon have now man times a year do they go on average, as often see reports online with people going over 200 times a year. While I know that the cinema pays a negotiated fee per subscription ticket but what value is added to the box office when each ticket is sold.

While also there have been no numbers revealed over Meerkat Movies (in April it will be 5 years since its launched). when it was Orange Wednesday was hugely popular for ten years between 2005 and 2015. In 2010 23.5m free tickets had been issued with many using it over 70 times and Mamma Mia had 276,549 free tickets; Orange said in 2010 that Orange Wednesday added 3m extra cinema trips each year.

 

UK Box Office Top 10

US Box office

• Bad Boys For Life – Sony Pictures

Dropped 45.8% in its second weekend taking $34.01m and $120.65m  

1995’s Bad Boys took $65.8m and $141.4m worldwide; Bad Boys received mixed reviews (42% Rotten Tomatoes) and Bad Boys 2 received poor reviews (23% Rotten Tomatoes) but both received A CinemaScore

The biggest films of 1995 were Batman Forever ($184.1m); Apollo 13 ($172.1m); Toy Story (146.2m); Pocahontas ($139.21m); Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls ($103.97m); Casper ($100.32m); Die Hard with a Vengeance ($92.73m); Crimson Tide ($91.38m); Goldeneye ($91.34m); Waterworld ($88.24m).

Second weekends

2003’s Bad Boys 2 dropped 52.6% taking $22.05m and $88.5m 63.8% of $138.6m and $273.33m WW

Bad Boys 2 was the 10th biggest film of 2003 having the 10th biggest opening of the year

The biggest films of 2003 were The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ($377.1m); Finding Nemo ($339.71m); Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl ($305.39m); The Matrix Reloaded ($281.57m); Bruce Almighty ($242.82m); X2: X-Men United ($214.84m); Elf ($167.54m); Chicago ($167.51m); Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines ($150.37m); Bad Boys II ($138.6m).

1995’s Bad Boys dropped 29% taking $11.01m and $32.5m 49.4% of 65.8% and $141.4m WW

Will Smith’s 27 films have taken $2.55bn in the US; $3.57bn internationally and $6.12bn worldwide. 

548^th biggest film in the US between The Hunt for Red October and Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! and 1,038^th biggest inflation inflated between Jack and Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! and 64^th biggest Sony Pictures film between 50 First Dates and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2.

Jerry Bruckheimer’s 34 films have taken $4.1bn in the US, $6.3bn international and $10.4bn worldwide; most of his biggest hits were released in the 80s and 90s including Beverly Hills Cop, Top Gun, Days of Thunder, Bad Boys, The Rock, Con Air, Armageddon, Enemy of the State, Coyote Ugly and Remember the Titans.

Opened with $38.6m from 39 territories and $97.8m worldwide; expands further internationally over the next few weeks; 734^th biggest film worldwide between Bram Stoker’s Dracula and  Ghostbusters II and 90^th biggest Sony Pictures film worldwide between Bram Stoker’s Dracula and  Ghostbusters II.

• 1917 – Universal Pictures

Down 27.7% in its fifth weekend taking $15.91m and $103.99m;

765^th film to take over $100m at the US box office; Mary Poppins in 1964 and Doctor Zhivago were the first films to take over $100m at the box office, 1942’s Bambi was the first but that did it with several re-issues (was announced last week that Bambi will be the latest photo-realistic animation reimagination that Disney will make, which Disney will call a live-action remake as they did with last years The Lion King).

692^nd biggest film in the US between Paranormal Activity 3 and Journey 2: The Mysterious Island and 1,290^th biggest inflation inflated between Heartbreak Ridge and The Mule; 98^th biggest Universal Pictures film between American Wedding and Jaws 2

Won two Golden Globes on Sunday Best Picture Drama and Best Director as it positions itself as the major award contender this year overshadowing many other films including The Irishman that were early favourites. Received 9 BAFTA nominations last week and 10 Oscar nominations.

Away from James Bond Spectre and Skyfall, Sam Mendes also directed 2009’s Away We Go took $9,430,988), 2008’s Revolutionary Road (took $22,877,808),  2002’s Jarhead (opened with $27,726,210 taking $62,647,540), 2002’s Road to Perdition (opened with $22,079,481 taking $104,054,514) and its 20 years ago since Sam Mendes directed the Oscar-winning American Beauty (opened $9,505,313 wide taking $130,058,047).

1998’s Saving Private Ryan took $216,118,802 and $481,840,909 worldwide

1998’s The Thin Red Line took $36,257,435 and $98,126,565 worldwide

2011’s War Horse took $79,883,359 and $177,584,879 worldwide

2017’s Dunkirk took $188,045,546 and $525,245,546 worldwide

Took $26m from 37 territories internationally and $138.7m total worldwide; 815^th biggest film worldwide between Cats & Dogs and The Hunt for Red October

• Dolittle – Universal Pictures

Dropped 44.1% in its second weekend taking $12.19m and $44.38m

Only a month ago Universal Pictures opened Cats which could lose up to $100m and Dolittle could lose even more.

1.961st biggest opening in the US between Valley of the Dolls and The Jungle Book (1994) and 2,918^th biggest inflation inflated between Action Jackson and Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 and 254^th biggest Universal Pictures film between Meet Joe Black and Queen & Slim

It’s the third film version of Doctor Dolittle after the classic 1967 Rex Harrison adaptation and then Eddie Murphy starred in the 1998 remake and 2001 sequel.

1998’s Doctor Dolittle opened with $29.01m taking $144.15m in the US and $294.45m worldwide

2001’s Doctor Dolittle 2 opened with $25.03m taking $112.95m in the US and $176.1m worldwide

Took $13.2m from 55 territories internationally and $46.4m worldwide; expands across Europe in February and March; 1,771^st biggest worldwide between The Karate Kid and White Men Can’t Jump and 228^th biggest Universal Pictures film worldwide between The Purge and The Tale of Despereaux.

• The Gentlemen – STX

Opened with $10.65m; received positive reviews (72% Rotten Tomatoes) and B+ CinemaScore

After reimagining Disney’s Aladdin last year, Guy Ritchie back to his British gangster routes of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch.

1998’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels opened on limited release $143,321 taking $3.75m despite only playing in 161 screens when it expanded.

2000’s Snatch opened wide with $8m taking $30.1m

2015’s The Man from U.N.C.L.E. opened with $13.42m taking $45.44m and $107.04m worldwide.

Took $3.1m internationally from 23 territories and $22.5m total internationally and $33.5m worldwide

• The Turning – Universal Pictures

Opened with $6.95m; received poor reviews (12% Rotten Tomatoes) and F CinemaScore (second film this year after The Grudge to receive F CinemaScore)

Opened with $0.8m internationally and $7.3m worldwide

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• Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – Disney

Dropped 32.7% in its sixth weekend taking $5.57m and $501.98m

After 39 days Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has finally taken over $500m

2017’s The Last Jedi took 16 days (80.6% of $620.18m total)

2016’s Rogue One took 32 days (93.5% of $532.17m)

2015’s The Force Awakens took 10 days (53.4% of $936.66m)

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker became the worst-reviewed Star wars film dropping below The Phantom Menace Rotten Tomatoes score 52% Vs 53%, but The Phantom Menace received positive reviews when it was first released in 1999 it only dropped its score in 2012 when it was re-released in 3D.

Disney had an amazing 2019 but surely much bigger if Avengers: Endgame, Toy Story 4, The Lion King and The Rise of Skywalker lived up their hype, but all took less than many analysts predicted had they done so 2019 would have been the record-breaking year expected?

Surely The Rise Of Skywalker taking only just over $1bn surely needs to be seen as a similar disappointing $1bn+ BO as Transformers: Age of Extinction as it’s just stumbling past $1bn after 4 weeks rather than cantering past as most box office analysts predicted a month ago?

6th weekends

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker 5^th weekend was less than all of the previous Star Wars saga films apart from A New Hope in 1977.

2015 – Star Wars: The Force Awakens dropped 46.6% taking $14.07m and $879.11m 93.8% of $936.66m; $2.068bn WW

2016 – Rogue One: A Star Wars Story dropped 46.5% taking $7.21m and $512.37m 96.2% of $532.17m; $1.056bn WW

2017 – Star Wars: The Last Jedi dropped 44.7% taking $6.55m and $604.27m 97.4% of $620.18m; $1.332bn WW

2005 – Star Wars: Episode: Revenge of the Sith dropped 39.1% taking $6.11m and $358.46m 94.2% of $380.27m; $849.99m WW

2002 – Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones dropped 45.4% taking $5.15m and $279.82m 92.6% of $302.19m; $640.91m WW

1999 – Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace dropped 25.2% taking $14.11m and $351.66m 81.5% of $431.08m; $924.3m WW

1983 – Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi taking $12.03m and $153.07m 60.65% of $252.58m; $374.59m WW

1980 – Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back, dropped 15% taking $9.21m and $64.9m 30.9% of $209.39m and $400.08m WW

1977 – Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope took $7.45m taking $32.15m 10.4% of $307.26m; $503.01m WW

Ahead of its release, most people would have expected The Rise of Skywalker to challenge Avengers: Endgame as the biggest film of 2019 and even after opening many still believed it could take over $600m, but now it’s likely to take about $500m (similar to Rogue One) taking almost 95% of its total box office after 5 weeks.

It always amazes me that Disney is the one studio holding back other studios from trying to shorten the current theatrical window from 16 weeks as, despite their films opening bigger, they also drop bigger and still take 90% of their box office within for weeks on release.

15^th biggest film in the US between Beauty and the Beast and Finding Dory

50^th biggest film inflation inflated between The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and Twister

11^th biggest Disney film in the US between Beauty and the Beast and Finding Dory

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker became Disney’s 7^th 2019 film to take over $1bn worldwide, all 7 were expected to take over $1bn worldwide as previous instalment/versions took similarly; while al 8 was expected to take over $1bn the question is how many $1bn+ films will Disney get this year?

Took $5.5m internationally from 47 territories and $544.6m total internationally and $1.046bn worldwide; UK $74.9m; Germany $65.1m; Japan $61.8m; France $52.7m; Australia $31.9m; Spain $21.2m; China $20.5m.

37^th biggest film worldwide between Aladdin and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and 21^st biggest Disney film worldwide between Aladdin and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

• Little Women – Sony Pictures

Down 27.6% in its fourth weekend taking $4.6m and $93.63m

Many have complained about the lack of nominations Little Women received but are many far more deserving films like Just Mercy and Dark Waters that failed to get even nominated as that is the problem with BAFTA and Oscars it’s not about what best it’s about what they think is best.

1994’s Little Women opening #2 with $2.41m (behind Streetfighter opening with $6.85m) taking $46.13m ($105m inflation inflated)

805^th biggest film in the US between Flight and The Fighter and 1,468^th biggest inflation inflated film between Where the Wild Things Are and Insidious Chapter 2 and 106^th biggest Sony Pictures film between The Mask of Zorro and America’s Sweethearts.

Took $5.6m from 27 territories and $53m and $147m worldwide; the UK $24.1m; Australia $9m; Italy $5.4m; Spain $4.8m; France $4.4m

1,164^th biggest film worldwide between New Year’s Eve and Friends with Benefits and 150^th biggest Sony Pictures film worldwide between Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance and Friends with Benefits.

• Jumanji: The Next Level – Sony Pictures

Down 20.6% in its seventh weekend taking $7.7m and $283.24m

Jumanji: The Next Level took 28.1% less than Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle in its seventh dropped 32.3% taking $10.93m and $352.57m 87.1% of $404.51m and $962.07m worldwide; if Jumanji: The Next Level continues to hold as it is currently will take about $310m.

Dwayne Johnson’s 43 films have taken $4.33bn in the US and $7.85nn internationally and over $12.19bn worldwide.

102^nd biggest film in the US between Home Alone and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 and Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch; 244^th biggest inflation inflated film between The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies and The Silence of the Lambs and 8^th biggest Sony Pictures film between Skyfall and The Amazing Spider-Man.

Took $9.6m from 60 territories and $454m total and $7389m worldwide; UK $42.3m; China $41.17m; Australia $27.8m; France $24.52m. Germany $22.12m; Russia $20.56m; Italy $13.27m; Spain $13.54m;

111^th biggest film worldwide between The Matrix Reloaded and Up and 13^th biggest Sony Pictures film worldwide between 2012 and The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

Best Picture Oscar nominees expansions

Jojo Rabbit – Fox Searchlight

Down 6% taking $1,405,254 and $25,979,891 #15; added 159 screens to 1,160 screens   

Joker – Warner Bros

Dropped 67% taking $113,282 and $334,814,743 #27; dropped 506 screens to 348 screens    

      

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – Sony Pictures

Dropped 64% taking $114,046 and $141,827,869 #26; dropped 380 screens playing no 325 screens

Ford V Ferrari – 20^th Century Fox

24% drop taking $815,945 and $114,346,820 #18; dropped 276 screens playing in 804 screens

Parasite – Neon

+15% taking $1,973,639 and $30,912,644 #12; added 217 screens playing in 1,060 screens

 

UK Box Office Predictions

While there are five new wide releases this weekend none will likely affect the top five with 1917 will hold #1 for a fourth weekend taking £3m (more than Dunkirk’s fourth weekend (£2,634,839) due to BAFTA awards on Sunday.

With Bad Boys For Life likely to drop 45%-50% could be battling out for second with The Personal History of David Copperfield likely to hold well due to strong word of mouth and Little Women will hold steadily in fourth.

Action thriller The Rhythm Section starring Blake Lively produced by Eon is likely to be the best of the new releases

Blake Lively has had box office success with 2016’s The Shallows (opened £800,963 taking £1,723,386), 2015’s Age of Adaline (opened £570,386 taking £1,084,834) and 2018’s A Simple Favour (opened £1,621,900 and £4,930,383)

While could open similar to last year’s 2019’s Cold Pursuit (opened £631,467 taking £1,743,561) and 2 but unlikely to open as well as female actioners 2018’s Red Sparrow (opened £1,843,124 taking £6,395,074) and 2017’s Atomic Blonde (opened £1,686,430 taking £3,063,918).

A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood will struggle to find an audience in the UK despite starring Tom Hanks and receiving positive reviews and being the perfect film to play out the grey January

Despite starring Tom Hanks the film is a hard sell internationally as Mr Rogers isn’t well known it would be like trying to sell a Phillip Schofield biopic about his broom cupboard years to US audiences.

Ahead of its release, many were hoping that he could finally win his third Best Actor Oscar after so many attempts since winning two in two years with Philadelphia and Forrest Gump.

As its It’s incredible that performances for Jim Lovell (Apollo 13), Captain Miller (Saving Private Ryan), Chuck Noland (Cast Away), Michael Sullivan (Road to Perdition); Carl Hanratty (Catch Me If You Can), Captain Richard Phillips (Captain Phillips), Walt Disney (Saving Mr Banks), James B. Donovan (Bridge of Spies), Chesley ‘Sully’ Sullenberger (Sully) and Ben Bradlee (The Post) didn’t win him his third Oscar

Richard Jewell the latest film from Clint Eastwood underperformed in the US when it opened in the US in December and is more likely to open similar to 2018’s The 15:17 to Paris opened with £290,577 rather than 2019’s The Mule opened with £725,554 taking £1,421,554 and 2012’s J. Edgar opened with £413,210.

Psychological horror The Lighthouse received universal acclaim (92% Rotten Tomatoes) and despite recent horrors The Grudge and The Turning underwhelming despite starring Robert Pattinson (who just started filming The Batman this week) being Shot in black-and-white with a 1.19:1 aspect ratio will make it hard to find a wide audience.

Without award nominations Queen & Slim is unlikely to find an audience, it struggled to do so in the US when it opened in November despite positive reviews.

 

Opening in UK Next Week

• Birds of Prey – Warner Bros

The eighth film of the DC Extended Universe and a follow-up spin-off to the 2016’s Suicide Squad; starring Margot Robbie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Rosie Perez, Chris Messina, Ella Jay Basco, Ali Wong, and Ewan McGregor and directed by Cathy Yan.

UK media screening was on Friday and social media embargo ends on January 29^th (after UK premiere) and the review embargo on 5^th February.  

2016’s Suicide Squad received poor reviews but opened with strongly with £11,252,225 and held strongly taking £33,191,023; taking $325.1m in the US and $746.84m worldwide.

After releasing one DC film over the last two years (Aquaman in 2018 and Shazam! in 2019) Warner Bros release two this year (Birds of Prey and Wonder Woman: 1984) this year and then three in 2021 (The Batman, The Suicide Squad and Shazam! spinoff Black Adam) and 2022 (Shazam! 2, The Flash and Aquaman 2 (currently dated to open December 16^th against Untitled Star Wars and the weekend of the World Cup Finals in Qatar).

James Gunn directs sequel The Suicide Squad after being dropped from directing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 (rehired a few months later); Idris Elba was originally cast as Deadshot replacing Will Smith from the original film, but he will play a new character allowing Will Smith to return in future films.

Birds of Prey has been rated 15 as Joker recently which allows Warner Bros to target a different audience to their comic-book films to the MCU, as previously to the non-geek all of the comic-book films felt very similar.

The first teaser trailer was released in September with It Chapter Two and also Joker in October (when it was released online) with the second trailer released in January, often trailers are launched over 6 months before release, but Birds of Prey has been a very tight marketing campaign; has its UK premiere in London on Wednesday.

Birds of Prey opens only a few months after Margot Robbie’s excellent performances in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Bombshell, her stardom has been growing since The Wolf of Wall Street In 2013.

Margot Robbie pushed to make Birds of Prey for many years after there was a huge fan-base for Harley Quinn at Comic-Con when they were promoting Suicide Squad, she said in a recent interview “It was before anyone had done an R-rated comic book film. I was saying, ‘I want to do an R-rated film.’ It was before Wonder Woman and I was saying, ‘I want a female-led action film’ – you know, those things weren’t being done yet. I think they wanted to make sure that if they’re going to take a risk like that, that it was going to be done correctly. So we spent a lot of time developing the script and making everyone feel confident in the material. Then once everyone was on board, some other things started coming out to help them feel like, ‘Oh yeah, this could work.’ After that, it started to move really fast, but in the initial stages I think what I was pitching sounded crazy.”

Birds of Prey has a budget of half of Suicide Squad slightly more than last year’s Joker and a quarter of the budget of many MCU films, so these films don’t need to open anywhere nearly as big as the MCU films to be as profitable.

There have been reports that Birds of Prey is already receiving similar misogynistic comments from people who haven’t seen the film as were with last years Captain Marvel and also 2016’s Ghostbusters and 2017’s Wonder Woman and will probably also occur with Black Widow later in the year.

• Dolittle – Universal Pictures

Fantasy adventure starring Robert Downey Jr, Antonio Banderas and Michael Sheen and voices of Emma Thompson, Rami Malek, John Cena, Kumail Nanjiani, Octavia Spencer, Tom Holland, Craig Robinson, Ralph Fiennes, Selena Gomez and Marion Cotillard and directed by Stephen Gaghan, based on The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle.

It’s the third film version of Doctor Dolittle after the classic 1967 Rex Harrison adaptation and then Eddie Murphy starred in the 1998 remake and 2001 sequel.

Was originally set for May 24th, 2019 but was moved to April 12th to avoid Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (was then dated for May before moving to December), it was then pushed back to  January 17th, 2020 after extensive reshoots after poor test screenings.

Dolittle is Robert Downey Jr’s first non-MCU film since 2014’s The Judge and is almost a decade since he starred in a non-MCU success Due Date and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows a sequel will be released in 2021. His last family film was 2006’s The Shaggy Dog.

The film received poor reviews (17% Rotten Tomatoes) and opened poorly in the US; it’s always surprising when a film like Dolittle as with Cats is surrounded by negativity for months but the studio decides not to open the film globally Day and day. While it does make some sense to open Dolittle this week as its ahead of half-term holidays the film has generated so much negativity which will impact on the film’s release.

1998’s Doctor Dolittle opened with £3,047,574 (£5,459,922 inflation inflated) taking £19,671,348 (£35,242,465 inflation inflated) and $144.15m in the US and $294.45m worldwide

2001’s Doctor Dolittle 2 opened with £1,610,907 (£2,809,360 inflation inflated) taking £8,286,365 (£14,451,100 inflation inflated) and $112.95m in the US and $176.1m worldwide

As with many family films, Dolittle will have previews over February 1^st/2^nd that will be added to its opening weekend which is surprising after the film received such poor reviews, but its target audience doesn’t read reviews.

• Parasite – Curzon

Dark comedy thriller starring Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Choi Woo-shik, and Park So-dam and directed by Bong Joon-ho; premiered at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival becoming the first Korean film to win the Palme d’Or receiving critical acclaim (99% Rotten Tomatoes).

Curzon acquired UK rights in May 2019 and in October promised to give the film a full theatrical release as normally the films they release have a limited theatrical release with VOD release a few days or weeks after.

The film received six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best International Feature Film (the first South Korean film to receive nominations in those categories) and four BAFTA nominations (Best Film, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Foreign Film) and winning Best Foreign Language Film at the Golden Globes and became the first non-English film to win the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

The film opened on platform in the US in October with $393,216 from 3 screens and has taken $28.2m to date expanding to its widest last week in 843 screens; the film took $114.86m internationally and $143.1m worldwide.

The film has preview screens with Q&A with the director on February 3^rd before opening across the UK on February 7^th the day after BAFTA film Awards Ceremony.

• Underwater – 20^th Century Fox

Sci-fi horror starring Kristen Stewart, Vincent Cassel, T.J. Miller, Jessica Henwick, John Gallagher Jr., Mamoudou Athie, and Gunner Wright and directed by William Eubank

The film was produced by Chernin Entertainment who made 24 films for the studio over the last 8 years including Planet of the Apes reboot, Hidden Figures and Ford v Ferrari announced they were ending their production deal with the studio last week.

Underwater received mixed reviews when it was released in the US last month (50% Rotten Tomatoes) and opened with $7m and has taken $13.5m in the US and $13.9m internationally and $27.4m worldwide.

The film is unlikely to find an audience in the UK either always find it strange when studios release so many films day and date Underwater didn’t as the delay won’t help the film.

It will be the last film released by 20th Century Fox name before the studio Is renamed to 20th Century Studios by Disney after the acquired the studio last year.

Interestingly the first film released by 20^th Century Pictures will be the remake of The Call of the Wild in February the original film was the last film released by 20^th Century Pictures in 1935 before the studio became 20^th Century Fox.

Opening in US Next Week

• Birds of Prey – Warner Bros

Birds of Prey is Warner Bros second R-rated comic-book film opening 5 months after Joker which opened so much stronger than expected, held much stronger and became the second comic-book film to be nominated for Best Film at the Oscars after Black Panther last year.  Being R-rated Birds of Prey as Joker and Deadpool previously can give comic0book fans a different kind of film than they get with the MCU.

A month before opening Birds of prey was tracking to open with $50m+ while many talked up the possibility of a female ensemble Marvel comic-book film when the female characters teamed up for a few minutes in Avengers: Endgame Warner Bros were making their own film.

Much has been made about the diversity of MCU, but Warner Bros also lead the way with a female lead comic-book film opening Wonder Woman two years before Captain Marvel. While Black Panther received much praise being the ‘first’ non-white lead comic-book film, but Warner Bros again did it with New Line with Blade 20 years earlier.

Birds of Prey was tracking a few weeks ago to open between $50m-$55m similar to Aquaman but far from the original of 2016’s Suicide Squad ($133.68m) but while it opened strongly critical reaction was poor.

• The Lodge – Neon

Horror starring Riley Keough, Jaeden Martell, Lia McHugh, Alicia Silverstone, and Richard Armitage and directed by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala,

Had its world premiere at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival (where it was acquired by Neon) receiving positive reviews (80% Rotten Tomatoes) and Slash Film calling it “scary as hell… the next great horror film is here”.