- Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour- £5,729,998 – NE
Took £2.25m (38.8%) Friday; £1.89m Saturday (33%); £1.46m Sunday (25.5%)
244th biggest opening between Robin Hood and Bridget Jones’s Diary (close to The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Fantastic Beasts 3, Trolls and Rocketman) and 374th inflated between Vanilla Sky and The Wolverine (close to The Bodyguard, Frozen, Pitch Perfect 2 and The Devil Wears Prada).
10th biggest opening of 2023 between Fast X and John Wick: Chapter Four
Exhibitors allowed cinemagoers to sing and dance while watching the film, allowed mobile phones to be used and didn’t fully darken auditoriums, of course, the side effect of this is that the noise of the singing bled into other screens and saw much dancing in their seats that spilt the cinema experience for others.
According to Movio research, Millennial Females made up 45% of UK audiences with 87% infrequent cinemagoers moviegoers but would be interesting to see how this compared to films like Barbie.
Was surprised to see Saturday’s BO was only 16% down from Friday as most Friday 6pm-8pm shows were close to sellouts, but then Saturdays from the few cinemas looked at and comments on Reddit said presales were much softer, but of course, cinemas had screenings from 9am-11pm and with the price point it needed to sell far fewer tickets; Friday 113k Saturday 95k and Sunday 73k. With about 15 shows a day in cinemas, and 150+ seating capacity per screen it probably had over 7m seats available over the three days, so probably had about 5% of seats sold.
There is a need to put this opening into perspective, as a £5.72m opening sounds big but needs to compare to the size of Taylor Swift’s fanbase and the ticket prices if tickets were regular prices it would hand about 750k admissions as standard adult price across the UK was £19.89 that drops to less than 300k. Exhibitors sold collectable tubs of popcorn and drinks which fans would want to buy to watch and keep and being almost 3hrs long fans would be buying a lot of concessions and probably spent as much on their cinema ticket on the popcorn and drink; Odeon is selling popcorn and drink for £19.89. People are selling these collectable tubs and bottles for up to £200.
There are about 104m Swifties worldwide with 20% in the US, while Taylor Swift has over 230m Instagram followers and 100m+ a month listening to her on Spotify, which adds up to over 520m+ fans worldwide. Ahead of the Eras Tour opening it was being compared to Barbie so surely should have opened far bigger.
On June 3.5m Taylor Swift registered to buy tickets for her UK concerts next summer, with only 750,076 tickets available over 75% of fans weren’t able to get tickets so they would surely have been first in the queue to buy cinema tickets, but only about 300k saw Era Tour in UK cinema over the weekend. While those lucky Swifties who managed to buy tickets for next year would surely have mixed emotions about seeing it in the cinemas 9 months earlier, that said they probably had seen most of the concert on TikTok.
On Saturday Vue and Odeon Cinemas celebrated Eras Tour Friday opening smashing the previous record of Event Cinema by over £1m, this was after 10 days ago Vue said it was the best week for a music concert breaking the previous record set by BTS Permission To Dance On Stage – Seoul in March 2022 opening with £899,126 and took $32.6m from 3,711 cinemas in 75 territories including $6.84m from 803 theatres in the US with tickets up to $35.
But the two couldn’t be compared with each other as the BTS concert was live in Seoul and shown in cinemas for one show at 8.45am with an afternoon encore while the Eras Tour had about a dozen shows Fri-Sat-Sun showing in almost twice the number of screens 651 Vs 351.
Other BTS Event Cinema concerts took 2018’s Burn the Stage: Movie #6 £644,308 from 212 screens; 2019’s Love Yourself In Seoul – BTS World Tour 2019 #10 £518,810 from 519 screens; 2020’s Break the Silence: The Movie #3 £374,060 from 363 screens; BTS: Yet to Come will be released on Amazon in November.
Other popular Event Cinema pop concerts have been Take That with 2019’s Take That – Greatest Hits Live opened £1,834,379 #5 from 606 screens; 2017’s Take That: Wonderland Live From The O2 #5 £1,004,918 from 481 screens and 2015’s Take That Live #2 £965,000 from 421 screens. The difference between all of those to Eras Tour was they were all limited to one evening show and afternoon encore whilst Eras Tour had 15 shows a day across three days in many cinemas.
I have always said Event Cinema was a great addition to cinema since 2006 (Vue’s first was Genesis in 2007) but the issue was with the pricing point normally twice as much as a regular cinema which limited its audience and made it impossible to make a direct comparison with any regular films.
Eras Tour is the third Event Cinema to open #1 over a weekend after Billy Elliot The Musical Live 2014 £1,904,098 and Andre Rieu’s 2022 Maastricht Summer Concert £798,706; many others have opened #1 Mon-Thurs as most of them are released during weekdays. Billy Elliot and Andre Rieu became #1 despite only having a couple of shows over the weekend.
AMC surprised the industry at the end of August by announcing they were releasing Eras Tour in the US on October 13. On September 26th was announced that it would open worldwide the same day which was surprising as would have expected it to be released at the end of Taylor Swift’s international tour in August 2024.
According to a YouGov survey, Taylor Swift is the 10th most popular contemporary singer in the UK; 96% UK have heard of her and 55% are fans. She had her 10th #1 album this year and has 6 albums in the top 20.
Taylor Swift fans have previously paid hundreds of pounds to see Era Tour live next summer and showing it in cinemas 9 months early could spoil that unique experience. Of course, it did allow millions of Swifties who weren’t able to get tickets for her live concerts to experience it but surely would have made more sense to open it afterwards as was the case in the US.
Tickets went on sale for Taylor Swift on Tuesday 26th September but unlike the US no presale box office has been released, in the US it sold $37m after 24 hours and $65m after 14 days. In the UK last Tuesday saw people have to queue to use Odeon and Vue websites,
Vue reported their Manchester, Dublin and Glasgow cinemas were amongst the highest-selling in the country and all tickets across the UK were £13.13 for children, £19.89 for adults and £23.89 for IMAX/PLF.
Comparisons are with
2013’s One Direction: This Is Us opened £3,471,872 (included £1,267,189 from Thursday previews) #1 from 476 screens (£4,699,895) taking £8,005,391; was front-loaded dropping 67% in the second weekend £1,122,137 and £5,822,032.
In the US it dropped 54.5% from Friday to Saturday and then 28% from Sunday
2009’s Michael Jackson’s This Is It opened £4,877,255 (£7,145,537 inflated) took £1,355,855 second weekend down 72.2% and £8,114,380 of £9,732,593 (£14,258,964 inflated)
While 2011’s Justin Bieber: Never Say Never opened £820,592 #9 from 388 screens taking £1,993,888.
One Direction: This Is Us had a huge premiere in Leicester Square within 24 hours of the premiere 3.6 million tweets were sent about One Direction and the hashtag #1DMoviePremiere received 1.9 million tweets.
Other music concert films include
2012’s Katy Perry: Part of Me opening £449,491 #4 from 326 screens taking £1,029,451
2009’s Jonas Brothers 3d Concert Experience opened £117,060 #10 169 screens taking £223,027
2011’s Glee: The 3D Concert Movie opened £356,271 #9 from 303 screens
2008’s Hannah Montana 3D opened £241,119 #9 from 65 screens taking £443,308
They all have one thing in common they failed to attract the fans of their music as was also the case with older films like 1991’s Madonna: Truth or Dare, 1987’s Sign O’ the Times and 1988’s U2 Rattle and Hum.
They all receive huge media coverage but that doesn’t turn into a huge BO despite the huge popularity of their music and over the last decade receiving huge social media coverage. It’s similar to hugely successful video games they rarely become hugely popular films.
DCM was predicting 1.2m admissions using the £19.89 price Eras Tour had 288,084 admissions with a likely 50%+ drop next weekend this is unlikely. Surely to attract more fans over the next two weeks should have a 2for1 deal as exhibitors will make much more from promotional collectible popcorn tubs and drinks.
Much has been written about Taylor Swift Era Tour Concert over the last 6 weeks. While it wasn’t a surprise there was a concert film for Taylor Swift’s hugely successful Era Tour the surprise was it was being released before she started the international leg. This was why AMC was able to gazump studios acquiring US rights as they believed only US rights were available as it would surely be crazy to release a concert film before fans were able to experience it live especially after fans spent hundreds buying the tickets. It was then surprising Era Tour would open globally same day in 100 countries.
While Swifties were always going to rush out to see it over the opening weekend the big question was the following three weeks whether they return to see it again and again, a post-screening survey said about 53% would.
As most Event Cinema screenings target older demographics they have been slow to get back to pre-lockdown levels as in the year before lockdown in 2019 Event Cinema took £50m 4% of the BO (Fleabag – NT Live took £4,426,290) with £41.4m in 2018 and £35m from 2017 while in 2021 took £4.7m and £4m in 2020. 2022’s Prima Facie –NT Live was the biggest Event Cinema taking £5,448,881.
Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé will be released in December in the US and advance bookings have been much softer than Eras Tour but as she plays to an older audience it’s likely to have linger legs, it has yet to get a international release date. (Beyonce sold 2.7m concert tickets worldwide this year).
- 2. Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie- £3,348,155 – NE
Took £168k Friday; £654k Saturday; £x Sunday.
Includes almoat £2m from previews over the last two weekends.
478th biggest opening between The House With A Clock in Its Walls and The Mummy (2017) (close to One Direction: This Is Us, Hotel Transylvania 3, The Smurfs 2 and Chicken Little) and 737th inflated between District 9 and Streetdance (close to Dumb and Dumber, Look Who’s Talking Too, The Muppets and Antz).
2021’s The Paw Patrol Movie opened £2,410,496 #2 from 581 screens (including £1,152,309 from Mon-Thurs previews) taking £8,478,200. It opened at the start of August and played well till the end of the summer holidays. This time it opens ahead of half-term but faces competition from Trolls Band Together opening October 20, but they are both aimed at different ages.
Previous Paw Patrol made up of multiple episodes had limited openings in Vue Cinemas
2020’s Paw Patrol: Ready, Race, Rescue opened #10 £483,886 from 524 screens taking £1,772,296
2019’s Paw Patrol: Mighty Pups opened #5 £521,505 from 507 screens taking £1,265,526
2017’s Paw Patrol: Mission Big Screen opened from 83 Vue Cinemas with £42,460
Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie was a sequel and a spinoff to a very popular property with sales of over $14bn since 2014, the leading brand for children up to 6 topping a 2019 survey ahead of Mickey Mouse, Frozen, and Elmo and is the most watched TV show for children aged 2-5 since 2016 and shown in 170 countries seen by 350 million households.
- 3. The Exorcist: Believer – £1,005,434 – £3,492,494
Took £353k 35.1% (43.1% drop £620k) Friday; £389k 38.7% (39.9% drop £647k) Saturday; £263k 26.1% (36% drop £411k) Sunday.
Down 40.1% in the second weekend; holding well in the UK despite poor reviews and Saw X and The Nun 2 also on release taking £517,692 in the third-weekend #7 and £65,984 in its seventh weekend #14.
1,034th biggest second weekend between The Day the Earth Stood Still and Men In Black International (close to Gone in Sixty Seconds, The Accountant, A Simple Favour and Law-Abiding Citizen) and 1,605th inflated between Spy Kids 3D Game Over and The Rising Sun (close to Red Heat, Assassin’s Creed, Platoon and Legends Of The Fall)
25th biggest 2023 second weekend between The Equalizer 3 and Scream 6 (close to M3gan, The Nun 2, Cocaine Bear, Evil Dead Rise and Saw X)
59th biggest horror second weekend between Insidious: The Last Key and Saw IV (close to Evil Dead Rises, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, The Ring Two and Scream (1997) and 95th inflated horror between Dracula Untold and Resident Evil (close to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Lawnmower Man, House on Haunted Hill and The Fly (1987).
Warner Bros re-released the original in cinemas in 1998 dropped 46.1% £1,179,724 (£2,333,102 inflated) and £5,104,927 taking £7,143,595 (£14,127,656 inflated).
1990’s The Exorcist III dropped 60.2% £72,045 (£246,437 inflated) and £860,565 taking £962,994 (£3,294,018 inflated).
As with many other Blumhouse Productions The Exorcist: Believer hasn’t performed as strongly in the UK as the US; 2018’s Halloween dropped 36% £1,678,162 #3 and £5,854,328 of £8,725,496.
While the original film terrified the audience 50 years ago the problem is it doesn’t scare younger audiences who have watched far more horrific horrors, this was evident when Warner Bros re-released the film in UK cinemas in 1998 and how younger audiences reacted to it. As these reimaginations/sequels are trying to replicate the original film is just not scary enough now.
Over the years there have been many rip-offs of The Exorcist and spoofs of the film including Repossessed starring Leslie Neilsen and Linda Blair and Scary Movie 2.
Universal Pictures paid $400m for worldwide rights for The Exorcist trilogy, this was similar to the $400m Netflix paid for rights to Knives Out sequels. After the disappointing opening for The Exorcist: Believer, there are big questions over the following two films with The Exorcist: Deceiver set for release in April 2025.
- 4. Sumotherhood – £746,714- NE
Took £262k (35.1%) Friday; £246k (33%) Saturday; £238k (31.9%) Sunday
51st biggest 2023 opening between The Expendables 4 and Allelujah
1,920th biggest opening between JFK and Shanghai Noon (close to American Psycho, Assault on Precinct 13, Training Day and Police Academy 3) and 2,303rd inflated between When Harry Met Sally and The Crucible (close to Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, Midnight Run, Running Scared and The Lost Boys).
Adam Deacon previously started in Kidulthood and Adulthood.
2006’s Kidulthood opened £100,056 #15 from 41 screens taking £453,876
2008’s Adulthood opened £1,203,319 #4 from 157 screens taking £3,347,811
2011’s Anuvahood opened £536,818 #7 from 149 screens taking £2,080,070.
2016’s Brotherhood opened £1,979,309 #2 from 220 screens taking £3,697,075
Being a British-made film that accepted the guidelines from SAG was able to have a UK premiere last week in London with many of the cast in attendance, but the premiere didn’t generate much media coverage it received mixed reviews.
Paramount Pictures acquired world rights to the film in February, while having a theatrical release in the UK it will likely go straight to Paramount+ elsewhere.
- 5) The Creator – £643,002 – £5,354,481
Down 38% in the third weekend
1,003rd biggest second weekend between Dumb & Dumber To and Cabin in the Woods (close to The Man from U.N.C.L.E, Tomorrowland – A World Beyond, Lost in Space and Chronicle) and 1,576th inflated between Super Mario Brothers (1993) and Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde (close to Full Metal Jacket, Event Horizon, Ronin and Red Heat).
The Creator received far more positive reviews in the UK than in the US as these grown-up adult sci-fi films which is the norm for these kinds of films. Many reviews highlighted how visually stunning it was but felt hollow inside as its style over substance, as it took elements from many other sci-fi films from Blade Runner to The Golden Child.
Normally critical acclaim will boost film BO potential but with sci-fi, it often harms it as seen with films like Ad Astra and Dune. Ad Astra had a budget of $80m taking $127m worldwide (60% international) while Dune’s budget was $165m taking $402m (70% international).
The last weekend of September and the first weekend of October has been lucrative time for adult dramas.
2015’s The Martian dropped 37% £2,419,958 #4 and £17,491,033 of £23,589,854
2014’s Gone Girl dropped 22% £2,361,051 #2 and £14,153,879 of £22,125,201
2012’s Looper dropped 22% £1,175,220 and £5,412,102 of £10,015,848
Many compared the film with
2019’s Ad Astra dropped 63% £467,983 #5 and £5,546,154 of £6,079,432
2023’s 65 dropped 47% £296,763 #7 and £2,950,362 of £3,211,909
2009’s District 9 dropped 31% £810,673 #2 and £6,380,720 of £8,875,093
2013’s Elysium dropped 35% £776,884 #5 and £7,429,389 of £8,679,403
2015’s Chappie dropped 73% £118,848 #13 and £2,367,500.
Other sci-fi films
2001’s A.I. dropped 40% £920,267 #2 and £6,361,900 of £8,027,562
2013’s After Earth dropped 64% £432,881 #3 and £5,711,932 of £6,224,021
1991’s Terminator 2: Judgement Day dropped 31% £1,356,175 #1 (£3,567,233 inflated) and £9,561,511 of £18,179,609 (£47,818,972 inflated)
2023’s M3gan dropped 44% £749,355 #5 and £5,980,325 of £6,953,411
2004’s I, Robot dropped 45% £1,332,870 #3 and £14,086,690 of £17,790,336
Others include.
2014’s Interstellar dropped 49% £1,895,368 #3 and £15,866,812 of £20,852,599
2013’s Gravity dropped 50% £2,389,193 #2 and £19,444,886 of £32,756,514 #
2016’s Arrival dropped 47% £778,449 #5 and £7,334,028 of £9,144,719
2007’s Sunshine dropped 46% £236,706 #11 and £2,786,833 of £3,175,911
2015’s Ex Machina dropped 60% £161,136 #12 and £2,502,929 of £2,890,149.
It was Gareth Edwards’s fourth film after 2010’s Monsters dropped 69% £46,561 #12 #7 and £847,442 of £952,963; 2014’s Godzilla dropped 64% £982,401 #5 and £15,491,394 of £17,074,621 and 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story up 6% £5,959,299 #1 and £52,070,413 of £66,010,513.
Also released.
The Great Escaper held well in its second weekend down only 9.8% taking £534,912 #6 and £1,959,847 despite having reduced shows in many cinemas.
As with many other films targeting older audiences took more Mon-Thurs £831,785 than its opening weekend £593,150 and climbed up the chart Mon-Thurs. Last Tuesday took £197k #2 only £8k less than The Exorcist: Believer (£205k). Days after the film opened Micheal Caine confirmed rumours that the film would be his final acting role.
While The Miracle Club struggled to find an audience in the UK opening with £276,379 #9 from 362 screens, Laura Linney was able to promote the film by doing radio and TV interviews as the film producers accepted the terms required by SAG. Still, she was only able to talk about the film no other films she had previously appeared in.
UK box office in detail
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £13,316,825 up 141.2% from last weekend’s £5,519,804: 1,240,007 admissions up 80.9% from 685,485.
10th biggest weekend of the year out of 41 weeks between 11 August 2023 #1 Barbie £4,428,044 and 30 June 2023 #1 Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny £7,144,441.
29th biggest since cinemas reopened out of 152 weeks between 11 February 2022 #1 Uncharted £4,705,948 and 30 June 2023 #1 Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny £7,144,441.
02 September 2022 #1 Minions: The 331Rise Of Gru (£1,056,163) and 27 August 2021 #1 Free Guy (£1,607,761)
331st biggest top 10 of the last 21 years (out of 1,124) between 18 January 2019 #1 Glass £3,423,380 (25.71% of top 10) and 30 June 2023 #1 Indiana Jones and the Dial Of Destiny £7,144,441 (53.69% of top 10) and 618th biggest inflated between 29 September 2006 #1 Click £1,797,073 22.02% of top 10) and #1 Indiana Jones And the Dial Of Destiny £7,144,441 (53.69% of top 10)
The top 3 took (£10,083,587) 75.7% of the top 10; Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour 43.03% (£5,729,998); Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie 25.14% (£3,348,155); The Exorcist: Believer7.55% (£1,005,434);
363rd highest percentage (43.03%) between 07 October 2011 #1 Johnny English Reborn (43.11%) and 25 May 2012 #1 Men in Black 3 (43.02%)
443rd biggest admissions #1 (718,946) between 04 January 2008 #1 I Am Legend (719,302) and #1 The Wolverine (718,850)
Up 40.8% from 2022 (£9,458,247); Lyle, Lyle Crocodile (£2,783,562); Halloween Ends (£2,110,010); Prima Facie – NT Live 2022 (£282,166); Emily (£276,322); The Lost Boys (35th Anniversary 4k Restoration) (£20,718); #1 Lyle, Lyle Crocodile £2,783,562 1st week 652 screens (29.43% of top 10)
Down 30.5% from 2021 (£19,158,551); Venom: Let There Be Carnage (£6,167,833); Halloween Kills (£1,598,062); Ron’s Gone Wrong (£868,053); The Last Duel (£325,523); #1 No Time To Die £8,404,165 3rd week 776 screens down 45% (43.9% of top 10)
Up 1,413% from 2020 (£880,280); Michael Ball & Alfie Boe – Back Together (£175,778); I Am Greta (£29,687); #1 Tenet £187,275 down 37% 8th week 320 screens (21.27% of top 10)
Down 20.7% from 2019 (£16,790,890); Abominable (£2,141,256); Gemini Man (£1,718,511); #1 Joker £9,766,608 2nd week 22% drop 673 screens (37.34% of top 10)
Down 22.1% from 2018: (£17,103,615); First Man (£2,415,330); Smallfoot (£2,324,189); Cliff Richard Live: 60th Anniversary Tour (£1,123,885); Bad Times at the El Royale (£491,878); #1 A Star is Born £3,083,089 2nd week 1st #1 612 screens (18.1% of top 10)
Up 10.1% from 2017: (£12,090,714); The LEGO Ninjago Movie (£3,642,038); The Snowman (£1,377,909); The Ritual (£424,352); Loving Vincent (£274,036); The Party (£234,985); Die Zauberflote – Met Opera 2017 (£213,605); #1 The LEGO Ninjago Movie £3,642,038 1st week 613 screens (30.1% of the top 10)
Down 10.6% from 2016: (£14,897,205); Inferno (£2,970,027); Storks (£2,247,038); Miss Saigon: 25th Anniversary Performance (£2,033,031); American Honey (£175,383); The Golden Age – Bolshoi 2016 (£86,854); #1 The Girl on the Train £3,412,472 2nd 630 screens 51% drop (22.9% of the top 10)
Down 23.6% from 2015; (£17,426,172); Hotel Transylvania 2 (£6,317,438); Suffragette (£2,938,446); Pan (£2,738,758); Crimson Peak (£967,168); The Lobster (£229,619); Otello – Met Opera 2015 (£172,773); The Program (£144,181); #1 Hotel Transylvania 2 £6,317,438 1st week 557 screens (36.2% of top 10)
Up 4.5% from 2014: (£12,738,897); Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (£4,785,448); The Judge (£420,720); Northern Soul (£278,829); Black Butler (£1,327); #1 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles £4,785,448 1st week 522 screens (37.5% of top 10)
Up 166.2% from 2013: (£5,001,792); The Fifth Estate (£502,495); Le Weekend (£324,488); Machete Kills (£165,586); Baggage Claim (£156,159); Romeo and Juliet (£137,448); #1 Prisoners £968,990 3rd week 449 screens 12% drop (19.3% of top 10)
Up 43.2% from 2012 (£9,355,419); Hotel Transylvania (£1,734,231); Ruby Sparks (£299,382); On the Road (£218,738); #1 Taken 2 £3,743,046 2nd week 510 screens 49% drop (40.1%
Up 32.3% from 2011 (£10,065,543); The Three Musketeers (£1,461,251); Real Steel (£1,337,491); Footloose (£460,271); Dolphin Tale (£429,140); #1 Johnny English Reborn £3,072,542 2nd week 38% drop 521 screens (30.53% of top 10)
Up 32.8% from 2010: (£10,027,140); Despicable Me (£3,664,376); The Social Network (£2,486,454); Vampires Suck (£1,089,339); #1 Despicable Me £3,664,376 1st week 522 screens (36.5% of top 10)
Up 27.5% from 2009; £10,447,511); Couples Retreat (£1,825,142); The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (£905,786); Triangle (£260,626); #1 Up £5,162,325 2nd week 535 screens 19% drop (49.4% of top 10)
Up 81.6% from 2008; (£7,332,004); Burn After Reading (£2,045,565); Eagle Eye (£1,096,777); Igor (expansion) (£981,750); The Rocker (£217,745); #1 Burn After Reading £2,045,565 1st week 396 screens (27.9% of top 10)
Up 55.8% from 2007: (£8,548,001); Ratatouille (£4,444,384); Resident Evil 3 (£931,991); Black Sheep (£246,135); The Invasion (£232,994); Mr. Brooks (£169,664); The Nanny Diaries (£101,794); #1 Ratatouille £4,444,384 1st week 503 screens (51.9% of top 10)
Up 43.1% from 2006; (£9,304,316); Open Season (£1,666,750); History Boys (£794,672); Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (£669,760); Stick It (£131,043); #1 The Departed £1,957,646 2nd week 1sr #1 364 screens 14% drop (21.1% of top 10)
Down 1.2% from 2005 (£13,473,346); Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (£9,374,932); Lord of War (£723,406); Domino (£481,409); #1 Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit £9,374,932 1st week 501 screens (69.6% of top 10)
Up 6.1% from 2004 (£12,551,675); Shark Tale (£7,545,074); White Chicks (£884,955); Inside I’m Dancing (£219,256); Boo, Zino and the Snurks (£131,020); Fat Slags (£58,252); 5 Children & It (£37,132); #1 Shark Tale £7,545,074 1st week 504 screens (60.1% of top 10)
Down 0.5% from 2003 (£13,372,837); Kill Bill Volume One (expansion) (£2,693,742); The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (£2,005,435); Mystic River (£295,135); Bollywood Queen (£27,020); #1 Finding Nemo £5,923,138 3rd week 2nd #1 475 screens (44.3% of top 10)
Up 43.8% from 2002 (£9,258,248); Red Dragon (£3,180,493); Clockstoppers (£196,802); #1 Red Dragon £3,180,493 1st week 428 screens (34.3% of top 10)
Up 44.5% from 2001 (£9,219,269); American Pie 2 (£5,508,709); The Pledge (£142,100); Atlantis (£79,695) (platform) #1 American Pie 2 £5,508,709 1st week 1st week 420 screens (59.7% of top 10);
Next week: (£12,015,545); Black Adam (£5,655,003); The Banshees Of Inisherin (£1,643,220); Decision To Leave (£410,107); Poltergeist (40th Anniversary 4k Restoration) (£46,598); Coraline (Re: 2022) (£27,432); #1 Black Adam £5,655,003 1st week 650 screens (47.06% of top 10)
US Box Office
- Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour – AMC
It opened with $92.8m; received positive reviews (100% Rotten Tomatoes) and A+ CinemaScore.
Had the second-biggest October opening after 2019’s Joker ($96.2m)
87th biggest opening between Godzilla and Spider-Man: Far from Home (close to The Little Mermaid, Justice League, Aladdin and Inside Out)
IMAX and PLF repped 26% with 12% from IMAX $11.1m from 377 screens; Global $13.1m with international $2m from 236 screens; price $28.89 +taxes
Took 73% of the top 10l; ahead of the weekend took 99% of presales. Entelligence said, “There is a very even disbursement of sales over the three days.” Entelligence defines sellouts at 75% or more
Took $2.8m from Thursday (was only announced by Taylor Swift the day before at the premiere; its audience was 76% females, 65% aged 18 and 35.
60% of tickets were advance sales; 19% before 1pm; 33% between 1pm-5pm; 36% between 5pm-8pm and 12% after 8pm. 53% brought tickets more than a week ago; 20% in the last week. walk-ins 27%.
Exhibitors allowed cinemagoers to use their phones and take selfies, and to sing and dance.
82% of weekend sales were female; 83% between 18 and 34; between 25 and 34 (32%); teenagers (17%). Playing to a similar audience as Barbie it should have surely opened close to Barbie especially as Barbie was regularly priced while Eras Tour was $13.13/$19.89/$28.89. As 83% were 18+ 90% of the audience would have paid at least $19.89 while probably about 40% of cinemagoers for Barbie paid more than $19.89. So, however, as the industry twists it its opening should have been $150m+.
As with One Direction’s This Is Us 10 years ago only a very small percentage of Taylor Swift fans came out to see Eras Tour over opening weekend ($90m opening about 4.5m admissions this compares to 4.8m+ who saw her live concerts generating $2.2bn in ticket sales). There are 180m+ Taylor Swift fans in the US and 54m+ Swifties (20%) 523m fans worldwide and 104m+ Swifties. Era should be opening with more than three times as much having one of the biggest ever openings in the US.
Took $37m in presales within 24 hours and $65m after 14 days and by October 5th had sold over $100m in presales worldwide.
Entelligence reported 4.8m admissions which is curiously the same number of fans who saw her live concerts in the summer generating $2.2bn in ticket sales.
It was expected to open with $125m+ in the US and $150m-$200m worldwide ($30-$50m internationally). After taking $37.7m on Friday (not $39m earlier reported) it was expected to open with $110m but that dropped throughout the weekend and by Sunday evening had dropped to $97m but opened 4% less.
It’s impossible to compare the opening with any other concert film due to the standard price of $19.89, but that hasn’t stopped the industry from doing so) tickets were nonrefundable which must have surely frustrated fans when they fo8und out on Wednesday it was having Thursday previews after they rushed out to buy tickets for Friday 6 weeks earlier.
2009’s Michael Jackson: This Is It opened $23.23m taking $72.09m and $261.18m worldwide
2011’s Justin Bieber: Never Say Never opened $29.51m $73.01m and $99.03m worldwide
2012’s Katy Perry’s Part of Me opened $7.13m $25.32m and $32.72m worldwide
2013’s One Direction: This Is Us opened $15.81m $28.87m and $68.56m worldwide
Opens in 625 IMAX cinemas in 45 countries; tsking $11.1m
Why do analysts keep comparing Eras Tour with Never Say Never as is impossible to compare the two as it was released 12 years ago with an average price of $7.93 while Eras Tour according to Entelligence had an average of $20.84, so had similar admissions of 4.5m Vs 3.9m. NSN opened #2 in a growing market against Just Go with It while Eras Tour had no competition. Taylor Swift has almost twice as many fans as Justin Bieber had a decade ago.
In the US Entelligence reported that ticket prices are $13.13 and $19.89 actual prices with booking fees and taxes are $20.82 and $14.16 for a child’s ticket. Entelligence said 4,200 shows were sold out for Friday out of 13,000 (32%) and there are 65k shows over opening weekend with 11.5m seats. While Friday was always going to be huge the question is more about how many sold-out shows there are on Sat/Sun. While 4,200 sounds a lot with an average seater of 350 that’s about 1.5m and about $35m opening, which would be similar to The Little Mermaid and Justice League.
The problem is the industry is comparing Era Tour with films like Barbie or Justin Bieber’s Never Say Never but there are no comparisons for the Era Tour.
As a 2023 Morning Consult survey said 53% of US adults are Swift fans, 44% identified as Swifties and 16% as her “avid” fans, the film should attract Swifties about 104m+ of the 520m Swift fans worldwide. As 20% of Swifties are from the US and these adult Swifties will pay at least $19.89 should be looking at a $300m+ opening, $1bn+ US BO and $3bn+ worldwide.
It’s then surprising presales are only $100m worldwide, it will be interesting to see the split over days sold as the majority of presales look like they are for Friday and Sat/Sun look much softer. Being fans they would have rushed out to buy tickets as soon as they went on sale and would all be desperate to see it on Friday night.
Era Tour Film’s biggest foe is itself as there hasn’t been anything like it in cinema history as it’s Avengers, Star Wars and Avatar combined. Saw that with first-day presales but the problem is those record-breaking numbers didn’t continue after the first day, as after taking $37m after 24 hours $65m after 14 days and then $100m globally, with a massive number of Swifties presales should be $1bn+. You also see by looking at individual cinemas with Friday hugely popular but then Sat and Sun soft. Internationally it should be far more popular than the US as Era Tour hasn’t gone internationally yet, surely the 80m+ Swifties would be eager to see it multiple times before seeing it live in a few months, but only need to look at One Direction This Is Us 10 years ago.
For all the hype concert films received Justin Bieber’s Never Say Never, Glee The 3D Concert Movie and Katy Perry’s Part of Me none were able to turn the hype into box office success over an extended period as they were fan-led rushing out to see them over opening weekend.
Opened $30.7m from 94 territories; played in over 8,500 screens worldwide and $123.5m worldwide.
- The Exorcist: Believer – Universal Pictures
Dropped 59% in the second weekend #2 $10.97m and $44.9m
Second weekend similar to recent horrors Evil Dead Rises dropped 50.5% by $12.13m and $44.34m and $67.19m; The Black Phone dropped 48.2% $12.24m and $47.4m of $89.86m; The Nun 2 dropped 55.4% $14.53m and $56.32m of $83.74m
2,046th biggest between All Eyez on Me and Cop Land; 3,322nd biggest inflated between The Quick and the Dead and Marmaduke; 37th biggest 2023 between Talk To Me and Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story; 131st biggest horror between 28 Days Latet and A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors; 276th biggest Universal Pictures between First Man and Timecop.
Over the last 50 years have been many more exorcism films that have had mixed success at the box office including 2005’s The Exorcism of Emily Rose 50.6% $14.85m #2 and $51.56m of $75.07m and $145.16m worldwide and 2010’s The Last Exorcism dropped 64% $7.34m #4 and $32.11m of $41.03m and $69.43m worldwide.
These have lessened the scariness of The Exorcist which saw audiences faint and run out of cinemas when it was originally released 50 years ago as audiences had never seen anything like it. Comparisons could be made with The Blair Witch Project in 1999 as when it opened many believed it was real.
While The Exorcist: Believer budget was $30m it cost Universal Pictures $400m in 2021 to acquire world rights for The Exorcist trilogy.
Blumhouse Productions recently rebooted the Halloween film series.
2018’s Halloween dropped 58.8% $31.41m #1 and $125.07m of $159.34m (61.3%) and $259.93m worldwide
2021’s Halloween Kills dropped 70.8% $14.45m #2 and $73.05m of $92m (69%) and $133.42m worldwide
2022’s Halloween Ends dropped 80% $8m #4 and $54.17m of $64.07m (61.4%) and $104.36m worldwide
Blumhouse Productions has taken $3bn in the US and $5.62bn worldwide.
Took $15.9m from 78 territories and $40m and $85m worldwide; $4m from IMAX worldwide; Mexico $6.8m; UK $4.2m; Spain $2.5m; Italy $2.4m; Germany $1.9m.
- Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie – Paramount Pictures
Dropped 39% in the third weekend, taking $6.88m #3 and $49.77m.
2021’s PAW Patrol: The Movie dropped 39.8% $4m #5 and $30.32m of $40.12m and $144.32m WW; a third film is due in 2026.
187th biggest animated film between Home on the Range and Oliver & Company; 1.863rd biggest between Major League and Racing Stripes; 3,105th biggest inflated between Kuffs and Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen; 35th biggest 2023 between No Hard Feelings and Talk To Me; 246th biggest Paramount Pictures between Major League and Planes, Trains & Automobiles.
Recent September animation third weekends
2019’s Abominable dropped 49.1% $6.07m and $47.87m of $60.71m
2018’s Smallfoot dropped 37% $9.06m and $42.26m of $83.24m
2016’s Storks dropped 36.8% $13.47m and $57.37m of $72.67m
2015’s Hotel Transylvania 2 dropped 38.5% $20.42m and $116.94m of $169.7m
2013’s Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 dropped 34.3% $13.77m and $77.61m of $119.79m
2012’s Hotel Transylvania dropped 36.3% $17.24m and $102.13m of $148.31m
Took $24.5m from 67 territories and $76.5m and $126.4m worldwide; China $14.9m; Germany $6.9m; Mexico $5.7m; Australia $4.6m; France $4.5m; UK $4.2m; Spain $1.9m.
- Saw X – Lionsgate
Dropped 28% in the third weekend taking $5.67m #4 and $41.4m
2,213th biggest between Pale Rider and Peggy Sue Got Married; 3,479th biggest inflated between Alpha and Extreme Measures; 40th biggest 2023 between The Boogeyman and 80 for Brady; 147th biggest horror between The Hills Have Eyes and The Last Exorcism; 79th biggest Lionsgate film between Meet the Browns and What to Expect When You’re Expecting.
The original Saw film was due to go straight to DVD in 2004 before receiving two positive test screenings, Saw X was a return to the roots for Saw set between the first two films.
Lionsgate made a parody of AMC’s Nicole Kidman cinema advert.
Saw franchise has taken $520m+ in the US and almost $1.1bn WW.
Third weekends
2004’s Saw dropped 42% $6.43m #8 and $45.75m of $55.96m and $103.9m WW
2005’s Saw II dropped 45.9% $9.12m #6 and $73.87m of $87.03m and $152.92m WW
2006’s Saw III dropped 52.8% $6.98m #5 and $70.26m of $80.23m and $135.75m
2007’s Saw IV dropped 52.2% $4.94m #6 and $58.02m of $63.3m and $135.75m
2008’s Saw V dropped 58.3% $4.06m #7 and $51.18m of $56.74m and $118.2m
2009’s Saw VI dropped 61.4% $2.03m #11 and $26.25m of $27.69m and $69.75m
20010’s Saw 3D dropped 63% $2.86m #8 and $45.58m of $45.71m and $133.73m WW
2017’s Jigsaw dropped 47.8% $3.42m #5 and $34.35m of $38.05m and $39.51m WW
2021’s Spiral dropped 51.8% $2.21m #4 and $19.72m of $23.21m and $39.51m WW
Took $3.5m from 56 territories $29.9m and $71.3m worldwide.
- The Creator – 20th Century Studios
Dropped 31% in the third weekend taking $4.33m #5 and $32.43m.
2,763rd biggest between Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones and The Men Who Stare at Goats; 3,992nd biggest inflated between The Spy Next Door and Fighting; 45th biggest 2023 between Missing and Plane; 280th biggest sci-fi between Blade Runner and Side Effects.
Sci-Fi Third weekends
2019’s Ad Astra dropped 58.1% $4.19m and $43.29m of $50.18m and $127.46m WW.
Neill Blomkamp’s District 9 dropped 43.6% $10.27m and $90.38m of $115.64m and $210.88m WW
2013’s Elysium dropped 49.4% $6.92m and $68.88m of $93.05m and $286.14m WW.
2015’s Chappie dropped 53.3% $2.66m and $28.31m of $31.56m and $102.81m WW
2016’s Arrival dropped 5.6% $11.45m and $62.56m of $100.54m and $203.38m WW
1997’s Contact dropped 39.8% $9.7m and $64.97m of $100.92m and $171.12m WW
2015’s Ex Machina up 55.5% (expansion) $3.47m and $15.72m of $25.44m and $36.86m
2019’s Alita: Battle Angel dropped 41.5% $7.22m and $72.45m of $85.83m and $404.98m
2004’s I, Robot dropped 52.3% $10.35m and $115.03m of $144.8m and $353.13m WW
2002’s Minority Report dropped 41.8% $12.55m and $97.11m of $132.07m and $358.37m WW
2001’s A.I. Artificial Intelligence dropped 62.9% $5.21m and $70.09m of $78.61m and $235.92m WW
2022’s M3gan dropped 47% $9.7m and $73.19m of $95.04m and $179.96m WW
Other Gareth Edwards films
2010’s Monsters up 70.3% $48,680 added 12 screens and $122,919 of $237,301
2014’s Godzilla dropped 61.2% $12m and $174.43m of $200.67m and $524.97m WW
2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story dropped 22.5% $49.6m and $424.98m of $533.53m and $1.058bn WW.
Took $5.9m from 50 territories $46.7m and $79.1m worldwide.
UK Box Office Top 10
UK Box Office Preview
After opening with £5.72m last week Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour has two films that could open ahead of it in its second weekend as it will likely drop 50%.
Trolls Back Together could open similarly to the original film less its previews £3m+ (opened with £5.44m with weekend previews). The sequel might have gone straight to VOD in April 2020 due to lockdown it still managed to find an audience in cinemas months later when cinemas reopened taking £1m.
The original film opened ahead of the October half-term in 2016 and took £23.5m buzz has been positive with the third film and will perform strongly over the next few weeks as it plays older to the under 5’s Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie and younger than Eras Tour.
Martin Scorsese’s Killers Of The Flower Moon had been generating strong buzz since the Cannes Film Festival premiere and despite Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and the rest of the cast not being able to promote the film due to the SAG strike would have done interviews for it at Cannes.
The film has received widespread critical acclaim and should open similar to 2003’s Gangs Of New York £2,622,748; 2006’s The Departed £2,298,313 and 2010’s Shutter Island £2,250,178.
The film has a 3hr 26min running time and some cinemas have selective shows with an interval, always felt an interval would be a great addition to cinema and not just for long films as audiences get restless and get up for toilet breaks ruining the cinema experience for those around them. While for the cinema it allows them to sell for concessions.
Would expect Trolls Back Together #1; Killers Of The Flower Moon #2 and Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour #3
With Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie and Leo battling it out for fourth and fifth. As Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie opening was inflated by £2m from previews it will likely drop about 70%-75% taking about £1m while advance sales for Bollywood’s Leo have been strong over the last three weeks and could open similar to Jawan £1,346,689.
This will surely see other holdovers including The Exorcist: Believer, Sumotherhood and The Creator all drop 50%.
- Opening in three weeks
- The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes – Lionsgate
Prequel to 2012’s The Hunger Games and the fifth instalment of the film series starring Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Peter Dinklage, Hunter Schafer, Josh Andrés Rivera, Jason Schwartzman, and Viola Davis and directed by Francis Lawrence. Based on the 2020 novel of the same name by Suzanne Collins.
The four Hunger Games films took $1.45bn in the US. £120m in the UK and almost $3bn worldwide
The Hunger Games opened £4,900,177; Catching Fire opened £12,189,733; Mockingjay Part 1 opened £12,654,109 and Mockingjay Part 2 opened £11,255,566.
As with previous prequels to Harry Potter (Fantastic Beasts), Lord of the Rings (The Hobbit) Star Wars: A New Hope (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Solo: A Star Wars Story) The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes is unlikely to perform similar to the later instalments of The Hunger Games but rather the first films as it 11 years since the last film was released.
The Hunger Games’ success came from the huge popularity of the books but also the huge popularity of Jennifer Lawrence, it is different with Rachel Zegler as she has generated a lot of negative media coverage shooting the Disney reimagination of Snow White.
With the actors strike it is again likely that director Francis Lawrence will be the only one promoting the film on November 13th at the world premiere
- Saltburn – Warner Bros
Psychological thriller starring Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Alison Oliver, and Archie Madekwe and written and directed by Emerald Fennell.
It had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival and European premiere at the London Film Festival receiving positive reviews (83% Rotten Tomatoes).
It’s the second film directed by Emerald Fennell after Oscar-nominated Promising Young Woman (winning Best British Film BAFTA and Best Screenplay) which never had a UK theatrical release due to COVID lockdown and was acquired by Sky Cinema in the UK.
Critics have described the film as a knockoff of Talent Mr Ripley and has similarities with Cruel Intentions and Six Degrees of Separation.
- Thanksgiving – Sony Pictures
Slasher horror starring Patrick Dempsey, Addison Rae, Milo Manheim, Jalen Thomas Brooks, Nell Verlaque, Rick Hoffman, and Gina Gershon and directed by Eli Roth, it is based on Eli Roth’s mock trailer from 2007’s Grindhouse (2007). Eli Roth started developing the film in 2010.