- No Time To Die – £15,235,947 – £52,694,547
Down 41.2% in its second weekend (28% without previews) with IMAX dropping 25% from last weekend from 50 screens (will lose most of those in two weeks when Dune opens).
2nd biggest second weekend between Skyfall (£16,107,687) and Avengers: Endgame (£14,331,192) and 2nd biggest inflation inflated the second weekend between Skyfall and Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
33rd biggest film in the UK between Frozen 2 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (41st film to take over £50m since The Full Monty in 1997) and 66th biggest inflation inflated film in the UK between The Matrix Reloaded and Despicable Me 2.
4th biggest Universal Pictures film in the UK between Jurassic World and Bridget Jones’s Baby
Gower Street Analytics predicted No Time To Die will take 12.8% of the total box office for 2021 with one in eight cinema tickets in 2021 is for the film.
Took £37.45m in its first 8 days on release and £32.57m from opening week Fri-Thurs
James Bond second weekend drops
2002’s Die Another Day dropped 41% (down 22% without previews) taking £5,364,433
2006’s Casino Royale dropped 36% (25% without previews) taking £8,546,238
2008’s Quantum of Solace dropped 40%; (no previews) taking £9,221,744
2012’s Skyfall dropped 20% (no previews) taking £16,107,687
2015’s Spectre dropped 68% (34% not including previews) taking £13,145,138
2021’s No Time To Die 41.2% (28% not including previews taking £15,235,947
Top 10 Biggest Second Weekends
Skyfall £16,107,687 taking 51.98% of £102,816,893
No Time To Die £15,235,947
Avengers: Endgame £14,331,192 taking 77.82% of £88,692,771
Spectre £13,145,138 taking 67.21% of £95,183,468
Beauty and the Beast £12,334,338 taking 55.07% of £72,430,579
Jurassic World £11,133,912 taking 60.50% of £63,674,773
The Lion King £10,660,287 taking 48.53% of £76,013,812
Star Wars: The Force Awakens £10,164,805 taking 53.59% of £123,000,894
Star Wars: The Last Jedi £10,158,640 taking 61.27% of £82,676,198
Avengers: Infinity War £10,143,580 taking 69.37% of £70,804,892
Joker £9,766,608 taking 51.96% of £57,800,000
On Monday Universal Pictures UK became the first distributor in the UK to top £100m since December 2019; Disney will join them in the £100 club in November but Sony and Warner Bros will likely fall short.
IMAX took about 10% of its second weekend from 50 cinemas, 34 IMAX cinemas have opened in the UK since 2011, most of these were converted from normal screens in cinemas installing Digital IMAX or what many call Fake IMAX as the screen size is far smaller than it is in a purpose-built IMAX cinema despite that the prices are similar to regular IMAX. Much was made about No time To Die being shot on IMAX film but all IMAX screens showed the film in IMAX Digital.
When UK cinemas reopened for the first time in July 2020 the UK government dropped VAT from 20% to 5% for the hospitality sector until 30th September 2021 and then 12.5% from October to March 2022. While the majority of the hospitality sector passed on the reduction to their customers few cinema chains did, their reasoning at the time that like it as only a few pennies, while it might be true at the Peckham Picturehouse when tickets are £4.99 its 75p, but at the Odeon Leicester Square £27.50 tickets it was £4.12 per ticket and since October 1st £2.06. By not passing on the reduction it has added about £5m to No Time To Die UK box office and about £40m to the box office of the year so far.
The Telegraph had an article on Monday saying No time To Die may have helped cause an increase in COVID cases. It was seen by clickbait by the industry but when there were 551 cases linked to the TRNSMT music festival held in Glasgow last month despite all attendees needing to have COVID test before then surely there must have been people who went to see No Time To Die over the last 11 days that must have had COVID.
Long before COVID cinemas have had hygiene issues with cross-contamination by selfish cinemagoers who don’t wash their hands after going to the toilet (was a survey 70% of men don’t wash their hands after going into a public toilet) then as seen with that scene in Contagion they touch doors and concession stands and put their feet on seats in front of them. Exhibitors brought in safety measures when cinemas reopened in July 2020 but are they still doing them, these measures would have been done to the letter for trade events like CinemaCon in August, CineEurope last week and UKCA Conference next week at the O2 but are they still being done between every regular screening.
There were rumours in 2017 that Bond 25 would be a remake of 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and No Time To Die has a lot of similarities to the film but the only one I will mention is that the film ends with Louis Armstrong, We Have All the Time in the World.
While OHMSS was one of the biggest films of 1969 it took half of You Only Live Twice starring Sean Connery who quit Bond after the film after five James Bond films (similar to Daniel Craig) after being dissatisfied with the character development, failing out with Bond producers Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman and his pay ($750,000 plus 25% of merchandising profits, in comparison Daniel Craig got $25m for No Time To Die). Producers refused to pay Sean Connery more and recast James Bond with George Lazenby but left after the one film and Sean Connery returned paid $1.25m for Diamonds Are Forever.
Despite OHMSS being the lowest-grossing James Bond film, it is the favourite for many including Christopher Nolan as it mixed action with romance with James Bond fall in love and get married to Diana Rigg’s Tracy (spoiler) dying soon after they get married and we got to see that happen again in Casino Royale with Eva Green’s Vesper Lynd in Daniel Craig’s first James Bond film. Nolan compared Inception to OHMSS in an interview with Empire Magazine in 2010 saying “I think, ‘Her Majesty’ Secret Service’ would be my favourite Bond. It’s a hell of a movie, it holds up very well. What I liked about it that we’ve tried to emulate in this film is there’s a tremendous balance of action, scale, and romanticism and tragedy and emotion. Of all the Bond films, it’s by far the most emotional. There’s a love story and Inception is kind of a love story as well as anything else. I’m going soft in my old age.”
Christopher Nolan said at the time “… This is absolutely my Bond film,” … “I’ve been plundering ruthlessly from the Bond movies in everything I’ve done, forever. They’re a huge influence on me.” That is surprising as many saw Tenet as his Bond film as before announcing the project he was rumoured to be in the running to direct Bond 25 with Tom Hardy as James Bond, but this all changed when it was announced Daniel Craig was staying on for a final Bond film with Danny Boyle attached to direct.
It was always a surprise Danny Boyle signed to direct Bond 25 as he previously turned down directing Alien Resurrection in 1997 instead made A Life Less Ordinary for the same studio (a few years later directed The Beach and 28 Days Later also for Fox) and after directing the most watch James Bond ever as part of the London Olympics Opening Ceremony and was no way he could ever top that.
The Olympics opening ceremony was watched by 27m on BBC1 with over 900m worldwide watching, while 3m saw No Time To Die in cinemas in its opening weekend and another 2m in its second weekend, this is about as many people watched Ridley Road on Sunday. Out of a UK population of 68.3m, about 10% have seen No Time To Die, exhibitors talk about the second golden age of cinema, the first golden age in the 30s to 50s had 30m trips to the cinema every week now it’s about a quarter of this.
While Danny Boyle likes to collaborate with the same writers while James Bond film has its own team of writers and producers pulling the strings so wouldn’t have the same creative control.
While the daily box office for the first four days was released for No Time To Die no further daily box office has been released, why is the US daily box office widely available freely online but there is still so much secrecy with UK data. This is the same about the availability of historical box office data, the BFI public weekend box office figures every Wednesday and goes back to July 2001 but it’s impossible to get exact data before that freely online for the UK but go on websites like BoxofficeMojo and TheNumbers can get similar US data going back to the 80s and earlier. Screen International print edition used to publish UK weekend box office data and London West End cinema weekend box office and did have them going back to the mid-80s but stupidly kept my Empire Magazines from 1989 over them when I moved. But if data is published why isn’t it available to search online freely as US data is.
It would be a wonderful way to make real comparisons with film performance now compared with then, but of course in the 80s and 90s films would open a quarter of what they do now and they would play wide in cinemas for many months. Films playing out their theatrical was a rarity over the last 20 years with only The Greatest Showman still performing well in cinemas in its 17th week of release, now with theatrical window halved have Free Guy still in cinemas and on DVD this week. In the 80s and 90s, the gap between theatrical and video was 9 months but still, many films played out that window.
It used to be success breeds success in 2015 with Universal Pictures having success from a mix of different genres Fifty Shades of Grey, Furious 7, Pitch Perfect 2, Jurassic World, Minions and Straight Outta Compton. But over the years since they have been much more limited to comic-book movies and reimaginations of hits of the past. But since reopening success breeds success from similar genres so it was predictable that Shang-Chi would open similar to Black Widow and that same audience will see Venom Let There Be Carnage in two weeks and then Eternals and Spider-Man: No Way Home. The question is what the next films will be those who saw No Time To Die over the weekend who haven’t been to the cinema since January 2020 with 1917.
James Bond film stands above any other film franchise or series in the UK their success in the UK for almost 60 years is incomparable to any other with only Star Wars: The Force Awakens taking more than Skyfall and Spectre. There is no other film series that galvanizes the UK media as James Bond, while MCU, Star Wars and Harry Potter have been successful at the box office none of those films receives the media coverage a James Bond film does. Pictures of the premiere are in every newspaper, there are discussions on the radio and TV about it, BBC Radio 5 spent an hour from 12am giving the first reviews, was a question about James Bond on Question Time and featured in the intro of Match of the Day amongst many other free advertising spots on all media platforms.
Showing how big James Bond is in the UK from the box office data I have available of 20 of the 25 films they have taken over £525m adding rough estimates of the missing box office that’s over £500m but as 19 of them were released over 20 years ago their inflation inflated totals would be over £1.5bn which is about twice as much as MCU films have taken at the UK box office since 2008.
Only need to see the inflation inflated box office of many of the earlier James Bond films to see how popular the James Bond film series was.
1964’s Goldfinger £98,956,471
1965’s Thunderball £101,423,810
1967’s You Only Live Twice £59,400,909
1973’s Live and Let Die £65,315,814
1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me £90,602,195
1979’s Moonraker £68,104,407
1981’s For Your Eyes Only £43,687,898
Goldfinger, Thunderball and The Spy Who Loved Me took as much as Skyfall and Spectre, probably a lot more as used industry average but Skyfall and Spectre had many IMAX and PLF screens with tickets more than three times the industry average.
When Digital Cinema first arrived it was sold as giving all cinemagoers the same high-quality cinema experience but there is now a great divide between the majority of cinemas that are still 2K and won’t upgrade and the few are 4K, Dolby Cinema and Laser similar to how it was with film with Leicester Square cinemas Vs UK. The only difference now is there is a handful of cinemas across the UK with this technology.
While all they had to do was reopen cinemas and people will rush back to the cinema despite their own research saying that older audiences would take a long time to feel comfortable to return to cinemas as many people who went to see No Time To Die haven’t been to the cinema since January 2020. Had confidence returned sooner No Time To Die could have opened with £35m+ with Venom Let There Be Carnage opening in the US with $130m as Black Widow, Shang-Chi and F9 should have done while Jungle Cruise and Free Guy opening with $60m+. There will be a lot of backslapping in CineEurope this week after the openings of both films but had the industry produce a plan and strategy for reopening cinemas then this could have happened many months ago. We will only see if “cinema is back” if the 2m who came back to see No Time To Die see other films this year.
The last 5 Bond films didn’t have any direct competition opening in the weeks leading up to release and the weeks afterwards as the films around them were targeting families and children. The biggest film that opened before any of them was Harry Potter Chamber Of Secrets the weekend before Die Another Day. The difference for No Time To Die is it has Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Halloween Kills and The Long Duel opening after two weeks after and Dune three weeks after.
The big question is how will they affect No Time To Die’s legs as it’s unlikely to open similar to either Skyfall or Spectre, so will No Timer To Die open lower than recent Bond’s and not hold as strongly?
Die Another Day opened on 430 screens on November 20th, 2002
£9,122,344 (including £2,237,249 from 2 days of previews); Harry Potter Chamber Of Secrets #2 £7,313,056 2nd weekend
2nd weekend £5,364,433 down 41% (down 22% without previews) with Harry Potter Chamber Of Secrets #2 £4,654,618 3rd weekend
3rd weekend £3,426,623 down 36%; Harry Potter Chamber Of Secrets #2 £2,678,629 4th weekend
4th weekend £2,220,351 down 35%; Harry Potter Chamber Of Secrets #2 £1,802,435 5th weekend
Dropped down to third in its 5th weekend with Lord of the Rings: Two Towers opened #1 £13,063,560; Harry Potter Chamber Of Secrets #2 £1,164,992 6th weekend (weekend before Christmas)
Stayed in the top 5 for 8 weeks and top 10 for 9 weeks
Casino Royale opened in 505 cinemas (988 screens) on 19th November 2006
£13,370,969 including £1,949,270 from previews; Borat #2 with £2,531,264 3rd weekend
At the time it was the third biggest opening in the UK after Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
2nd weekend £8,546,238 dropped 36% (25% without previews); Borat #2 £1,470,923 4th weekend
3rd-weekend £5,307,969 dropped 36%; #2 Flushed Away opened with £3,106,874
Dropped down to #3 in its fourth weekend taking £2,741,362; Happy Feet opened #1 £3,689,166; #2 The Holiday £2,826,520
Stayed in the top 5 for 8 weeks and top 10 for 12 weeks
Quantum of Solace opened on 540 screens on 31st October 2008
£15,384,217 (no previews); #2 High School Musical 3 £2,742,682 2nd weekend
2nd-weekend £9,221,744 dropped 40%; #2 High School Musical 3 £1,518,469 3rd weekend
3rd weekend £5,164,182 dropped 44%; #2 Max Payne opened £1,004,995
4th-weekend £2,884,789 dropped 44%; #2 Body of Lies opened £991,979
Dropped down to #2 in its fifth weekend taking £1,453,184; Four Christmases opened £2,275,585
Stayed in the top 5 for 6 weeks and top 10 for 8 weeks
Skyfall opened on 587 screens on 26th October 2012
£20,180,369 (no previews) #2 Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted £2,803,874 2nd weekend
2nd-weekend £16,107,687 dropped 20% 593 screens; #2 Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted £2,863,112 3rd weekend
3rd-weekend £10,447,385 dropped 35%; #2 Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted £1,357,193 4th weekend
Dropped to #2 in its 4th weekend taking £5,566,537; The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 opened #1 £15,850,825
Held #2 5th weekend taking £3,809,893; The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 #1 £5,344,508
Returned #1 6th weekend taking £2,275,469; The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 #2 £2,180,909 3rd weekend
Dropped to #2 7th weekend taking £1,428,708 (513 screens); #1 Rise of the Guardians #1 £1,602,689
Dropped to 4th 8th weekend taking £809,406 (434 screens); #1 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey £11,601,538.
Stayed in the top 5 for 8 weeks and top 10 for 11 weeks
Spectre opened in 651 cinemas and on over 2,500 screens on October 26th, 2015
£41,299,090 (£21,321,626 from 4 days of previews); #2 Hotel Transylvania 2 £2,417,940 3rd weekend
2nd weekend £13,145,138 (660 screens) dropped 68% (34% not including previews); #2 Hotel Transylvania 2 £1,105,023 4th weekend
3rd weekend £7,833,891 (617 screens) dropped 40%; #2 The Lady in the Van opened £2,256,121
Dropped to #2 in its 4th weekend taking £3,821,156 (607 screens); #1 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2 £11,255,566
Stayed in the top 5 for 7 weeks and top 10 for 10 weeks
James Bond films normally hold very strongly but that’s partly to do with rival studios not opening anything targetting a similar demographic for over a month after. One of the terms of Christopher Nolan’s contract with Universal Pictures for his next film is that the studio can’t release a major film for several weeks after. What Christopher Nolan did not understand with this request is his films perform best when they are released close to other similar-sized films.
Have been so many articles saying No Time To Die will ‘save cinema’ which is complete nonsense but what it does show is predictable that cinemas reopened far too soon in July 2020 for Bond rip-off Tenet which was never going to be the ‘saviour of cinema’ either Christopher Nolan or exhibitors believed it was going to be. Not saying this in hindsight as all of Christopher Nolan’s biggest films have opened in the middle of other similar-sized films.
BBFC rating info for No Time To Die getting a 12A and know two things 1) only a film like Bond would get away with all of that in a 12A and 2) will be the most complained film of the year to BBFC as Spectre was in 2015. This is why there should also be a 12 certificate alongside the 12A, the 12 is now only for home entertainment.
Top 10 biggest week BO (including previews)
Star Wars: The Force Awakens £55,746,739
Avengers: Endgame £54,693,955
Spectre £50,828,129
Star Wars: The Last Jedi £40,495,157
Avengers: Infinity War £38,976,710
No Time To Die £37,458,600
Skyfall £37,332,998
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 £35,748,580
Toy Story 3 £31,676,030
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker £30,124,115
Top 10 Biggest week BO – not including previews (Fri-Thurs with preview BO not included)
Star Wars: The Force Awakens £46,066,993
Avengers: Endgame £42,793,955
Skyfall £37,332,998
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 £35,748,580
Star Wars: The Last Jedi £32,810,940
No Time To Die £32,571,596
Avengers: Infinity War £32,446,710
Spectre £29,506,503
Beauty and the Beast £27,550,237
The Lion King £26,228,802
James Higgins who worked at Eon Productions for over 30 years died on Tuesday aged 98 in the 70s worked at CIC that became UIP in the 80s. In a 2012 interview, he said he’d heard about “the end of cinema” numerous times throughout his career but suggested it was unlikely. “It always remains that people enjoy seeing a film in the company of an audience and the reaction that you get from an audience,” … “It’s a different sensation from just watching it on the television. That’s what keeps it going. And people want to go out.”
2. The Addams Family 2 – £2,009,784 – NE
791st biggest opening weekend between Run, Fat Boy, Run and Grown Ups (close to Early Man, The Hannah Montana Movie, The Boxtrolls and Puss in Boots) and 1,065th biggest inflation inflated opening between The Producers and State of Play (close to Fantastic Mr Fox, Shaun The Sheep Movie, Happy Feet 2 and Hotel Transylvania).
120th biggest animation opening in the UK between Early Man and The Boxtrolls (taking £107,956 less than The Addams Family.
In 2019 (The Addams Family and Abominable) Universal Pictures will be competing against itself with The Addams Family 2 and The Boss Baby 2 with children’s films. Ron’s Gone Wrong opens this weekend.
1991’s The Addams Family opened £1.2m (£2.86m inflation inflated) taking £10m total (£23.82m inflation inflated) and 1993’s sequel Addams Family Values opened £853,923 (£1.92m inflation inflated) taking £6.5m (£14.61m inflation inflated)
Often children’s films have previews the weekend before to inflate their openings but with No Time To Die opening the weekend before The Addams Family 2 didn’t which was similar to 2019’s The Addams Family as it was the third children’s film to open.
The Addams Family opened with £2,117,740 taking £4,744,561 over a half-term week taking £9,514,907.
Opened similar to Abominable opening two weeks earlier with £2,141,256 taking £8,341,976; while A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon opened the week after with £1,305,511 playing to a younger audience taking £7,081,393 half the original film took in 2015 (£13,675,389).
Children’s films have been the one genre that has performed strongly since cinemas reopened the first time in July 2020 and children’s films have had very long legs The Croods 2: A New Age and Space Jam: A New Legacy opened the same weekend with £696,563 and £1,363,556 but took 13.38x and 9.12x opening BO with £9.8m and £12.8m.
3. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings – £558,407 – £20,530,317
Down 28.3% in its sixth weekend; having the 10th biggest MCU sixth weekend between Thor: Ragnorok (£578,606) and Spider-Man Homecoming (£517,856) and 15th biggest MCU after 31 days between Doctor Strange (£22,681,456) and Iron Man 2 (£19,975,518)
Had 6th weekend similar to Free Guy (£676,999); Tenet (£628,247); Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith (£600,723); Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (£593,454); Gravity (£592,321); Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (£541,886); Avengers: Endgame (£480,372): The Martian I£437,450)
Shang-Chi overtook Peter Rabbit 2 to become the second-biggest film of the year after No Time To Die and Disney’s biggest film in the UK since Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
38th biggest comic-book movie in the UK between Iron Man 2 and Batman Forever (close to X-Men 2, Wonder Woman, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and X-Men: Apocalypse).
244th biggest film in the UK between Rise of the Planet of the Apes and The Sixth Sense (close to Hot Fuzz, The Lion King (1994), The Mummy Returns and Minority Report); 425th biggest inflation inflated film in the UK between Twins and Mr and Mrs Smith (close to Space Jam, Cliffhanger, The Others and Enemy of the State).
16th Biggest MCU film in the UK between Iron Man 2 (£20,923,193) and Thor: The Dark World (£19,711,938); Shang-Chi has taken £1,695,733 more than Black Widow (£18,834,584).
The 25 MCU films have taken almost £800m at the UK BO since May 2008 (almost £835m inflation inflated); 15 of the 25 have taken over £20m at the UK BO
With Eternals and Spider-Man: No Way Home still to open this year and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and The Marvels the film series will have taken over £1bn at the UK BO by the end of next year.
While films like Shang-Chi are being called hits you only need to see the films that performed similarly to it in the past that were seen as disappointments. People seem to see film box office very differently over the last few months maybe they have lowered expectations,. But the fanbase of these films and the target demographic are those who have been most comfortable going to the cinema before cinemas closed for the first time in March 2020 and while cinemas have reopened.
The industry seems to forget it’s the 25th part of the biggest franchise in the world and the majority of its audience would have still gone to see it if it opened last year. It does again show had the industry worked together last year with the reopening plan and not left it to Warner Bros to singlehandedly do it with Tenet it would be in a far stronger position now.
4. The Paw Patrol Movie – £125,902 – £8,313,013
Down 49.9% in its ninth weekend; with the arrival of The Addams Family 2, it was always expected that the other children’s films on releasing would drop heavily and lose screens. With The Croods down 78% £35,847, Space Jam: A New Legacy down 74% and Spirit Untamed 32% £28,458 all four of them will be shortly released on VOD.
129th biggest animation film between Pixels and Rugrats in Paris: The Movie (close to Bee Movie, Abominable, Captain Underpants and SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water).
761st biggest film in the UK between Waterworld and Fame (close to Home Alone, The Boxtrolls, Octopussy and Mousehunt) and 1,060th biggest inflation inflated film in the UK between RoboCop and RED (close to Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days, Goosebumps, Looney Tunes: Back in Action and The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie).
Ever since cinemas reopened the first time in July 2020 children’s films have been the one genre that has performed the strongest, Peter Rabbit 2 leads the way but as with No Time To Die for adults it was always going to be the saviour of cinema for younger children and in normal circumstances, the positive reviews and lack of competition would have helped it take similar BO to the original film.
At CineEurope last week there was a discussion about alternative content for cinemas and to bring more pre-school content to cinemas as I’ve said before preschool content including The Paw Patrol Movie, Peppa Pig and Hey Duggee is probably more important to cinema than No Time To Die as it’s all about getting the next generation excited about the cinema experience to switch off their tablets and go to the cinema. Their first time must be special, with these films often only an hour-long need to be priced accordingly. Vue Cinemas cut prices for Hey Duggee and Disney cut prices for Olaf’s Frozen Adventure to £1 and more than 1m saw it over opening weekend.
These films could also do with having an intermission as about 45 mins in younger children get restless so a break in the middle will help them see out the films. When I went with my niece and nephew for their first trip to the cinema it was for Peppa Pig: My First Cinema Experience in 2017, when they saw the screen they said it was a big TV and they enjoyed their first experience. The second and third times it was The Boss Baby and Captain Underpants they enjoyed the experience but halfway through got bored but now they sit and watch the whole films with adults around them interrupting their cinema experience.
Like Vivian’s first trip to the opera in Pretty Woman, if children enjoy their first trip to the cinema and parents don’t feel ripped off they will come back repeatedly, first off to see Paw Patrol Movie for half a dozen more times and then Ron’s Gone Wrong and The Boss Baby 2. Or else it will be back to the tablets and Netflix.
2020’s Paw Patrol: Ready, Race, Rescue took £1,772,296; 2019’s Paw Patrol: Mighty Pups took £1,265,526; 2017’s Paw Patrol: Mission Big Screen £42,460. The Paw Patrol Movie plays mostly to pre-schoolers similar to Rugrats in Paris: The Movie, SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water and Shaun the Sheep 2. While 2017’s Peppa Pig: My First Cinema Experience took £3,615,538
Likewise, as it’s all about getting the next generation excited about the cinema experience tickets should be cheaper, in November 2017 Disney played Olaf’s Frozen Adventure with Frozen and all cinemas were £1 took £1,115,689 from 611 screens.
5. The Many Saints Of Newark – £125,404 – £1,872,855
Down 47.1% in its third weekend
The film dropped 69.5% in the US in its second weekend taking $1.41m and $7.37m to date with its hybrid theatrical and HBO Max release being used as the reason for it underperforming despite receiving positive reviews and the popularity of The Sopranos when it was the first broadcast and during the pandemic.
But as the film also underperformed in the US opening with £945,319 including £329,213 from previews this is only an excuse, as the real reason is older audiences have been very slow to return to cinemas since they reopened. Even in normal circumstances, a film like The Many Saints Of Newark would struggle to find an audience and it would have been better of being a TV mini-series rather than a feature film. Were rumours of a possible follow-up film which would be for HBO Max rather than cinema.
The film has stayed longer in the top 5 in the UK due to a lack of new releases opening In the two weeks before No Time To Die opened, this is why the Aretha Franklin biopic Respect has also stayed in the top 10 for 5 weeks and Candyman 7 weeks. This will of course change this week with the four new releases Venom Let There Be Carnage, Halloween Kills, The Last Duel and Ron’s Gone Wrong joining No Time To Die in the top 5 this weekend and then Dune, The Boss Baby 2, The French Despatch and Dear Evan Hanson in the top 10 the following weekend.
Other Film News
On Tuesday, a report was published about how poor the UK government was in preparing for COVID and the UK cinema industry needs to accept that their handling of COVID should have been far better.
The UKCA have their conference next week at the O2 their last one was at the start of March 2020, this was 42 days after China had closed all their cinemas and COVID cases were spreading across Europe and there was panic buying of toilet paper and pasta in supermarkets. Despite this COVID wasn’t mentioned during the conference saying, “It’s definitely a developing picture, but we’re not seeing any discernible impact in terms of cinema admissions across the piece,” this was despite Pixar having their lower ever opening that weekend for Onward in the UK. Instead, the cinema was waiting on government guidance before doing anything, at that time the UK government were even more incompetent than they are now.
The UKCA should have used their conference to plan for the worst-case scenarios and then also plan how they would relaunch cinemas if the worst happened and cinemas had to close. The problem was 2020 started off so well with a strong January and February and as always they were more concerned about the short-term rather than the long-term picture. Not being Mr Hindsight as I said the same thing many times in early March 2020 as everyone could see what was happening and all exhibitors needed to do as the former Health Secretary did a few weeks later is watch Contagion to realise COVID was already global by then.
Cinemas needed to reopen with either a massive film like No Time to Die or a group of tentpoles opening back-to-back as seen in China for their New Year taking $1.2bn in a week. The problem was there was never any plan or strategy behind the reopening of cinemas in July 2020 it was just reopened and people will come despite most cinema schedules looking like they were frozen in time since lockdown. This all goes down to COVID being ignored at the UKCA conference in March 2020 42 days after Chinese cinemas closed. Instead, they waited on guidance from our incompetent government.
Showing the UKCA hasn’t learnt anything they have described their conference next week as a ‘celebration’ as well as a reflection of the ongoing recovery. There is nothing to be self-congratulatory about as the industries failure to prepare for COVID and their rush to reopen cinemas months too soon caused long-term damage to the cinema, while “everything might be awesome” at the moment with No Time To Die taking £52m after 11 days all the other films that opened between July 2020 and September 2021 all have taken far less than they would have done in normal circumstances.
On Tuesday Shang-Chi overtook Peter Rabbit 2 to become the second-biggest film of 2021 taking £20.5m overtaking Peter Rabbit 2 but being the 25th MCU it should have taken over £30m as should have Peter Rabbit 2.
In 2020 Tenet was the only film between July-December 2020 taking over £5m in comparison to 2019, had 15 films taking £20m+ and 6 took £50m+. It’s unlikely any other film released this year will take over £40m.
UK box office from May 17th to September 23rd was £246m four times the box office taken over the 6 months cinemas reopened last year showing there was no plan for cinema reopening exhibitors just believed if they open cinemas people will come even if the schedules looked exactly as they did the day cinemas closed in March when they reopened in July 2020. The industry had months to plan the first reopening and should have made every effort to impress to get people to feel comfortable returning to the cinema.
Over the months after cinemas closed in March 2020 there were lots of articles in the trade press on what the industry should do to get confidence back but as with CinemaCon, CineEurope and UKCA Conference it’s all talk no action. In Charles Gant’s Telegraph article last month ahead of the opening of No Time To Die exhibitors talked a lot about customer confidence but this should have been dealt with ahead of cinemas reopening in July 2020 as all the research ahead of cinemas reopening said while younger audiences under 30 were happy to return older audiences would be far slower to return with the majority only returning in the last two weeks. Cinema should be for the many, not the few but exhibitors were seemingly only interested in under 30s audience that is probably up to September 29th this year.
Exhibitors should have done far more than 15 months ago or not rushed to reopen, of course, the reason they reopened was a lot to do with Christopher Nolan’s Tenet which had been due to open in July but was delayed the week before cinemas reopened in July. So much of the blame has to go to Christopher Nolan’s delusions of grandeur believing he could be the saviour of cinema on his own. Amazingly, Universal Pictures have accepted all of his extravagant demands for his next film released in 2023 opening between Disney Untitled Reimagination and Untitled Disney Marvel.
Next Wednesday at the UKCA conference is the session ‘Returning audiences: Do actions speak louder than words’ by Movio/Cinema First, at these industry events is lots of talks but little action at CineEurope studios and exhibitors talked about working together in a post-pandemic world, but the problem is that it’s all talk no action with lots of backslapping and self-congratulation but nothing ever changes, exhibitors, talk of it being a partnership now in the good times with studios but were quick to ban Universal Pictures films in April 2020 and now toasting them with champagne after the box office of No Time To Die.
This is all talk needs to be active as had studios and exhibitors put squabbles aside back in March 2020 going on war footing working together then wouldn’t have taken this long and could be even better than now only need to see Battle at Lake Changjin taking $600m+ in 10 days in China. The failure of the West to do their homework in January 2020 after China closed their cinemas and realise COVID was going to be a global issue within weeks caused this to last for 19 months as had there been a plan beyond Tenet could be very different now.
Also at CineEurope exhibitors talked about premium holding the key to recovery from the pandemic, this of course makes sense to exhibitors as prices are more expensive, but this does make cinemagoers much more selective in the films they pay to see in cinemas and those they wait to see at home. Everyman and Picturehouse cinemas had their best weeks with the opening of No Time To Die as all their cinemas are premium and it took £1.73m from 50 IMAX screens (£34k screen average with; tickets about £20+), this pricing needs to be factored into the industry claimed average.
Attendees at CineEurope were issued wristbands when they arrived after showing proof of vaccination, these wristbands were also needed for entry to the trading floor and all screenings and events. Masks were mandatory in all indoor areas while all screenings still had one seat gaps between audience members, neither are still needed in UK cinemas.
It will be interesting to see if the same will be needed for the UKCA conference next week at the O2 as if they are it would be double standards as to why if these same exhibitors were against the UK government demanding them for hospitality sector why have them for the UKCA conference. Every time COVID passports have been suggested the UKCA have always said that there haven’t been any COVID cases traced back to cinemas so surely these cinema executives should have exactly the same cinema experience paying customers get in cinemas.
Proof of vaccination is required in many states across the US now and many countries across Europe but they don’t seem to have any negative effect on the box office and probably making many more feel comfortable to return to the cinema as the biggest issue I have going back to the cinema is other cinemagoers and would prefer to go to screenings that I know there will be only a few.
The Morning Consult weekly Tracking the Return to Normal survey reports the public’s comfort going to the movies increased only 1% to 48%. This is the 12th consecutive week US comfort with going to the movies has been below 50% after a July 4 high of 55%.
Biggest Films of 2021
The top 10 biggest films of 2021 are currently
No Time To Die £52.69m; Shang-Chi (£20.5m); Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway (£20.4m); Black Widow (£18.83m); Free Guy (£16.78m); F9 (£16.44m); The Suicide Squad (£14.2m); Space Jam 2 (£12.8m); Jungle Cruise (£12.55m); A Quiet Place 2 (£11.54m);
No Time To Die is the only film that is performing as it would in normal circumstances all others opened about a third less than they would but many have had much longer legs than they would normally do; Free Guy 6.79x; Jungle Cruise 5.6x; Space Jam: A New Legacy 9.46x; 14.3x The Croods: A New Age.
These strongholds compare to Tenet only taking 3.27x opening last year which was meant to have very long legs; while Black Widow was 2.68x, F9 2.74x compared to Shang-Chi 2.75x shows again piracy had nothing to do with the fast drop off of Black Widow it was just that the fanbase rushed out to see both over their opening weekends.
The following 10 biggest films from 11-20
The Croods 2 (£9.8m); Cruella £9.45m; The Conjuring 3 £9.36m; PAW Patrol: The Movie £7.86m; Candyman £4.73m; In The Heights £4.28m; The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard £3.84m v; The Forever Purge £3.6m; Spirit Untamed £3.38m; Old £3.36m;
Major UK Distributor 2021 BO over 139 days between May 17 to October 2nd £257m
Universal Pictures 28.7% £73.8m x12 films
Disney 26.8% £78.1m x 6 films
Warner 18.5% £47.56m x10 films
Sony Pictures 9.3% £23.53m x 7 films
Paramount 8% £20.75m x 3 films
Lionsgate 3.4% £7.5m x 3 films
Studiocanal 0.5% £1.42m x3 films
eOne £0.5% £1.2m x1 film
UK box office in detail
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £18,397,227 down 34.5% from last weekend £28,089,047 and up 1,208% from 2020 (£1,406,296)
The weekend admissions 2,587,771 down 34.5% 3,950,640 from last week; (306,628 admissions in 2020 this week was (up 735%);
Top 3 took £17,802,310 96.8% of the top 10; No Time To Die 82.8% (£15,235,947); The Addams Family 2 10.9% (£2,009,784); Shang-Chi 3% (£558,407);
Up 1,208% from 2020 (£1,406,296); Saint Maud (£263,433); Akira (Re: 2020) (£201,124); Kajillionaire (£44,275); Hocus Pocus (Re: 2020) (£20,491); #1 Tenet £296,049 7th week 53% drop 355 screens
Up 9.6% 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
Up 7.5% 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 52.1% 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)
Up 26.1% from 2016: (£14,587,631); The Girl on the Train (£6,957,945); War on Everyone (£187,564); Tristan und Isolde – Met Opera 2016 (£178,283); My Scientology Movie (£106,720); Blood Father (£68,808); #1 The Girl on the Train £6,957,945 1st week 612 screens (47.7% of the top 10)
Up 101.1% from 2015; (£9,148,818); Sicario (£1,596,734); The Walk (£795,115); Regression (£214,742); Giselle – Bolshoi 2015 (£128,875); #1 The Martian £3,854,809 2nd week 582 screens 41% drop (42.1% of top 10)
Up 66.2% from 2014: (£11,071,974); The Maze Runner (£2,041,229); Annabelle (£1,939,963); One Direction: Where We Are – The Concert Film (£1,021,527); The Rewrite (£324,889); Macbeth – Met Opera 2014 (£205,937); ’71 (£205,116); Effie Gray (£67,339); Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (£20,689); The Calling (£8,112); #1 Gone Girl £3,064,545 2nd week 563 screens 25% drop (33% drop (27.7% of top 10)
Up 210.6% from 2013: (£5,923,584); Sunshine on Leith (£770,239); How I Live Now (£232,400); Thanks for Sharing (£188,906); The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology (£38,432); The to do List (£13,512); #1 Prisoners £1,107,641 2nd week 437 screens 19% drop (18.7% of top 10)
Up 96.6% 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% of top 10)
Up 59.7% from 2011 (£11,517,788); Johnny English Reborn (£4,965,000); The Lion King 3D (£2,746,763); Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (£495,734); Midnight in Paris (£495,709); Tyrannosaur (£81,790); #1 Johnny English Reborn £4,965,000 1sr week 524 screens (43.1% of top 10)
Up 177.1% from 2010: (£6,639,950); Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (£1,784,309); Life As We Know It (£985,558); The Death and Life of Charlie St Cloud (£643,368); Mr Nice (£239,844); #1 Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps £1,784,309 1st week 444 screens (26.8% of top 10)
Up 56.6% from 2009; (£11,750,437); Up (£6,411,836); Zombieland (£1,240,984); Love Happens (£559,724); Halloween II (£522,661); #1 Up £6,411,836 1st week 511 screens (54.5% of top 10)
Up 231.9% from 2008; (£5,542,578); The House Bunny (£894,188); Mirrors (£834,092); City of Ember (£496,909); Nights in Rodanthe (£193,318); Gomorrah (£171,348); The Mutant Chronicles (£74,788); #1 The House Bunny £894,188 1st week 346 screens (16.1% of top 10)
Up 115.2% 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 80.1% from 2006; (£10,215,688); The Devil Wears Prada (£3,267,580); The Departed (£2,298,313); Accepted (£349,897); #1 The Devil Wears Prada £3,267,580 1st week 447 screens (31.9% of top 10)
Up 245% from 2005 (£5,332,334); Serenity (£958,816); Oliver Twist (£692,494); Kinky Boots (£623,163); Night Watch (£271,857); Tara Road (£73,150); #1 Serenity £958,816 1st week 355 screens (18% of top 10)
Up 162.2% from 2004 (£7,015,008); Bride and Prejudice (£1,667,616); Resident Evil: Apocalypse (£801,171); Man On Fire (£656,466); #1 Bride and Prejudice £1,667,616 1st week 376 screens (23.7% of top 10)
Up 43.1% from 2003 (£12,858,833); Cabin Fever (£1,056,338); Kill Bill (£162,857) (platform) (£152,793); #1 Finding Nemo £7,381,962 2nd week 1sr #1 453 screens (57.4% of top 10)
Up 98.7% 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 236.6% from 2001 (£5,465,628); Amelie (£559,747); Driven (£144,591); Original Sin (£96,622); #1 Moulin Rouge £1,072,657 5th week #1 3rd week 397 screens 20% drop (19.6% of top 10);
Next weekend in 2019 (£14,701,610); Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil (£3,300,000); A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (£1,305,511); Zombieland: Double Tap (£1,242,352); Official Secrets (£537,990); The Shining (Re: 2019) (£18,191); #1 Joker £5,489,716 682 screens 44% drop 3rd week
US Box Office
- No Time To Die – Universal Pictures
Opened with $55.22m; received positive reviews (84% Rotten Tomatoes compared to Casino Royale 94%; Skyfall 92%; Quantum of Solace 64% and Spectre 63%) and A- CinemaScore (same as Spectre, Casino Royale and Die Another Day while Quantum of Solace received B- and Skyfall A
206th biggest opening in the US between The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water and Watchmen (#347 Casino Royale $40.83m; #278 Die Another Day $47.07m; #144 Quantum of Solace $67.52m; #125 Spectre $70.4m; #82 Skyfall $88.36m;
(#382 Kingsman: The Golden Circle $39.02m; #269 Mission: Impossible III $47.74m; #233 The Bourne Supremacy $52.52m; #203 Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation $55.52m; #187 Mission: Impossible II $57.84m; #182 Jason Bourne $59.21m; #170 Mission: Impossible – Fallout $61.23m)
As Venom Let There Be Carnage last week took 13% from 405 IMAX cinemas in the US $7.3m
Took $6.3m from Thursday previews 19%+ than Spectre ($5.25m); 37%+ Skyfall ($4.6m) and 152%+ Quantum of Solace ($2.5m) but 45.7% less than Shang-Chi ($11.6m) and 52.3% less than Black Widow ($13.2m); included within Thursday previews were IMAX previews on Wednesday taking $1.1m.
Taking $23.3m on Friday including $6.3m previews; Spectre took $27.43m; Skyfall $30.5m; Quantum of Solace $27m; Casino Royale $14.74m; Die Another Day $16.61m
Took $18.15m Saturday and $13.76m Sunday
Ahead of opening it was expected to open with about $90m with some analysts after its international opening said it could open with $100m+ but that was never likely to happen for multiple reasons; 1) it was the first James Bond film to open against direct competition since 1999; 2) James Bond films are far more popular internationally and the critical reaction is Fr more mixed in the US; 3) the opening weekend after Venom 2; 4) older audiences are much slower to return to US cinemas than international which will also impact both The Last Duel and Dune over the next two weeks.
Many have said after the openings of both No Time To Die and Venom Let There Be Carnage box office is getting back to pre-pandemic levels. But only need to see China’s The Battle at Lake Changjin taking $600m+ over 10 days to see how far from normal Western BO is still as those that have been to the cinema need to see other films alongside comic-book movies and James Bond which are always sure things to find cinemagoers. In normal circumstances, F9, Black Widow, Shang-Chi, Venom Let There Be Carnage would have opened with $140m+ and No Time To Die $100m+.
Variety reported that No Time To Die needs to take over $900m worldwide to make a profit but that’s no different than any of these other films that need to take two thirds more than their budget. No Time To Die budget was reported $250m+, with marketing $200m+ including the marketing costs from the first postponed release in April 2020 along with interest of about $1m every month it was delayed. F9, Black Widow, Shang-Chi and Venom Let There Be Carnage all have similar high budgets of over $200m with similar marketing costs.
James Bond films normally have long legs but that’s because they haven’t had direct competition opening against them since 1999; Casino Royale took over 4x opening, Skyfall 3.4x and Spectre almost 3x while Spectre dropped -52% and Skyfall -53% in their second weekends, but No Time To Die will likely drop much bigger and also lose #1 after only one weekend with Halloween Kills opening Friday along with The Last Duel with Due opening the following weekend.
This was why it always made more sense to move No Time To Die to Thanksgiving when Paramount delayed Top Gun: Maverick to Memorial Day 2022. Instead, Sony moved Ghostbusters: Afterlife to Thanksgiving as they doubled up on their vengeance over MGM in losing Bond rights after previously moving Venom: Let There Be Carnage to the weekend before No Time To Die.
Since Die Another Day in 2002 James Bond films hasn’t had any direct competition opening the week before and opening against it and the following weekend as they are normally family films.
1989’s Licence to Kill opened #4 $8.77m with Lethal Weapon 2 (second weekend) $17.18m and Batman and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (fourth weekend) #2 and #3 with $15.11m and $8.8m; down 41.9% #5 with Lethal Weapon 2 #1 $13.02m, Batman #2 $11.16m, When Harry Met Sally #3 $8.84m, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids #4 $6.43m; took $34.66m in the US, $121.5m internationally, $156.16m worldwide
1995’s Goldeneye opened #1 $26.2m with Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls #2 $19.51m and The American President and It Takes Two opening #3 and #4 with $10.1m and $5.56m; down 30.9% second-weekend #2 $18.11m with Toy Story #1 $29.14m, Money Train and Casino opening #4 and #5 with $10.6m and $9.94m; took $106.42m in the US, $245.76m internationally, $352.19m worldwide
1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies opened #2 $25.14m with Titanic opening #1 $28.63m; down 18.5% second weekend #2 $20.48m with Titanic #1 $35.45m and Jackie Brown #5 $9.29m; took $125.3m in the US, $207.7m internationally, $333.01m worldwide
1999’s The World Is Not Enough opened #1 $35.51m with Sleepy Hollow opening #2 $30.06m; second-weekend #2 down 34.6% taking $23.23m with Toy Story 2 #1 $57.38m and End of Days #3 $20.52m; took $126.94m in the US, $234.88m internationally $361.83m worldwide
2002’s Die Another Day opened #1 $47.07m with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets #2 taking $42.22m; second-weekend #2 down 34.1% taking $31.01m with Treasure Planet, Eight Crazy Nights and Solari’s opening with $12.08m, $9.43m and $6.75m; took $160.94m in the US, $271.02m internationally $431.97m worldwide
2006’s Casino Royale opened #2 $40.83m behind Happy Feet #1 $41.53m; down 24.6% #2 second weekend taking $30.78m with Déjà vu and Deck the Halls opening with $20.57m and $12m; took $167.44m in the US, $449.05m internationally $616.5m worldwide
2008’s Quantum of Solace opened #1 $67.52m ahead of Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa #2 $35.01m (second weekend) dropped 60.4% in second-weekend #2 taking $27.7m with Twilight opening #1 $69.63m and Bolt opening #3 $26.22m; took $168.36m in the US, $421.21m internationally $589.58m worldwide
2012’s Skyfall opened #1 $88.36m ahead of Wreck-It Ralph #2 $33m (second weekend) dropped 53.5% second weekend taking $41.1m #2 with The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 opening #1 $141.06m; took $304.36m in the US, $804.2m internationally $1.1bn worldwide
2015’s Spectre #1 $70.4m ahead of The Peanuts Movie #2 $44.21m dropped 52.2% second weekend taking $33.68m #2 The Peanuts Movie #2 $24.01m with Love the Coopers and The 33 opening #3 and #5 with $8.31m and $5.78m; took $200.07m in the US, $680.6m internationally $880.68m worldwide
2015’s Spectre opened internationally with $123.5m and 2012’s Skyfall opened with $109.2m while Universal’s latest F9 $69.5m but that was split between two Asia and then the rest of the world.
The 25 James Bond films have taken $2.13bn in the US and $7.24bn worldwide but inflation inflated this is almost $20bn
The five Daniel Craig James Bond films have taken $3.29bn worldwide to date while the last 6 Mission Impossible films have taken $1.15bn in the US and $3.57bn worldwide (Mission Impossible 1 and 2 were released in 1996 and 2000 taking $1bn worldwide but inflation inflated would be close to $2bn).
Since 2006 James Bond and Mission Impossible films have opened within a year of each other; in May Mission Impossible 3 opened in November Casino Royale; in December 2011 Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol opening and Skyfall opened October; in July 2015 Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation opened and in October Spectre opened. Since Spectre was released Mission Impossible: Fallout became the biggest film of the franchise in the US and worldwide.
In January 2011 Paramount were the favourites to buy distribution rights for Bond 23 and 24 (Skyfall and Spectre) and Eon approved Paramount as a distributor, but MGM was demanding a 6% distribution fee for James Bond lower than 8% got from DreamWorks Animation. MGM was also interested in partnering with some of Paramount’s films in development.
Paramount walked away from the deal and Sony bought rights for the two James Bond films, maybe their thinking was they had Mission Impossible why did they need James Bond too, but having lost Marvel and Dreamworks it would have given the studio a global tentpole. 2011 was the last year Paramount Pictures were the biggest studio in the US and worldwide going from #1 to #6 in 2012 being replaced by Sony Pictures in 2012 thanks to Skyfall.
Took $17.5m from 789 IMAX cinemas world in 70 territories and $22.5m total worldwide
Took $89.54m from 66 territories internationally and $257.26m total and $313.27m worldwide
- Venom: Let There Be Carnage – Sony Pictures
Dropped 65% in its second weekend taking $31.75m and $141.41m;
2018’s Venom dropped 56.4% in its second weekend taking $35m and $142.1m
421st biggest film in the US between Pocahontas and A Few Good Men; 857th biggest inflation inflated between The Divergent Series: Insurgent and The Peanuts Movie; 59th biggest comic-book movie between X-Men: First Class and Shazam!; 44th biggest Sony Pictures film between xXx and A Few Good Men.
Second weekends
Shang-Chi dropped 54% taking $34.7m and $144.51m
Black Widow dropped 67.8% taking $25.84m and $131.6m of $183.63m
After opening similar to both Black Widow ($80.4m) and Shang-Chi ($75.38m), it was always expected that it would hold similar m its second weekend as despite Venom: Let There Be Carnage not being part of the MCU the fanbase is the same so those who saw Black Widow would go to see both Shang-Chi and Venom: Let There Be Carnage and then will also go to see Eternals and Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Of course, much was made that Venom: Let There Be Carnage was released exclusively in cinemas as Shang-Chi unlike Black Widow but all three opened similarly and will take similar box office.
Venom went on to take $213.51m in the US (the sequel is likely to take about $180m) and $856.1m worldwide.
919th biggest film worldwide between The Spy Who Loved Me and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs; 16th biggest 2021 film worldwide between The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It and Space Jam: A New Legacy; 76th biggest comic-book movie worldwide between Watchmen and Daredevil; 121st biggest Sony Pictures film worldwide between Paul Blart: Mall Cop and Tootsie.
Took $24.8m from 13 international territories $43.9m total and $185.6m worldwide; expands further internationally over the next two weeks in 190 IMAX cinemas this weekend in 34 territories.
- The Addams Family 2 – MGM
Dropped 42% in its second weekend taking $10.11m and $31.23m
2019’s The Addams Family dropped 46.1% in its second weekend taking $16.32m and $57.08m 56.7% of $100.72m (took $203.78m worldwide).
The sequel is holding surprisingly well despite receiving worse reviews than the original film 23% Vs 45% and the sequel is also available on VOD and children’s films have struggled to find an audience in the US (unlike the UK). This was why MGM choose to release The Addams Family 2 in cinemas and on VOD and Hotel Transylvania: Transformania due to open against it was sold to Amazon (releasing it in January) despite the popularity of the earlier three films in cinemas.
Took $4.56m from 12 international territories
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings – Disney
Down 29% in its sixth weekend taking $4.3m and $212.56m
190th biggest film in the US between Austin Powers in Goldmember and Back to the Future; 436th biggest inflation inflated between Charlie’s Angels and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
40th biggest comic-book movie between X-Men 2 and 300; 56th biggest Disney film in the US between Solo: A Star Wars Story and Coco.
EntTelligence reported average ticket price for Shang-Chi was $13.72 (37% of BO from IMAX and PLF) while it was $12.63 for Black Widow and $12.70 for F9 (both of those films had a sizeable percentage of IMAX and PLF BO).
The 25 MCU films have now taken $8.942bn in the US since May 2008 and $23.33bn worldwide; the average BO of an MCU film in the US is $357.02m.
Disney has taken over $2bn worldwide in 2021; Shang-Chi ($402m), Black Widow ($379m), Free Guy ($327m), Cruella ($233m), Jungle Cruise ($212m), Raya and the Last Dragon ($130m); and Soul ($105m).
Took $9.1m from 46 territories $189.1m total and $401.6m worldwide; UK $28.3m; Korea $15.1m; France $12m; Germany $8.9m; Russia $8.7m; Japan $8.7m; Hong Kong $8.3m; Mexico $7.6m; Brazil $7.3m; Australia $6.9m.
315th biggest film worldwide between Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again and TRON: Legacy; 5th 2021 film worldwide between Godzilla vs. Kong and Black Widow; 72nd biggest Disney film worldwide between Signs and Tron: Legacy.
UK Box Office Top 10
UK Box Office Preview
Mid-October often sees distributors release multiple major released over the same weekend in 2018 on October 12th First Man, Smallfoot, Cliff Richard Live: 60th Anniversary Tour, Kler and Bad Times at the El Royale opened 4-8 behind A Star is Born (£3,083,089), Venom (£3,002,032) and Johnny English Strikes Again (£2,900,426) opening the weekend before with 7 of them taking over £1m the top 3 separated by only £182,663 and top 5 by £758,900.
Many of these played to different demographics apart from A Star Is Born Vs First Man, despite First Man getting rave reviews opening the weekend after A Star Is Born it was always going to struggle as the same thing happened in 2015 with Robert Zemeckis’s The Walk that had generated strong festival buzz but was gazumped by Ridley Scott’s The Martian.
As have multiple factors at play as having more grown-up films opening with children’s films ahead of half-term, along with it being favourite to open British films and also have some London Film Festival films opening. Despite all of this there is normally the audience to see all of the different films as they are aimed at all different demographics.
This is not the case with these films opening against a James Bond film as Bond attracts all audiences apart from children. With Halloween Kills it had to open this weekend with Halloween in two weeks, likewise with The Addams Family 2 opening last weekend it made sense for Disney to bring forward Ron’s Gone Wrong from opening against The Boss Baby 2 next weekend as originally planned. But why keep The Last Duel on this weekend especially as Disney is also releasing The French Despatch next weekend which will open wide in the UK unlike on limited platform in the US, never makes any sense when a studio is its own competition as Universal are also with The Addams Family 2 and The Boss Baby 2 but that’s due to them having a distribution deal with MGM.
Normally there would be only one winner for a James Bond third weekend and while No Time To Die will hold #1 for a third weekend the four-wide new release will see it drop much more heavily than earlier James Bond films.
James Bond Third Weekends
2002’s Die Another Day £3,426,623 down 36%
2006’s Casino Royale £5,307,969 dropped 36%
2008’s Quantum of Solace £5,164,182 dropped 44%
2012’s Skyfall £10,447,385 dropped 35%
2015’s Spectre £7,833,891 dropped 40%
Spectre was the only James Bond film that had any major competition opening against it but that was The Lady in the Van opened #2 £2,256,121 targetting older audiences.
Despite the arrival of these four new films exhibitors are likely to hold No Time To Die on their biggest screens putting the new releases into smaller screens which do keep the advantage with No Time To Die, but next weekend Dune will take over the IMAX and PLF screens. For months it’s berm Bond will save cinema but it will only save cinema if the 7m who went to see No Time To Die also see these other films opening this weekend and next.
Are in a comparable situation as last weekend in the US that No Time To Die needs to drop over 50% to allow these other films to find audiences or they will likely cannibalize each other. After all the hype surrounding No Time To Die ahead of its opening, many are now realising it’s not as good ad the hype which was the same for all o Daniel Craig Bond films apart from Casino Royale but No Time To Die is that film people must see in cinemas as 1917 and Dunkirk were.
Can’t say the same thing about any of the new release, that said, of course, comic-book fans will rush out to see the latest film, that said The Suicide Squad only opened with £3,252,028 opening against Jungle Cruise (£2,241,651) but that was due to it opening to close to Black Widow and that it wasn’t the family-friendly Guardians of the Galaxy summer movie and opening a week earlier than the US did more damage as July is when films for families are released, Warner had strong success opening the original film globally the first weekend in August why change what worked so well the first time.
2018’s Venom opened strongly with £8,031,342 but took £2,431,342 30.2% from two days of previews, Venom Let There Be Carnage has no previews and won’t get IMAX, 3D or PLF screens. Most comic-book movies over recent years openings have been inflated with previews that said Joker opened in 2019 with £12,555,328 Fri-Sun and Black Widow opened with £6,889,187 (including £2,250,092 32.6% previews) while Shang-Chi opened £5,759,504 and The Suicide Squad £3,252,028 also without previews. In normal condition would expect Venom Let There Be Carnage to open similar to Shang- Chi if not for the opening of both Halloween Kills and The Last Duel.
Halloween Kills is the second part of the new trilogy with Halloween Ends opening next year, as with many Blumhouse production films 2018’s Halloween opened with £2,656,097 #2 behind A Star Is Born £8,171,544 (3rd weekend) taking £8,171,544; while in the US opened #1 with $76,221,545 in taking $159,342,015 in the US 62% of its global BO of $255.61m.
As Halloween, the sequel is also an 18 as all of the other Halloween films are apart from the first film which was originally rated X in 1978 and then reclassified 15 in 2012 but was reclassified again in 2018 as a 15.
Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel has received a lot of media attention as It’s the first film since Good Will Hunting starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. It’s also Matt Damon’s first film with Ridley Scott since the Oscar-nominated and Golden Globe Best Comedy winner The Martian in 2015. The film received positive reviews but it’s 2.5 hours and violent film rated 18 so more likely to perform similar to 2017’s All the Money in the World opened £1,161,476 taking £3,176,255; 2013’s The Counsellor opened £815,051 taking £1,855,158; 2008’s Body of Lies opened £991,979 taking £2,859,641
Rather than 2015’s The Martian opened £6,531,734 taking £23,578,878; 2014’s Exodus: Gods and Kings opened £2,607,453 taking £7,529,032; 2010’s Robin Hood opened £5,750,332 taking £15,381,416; 2007’s American Gangster opened £2,564,853 taking £9,336,495; 2005’s Kingdom of Heaven opened £2,530,445 taking £7,755,814
Especially in such a crowded marketplace and with Dune and The French Despatch opening next weekend to make it, even more, crowded the weekend before half-term.
Ridley Scott also directed House of Gucci starring Lady Gaga, Jared Leto and Adam Driver opening 6 weeks after The Lost Duel opens which is likely to be much more commercial and helped with trailers played with No Time To Die.
Ron’s Gone Wrong is the second of three animated films opening for half-term, the British film received its UK premiere at the London Film Festival received positive reviews but will likely struggle against the much more high-profile The Addams Family 2 and The Boss Baby 2 despite both being inferior to their original films.
Another thing is the film was made by Locksmith Animation for 20th Century Fox who has since moved to Warner Bros and Disney has no interest in the animated film made by Fox also having shutdown Blue Sky Studios recently. But as with Free Guy, the film has a 45-day window.
Opening in two weeks
- Last Night In Soho – Universal Pictures
Psychological horror starring Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, Terence Stamp, Diana Rigg and Margaret Nolan, directed by Edgar Wright.
Had its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival received generally positive reviews (69% Rotten Tomatoes). The film was due originally for release in September 2020 but delayed a year due to COVID, but the delay probably boosted the film’s profile after the enormous success of Netflix’s The Queen Gambit starring Anya Taylor-Joy and the last on-screen roles of Diana Rigg and Margaret Nolan.
The film received its UK premiere on Saturday 9th October during the London Film Festival with 11 preview screenings across the country the same day, (the box office will likely be added to its opening weekend) generating a lot of buzz.
It’s Edgar Wright’s second film released in cinemas this year after The Sparks Brothers documentary had a limited release in the summer. Edgar Wright has been very vocal about his love of the cinema experience, in Empire Magazine interview in May he said, “As for me, I can’t wait to get back in there and support my favourite cinemas in any way I can, even if it means watching way too many commercials, sitting through trailers that I’ve already seen several thousand times and watching a franchise film that could easily lose 15 to 20 minutes”.
Edgar Wright films perform strongly in the UK Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and The World’s End 2010’s Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
2017’s Baby Driver opened £3,605,705 (including £1,219,345 previews 34%) taking £13,024,392
2013’s The World’s End opened £2,123,576 taking £8,731,367
2010’s Scott Pilgrim vs. The World opened £1,604,545 (including £531,796 33% previews) taking £5,081,181
2007’s Hot Fuzz opened £5,918,149 (including £1,563,067 26%) taking £20,792,585
2004’s Shaun of the Dead opened £1,603,410 (£2,578,312 inflation inflated) taking £6,737,460 (£10,833,956 inflation inflated).
Edgar Wright’s next film was expected to be The Running Man at Paramount Pictures based on Stephen King novel published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 1987 film was loosely based on the book but Edgar Wright’s version will be much closer to the book. But since it was announced in February Emma Watts and Jim Gianopulos have left the studio and the film doesn’t fit into the plans Brain Robbin’s has focused less on original films and more low budget films based on existing properties.
- Antlers – Disney/Searchlight
Supernatural horror starring Keri Russell, Jesse Plemons, Jeremy T. Thomas, Graham Greene, Scott Haze, Rory Cochrane, and Amy Madigan based on Antosca’s short story The Quiet Boy directed by Scott Cooper; It was previously set for release several times due to COVID
Scott Cooper previously directed Crazy Heart, Out of the Furnace, Black Mass and Hostiles all of which struggled to find a wide audience.
The film has received positive reviews (86% Rotten Tomatoes) it’s a horror for fans that don’t do horror but see films like Hereditary (opened £1,863,913 taking £5,498,016). But opening in a very crowded marketplace and Edgar Wright’s far higher profile horror Last Night In Soho it will struggle to find an audience.