- The Batman – £3,351,288 – £32,600,009
Dropped 54.8% in its third weekend; the hottest temperatures of the year to date was used as an excuse for BO dropping off from last weekend, but at 19c wasn’t beach and barbeque weather.
52nd biggest third weekend between Captain Marvel and Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (close to Black Panther, Jumanji: The Next Level, The Lego Movie and Sing 2)
£939,317 less than 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises £4,290,605 (18.1% ticket inflation since)
£738,736 less than 2008’s The Dark Knight £4,090,024 (44.7% ticket inflation since)
£2,138,428 less than 2019’s Joker £5,489,716
£1,981,188 more than 2005’s Batman Begins £1,370,100 60% ticket inflation since)
Has become the biggest 20222 release of the year overtaking Sing 2 (£31.85m) and the third biggest film since cinemas reopened;
20th biggest comic-book movie (23rd to take £30m+ since Men In Black in 1997) between Suicide Squad and Deadpool 2 (close to Batman Vs Superman #16 £36,495,828, Captain America: Civil War, Thor: Ragnarok and Man of Steel #24 £29,830,339); The Dark Knight Rises #5 £56,374,370; The Dark Knight #8 £49,263,805.
30th biggest inflation inflated between Suicide Squad and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 1 (Batman #20 £38,840,287 inflation inflated, Batman and Robin #38 £27,117,137, Batman Begins #39 £26,607,971 and Batman Returns #42 £25,721,677)
115th biggest film in the UK (131st to take £30m+ since Jurassic Park) between Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (also directed by Matt Reeves) close to Gravity, Spider-Man 3, Deadpool 2 and Incredibles) and 233rd biggest inflation inflated between Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and Forrest Gump (close to Saving Private Ryan, Jurassic Park 3, The Fugitive and The Mummy).
26th biggest Warner Bros film between Gravity and It Chapter One (close to The Lego Movie, The Matrix Reloaded, The LEGO Batman Movie and I am Legend) 39th inflation inflated biggest between Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and Sherlock Holmes (close to Batman Vs Superman, Man of Steel, The Matrix and Superman III)
Using DCM average ticket price of £9.71 The Batman would have 3.56m admissions but using the average of £7.52 from last year this would be 4.33m similar admissions to 1983’s Octopussy £8.3m when tickets were £1.81 which puts its BO into perspective.
The Batman dropped from 715 cinemas last week to 703 in its third weekend but lost 571 screens from last weekend and is down 908 screens from 2,658 opening weekend as it’s still playing on multiple screens in many cinemas.
With the running time of The Batman of almost 3 hours, there has again been the suggestion of bringing back intervals in cinemas, as these films play on multiple screens in cinemas surely having a screen with an interval to give cinemagoers different options. While also could be very lucrative for cinemas as people will top up their concessions on the way back from toilets breaks. There have been websites set up recommending the best time in films to go for a toilet break, but if you are in a crowded cinema to do so is unfair for other cinemagoers.
In 1989 Batman opened in 400 cinemas took £12,034,291 inflation inflated £38,840,287); Batman was the second-biggest film of the year after Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
1992’s Batman Returns took £10,979,599 and £25,721,677 inflation inflated; 7th biggest film of 1992
1995’s Batman Forever opened £4,714,153 (£10,186,905 inflation inflated) taking £20,015,001 and £43,250,807 inflation inflated; 2nd biggest film of 1995
1997’s Batman and Robin took £14,676,429 £27,117,137 inflation inflated; 7th biggest film of 1997
3rd weekends
2005’s Batman Begins dropped 53% #2 (behind War of the Worlds) taking £1,370,100 from 492 screens and £12,198,526 75.4% of £16,179,376; #1 for two weeks and was in the top 10 for 8 weeks; 11th biggest film of 2005 (between Hitch and Nanny McPhee)
2008’s The Dark Knight dropped 39% #2 (behind The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor) taking £4,090,024 from 509 screens and £34,685,968 71.4% of £48,586,304; #1 for two weeks and was in the top 10 for 8 weeks;
2012’s The Dark Knight Rises dropped 41% #2 (behind Ted) taking £4,290,605 from 567 screens and £40,846,913 72.6% of £56,257,144; #1 for 2 weeks and was in the top 10 for 8 weeks
If The Batman was to have a similar fourth-weekend drop to its third (50%+) Michael Bay’s new action film Ambulance could open ahead of it, but more likely The Batman will hold #1 for the fourth weekend
So far this year #1’s Spider-Man: No Way Home 3 weeks (3 in 2021); Sing 2 2 weeks; Uncharted 3 weeks and The Batman 3 weeks. If The Batman holds #1 next week there would be only 4 films #1 in the first 12 weeks. But with so many films opening over the rest of the year, it’s unlikely a film will stay #1 for more than three weeks which is far healthier.
2. Jujutsu Kaisen 0 – £825,529 – NE
Took £307,860 from previews on Wednesday and Thursday (was #2 behind The Batman on both days)
Opened in 332 screens at least 200 screens less than all other studio releases with only The Kashmir Files #9 playing in less in the top 10
Anime fantasy has found an audience in cinemas over recent years with Demon Slayer: Mugen Train taking £1,357,821 last June becoming the biggest anime film in the UK for 20 years after opening with £693,081 #4 from 336 screens.
2003’s Spirited Away took £919,307 after opening #13 with £152,504 from 51 screens (didn’t expand further).
As with Paw Patrol films over recent years many Anime films have been released by exhibitors with 2015’s Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’ released by National Amusements opening #11 taking £151,087 from 74 screens and National Amusements released several Anime films in 2017; 2019’s Dragon Ball Super: Broly opened #7 with £851,508 from 188 screens
2020’s re-release of Akira opened #3 with £201,124 from 109 screens only weeks after UK cinemas reopened after the first lockdown, its re-release had been planned to have a 300+ opening but Cineworld/Picturehouse closed their 127 cinemas days before it was to open.
Warner Bros has been developing a live-action film based on the Japanese Manga animated film since 2002 with many directors attached most recently Taika Waititi but left to direct Thor: Love and Thunder for Marvel Studios.
The only anime that has been remade by the US was 2017’s Ghost in the Shell which was poorly received and disappointed at the box office opening with £2,300,753 taking £5,554,260
Most recently National Amusements released Belle in February opened #9 with £152,287 from 147 screens
3. Uncharted – £605, 723 – £22,704,081
Down 42.9% in its sixth weekend
Uncharted has overtaken Wonder Woman (£22.2m); Men In Black 2 (£22.1m); Men in Black 3 (£21.75m); Dune (£21.8m); E.T (£21.7m); Aquaman £21.4m), Shang-Chi (£21.2m), The Mummy Returns (£20.4m), Big Hero 6 (£20.2m),
As with last year’s Free Guy many have said Uncharted performance was a surprise but timing was the perfect opening weekend before half-term with Spider-Man No Way Home dropping off the Tom Holland fans were eager to watch it over half-term and probable then went to see Spider-Man No Way Home again.
So not a surprise it performed similarly to Sonic The Hedgehog which opened a month before the first lockdown in 2020 why its box office dropped off heavily over its fourth and fifth weekend before cinemas closed the week after. While taking more than Pokémon Detective Pikachu as it opened in a much more crowded marketplace between Avengers: Endgame and Aladdin. While Free Guy performed similar to Night at the Museum and probably could have done similar to The Lego Movie had audiences felt more comfortable returning to cinemas sooner.
209th biggest film in the UK (272nd film to take £20m+) between Shark Tale and The Wolf of Wall Street (close to Doctor Strange, Transformers, Toy Story and Wall·E) and 401st biggest inflation inflated between Interview with the Vampire and Thor: The Dark World (close to Total Recall (1990), Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Stargate and Home Alone).
Recent video game sixth weekends
2020’s Sonic The Hedgehog took £19,280,822 after 5 weeks cinemas closed in its 6th weekend
2019’s Pokémon Detective Pikachu dropped 46% taking £201,506 #10 and £13,368,175; was sandwiched between Avengers Endgame and Aladdin.
While a similarly themed film based on a fictional video game
2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle #8 dropped 34% £1,219,880 491 screens and £34,147,183 92.3% of £36,968,605
2019’s Jumanji: The Next Level #5 down 37% £1,064,594 569 screens and £32,471,541 90% of £36,079,399
4. The Nan Movie – £565,340 – NE
There have been many film spinoffs based on British TV shows over the years and they have had mixed success in cinemas, including Mrs Brown’s Boys D’ Movie, Guest House Paradiso, David Brent: Life On the Road, Absolutely Fabulous The Movie, Ali Gi Indahouse, Borat, Bruno, The Bad Education Movie, Kevin & Perry Go Large, The League of Gentlemen’s Apocalypse, People Just Do Nothing: Big in Japan, Bean, Keith Lemon: The Film, Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa and The Inbetweeners Movie.
Few would have imagined 2014’s Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie would have opened £4,301,306 taking £14,290,727 and even the dreadful 2012’s Keith Lemon: The Film opened £1,196,310 taking £2,900,378. While despite the huge popularity of The Office 2016’s David Brent: Life on the Road opened for £1,460,290 taking only £3,639,605. Most recently 2021’s People Just Do Nothing: Big In Japan opened £896,992 taking £2,346,614
Other films spinoffs include
1997’s Bean opened £2,563,326 (£4,547,227 inflation inflated) taking £17,902,161 (£31,757,642)
2000’s Kevin & Perry Go Large opened £2,404,517 (£3,945,594 inflation inflated) taking £10,247,636 (£16,815,439)
2002’s Ali G Indahouse opened £3,231,673 (£5,635,913 inflation inflated) taking £10,170,779 (£17,737,446)
2011’s The Inbetweeners Movie opened £13,216,736 (£15,746,672 inflation inflated) taking £45,030,412 (£53,650,095)
2013’s Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa opened £2,175,850 taking £5,223,520
2014’s The Inbetweeners 2 opened £12,538,114 taking £33,386,962
2015’s Bad Education opened £594,861 taking £2,013,108
2016’s Dad’s Army opened £2,077,942 taking £8,372,614
2016’s Fabulous: The Movie opened £4,042,959 taking £15,297,486
Warner didn’t press screen the film ahead of release and the film was missing a director credit on the poster, from reports those who have seen the film say it felt like it was two films with the producers reediting the film in postproduction which saw the director leave the film.
5. The Phantom of the Open – £456,829 – NE
Included £61,645 from previews; opened in 626 screens the fourth widest opening for eOne
Many films get labelled this is the film we need now but surely after all the horrific events from Ukraine over the last few weeks a feel-good film is a perfect tonic. Always believe The Full Monty became the huge hit partly to do with it opening the weekend Princess Diana died and it became the people’s film.
While golfing films haven’t been successful at the box office (Golf-themed films in recent years include 1996’s Tin Cup opened £290,286 taking £1.3m) Happy Gilmore opened £35,645 taking £107,941 and 2001’s The Legend of Bagger Vance opened £8,126 taking £281,952).
The same could be said about bobsledding films before 1993’s Cool Running and fishing films before Fisherman’s Friends opened the same weekend in 2019 with £1,154,865 taking £7,380,488 (sequel opening later this year).
Underdog sports comedy The Phantom of the Open has received positive reviews, underdog films used to be very popular at the cinema and used to have long legs as they took time to find their audiences, 2016’s Eddie the Eagle opened with £2,828,427 taking £8,613,352. These films normally have a heavy talker screening program to build up awareness and word of mouth but this doesn’t always translate into box office anymore.
As seen recently with films like Our Ladies (opened #12 last August with £124,295 from 388 screens) and Dream Horse (opened in June #5 with £209,389 from 515 screens).
Received positive reviews and eOne are heavily promoting the film on TV with the song Make Me Smile running through the TV spot which featured in The Full Monty which all these feel0good underdog comedies have tried to imitate ever since, but nowadays these films don’t get a chance to find their audience in cinemas.
eOne is heavily promoting the film on TV with the song Make Me Smile running through the TV spot, the song also featured in The Full Monty which all these feel-good underdog comedies have tried to imitate ever since, but nowadays these films don’t get a chance to find their audience in cinemas.
Have been many great American under-dog feel-good sporting films over the years based on real events Rudy, Invincible, Seabiscuit along with fictional ones like Rocky and The Mighty Ducks. Have been a few British sporting underdog films. With the huge popularity of football surprising, there have been very few films about football made apart from Bend It Like Beckham, Fever Pitch, Goal, The Damned United, When Saturday Comes and Mike Bassett: England Manager.
Feel-good comedies used to be the life-blood of UK cinema but the audience for these films didn’t rush out to see them over the opening weekend they took time to find their audience, but films aren’t now allowed to do so anymore and with a new batch of films opening this weekend he Phantom of the Open will struggle to hold onto screens.
While exhibitors increase prices for tentpoles. surely should go the opposite way for smaller British films to try to get audiences into cinemas as Lionsgate’s Zygi Kamasa said in 2014 “Something drastic was needed” but nothing, of course, has been done since. The industry celebrates success when films like No Time To Die and Spider-Man No Way Home take £95m+ but audiences will always come out to see these films, it’s the smaller films that have been squeezed over the last 20 years.
What didn’t help either The Nan Movie or The Phantom of the Open is they opened the same weekend as that likely cannibalized the two films, as they are two British films they could have opened any time of the year so have to question the decision to open them the same day. The Phantom of the Open and its world premiere at the London Film Festival in October, while The Nan Movie was delayed from the 2020 release.
Exhibitors demand studios play out theatrical windows before films can be released on other platforms but they will pull films like The Phantom of the Open within a week.
Also Opened
• X- Entertainment Film Distributors
Opened #7 with £227,501 from 480 screens
Slasher horror combines 70s porn, horror, a behind-the-scenes drama starring Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Martin Henderson, Scott Mescudi and Brittany Snow and written, directed and edited by Ti West; premieres at SXSW on March 13.
Ti West made horrors The House of the Devil, V/H/S and The Innkeepers and is made by indie A24 who released critically acclaimed horrors The Witch, Hereditary and Midsommar.
Other Box Office News
After 14 weeks of release Spider-Man, No Way Home dropped out of the top 10 taking £96,726 #11 (from 8 last week) down 53% from 325 screens taking £96,296,236.
It was released on VOD last week that said being a cinema experience film being released on VOD shouldn’t affect its box office, especially as films like Encanto and Sing 2 have performed strongly in cinemas weeks after being released on VOD, Sing 2 #6 taking £421,651 in its 8th weekend.
Belfast dropped to #13 in its 9th weekend taking £63,907 from 233 screens and £15,116,031 despite it returning into the top 5 last week Mon-Thurs after winning Best British Film at the BAFTAs.
UK box office in detail
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £6,945,071 down 40.8% from last weekend’s £11,727,453
The weekend admissions were 923,547 down 40.8% 1,559,502 from last week; using the average price of £7.52 calculated by CAA 2021 admissions 74m with UK BO of £556.9m;
Top 3 took £4,782,484 68.9% of the top 10; The Batman 48.3% (£3,351,288); Jujutsu Kaisen 0 11.9% (£825,529); Uncharted 8.7% (£605,722);
2021 n/a cinemas closed
2020 n/a cinemas closed
Down 39.8% from 2019; (£11,537,481); Fisherman’s Friends (£1,154,865); What Men Want (£836,612); The Prodigy (£96,905); Ben Is Back (£82,204); #1 Captain Marvel £6,643,217 2nd week 652 screens 48% drop (57.6% of top 10)
Down 55.3% from 2018: (£15,554,372); Peter Rabbit (£7,273,207); Tomb Raider (£3,081,916); My Generation (£259,990); Mary Magdalene (£238,924); The Square (£221,256); #1 Peter Rabbit £7,273,207 1st week 599 screens (46.8% of top 10)
Down 75.1% from 2017: (£27,866,587); Beauty and the Beast (£19,700,000); Get Out (£2,160,099); Personal Shopper (£116,265); The Salesman (£89,348); Wolves at the Door (£3,542) #1 Beauty and the Beast £19,700,000 1st week
Down 10.4% from 2016: (£7,752,500); 10 Cloverfield Lane (£1,601,161); The Boy (£726,003); High-Rise (£542,788); Sing Street (£166,226); Michael Collins (Re: 2016) (£11,650); Risen (£69,909); Rock the Kasbah (£3,804); #1 Kung Fu Panda 3 £1,740,695 2nd week down 64%
Down 41.1% from 2015; (£11,794,092); Home (£6,025,917); The Divergent Series: Insurgent, (£2,938,860); The Gunman (£405,934); Wild Card (£152,034); The Voices (£118,255); #1 Home £6,025,917 1st week
Up 13.8% from 2014: (£6,099,424); Starred Up (£495,181); A Long Way Down (£361,901); Labor Day (£278,726); About Last Night (£173,376); Yves Saint Laurent (£123,913); #1 The Grand Budapest Hotel £1,267,408 1st week 9 (2nd weekend) 3% drop
Up 20.3% from 2013: (£5,770,139); Welcome to the Punch (£460,250); Red Dawn (£255,448); The Paperboy (£141,881); The Spirit of ’45 (£75,146); #1 Oz: The Great and Powerful £2,609,475 2nd week 530 screens 30% drop (45.2% of top 10)
Down 24.6% from 2012 (£9,214,984); The Devil Inside (£1,988,461); 21 Jump Street (£1,556,039); We Bought A Zoo (£850,651); Contraband (£683,654); In Darkness (£90,558); #1 The Devil Inside £1,988,461 1st week
Up 11.7% from 2011 (£6,215,594); Chalet Girl (£677,716); The Lincoln Lawyer (£571,836); Anuvahood (£536,818); Submarine (£244,476); You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (£112,168); #1 Rango 1st week (3rd week) 32% drop
Down 45.1% from 2010: (£12,663,580); Bounty Hunter (£2,055,021); I Love You Phillip Morris (£1,066,092); The Spy Next Door (£698,155); Old Dogs (£130,384); My Last Five Girlfriends (£29,030); The Scouting Book for Boys (£11,343); Staten Island (£518); #1 Alice in Wonderland £4,847,129 3rd week 34% drop
Down 2.8% from 2009; (£7,146,864); Paul Blart: Mall Cop (£1,289,513); Duplicity (£796,244); Lesbian Vampire Killers (£648,634); The Age of Stupid (£101,752); Flash of Genius (£15,626); #1 Marley & Me £2,166,270 2nd week 51% drop
Down 44.5% from 2008; (£12,516,106); Horton Hears a Who (£2,947,089); The Spiderwick Chronicles (£2,555,791); Step Up 2 (£2,358,003); Meet the Spartans (£1,140,100); The Orphanage (£329,009); Love in the Time of Cholera (£91,784); Lars and the Real Girl (£78,707)); #1 Horton Hears a Who £2,947,089 1st week
Up 39.6% from 2007: (£4,975,450); Premonition (£1,021,882); Stomp the Yard (£191,716); Factory Girl (£156,779); #1 Norbit £1,069,030 2nd week 371 screens 46% drop (21.5% of top 10)
Up 9.5% from 2006; (£6,339,940): The Pink Panther (£1,944,581); V for Vendetta (£1,188,058); Tsotsi (£200,359); In My Country (£276) #1 The Pink Panther £1,944,581 1st week
Down 16.3% from 2005 (£8,299,197); Robots (£2,622,253); Constantine (£2,098,074); Pooh’s Heffalump Movie (£160,736); Darkness (£102,154); #1 Robots £2,622,253 1st week
Down 9.8% from 2004 (£7,704,369); Starsky & Hutch (wide up 905%) (£4,145,897); Open Range (£424,954); Zatoichi (£137,049); Grand Theft Parsons (£21,108); #1 Starsky & Hutch (+905%) £4,145,897 1st week (2nd week)
Up 61.5% from 2003 (£4,300,084); Just Married (£973,469); National Security (£426,698); Evelyn (£344,270); #1 Just Married £973,469 1st week
Up 12.4% from 2002 (£6,175,130); 13 Ghosts (£738,210); The Royal Tenenbaums (£700,025); #1 Ocean’s Eleven £1,357,063 4-week #1 split 5th week 439 screens 27% drop (22% of top 10)
Next weekend 2020 – Cinemas Closed First Lockdown
Next weekend in 2019 (£9,597,710); Us 74.2% (£2,766,839); The White Crow (£326,997); Five Feet Apart (£253,341); The Great Escape With Dan Snow: A Gala Screening On The 75th Anniversary (£172,550); #1 Captain Marvel £3,378,583 3rd week 632 screens 49% drop (32.5% of top 10)
US Box Office
- The Batman – Warner Bros
Dropped 45% in its third weekend taking $36.72m and $300.1m
Third biggest Warner Bros third weekends after The Dark Knight ($42.6m) and Wonder Woman ($41.2m)
91st biggest film in the US between The Twilight Saga: Eclipse and The Twilight Saga: New Moon; (will soon overtake 2015’s Batman v. Superman $330.3m and Aquaman $335.1m.
221st biggest inflation inflated between Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and Wedding Crashers; 14th biggest Warner Bros film between Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I.
Took $2.3m from IMAX in its third weekend in the US and $28.5m total; as has been the case with all tentpoles post-pandemic about a third of the box office came from IMAX/PLF with an average ticket price of $12.66 about a third more than industry claimed average.
Batman BO third weekends
1989’s Batman dropped 36% $19.24m ($67m inflation inflated) and $113.7m ($400m inflation inflated) 45.2% of $251.34m ($882m) Int $160.16m ($560m) $411.5m WW ($1.4bn)
1992’s Batman Returns dropped 45.6% $13.82m ($45m) and $123.05m ($400m) 75.5% $162.9m ($530m) Int $103.99m ($338m) $266.89m WW ($870m)
1995’s Batman Forever dropped 47.5% $15.32m ($47m) and $135.39m ($421m) 73.5% of $184.07m ($573m) Int $152.5m ($471m) WW $336.56m ($1.04bn)
1997’s Batman and Robin dropped 49% $8.02m ($24m) and $90.71m ($273m) 84.5% of $107.35m ($235m) Int $130.88m ($395m) WW $238.23m ($720m)
2005’s Batman Begins dropped 43.4% $15.6m ($33m) and $151.1m ($320m) 73% of $206.85m ($435m) Int $166.8m ($350m) WW $373.66m ($790m)
2008’s The Dark Knight dropped 43.2% $42.66m and $393.75m 73.6% of $534.85m Int $471.11m WW $1.005bn
2012’s The Dark Knight Rises dropped 42.5% $35.73m and $353.93m 79% of $448.14m Int $633m WW $1,081bn
2016’s Batman Vs Superman dropped 54.5% $13.36m and $296.63m 89.8% of $330.36m Int $543.27m WW $873.63m
2017’s Justice League dropped 59.5% $16.65m and $197.4m 86.2% of $229.02m Int $428.9m WW $657.92m
2019’s Joker dropped 47.6% $29.25m and $247.27m 73.7% of $335.45m int $738.8m WW $1.74bn
Took $49.1m (down 26.3%) from 76 territories taking $299.6m and $599.61m worldwide; UK $43.7m; Mexico $24.7m; Australia $21.3m; Brazil $18.2m; France $17.3m;
169th biggest film worldwide between Madagscar: Escape 2 Africa and Casino Royale; 40th biggest comic-book movie between Logan and Iron Man; 27th biggest Warner Bros film worldwide between Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald and The Hangover Part II;
Took $47.6m worldwide from IMAX
- Jujutsu Kaisen 0 – FUNation
Opened with $17.69m; took $2.1m from 157 IMAX screens in the US and $9.22m worldwide from IMAX and is the second highest-grossing IMAX Japanese film in Japan.
Opened similar to Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train $21.34m in April 2021 taking $49.5m in the US and $454.77m worldwide
Took $4.4m internationally from 9 territories and $127m total and $144.7m worldwide
- Uncharted – Sony Pictures
Down 10% in its fifth weekend taking $7.82m and $125.72m
529th biggest in the US between Safe House and The Truman Show; 1,007th biggest inflation inflated between Beethoven and Freddy vs. Jason; 61st biggest Sony Pictures film between Mr Deeds and Charlie’s Angels.
EntTelligence estimated an average of $13.48 due to about a third of BO from IMAX/PLF
Video games fifth weekends include
2001’s Tomb Raider dropped 42.3% $3.88m and $122.51m 93.4% of $131.16m and $274.7m WW
2019’s Pokémon Detective Pikachu dropped 54.2% $3.18m and $137.6m 95.5% of $144.1m and $433.51m worldwide
2020’s Sonic The Hedgehog dropped 67.3% $2.52m and $145.75m of $148.97m and $319.71m worldwide; the weekend before cinemas closed due to COVID
While a similarly themed film based on a fictional video game
2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle down 30.6% $19.5m and $316.45m 78.2% of $404.54m and $962.54m worldwide
2019’s Jumanji: The Next Level down 46.6% $14m and $257.13m 80.3% of $320.31m and $800.05m worldwide
Took $19m from 64 territories and $211.4m total and $337.12m worldwide; UK $30.6m; France $17.8m; Germany $12.2m; Australia $12m; and Spain $12m.
432nd biggest film worldwide between Tomorrow Never Dies and Batman Forever; 40th biggest Sony Pictures film worldwide between Peter Rabbit and 22 Jump Street.
- X- A24
Opened with $4.4m; received critical acclaim (96% Rotten Tomatoes)
Received premiere at SXSW where the director Ti West said he had already shot a prequel to the film, his previous horrors The House of the Devil, V/H/S and The Innkeepers all had limited releases in the US, X opened in 2,865 screens.
Edgar Wright tweeted on Saturday “Just back from a matinee in London of Ti West’s ‘X’. Any self-respecting horror fan needs to run to see it this weekend. Such a fiendishly entertaining spin on a slasher film; funny, shocking, transgressive, a total blast. The cast is all great, but Mia Goth is unreal. Go see.”
- Umma – Sony Pictures
Opened #11 with $915,290 from 805 screens; received poor reviews (24% Rotten Tomatoes)
Whenever Sony Pictures promote as “exclusively in cinemas” they rarely last a week in cinemas as they also did this with Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City.
It never makes any sense to open a film on 800 screens as they are always going to be dead as a dodo.
UK Box Office Top 10
UK Box Office Preview
The Batman should hold #1 for a fourth weekend taking £1.5m-£2.1m and about £37m total
With Michael Bay’s action film Ambulance opening with about £1.5m+ similar to 2018’s Den of Thieves opened £1.08m taking £2.79m; 2018’s Mile 22 opened £0.79m taking £1.6m and 2019’s 21 Bridges opened £655,213 taking £1,508,196 as while Jake Gyllenhaal has starred in films like The Day After Tomorrow and Spider-Man Far From Home away from those starred in 2007’s Zodiac opened £818,369 taking £3,288,925; 2014’s Nightcrawler opened £1,003,822 taking £2,777,52; 2013’s Prisoners opened £1,365,527 taking £7,213,760; 2011’s Source Code £1,306,661 taking £5,888,913
It’s Michael Bay’s first theatrical released film since 2017’s Transformers: The Last Knight previously made 6 Underground for Netflix. Michael Bay is of course famous for his big-budget action films including Bad Boys, The Rock, Armageddon, Pearl Harbour, The Island and four Transformers films, also directed the smaller scale Pain & Gain and 13 Hours in 2016.
Heist film’s have been popular in the cinema over the years including
2004’s Layer Cake opened £1,090,561 taking £4,447,859; 1998’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels opened £941,638 taking £11,784,141; 2003’s The Italian Job opened £2,294,027 taking £7,699,425; 2010’s The Town opened £1,005,039 taking £4,771,263; 2006’s Inside Man opened £1,806,854 taking £8,106,743.
Ambulance started its global release last weekend taking $4.4m from 35 territories
After Umma failed to find an audience in the US last weekend it will struggle to get into the top 10 in the UK.
The biggest film will be Dreamwork Animation’s The Bad Guys having previews over Sat/Sun ahead of its opening on April 1st against Sonic the Hedgehog 2; weekend previews for animated films normally take about £1.5m (about a third of a film’s opening).
After opening in 626 screens last weekend The Phantom of the Open will lose a large number of screens in its second weekend, exhibitors keep demanding distributors to hold to theatrical windows but exhibitors will drop films within a week.
Due to The Bad Guy’s previews not being included, it will be probably one of the slowest weekends of the year before next weekend that could see three films opening with £4m+.
Opening next week
With three major films opening next weekend it makes for one of the most interesting weeks since cinemas reopened with each film targetting different demographics, The Bad Guys for children, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for slightly older and Morbius with 15 certificates targetting Venom fanbase.
- Morbius – Sony Pictures (Thursday)
The third film in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe starring Jared Leto, Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Al Madrigal, and Tyrese Gibson and directed by Daniel Espinosa.
Morbius was due to have a cameo in 1998’s Blade before having a larger role in 2000’s Blade 2. In 2017 Sony Pictures announced Sony’s Spider-Man Universe that started with 2018’s Venom.
The film was made in 2019 before Sony announced a new deal with Marvel to make a sequel to Spider-Man Far From Home, the first trailer was released in January 2020, including an image of Spider-Man refereeing to the end of Far From Home. Morbius had its first reshoots in February 2020.
It has been delayed seven times since its original July 2020 release date, many of these were due to COVID but the last delay from January to April was rumoured to the film having extensive reshoots after the success of Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Spider-Man No Way Home adding more of Michael Keaton’s Vulture. At the end of Morbius Keaton’s Vulture has a brief appearance, he also appears in the end credit scene in Venom 2 and also appeared in Spider-Man Homecoming.
Extensive reshoots were probably needed for Morbius as they were also needed for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as both films were originally due to open before Spider-Man No Way Home.
Timing is everything and had Morbius opened first before both Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Spider-Man No Way Home it wouldn’t have received so much hype and expectations before it but now opening after those two Marvel films and DC’s The Batman earlier in the month audiences are primed for Morbius and then Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness in May.
As with Venom in 2018 and Venom 2 in 2021 unlike most other comic-book films Morbius doesn’t have the weekend to itself. But as with the two Venom films it received 15 certificate similar to The Batman and being trailered before it will help its opening as will opening on Thursday and having IMAX/PLF screens
2018’s Venom opened #1 with £8,031,342 including £2,431,342 dropped 63% in its second weekend taking £19,907,988
2021’s Venom 2 opened £6,167,833 (no previews) dropped 60% in its second weekend taking £18,300,000.
Morbius will likely play similar to Venom despite the opening weekend of the Easter school holidays and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore opening a week later. While the Fantastic Beasts films haven’t been anywhere nearly as popular as the Harry Potter films, they were never likely to be as while they might be in the same shared universe they don’t have the appeal of Harry Potter playing to an older audience. Despite that 2016’s Fantastic Beasts opened with £15,333,146 including (£4.3m from the opening day) taking £54,690,221 and 2018’s Fantastic Beasts 2 £12,318,966 took £34,010,232. Both films opened in November while the third film opens in the middle of the Easter holidays
During the press tour of Morbius, Jared Leto told Variety “If it wasn’t for Marvel films, I don’t even know if theatres would exist. It doesn’t seem like there’s room for everyone, and that starts to become a little heart-breaking. I also have gratitude for these movies because they’re keeping cinema alive.”
It used to be success bred success over a wide range of films but now success for one comic-book movie man’s success for the next with all other films picking up the scraps, so while industry heralded the success of Spider-Man No Way Home it cannibalized the box office for the next three months until The Batman opened and that did the same for a month before Morbius opens. Other genres of films help others find audiences.
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Paramount Pictures)
Action-adventure comedy sequel starring Ben Schwartz, James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Natasha Rothwell, Adam Pally, Shemar Moore, Idris Elba, and Jim Carrey.
Sequel to 2020 film and Paramount Pictures announced plans for a third film and a spinoff film series based on Knuckles in February.
2020s Sonic the Hedgehog opened with £4,733,768 taking £19,280,822, its box office was affected by COVID which saw the film pulled from cinemas after 5 weeks after the first lockdown.
Many were surprised by the performance of Uncharted (opened exactly two years after Sonic The Hedgehog) opened with a very similar amount £4,705,948 taking £21.76m after 5 weeks
Normally would expect Sonic The Hedgehog 2 to open similar to the first film but with Morbius and The Bad Guys opening all three are likely to impact each other’s openings and will be the most interesting weekend since cinemas reopened as Sonic The Hedgehog 2 has the fanbase, The Bad Guys opening will be inflated with previous weekend previews and Morbius opening Thursday will be boosted by the success of Spider-Man No Way Home and IMAX/PLF screens.
- The Bad Guys (Universal Pictures)
Animation film from DreamWorks Animation featuring voices of Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Craig Robinson, Anthony Ramos, Awkwafina, Richard Ayoade, Zazie Beetz, and Alex Borstein and directed by Pierre Perifel based on the children’s book series Aaron Blabey.
It’s the 42nd Dreamworks Animation film, the seventh released by Universal Pictures since they acquired the studio in 2016 and their first original animated film since Abominable in 2019.
The film had preview screenings on March 26th/27th but opens against Sonic the Hedgehog 2 which will likely cannibalize both films, but with Easter holidays starting April 4th both films will perform strongly over the next two weeks.