- Thor: Love and Thunder – £4,063,773 – £20,887,379
Down 67% and was down 60% on Friday £1.24m from opening Friday (£3.1m)
While it might have taken more than 2015’s Thor: The Dark World, Thor: Love and Thunder is a very different film and the MCU audience was far smaller being the 8th film and third released by Disney, as Thor: Ragnarok and Doctor Strange 2 it’s more an Avengers Lite film rather than a solo adventure, so can’t be compared with MCU films made before Avengers Age of Ultron.
The bigger the MCU gets the higher the expectations and what would be seen as successful for a different film isn’t for MCU as was the case with Pixar’s Lightyear as when you play by the sword, you die by the sword.
134th biggest second weekend between Sonic The Hedgehog and The Simpsons (close to War of the Worlds, Inception, Logan and Avatar) and 253rd biggest inflation inflated between Catch Me If You Can and There’s Something About Mary (close to Alien3, Patriot Games, Pearl Harbour and Prometheus).
88th biggest 7-day week BO (£13.67m) without previews between The Lego Movie and Sherlock Holmes (close to X-Men: Days of Future Past, Furious 8, Aladdin and Men In Black) and 71st biggest opening week (£16.82m) between Deadpool 2 and Man of Steel (close to Suicide Squad, Captain Marvel and Thor: Ragnarok (£16.17m)
4th biggest opening week of 2022 between The Batman (£19.15m 10 days) and Jurassic World Dominion (£16.04m)
14th biggest MCU second weekend between Spider-Man: Far From Home and Spider-Man Homecoming (close to Spider-Man: No Way Home, Thor: Ragnarok Shang-Chi and Doctor Strange).
Took £553,407 more than Thor: Ragnarok (£4,617,180) and £1,084,209 more than Thor: The Dark (£2,979,564)
25th biggest comic-book movie second weekend between Suicide Squad and The Amazing Spider-Man (close to Batman Vs Superman, Man of Steel, Deadpool 2 and Spider-Man 2 and Man of Steel) and 36th inflation inflated between Logan and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (close to Iron Man 2, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Men in Black 3 and X-Men: The Last Stand)
13th biggest MCU after 11 days on release between Spider-Man: Far From Home and Thor: Ragnarok taking £97,892 more (£20,789,487)
234th biggest in the UK (280th to take £20m+ since 1986’s Crocodile Dundee ) between Legend and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (close to Iron Man 2, Fantastic Beasts 3, The Sixth Sense and Hobbs & Shaw) and 504th biggest inflation inflated between Robin Hood and The Secret Life of Pets 2 (close to Pulp Fiction, Terminator Salvation, The Last Samurai and Godzilla).
Seeing the films that had a second weekend similar to Thor: Love and Thunder show was a disappointing weekend despite taking £4m+ and being similar to Spider-Man: Far From Home as had a 68.9% drop due to being a two-day weekend over Christmas Day.
Phase 4 of the MCU has been disappointing to both critics and audiences, even Spider-Man No Way Home feels like a very different film watched at home than with a cinema audience. How you experience certain films changes the way you respond to them, films like Star Wars: The Force Awakens, No Time To Die, Spider-Man: No Way Home and even Top Gun Maverick feel very different when you’re watching them in a packed cinema to being alone. This is of course why the reaction to these films immediately after premieres is so positive.
Soon after Star Wars The Force Awakens opened South Park said adults were addicted to memberberries “Every great empire reaches a point where going backward can seem more appealing than going forward. When the world is changing so fast, it makes us yearn for the old ways when life seemed simpler. But it doesn’t mean those old ideas are good for us now. We have to face one hard reality as a county … the new Star Wars was not as good as everyone thought it was.”… “It may be fun to go back and recycle the past that we love, but we end up with no substance.”
These films are aimed at tweens with short attention spans that get caught up in the hype and rush to the cinema to see the latest MCU over opening weekend and then quickly move on to the next film that opens the week after.
Thor: Love and Thunder being the 29th MCU and direct sequel to Thor: Ragnarok that follows on from events in Avengers Endgame has of course massive advantage as the fanbase for MCU films is huge with the 29 films taking almost £1bn at the UK BO since 2008. It does make them less accessible than earlier films as to fully understand everything need to have done your homework before now over 93 hours of content that includes all the films and TV spinoff shows.
The 29 MCU films have taken over £972m since 2008 (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will see MCU take over £1bn in the UK) and over £1.11bn inflation inflated.
As with a lot of these MCU films, the ensemble cast has made the film feel like Avengers 5 as they feature other Avengers characters including several from Guardians of the Galaxy including Rocket and Groot similar to Thor: Ragnarok featured The Hulk.
2017’s Thor:Ragnorok dropped 63% (36% without previews) £4,617,180 #2 609 screens taking £20,789,487 67% of £30,936,228 #1 Murder on the Orient Express £4,985,600
2013’s Thor: The Dark World dropped 66% (47% not including previews) £2,979,564 #2 520 screens taking £13,973,977 69.5% of £20.1m; #1 Gravity £6,238,375
2011’s Thor opened dropped 64% (58% not including previews) £1,946,695 #1 503 screens taking £9,523,268 68.7% of £13,854,712; Thor held #1 for 3 weeks due to far less crowded marketplace until Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides opening with almost twice as much as Thor (£11,634,860) 4 weeks later.
If Thor: Love and Thunder were to continue to hold similar to previous Thor films it will take about £31m, the advantage it has doesn’t have any competition for another two weeks and school holidays start on Friday with cooler temperatures from Wednesday.
The previous Thor films were very front-loaded and Thor: Love and Thunder is likely to be similarly so after receiving mixed reviews and mixed word of mouth could see it drop upwards of 70% in its second weekend
Always thought Disney had a deal with the man upstairs as over the last few years the weather in the week leading up to a major Disney release and the week after was often hot killing off the competition but the week the Disney film opened was colder and wetter. The only weekend that wasn’t the case was in July 2013 when Monsters University opened, but over the last year, this hasn’t been the case.
Previous Thor films have been front-loaded with Thor: Ragnarok and Thor: The Dark World #1 for 1 week while the first film was #1 for 3 weeks in May 2011 but took a low share of the top 10 (44.41%, 20.26% and 17.98%) with other MCU films it’s closer to double the amount.
One of the biggest problems with the MCU is that similar to Disney’s Star Wars films they aren’t accessible to new audiences, Marvel as Lucasfilm with the TV shows are targeting existing fans with their films and TV shows.
Newbies will need to watch 93 hours of MCU content to fully understand what’s going on, another reason why Top Gun Maverick was so successful is it was a Ronseal movie doing exactly what it said on the tin, could just enjoy the film for what it was.
MCU peaked with Avengers Endgame as Phase 4 has been all hype and no sustenance with Marvel is now focused on the tween market which has made these films exhausting for everyone else, why Doctor Strange 2 and Thor 4 are so front-loaded. The question is will Black Panther 2 without Chadwick Boseman and Daniel Kaluuya not returning be a match for 2018 which attracted many non-comic-book fans as it became more than a film.
Phase 4 of the MCU has been disappointing even dare I say it Spider-Man No Way Home wasn’t as good as the hype but it was an audience film as it feels very different from watching at home. But as with Top Gun Maverick, it opened at the perfect time audiences were primed and was accessible to non-comic-book fans with Hollanders opting to see it again and again instead of other films that opened over the months after. Highlights another issue with MCU exhibitors might believe they are good for cinema but they cannibalise everything around it for several weeks. Over the last 7 weeks between Doctor Strange 2 and Thor 4 have seen strong BO with several films performing well as their success breeds further success but comic-book movies only breed success for the next.
- 2. Minions: The Rise of Gru – £2,663,816 – £23m
Down 45% in its third weekend (down 37% on Friday) took similar to 4th w/e Minions (£2,702,320).
Took £6.23m in 2nd weekend down 56% from the opening weekend (£14.1m) taking £10.42m 74% Fri-Sun and £3.67m Mon-Thurs 26%
12th biggest Universal Pictures UK opening between Sing and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (close to Fast & Furious 7, Jurassic World Dominion, Ted and Les Miserables) and 13th biggest inflation inflated between Sing and Fast & Furious 6.
6th biggest Illumination 3rd weekend between Sing 2 and Despicable Me
The 11 Illumination Entertainment films have taken over £335m since the first Despicable Me opened in 2010 upcoming Mario opening in April 2023, Migration in June 2023 and Despicable Me 4 July 2024 and then surely Minions 3 in July 2025,
Ahead of the opening of Minions: The Rise of Gru the Minions Cult went viral on TikTok, the hashtag #MinionsCult was viewed 6.1m times the day before opening and by July 12th it was up to almost 650m views. This saw fans attending cinemas in suits and fans interacting with the film in auditoriums which ruined the cinema experience for other members of the audience while they left a mess in auditoriums. This saw exhibitors banning the Gentle Minions at first before holding Gentle Minion screenings for fans
Universal Pictures reacted quickly to this TikTok craze with a Tweet on Friday “to everyone showing up to @Minions in suits: we see you and we love you.” but exhibitors reacted slowly to it.
Third weekends
2017’s Despicable Me 3 dropped 27% taking £3,839,659 #2 from 617 screens and £25,600,301 53.8% of £47,562,575
2015’s Minions dropped 33% taking £4,154,359 #1 from 605 screens and £27,623,294 58% of £47,645,626
2013’s Despicable Me 2 dropped 44% taking £2,225,543 #2 from 539 screens and £27,082,903 57.1% of £47,436,199
2010’S Despicable Me dropped 0% taking £2,581,073 #2 from 532 screens and £15,069,277 76.6% of £19,670,786
But Minions: The Rise of Gru should play out the summer despite being likely released on VOD about August 1st will be the same time Lightyear will likely be released on Disney+.
- 3 Elvis – £1,003,820 – £16,156,229
Down 24% in the fourth weekend; down 22% on Friday £331k (£425k last Friday)
Elvis has overtaken the BO of Baz Luhrmann’s 2013’s The Great Gatsby (£15.5m) and depending on how Elvis continues to hold has a chance to overtake 2001’s Moulin Rouge (£18.16m). The performance OF Elvis in the UK and the US again show certain films perform better in a crowded marketplace as the films work off each other.
Baz Luhrmann as Christopher Nolan films works better in crowded marketplace why it was always complete madness for Tenet to open alone In summer 2020 as the film was never going to be the success it was going to be being the only major film on release. Originally Tenet was to open in the UK on July 16th, 2020, the same day as Top Gun Maverick.
Many would say that was complete insanity, as they will say next summer when Oppenheimer opens against Barbie on July 21st with Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1 opening weekend before and The Marvels weekend after, but as with Inception and Interstellar and even The Dark Knight trilogy, they all performed far better being sandwiched between other major films.
11th biggest 2022 film between Fantastic Beast 3 and Belfast; 379th biggest film in the UK between X-Men Origins: Wolverine and The Muppets (close to Star Wars Special Edition, Ant-Man, Ready Player One and Bad Boys For Life) and 671st biggest inflation inflated between Dr Dolittle 2 and Walk the Line (close to Scream, Wayne’s World, Dick Tracey and Die Hard 2, Die Harder). Manhattan).
62nd biggest Warner Bros film in the UK between Scooby-Doo Too and Ready Player One (close to Tenet (£17.46m), The Bodyguard, The Great Gatsby (£15.44m) and The Fugitive) and 101st biggest Warner Bros film inflation inflated between Sweeney Todd and A.I.
Elvis is Baz Luhrmann’s 6th film and its 30 years since he made his directorial debut with Strictly Ballroom, he followed that up with three films at 20th Century Fox 1996’s Romeo & Juliet, 2001’s Moulin Rouge and 2008’s Australia and Elvis is his second film for Warner Bros after 2013’s The Great Gatsby.
All of his films are visually stunning was blown away when I first saw Romeo & Juliet and Moulin Rouge both many months before opening in the UK and before seeing any trailers. The Great Gatsby is an enjoyable romp despite not being as good as would have hoped, Strictly Ballroom is bursting with energy and charm Australia is his only dud but again it’s a visually stunning epic but far too long.
Fourth weekends
2001’s Moulin Rouge dropped 13% £1,337,411 #2 (£2,43m inflation inflated) from 365 screens taking £10,636,791 (£19.35m inflation inflated) 46% of £18,166,288 (£32,997,702 inflation inflated); #1 A.I. £1,556,911 2nd w/e; Moulin Rouge was #1 for two weeks and then returned #1 in 5th w/e
2008’s Australia dropped 45% £445,026 #14 327 screens of £6,984,243; #1 Slumdog Millionaire £2,630,820
2013’s The Great Gatsby dropped 49% £658,225 #5 505 screens £13,592,156 87.7% of £15.5m; #1 After Earth £2,249,532
- 4 Top Gun Maverick – £810,638 – £72,310,085
Down 19.1% in its eighth weekend
18th biggest eighth weekend between Love Actually and Skyfall (close to Casino Royale, No Time To Die, Incredibles 2 and Star Wars: The Force Awakens
14th biggest film in the UK (15th to take over £70m since Titanic in 1998) between Beauty and the Beast and Avengers: Infinity War (close to The Lion King, Toy Story 3, Toy Story 4 and Star Wars: Rogue One) and 53rd biggest inflation inflated between Star Wars: Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Rogue One (close to Independence Day, Live and Let Die, Men In Black and Four Weddings and a Funeral)
Biggest Paramount Pictures film in the UK ahead of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Shrek The Third and 4th biggest Paramount Pictures film between Shrek Forever After and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen)
After 8 weeks Top Gun Maverick has taken similar BO as Star Wars: The Last Jedi, The Lion King, Avatar, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Beauty and the Beast, Toy Story 3 and Avenger Infinity War.
Paramount hasn’t set a PVOD release date yet there were some rumours it could be August 24th and then on Paramount Plus on September 24th but there are rumours that it will get an IMAX re-release in August ahead of the re-release of Spider-Man Far From Home and Avatar in September.
A Sony Pictures boss has said that they and Venom 2 deserve some credit for Top Gun Maverick’s success, (Venom 2 opened with $90.03m taking $213.55m in the US and $506.86m worldwide, while it matched US BO of the first film took a third less worldwide $856.08m) saying “We took a big gamble putting ‘Venom’ in theatres. Then we doubled down with ‘Ghostbusters.’ Then our biggest bet was when every other tentpole had fled, we tripled down with ‘Spider-Man’ — our biggest, most important piece of IP.”
Comic-book movies only help the next one so Black Widow ($183.65m US $379.75m worldwide) and Shang-Shi ($224.54m US and $432.24m worldwide) helped both Venom 2 and Spider-Man No Way Home.
Had he used Ghostbusters Afterlife as the film that deserves credit then what he said would have some truth behind it as was a legacy sequel opening 30+ years after Ghostbuster 2 (2016’s Ghostbusters didn’t have the direct connection with the original films) with the original cast alongside newbies it was targetting fans of the original films and younger audiences. Top Gun Maverick was due to open a week after Ghostbuster Afterlife in November 2021, so Paramount moving Top Gun Maverick to May could have been seen as they were seeing how a similar legacy sequel performs and then have 6+ months to tweak the campaign.
The problem of course was there was no central planning or strategy behind how studios were going to open films once cinemas reopened they all had different ideas, Warner was forced to open Tenet in August with predictable results while their other films were released the same day o HBO Max while other studios opted to delay their films for a year or more with others sold to streaming services. The two “saviours of cinema” Paramount and Sony sold many of their 2020 films to streaming services.
80s nostalgia features heavily in the cinema, digital download and music charts with the original Top Gun film topping video charts, Kate Bush’s Running Up that Hill topping singles charts and Top Gun topping cinema charts in June.
In an interview with Playboy in 1990, Tom Cruise said he was dead against making a sequel to Top Gun saying “I want kids to know that that’s not the way war is – that Top Gun was just an amusement park ride, a fun film with a PG-13 rating that was not supposed to be reality. That’s why I didn’t go on and make Top Gun II and III and IV and V. That would have been irresponsible.”
In 1990 Tom Cruise starred in Days of Thunder which many believe was written originally as a Top Gun sequel but was adapted to NASCAR as at the time he wanted to make a NASCAR film and the plot is very similar to Top Gun and is also directed by Tony Scott.
After the huge success of Top Gun Maverick, Paramount Pictures will surely want a Top Gun 3 but Tom Cruise stars in Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Parts 1 and 2 due for release in 2023 and 2024 and once he finishes filming them he is then due to make the first film shot in space with Doug Liman and then maybe Edge of Tomorrow 2? So Top Gun 3 is unlikely to happen before 2025?
- 5. Jurassic World Dominion – £383,502 – £32,494,110
Down 31% in its 6th weekend took similar to 8th weekends of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom £344,993 and Jurassic World £455,645 as many of the sequels are taking a similar BO of the weekend after BO as seen with Minions: The Rise of Gru taking similar in its 3rd w/e as Minions took in it’s 4th in 2015 (£2,702,320); these sequels aren’t opening as big as their processors but then are holding less and have shorter legs highlights the problem when the industry gets caught up with the hype of the opening weekend.
121ST biggest film in the UK (£134th film to take £30m+) between Deadpool 2 and It Chapter One (close to Gravity, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Incredibles and Gladiator) and 274th biggest inflation inflated between La La Land and X-Men: Days of Future Past (close to Stuart Little, Superman III, The Matrix Revolutions and Mission: Impossible II).
5th biggest film of 2022 between Sing 2 and Sonic the Hedgehog 2; 15th biggest Universal Pictures film between Sing 2 and Ted (close to Fifty Shades of Grey, Fast & Furious 7, Furious 8 and Sing) and 19th biggest inflation inflated between Sing 2 and Furious 8.
Jurassic World Dominion has overtaken BO of both The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park 3 but impossible to make comparisons with films released 25 and 21 years ago. Can see the change in how films have become far more front-loaded by the opening percentage of Jurassic Park at 10.2% and The Lost World: Jurassic Park at 22.1% with the Jurassic World trilogy holding close to Jurassic Park III at 26.3% with Jurassic World 30.1%, Fallen Kingdom 34.5% and Dominion currently 37.3%
Sixth weekends
In 2018 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom dropped #3 taking £824,705 from 542 screens down 38% and £38,480,573 92.6% of £41,573,492; #1 Incredibles 2 £9,650,000 654 screens and Skyscraper #2 £1,829,830 from 543 screens
In 2015 Jurassic World #4 £1,136,220 down 39% from 517 screens taking £59,484,716 93.4% of £63,674,773 with #1 Ant-Man £4,011,345 1st w/e with Minions £2,702,320 4th w/e
As Jurassic World Dominion didn’t drop as much as the previous two films despite both having major news releases opening against them shows that the hot sunny weather had little impact on its weekend BO as was the case with all other films in the top 5. With government warnings telling people to stay inside during these very hot temperatures surely a cinema with cold air conditioning is the best place to be during a heatwave, so cinema attendance should be seeing an increase?
Similar 6th weekend close to Avengers: Endgame, The Martian, Downton Abbey, Dune, Doctor Strange 2, Yesterday and Rocketman.
The first two Jurassic Park films had their biggest openings in 1993 and 1997 and Jurassic Park films have a much bigger appeal and wider audience than comic-book movies as they play to all generations those children who saw the original with their parents in 1993 and now their children.
Jurassic Park took 9.82x opening compared with 3.29x for Jurassic World; 2.9x for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom; Jurassic World: Dominion 2.68%*; 4.53x for The Lost World: Jurassic Park and 3.84x for Jurassic Park 3. So despite Jurassic Park 3 being seen as a disappointing film it still held better than any of the Jurassic World trilogy.
The 6 Jurassic Park films have taken over £230m and over £360m inflation inflated. The original Jurassic Park trilogy was all rated PG in the UK while the Jurassic World trilogy films were all rated 12A despite all of them getting PG-13 ratings in the US. The first two Jurassic Park films were rated PG with a “disturbing scenes” warning, before the release of the first film it was tested with school children aged 8-11 and they enjoyed it having no ill effects.
The BBFC had previously launched 12 in 1989 (Batman the first film) but films like Jurassic Park were the reason they launched the 12A certificate in 2001 (The Bourne Identity the first film), the 12A has been very lucrative for cinemas as it means that under 12s can see the film if they go with an adult, but the problem is while they might be 12A films they still feature scenes unsuitable for under 12s.
Jurassic Park took £47,790,337 and £121m inflation inflated. 1997’s The Lost World: Jurassic Park took £25.79m (£52m inflation inflated) and 2001’s Jurassic Park 3 took £18.1m (£36m inflation inflated).
Jurassic World Dominion will likely be released on PVOD at the end of the month.
Also opened
- The Railway Children Returns – £365,481 from 626 screens
Took £115k from Friday (31.5% of opening)
The Railway Children Returns was the only film to be affected by the hot sunny weather over the weekend, while no one can predict the weather it was always a strange decision to open the film this weekend.
While audiences will go and see the latest MCU no matter the weather a film like The Railway Children Returns was always going to suffer with the hottest temperatures of the year this weekend. Opening on a very wide 626 screens it will likely see its showtimes and screens cut back from Friday highlighting the problem again with cinema today exhibitors won’t give films a chance to find their audiences. While the film might have received strong media coverage ahead of release and positive reviews it was always likely to be a summer holiday film similar to 2016’s Swallows and Amazons remake received positive reviews (94% on Rotten Tomatoes) and opened with £676,175 #8 from 452 screens taking £3,021,437.
While 2020’s The Secret Garden which was originally due to be released by Studiocanal was sold to Sky Cinema opening in October 2020 in the middle of the pandemic with £154,087 #3 from 196 screens taking £710,860. Being a Sky Cinema film major exhibitors refused to book it so its opening and its BO were very good at a time when BO was very soft.
But as seen by the soft performance of The Railway Children re-release taking £14,464 from 324 screens on Sunday for matinee even before the hot sunny weather it was going to be a massive challenge for the sequel as again being a legacy sequel is it for those children who saw the original in cinemas in 1971 now in their 60s or their grandchildren.
British family films perform far better in August or April after the Easter holidays and then before the May half-term, especially as it was originally due to open in April. Studiocanal of course has had huge success with the adaption of another British children’s classic Paddington with two films and the third due to start filming soon.
Exhibitors have cut back on screenings of the film in its second weekend as they don’t give films a chance to find an audience anymore, and films like The Railway Children Returns aren’t films audiences will rush out to see over open week, Kn a couple of weeks time they will go looking for it and it will have one morning screening.
This weekend was historically the start of the UK summer film box office as it was the weekend before school holidays started and studios would hold back films from early summer in the US to open this weekend in the UK, including films in 2001 Jurassic Park III opened with £4,762,155 1999 Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace £9,512,295; 1998 Godzilla £4,176,960; 1997 The Lost World: Jurassic Park £5,700,000; 1995 Batman Forever £4,714,153; 1993 Jurassic Park £4,875,137; 1992 Batman Returns £2,774,796; 1991 Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves £5,709,845; 1990 Back to the Future Part III £3,850,830; 1989 Licence to Kill £3,171,415; 1987 An American Tale; 1983 Superman III.
Disney regularly held back Pixar’s summer film opening in the US to mid-July, this was until Toy Story 4 in 2019 as they released The Lion King over this weekend.
The original film has enchanted audiences since it was released in December 1970 and was s the 9th biggest film of 1971 in the UK receiving universal critical acclaim (100% Totten Tomatoes). It was voted 66th on the British Film Institute’s Top 100 British Films.
The film was marketed in 1970 as ‘A Film for Adults to Take Their Children, too!’ Lionel Jeffries said “it was positioned as a wholesome, nostalgic film for general audiences. But they also identified it as a palliative for a conservative majority dismayed by unprecedented levels of sex, violence, nudity, profanity and drug abuse in this new entertainment epoch.”…” I found the climate of the E. Nesbit story just right for me, a way in which to start entertaining people and help, not destroy, our industry. There are hardly any films being made for children and the middle-aged and older age groups.”
Ahead of release expectations for the film were not especially high. Merete Bates in the Guardian predicted that ‘the public will go – but whether it’s what they want is another question.
The original film was one of a few hits EMI had at the time, EMI in the 70s was a powerhouse of the British film industry producing over 70% of the films made in the UK in the 70s (taking over from Rank). EMI was looking to make crossover films with their music artists Cliff Richard/Elvis Presley to appeal to teenage audiences.
With The Railway Children Returns, we have gone full circle as Lionel Jeffries said “the film is replete with nostalgic inflections that subtly reinterpret it. Nowhere is this better exemplified than in the film’s opening scene, which utilises a subtle framing device similar to those employed in Hollywood family comedies… Jenny Agutter’s voice-over narration relates the story – enters an Edwardian-style nursery and begins rolling a Victorian praxinoscope. The camera slowly zooms towards the lens, appearing to enter the mechanism, preparing us for the fact that, as in those earlier productions, we are journeying back to the early years of the twentieth century.”
As William Goldman famously wrote “Not one person in the entire motion picture field knows for a certainty what’s going to work. Every time out it’s a guess and, if you’re lucky, an educated one.” But what you can do is know that you have done your best at selecting a suitable date to open a film, being a British film Studiocanal wasn’t tied down at opening the film om a certain date as most studio films are opening day and date with the US. As often the US date not being as suitable as seen with many Pixar films in the past being held back from opening In June to July and Universal Pictures are delaying UK release dates of Puss In Boots 2 to the end of January while bringing forward the UK release date for Trolls 3 to October 2023.
So you have to question why Studiocanal dated The Railway Children Returns in July rather than April or August more so as the distributor was named “Distributor of the Year” at CineEurope in June as the writing was on the wall for the film months before release. Why would a distributor purposely handicap their biggest film of the year especially one they financed?
Over the last few years Studiocanal has made Radioactive, Saint Maud, Blithe Spirit, Gunpowder Milkshake, The Secret Garden, The Last Letter From Your Lover, A Boy Called Christmas and The Electrical Life of Louis Wain with many bypassing cinemas going to Sky Cinema, while those that did have a cinema release struggled to find an audience.
Upcoming via Working Title have rom-com What’s Love Got To Do With It opening in January.
Other Cinema News
June 2022 BO was £95.7m #1 Top Gun Maverick taking 39% (£37.17m); #2 Jurassic World Dominion taking 30% (£28.6m) #3 Lightyear 8% (£7.6m) #4 Elvis 7.5% (£7.2m) #5 Doctor Strange 2 2.5% (£2.4m) #6 Black Phone 2.1% (£2m) #7 Everything Everywhere All At Once 1.4% (£1.4m #8 Downton Abbey 2 1% (£1m)
May BO took about £93m with top 10 films taking 96% with Doctor Strange 2 taking £38.6m and Top Gun Maverick £21.3m 64% with 11.3m admissions this would see an average £8.23
Despite the huge success of Top Gun Maverick and the strong performance o Sonic the Hedgehog 2, The Lost City and Scream Universal Pictures are #1 studio in the UK with 24%
2022 UK BO January-June was £492.8m I industry expects BO for the year will be about £1.05bn similar to 2009; 2021 was £597m and 2020 £323m. With BO returning to pre-COVID levels in 2023 which was expected when cinemas shut after the first lockdown.
UK Distributor share estimates
Universal £130m 24%; Paramount £118m 22%; Warner £79m 16%; Disney £58m 12%; Sony £52m 10.5%;
In the US up to July 4, 2022, the year’s box office was $3.9bn up 250% from 2021, but down 32% from 2019; Summer box office to July 4th $1.96bn up almost 200% from 2021 but down only 15% from 2019 while average ticket price is up 5% since 2019 ($8.93 Vs $9.37)
UK box office in detail
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £9,715,916 down 51.8% from last weekend’s £20,163,540
596th biggest top 10 of the last 20 years between 24 June 2011 #1 Bridesmaid £3,445,395 (35.46% of top 10) and 09 July 2021 #1 Black Widow £6,889,187 (70.92% of top 10) and 836th biggest inflation inflated between 26 May 2017 #1 £5,238,049 (54.1% of top 10) and 09 July 2021 #1 Black Widow £6,889,187 (70.92% of top 10)
The weekend admissions were 1,202,465 down 55.1% from last week’s 2,681,322
Have increased the average ticket price from £7.52 to £8.07 up 7.44% due to the UKCA website reporting admissions for June 2022 11.86m while CinemaScore reported BO for June was £95.8m and to get the average ticket price divide BO by admissions. Being a 7.4% increase makes it impossible to make any direct comparisons with any other films released pre-pandemic.
Top 3 took £7,731,409 79.6% of the top 10; Thor: Love and Thunder 41.8% (£4,063,773); Minion: The Rise of Gru 27.4% (£2,663,816); Elvis 10.3% (£1,003,820);
Up 72.9% from 2021 (£5,617,410); Space Jam: A New Legacy (£1,363,556); The Forever Purge (£720,032); The Croods 2: A New Age (£696,563); Summer Of Soul (£62,562); #1 Black Widow £1,801,017 2nd week 649 screens (32.1% of top 10)
Up 4,919% from 2020 (£193,567) Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (40th Anniversary) (£50,406); Black Water: Abyss 10.6% (£28,053); #1 Onward £49,271 4th week split over 5 months 123 screens (25.45% of top 10)
Last weekend was one of the lowest for over 20 years and the hot weather cannot be used as an excuse as surely over the last 20 years last weekend had similarly hot weather. While when the weather gets as hot as it has been over the last week or so the thought if being in a cold air-conditioned cinema would surely be better than melting elsewhere. Why would studios open their biggest films in the summer if they thought audiences would stay away from cinemas if the weather got too hot?
Down 26.6% from 2019 (£13,229,066); Annabelle Comes Home (£2,223,482); Stuber (£211,274); The Dead Don’t Die (£192,917) The Matrix: 20th Anniversary (4K Restoration) (£163,812); Jaws (Re: 2019) (£34,094); The Matrix Reloaded (4K Restoration) (£876); The Matrix Revolutions (4K Restoration) (£583); #1 Spider-Man: Far From Home £4,396,516 2nd week 647 screens (33.2% of top 10)
Down 31.6% from 2018: (£14,198,894); Incredibles 2 (£9,650,000); Skyscraper (£1,829,830); The Secret of Marrowbone (£171,161); First Reformed (£73,233); Vertigo (60th Anniversary) (£10,845); #1 Incredibles 2 £9,650,000 1st week 664 screens (67.9% of top 10)
Down 49.4% from 2017: (£19,205,602); War for the Planet of the Apes (£7,195,773); Cars 3 (£2,625,000); The Beguiled (£414,924); #1 War for the Planet of the Apes £7,195,773 1st week 597 screens (37.4% of top 10)
Down 39.4% from 2016: (£16,046,904); Ghostbusters (£4,388,944); Ice Age: Collision Course (£3,780,694); Dirty Dancing (Secret Cinema) (£946,086); Keanu (£13,736); #1 Ghostbusters £4,388,944 1st week 581 screens (27.3% of the top 10)
Down 25.7% from 2015; (£13,074,413); Ant-Man (£4,011,345); Andre Rieu’s 2015 Maastricht Concert (£1,107,000); The Gallows (£335,875); Self/Less (£215,247); Thomas & Friends: Sodor’s Legend Of The Lost Treasure (£155,354); True Story (£137,463); 13 Minutes (£12,572); #1 Ant-Man £4,011,345 1st week 555 screens (30.6% of top 10)
Down 40% from 2014: (£16,203,729); Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (£8,705,995); Monty Python Live (Mostly) – O2 London 2014 (£1,178,091); Andre Rieu’s 2014 Maastricht Concert (£830,586); Pudsey the Dog: The Movie (£446,450); Some Like It Hot (Re: 2014) (£12,869); #1 Dawn of the Planet of the Apes 1st week 561 screens (53.7% of top 10)
Down 6.9% from 2013: (£10,431,833); Monsters University (£3,463,917); Pacific Rim (£2,193,500); We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks (£19,309); Trap for Cinderella (£2,845); #1 Monsters University £3,463,917 1st week 525 screens (33.2% of top 10)
Down 46.8% from 2012 (£18,271,575); Ice Age: Continental Drift (£10,087,052); Magic Mike (£2,651,015); Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (£357,200); Chariots of Fire (Re: 2012) (£63,857); #1 Ice Age: Continental Drift £10,087,052 1st week 522 screens (55.21% of top 10)
Down 66.9% from 2011 (£29,355,666); Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (£23,753,171); Cell 211 (£21,479); #1 Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 £23,753,171 1st week 582 screens (80.9% of top 10)
Down 35.7% from 2010: (£15,116,235); Inception (£5,912,814); The Concert (£38,053); #1 Inception £5,912,814 1st week 452 screens (39.1% of top 10)
Down 64.8% from 2009; (£27,606,395); Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (£19,784,924); Moon (£157,867); The Informers (£6,149); #1 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince £19,784,924 1st week 584 screens (71.6% of top 10)
Down 41.5% from 2008; (£16,622,538); Mamma Mia! (£6,594,058); Journey to the Centre of the Earth (£953,878); Forbidden Kingdom (£676,217); #1 Mamma Mia! £6,594,058 1st week 496 screens (39.6% of top 10)
Down 20.4% 2007:(£22,106,427); Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (£16,493,305); Moliere (£76,061); Macbeth (£2,093); #1 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix £16,493,305 1st week 567 screens (74.6% of top 10)
Down 18.6% from 2006; (£11,936,216); Superman Returns (£4,337,637); Atomised (£25,823); #1 Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest £6,048,087 2nd week 514 screens 56% drop (50.6% of top 10)
Down 13.2% from 2005 (£11,195,244); Madagascar (£5,431,639); Wedding Crashers (£2,182,597); Festival (£34,010); #1 Madagascar £5,431,639 1st week 505 screens (48.5% of top 10)
Down 33.6% from 2004 (£14,628,009); Spider-Man 2 (£8,766,902); The Prince and Me (£366,942); Nathalie (£39,084); #1 Spider-Man 2 £8,766,902 1st week 504 screens (59.9% of top 10)
Up 98.7% from 2003 (£4,889,023); Daddy Day Care (£796,259); Veronica Guerin (£271,996); Whale Rider (£121,610); The In-Laws (£108,031); #1 Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle £1,581,273 2nd week 475 screens 52% drop (32.3% of top 10)
Down 6.6% from 2002 (£10,406,087); Scooby-Doo (£5,129,109); Resident Evil (£801,628); Bad Company (£382,949); Nine Queens (£49,438); #1 Scooby-Doo £5,129,109 1st week 472 screens (49.2% of top 10)
Next weekend 2021 (£6,084,995); Old (£866,860); #1 Black Widow £1,410,288 3rd week 644 screens (23.18% of top 10)
US Box Office
- Thor: Love and Thunder – Disney
Dropped 67.7% taking $46.63m and $233.9m
Took $3.7m from 412 IMAX screens in the US and $20.5m total
Had the 2nd biggest 2nd-weekend drop for MCU after Black Widow (67.8%) slightly ahead of Spider-Man: No Way Home (67.5%) but that was affected the opening weekend before Christmas while Doctor Strange 2 dropped 67.1%. Eternals (62.3%) while The incredible Hulk had the 9th biggest drop 60.1%.
This is despite not having any competition opening against it as often MCU has a two-week gap before the next major release, the films drop 50%+ but then stabilizes in the third weekend down 40%+ but with Nope opening this weekend and them DC League of Super-Pets and then Bullet Train opening over the next three weeks it will drop 50%+ over the next few weeks.
As Black Widow has released the same day on Disney+ the second-weekend drop for Thor: Love and Thunder is far worse but also shows that Black Widow being released the same day on Disney+ didn’t have much impact on the films box office as those who wanted to see it still saw it in the cinema.
In comparison Thor: Ragnarok had one of the lowest second-weekend drops for MCU with 53.5% 23rd lowest similar to Guardians of the Galaxy, Shang-Chi, Iron Man and Thor.
Had the 4th lowest Rotten Tomatoes score for MCU ahead of Eternals, Thor: The Dark World and The Incredible Hulk, with Black Widow #19 shows Phase 4 has been disappointing so far apart from Spider-Man No Way Home.
The 75th biggest second weekend between Minions: The Rise of Gru and Monsters University; #45 Thor: Ragnarok $57.7m ($10.44m+); #131 Thor: The Dark World $36.58m ($10.05m less); #145 Thor $34.7m ($11.93m less)
15th biggest MCU second weekend between Iron Man and Spider-Man: Far From Home;
157th biggest film between X-Men: Days of Future Past and Cast Away; 371st inflation inflated between The Color Purple and Casino Royale; 6th biggest 2022 film between Minions: The Rise of Gru and Sonic the Hedgehog 2; 36th biggest comic-book film between X-Men: Days of Future Past and Doctor Strange; 49th biggest Disney film between Oz the Great and Powerful and Doctor Strange.
EntTelligence data showed most exhibitors increased prices for the film with AMC’s average of $15.05 and Regal’s $14.40 compared to an average of $13.48
After Thor: Love and Thunder opened lower than expected it didn’t join Doctor Strange 2 becoming the latest member of the $100m loser club joining other members MCU Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Avengers Infinity War, Avengers Assemble, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War and Iron Man 3.
The problem with these films is they are called out hits after their big opening weekends but what is now far more important is their second and third weekends as fans will always rush out to see the latest MCU over the opening weekend no matter the reviews.
Took $60.1m (down 59%) from 47 territories and $264.6m and $498m worldwide; Korea $15.3m; UK $24.9m; Australia $21.8m; Korea $21m; Mexico $19m; India $14.5m; Brazil $13.2m;Indonesia $10.6m; Germany $10.3m; France $8.1m; Italy $7.7m.
Took $34.7m from IMAX worldwide including $14.2m internationally
227th biggest worldwide between Venom: Let There be Carnage and Sherlock Holmes; 7th biggest 2022 worldwide between Minions: The Rise of Gru and Fantastic Beasts 3; 47th biggest comic-book film between Ant-Man and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; 62nd biggest Disney film worldwide between Aladdin and Wreck-It Ralph.
- Minions: The Rise of Guru
Dropped 44% in the third weekend taking $26.83m and $263.4m
The 80th biggest third weekend between How the Grinch Stole Christmas and The Hangover;
23rd biggest animated film between Despicable Me 3 and The Incredibles; 119th biggest film between Despicable Me 3 and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets; 306th biggest inflation inflated between Elf and Flashdance; 14th biggest Universal Pictures film between Despicable Me 3 and How the Grinch Stole Christmas (overtaking Jaws, Despicable Me, The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Back to the Future.
EntTelligence had the highest average ticket price for an animated movie at $12.82; Lightyear ($12.45), Sonic the Hedgehog 2 ($11.76), The Bad Guys ($11.32) and Sing 2 ($10.69).
Despicable Me franchise has taken over $4bn worldwide since the first film was released in 2010
Third weekends
2015’s Minions dropped 53.5% $22.93m #3 and $262.54m 78.1% of $336.04m and $1.15bn worldwide 71% $823.39m internationally; (55% Rotten Tomatoes) #1 Ant-Man $24.9m 2nd w/e
2017’s Despicable Me 3 dropped 42.4% $19.35m #2 and $188.39m 71.2% of $264.62m and $1.03bn worldwide 74% $770.17m internationally; (75% Rotten Tomatoes); #1 War of the Planet of the Apes $56.26m
2013’s Despicable Me 2 dropped 43.3% $24.9m #2 and $276m 752% of $368.06m and $970.76m worldwide 62% internationally $602.7m; (59% Rotten Tomatoes) #1 The Conjuring $41.85m
2010’s Despicable Me dropped 27.8% $23.68m #3 and $161.28m 64.1% of $251.55m and $543.15m worldwide 53% internationally $291.6m; (81% Rotten Tomatoes); #1 Inception $462.72m 2nd w/e
The 12 Illumination Entertainment films have taken almost $3bn in the US and over $7.53bn
Took $44.4m from 80 territories and $270.1m and $532.25m worldwide; Mexico $28.1m; UK $27.6m; Australia $25m; Germany $16.4m; Spain $12.5m
43rd biggest animated film worldwide between Despicable Me and WALL-E; 203rd biggest film worldwide between Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and The Revenant; 6th biggest 2022 film between The Batman and Fantastic Beasts 3; 23rd biggest Universal Pictures film worldwide between Despicable Me and How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World.
- Where The Crawdads Sing – Sony Pictures
Opened with $17.25m; received poor reviews (32% Rotten Tomatoes) and A- CinemaScore
EntTelligence data reported 55% were women over 25 with 40% between 18-34 and 41% over 45 with 8% seeing it after 8 pm.
Crawdads was expected to open with about $10m but that always felt low for a film based on The novel that sold over 12 million copies worldwide spending 150 weeks on the best-seller chart (was #1 for 27 non-consecutive weeks, was part of Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine book club and was back as the bestselling novel at Amazon when the last trailer was released at the end of May.
Opened similar to 2018’s A Simple Favour $16.01m taking $53.54m and $97.64m worldwide
Opened bigger than 2004’s The Notebook $13.4m; 2015’s The Longest Ride $13m and Paper Towns $12.6m.
Took $2.3m from Thursday previews similar to The Lost City ($2.5m)
While receiving poor reviews it received a high audience rating (93%) as plays differently to those who have read the book compared to those who have come new the film as many critics have done.
Crawdads is produced by Elizabeth Gabler’s 3000 Pictures one of the first films she has made since Fox 2000 closed after 20th Century Fox was acquired by Disney. Fox 2000 had much success over the years making similar films like Where The Crawdads Sing original films targetting female audiences including The Devil Wear Prada, Hidden Figures, Life of Pi, The Fault in Our Stars, Marley & Me, In Her Shoes and Water For Elephants.
After a nostalgic heavy summer now has three original films that will hopefully build from their success as cinemagoers will have seen trailers for Where The Crawdads Sing, Nope and Bullet Train and choose to see these rather than going to see Top Gun Maverick for their dozenth time.
Similar film adaptions include The Girl on the Train, The Help, Gone Girl, The Secret Life of Bees and upcoming The Nightingale, The Marsh King’s Daughter, they are now more suited to TV with the likes of Normal People and Big Little Lies. Daisy Edgar-Jones starring in the hugely popular Normal People shown on BBC1 in summer 2020 and started in the well-received rom-com horror Fresh last year, released straight to Disney+.
2011’s The Help opened with #7 $26.04m #2 taking $169.7m and $216.63m worldwide
- Paws of Fury – Paramount Pictures
Opened with $6.31m; received mixed reviews (67% Rotten Tomatoes) and A- CinemaScore
Took $505k from Thursday previews; The Bad Guys took $1.15m opening with $23.95m but it’s a very different film
Paw Patrol opened with $13.1m and Clifford $16.6m both day-and-date on Paramount+ but Paws of Fury was never likely to come close, being an acquisition it probably couldn’t go day and date on Paramount
Paramount Pictures acquired the $45m budget film in January then called Blazing Samurai for the US and selected other territories for $10m while Sky Cinema acquired UK rights and will release it on Sky Cinema and in selective cinemas on July 22nd.
The film is loosely based on Mel Brook’s 1974 film Blazing Saddles and started in development in 2014 originally acquired by Open Road Films to be released in 2016.
- Elvis – Warner Bros
Down 28% in the fourth weekend $8m and $106.6m
692nd biggest film between Indecent Proposal and Driving Miss Daisy; 1,277th biggest inflation inflated between Freaky Friday (1977) and Pitch Perfect 3; 10th biggest 2022 film between Lightyear and The Lost City; 113th biggest Warner Bros film between Miss Congeniality and Driving Miss Daisy.
Fourth weekend
1996’s Romeo + Juliet dropped 41.1% taking $3.19m ($7m inflation inflated) and $35.81m ($73m inflation inflated) taking $46.35m ($102m inflation inflated) and $147.54m worldwide ($325m inflation inflated)
2001’s Moulin Rouge dropped 23.4% $3.85m ($7.5m inflation inflated) 5th weekend (after two weeks on platform) and $43.43m ($76m inflation inflated) of $57.38m ($97m inflation inflated) and $179.21m worldwide ($303m inflation inflated)
2008’s Australia dropped 47.9% taking $2.17m ($3.5m inflation inflated) and $41.79m ($55m inflation inflated) of taking $49.55m ($67m inflation inflated) and $211.78m worldwide ($285m inflation inflated)
2013’s The Great Gatsby dropped 51.9% taking $6.51m and $128.5m of $144.85m and $353.65m worldwide
Took $9.8m (down 32%) from 72 territories taking $79.6m and $185.6m worldwide; UK $19.7m; Australia $17.1m; France $5.8m; Germany $3.8m; Japan $3.5M; 935th biggest film worldwide between Knowing and Atlantis: The Lost Empire; 14th biggest 2022 film worldwide between Lightyear and The Lost City; 154th biggest Warner Bros film between Watchmen and Storks.
- Jurassic World Dominion
Down 40% in the sixth weekend taking $5.15m and $359.91m
93rd biggest 5th between Runaway Bride and Look Who’s Talking; #40 Jurassic Park ($10.86m); #35 Jurassic World ($11.45m);
56th biggest film between Deadpool and Inside Out; 152nd inflation inflated between Beverly Hills Cop II and Batman Returns; 4th biggest 2022 film between The Batman and Minions: The Rise of Gru; 7th biggest Universal Pictures film between Despicable Me 2 and Furious 7; #1 Jurassic World $652.3m; #3 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom $417.71m; #4 Jurassic Park $402.52m; #20 The Lost World: Jurassic Park $329.08m #31 Jurassic Park 3 $181.16m
Had a good hold in the 6th weekend despite being released on PVOD showing again despite what exhibitors believe if it’s a film audiences want to see in the cinema they will still choose to see it in the cinema.
As the 6 Jurassic Park films have taken $2.24bn in the US and $5.91bn worldwide while Jurassic World Dominion has been called the final Jurassic Park film it’s unlikely Universal Pictures won’t be making more films in the future Jurassic Universe?
Sixth weekends
2015’s Jurassic World dropped 36.9% $11.45m #5 taking $611.22m 93.5% of $653.4m; $1.018bn internationally $1.671bn WW; #1 Ant-Man $57.22m 1st w/e
2018’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom dropped 40.3% $6.72m #8 taking $397.5m 95.1%of $417.71m; $892.74m internationally and $1.31bn WW; #1 Mission Impossible: Fallout $61.23m 1st w/e
1993’s Jurassic Park dropped 29% $10.86m ($36m inflation inflated) #2 taking $236.42m ($550m inflation inflated) of $357.06m ($860m inflation inflated) and $978.16m worldwide ($2.4bn inflation inflated); #1 The Firm $13.28m 3rd week
1997’s The Lost World: Jurassic Park dropped 43.6% to $4.53m ($9m inflation inflated) #3 taking $213.22m ($295m inflation inflated) of $229.08m ($422m inflation inflated) (third biggest film of 1997 behind Titanic $600.78m and Men in Black $250.69m); #1 Face/Off $23.38m 1st w/e
2001’s Jurassic Park 3 dropped 45.7% to $2.41m ($5m inflation inflated) #12 taking $172.66m ($310m inflation inflated) 95% of $181.71m ($331m inflation inflated) (ninth biggest film of 2001) and $368.78m worldwide; #1 American Pie 2 $12.51m 3rd week
Took $8.4m (down 47%) from 72 territories taking $542.8m and $902.5m worldwide; China $150m; Mexico $42.7m; UK $39.4m; Australia $24.2m; 65th biggest film worldwide between The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and Spider-Man 3; 3rd biggest 2022 worldwide between Doctor Strange 2 and The Batman; 9th biggest Universal Pictures film worldwide between Despicable Me 2 and The Secret Life of Pets; #6 Jurassic Park $1.04bn; #3 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom $1.3bn; #1 Jurassic World $1.66bn
Took $53.5m from IMAX worldwide
- Top Gun: Maverick – Paramount Pictures
Dropped 21% in the eighth weekend taking $12.26m and $618.23m
16% have seen the film more than once in the cinema and 4% have seen it more than 4 times or more
8th biggest 8h weekend between Home Alone and La La Land; but as Aladdin, Frozen and Chicago had platform openings it had the 4th biggest 8th weekend between Home Alone and There’s Something About Mary; 1986’s Top Gun took $4.63m down 8% in its 8th-weekend $13m inflation inflated taking $80.55m 46% of $176.8m
11th biggest film between Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Incredibles 2; 29th biggest inflation inflated between Home Alone and Incredibles 2; Biggest Paramount Pictures film in the US ahead of Titanic. (Paramount will re-release Titanic next February for its 25th anniversary)
Currently, Paramount have a 23.9% share of the US BO taking $1,062bn (Top Gun Maverick taking 58.2%) biggest BO since 2011 ($1.96bn) but this shows how far the studio has dropped over the last decade as in 2011 they had Marvell and Dreamworks which along with Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol helped celebrate their 100th anniversary in style; Universal have 21.5% ($956m); Disney 17.2% ($767m); Warner Bros 13.1% ($583m; Sony 11.3% ($504m).
Paramount’s 2023 slate is probably their strongest for more than a decade with Transformers: Rise of the Beats, Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1, Scream 6 and Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie.
Tom Cruise’s 42 films have taken almost $5.06bn in the US and $11.9bn worldwide; after Top Gun Maverick took $1bn+ globally Tom Cruise tweeted on Monday “To all the films in release, to all the studios, and all the exhibitors: congratulations. To the audience: thank you for venturing out and allowing us to entertain you.” See you at the movies.
On Friday Top Gun Maverick overtook the first run of Titanic to become Paramount Pictures’ biggest film in the US taking $604m but of course, while it has overtaken Titanic’s $600.78m would be at least $1.23bn inflation inflated. It’s impossible to make direct comparisons as Titanic was released in 70mm but had no surcharges to its prices while Top Gun Maverick surcharges were about 60% off regular prices.
What it does highlight again is the poor performance of the studio over the last decade and while 2022 will be their biggest year since 2011 they will still be behind at least Disney and Universal at the end of the year.
Took $19.2m (down 22%) taking $619.4m and $1,247bn from 65 territories; the UK $89.7m; Japan $67.7m; Australia $57.2m; France $46.8m; Korea $42.7m, 22nd biggest film worldwide between Iron Man 3 and Minions; 2nd biggest Paramount Pictures film between Titanic and Transformers: Dark of the Moon.
Has taken $96m IMAX ($52m from the US and $44m internationally)
Top Gun Maverick is the 50th film to take $1bn+ since Jurassic Park in 1993; its Paramount’s first $1bn+ film globally since 2014’s Transformers: Age of Extinction (inflated with China BO)
Also released was Netflix’s Anthony and Joe Russo spy film The Gray Man on 450 screens in the US and 1,550 screens internationally in 25 territories ahead of its release on Netflix next week. Netflix never report box office figures for their films but the action thriller Red Notice starring Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds took about $2m before becoming Netflix’s most-watched movie. Reviews for The Gray Man have been mixed as was the case with Red Notice but the audience reaction was far more positive as these films need to be seen with an audience and on a big screen.
UK Box Office Top 10
UK Box Office Preview
This weekend as last weekend has been historically over the last 20+ years very lucrative for cinema as school summer holidays begin and children like going to the cinema and go many times during the school holidays as it was a cheap day out, it still is i some indepedent and Vue cinemas.
Cinema is all about momentum and that was strong over the weeks after Top Gun Maverick opened 8 weeks ago, the problem is there isn’t another film like that until possibly Avatar: The Way of Water in December to get audiences of all ages excited about going to the cinema again, so these are the moths exhibitors need to do more to get audiences into cinemas to see the films they haven’t been going to see in cinemas for the last few years.
It’s easy for trade bodies and exhibitors to call out films like Minions: The Rise of Gru, Jurassic World Dominion, Top Gun: Maverick, Doctor Strange 2, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, The Batman, Sing 2 and Spider-Man: No Way Home as audiences are always going to come out to see them. But most of the film’s opening over the next few months will need more work to get audiences excited to see them in the cinema as many of them would be films they would normally wait to see at home.
Thor: Love and Thunder will hold #1 for a third weekend the first film since Doctor Strange 2 to do so (so far this year comic-book movies have been #1 for 13 weeks with Uncharted and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 #1 for 5 weeks). Despite holding #1 and having no competition opening against it for a second weekend it will drop 50% despite also cooler temperatures, taking £1.8m-£2.4m similar to third weekends of Shang-Chi, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man Homecoming, Iron Man, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: Winter Soldier, Iron Man 2 and Blade Widow.
Minions: The Rise of Gru will hold #2 for the third weekend (4th on release) down 30%-40% taking £1.7m-£2.1m.
Where The Crawdads Sing opened third with about £1m had it not been for the hot weather it could have opened similar to 2018’s A Simple Favour opened #2 at £1,621,900 (including £303,453 previews) from 480 screens taking £4,930,383 opening similar to 2011’s The Help opened with #7 £896,597 from 294 screens (including £271,336 previews) taking £3,865,125 (£4,796,327 inflation inflated).
Daisy Edgar-Jones has been generating a lot of media coverage ahead of release, she previously starred in the hugely popular Normal People shown on BBC1 in the summer of 2020.
Where The Crawdads Sing was the escapist hit of lockdown last year in the UK selling more paperback than any other. While the film might have received mixed reviews many who read the book will still want to see the film and the book featured in the Duchess of Cornwall’s first book club.
It was due to have preview screenings at Everyman cinemas on Tuesday but many cinemas cancelled them probably due to the high temperatures but on the hottest day of the year, surely 2.5 hours in cold air-conditioned cinema is the best place to be?
Top Gun Maverick could switch places with Elvis dropping another 20%-25% taking £610k-£700k
NT Live Prima Facie starring Jodie Comer has screened on Thursday and Friday in cinemas, as other Event Cinema screenings prices are more than double regular prices as seen at Vue £22.99. Bookings look good with several sold-out screenings on Thursday just depends on if they are added to encore screenings Fri-Sun if the NT Live is included in the weekend BO as if it could join Where The Crawdads Sing in the top 5.
Opening next week
- DC League Of Super-Pets – Warner Bros
Animated superhero comedy based on the DC Comics superhero team Legion of Super-Pets featuring the voices of Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Kate McKinnon, John Krasinski, Vanessa Bayer, Natasha Lyonne, Diego Luna and Keanu Reeves and directed by Jared Stern.
Superheroes and pets are similar to Batman and The Lego Movie as while DC films struggle to match the success and enjoyment of MCU films The Lego Batman Movie was probably one of the best DC films.
Family films featuring pets have been hugely successful at the box office in the UK with 2001’s Cats and Dogs opening £3,707,358 (£6,734,138 inflation inflated) taking £23,013,391 (£41,802,102 inflation inflated); 2010’s Cats & Dogs: Revenge of Kitty Galore opened £1,553,005 (£2,729,587 inflation inflated) taking £3,972,149 (£5,020,262 inflation inflated) while the third film Cats & Dogs: Paws Unite! Still managed to open with £456,532 #2 in October 2020 in the middle of the pandemic from 531 screens taking £1,375,548 after 6 weeks.
2017’s The LEGO Batman Movie opened £7,906,468 (including £2,449,040 previews) taking £26,771,191
2016’s The Secret Life of Pets opened £9,580,039 (including £3,630,044 previews) taking £35,825,195
2019’s The Secret Life of Pets 2 opened £3,490,598 taking £18,638,365
Was trailered with Lightyear, Minions: The Rise of Gru along with Thor: Love and Thunder and opening four weeks after Minions: The Rise of Gru and with no competition for the rest of the summer holidays should play well.
But away from The Lego Movie and The Lego Batman Movie Warner Animations Warner Animation Storks, Smallfoot, and The LEGO Ninjago Movie haven’t performed as well.
Was due to be released in May 2021 pushed back to May 2022 and then moved to July 29th 2022 after Warner Bros delayed Black Adam to October