Top 5 Breakdown
- Paddington 2 – £1,690,027 – £29,332,318
Down 41.74% in its fifth-weekend holding #1 Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle had previews over the weekend taking £2.1m would have topped the chart but as this will be added to its opening weekend in ten days’ time Paddington 2 is the official #1 for the second weekend in a row.
Paddington 2 is now the tenth biggest film of 2017 overtaking The Lego Batman Movie, The Boss Baby and Sing and by next weekend will become the ninth film this year to take over £30m with Star Wars: The Last Jedi being the tenth film to do so this year also probably next weekend.
As have repeated many times since Paddington 2 opened is holding close to last year’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them took £1.41m in its fifth weekend (against opening weekend of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story £17.3m and third weekend of Moana £1.42m) taking £44.96m (taking 82% of its final box office £54.6m). If Paddington 2 was to perform similarly would take £31m+ but Paddington 2 is likely to have a boost over the lucrative Christmas holidays that start at the end of next week.
Paddington took £12.7m over the lucrative Christmas holidays but was earlier in its release and the other family competition Penguins of Madagascar, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb and Annie disappointed at the box office. This year’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (started strongly in previews) Ferdinand (had an ok start from previews) and Star Wars: The Last Jedi will be much tougher but of course the first family film always has the advantage, but Paddington 2 will be three weeks further in on its release than Paddington.
Impossible to compare with the original films fifth weekend as it was Boxing Day weekend taking (52% more) £2,558,263 total £23.95m 63% of its final box office of £37.84m; Paddington 2 total is currently 22% ahead of Paddington which would see a final box office of about £45m which could see it overtake Despicable Me 3 as the biggest children’s film of the year.
After the massive success of Paddington 2 Studiocanal UK go back to normality next year with apart from Early Man which is likely to perform close to 2015’s Shaun the Sheep £16m have no stand-out films for the year.
Paddington 2 is holding close to last year’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them which took £2.73m in its fourth weekend taking £42,392,249 (taking 77% of its final box office £54.6m). If Paddington 2 was to perform similarly it would take £35m+ but as Paddington took 48% (£18.12m) of its final box office of £37,842,948 would see a final box office of £55.9m.
Paddington took £2,834,003 in its sixth weekend taking £30,818,050 but hard to compare with Paddington 2 sixth weekend as it the lucrative New Year’s Day weekend; Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them the sixth weekend took £931,675 and £47.46m total.
When Star Wars: The Force Awakens opened two years ago it took 88% of the weekends top 10 box office with £4,521, 557 shared between the other nine films apart from Sisters opening with £1,215,368 the only other film that held ok was The Good Dinosaur with £890,350 in its fourth weekend which is what Paddington 2 is likely to take next weekend. With Ferdinand already taking £600,000 from previews last weekend it will add take a similar amount opening Saturday.
- Daddy’s Home 2 – £1,135,646 – £9,742,929
Down 31.9% in its third weekend becoming Paramount Pictures biggest film of 2017 overtaking both Baywatch (£9.52m) and Transformers: The Last Knight (£9.52m); Daddy’s Home took £2,268,945 in its third weekend taking £11.86m on its way to take £17.2m.
£2,908,358 in its second weekend which was the second weekend of the lucrative Christmas holidays taking £8.142,525 (47%) of its £17.2m total.
Paramount Pictures released 9 films in 2017 taking £43.96m will again be the worst performing studio in the UK as in the US with many films underwhelming at the box office and the lack of films. Disney can release 8 films a year as all 8 will perform strongly only four of their films took more than £5m.
For 2018 Paramount currently also have 9 films set for release starting the year with Alexander Payne’s Downsizing was expected to be an award contender but only received one Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Mission Impossible 6 and Transformers spin-off Bumblebee are their two biggest films with Cloverfield 3, Action Point, A Quiet Place, Sherlock Gnomes and Overlord their others.
Alex Garland’s Annihilation was to be released by Paramount in February but will instead be released three weeks after US release on Netflix. This is the second studio film Netflix have taken international rights for after Shaft remake is likely to become more regular and Netflix do similar with several TV series more recently Good Girls, Dynasty reboot, Riverdale Black Lightning and Star Trek: Discovery.
- Wonder – £742,687 – £2,586,699
Down 40.1% in its second weekend after the extensive talker screening program and then positive reviews positive word of mouth should have seen Wonder hold stronger than it did especially over a quiet weekend.
Was always unlikely to match its US success but as with The Blind Side in April 2010 after opening with £1,313,317 in March 2010 it held far stronger dropping only 24% taking £1m going on to take £5,933,635.
Wonder will be one of many films that will lose most of its screens on Thursday when Star Wars: The Last Jedi opens in about 650 cinemas but probably over 3,000 screens.
Lionsgate has released over 21 films in 2017 taking £75.45m with La La Land taking 41%; Hacksaw Ridge, The Hitman’s Bodyguard and Jigsaw were steady performers but Power Rangers and Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets were their two biggest disappointments. Action comedy The Spy Who Dumped Me, Sicario sequel Soldado and Robin Hood are among their releases for next year but are lacking any potential big box office hit Robin Hood could be but after the disappointing performance of King Arthur and only eight years after Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood do audiences want another Robin Hood.
- Justice League – £552,227 – £16,683,721
Down 62.8% in its fourth weekend; Justice League is bunched together with a group of films most expected much more from this year Pirates of the Caribbean 5, Blade Runner 2049, T2: Trainspotting 2, Alien: Covenant and Kong: Skull Island.
- Murder on the Orient Express – £412,400 – £23,011,404
Down 49.9 in its sixth weekend has overtaken Wonder Woman and Fifty Shades Darker to become the 16th biggest film of the year and will shortly overtake last years The Girl on the Train (£23.37m).
Many box office experts predict a film will open and take about 10% of their US box office for most of the general blockbusters and comic-book films this is the case apart from Wonder Woman and League which are both less. While Murder on the Orient Express as Kingsman: The Golden Circle both will take almost 25% the biggest UK/US box office share of the year was Dunkirk with over 30%.
Ferdinand is 20th Century Fox’s final release of the year opening Saturday after previews last weekend and start the year with two Golden Globe Nominees The Greatest Showman and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri which has been generating strong buzz since its premiere at Venice Film Festival in September and closed the London Film Festival in October.
Continuing for the rest of the year 20th Century Fox have a strong slate as this year targeting older audiences The Shape of Water, Red Sparrow, Isle of Dogs and Bohemian Rhapsody along with comic-book fans with three Marvel films including the eagerly awaited Deadpool 2. But many fear this time next year 20th Century Fox will be a unit within Disney and if Disney were to acquire them few of these films would unlikely be made with Blue Sky Studios and Fox Searchlight the first to go or be closed. While Disney has had great success with their brands’ cinema should be much more than that and give audiences something new to experiences;
14 of 20th Century Fox films next year are original films compared with only one for Disney A Wrinkle in Time. With Dunkirk, Get Out, The Boss Baby, Split, Coco, Girls Trip, Baby Driver, Wonder. Hidden Figures, It and Murder on the Orient Express have shown is audiences want something new something different to experience in cinemas alongside all the sequels, reboots, remakes and comic-book movies and hope if Disney do buy 20th Century Fox they become a label within the studio as Touchstone Pictures were for many years to continue to make these films audiences also want to see.
20th Century Fox received 27 Golden Globe nominations 15 from Fox Searchlight and12 from 20th Century Fox compared with only 2 from Walt Disney Studios with many worried what will happen to the studio if Disney does acquire the studio this week.
Also released
The Disaster Artist – Warner – £331,685 – £677,471; after opening in 22 screens in London expanded into 303 screens for a disappointing expansion after receiving strong reviews over a quiet weekend for new releases The Disaster Artist should have performed stronger.
The Room and The Disaster Artist has similarities to 1994 Tim Burton film Ed Wood the director made the similarly infamous 1959 turkey Plan 9 From Outer Space. Similarly, Ed Wood received critical acclaim, flopped at the US box office in October 1994 and was released seven months later in the UK; opened 26th May 1995 taking £495,353 would be the equivalent of £1.1m today.
Stronger – Lionsgate – £102,379 from 148 screens – after having a disappointing release in the US was always going to be a hard sell for the film in the UK despite opening over a quiet weekend for new releases.
Brigsby Bear – Sony Pictures – £4,500 from 63 screens; including previews from Odeon Screen Unseen event £36,800.
Better Watch Out – Universal – £44,305 from 154 screens
Muppets Christmas Carol – Park Circus – £36,287 from 29 screens – the beloved classic adaption of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol re-released to celebrate the films 25th anniversary; the film was one of the first released in the UK by Buena Vista UK after they set up UK distribution after their long distribution deal with Warner Bros.
UK box office in detail
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £5,515,125 down 44.1% from last weekend £9,864,139;
Had the lowest weekend in the UK since October 11st-13th 2013 taking £ 5,001,792 when The Fifth Estate opened with £502,495 and Prisoners was #1 with £968,990 but as Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle took £2.1m and Ferdinand took £600,000 this weekend isn’t comparable.
The weekend admissions 835,416 down 35.4% from last weekend 1,294,506 (average price £7.62 by UK Cinema Association/BFI for 2017).
19 films opened at weekend taking £608,187;
The weekend was down 34.8% from last year (£8,465,385): Office Christmas Party £1,198,176, Snowden £209,352, The Birth of a Nation £135,162
Down 39.3% from 2015: (£9,087,311): Christmas with the Coopers £683,217, Victor Frankenstein £431,125, Krampus £412,713, The Night Before £272,930
Next weekend in 2016: (£21,944,702) Rogue One: A Star Wars Story £17,305,011, The Nutcracker – Bolshoi 2016 £135,026
UK Box Office Top 10
US Box Office Top 10
US Box office
Disney – Coco – drops 33% in its third weekend taking $18.45m and $135.65m; after three weeks Moana took similar $18.53m and taken $144.7m.
Coco took $55.3m internationally with an international total of $254m and a global box office of $390m.
Warner Bros – Justice League – dropped 42% in its fourth weekend taking $9.66m and $212.12m total;
Justice League fourth weekend drop was the biggest in the DC Extended Universe; Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice dropped 61.4%, Suicide Squad 41.3% Man of Steel 45%, Wonder Woman 39.6%; Justice League will end with about $225m 76% of Man of Steel, 66% of Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, 68% of Suicide Squad and 53% of Wonder Woman.
Despite many disappointments, this year on December 6th Warner Bros had taken over $5bn at the global box office for 2017 only for the second time since 2013. This weekend they had also taken over $2bn at the US box office currently #1 studio but by next Sunday Disney will become #1 studio in the US;
Warner Bros and Disney have two different approaches to the films they make. Warner Bros make a wide mix of genres mixing original films with franchises having many disappointments including King Arthur, Blade Runner 2049 and Justice League but the success of Wonder Woman, It and Dunkirk performed far better than predicted.
While Disney released only 8 films in 2017 all franchise properties having huge success with Beauty and the Beast, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and next week Star Wars: The Last Jedi but also had underperformers with Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales and Cars 3.
While this approach brings the hits, cinema should be more than franchises but that is what box office has become with about 40% of the box office of the year coming from the top 10 films which cannot be good for the industry long-term. As Disney can’t keep churning out just existing franchises as seen with Pirates of the Caribbean and Cars they will have a sell-by date in the future as with all franchises even Marvel and Star Wars.
Justice League took $15.4m the weekend international taking $400m and $600m globally from 67 territories; DC Extended Universe five films have taken $3.72bn worldwide after the disappointing performance of Justice League Warner Bros is planning shake-up with a less hands-on approach to the films close to what Disney does with Marvel. Their next film is Aquaman set for December 2018.
Warner Bros are currently favourites to acquire international rights for Bond 25 which could cause complications with Wonder Woman 2 which is set for November 2nd, 2019 release which would be the same weekend Bond 25 would be released internationally with its the US released dated for November 9th. Warner has already brought the release forward 6 weeks to move it away from Star Wars Episode IX.
While DC Extended Universe has received much criticism after five films they have taken much more than Marvel Cinematic Universe had taken over their first five film. DC also succeeded launching a successful stand-alone female comic-book movie after only four films Captain Marvel will be Marvel’s first female stand-alone which will be their 21st MCU film released in 2019.
At Comic-Con Experience in Sao Paolo, Warner Bros announced a new slate of upcoming DC Extended Universe films that included Suicide Squad 2, Batgirl, The Batman, Justice League Dark, Flashpoint, and Green Lantern Corps along with Shazam and Wonder Woman 2 already announced.
Despite the poor performance of Justice League Warner Bros aren’t slowing down with their plans with DC but only have Aquaman set for release next year with Wonder Woman 2 set for 2019 but either Suicide Squad 2 or The Batman are also likely to be released in 2019.
Lionsgate – Wonder – dropped 30.5% in its fourth weekend taking $8.44m and $100.3m total; after four weeks The Blind Side in 2009 took $15.05m in its fourth weekend taking $149m of its final box office of $258.9m.
A24 – The Disaster Artist adds 821 screens up 425% taking $6.36m and $7.96m total; expands again next week after receiving positive reviews 95% Rotten Tomatoes;
Warner Bros/New Line produced The Disaster Artist but decided after screening it in March at SXSW to sell US rights to A24 as believed they could market the film properly. Studios like Warner Bros aren’t set to market and release films like these why many set up art-house labels in the past Warner launched Warner Independent Pictures in 2003 with its first release Before Sunset.
They released about 30 films few of them were successful at the box office apart from their final film Slumdog Millionaire which was moved to the main studio but originally planned to release it straight to DVD but then Fox Searchlight came on board to share US distribution rights and went on to take $377m worldwide and won eight Oscars including Best Film.
Disney – Thor: Ragnarok – dropped 36.6% in its sixth weekend taking $6.27m and $301.13m total;
Thor: Ragnarok has taken $532m internationally and global box office of $833.2m become the seventh biggest Marvel Cinematic Universe globally;
Paramount Pictures – Daddy’s Home 2 dropped 21.8% in its fifth weekend taking $5.91m and $91.07m;
Daddy’s Home took $4.94m in its fifth weekend taking $138.45m (52 more) if Daddy’s Home 2 continues to hold as it is will end with $98m which would be 35% less than the original film and Paramount’s second biggest film of the year;
Daddy’s Home opened Christmas Day while opening over the lucrative Christmas period it shortened its playing time, but Daddy’s Home 2 still has the Christmas holidays ahead so could hold better in the coming weekends even if it will be out of the top 10.
Globally Daddy’s Home 2 has taken $117m less than half of Daddy’s Home $243n
Focus Features – Lady Bird – expanded into 1,557 screens (adding 363 screens) down 19.6% taking $3.45m total $22.23m;
Fox Searchlight – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri expanded into 1,620 screens (adding 190 screens) taking $2.86m down 34.9% taking $18.31m; dropping out of the top 10 showing how crowded the marketplace is becoming for award contenders with I, Tonya opening at the weekend and then in two weeks’ time Downsizing, The Post (all are expected to receive Golden Globe nominations next week).
Its currently performing close to 2014’s Birdman and 2015’s Spotlight and with likely Oscar nominations is expected to take around $45m.
Broad Green Pictures – Just Getting Started opened with $3.2m; received negative reviews only 10% Rotten Tomatoes score and only C CinemaScore; disappointing performance for Ron Shelton’s first film he has directed since 2003’s Hollywood Homicide having previously directed classic 80s and 90s sports films Bull Durham, White Men Can’t Jump, Cobb, Tin Cup and Play it to the Bone.
Many thought over a quiet weekend for new releases Just Getting Started could do close to 2013’s Las Vegas $16.33m. But the strong opening of The Disaster and all the other award contenders are cannibalizing the marketplace as they did in September/October. The advantage they have is with the lucrative Christmas season approaching will give many of these a chance to build on their current performance.
On limited release
Neon – I, Tonya opened with $264,155 from 4 screens; received positive reviews currently 90% Rotten Tomatoes score.
Margot Robbie is expected to get a Best Actress Golden Globe nomination next week be similar to Nicole Kidman who was nominated and won Best Actress Golden Globe in 1996 for her performance in Gus Van Sant’s black comedy To Die For
Sony Classics – Call Me by Your Name added 5 screens down 1.5% in its third weekend taking $285,850 from 9 screens taking $1.37m;
A few weeks ago, Armie Hammer called out the double standards for the way Casey Affleck and Nate Parker were treated during last year’s Oscars. Parker’s film, The Birth of a Nation received a very positive response at Sundance Film Festival but was overshadowed by the rape allegations which he was acquitted for. But have been similar murmurings about Casey Affleck many thought would stop him from winning Best Actor Oscar. What this does set up is a very uncomfortable exchange next year when Casey Affleck hands over the Best Actress award to the winner.
Focus Features – Darkest Hour added 53 screens up 617% in its third weekend taking $741,417 from 53 screens total $1.19m;
Fox Searchlight – The Shape of Water added 39 screens up 585% taking $1.14m from 31 screens and $1.37m total; received very positive reviews (98% Rotten Tomatoes score) since its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival; expends into 150 screens this weekend and then into 600+ screens the following weekend.
Amazon – Wonder Wheel added 42 screens up 14% taking $155,805 from 47 screens taking $321,985;
Opened December 15th
Opening UK
- Star Wars: The Last Jedi – Disney
The second film in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, after 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens starring Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Gwendoline Christie, Laura Dern, and Benicio del Toro and directed by Rian Johnson; has the world premiere in Los even Angeles on December and European premiere December 12th at the Royal Albert Hall; the third film Star Wars: Episode IX will be released December 20, 2019.
Embargo ended on Tuesday early Twitter reaction on Sunday morning was very positive, but these comments need to be taken with a pinch of salt as the audience is so hyped up coming out of premiers even Justice League had positive comments. Must compare them to similar post-premiere comment to The Force Awakens with many describing it as a fresh new Star Wars story only for those same people to call it A New Hope remake a few weeks later.
Case in point when reviews were released on Tuesday while it has received 93% Rotten Tomatoes score many commented that there were many similarities with The Empire Strikes Back which is what many were expecting. You can excuse The Force Awakens a bit for remaking A New Hope as it was the first new Star Wars film for 30 years and Disney wanted to launch the franchise to the next generation the same can’t be said for The Last Jedi as you would have hoped Lucasfilm would have moved the story on rather than just repeat what came before.
In October 2012 after George Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney they announced plans for a new trilogy. In January 2013 J. J. Abrams was signed to direct the first part and then in June 2014, Rian Johnson was signed to direct the second part previously directed 2012 Sci-fi film Looper.
In August 2015, Colin Trevorrow was signed to direct Star Wars Episode IX but in September 2017 he was replaced by director J. J. Abrams who previously said he wouldn’t direct another Star Wars film (Sam Mendes said the same after Skyfall and then directed Spectre and Michael Bay keeps promising that his finished with Transformer films but keeps returning). Rian Johnson has recently been attached to produce a new Star Wars Trilogy with the first likely to be released in 2021 when in 2021 is likely dependent on if Disney were to buy 20th Century Fox as currently have Avatar 3 dated for December 2021.
The teaser trailer was released in April 2017 was viewed 43m times in its first 24 hours and the official trailer released in October was viewed 120.1m times in its first 24 hours in October; was the fourth most-watched trailer of the year behind Avengers: Infinity Wars, It and Thor: Ragnarok.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens took £2.4m from midnight screenings and £9.67m from Thursday (previous highest Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 £9.48m); Friday £6.9m and Saturday £8.7m (having the biggest ever Saturday more than previous record holder Skyfall) Sunday £8.5m total £24.23m and four-day total of £34.01m;
With so many films now having extended opening weekends like Spectre it’s hard to compare them previous biggest four-day openings include 2015’s Jurassic World £19,289,562 and 2011’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow Part 2 3 day opening £23.75m while Skyfall opened with £20,180,369 over three days; this year’s biggest opening which was also a three-day opening was Beauty and the Beast with £19.7m.
Did random price check of 234 UK cinemas (Cineworld, Empire, Everyman, Light, Odeon, Picturehouse, Showcase and Vue) showing Star Wars The Last Jedi regular adult tickets averages are 2D £11.604 3D £13.19 IMAX £17.91 and 4DX £17.55; while average ticket price is still claimed to be £7.41. From my random survey, only 7% of cinemas are lower than UKCA claimed average with Cardiff the cheapest and of course Leicester Sq. the most expensive.
Averages:
63 – Odeon Cinemas – 2D – £12.76 – 3D – £14.54 – IMAX £19.29 (10 screens)
64 – Cineworld Cinemas – 2D – £11.34 – 3D – £13.31 – IMAX – £18.34 (11 screens)
56 – Vue Cinemas – 2D – £10.14 – 3D – £12.38 – IMAX – 314.16 (3 screens)
20 – Everyman Cinemas – 2D -£14.85
10 – Empire Cinemas – 2D – £8.26 – 3D – £9.86 – IMAX – £14.98 (2 screens)
10 – Picturehouse Cinemas – 2D – £12.32- 3D – £14.98 – IMAX – £13.00 (1 screen)
10 – Showcase Cinemas – 2D – £10.39 – 3D – £12.39 – IMAX – £18.40 (1 screen)
I paid first time £10.49 and second time £16.49 in 3D at my local Vue cinemas for Star Wars: The Force Awakens those two cinemas would cost £5.99 (Vue have cut their prices for their Harrow cinema by 43%) but for the North Finchley Vue up 9.6% for The Last Jedi.
Was looking at the number of screenings of The Last Jedi in the UK in many multiplexes are 40+ shows a day; it will open in about 600 screens which will be about 24,000 each day over 100,000 over 4 days. If had an average of 200 seats at average of £11.61 that’s a possible opening of £232.5m it’s opening w/e will be about 12% capacity £28m;
While many screenings at BFI IMAX are sold out despite tickets being on sale for over two months probably a small fraction of the over 20m seats available over its opening weekend have been sold in advance.
Advance booking for The Force Awakens opened on 19th October crashing websites Vue Cinemas said they had sold 10,000 tickets in the first 90 minutes of sales selling 45,000 tickets in first 24 hours. In the week before The Force Awakens opened Vue Cinemas announced had sold 320,00 tickets (beating 284,850 by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 in 2010). with an average of £12.60 will add £4million to its box office. Odeon Cinemas sold more than 500,000 advance tickets double Spectre and four times 50 Shades of Grey. With another 400,000 sold at Cineworld, Picturehouse, Everyman and other cinemas have probably sold 1.2 million tickets.
So different to when the first prequel advance bookings opened July 1st, 1999 The Phantom Menace crashed phone lines UCI selling 11,500 tickets in 35 minutes. With lines across Leicester Square of fans booking to at Odeon.
Hasn’t been any similar announcements from exhibitors for the sales for The Last Jedi despite tickets going on sale several weeks earlier.
- Ferdinand – 20th Century Fox
Animated comedy featuring voices of John Cena, Kate McKinnon, Anthony Anderson, Bobby Cannavale, Peyton Manning, Gina Rodriguez, Miguel Ángel Silvestre, and David Tennant and directed by Carlos Saldanha based on Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson’s children’s book The Story of Ferdinand produced by Blue Sky Studios.
It’s the 12th animated film made by Blue Sky Studios since Ice Age was released in March 2002. Have Spies in Disguise set for release in 2019 and Nimona set for release in 2020 but the future for Blue Sky Studios is unknown if Disney acquires 20th Century Fox film assets as Disney won’t keep it having Pixar.
The first trailer premiered March 28, 2017, the second trailer June 14, 2017, and the third trailer September 20, 2017.
After releasing their last Dreamworks Animation films this year The Boss Baby and Captain Underpants 20th Century Fox recently signed a deal with Locksmith Animation to make one film every 18 months the first Ron’s Gone Wrong set for release in 2020 and signed a deal with Robot Chicken creators Stoopid Buddy Stoodios but of course if Disney does buy Fox these deals are up in the air.
Ferdinand had previews over the weekend as Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle taking £606,908.
Opening in US
- Star Wars: The Last Jedi – Disney
Two years ago, was massive hype and expectation being the first Star Wars film for 10 years since the release of the last prequel Revenge of the Sith and 32 years after Return of the Jedi.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens focused on Han Solo the focus for Star Wars: The Last Jedi was meant to be on Luke Skywalker with Star Wars Episode IX on General Leia but Carrie Fisher’s death last December had to change Lucasfilm’s plans for the final film as Star Wars: The Last Jedi is Carrie Fisher’s final role as General Leia.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens received positive reviews and had the biggest ever opening weekend in the US $247,966,675 and became the biggest ever film in the US overtaking Titanic and Avatar. After the hype had faded away many Star Wars fans realised The Force Awakens was a remake of Star Wars: A New Hope as South Park compared to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign as that’s when you get memberries.
Last year the first Star Wars spinoff, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story opened with $155.1m and went on to take $532m the seventh-largest ever film at the US box office.
The middle chapters of the original trilogy (The Empire Strikes Back) and the prequel trilogy (Attack of the Clones) were the lowest performing at the box office for each trilogy and similar is expected for The Last Jedi.
Tracking three weeks ago was predicting an opening of around $200m would be about 20% less than The Force Awakens and be the fourth biggest opening behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens $247.9m, Jurassic World $208.8m, and 2012’s The Avengers $207.4m.
In November 2015 Star Wars: The Force Awakens was racking to open at $210m opening 18% bigger with $247.9m while Rogue One was tracking to open last year with $130m but opened 19% bigger.
In December 2015 ahead of the release of The Force Awakens more than 64m around the globe had 140m interactions about Star Wars on Facebook during its opening weekend and were 4.9m tweets from Thursday, Dec. 17, to Sunday becoming the most-tweeted movie of the year. For the whole of 2015 Star Wars generated over 234m interactions on social media.
In 2012 when Disney announced plans for a new trilogy they also planned to have a Star Wars film every year for ever more. Star Wars: The Last Jedi is the third Star Wars film in three years which for Star Wars fans is great news but for many others, its two Star Wars films too many while the prequels received much-deserved criticism one positive was they were separated by three years.
Even Mark Hamill has said in recent interviews that there are too many Star Wars films with the original trilogy there were two years but for these new Star Wars films its only five months till the next one. The third Star Wars anthology film is expected to be Obi-Wan Kenobi to start shooting at Pinewood Studios in January 2019 for a December 2020 release is a year after Star Wars IX will be released with Solo released next May.
The problem with Solo but more so with Obi-Wan Kenobi the original trilogy and the prequels cover so much of their story what more can be told about them while as with Rogue One and the last prequel Revenge of the Sith they don’t have the tension other films have as you know what happens at the end. While opening them between the sequels only confuses Star Wars non-fans wondering why Rey and Finn aren’t in these films and didn’t Han Solo in The Force Awakens.
Had a discussion on Twitter recently and someone said I had an issue with Disney after they brought the success other studios developed. Paramount did the hard work 10 years ago launching Marvel by the time Disney had acquired Marvel in 2009 and took over distribution in 2012 five films had been released. This is similar to with Disney also buying Lucasfilm in 2012 after 20th Century Fox had released the original trilogy and the prequels almost 20 years later but still the brand was strong. They will similarly in 2020 do it with Indiana Jones which again Paramount developed almost 40 years earlier.
While you must praise Disney for what they have done combining these brands is little creative going on especially when you add the reimaginations Disney are also making. Disney has done close to what Chelsea and Manchester City had done spent billions on buying success buying the biggest footballers on the planet to buy the premier league.
Ian Malcolm said it best in Jurassic Park to my issue with what Disney is doing ‘If I may… Um, I’ll tell you the problem with the scientific power that you’re using here, it didn’t require any discipline to attain it. You read what others had done and you took the next step. You didn’t earn the knowledge for yourselves, so you don’t take any responsibility for it. You stood on the shoulders of geniuses to accomplish something as fast as you could, and before you even knew what you had, you patented it, and packaged it, and slapped it on a plastic lunchbox, and now’
10 years ago, Disney was as any other studio they made a wide range of movies released 11 films 9 original films and two sequels now this is reversed with 8 films released and only two were original Born in China and Coco. Had Dick Tracy and The Rocketeer been a success for Disney 25+ years they would have probably gotten into the comic-book business sooner (both are underrated comic-book movies).
Dick Tracy was the ninth biggest film of 1990 was only one sequel in the top 10 Die Hard 2: Die Harder biggest films were Home Alone, Ghost, Dances with Wolves and Pretty Woman (which was the type of film Disney were making in the early 90s.
The Rocketeer was #27 biggest film of the year biggest films were Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Beauty and the Beast and The Silence of the Lambs with only four sequels in the top 20.
Move forward 26 years later to 2017 top films will be Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Beauty and the Beast, Wonder Woman and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 with the numbers reversed 14 sequels, two remakes and only for original films Dunkirk, Get Out, The Boss Baby and Split.
While these sequels and reboots often bring easier success, they have no substance they are quickly forgotten as they rarely live up to the hype around them which goes back to the South Park memberries that these films are like the emperor’s new clothes all hype.
Maybe I’m harder on Disney for doing this as close to my negativity for Paramount Pictures now as both studios have made some incredible original films and to just be depended on tried and test cheapens them. This is highlighted by Disney’s top 10 films all sequels, reboots, reimaginations or comic-book movies outside the top 10 Frozen Inside Out, Zootopia, Finding Nemo, The Lion King, The Sixth Sense, Up, The Incredibles, Moana and Monster Inc. shows what they can do if they make original films so it’s sad they don’t make them as often as they used to.
Disney’s shift to making properties rather than films has made their rivals to try and do the same and is the reason why James Cameron/20th Century Fox announced 4 Avatar sequels as needed to have those on their future slate to balance out the riskier projections. If Disney acquires 20th Century Fox, they will acquire these four films they will add these $10bn films to their slate for the next 8 years.
This has made cinema experience feel like Groundhog Day too many with so many films feeling very similar and dull which is probably why audiences sought out so many other films this year as they are what makes cinema so special not watching the same story told differently as most comic-book movies are sequels and reboots. While these films may be successful now they have a short window (in the scheme
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- Ferdinand – 20th Century Fox
Two years ago, 20h Century Fox released Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip against Star Wars: The Force Awakens opened with $14.28m going on to take $85.88m; Ferdinand while being an original animated film early reviews have been positive but with Coco still holding strong Ferdinand could be squeezed by it.
But Blue-Sky Studios Animation over the last 15 years while not being nearly as successful as Pixar or Illumination have been a steady performer over the years for 20th Century Fox with Ice Age and Rio franchises along with The Peanut Movie; 10 of the 11 films have taken over 4100m at the US box office and over the lucrative Christmas holidays Ferdinand could do similar as while the marketplace is crowded with teen films Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Pitch Perfect 3 and many films targeting older audiences is only the five week old Coco as competition for it.