Paul’s UK Weekend Box Office Summary Report July 15^th -17^th 2016

Top 5 Breakdown

1. Ghostbusters £4,378,842 -NE

 2D took £1,863,742 (69.6%) with previews – £3,080,599 (70.3%) – 3D took £633,166 (23.6%) with previews £1,032,677 (23.5%) IMAX/3D took £179,405 (6.7%) with previews £265,566 (6.1%)

However, Sony try to spin it saying Ghostbusters opened bigger than Men in Black 3 which opened with £2.93m in May 2012 (which was the hottest weekend of the year was less than half previous films Men in Black £7.07m in 1997 and Men in Black 2 in 2002 with £6.19m both of which should have been the sized opening Ghostbusters should have had especially over 7 days). it can’t also get away from 22 Jump Street opened with £4.83m in June 2014 in 3 days without 3D or IMAX surcharges.

While it will be claimed by Sony Pictures UK Ghostbusters had Paul Feig and Melissa McCarthy’s biggest ever opening in the UK but removing away previews was less than both Bridesmaids and Spy. Five years on from Bridesmaids Ghostbusters especially with 3D and IMAX surcharged should have taking more than £6m about the problem for it now is that it faces competition from Star Trek Beyond and The BFG this weekend.

Removing Mon -Thurs box office Ghostbusters took £2.67m Fri- Sun which was similar to last year’s Fantastic Four taking £4.1m over its opening 7 days had similarly had negativity on social media dropped 74.1% in its second weekend ended with £5.65m a final box office for Ghostbusters is likely of £8m.

Bridesmaids – June 2011 opened £3.44m (58.3%) taking £5.9m in 7 days taking £23.02m

Spy – June 2015 opened with £2.55m (63.7%) taking £4m in 7 days taking £10.01m ((opening was only 25.4% of its final box office)

With huge the media coverage Ghostbusters received over the last 5 months was one of the most talked about films in recent years dividing opinions. Sony’s Tom Rothman said he was delighted about the trolls but talk is cheap so many films get talked about but the important thing for all films is to convert that social media talk into bums on seats.

Whenever a studio remakes a film there will be some negativity seen recently by Point Break and Jumanji but the backlash for Ghostbuster was completely different scale similar to the backlash the Star Wars prequels received and last year’s Fantastic Four reboot. With Fantastic Four it received racist comments after casting an African American actor in a role who was white in the comics but the level of abuse for Ghostbusters was four times that with nasty sexist comments.

Sony could have handled it better by not reacting as by reacting it was like adding petrol to flames. As when you’re a child first thing your taught about dealing with a bully is don’t react as soon as bully gets a reaction they won’t let go as they did when Paul Feig reacted of course it would be great to be above it and go on the attack against the bullies but as soon as he did he lost of course he gained support from many but that didn’t stop the abuse.

When critics got to see Ghostbusters critics who disliked it were singled out as it was wrong to dislike the film as it received the nasty comments and I’m sure some critics felt they need to like the film as didn’t want to be seen to be giving into bullies. I’m sure 6 months later similar to the reviews Spectre and Star Wars The Force Awakens received critics will have changed their mind about Ghostbusters. Was the crazy story Ghostbusters haters were spamming IMDB with low ratings but as seen by it receiving a B+ CinemaScore it wasn’t the film the general public wanted to see. Metacritic stopped taking user reviews after all the negative comments 

Ghostbuster opening proved again Monday opening don’t work unless its James Bond as The Huntsman, Eddie the Eagle, Warcraft, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 and Now You See Me 2 box office didn’t increase as 7 day openings just spread box office over 7 days.

After Absolutely Fabulous topped Ghostbusters on its opening day it was always going to disappoint even Warcraft managed to open top on for its opening day. On Tuesday it dropped to third, climbing back to second for Wednesday and Thursday but the damage was already done due to its opening on Monday. Ghostbusters took £1.7m Mon- Thurs and £2.67m Fri-Sun (61.1%).

 In recent years’ distributors have been extending films opening weekend but this only works if the film has strong buzz most films recently apart from Eddie the Eagle (was also different as opened Easter Monday to be part of the school holidays) have been films that had negative buzz. Distributors opting to open Monday to artificially inflate the film’s opening weekend so it won’t be as bad as it might have been.

On Sunday July 10^th UK media finally got to see Ghostbusters reaction was as polarized as the film had been ever since it was announced in January 2015 that the Ghostbusters reboot would be staring women.

What followed was a lot sexist comments from moronic idiots online most of which was expected as for years the second sequel had planned to feature the original cast. When director Paul Feig in March 2015 in an interview said “Oh my God.’ [It’s] some of the vilest, misogynistic shit I’ve ever seen in my life.” This became the story of the film as bullies will keep attacking you waiting for you to react once they have they won’t let go by reacting in the way he did he made it million times worse which was seen a year later with the arrival of the first trailer.

Normally a studio will release a teaser trailer for their big summer blockbuster at Christmas so many were surprised there was no teaser released in December as every other studio had trailers to play before Star Wars The Force Awakens.  Then there was no Ghostbusters advert with Super Bowl 50 which started getting many concerned. 

Sony Pictures finally released first trailer on March 3^rd was viewed 24 million times in first 24 hours (beating Independence Day: Resurgence and Legend of Tarzan) and 60 million in its first week but reaction was mixed at best and by May it was the most disliked trailer YouTube. Paul Feig again came out to support the film but even its star Melissa McCarthy admitted trailer was confusing as is it a sequel or is it a reboot as Stay-Puft is there but he was destroyed in the first film. While the original film trailers were funny they also have charm and weren’t in on the joke which they are in the reboot which makes the film feel completely different.

Reaction to the second trailer released in May and third trailer released in June was better with international trailer three the best of all the trailers as it was fun which was lacking from all the previous trailers.

The issue I had with Ghostbusters as the original films had charm and played it seriously but the reboot they are in on the which changes the tone of the film as well as the enjoyment factor. But then with the theme song they had fun with the classic Ray Parker Jr theme and the Japanese remake but the US version just doesn’t have the fun factor.

It shouldn’t be so hard to create a teaser trailer for a franchise as with Ghostbusters the logo and the theme everyone knows so there wasn’t the need to show so much footage as we saw in Beauty and the Beast teaser sometimes less is more but Sony always seem to go to eleven with Men in Black sequels. 

Ever since the release of Ghostbusters 2 in  1989 Sony Pictures had plans for a third film a 1999 screenplay written by Dan Aykroyd titled Ghostbusters 3: Hellbent which would have starred originally Ghostbusters and introduce new Ghostbusters. In 2004 Ernie Hudson said Bill Murray wasn’t interested as he doesn’t do sequels but had starred in a Garfield sequel two years earlier.

In 2005 Harold Ramis said Ben Stiller would be his first choice to replace Murray in Dan Aykroyd’s script no titled Ghostbusters in Hell. In 2009 Ghostbusters: The Video Game is released featuring voices of Murray, Aykroyd, Ramis, and Hudson and Aykroyd says the game was the third movie he originally planned.

After the game’s success Harold Ramis said there was a new script by The Office writers Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg introducing new, younger Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters 3 is set to be filmed in 2010 and released in 2011. In March 2010 was rumoured Sony wanted to replace Ivan Reitman with a younger director but his contract won’t allow his replacement and contract also stipulates Reitman, Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis each have the power to “singlehandedly veto and kill the project” for any reason.

In 2012 Ivan Reitman says there shouldn’t be a sequel but instead the first film should be remade instead but a few months later said the sequel would start shooting in 2013 rather than a remake and released in 2014 to celebrate original films 30^th anniversary.

In February 2014 Harold Ramis dies and in March Ivan Reitman steps down from directing Ghostbusters 3 saying he couldn’t do Ghostbuster 3 without Harold Ramis. 

In April Sony approach Phil Lord and Chris Miller who had just made The Lego Movie but they rejected offer. In August reported Paul Feig was to direct a reboot and the script would be written from scratch. In September Bill Murray is enthusiastic about a female-centric reboot and suggesting Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Linda Cardellini and Emma Stone.

In January Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, and Kate McKinnon are announced as the leads of the Ghostbusters reboot and then the madness begins with moronic comments from fans saying that a female Ghostbusters had ruined their childhood.

Ahead of its release producer Amy Pascal threatened us with endless Ghostbusters films just as we have already been with Star Wars, Furious and Transformers films and Sony Pictures have confirmed that there will be a Ghostbusters 2 coming (probably in 2019)

National Association of Theatre Owners on Monday reveal cinema ticket prices in the US have reached an all-time high $8.73 but this is just the average ticket price similar to £7.17 in the UK. To see Ghostbusters AMC Lincoln Square in IMAX this evening costs $22.99 (163% more than average) while BFI IMAX its £18.50 (158% more).  While it is strangely cheaper to watch Ghostbusters in real IMAX at the BFI IMAX than fake IMAX at Odeon Swiss Cottage.  Would be interesting to see how many people paid the average price to see Ghostbusters of course subscription Cineworld Unlimited and Odeon Limitless gives cinema-goers the chance to see films free paying a monthly fee.

2. Ice Age: Collusion Course – £3,775,602 – NE

 2D took £1,056,748 with previews £3,252,499 – 3D took £182,577 with previews £523,103

As with Ghostbusters with its 7-day opening hiding the truth of its disappointing opening same could be said for Ice Age: Collusion Course which went into the weekend having already taken £2.3m from two weekends of previews.

Warning signs were blinking after those two weekends of previews reported far lower numbers than previous Ice Age films hurt by The Secret Life of Pets holding far stronger than expected despite average reviews. 20^th Century Fox must have thought the franchise would have held its own against a new animation but by giving it two weekends of previews alongside poor reviews hurt its opening weekend.

With school holidays starting this week could still see it having a decent run but has to deal with The BFG arriving this weekend expected to do far better than in the US and then next weekend Finding Dory expected to be the biggest animated film of the year. If it was to hold similar to previous film over the summer holidays will be looking to take between £11m- £15m which would be less than half of its sequels.

Ice Age	22 March 2002	£3.02m	20.2%	£14.9m
Ice Age: The Meltdown	7 April 2006	£9.77m	33.5%	£29.14m
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs	1 July 2009	£7.63m	22.1%	£34.55m
Ice Age: Continental Drift	13 July 2012	£10.08m	37.1%	£29.11m

 

3. The Secret Life of Pets – £2,045,182 – total £25,735,922

2D £1,996,875 (94.7%) total £23,189,957 (89.1%) – 3D £49,307 (5.2%) total £2,545,966 (10.9%)

Down 43.6% in its fourth weekend despite the arrival of Ice Age: Collison Course. After holding its own against the Ice Age sequel the previous two weekends against previews showing again that when two family films are released close to each other the first film always holds better. Paddington Vs Penguins of the Madagascar, Minions Vs Inside Out one exception to this rule was Kung Fu Panda 3 Vs Zootropolis.

After four weeks on release The Secret Life of Pets has overtaken Zootropolis total box office £23.61m becoming the biggest animated film of the year so far. With school holidays starting this week it is likely to be the biggest original animated film of the year but unlikely to get close to last year’s Inside Out £38.91m While the pets killed the dinosaurs The BFG and Finding Dory will be far tougher competition over the next two weeks.  

While original live action films disappointed in recent years’ original animation has been very successful but many would say is The Secret Life of Pets as its Toy Story with animals like the upcoming Sausage Party, Toy Story with food. With several more original animation films still to be released this year Kubo and the Two Strings, Storks, Trolls, Moana and Sing.

4. The Legend of Tarzan – £1,473,482 – total £6,655,190

2D – £1,136,592 (77.1%)- total £4,651,507 (69.8%) – 3D £315,882 (21.4%) – total £1,479,106 (22.2%) – IMAX/3D £21,008 (1.4%) – total £524,577 (7.8%)

Down 58.4% in its second weekend but still holding better than many would have expected over recent weeks especially after receiving mixed reviews. Tarzan isn’t really a character that can be taken seriously but the huge success of The Jungle Book could be the reason audiences are enjoying the film far more than critics.

After Independence Day: Resurgence disappointed until Star Trek Beyond opens this week and Jason Bourne the following weekend has been a lack of films for male audiences which could have been also a reason why it performed better than expected.

Director David Yates second film of the year will of course be far more successful Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them opening in November.

5. Absolutely Fabulous The Movie- £1,190,653 – total £13,170,828

Down 48.5% in its third weekend but like last week audiences are choosing to see the film more during the week than weekend climbing from fourth to first Mon Thurs last week as it did in its opening week even with the arrival of Ghostbusters.

Mon-Thurs Absolutely Fabulous took £2.2m almost 30% more than Ghostbusters took £1.7m

After opening with £4.01m three weeks ago Absolutely Fabulous has performed similar to Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie released in June 2014. For its first two weeks was slightly behind but now has now overtaken it after three weekends Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie had taken £11.85m and by next weekend Absolutely Fabulous would have taken more than Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie total. Its strong hold for its third weekend could be another reason for Ghostbusters disappointing debut as both targeted female audiences.

Also opened

Dirty Dancing – Secret Cinema – £946,086 from first three days (would have charted in sixth) but with ticket prices of £65+ seven times regular prices is impossible to compare to regular releases.

Keanu- Warner – £13,700 from 50 screens

Other box office news:

This weekend’s top 10 box office took £15,261,672 down 6.2% from last weekend £16,278,631; 

Weekend was up 48.8% (inflated by previews of Ghostbusters and Ice Age: Collusion Course without have been similar) from same weekend last year (£10,250,850) when Ant-Man – £3,982,785, Andre Rieu’s 2015 Concert £1,034,403, Bajrangi Bhaijaan £758,076 and The Gallows £334,369 opened.

Next weekend 2015: Inside Out £7,342,411 and Southpaw £1,661,543 opened.

Complete UK Box office top 10 – July 15^th 17^th 2016

 

US top 10 Box Office

1. Universal – The Secret Life of Pets – dropped 51.5% – $50.5m – $203.1m; after 10 days Minions last year took $215.7m will overtake Despicable Me final in the next two weeks depending on how Ice Age: Collusion Course opens this weekend.

2. Sony Pictures – Ghostbusters opened with $46m receiving B+ CinemaScore; was Paul Feig’s biggest opening in US ahead of 2013’s The Heat previously top $39.1m which is the spin Sony has given it but a film with a $154m budget and $100m marketing should have a minimum opening of $60m beating 22 Jump Street $57.1m and MIB 3 $54.5m; with three wide release this weekend likely to drop around 60% in its second w/e

3. Warner Bros – The Legend of Tarzan – dropped 47.1% – $11.1m – $103.1m; holding far better than most expected so could Ghostbusters do similar?

4. Walt Disney – Finding Dory – dropped 47% – $11.1m – $445.5m; after overtaking Finding Nemo overtook Frozen, Toy Story 3, The Lion King and Shrek 2 to become the biggest animation film ever in US; Disney now have seven animation films in the top 10.

5. 20^th Century Fox – Mike and Dave Needs Wedding Dates – dropped 54.9% – $7.5m – $31.3m; dropping more than double American Pie did in 1999 won’t be the summer sleeper many thought it could have been.

6. Universal – The Purge: Election Year – dropped 50.9% – $6.1m – $70.1m;

7. Warner Bros – Central Intelligence – dropped 34% – $5.3m – $117.5m;

8. Broad Green – The Infiltrators – opened $5.2m and $6.7m total after opening on Wednesday; US don’t include midweek box office to films opened but UK adds weekend previews all box office taken before its official opening Friday as its opening weekend.

9. Disney – The BFG – dropped 52% – $3.7m – $38.7m;   

10. 20th Century Fox – Independence Day: Resurgence – dropped 56.7% – $3.4m – $98.5m; after 3 weeks Independence Day had taken $223.1m.

Expanded

Bleecker Street – Captain Fantastic up 195.6% adding 32 screens $277,321 – total $406,131

Opening on limited release

Lionsgate – Café Society – opens $355,000 from 5 screens