- The Housemaid £3,523,229 – £17,881,581
Down 8.6% in its third weekend
£971k 27.5% (£1.34m -27.5%) Fri; £1.47m 41.7% (0% £1.47m) Sat; £1.08m 30.7% (+3.34% £1.047m) Sun.
84th biggest third weekend between Lilo & Stitch and Avengers: Age of Ultron (close to Moana 2, Ratatouille, Bridget Jones’s Diary and Life of Pi) and 148th biggest inflated third weekend between Lilo & Stitch and The Hangover Part II (close to Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Ghost, Three Men and a Little Lady and The Full Monty).
Not to dismiss the BO performance of The Housemaid was its BO such a surprise as the many have claimed but comparisons could be made with 2014’s Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn’s novel sold about 6m copies ahead of the release of the David Fichr film while Freida McFadden’s novel sold over 4.5m copies (including over 750,000 in the UK) and was on the Amazon best-seller list for 83 weeks and generated a lot of attention on social media, including TikTok.
While the industry often underestimates films that play strongly to the female audience, as they undervalue the audience, with fewer films opting to make female versions like Ghostbusters and Ocean’s Eleven rather than films like A Simple Favour and The Housemaid that are made for the female audience.
The trajectory of The Housemaid underscores a critical flaw in modern Hollywood: its over-reliance on algorithmic forecasting. The ‘surprise’ hit is a symptom of models that cannot quantify community buzz or patient audience growth. While the AI is busy optimising screens for Avatar 3, it misses the real-time signal of a burgeoning hit. Until the industry reintroduces human curation and patience into its release model, valuing the slow burn as much as the opening explosion films that play strongly to female and adult audiences, will continue to be ‘surprises,’ rather than the dependable, understood, and properly nurtured successes they deserve to be.
Comparisons to The Housemaid are also with 2016’s The Girl on the Train, and the recent BBC TV drama The Guest (had over 3.5m+ viewers in September on BBC One).
Much of the focus was on Sydney Sweeney, who has had an up and down 2025, receiving critical acclaim for her performance in Christy, but failed to find an audience and also generated controversy featuring in an American Eagle jeans campaign with the slogan “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans.” Sydney previously starred in 2023’s Anyone But You.
The Housemaid has become Paul Feig’s third biggest film ahead of 2016’s Ghostbusters (£10.75m) and behind Last Christmas (£18.11m) and Bridesmaids (£23.05m). It is also Sydney Sweeney’s biggest film in the UK, ahead of Anyone But You (£11.71m)
It’s also comparable to films like Parasite, Gone Girl, Fatal Attraction and The Hand That Rocks the Cradle.
2018’s A Simple Favour dropped 51.6% £484,975/£519,232 and E4,475,268 90.8% of £4,930,383
2016’s The Girl on the Train dropped 41.5% £1,996,858 and £17,732,005, 75.9% of £23,372,415
2014’s Gone Girl dropped 23% £2,361,051/£2,463,013 and £14,153,879 63.9% of £22,370,392/£26,365,105
2000’s What Lies Beneath dropped 20.8% £1,341,518/£2,439,985 and £6,686,450 48.4% of £13,827,135/£24,888,844
1992’s The Hand That Rocks the Cradle dropped 31.9% £647,800/£1,559,967 and £3,820,117 64.2% of £5,950,847/£14,682,464
1988’s Fatal Attraction dropped 4.4% £1,010,184/£3,395,097 and £5,152,499 33.4% of £15,441,564/£53,172,690
Interestingly, The Housemaid is holding similar to 2012’s Life of Pi (opened the same day 13 years earlier), dropped 19.8% £3,353,579/£4,069,571 and £17,857,428 62.2% of £28,726,668/£34,859,834.
13th biggest 2025 between F1 and Captain America: Brave New World (close to The Conjuring: Last Rites, Sinners, Thunderbolts and 28 Years Later).
After a disappointing year for Lionsgate, their final two films, The Housemaid and Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, have taken over E20m. The Housemaid is Lionsgate’s biggest film since 2023’s The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (£17.92m). In November, they released another Hunger Games prequel, Sunrise on the Reaping. The Housemaid will be Lionsgate’s first £20m+ film since 2017’s La La Land.
7th biggest Lionsgate film between The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes and John Wick: Chapter 4 (close to Bend It Like Beckham, London Has Fallen, Knives Out and The Expendables).
371st biggest between Goldeneye and The Conjuring: Last Rites (close to Moulin Rouge, Fifty Shades Freed, Armageddon and Last Christmas) and 657th biggest inflated between Disclosure and T2 aka Trainspotting 2 (close to Sleepy Hollow, Good Morning Vietnam, Lost in Translation and Captain Corelli’s Mandolin).
It’s no surprise Lionsgate has already announced plans to film the sequel this year with Sydney Sweeney. There are currently three books written by Freida McFadden: The Housemaid, The Housemaid’s Secret, The Housemaid is Watching, and the short story The Housemaid’s Wedding, so Lionsgate will be hoping it can make a franchise. Amanda Seyfried’s character doesn’t feature in The Housemaid’s Secret novel, but she could also return in the sequel.
- 2. Hamnet £3,248,939 – NE
Includes £246,577 previews.
Took £833k 25.65% Friday; £1.14m 35.10% Saturday; £996k 30.67% Sunday.
Had the biggest Friday for a January drama opening since 2020’s 1917 and the 5th biggest January opening for a drama over the last decade. Opened bigger than award nominees A Complete Unknown, Little Women, The Favourite, Belfast and Poor Things. These are, of course, meaningless statements, but as it wasn’t #1 to find a narrative for its opening, as most would have surely expected Hamnet to open ahead of The Housemaid.
547th biggest opening between The Proposal and Watchmen (close to One Life, The Devil Wears Prada, Cats and The Woman in Black) and 813th biggest inflated opening between Mean Girls (2024) and Public Enemies (close to The Social Network, America’s Sweethearts, The First Wives Club and Suffragette).
21st biggest opening over the last 52 weeks between Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 and The SpongeBob Movie: Search for Squarepants (close to Snow White, Dog Man, Weapons and A Complete Unknown).
Since having its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival in August and its London Film Festival UK premiere in October, Hamnet has received positive reviews and strong buzz.
Hamnet won two Golden Globes for Best Drama Film and Best Actress (Jessie Buckley) after receiving six nominations.
One Battle After Another was also a big winner at the Golden Globes; both films explore parent-child love, in Hamnet its about Shakespeare’s grief after losing his son, and One Battle After Another is about a father protecting his daughter.
Steven Spielberg produced Hamnet, said at the US premiere in November, “Directors are always searching for stories to tell, but sometimes the story tells us which director it wants to belong to. Chloé Zhao was the director that Maggie O’Farrell’s book Hamnet found its way to and there was no other choice that could have been made in the world.” … “the kinds of screens that we are fighting the tides to keep filled with not just blockbuster, epic, escapist movie rides, but sensitive and intimate portraits of marriage and family and life-altering epiphanies that spring from heartache and heartbreak, like the film you’re about to see. There needs to be room for films like Chloé’s on screens like these.”
Drama and Best Screenplay Drama, and in January/February, will be getting similar BAFTA and Oscar nominations. It received 14 longlist BAFTA nominations, so it will surely receive about 10 nominations.
Chloé Zhao previously directed the Oscar-winning 2020’s Nomadland and 2021’s Eternals.
27 years ago, Shakespeare In Love took $100m in the US ($230m inflated) and $289m ($660m inflated) worldwide and received 13 Oscar nominations. Hamnet could receive a similar number of nominations, and has been dated in the prime second weekend of January slot that has seen much success over the last 20 years with the must-see award contender.
1999’s Shakespeare in Love opened £1,819,385/£3,422,691 taking £20,814,996/£39,157,902
Over 4m copies of the book have been sold worldwide, with over 1.5m from the UK; the story is a deeply British literary mythologising of the nation’s greatest writer. The book won the Women’s Prize for Fiction and dominated the British literary press. Maggie O’Farrell is a beloved author in the UK. Hamnet opened on limited release in the US, taking $8.8m after 4 weeks, but will be far more successful in the UK in January and will receive many BAFTA award nominations, becoming the must-see award nomination film like The King’s Speech and The Darkest Hour.
As with The Housemaid playing to a female audience, Hamnet will hold strongly over the coming weeks, boosted by its Golden Globe Best Actress win and BAFTA nominations in two weeks. Both films won’t be affected by the opening of 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple this weekend.
- 3. Avatar: Fire And Ash £2,600,206 – £35,814,417
Down 43% in its fourth weekend
£494k 19% (-68.1% £1.55m) Fri; £1.18m 45.4% (-30.2% £1.69m) Sat; £926k 35.6% (-21.5% £1.18m) Sun
66th biggest fourth weekend between Jurassic World and Big Hero 6 (close to Jurassic Park, Dune Part 2, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Deadpool and Wolverine) and 126th biggest inflated fourth weekend between Indiana Jones …The Crystal Skull and Despicable Me 4 (close to Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, The Flintstones and Who Framed Roger Rabbit).
Fourth weekends
Avatar: The Way of Water dropped 23.2% £5,869,123 and £57,286,005 74.7% of £76,725,041
Avatar dropped 19.7% £4,770,980/£6,779,352 and £40,991,797 43.8% of £93,442,625/£136,900,316.
Other 4th weekends
2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens dropped 41.8% £6,001,948/£6,434,821 and £108,430,730 88.2% of £123,000,050/£131,871,066
2017’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi dropped 55.6% £3,543,117 and £76,723,930, 92.8% of £82,676,198
2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker dropped 58.5% £1,824,607 and £54,892,354, 94.5% of £58,100,786
2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home 26.1% £4,477,415 and £79,321,181 82.6% of £95,994,961
The 7 James Cameron-directed films have taken £400m at the UK BO and £600m+ inflation inflated.
It’s the 5th biggest 2025 between Lilo & Stitch and Jurassic World Rebirth (close to Lilo & Stitch, Zootropolis 2, Mission Impossible 8 and The Fantastic Four).
124th biggest between Jurassic World: Rebirth and Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 (close to Batman Vs Superman, Die Another Day, Inception and The Matrix Reloaded) and 249th biggest inflated between Jurassic World: Rebirth and Life of Pi (close to Minority Report, Back to the Future Part II, The Fugitive and Jurassic Park 3).
The lower-than-expected final BO for Avatar: Fire and Ash wasn’t a one-off from last week’s films, as it affected all the tentpoles, starting with Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy, after opening, was expected to take £50m+ but instead squeezed past £46m.
This was repeated by all those that are beneath it Wicked Part 2 £47m (expected £60m+), Lilo & Stitch £36m (expected £40m+), Avatar: Fire And Ash £43m (expected £65m), Jurassic World Rebirth £33.5m (expected £40m+), Zootropolis 2 £33m (expected £40m), Superman £28m (expected £35m+), Mission Impossible 8 £26m (expected £30m+) and The Fantastic Four £23m (expected £30m).
This raises the question if Super Mario Brothers 2, Star Wars Mandalorian and Grogu, Toy Story 5, Minions 3, Moana, The Odyssey, Spider-Man Brand New Day, Avengers: Doomsday, Jumanji 3 and Dune Part 3 will also meet their even bigger expectations. The problem will be, of course, the industry will get caught up in the hype, and all of them will have the predictable huge openings, but will they have the legs of those that came before?
The BFI IMAX was the highest-grossing UK cinema for Avatar: Fire and Ash. The spiritual home of UK cinema was Leicester Square for over 60 years. But over the last 15+ years, that title has decisively moved to the BFI IMAX, despite it having fewer seats, lower prices, and over 60 new IMAX retro-fitted cinemas opening across the country.
Audiences bypass newer, closer IMAX screens because they know the BFI is the only place to experience the real event. The proof is in the numbers: four weeks after opening, while Avatar 3 tumbled to fourth nationally on Friday, the BFI’s weekend shows are still nearly sold out. Meanwhile, the Odeon Leicester Square, with almost double the seats and a £32 top ticket, will be less than half full.
This isn’t just a preference; it’s a verdict. It proves that the major exhibitors’ 20-year pricing strategy, the relentless “premiumization” that turned cinema from a habit into a luxury, doesn’t work. By that logic, Odeon LS should be the undisputed king. Instead, it’s been outperformed by a venue that understands true value isn’t in charging the most, but in offering the most: authentic spectacle, intelligent curation, and a relationship with its audience built on respect, not just revenue. The home of cinema is no longer the most expensive seat. It’s the most alive screen.
James Cameron said in 2006 he would like to make sequels if the first film was successful; now he has said something similar about making more than four Avatar films. While Avatar 3 will take less than previous two films, it’s more about merchandising and theme park opportunities for Disney, as they might have taken $32bn worldwide over the last 20 years, they will have taken double this in 2025 for merchandising sales, as Yoghurt said in Spaceballs “Merchandising, merchandising, where the real money from the movie is made”.
- 4. Marty Supreme £2,042,557 – £9,435,171
Down 26.1% in its third weekend
£546k 26.7% (-47.5% £1.04m)) Fri; £853k 41.8% (-15.5% £1.01m) Sat; £643k 31.5% (-9.9% £714k) Sun
249th biggest third weekend between Peter Rabbit 2 and Mission Impossible: Fallout (close to I Am Legend, Happy Feet, Sherlock Holmes and Little Women) and 449th biggest inflated third weekend between Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood and The Adventures Of Tintin: Secret Of The Unicorn (close to Snatch, Interstellar, Kill Bill Volume One and Legend).
It’s the seventh-highest film starring Timothée Chalamet, ahead of The French Dispatch (£4.17m) and currently behind A Complete Unknown (£11.9m); but Marty Supreme is very much a Timothée Chalamet film, whereas films like Wonka, Dune Part 1 and Part2, Interstellar and Little Women he is part of a bigger cast.
28th biggest 2025 between The Roses and Freakier Friday (close to A Complete Unknown, Weapons, The Salt Road and The Naked Gun).
818th biggest between Cruella and The Queen (close to Inglourious Basterds, Brokeback Mountain, American Gangster and The Artist) and 1,311th biggest inflated between Final Destination 2 and A Perfect World (close to The Jackal, The Pink Panther, Rocky II and Black Rain).
Timothée Chalamet’s global tour came to the UK on December 13, with thousands of his fans queued up overnight outside a pop-up store to try to get hold of the Marty Supreme orange jacket and other film merchandise.
Timothée Chalamet has reignited the classic Hollywood archetype of the movie star whose charisma transcends gender and genre. Like screen icons such as Paul Newman, Warren Beatty, or Robert Redford, Chalamet draws audiences not merely to a story, but to him—his presence becomes the event. Whether he’s playing a folk legend in A Complete Unknown or a ping-pong hustler in Marty Supreme, the specific subject becomes secondary; people come to witness his unique blend of vulnerability, style, and magnetism. This is the same appeal that drove viewers to Dune: Part Two even without a prior interest in sci-fi, and it echoes the way Newman turned pool halls into compelling drama in The Hustler.
In stepping into the role of Marty Reisman, Chalamet isn’t just portraying another real-life figure—he’s consciously entering a lineage of charismatic anti-heroes defined by talent, swagger, and outsider cool. The project can be seen as a modern successor to Newman’s iconic hustler roles, filtered through today’s lens of emotional depth and artistic prestige. Chalamet represents a rare contemporary fusion: an actor whose artistic credibility and movie-star aura allow him to elevate niche stories into mainstream attractions, proving that pure screen magnetism still defines true stardom.
Timothée Chalamet could be seen as Generation Z’s Tom Hanks, as through his blend of preternatural talent, discerning project choices, and transgressive yet relatable charisma, is following the award-winning, audience-unifying blueprint of a Tom Hanks. He is becoming the defining and most trusted cinematic presence for his generation, turning every film—whether about love, war, space, or ping-pong—into a must-see event centred on his extraordinary ability to connect.
To promote the film, Timothée Chalamet had a Zoom call with the A24 marketing team, presenting marketing ideas for the film.
Timothée Chalamet has recently starred in A Complete Unknown, Dune Part 2, Wonka and will star in Dune Part 3 next year. A Complete Unknown dropped 36.2% £1,667,821 and £5,916,730, 49.8% of £11,887,982.
- 5. Zootropolis 2 £1,227,735 – £29,349,084
Down 41.1% in its seventh weekend
£280k 22.8% (-63.9% £775k) Fri; £569k 46.4% (-20.9% £719k) Sat; £378k 30.8% (-35.9% £590k) Sun.
30th biggest seventh weekend between Incredibles 2 and The Lion King (2019) (close to Jurassic Park, Paddington, Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical and Mufasa: The Lion King) and 72nd inflated seventh weekend between Pretty Woman and Toy Story 3 (close to Moulin Rouge, The Fugitive, Home Alone and Billy Elliot).
7th biggest animation seventh weekend between Incredibles 2 and Frozen (close to Arthur Christmas, The Grinch, Despicable Me 2, and Sing 2) and 13th biggest inflated animation seventh weekend between The Lion King (1994) and Toy Story 3 (close to Shrek, Finding Nemo, Chicken Run and Inside Out 2).
2nd biggest Disney animation seventh weekend between Frozen 2 and Frozen (close to Moana, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Wish and The Lion King (1994) and 4th biggest Disney inflated animation seventh weekend between The Lion King (1994) and Moana (close to Hercules, Tarzan, Pocahontas and Lilo & Stitch (2002).
Seventh weekends
2024’s Moana 2 dropped 51.4% £853,473 and £39,524,928 93.3% of £42,357,963
2019’s Frozen 2 dropped 20.7% £1,660,432 and £50,096,754 93.5% of £53,549,035
2016’s Zootropolis dropped 66.1% £174,933/£182,487 and £22,922,579 96.4% of £23,461,047/£25,075,775
Zootropolis dropped heavily in its seventh weekend as Angry Birds opened. The next animated film to open is Sony Pictures’ Goat, opening for the February half-term in a month. While Zootropolis 2 has taken more in the UK than the first film, it hasn’t had the normal increase Disney animated sequels have previously had, like Moana 2. With the Christmas holidays and the lack of other family films apart from The SpongeBob Movie: Search For Squarepants would have surely expected it to have taken closer to £40m.
7th biggest 2025 film between Jurassic World Rebirth and Superman (close to Avatar: Fire And Ash, Mission Impossible 8, The Fantastic Four and How To Train Your Dragon).
169th biggest between Chicken Run and A Bug’s Life (close to La La Land, King Kong, Twilight Saga: Eclipse and A Star Is Born) and 336th biggest inflated between The Hunger Games and Indecent Proposal (close to About A Boy, The Living Daylights, Elf and Sense and Sensibility).
34th biggest animated film between Chicken Run and A Bug’s Life (close to Shrek Forever After, Ice Age II, Shrek and The Boss Baby) and 54th biggest inflated animated film between Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse and Wreck-It Ralph (close to Tarzan, The Croods, Arthur Christmas and Ice Age).
Last weekend, 5 films took £1m+ as there were last year
Mufasa: The Lion King £2,201,920
Nosferatu £1,992,465
Sonic The Hedgehog 3 £1,497,794
We Live In Time £1,347,255
Babygirl £1,091,180
In 2024, 4 films
Wonka £2,227,606
Poor Things £1,819,563
Anyone But You £1,246,921
One Life £1,246,292
2023 x4 films
Avatar: The Way Of Water £5,870,063
I Wanna Dance With Somebody £1,388,927
Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical £1,182,411
A Man Called Otto £1,088,410
Compared with 1 in 2022, Spider-Man: No Way Home made £4,477,415
The first two weeks in January have been historically strong over the last 30 years since Seven opened the first weekend in January 1996, breaking records. This started a fabulous year for cinema with admissions increasing almost 10m, a repeat this year would be a massive boost for the cinema. However, now there is a wide range of films playing to all demographics from April its tentpoles that cannibalise the market, so there are choices available to audiences.
Also opened
• Giant – True Brit Entertainment
Opened £370,664 #9 332 screens.
Biographical sports drama about boxer Prince Naseem Hamed starring Amir El-Masry and Pierce Brosnan and directed by Rowan Athale and produced by Sylvester Stallone’s Balboa Productions.
Had its premiere at the London Film Festival, receiving mixed reviews. US biographical sports dramas used to be a mainstay of cinema in the 90s and 00s, with many made by Disney, but there have been fewer British biographical sports films like The Damned United, Rush and Eddie the Eagle. It’s a rags to riches films about an underdog who rises to the top. The problem is that films like this struggle to find an audience now and will find a bigger home on streaming.
It’s the third film released by True Brit Entertainment in the UK after Marching Powder and Christmas Karma
- Labyrinth (40th Anniversary)
Opened £320,994 #10
While Labyrinth underperformed in the US, it was a success in the UK and internationally; Labyrinth opened in December 1986 £608,513/£2,267,065 #1 from 223 screens; it had the 2nd biggest opening in 1986 after Police Academy 3 (£738,410), ahead of Top Gun (£441,257), taking £3,568,402/£13,294,372.
Over the years after opening, it became a much bigger hit on home video and the critics who previously gave it poor reviews changed their opinion about it, but sadly, the damage was done as it was the final film directed by Jim Henson.
In 2016, plans were announced for a sequel; in 2024, Robert Eggers was attached to direct.
—-
The weekend’s top 10 box office took £14,913,249, down 12.7% from last weekend’s £17,090,566: 1,926,776 admissions, down 12.7% from 2,230,318 admissions.
11th biggest weekend of the last 52 weeks between 21 February 2025 #1 Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy £6,893,703 (45.55%) and 27 June 2025 #1 F1 £7,071,647 (50.25%)
42nd biggest since cinemas reopened out of 269 weeks between 24 June 2022 #1 Elvis £4,023,573 (26.87%) and 12 July 2024 #1 Despicable Me 4 £8,856,183 (59.44%)
251st biggest top 10 of the last 24 years (out of 1,240) between 15 February 2002 #1 Monsters, Inc.£5,757,712 (38.52%) and 23 May 2003 #1 The Matrix Reloaded £12,165,276 (81.64%) and 467th biggest inflated between 03 November 2017 #1 Murder on the Orient Express £4,985,600 (34.49%) and 12 July 2024 #1 Despicable Me 4 £8,856,183 (59.44%)
The top 3 took £9,372,374 (62.8%) of the top 10; The Housemaid 23.62% (£3,523,229); Hamnet 21.79% (£3,248,939); Avatar: Fire and Ash 17.44% (£2,600,206).
1,002nd biggest percentage share #1 (23.62%) between 31 May 2024 #1 IF £1,570,568 (23.64%) and 23 January 2015 #1 American Sniper £2,539,534 (23.62%)
776th biggest admissions (455,786) between 10 October 2014 #1 Gone Girl £3,064,545 (456,033) and 09 April 2004 #1 Scooby-Doo Too £2,038,602 (454,032)
Up 24.35% from 2025; (£11,993,374); Babygirl (£1,091,180); A Real Pain (£999,818); Maria (£509,328); Se7en (30th Anniversary) (£143,394); #1 Mufasa: The Lion King £2,201,920 down 33% 658 screens (19.74% of top 10).
Up 59.08% from 2024; (£9,374,860); Poor Things (£1,819,563); The Beekeeper (£956,380); The Boys In The Boat (£270,297); #1 Wonka £2,227,606 6th weekend 703 screens 41% drop (23.76% of top 10)
Up 194% from 2023; (£12,465,200); M3gan (£2,356,357); Empire Of Light (£1,721,921); Varisu (£648,230); Tar (£394,649); #1 Avatar: The Way of Water £4,172,161 5th week 659 screens down 29% (33.47% of top 10).
Up 76.8% 2022 (£8,436,218); Scream (£2,468,510); #1 Spider-Man No Way Home £3,215,166 5th week 28% drop 679 screens (38.1% of top 10)
2021 Lockdown
Down 17.1% 2020; (£17,977,081); 1917 (£7,446,302); Wozzeck – Met Opera 2020 (£112,187); Seberg (£47,992); #1 1917 £7,446,302 1st week 683 screens (41.4% of top 10)
Up 12.94% from 2019: (£13,204,230); Stan and Ollie (£2,578,838); Colette (£788,432); The Upside (£681,422); Adriana Lecouvreur Met Opera 2019 (£184,460); The Front Runner (£87,699); #1 Stan and Ollie £2,578,838 1st week 654 screens (19.5% of top 10)
Down 11.6% from 2018; (£16,859,941); Darkest Hour (£4,058,356); Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (£2,361,782); Insidious: The Last Key (£1,840,992); Eric Clapton: A Life in 12 Bars (£183,051); #1 Darkest Hour £4,058,356 1st week 605 screens (24.1% of the top 10)
Up 6.17% 2017: (£14,046,174); La La Land (£6,596,256); Manchester by the Sea (£729,478); Live by Night (£698,218); The Bye Bye Man (£535,492); Underworld: Blood Wars (£349,301); Sherlock: The Final Problem (£322,253); #1 La La Land £6,596,256 1st week 606 screens (47% of top 10)
Down 4.4% 2016: (£15,591,252); The Revenant (£5,235,851); Creed (£2,221,758); Room (£674,033); #1 The Revenant £5,235,851 1st week 589 screens (33.6% of top 10)
Down 14.2% 2015; (£18,016,196); Taken 3 (£6,714,530); Into the Woods (£2,476,409); Foxcatcher (£877,408); #1 Taken 3 £6,714,530 1st week 483 screens (37.2% of top 10)
Up 15.28% 2014: (£12,936,654); 12 Years a Slave (£2,511,349); The Railway Man (£1,230,483); Delivery Man (£1,102,433); #1 12 Years a Slave £2,511,349 1st week 207 screens (19.4% of top 10)
Down 25.3% 2013: (£19,963,299); Les Miserables (£8,127,991); Gangster Squad (£2,090,614); Texas Chainsaw 3D (£1,247,735); #1 Les Miserables £8,127,991 1st week 589 screens (40.7% of top 10)
Up 18.52% 2012: (£12,582,954); War Horse (£3,944,746); The Darkest Hour (£740,773); Shame (£535,288); Margin Call (£131,982); #1 War Horse £3,944,746 1st week 491 screens (31.3% of top 10)
Up 10.1% 2011; (£12,522,775); The Green Hornet (£1,878,905); Conviction (£279,016); Blue Valentine (£176,411); Henry’s Crime (£64,508); #1 The King’s Speech £4,401,926 2nd week 422 screens 25% increase (35.1% of top 10)
Up 0.2% 2010: (£12,452,981); Daybreakers (£1,344,588); It’s Complicated (£1,098,659); The Road (£627,147); Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll (£173,831); #1 Avatar £4,770,980 4th week 493 screens 20% drop (38.3% of top 10)
Up 25.7 2009; (£11,864,462); Role Models (£2,330,145); Slumdog Millionaire (£1,827,457); Bride Wars (£1,717,894); Defiance (£1,198,425); Sex Drive (£506,573); #1 Role Models £2,330,145 1st week (19.64%)
Up 55% 2008; (£9,618,777); Charlie Wilson’s War (£1,332,932); Dan in Real Life (£603,860); Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (£118,510); The Lady Vanishes (re) (£3,791); #1 I Am Legend £2,051,372 3rd week 465 screens 45% drop (21.3% of top 10)
Up 43% 2007: (£10,426,402); The Pursuit of Happyness (£2,527,181); Smokin’ Aces (£1,023,862); The Last King of Scotland (£861,991); #1 The Pursuit of Happyness £2,527,181 1st week 402 screens (24.2% of top 10)
Up 45.3% 2006; (£10,263,408); Jarhead (£1,927,987); Memoirs of a Geisha (£1,147,056); Breakfast on Pluto (£199,154); Cry Wolf (£196,093); #1 Jarhead £1,927,987 1st week 390 screens (18.7% of top 10)
Up 66.96% 2005: (£8,932,279); Closer (£1,568,526); Team America: World Police (£1,526,329); Million Dollar Baby (£803,899); Vanity Fair (£204,693); #1 Closer £1,568,526 275 screens (17.5% of top 10)
Up 29.97% 2004; (£11,474,178); The Last Samurai (£2,723,081); Lost in Translation (£797,071); #1 Lord of the Rings: Return of the King £3,713,999 4th week 43% drop 502 screens (32.4% of top 10)
Up 41.96% 2003 (£10,505,144); Gangs of New York (£2,622,748); The Tuxedo (£1,080,504); The Good Girl (£114,235); City By The Sea (£77,936); #1 Lord of the Rings: Two Towers £3,728,876 4th week 35% drop 513 screens (35.5% of top 10)
Up 66.4% from 2002: (£8,962,263); Rat Race (£1,004,783); Domestic Disturbance (£402,837); Rock Star (£294,973); Soul Survivors (£200,178); Last Orders (£100,560) #1 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring £4,371,354 4th week 27% drop 482 screens (48.8% of top 10)
2025 Next week: (£10,227,116); A Complete Unknown (£2,616,302); Wolf Man (£654,326); Here (£52,737); #1 A Complete Unknown £2,616,302 1st week 696 screens (25.58% of top 10)
UK BO 2025
Last week, Comscore reported that UK BO increased by 1% to £1.07bn, but Comscore reports UK and Ireland BO while UKCA report UK only, which was £989.5m. A few days later, UKCA also reported average ticket price had increased by 3.6% to £8.01.
This means that despite BO up 1% in 2025, admissions had dropped from 2024 to 123.5m, the lowest since 2022 and down to the level they were in 1994. Of course that average price is far from the real average due to so many promotional deals like Meerkat Movies, Subscription Cinema (Cineworld Unlimited and Odeon Limitless), along with IMAX/PLF/3D, Event Cinema and recliners that have pushed up the real average closer to £12, so real admissions are probably closer to what they were 40 years ago.
As with all previous years, the industry has talked up this year as it has so many sequels to massive previous instalments, Super Mario Bros. 2, Star Wars Mandalorian and Grogu, Toy Story 5, Minions 3, Moana, The Odyssey, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Avengers: Doomsday, Jumanji 3 and Dune Part 3, but can these films possibly top their previous BO, as films like Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday would both need to take about £100m.
While Christopher Nolan needs The Odyssey to repeat the success of Oppenheimer without Barbie, The Odyssey is a very different film; the book has been seen as unfilmable, have been several attempts to do parts of it like Troy and O Brother, Where Art Thou?
That is interesting, exhibitors worry so much about streaming, but UK streaming subscription numbers have barely grown over the last three years, with Netflix at 17.6m, Amazon at 13.6m and Disney at 7.5m. Both Netflix and Disney have barely grown since 2022. So this surely should be playing into the cinema’s hands, and we should be seeing this unprecedented demand exhibitors have been talking up since 2020?
The top film of 2025 wasn’t Wicked: For Good, as many people expected, but A Minecraft Movie (£56.9m). A Minecraft Movie’s BO was a surprise to many, despite Super Mario Bros taking a similar BO a year earlier. Both films were based on hugely popular computer games that had a massive fanbase, and both generate huge UGC on social media. Minecraft has sold over 300m copies, and Super Mario Bros has 400m, but Minecraft has more active monthly users (141m in 2023).
In second, Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy (£46.4m), but after having the biggest opening for the series in February, huge media coverage and raved reviews it didn’t have the legs expected (as so many other films) after opening with £12.29m, £50m+ was expected but it just managed to squeeze past £46m.
This was repeated by Wicked: For Good #3, Jurassic World: Rebirth #5, Superman #6, Avatar: Fore and Ash #7, Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning #8 and Fantastic Four #10; only Lilo & Stitch #4 and Zootropolis 2 #10 have taken what they were expected to take.
December BO was £104.2m, 10% drop from December 2024, due to Wicked: For Good not holding as well at the start of the month, but the last two weeks over the lucrative Christmas holidays were very strong due to Avatar: Fire and Ash not cannibalising the market and The Housemaid, Marty Supreme, Zootropolis 2, The Spongebob Movie: Search For Squarepants, Anaconda and Song Sung Blue playing across all demographics.
Rival studios learnt from December 2022, after Avatar: The Way of Water didn’t cannibalise the market, that there was room for many films. This won’t be the case this Christmas with Avengers: Doomsday cannibalising the lucrative two weeks, hopefully Jumanji 3 and Dune Part 3 and being 7 years on from Avengers: Endgame it could be different, but it looks like Marvel are throwing everything and the kitchen sink into Doomsday bringing back Avengers, and bringing back 20th Century Fox X-Men and combining them with Marvel’s Fantastic Four and Thunderbolts along with an baddie that looks like Tony Stark.
December’s biggest films were Avatar: Fire and Ash (£27.16m), 27% less than Avatar: The Way of Water. Zootropolis 2 (£17.92m), Wicked: For Good (£11.44m), The Housemaid (£8.5m) and Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 (£6.69m).
Universal Pictures was the biggest studio in the UK in 2025, taking £270m+ from 35 films; The first time they have been #1 since 2021; Disney #2 with £250m+ from 17 films and Warner Bros #3 with £200m+ from 15 films.
The five big studios released about 65 films in 2025, taking about £700m. There were 224 wide releases, films opening in over 250 screens, up from 220 in 2024, showing that the issue has never been a lack of films being released, as it’s an average of 4 wide releases every week of the year, which should be more than enough. Downton Abbey 3 had the widest opening in 750 cinemas. Of course, that doesn’t tell the whole story, as many of the widest releases opened it over 2,000 screens.
A 1% BO increase will likely see admissions drop as average ticket price for 2025 will surely be up from 2024’s £7.73, as costs for everything from energy, food and staffing have increased a lot over the last year, along with a large percentage of BO from IMAX/PLF/3D and many cinemas with much more expensive recliner seats with many cinemas being converted into Lux. Despite similar happenings in 2024 average ticket price dropped 2.4% from £7.92.
All the research shows people are going to the cinema less often apart from Cinema United data saying GenZ are going 6 times a year in the US but as with the UK this is probably due to subscription cinema, in the US 15% use subscription cinema, but there are no numbers for usage in the UK despite it being in the UK for over 25 years since the Virgin Megapass in 1999.
There are al many promo schemes like 2for1 Meerkat Movies on Tues/Weds, again very little data has ever been released, and similar free tickets with the likes of Sky Cinema and The Times to Vue and Everyman and also 40% discounts to Vue from O2. The question is what impact all these promotions have as they bring down the average, but all customers of Sky TV and The Times are paying for it in higher costs to their services, even if they don’t use these free tickets.
A key part of the BO is Event Cinema with over £44m taken, and the biggest was Six The Musical, £6.2m with £20+ tickets.
Over £200m was from “British” films, including Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy, Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale and 28 Years Later, but they were fully funded by US studios.
There are huge expectations on 2026 releases with many sequels to huge previous films that have huge expectations attached to them, including Super Mario Bros, The Mandalorian & Grogu, Toy Story 5, The Odyssey, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Jumanji 4 and Avengers: Doomsday. Can they outgross previous instalments or even match them, as these same analysts who are predicting these films are going to be massive, also said the same thing about last year’s films? As the key thing isn’t those who say the big films last year, it’s about them bringing back the many who didn’t see them but saw the previous instalment.
The 1% growth was seen as a positive by the UKCA: “2025 undoubtedly marked a significant further step in the sector’s recovery following the challenges of recent years. But they have a thing about 1% growth as they also heralded 1% admissions growth in 2018 after 16 years of no growth, as also a sign that audiences were growing, despite this growth coming from a big increase in Event Cinema BO.
The problem is the industry comes out with statement like “unprecedented demand” in July 2020, “the start of the second golden age of cinema” in 2021 and “UK admissions will top 200m+ within 5-10 years” without any data to back up their claims and when this doesn’t happen they blame Netflix, shorter theatrical windows and lack of content, despite everyone knowing for over the last 20 years exhibitors have eventualised cinemagoing from a regular outing to a treat.
It used to be something people did without thinking like a meal at McDonald’s now it’s either a meal out at a restaurant or a film, it used to be both, this is also why family chain restaurants like Pizza Hut, Frankie and Benny’s and TGI Fridays that were regularly in new entertainment complexes built next to cinemas in the 90s have closed.
As it’s no longer a meal and a movie its one or the other. But of course, it’s nothing to do with them its Netflix’s fault, despite these issues starting in 2003 when exhibitors took the easier approach of, rather than trying to build audience after 17 years of steady growth, to just get existing customers to pay more.
Not singling out cinemas as streaming companies and Pay Tv channels have done similarly, when subscription numbers don’t grow as quickly, they increase monthly costs, and then these services that were losing money finally make a profit.
- Avatar: Fire and Ash – 20th Century Studios
Down 50% in its fourth weekend, $21.5m and $342.79m
47th biggest fourth weekend between Avengers: Age of Ultron and Finding Nemo (close to Sinners, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, The Hunger Games and The Lego Movie); Avatar #1 $50.3m and Avatar: The Way of Water #2 $45.83m.
EnTelligence said Fire and Ash 2D standard $16.66 and IMAX/PLF/3D $19.82.
Avatar 3 plays still played in IMAX, 3D, 4DX and Screen-X, it will lose many of those screens this weekend to 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple.
80th biggest between Thor: Love and Thunder and Wicked: For Good; 282nd biggest inflated between The Rock and The Polar Express; 5th biggest 2025 between Superman and Wicked: For Good; 20th biggest sci-fi film between Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Jurassic World Rebirth.
Taken $159m from IMAX worldwide; $48.5m US and $110.5m internationally; it will lose many of these screens to 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple opening on Friday.
Fourth weekends
Avatar 3 comparisons with other films can start this weekend. In the US, Avatar dropped 26.6% in the fourth weekend, Avatar 2 32%, The Force Awakens 53.1%, Rogue One 55.5%, The Last Jedi 54.8%, and The Rise of Skywalker 52.3%.
2009’s Avatar dropped 26.6% $50.3m/$72.2m and $430.84m/$661.2m of $749.76m/$1.25bn and $2.93bn/$4.5bn worldwide; #1 for 7 weeks.
After 45 days of release, Avatar overtook Titanic to become the biggest film globally $ with 2.039bn and went on to take $749.76m in the US (held #1 for 7 weeks; Titanic was #1 for 15 weeks), $1.99bn internationally and $2.743bn worldwide. It remained the biggest film globally until Avengers: Endgame overtook it.
2022’s Avatar: The Way of Water dropped 32% $45.83m/$50.1m and $425.52m/$465.2m of $688.45m/$748m and $2.32bn/ $254bn worldwide; #1 for 7 weeks.
Took 18 days to take $1bn worldwide, slower than Avatar: The Way of Water, 14 days and Avatar, 17 days. The first two films both took over $2bn, but Avatar: Fire and Ash is unlikely to take over $2bn.
Internationally
Avatar 2 took $132.6m (30% drop) from 52 territories, $1.191bn total, and $1.7bn worldwide; China $188.3m; France $107.2m, Germany $92.6m; Korea $85.6m; UK $69.1m.
Europe took $548m (70% 3D/PLFs), Asia-Pacific is at $512m (74% 3D/PLFs), and Latin America is at $131 m (53% 3D/PLFs).
IMAX has taken $189.5m (11.1% from 1,453 screens), taking $122m internationally (10.2%)
Avatar took $143m from 52 territories in 14,839 screens (didn’t open in China until Jan 4th and Italy Jan 15th) $904m total and $1.335bn worldwide; was then the 2nd biggest film worldwide after Titanic ($1.84bn)
Avatar: Fire and Ash is expected to take about $1.7bn
Avatar 3 took $65.6m internationally from 52 territories $888m total and $1.231bn worldwide; China 148.6m; France $91.7m; Germany $73.7m; S. Korea $48.5m; UK $48m; Mexico $36.5m; Spain $32.1m; Australia $31m; Italy $27.7m; India $25m; Brazil $18.9m; Indonesia $18m.
28th biggest worldwide between Incredibles 2 and Iron Man 3 (close to Star Wars Ep VIII: The Last Jedi, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, The Fate of the Furious and Captain America: Civil War).
- Zootopia 2 – Disney
Down 48% in its seventh weekend, $10m and $378.74m.
27th biggest seventh weekend between Hidden Figures and Wicked (close to Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Barbie, The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace).
14th biggest animated film between Finding Nemo and Minions: The Rise of Gru; 60th biggest between Finding Nemo and Jurassic World: Dominion; 227th biggest inflated between Sister Act and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2; 3rd biggest 2025 between Lilo & Stitch and Superman; 31st biggest Disney between Finding Nemo and The Jungle Book.
EntTelligence said the average ticket price was $14.42; the average PLF ticket was $18.
2016’s Zootopia dropped 43.2% $8.14m and $307.38m of $341.3m/$454.1m and $1.025bn/$1.4bn worldwide
2016’s Moana dropped 41.9% $6.38m and $225.36m of $248.75m/$331m and $643.33m/$856.1m worldwide
2024’s Moans 2 dropped 47.5% $6.53m and $434.89m of $460.4m and $1.059bn WW
Social media for Zootopia 2 across X, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube before opening was 518m, above Kung Fu Panda 4‘s 353mn, but below Minions: Rise of Gru ‘s 668m.
Took $56.6m worldwide from IMAX; $10.9m US and $45.7m international, including $34m from China.
The 36 Disney animated films since 1988’s Oliver & Company have taken over $6bn and over $11bn inflated in the US.
Took $30.8m from 51 territories $1,276bn total and $1.655bn worldwide; China $611m; Japan $76.7m; France $69.4m; S. Korea $54.6m; Germany $43.6m; UK $39m; Mexico $37.5m; Australia $22.8m; Taiwan $22.1m; Italy $21.6m; Brazil $20.1m; Spain $19.7m.
Last year, Moana 2 took $11.1m from 52 territories and $554.9m total and $990.3m worldwide; France $59.4m; UK $48.1m; Germany $39.5m; Mexico $29.6m; Australia $27.6m.
- Marty Supreme – A24
Down 39% in its fourth weekend, taking $7.63m and $70.13m.
591st biggest fourth weekend between 50 First Dates and The Mask (close to Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, Moulin Rouge!, Get Shorty and Uncut Gems).
Marty Supreme is now A24’s second biggest film, ahead of Civil War‘s $68.7m and behind Oscar-winning Everything Everywhere All at Once ($77.1m).
2024’s A Complete Unknown dropped 37.4% $5.12m and $50.96m of $75m and $140.5m worldwide
Marty Supreme is all about Timothée Chalamet’s screen charisma that connects with the audience, transcending gender lines.
Timothée Chalamet won Best Actor Comedy at the Golden Globes and is now the favourite to win Best Actor BAFTA and Oscar next month.
A24 showed Marty Supreme in a few cinemas in 70mm and also had a few PLF screens.
- The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants – Paramount Pictures
Dropped 53% in its fourth weekend, $3.87m and $63.7m
2004’s The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie dropped 43.1% $4.35m and $73.59m of $85.41m/$158.3m and $141.06m/$260m worldwide
2015’s The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water dropped 34.7% $10.82m and $139.94m of $162.99m/$221.5m and $325.18m/$444m WW
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run was due to open Memorial weekend in 2020, but due to COVID, it was delayed several times, going straight to CBS All Access in early 20221 and international rights were acquired by Netflix.
Took $8.4m from 62 territories, $84.1m and $132.2m worldwide.
- The Housemaid – Lionsgate
Dropped 28% in its fourth weekend, taking $10.91m and $93.64m
282nd biggest fourth weekend between Aladdin (1992) and Ratatouille (close to Gone Girl #272, Up in the Air, Ghost, and Catch Me If You Can).
Paul Feig directed 2018’s A Simple Favor dropped 47.6% in its fourth weekend, $3.42m and $49m of $53.64m and $97.64m world and directed a sequel this year that was released straight to Amazon.
The trailers generated a lot of buzz as they featured a spooky version of Sabrina Carpenter Please, Please, Please and the novel the film was based on has sold almost 4m copies in the US. Since starring in 2023’s Anyone But You, Sidney Sweeney has generated a lot of media coverage; that said, a lot of it this year was negative due to the controversy generated after her American Eagle “great jeans” campaign.
2023’s Anyone, But You 26.9% $7.12m and $55.36m of $88.31m (14.7x opening) and $220.33m WW
Similar films include.
2016’s The Girl on the Train dropped 38.8% $4.38m/$5.9m and $66.03m/$87.9m of $75.39m/$100.5m and $173.18m#$230.5m worldwide
2014’s Gone Girl dropped 36.9% $11.04m/$15.7m and $124.03m/$174.8m of $167.76m/$236.4m and $370.89m/$520.5m worldwide
2022’s Don’t Worry Darling dropped 36% $2.23m and $42.45m from $45.3 m and $87.6m worldwide
2000’s What Lies Beneath dropped 29.5% $9.73m/$20.8m and $112m/$239.2m of $155.5m/$332m and $291.4m/$622.3m WW
1992’s The Hand That Rocks the Cradle up 1.4% $8.2m/$22.6m and $42.85m/$119m of $88.1m/$244.2m
Took $25.5m from 66 territories, $98.3m total, and $192.5m worldwide; UK $23.7m
$18.5m internationally and $133m worldwide.
- Primate – Paramount Pictures
Opened $11.3m; received mixed reviews (77% Rotten Tomatoes) and B- CinemaScore
Took $1.4m from Thursday previews compared to The Monkey $1.9m
PLF’s took 10% of the opening; the audience was male 58% 18-34.
Opened similar to 2017’s 47 Meters Down, $11.2m, taking $44.3m and $62.189m worldwide.
2025’s The Monkey opened $14.01m, taking $39.72m and $68.87m worldwide
After receiving mixed reviews and a low CinemaScore, as with Greenland 2: Migration, it will drop heavily in its second weekend against 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple.
Opened $2.1m internationally.
- Greenland 2: Migration – Lionsgate
Opened $8.5m; received mixed reviews (58% Rotten Tomatoes) and B- CinemaScore
Took $900k from Thursday previews; Den of Thieves 2: Pantera $1.35m; Argylle $1.7m; Angel Has Fallen $1.5m; Den of Thieves $950k.
In 2025 same weekend, Den of Thieves 2: Pantera opened $15.02m, taking $36.01m and $58.37m WW.
The original film was only released internationally in 2020, taking $52.3m due to COVID.
Greenland was in the news a lot over the last few weeks due to Donald Trump wanting to own the country.
Lionsgate only acquired US rights for Greenland 2: Migration for $10m; the film will be released on PVOD on Amazon in Canada; it had a $90m budget.
- Is This Thing On? – Searchlight
Up 849% in its fourth weekend, adding 1,442 screens, taking $2.4m and $3.52m
Received positive reviews (85% Rotten Tomatoes), but as with its platform opening has struggled to find an audience, as so many adult dramas do.
Without Golden Globes and unlikely to receive Oscar nominations, Is Thing On will struggle to find an audience as Searchlight Pictures’ other potential contenders, The Testament of Ann Lee and Rental Family.
Films about comedians, despite receiving positive reviews, struggle to connect with audiences.
1988’s Punchline opened $5.2m, taking $21.04m
1992’s Mr Saturday Night opened $4.51m, taking $13.35m
2019’a Late Night opened $5.25m (expansion), taking $15.49m and $22.38m worldwide
2009’s Funny People opened $22.65m, taking $51.85m and $71.58m worldwide
1999’s Man on the Moon opened $7.51m, taking $34.6m and $37.43m worldwide
2024’s Saturday Night opened $3.4m (expansion), taking $9.51m and $10.05m worldwide
But rather than being a film about a comedian US audiences haven’t heard of, it’s about the story of mid-life marriage struggles like 2019’s Marriage Story, 2010’s Blue Valentine, 1989’s War of the Roses, 2012’s Hope Springs, 2008’s Revolutionary Road and 1999’s American Beauty.
UK Box Office Top 10
Box Office Preview
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple sequel to last year’s 28 Years Later. Early social media reactions have been very positive, and reviews were better than those of 28 Years Later. The Bone Temple is an 18, while 28 Years Later was a 15, but that is unlikely to make any difference to its opening, as its target audience is over 18.
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple has a five-day opening compared to 28 Years Later £4,780,374 4-day opening (including £902,825 Thursday previews); £1.23m Friday; £1.38m Saturday; £1.27m Sunday. taking £15,567,482.
Alex Garland talked about the deceptive power of nostalgia: “The thing about looking back is how selective memory is” .. “It cherry picks, and it has amnesia, and crucially, it also misremembers. We are living in a time right now which is absolutely dominated by a misremembered past.”
28 Years Later performed similarly to T2 Trainspotting, also made over 20 years after the original film.
1996’s Trainspotting opened £1,422,906/£2,786,379 taking £12,431,663/£24,344,067
2017’s T2 Trainspotting opened £5,146,791/£5,476,625 (no previews) taking £16,956,434/£18,043,095
2002’s 28 Days Later opened £1,500,079/£2,786,860, taking £6,238,016/£11,589,041
2007’s 28 Weeks Later opened £1,575,620/£2,486,672, taking £5,309,160/£8,379,011
The Housemaid and Hamnet should still hold strongly against 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, with both likely to drop about 30%; The Housemaid taking £2.5m-£2.8m and Hamnet taking £2.1m-£2.6m.
Avatar: Fire And Ash will drop 40%-50% in its fifth weekend, taking £1.3m-£1.6m
Marty Supreme will drop 40%-50% in its fifth weekend, taking £1m-£1.3m
Zootropolis 2 will drop about 30% in its eighth weekend.
Comedy drama Rental Family starring Brendan Fraser is the latest adult drama that has struggled to find an audience despite positive reviews, unlikely to open similarly to films like 2004’s Lost in Translation, which opened £797,071/£1,405,969 taking £9,865,162/£17,401,355 or 2001’s Amelie, which opened £559,747/£1,070,820 taking £4,320,466/£8,265,239.
Warner Bros re-release The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but having limited shows is unlikely to perform like other recent re-releases.
Coming Soon
- Is This Thing On? – Disney
Comedy drama inspired by the life of British comedian John Bishop starring Will Arnett, Laura Dern, Cooper, Andra Day, Amy Sedaris and Ciarán Hinds and directed by Bradley Cooper,
It premiered at the New York Film Festival and the UK premiere at the London Film Festival, receiving positive reviews for different reasons, in the US, about it being the story of mid-life marriage struggles, while in the UK being also loosely about comedian John Bishop. This should mean that the film could have more interest in the UK, especially as it’s dated days after BAFTA nominations are announced.
Is This Thing On? Opened on limited release in December before going wide in early January.
Films about comedians, including 1988’s Punchline, 1992’s Mr Saturday Night, 2019’a Late Night, 2009’s Funny People, 1999’s Man on the Moon and 2024’s Saturday Night, despite receiving positive reviews, struggle to connect with audiences. So rather than being a film about a comedian, it’s being sold as the story of mid-life marriage struggles like 2019’s Marriage Story, 2010’s Blue Valentine, 1989’s War of the Roses, 2012’s Hope Springs, 2008’s Revolutionary Road and 1999’s American Beauty.
- Primate – Paramount Pictures
Horror starring Johnny Sequoyah, Jessica Alexander, and Troy Kotsur and directed by Johannes Roberts.
Premiered at the Fantastic Fest, receiving positive reviews.
Primate is about a real monkey, but it will perform like last year’s Stephen King adaption The Monkey (opened £1,070,404, taking £2,959,723)
- Shelter – Black Bear
Action thriller starring Jason Statham, Bodhi Rae Breathnach, Bill Nighy, Naomi Ackie, and Daniel Mays and directed by Ric Roman Waugh (Angel Has Fallen)
The plot sounds similar to so many other Jason Statham action films, and they find an audience in cinemas, and Shelter will surely be similar to The Beekeeper (opened £956,380, taking £3,830,079) and 2025’s A Working Man (opened £658,134, taking £1,362,371)
Jason Statham’s first films were Guy Ritchie’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels in 1998 and 2000’s Snatch. since starred in many action films, including The Transporter, The Italian Job, Cellular, Crank, The Expendables, The Mechanic, several Fast & Furious sequels, Spy and The Meg and its sequel. Will star next in Fast X Part 2 and The Beekeeper 2.
- Kangaroo – Studiocanal
Family comedy starring Ryan Corr, Deborah Mailman and Rachel House and directed by Kate Woods and inspired by Chris ‘Brolga’ Barns, the founder of The Kangaroo Sanctuary.
The perennial story about a man who rediscovers the important things in life after losing his job is the kind of film that you can’t hate, as it has lots of sweet kangaroos, but as seen with films like We Brought A Zoo, is that enough to get audiences to see it in the cinema? It was the highest-grossing local film made in Australia last year, taking A$6m.