- One Battle After Another £2,471,783 – NE
One Battle After Another opened at the top of the UK box office, giving Paul Thomas Anderson his career-best debut. Even so, the numbers came in softer than forecast — a win on paper, but not quite the all-out victory Warner Bros might have hoped for with DiCaprio leading the charge. For Anderson, it’s still historic: from the cult curiosity of Boogie Nights and Magnolia to the platform slow-burn of There Will Be Blood and Phantom Thread, this marks his most mainstream splash yet.
Took £756k 30.59% Friday; £966k 39.09% Saturday; £749k 30.31% Sunday.
717th biggest opening between Green Lantern and Knowing (close to American Sniper, The Social Network, The Shape of Water and The Beach) and 1,126th biggest inflated opening between The Devil Inside and 28 Weeks Later (close to Molly’s Game, Ad Astra, Road to Perdition and Rain-Man).
23rd biggest 2025 opening between Karate Kid and Sinners (close to Weapons, A Complete Unknown, The Roses and Mickey 17); 6th biggest Warner Bros opening in 2025.
Opened in 649 cinemas, 142nd widest opening, similar to IF, Mean Girls and Christopher Robin (close to Spectre, Black Adam, Fly Me To The Moon and Spider-Man: Far From Home; 275th 600+ cinema opening since 2015’s Jurassic World.
Opening was 11.24% of the US opening, similar to Interstellar, Dune Part 2, Mickey 17, The Last Samurai and Gravity.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another received the predictable critical acclaim as his other films have received, but struggles to play to audiences beyond cinephiles. This is why most of his previous films have opened early in the year after they have received BAFTA/Oscar nominations.
It’s hoped that One Battle After Another could provoke conversations as happened with films like Anora, The Brutalist and Materialists, asking the question what’s happening in America, there are films like 1987’s Wall Street that opened weeks after the stock market crash or All the President’s Men released two years after Richard Nixon resigned the presidency, that felt part of the moment. This was the case with 2010’s The Social Network and will be the case with next year’s sequel, The Social Reckoning. The problem, of course, is that it takes 6 months and released, so hard to be the film of the moment, as TV shows can be like late-night Jimmy Kimmel and Last Week Tonight that can respond immediately to events.
One Battle After Another was shot in VistaVision, but only one cinema in the UK, Odeon Leicester Square, was showing it in 35mm VistaVision. VistaVision camera process turns the film stock on its side, so the image is twice the size of standard 35mm, meaning higher picture resolution. VistaVision was created in 1954 by Paramount Pictures to compete with CinemaScope.
It was no surprise that the two top cinemas for One Battle After Another were BFI IMAX and Odeon Leicester Square (showing it in VistaVision for three weeks), and it took a similar 50%+ from the 51+ IMAX screens and PLF.
1998’s Boogie Nights opened £805,839/£1.583,684, taking £4,325,540/£8,500,813
2000’s Magnolia opened £371,023/£667,841 taking £997,977/£1,796,358
2002’s Punch-Drunk Love opened £151,494 opening, £322,921 total
2008’s There Will Be Blood opened £540,472/£823,180 on 121 screens, taking £4,392,471/£6,690,071
2012’s The Master opened £65,701 (1 screen), expanded to £1.21m total
2014’s Inherent Vice opened £363,133, taking £739k
2017’s Phantom Thread £727,104 taking £2,708,717
2022’s Licorice Pizza opened £879,373, taking £2,294,561
Since Leonardo DiCaprio won Best Actor Oscar for 2016’s The Revenant (opened £5,235,851 taking £23,257,319 he has starred in three films; 2019’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (opened £7,544,445 taking £20,851,025); 2021’s Don’t Look Up (watched by 171.4m on Netflix) and 2023’s Killers Of The Flower Moon (opened £2,531,393 taking £9,886,049).
One Battle After Another will have all IMAX/PLF/Dolby screens for a week and plays in 35mm VistaVision at the Odeon Leicester Square. With Avatar: The Way of Water re-released next weekend, taking IMAX/3D screens, and Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl taking the biggest screens, One Battle After Another will surely be relegated to the small screens after only a week.
After Warner Bros’ mistake of Joker: Folie à Deux having its world premiere at Venice Film Festival last year, they opted not to have One Battle After Another world premiere at Venice or Toronto Film Festival, even though the film would have received widespread critical acclaim, as all of Paul Thomas Anderson’s previous films and Leonardo DiCaprio would also guarantee red-carpet buzz. Instead, the marketing has been slow to get through the gears with a surprising Fortnite promotion targeting a younger audience who would never see the film.
It never makes any sense when most of Paul Thomas Anderson’s films have opened on a platform release around Christmas in the US and opening in the UK in January, ahead of award recognition, that it’s being released in September, as for PTA films to play beyond cinephiles, it needs BAFTA/Oscar nominations.
Warner Bros. has had success over recent years opening Joker, Gravity and A Star Is Born in early October, and releasing Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Judy starring Tom Cruise next October, One Battle After Another can’t be compared to those films. Of course, with Avatar: Fire and Ash opening in December, One Battle After Another wouldn’t be able to get IMAX screens until mid-January at the earliest.
After Christopher Nolan opted to make Oppenheimer at Universal Pictures, Warner Bros have been trying to make the studio the home of “home of auteurs” acquiring original projects from Paul Thomas Anderson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Bong Joon Ho, Ryan Coogler, signing Tom Cruise to make original and franchise (Edge of Tomorrow 2 is expected to start filming next year) and JJ Abrams.
Ahead of the film’s opening, Leonardo DiCaprio said, “I think there’s just an inundation of content and so much production going on now — which is a good thing, obviously. But I think box office is important because it means people are in the seats going to the theatre, going to have that communal experience,” … “I mean, Paul shot this movie in Vista Vision — cameras that have rarely been used since the early ‘60s. He wants people to have that immersive experience and make an action film that’s unexpected, tactile, realistic and something that is a lot different than what we’ve been saturated with. In that respect, the box office is important.”
Steven Spielberg said, “What an insane movie, oh my God, ”.. “There is more action in the first hour of this than in every other film you’ve ever directed put together. Everything is really incredible. This is such a concoction of things that are so bizarre and at the same time so relevant, that I think they have become increasingly more relevant than perhaps even when you finished the screenplay and assembled your cast and crew and began production.”…“I have not seen a movie that is so tonally a relative to Stanley Kubrick’s ‘Dr. Strangelove,’”
While One Battle After Another was always going to open with about £2.5m the big question is how it will hold in its second weekend as it’s going to lose IMAX/PLF screens to Avatar: The Way of Water (re-release) and with Taylor Swift / The Official Release Party Of A Showgirl playing on Sat/Sun One Battle After Another will be pushed into the smaller screens in cinemas after only a week. So would expect a second weekend drop between 40%=50%.
- 2. Hamilton (10th Anniversary) £1,769,826 – NE
The surprise story of the weekend, though, belonged to Hamilton (10th Anniversary), which struck a strong chord despite being available on Disney+ for the past five years. UK cinema audiences have long been loyal to their musicals — from Mamma Mia! to Les Misérables, The Greatest Showman to Bohemian Rhapsody, few genres guarantee repeat viewings (and sing-alongs) quite like this. Hamilton’s anniversary proves what exhibitors already know: you can stream it at home, but Brits still want to experience the music in a packed cinema, together.
Took £566k 32% Friday; £604k 34.14% Saturday; £599k 33.86% Sunday.
4th biggest Event Cinema opening after 2023’s Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (£5,729,998); 2014’s Billy Elliott The Musical – Live (£1,904,000) and 2013’s Doctor Who: The Day Of The Doctor (£1,798,629)
Played in cinemas for three days only, Fri-Sun, as Taylor Swift will do this weekend.
1,038th biggest opening between Black Hawk Down and Anger Management (close to The Boat That Rocked, The Descendants, Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith (Re: 2025) and Calendar Girls) and 1,576th biggest inflated opening between Bewitched and The Way Back (close to As Good As It Gets, A Simple Favour, The Doors and The Mask Of Zorro)
22nd biggest 2025 opening between The Naked Gun and Freakier Friday (close to Mickey 17, The Bad Guys 2, The Salt Road and Ballerina)
31st widest opening in 710 cinemas, similar to Death on the Nile and close to A Haunting In Venice, Fantastic Beasts 3, Kung Fu Panda 4 and 28 Years Later; 44th 700+ cinema opening since 2018’s Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.
10 years after the show opened on Broadway and five years after Disney acquired world rights for $75m to a filmed version of the musical shot in 2016. Disney planned to give it a theatrical release in October 2021, but due to COVID and, more likely, the launch of Disney+, opted to send it straight to streaming in July 2020.
Hamilton opened at the Victoria Palace Theatre in December 2017 and is booking until October 2026
Hamilton’s stage show has taken $1.5bn+ in the US; about $400m in the UK, with about £1m in weekly sales since 2017 and over $2.2bn worldwide since its debut in January 2015.
Britain’s Musical Affair: Singing at the Box Office for 60 Years
The Sound of Music (1965) – More than 30 million UK admissions, £240m adjusted gross. Still, the high note all musicals are measured against.
Grease (1978) – Over 15 million admissions; a summer love that never faded from the charts.
Mamma Mia! (2008) – £68.6m, one of the highest ever for a musical. Proof ABBA never goes out of fashion.
Les Misérables (2013) – £41ms; sung start to finish, and audiences still came in droves.
The Greatest Showman (2017) – £49.5m, built on unprecedented word-of-mouth legs; rewrote the playbook for musical staying power.
And Wicked was the biggest film of last year in the UK, and Wicked For Good will likely be the second biggest film of this year after Avatar 3.
Hamilton (2025) – Disney+ couldn’t dim the spotlight: the 10th anniversary reissue proves Brits still love their musicals big, loud, and together.
From Salzburg hills to Hollywood showtunes, British audiences have always kept musicals in harmony with the box office.
Normally, Event Cinema screenings give audiences a chance to experience something they would only get to experience paying £100+ live, but the difference with Hamilton is that it’s been available to watch on Disney+ for the last 5 years. So, there are double standards with major exhibitors who will screen Hamilton in cinemas as they are also happy to screen all other Event Cinema screenings, but they continue to refuse to screen Netflix films, especially as Hamilton (10th Anniversary) will only play in cinemas for a week and is still available to watch on Disney+ over the week.
- 3. Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale £1,294,899 – £13,416,773
Down 42.9% in its third weekend
£380k 29.37% (-43.28% £670k) Fri; £509k 39.34% (-40.47% £855k) Sat; £405k 31.3% (-70.6% £742k) Sun
477th biggest third weekend between Snow White And The Huntsman and Ghost (close to Elvis, The Great Gatsby, The Grand Budapest Hotel and Knives Out) and 766th biggest inflated third weekend between Disney’s Christopher Robin and John Wick: Chapter 4 (close to The Queen, Sliding Doors, Presumed Innocent and Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie).
Third weekends
2002’s Gosford Park dropped 18.3% £742,814/£1,380,006 and £4,018,197 32.64% of £12,311,330/£22,872,098. This led to the Downton Abbey TV series on ITV, launched in 2010 and running for 52 episodes until 2015.
2019’s Downton Abbey dropped 18% taking £2,682,080 #1 from 722 screens and £19,379,606 68.6% of £28,248,361; took 5.45x opening; stayed #1 for 3 weeks.
2022’s Downton Abbey: A New Era dropped 37.5% £971,705 and £10,383,398 of £15,092,058
Other third weekend grey pound films include.
2021’s Death on the Nile dropped 43.3% taking £764,438 and £6,455,215, taking £8,012,201
2017’s Murder on the Orient Express #3 dropped 48% (Justice League opened) £2,279,200 (from 617 screens) taking £17,753,371 73.3% of £24,224,914; stayed in the top 10 for 7 weeks (taking £196,186 in its 7th)
2021’s House of Gucci #3 £635,387 dropped 50% and £4,217,850 43.3% of £9,964,144
2012’s The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel #2 £1,787,352 down 24% 499 screens and £10,855,596 53.4% of £20,308,480.
2015’s The Lady in the Van #6 £950,961 down 41% 548 screens and £9,047,439 71.5% of £12,660,028.
2015’s The Second-Best Marigold Hotel #1 £1,409,311 down 29% 592 screens and £11,731,915 75.3% of £15,575,797.
2013’s Philomena dropped 29% £1,006,356 #3 from 553 screens and £7,298,426 of £10,470,225
2011 Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy dropped 49% £1,064,901 #1 465 screens and £9,097,048 of £14,133,500
2003 Calendar Girls increased 5% £1,855,986 #1 from 461 screens and £5,679,683 of £20,174,133
539th biggest between The Rugrats Movie and Mr and Mrs Smith (close to Sense and Sensibility, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, The Beach and American Hustle) and 894th biggest inflated between Gone in Sixty Seconds and Tron Legacy (close to The Social Network, Much Ado About Nothing, The Pursuit of Happyness and Parasite).
- 4. The Conjuring: Last Rites £834,053 – £16,405,304
Dropped 44.8% in its fourth weekend.
£229k 27.46% (-46.9% £432k) Fri; £382k 45.8% (-42.4% £663k) Sat; £223k 26.74% (£414k -75.17%) Sun
463rd biggest fourth weekend between Iron Man and A Complete Unknown (close to The Mummy (1999), Weapons, Apollo 13 and Captain America: The Winter Soldier) and 750th biggest inflated fourth weekend between Phone Booth and CON: Voyage Of The Dawn Treader (close to T2 Trainspotting, See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Alien3 and Under Siege).
9th biggest horror fourth weekend between Weapons and Sleepy Hollow (close to A Quiet Place, Van Helsing, The Ring and Split) and 13th biggest inflated horror fourth weekend between Weapons and The Grudge (close to It: Chapter Two, Smile, 28 Days Later and Jeepers Creepers).
It’s now the biggest horror film this year in the UK, ahead of Nosferatu (£13.0m) and 28 Years Later (£15.5m). It’s about momentum, with success breeding success, not about the films themselves, as seen by the poor reviews the fourth film received; it was more about seeing the trailer with the other summer horror films and with the horrors in the news, a horror at the cinema is escapism. Having seen it from Nosferatu in January, which had the trailer for Sinners before it, this led into Final Destination: Bloodlines with 28 Years Later trailer and then Weapons had The Conjuring: Last Rites trailer.
Fourth weekends
2023’s The Nun 2 dropped 43% £418,693 and £5,871,593 of £6.8m
2018’s The Nun dropped 35% £659,153 #5 and £10,597,539 of £11,302,155
2017’s Annabelle: Creation dropped 14% £572,226 #6 and £7,582,319 of £8,079,017
2021’s The Conjuring 3 dropped 25% £494,713 #6 and £7,726,651 of £9,367,720
2013’s The Conjuring dropped 49% £492,468 #11 and £9,337,626 of £10,471,087
2014’s Annabelle dropped 39% £457,026 #10 and £7,126,266 of £7,402,588
2016’s The Conjuring 2 dropped 51% £401,155 #8 and £10,312,076 of £10,896,992
2019’s Annabelle Comes Home dropped 43% £281,471 #8 and £5,690,476 of £6,176,801
The Conjuring film series has £90m at the UK BO since 2013
14th biggest 2025 between 28 Years Later and Dog Man (close to Thunderbolts, Sinners, The Bad Guys 2 and Nosferatu; 5th biggest Warner Bros film in 2025.
414th biggest between Kingsman: The Secret Service and About A Boy (close to Mad Max: Fury Road, T2 aka Trainspotting 2, Star Wars Special Edition and X-Men Origins: Wolverine) and 713th biggest inflated between Father of the Bride and Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie (close to The X- Files, The Meg, War of the Roses and While You Were Sleeping).
5th biggest horror between It Chapter 2 and Sinners (close to 28 Years Later, The Blair Witch Project, What Lies Beneath and The Final Destination) and 15th biggest inflated horror between The Ring and Scream 2 (close to Sleepy Hollow, Red Dragon, Final Destination 3 and Paranormal Activity).
- 5. The Long Walk £466,627 – £3,569,143
Down 43.1% in its third weekend
£127k 27.25% (£225K -43.56%) Fri; £198k 42.49% (-40.7% £334K) Sat: £141k 30.26% (-71.52% 261k) Sun
1,318th biggest third weekend between The Mean Machine and Children Of Men (close to Ad Astra, Be Cool, Be Kind Rewind and Asteroid City) and 1,568th biggest inflated third weekend between Jackass 3D and John Wick: Chapter Two (close to Zombieland, V For Vendetta, The Omen (2006) and Pineapple Express).
Francis Lawrence previously directed (3rd weekend)
2005’s Constantine dropped 49% £500,554/£841,696 and £5,455,513/£9,173,601 of £6,458,079/£10,859,445.
2007’s I Am Legend dropped 45.2% £2,051,372/£3,237,512 and £21,955,870 86.6% of £25,348,532/£40,005,505
2011’s Water for Elephants dropped 61.7% £266,345/£350,292 and £3,202,936 87.8% of £3,646,903/£4,796,339
2013’s The Hunger Games: Catching Fire dropped 51.2% £2,694,862/£3,289,135 and £26,358,083 78.7% of £33,492,985/£40,878,881
2014’s The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 dropped 54.2% £2,249,045/£2,419,013 and £25,248,214 81.9% of £30,840,529/£33,171,257
2015’s The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 dropped 50.6% £2,240,723/£2,476,916 and £23,321,491 80.3% of £29,046,986/£32,108,804
2018’s Red Sparrow dropped 49.6% £588,634/£649,780 and £5,278,099 82.5% of £6,395,074/£7,059,382
2023’s The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes 37.2% £1,689,887 and £13,036,525 of £17,924,848
Will next direct 2026’s The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping.
1,867th biggest between Apocalypto and Labyrinth (close to The Lawnmower Man, Beetlejuice, The Mexican and A Time To Kill) and 2,418th biggest inflated between Take the Lead and 16 Blocks (close to Sleepwalkers, The Butterfly Effect, The Forgotten and Bandits).
Other Stephen King non-horror adaptations
1988’s The Running Man took £2,530,062/£8,712,213
1995’s The Shawshank Redemption dropped 21.8% £153,984/£352,659 and £799,645 33.1% of £2,414,776/£5,495,697
2000’s The Green Mile took £6,448,988/£11,608,178
Other non-horror adaptations include 1995’s Dolores Claiborne, 1986’s Stand by Me, 2008’s The Mist, 2001’s Hearts in Atlantis, 1998’s Apt Pupil and 2025’s The Life of Chuck.
While the first two The Purge films
2013’s The Purge dropped 37.1% £340,716/£415,851 and £3,087,498 91.8% of £3,365,209
2014’s The Purge: Anarchy dropped 60.5% £320,365/£344,576 and £3,969,494 89.6% of £4,430,522
Stephen King’s horror was never about monsters—It Was About Us. And in 2025, We’ve Become His Stories. From killer trucks to cursed toys, King’s tales seemed like campy B-movie scares when first published. But today, they read as bone-chillingly prophetic.
Here’s how 12 of his most “outlandish” stories morphed into mirrors of modern dystopia—and why Hollywood won’t stop remaking them.
1. The Running Man (1982) → Deepfake Bloodsport
2. Cell (2006) → Algorithmic Zombies
3. The Monkey (1980) → AI Death Predictions
4. Trucks (1973) → The Self-Driving Apocalypse
5. The Mangler (1972) → Automation’s Body Count
6. The Jaunt (1981) → VR Hell
7. The Lawnmower Man (1975) → AI God Complex
8. The Ten O’clock People (1993) → Conspiracy Vapes
9. The Man Who Loved Flowers (1977) → Deepfake Love
10. The Mist (1985) → Algorithmic Mobs
11. Under the Dome (2009) → Lockdown Extremism
12. The Stand (1978) → Pandemic 2.0
Stephen King’s Horrors Keep Being Remade as..
1. Tech Fulfils His Prophecies: AI, deepfakes, and automation made his metaphors literal.
2. Audiences Recognise Themselves: We’re now the chaotic mobs, algorithm addicts, and lonely delusionists he wrote about.
3.Hollywood Trusts His Brand: His name = built-in audience + endless thematic relevance.
Stephen King authored these stories as escapism—but in 2025, they’re field guides to surviving the modern world. If The Shawshank Redemption were written today, Andy would tunnel out of prison using a smuggled ChatGPT jailbreak.
Stephen King didn’t predict the future—he predicted us. And in 2025, we’re living his darkest drafts.
In November comes the reboot of The Running Man and the TV prequel series It: Welcome to Derry, and the miniseries Carrie TV miniseries next year.
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Also Opened
- The Strangers: Chapter 2 – Lionsgate
Opened £331,535 #7 from 425 screens.
Lionsgate originally had plans to open a trilogy of The Strangers films last year, but after The Strangers: Chapter 1 opened £452,506, The Strangers: Chapter 2 opened 18 months later and is likely to open much lower.
Also opened Spider-Man 2.1 (Re: 2025) – Park Circus £97,993 #13 from 316 screens; Dead Of Winter – Vertigo £83,577 #14 from 170 screens and Billy Elliot (25th Anniversary Reissue) £24,556 #27 from 347 screens
While A Big Bold Beautiful Journey dropped 70% in its second weekend £161,314 #11 taking £1,007,551
—–
Year-to-date, 2025 is 9% ahead of 2024.
The weekend’s top 10 box office took £8,395,089, up 13.3% from last weekend’s £7,412,219: 973,966 admissions, up 3.1% from 944,175 admissions.
The 39th biggest weekend of the last 52 weeks between 28 February 2025 #1 Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy £4,130,747 (48.95%) and 29 August 2025 #1 The Roses £2,183,190 (26.75%)
159th biggest since cinemas reopened out of 254 weeks between 14 January 2022 #1 Spider-Man No Way Home £3,215,166 (38.11%) and 30 September 2022 #1 Smile £1,860,452 (22.27%)
853rd biggest top 10 of the last 24 years (out of 1,225) between 19 December 2008 #1 Twilight £2,508,422 (29.85%) and 22 August 2003 #1 American Pie: The Wedding £2,180,783 4 (25.98%) and 1,071st biggest inflated between 22 June 2012 #1 Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter £1,119,117 (16.54%) and 28 April 2006 #1 Ice Age II £1,100,736 (21.34%)
The top 3 took £5,536,508 (65.9%) of the top 10; One Battle After Another 29.4% (£2,471,783); Hamilton (10th Anniversary) 21.08% (£1,769,826); Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale 15.42% (£1,294,899)
778th biggest percentage share #1 (29.44%) between 05 September 2003 #1 The Pirates of the Caribbean £1,542,745 (29.45%) and 14 October 2022 #1 Lyle, Lyle Crocodile £2,783,562 (29.43%)
997th biggest admissions (319,352) between 28 February 2020 #1 The Invisible Man £2,163,797 (320,563) and 12 November 2010 #1 Due Date £1,898,324 (319,046)
Up 52.45% from 2024; (£5,506,669); The Outrun (£449,591); Devara Part 1 (£440,626); Megalopolis (£357,191); Shaun Of The Dead (20th Anniversary) (£314,482); Never Let Go (£306,665); Dragonkeeper (£127,573); Terrifier & Terrifier 2 – Double Bill (£91,215); Mean Girls (20th Anniversary) (£22,385); #1 Beetlejuice 2 £1,822,715 4th weekend 703 screens down 26% (33.10% of top 10).
Up 14.96% from 2023; (£7,302,788); The Creator (£2,255,034); Saw X (£1,925,011); A Little Life (£317,703); Stop Making Sense Remastered (£317,632); The Exorcist (50th Anniversary) (£84,128); Hocus Pocus (30th Anniversary) (£66,713); #1 The Creator £2,255,034 1st week 651 screens (30.88% of top 10)
Up 0.50% 2022 (£8,353,283); Smile (£1,860,452); Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (£807,817); #1 Smile £1,860,452 1st week 519 screens (22.3% of top 10)
Down 70.11% 2021 (£28,089,047); No Time to Die (£25,916,476); #1 No Time to Die £25,916,476 773 screens 1st week (92.3% of top 10)
Up 297.41% 2020; (£2,112,443); Rocky (Re: 2020) (£10,820); Rocky 2 (Re: 2020) (£4,468); Rocky 3 (Re: 2020) (£2,794); Rocky 4 (Re: 2020) (£996k); #1 Tenet £648,517 569 screens 19% drop 5th week (30.7% of top 10)
Down 7.96% 2019; (£9,120,747); Ready or Not (£947,958); The Goldfinch (£320,849); #1 Downton Abbey £2,682,080 3rd week 18% drop 722 screens (29.4% of top 10).
Up 12.40% 2018: (£7,468,933); Night School (£1,596,377); The Wife (£392,635); #1 Night School £1,596,377 1st week 452 screens (21.37% of top 10)
Down 13.79% 2017: (£9,737,689); Goodbye Christopher Robin (£781,110); Flatliners (£486,721); Home Again (£484,124); #1 Kingsman: The Golden Circle £4,187,105 2nd week 620 down 51% (42.9% of the top 10)
Down 35.80% 2016: (£13,075,476); Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (£3,473,781); Deepwater Horizon (£1,984,340); Supersonic (£542,263); Free State of Jones (£118,635); Swiss Army Man (£80,403); #1 Bridget Jones’s Baby £4,807,165 3rd week 646 screens 26% drop (36.7% of the top 10)
Up 20.45% 2015; (£7,140,352); Miss You Already (£487,247); Solace (£340,537); Captive (£52,227); Life (£38,237); 99 Homes (£38,078); McFarland (£12,773); #1 Everest £1,996,439 2nd week 1st #1 598 screens 37% drop (27.9% of top 10)
Up 4.63% 2014: (£8,023,248); Billy Elliot The Musical Live 2014 (£1,904,098); The Equalizer (£1,890,146); What We Did on our Holiday (£811,087); Maps to the Stars (£131,057); I Origins (£14,953); #1 Billy Elliot The Musical Live 2014 £1,904,098 1st week 509 screens (33% drop (26.6% of top 10)
Up 30.58% 2013: (£6,429,080); Prisoners (£1,365,527); Blue Jasmine (£833,798); Runner (£764,886); Filth (£247,860); The Wicker Man (Re: 2013) (£14,817); Girl Most Likely (£90,810); Austenland (£12,384); #1 Prisoners £1,365,527 1st week 400 screens (21.2% of top 10)
Up 9.86% 2012: (£7,641,350); Looper (£2,427,994); Resident Evil: Retribution (£792,265); The Campaign (£772,102); Holy Motors (£66,087); #1 Looper £2,427,994 1st week 449 screens 12% drop (31.7% of top 10)
Up 61.50% 2011; (£5,198,264); Abduction (£900,782); The Phantom of the Opera (25th Anniversary Concert) (£550,955); The Debt (£417,977); Shark Night 3D (£416,770); What’s Your Number? (£320,331); Melancholia (£132,437); Red State (£105,753); #1 Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy £1,064,901 3rd week 465 screens 49% drop (20.4% of top 10)
Up 31.73% 2010: (£6,372,852); Buried (£820,631); Made in Dagenham (£674,059); Back to the Future (Re) (£461,194); Takers (£208,390); The Secret of Kells (£6,151); #1 The Other Guys £976,459 3rd week 427 screens 4% drop (15.3% of top 10)
Up 19.75% 2009; (£7,010,262); Fame (£2,408,242); Surrogates (£961,271); The Soloist (£373,151); Creation (£199,477); The Crimson Wing (£746); #1 Fame £2,408,242 1st week 459 screens (34.3% of top 10)
Up 33.21% 2008; (£6,302,076); Taken (£1,165,986); Righteous Kill (£768,803); Death Race (£683,038); I’ve Loved You So Long (£116,990); Appaloosa (£90,673); Redbelt (£10,303); #1 Tropic Thunder £1,345,392 2nd week 461 screens 46% drop (21.3% of top 10)
Up 35.33% 2007: (£6,203,477); Halloween (£620,844); Michael Clayton (£601,196); The Brave One (£497,838); Mr Woodcock (£483,017); War (£207,091); Mrs Ratcliffe’s Revolution (£15,600); Hot Rod (£44,241); Across the Universe (£27,471); #1 Run, Fat Boy, Run £988,788 4th week 398 screens 18% drop (15.9% of top 10)
Up 2.88% 2006; (£8,159,980); Click (£1,797,073); Hoodwinked (£1,764,419); World Trade Centre (£1,667,589); Life and Lyrics (£95,724); #1 Click £1,797,073 1st wk. 402 screens (22.1% of the top 10)
Up 31.63% 2005: (£6,378,025); A History of Violence (£1,135,345); Goal! (£857,253) Four Brothers (£789,718); Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo (£280,414); #1 Pride and Prejudice £1,473,062 3rd week 23% drop 412 screens (23.1% of top 10)
Up 27.22% 2004; (£7,170,652); Saw (£1,239,813); Layer Cake (£1,090,561); Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (£628,808); Man About Dog (£134,924); The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (£125,748); De-Lovely (£117,789); Dead Man’s Shoes (£44,361); #1 Wimbledon £1,499,011 2nd week 446 screens 12% drop (20.9% of top 10)
Up 17% 2003 (£7,175,270); Once Upon a Time in Mexico (£846,100); Young Adam (£228,692); Ned Kelly (£211,643); #1 Calendar Girls £1,761,985 4th week 2nd #1 439 screens 5% drop (24.5% of top 10)
Up 19.39% from 2002: (£7,031,358); Road to Perdition (expansion (£1,318,382); Van Wilder (£707,783); Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (£124,269); #1 Signs £1,877,796 3rd week 431 screens 29% drop (26.8% of top 10)
Up 19.11% from 2001 (£7,048,276); Mike Bassett: England Manager (£835,219); Enigma (£796,776); The Score (£736,742); The Brothers (E59,542); #1 A.I. £1,556,911 2nd week 430 screens 32% drop (22.1% of top 10).
2024 Next week: (£8,762,914); Joker: Folie A Deux (£5,674,029); A Different Man (£88,9470; Disney Junior Cinema Club 2024 (£53,690); Young Frankenstein (50th Anniversary) (£21,622); #1 Joker: Folie A Deux £5,674,029 1st week 72 screens (64.75% of top 10).
US Box Office
- One Battle After Another – Warner Bros
Opened $22m; received positive reviews (97% Rotten Tomatoes) and an A CinemaScore.
Ahead of opening, One Battle After Another was tracking to open between $20m-$25m, and by Sunday, estimates were $22.4m with final figures lower than expected. One Battle After Another will surely get many Golden Globes, BAFTA and Oscar nominations, but they won’t help the film as it will be on streaming by then.
Took $3.1m from Thursday previews; 1917 $3.25m; Inception $3m; Civil War $2.9m; Killers of the Flower Moon $2.6m, and The Revenant $2.3m
It’s the 10th Warner Bros film to open #1; 16 weekends at No. 1 both US and worldwide; they have had seven consecutive films opened over $40m; Disney had five titles in 2024; Warner was the top distributor for April ($1bn WW), July ($898m WW) and August ($438m WW); September BO has taken 36% of the US BO. One Battle After Another is Warner Bros’ last film to be released this year; their next is Wuthering Heights in February and The Bride in March.
1,001st biggest opening between Ladder 49 and Road to Perdition (close to Longlegs, Walk the Line, Kill Bill: Vol. 1, and It’s Complicated)
The audience was male (65%) and 25+ (42%).
52% from IMAX/PLF; 21% IMAX from 412 screens, including 9 cinemas showing it in IMAX 70mm and 4 VistaVision cinemas.
Took $7.5m worldwide from IMAX; US $4.6m and $2.9m international.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s 10 films have taken $180m in the US, $200m internationally and $370m worldwide.
1997’s Boogie Nights opened ($50,168 platform) $4.68m wide, taking $26.4m
1999’s Magnolia opened ($193,604 platform) $5.69m wide, taking $22.45m and $48.45m worldwide
2002’s Punch-Drunk Love opened ($367,203 platform) $4m wide, taking $17.84m and $24.66m WW
2007’s There Will Be Blood opened ($190,739 platform) $4.86m wide, taking $40.22m and $76.18m WW
2012’s The Master opened ($736,311 platform) $4.39m wide, taking $16.37m and $28.25m worldwide
2014’s Inherent Vice opened ($328,184 platform) $2.77m wide, taking $8.11m and $14.81m worldwide
2017’s Phantom Thread opened ($127,272 platform) $3.24m wide, taking $21.19m and $47.75m WW
2022’s Licorice Pizza opened ($345,157 platform) $1.91m wide, taking $17.31m and $33.27m WW
After One Battle After Another was delayed from August, it was expected to premiere at Venice/Toronto Film Festivals, but Warner Bros got spooked after premiering Joker: Folie à Deux at the Venice Film Festival last year. But One Battle After Another is a festival film and would have received rave reviews as the original Joker film received. Instead, Warner opted to do talker screenings in Los Angeles, New York, Mexico City and London with the cast and director doing Q&As.
Normally, Paul Thomas Anderson films open on platform at Christmas, expanding wide in January, but Avatar: Fire and Ash will have a four-week booking for IMAX/PLF screens, so opening One Battle After Another gives it two weeks in IMAX/PLF before Tron: Ares opens.
Warner Bros currently have 27.8% share of the 2025 US BO taking almost $1.8bn with Disney #2 $1.54bn but they have Tron: Ares, Zootopia 2 and Avatar: Fire and Ash still to be released this year while Universal Pictures #3 $993m with Wicked 2 still to come while Warner Bros don’t release anymore films this year. In March, it was all doom and gloom at Warner Bros after expensive original films Mickey 17 and The Alto Knights both underperformed, but little was expected from either as both had been delayed.
In April, A Minecraft Movie was released, which everyone seemed to be surprised by its success, opening $162.75m, taking $423.94m in the US and $957.84m, but after 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie opened $146.36m, taking $574.93m and $1.36bn worldwide, Minecraft’s BO was surely no surprise.
Sinners. Final Destination: Bloodlines, F1: The Movie, Superman, Weapons and The Conjuring: Last Rites followed. The New York Times said, “rival studios staring in disbelief and box office analysts struggling to come up with comparisons,”
The obvious comparison was 10 years ago with Universal Pictures, which also saw success lead to success. The problem is that there is so much hyperbole written by BO analysts as they don’t look at the bigger picture, and the reason why Warner Bros had this success as audiences saw the trailers for upcoming Warner Bros films and went to see the next one. In 2015, Universal Pictures had Fifty Shades of Grey, Furious 7, Pitch Perfect 2, Jurassic World, Minions and Straight Outta Compton and were the biggest studio of the year, taking $2.45bn despite Disney releasing Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Similar to Warner Bros, Universal Pictures started with a soft start to the year with Blackhat and Seventh Son underperforming.
RelishMix social media universe across TikTok, Instagram, X, Facebook and YouTube is 250m for One Battle After Another, more than A24’s Civil War (101m); Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (241.7m) and Killers of the Flower Moon (168.8m).
2024’s Civil War opened $25.53m, taking $68.75m and $127.26m worldwide
The two recent Warner Bros Best Picture winners
2006’s The Departed opened $26.88m, taking $132.39m and $292.08m worldwide
2012’s Argo opened $19.45m, taking $136.02m and $232.32m worldwide
Leonardo DiCaprio’s recent films
2023’s Killers of the Flower Moon opened $23.25m, taking $68.03m and $158.77m worldwide
2019’s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood opened $41.08m, taking $142.5m and $392.1m worldwide
2015’s The Revenant opened ($474,560 platform) $39.82m wide, taking $183.63m and $532.95m WW
Warner Bros was the first studio to take $4bn worldwide in 2025 with 11 releases compared to 20 in 2019; $1.795bn US and $2.2bn internationally.
Opened $26.1m from 74 territories and $48.1m worldwide; France $3.4m; UK $3.4m; Germany $2m; Italy $1.4m; Saudi Arabia $1.3m; IMAX took $2.9m from 378 international screens.
It was expected to open with $50m+ worldwide, so the US and international were lower than expected, despite the fact that industry reaction was positive, and despite the box office being artificially inflated with 50%+ from IMAX/PLF. One Battle After Another had a budget of $130m and marketing of $70m, so it needs to take at least $300m worldwide, so it will need strong legs over the coming weeks.
- Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie – Universal Pictures
Opened $13.89m; received positive reviews (79% Rotten Tomatoes) and A+ CinemaScore.
Took $700k from Thursday previews.
It’s the second live-action DreamWorks Animation film after this year’s How to Train Your Dragon reimagination and DreamWorks Animation’s first live-action film, not a remake.
Gabby’s Dollhouse is a hugely popular show on Netflix with average weekly minutes viewed in the US (170m in 2021 and 180m in 2022) and in the Netflix Top 10 in many countries, and its YouTube channel has over 700m views, and the trailer was viewed over 105m times. The 12th series starts in November on Netflix, and it’s sold 3m dollhouses since 2021.
Had a similar opening to 2021’s PAW Patrol: The Movie $13.14m, taking $40.12m and $144.32m worldwide.
Took $5.5m from 37 territories $5.7m total, and $19.4m worldwide.
- The Conjuring: Last Rites – Warner Bros
Dropped 52% in its fourth weekend $6.7m and $161.2m
708th biggest fourth weekend between Quantum of Solace and Freakier Friday (close to Fantastic Four (2005), Us, Ghost Rider and Road to Perdition).
393rd biggest between Shark Tale and Ice Age: Continental Drift; 1,009th biggest inflated between The Natural and The China Syndrome; 12th biggest 2025 between 1: The Movie and Weapons; 9th biggest horror between Hannibal and A Quiet Place: Part II; 69th biggest Warner Bros film between Batman Returns and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.
The Conjuring Universe 8 films have taken $1bn in the US and $2.83bn since 2013.
Fourth weekends
2023’s The Nun 2 dropped 44% $4.79m #4 and $78.88m of $86.26m and $269.66m worldwide
2021’s The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It dropped 40.3% $2.99m #6 and $59.2m of $65.63m and $206.43m WW
2019’s Annabelle Comes Home dropped 53.7% $2.6m #8 and $69.73m of $74.15m and $228.51m worldwide
2019’s The Curse of La Llorona dropped 50% $1.85m #10 and $51.45m of $54.73m and $121.66m worldwide
2018’s The Nun dropped 45.5% $5.42m #5 and $109.01m of $117.45m and $36.39m worldwide
2017’s Annabelle: Creation dropped 2.3% $7.5m #2 and $95.26m of $102.1m and $305.38m worldwide
2016’s The Conjuring 2 dropped 50.2% $3.83m #9 and $95.26m of $102.47m and $310.2m worldwide
2014’s Annabelle dropped 57.5% $3.35m #11, and $79.5m of $84.27m and $256.86m worldwide
2013’s The Conjuring dropped 49.1% $6.62m #8 and $120.67m of $137.4m and $317.78m worldwide
Took $15.4m internationally from 76 territories $274.4m total, and $435.9m worldwide; Mexico $28.5m; UK $22.1m; France $18m; Brazil $16.4m; Germany $14.4m.
331st biggest worldwide between A Star is Born and Les Misérables; 12th biggest worldwide between The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Captain America: Brave New World; 3rd biggest horror worldwide between It: Chapter Two and The Exorcist; 62nd biggest Warner Bros between A Star is Born and Pokémon: Detective Pikachu.
- Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale – Focus Features
Dropped 48% in its third weekend $3.31m and $38.91m
2019’s Downton Abbey dropped 44.3% $7.98m and $73.61m of $96.85m and $194.69m worldwide
2022’s Downton Abbey: A New Era dropped 44.8% $7.4m and $29.97m of $44.14m and $92.65m worldwide
Took $5.1m from 35 territories $38.1m total, and $77.1m worldwide; UK $13.9m; France $2.6m; Australia $2.4m; Holland $1.9m; Finland $1.2m.
- The Strangers: Chapter 2 – Lionsgate
Opened $5.8m; received poor reviews (15% Rotten Tomatoes) and C- CinemaScore.
Took $630k from Thursday previews.
Lionsgate originally had plans to release a trilogy of The Strangers films to be released last year, but after the first film underwhelmed, plans were delayed, releasing a film over three years. The original film was a sleeper hit from a $9m budget; 2008’s The Strangers opened $20.99m, taking $52.59m and $82.41m worldwide;10 years later, The Strangers: Prey at Night opened $10.4m, taking $24.58m and $31.03m worldwide.
2024’s The Strangers opened $11.82m, taking $35.2m and $48.16m worldwide
Making films back-to-back cuts production costs, but the problem comes if audiences don’t embrace the first film, as they didn’t with The Strangers of Kevin Costner’s Horizon and the sequel has already been made, as if the audience didn’t come out to see the first film, they won’t see the second.
The Strangers was planned as a 4.5-hour film from a 285-page script.
UK Box Office Top 10
Box Office Preview
Day one presales for Taylor Swift / The Official Release Party Of A Showgirl were 40% more than Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour for Vue Cinemas, as surely some Swifties held back from seeing Eras Tour in cinemas as they didn’t want it to spoil seeing her live 9 months later. Party Of A Showgirl is for the 104m Swifties worldwide; 230m+ Instagram followers and the 100m+ a month listening to her on Spotify; 520m+ fans worldwide.
2023’s Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour opened £5,729,998; £2.25m (38.8%) Fri; £1.89m Sat (33%); £1.46m (25.5%) Sun
One Battle After Another will drop between 40%-50% in its second weekend. As audience reactions haven’t been as positive as critics, seen a Rotten Tomatoes audience score of 85% compared to 96% critics.
2023’s Killers Of The Flower Moon dropped 40.4% £1,507,697 and £5,599,165, 57.9% of £9,667,568
film ahead of the release of Avatar: Fire and Ash in December, Avatar: The Way of Water is re-released with new footage from Avatar: Fire and Ash. There are two different clips, but only one will be shown for each screening, so Disney hopes fans will see it three times.
In 2022, Avatar re-release opened with £1,218,692; Friday £276k; including 19% from 51 IMAX screens (£231,551) with 86% from 3D and 3D IMAX.
The Smashing Machine, the first A24 film shot with 70mm IMAX film cameras, won’t get seen in IMAX by many audiences, as One Battle After Another and Avatar: The Way of Water will have most IMAX screens. The Smashing Machine will struggle to find an audience despite Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt doing a UK promo tour last week.
After struggling to find an audience in the US two weeks ago, sports horror Him will struggle to find any audience in the UK despite the recent success of horror films.
Over the last 24 years, the first weekend of October has been a strong date for adult dramas over the last 11 years including Joker, Blade Runner 2049, The Girl on the Train, The Martian and Gone Girl, vastly different this year with Taylor Swift bringing in the young female audience. It will be interesting to see what trailers will play before it, along with Wicked 2.
Coming Soon
- Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere – Disney
Biographical musical drama film starring Jeremy Allen White, Jeremy Strong, Paul Walter Hauser, Stephen Graham, Odessa Young, Gaby Hoffmann, Marc Maron and David Krumholtz and written and directed by Scott Cooper. Based on the 2023 book Deliver Me from Nowhere by Warren Zanes, about the conception of Springsteen’s 1982 album Nebraska.
Had world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival, receiving positive reviews from critics; has its UK premiere at the London Film Festival on 15th October.
The latest Biographical musician drama after Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen), Walk the Line (Johnny Cash), Ray (Ray Charles), Elvis, Straight Outta Compton (N.W.A), A Complete Unknown (bob Dylan) and Rocketman (Elton John); Upcoming musician biopics include Micheal (Micheal Jackson), Sam Mendes’s four Beatles films, and Ridley Scott directed Bee Gees biopic due to be his next film after Gladiator II but has recently been delayed.
2025’s A Complete Unknown opened £2,616,302; Fri £775k 29.6%; Sat £1.02m 38.9%; Sun £771k 29.5% taking £11,887,982
2006’s Walk The Line opened £1,111,142/£1,807,032 198 screens taking £9,737,493/£15,835,923.
2022’s Elvis opened #1 740 screens £4,023,572; £1.25m (31.1%) Friday; £1.45m (36%) Sat £1.29m (36%) Sun; taking £27,492,430; had long legs staying in top 5 for 7 weeks and top 10 for 11 weeks.
2018’s Bohemian Rhapsody opened £9,530,463 #1 (£3,054,530 previews) taking £54,948,727
2019’s Rocketman opened £5,381,904 #2 705 screens (including £1,360,606 from three days of previews), taking £23,502,881: top 5 for 5 weeks and top 10 for 7 weeks
2024’s Back To Black opened £2,772,698, taking £12,291,912
2024’s Bob Marley: One Love opened £6,950,773 (including £1.82m on Valentine’s Day (Wednesday) taking £17,183,582
2023’s Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody £3,325,458 #2 687 screens taking £11,383,690
2015’s Straight Outta Compton £2,498,231 #1 429 screens taking £8,043,283
- Regretting You – Paramount Pictures
Romantic drama starring Allison Williams, McKenna Grace, Dave Franco, Mason Thames, Willa Fitzgerald, Scott Eastwood, and Clancy Brown and directed by Josh Boone, based on the novel by Colleen Hoover.
Josh Boone previously directed the adaptation of John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars (opened £3,434,334, taking £11,006,752)
After the success of the adaption of Colleen Hoover It Ends With Us, Regretting You is one of several other film versions of her books including Verity (MGM), Reminders of Him (Universal) and Sony Pictures will be hoping that It Ends With Us sequel It Starts with Us could get made after the legal issues are dealt with between Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively; It Ends With Us opened £4,516,760 taking £21,241,321).
- Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc – Sony Pictures
Japanese anime dark fantasy action film based on Tatsuki Fujimoto’s manga series Chainsaw Man sequel to the TV series.
After the huge success of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle, will audiences return to see Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc over half-term?
Opened in 13 territories, taking $7m and $23m total.