- Free Guy – £1,607,761 – £10,597,750
Down 29.1% in its third weekend
584th biggest film in the UK (626th film to take over £10m at the UK BO) between Dances with Wolves and The Grand Budapest Hotel (close to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Moonraker, Ghostbuster (2016) and Knives Out) and 851st biggest inflation inflated film in the UK between Suffragette and Sin City (close to Shaun of the Dead, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, Bad Boys and Freaky Friday).
Free Guy had a similar third weekend as -13.3% Calender Girls (£1,855,986); -10.2% Blade Runner 2049 (£1,791,027); -6.6% Parasite (£1,722,236); -2.9% Nanny McPhee (£1,656,113); -2.8% Last Christmas (£1,654,647); +4.8% Moulin Rouge (£1,533,223); +8.1% Billy Elliot (£1,487,889); +14% Black Widow (£1,410,288); +15.2% My Big Fat Greek Wedding (£1,394,953) and +30.3% Tenet (£1,233,090).
The fact Free Guy had similar third weekend holds as sleepers released up to 21 years ago shows how soft box office is and in normal conditions would have opened with double and held similar to A Star Is Born, Mamma Mia!, Slumdog Millionaire, Downton Abbey, The Martian, Gravity, The Incredibles, Rocketman and The Greatest Showman in its third weekend (between £2.1-£2.8m).
It also held stronger than both Black Widow and Tenet showing that both of them didn’t play beyond their fanbase, which was always expected despite exhibitors believing they would play far stronger and have much longer legs.
Free Guy has been called a surprise and a sleeper hit but while it might be an original film idea the concept is built from many other films and genres, not taking anything away from the film. Just think similar to 1990 that had so many sequels it was the original films that got audiences excited including Pretty Woman, Ghost and Home Alone while the sequels were quickly forgotten. After all those sequels, remakes, reimaginations Free Guy felt different and similar to Ted Lasso was the film we needed now as it does exactly what it said on the tin.
There are some films you know from seeing the trailer many months before release that the studio believes in the film and saw that with the first trailer of The Lego Movie. Before the trailer was released there was a lot of negativity about how you could possibly make a film about Lego, but that first trailer blew people away.
You can often tell from the trailer that the studio believes in the film as was the case with films like The Lego Movie, Bohemian Rhapsody and Free Guy that studios took their time to make the trailer unlike so many made during production or even before a shot of the film has been filmed featuring footage that isn’t in the completed film.
While many compared Free Guy to The Truman Show there are a lot of similarities to The Lego Movie, Wreck-It Ralph and Night at the Museum, and had Free Guy been released in normal circumstances as originally planned in a non-COVID world in July 2020 or December 2020 it would have opened similar The Lego Movie, Wreck-It Ralph and Night at the Museum.
During the last 19 months of underwhelming BO and audiences starved of originality, the industry has also lost all sense in what’s a hit despite these films still huge budgets and marketing costs while sleeper hits in the past were low budget films that came out of nowhere. Free Guy has been around thanks to Ryan Reynolds for the last 18 months and thanks to Ryan Reynolds humour Free Guy has felt fresh all through that time, unlike most other films that have had long delays.
The film has been compared to The Truman Show, (but was adult comedy/drama and played to an older audience) but instead of being set inside a TV show, it’s set inside a computer game like Wreck-It-Ralph or The Lego Movie and was a family film similar to those two films playing to a much wide demographic. The Truman Show has become more than it was due to the TV shows that have launched over the years since similar to 1995’s To Die For and Josie and the Pussycats they were movies ahead of their time so weren’t the successes they deserved to be or would be today.
Third weekends
1998’s The Truman Show dropped 35.1% taking £1,096,394 (£1,934,333 inflation inflated) taking £6,571,775 (£11,594,372 inflation inflated) total £9,929,680 (£17,789,650)
2006’s Night at the Museum dropped 34% taking £1,939,335 (£2,831,349 inflation inflated) taking £16,669,329 (£24,336,535 inflation inflated) 83.2% of £20,019,417 (£29,227,526.67)
2013’s Wreck-It Ralph dropped 0.5% taking £3,420,196 and £18,624,692 total (78.9% of £23,607,542
2014’s The Lego Movie dropped 45% taking £3,266,594 and £26,671,764 81.1% of £32,887,286.
2017’s The Lego Batman Movie dropped 35% taking £2,893,337 and £23,076,742 86.2% of £26,771,191
2018’s Ready Player One dropped 5.1% taking £1,183,259 and £14,501,485 total 90% of £16,114,011
2. Candyman – £1,112,674 – NE
1,292nd biggest weekend in the UK between Stuck On You and Walk the Line (close to The Hills Have Eyes, Lights Out, Snakes on a Plane and Sinister 2) and 1,359th biggest inflation inflated opening between Collateral Beauty and The Possession (close to Zombieland: Double Tap, Dredd, Rambo: Last Blood and The Visit)
Comparing Candyman to recent horrors that opened in cinemas since reopening in May opened +218.2% Don’t Breathe 2 (£349,702); 54.5%+ than The Forever Purge (£720,032); 42.8%+ Spiral (£779,107); +28.3% Old (£866,860); but -68.8% A Quiet Place Part 2 (£3,567,048); -58.9% The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (£2,708,455)
95th biggest horror opening in the UK between Lights Out and Sinister 2 (close to The Purge: Anarchy, Ouija, Don’t Breathe and Silent Hill).
The original Candyman opened #2 with £350k (£800k inflation inflated) from 149 screens in March 1993 but went on to take £1.8m (£4m inflation inflated); 1995’s Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh took £598,063 but the third film Candyman: Day of the Dead went straight to video.
Candyman took a 5.14x opening similar to Skyfall and Paddington 2 showing how front-loaded films have become over the last decade. In the 90s films would play in cinemas for months but now most films take 90% of their total box office in their first 4 weeks.
Showing how the way films have become much more front-loaded over the last decade and why the theatrical window needed to shorten many years ago. It would be lovely to be nostalgic about the cinema experience and go back to how it was in the 80s and 90s. But then films wouldn’t open with up to 40% of their total box office in their opening three days (opening in half of the screens they do now). While films would play in cinemas for 6 months or more why films weren’t released on video until 9 months after opening in cinemas, (was often over a year after opening in the US) and there would be half as many films released at the time many said it was too many.
After Universal delayed Candyman from June 2020 were rumours they might sell it to streaming but as director Nia DaCosta said in September “We made Candyman be seen in theatres. Not just for the spectacle but because the film is about community and stories–how they shape each other, how they shape us. It’s about the collective experience of trauma and joy, suffering and triumph, and the stories we tell around it…We wanted the horror and humanity of Candyman to be experienced in a collective, a community, so we’re pushing Candyman to next year, to ensure that everyone can see the film, in theatres, and share in that experience.”
This could be said for all horrors and why they have performed strongly since cinemas reopened in May as horrors are far scarier watching with an audience.
Normally industry will say films will open with about 10% of their dollar opening in the UK but apart from Sinister 2 and The First Purge (due to previews) all other Blumhouse Productions have opened with far lower with Candyman opening with only 4.5% of US.
This could be due to several reasons including many of them receive lower certificates in the US to get R and PG-13s whereas in the UK they are mostly 15s with Halloween 18. While the racial tensions in the US over the last decade especially during the Trump presidency made films like Get Out and Us political so attracting a much wider audience than normal horrors. Word of mouth for most of these films is very strong so while they might not open as strong as the US they hold much stronger than other horrors while Sinister 2 and The First Purge that opened with 10% have much bigger drops in their second weekend.
3. The Paw Patrol Movie – £563,145 – £5,685,558
Down 45.5% in its third weekend
Hard to make direct comparisons with other Paw Patrol films as its opening weekend took more than the others did in their complete release; 2020’s Paw Patrol: Ready, Race, Rescue took £1,772,296; 2019’s Paw Patrol: Mighty Pups took £1,265,526; 2017’s Paw Patrol: Mission Big Screen £42,460 from 83 Vue Cinemas. The Paw Patrol Movie plays mostly to pre-schoolers while other animated films would play to across a wider age.
2017’s Peppa Pig: My First Cinema Experience #10 its third weekend after the Easter holidays ended taking £209,050 and £3,017,361 taking £3,615,538
The Paw Patrol Movie as with Peppa Pig: My First Cinema Experience will be many children’s first experience going to the cinema and as Edward Lewis says in Pretty Woman about opera “People’s reaction to opera the first time they see it is very dramatic. They either love it or hate it. If they love it, they will always love it. If they don’t, they may learn to appreciate it, but it will never become part of their soul” the same is true about going to the cinema. If children enjoy their first trip they will want to come back the next day so with these films it would be good for exhibitors to make them more child-friendly 90mins plus adverts and trailers is a bit too long for many children to sit still so if there was an admission in the middle it would make the experience more bearable.
Likewise, as it’s all about getting the next generation excited about the cinema experience tickets should be cheaper, in November 2017 Disney played Olaf’s Frozen Adventure with Frozen and all cinemas were £1 took £1,115,689 from 611 screens.
After the huge growth of streaming over the last decade and admissions only increasing 1% since 2002, it’s all about attracting the younger generation and get them excited about the cinema experience, but many parents are probably put off doing it by the cost and a subscription to Netflix or Disney+ is far better value.
While exhibitors have for the last 19 months looked No To Time To Die to be their saviour as they did a year ago this week with Christopher Nolan’s Tenet but films like The Paw Patrol Movie and Peppa Pig: My First Cinema Experience is far more important. As these films bring a new generation to the cinema experience as for many children it’s their first time going to the cinema,, If they enjoy their first experience and their parents don’t think it’s too expensive then they will be going for years to come despite also have Netflix, Amazon, Disney+ and Sky TV at home.
The problem is the cinema industry is focused on the short-term this was highlighted by their handling of COVID and their failure to be reactive rather than proactive opting to wait for government guidance which came far too late from incompetent governments who had no idea what they were doing.
Not being Mr Hindsight but everyone could see what was happening in February 2020 the panic in supermarkets with idiots buying 96 rolls of toilet paper and similar quantities of pasta. While the West had the massive advantage as they could see how Asia dealt with it as they were two months ahead of the West so should have expected it worse as Asia were far better prepared having dealt with SARS.
The problem was 2020 box office started so strongly exhibitors didn’t want to spook their customers even though they were already spooked as late February early March box office had dropped off before lockdown was announced. Over the month’s cinemas were closed there were many articles in the trade press about how exhibitors would make their customers confidence to return, but the problem predictably was they were focussed on the under 35 demographic.
This was highlighted by AMC in June 2020 saying masks won’t be required in cinemas in the US but after backlash 24 hours later they would be required. (similar to in 2016 AMC saying texting would be allowed in their movie theatres, but after the predictable backlash said they wouldn’t be). As eating and drinking is a necessity when going to the cinema (it is for exhibitors as they have 1000%+ profit in them) masks were able to be removed in the auditorium for eating, while the planed checkboard seating policies were swap for two seats on either side but could be seated immediately in front and behind someone which made completely no sense.
What never makes any sense to me is if popcorn and drinks are so profitable to exhibitors and exhibitors always say they don’t make any money from cinema tickets then surely if the entry price was lower that would attract more people through the door and that would mean more popcorn and drinks sold. It would be interesting to see if Cineworld and Odeon subscription cinema customers spend more money on drinks and popcorn over regularly cinemagoers who see the costs mounting up, £40 for two tickets, £40 for a meal and then £15 for two drinks and popcorn.
4. Andre Rieu’s 2021 Summer Concert: Together Again – £420,056 – NE
Andre Rieu’s 2021 Summer Concert is the canary in the coalmine for Event Cinema and films targetting older demographic as over the years before COVID his concerts were very popular Event Cinema screenings.
The last release was September 2021’s Andre Rieu’s Magical Maastricht: Together In Music opening with £124,101
2020’s Andre Rieu: 70 Years Young – Piece Of Magic Entertainment opened January 4th taking £1,717,073 from screenings on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon, this is compared to 2019’s Andre Rieu’s New Year Concert from Sydney taking £1,745,941.
Other Andre Rieu concerts openings since 2014; Andre Rieu 2019 Maastricht Concert – Shall We Dance? – £1,492,154; 2018’s André Rieu’s Maastricht Concert, ’Amore £1,783,222; Andre Rieu’s 2017 Maastricht Concert £1,439,604; Andre Rieu’s 2016 Maastricht Concert £1,414,075; Andre Rieu’s 2015 Maastricht Concert £1,107,000; Andre Rieu’s 2014 Maastricht Concert £830,586.
Event Cinema had a record-breaking year at the UK box office in 2019 but tickets are almost 250% more than regular prices, in 2020 my local Vue standard prices were £6.74 but tickets for Andre Rieu: 70 Years Young were £23.24, 18 months later the same local Vue cinema regular prices are £7.99 and tickets for Andre Rieu’s 2021 Summer Concert were £19.99.
I’ve always said Event Cinema was a great addition to cinema giving cinemagoers a chance to experience shows and concerts they would never be able to see but the issue I have always had is the price which for most is up to double regular prices.
5. Jungle Cruise – £402,715 – £10,957,787
Down 38.3% in its fifth weekend.
557th biggest film in the UK between Titanic 3D and Paranormal Activity 2 (close to The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, 102 Dalmatians, Turbo and Flubber) and 829th biggest inflation inflated film between The Hannah Montana Movie and Vertical Limit (close to Knight & Day, Small Soldiers, Crocodile Dundee II and Shaun of the Dead).
104th biggest Disney film in the UK between The Princess And The Frog and Flubber (close to Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Hercules, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Tron Legacy).
It’s the sixth Disney film based on a theme park ride after the Pirates of the Caribbean five-film series (between 2003 and 2017); 2003’s The Haunted Mansion, 2000’s Mission to Mars, 2002’s The Country Bears and 2015’s Tomorrowland
2003’s The Pirates of the Caribbean dropped 24% taking £1,542,745 #1 £21,459,651 taking £28,171,721 (£45,810,772 inflation inflated).
2004’s The Haunted Mansion dropped 29% taking £376,565 #6 £7,661,772 taking £8,078,765 (£12,990,798 inflation inflated)
Jungle Cruise wants to be Pirates of the Caribbean meets The Mummy with Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt similar to Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz in The Mummy in 1999 dropped 34.4% taking £838,891 and £12,627,510 taking £17,439,339 (£29,907,845 inflation inflated).
In 2001 The Mummy Returns dropped 41.8% taking £1,138,475 and £17,142,314 taking £20,390,060 (£35,559,477 inflation inflated); The Mummy box office is similar to Jumanji Welcome to The Jungle and Jumanji: The Next Level box office.
After taking over $100m in the US and $187m worldwide Disney announced plans for a sequel with Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt returning. In normal circumstances would have expected Jungle Cruise to take more than three times the amount in the US and worldwide.
Also opened
• Our Ladies – Sony Pictures
Opened with £124,295 from 388 screens
The performance of Our Ladies highlights the biggest issues with cinema now as a British film like this that received critical acclaim over a quiet weekend of new releases should be able to find an audience.
Similar to British horror Censor that also received critical acclaim wasn’t given the screen time it deserved, (dropped 72% in its second weekend taking £14,258 and £138,345 total) but the same could be said for Zola that opened earlier in the month opening in just over 100 screens.
If these films aren’t given the wide release that they deserve then they should be given day and date VOD release as after having soft opening weekends they will lose a large number of screens in their second weekend.
The film received its UK premiere at the 2019 London Film Festival (receiving positive reviews) and was originally due to be released in March 2020 but delayed several times due to the COVID pandemic. It was compared to coming-of-age films Superbad and Now and Then.
Opened on the 34th anniversary of the UK opening of The Full Monty which all feel-good British dramas have tried to repeat ever since but fallen short; Sunshine on Leith is probably a better target opened #3 with £770,239 from 400 screens in October 2013, down only 5% in its second-weekend #2 taking £732,296 from 426 screens and £2,165,216 taking £4,550,851.
Sunshine on Leith was helped by Entertainment Films marketing the film heavily and October 2013 BO being very soft, its second weekend October 11-13 was one of the lowest weekends at the UK BO with no film taking over £1m and top 10 taking £5,001,792). Our Ladies opens during a quiet weekend but had a crowded September so will struggle to build momentum.
Michael Caton-Jones directed Scandal in 1988 following that up with Memphis Belle (1990), Doc Hollywood (1991), This Boy’s Life (1993), Rob Roy (1995), The Jackal (1997), City By the Sea (2002) but then directed Basic Instinct 2 (2006) and Our Ladies is his first film since. As often happens with massive flops the actors quickly move on to their next projects by the director struggles to get another film project.
Other Film News
Peter Rabbit: The Runaway became the first film since 1917 to take over £20m, the sequel was always likely to be the saviour of the cinema after the original film took £41.1m rather than Christopher Nolan’s Tenet that the industry believed it would be.
The top 10 biggest films of 2021 are currently
Peter Rabbit 2 £20.1m; Black Widow £18.7m; Fast & Furious 9 £16.4m; The Suicide Squad £13.22m; Space Jam 2 £11.74m; A Quiet Place Part 2 £11.54m; Jungle Cruise £10.97m; Free Guy £10.59m; Cruella £9.41m; The Conjuring 3 £9.36m.
In normal circumstances, all of those films would have taken at least a third more with Black Widow, Fast & Furious 9, The Suicide Squad and Jungle Cruise likely to take over 50% more. Exhibitors will blame piracy, but the issue has been simply a lack of consumer confidence from the majority and this dates back to March 2020.
This can be seen by Godzilla Vs Kong taking £2.6m and Tom & Jerry The Movie £1.26m despite both being available to buy on VOD for weeks before they opened in cinemas and widely available illegally online. I’ve said it so many times if it’s a film people want to see in the cinema they will see it in the cinema no matter if it’s available elsewhere.
The following 10 biggest films from 11-20 highlight this issue even more with two big Oscar winners in 19th and 20th as both targeted older demographics but they weren’t likely to attend cinemas in May/June and this was expected many months before they were dated to open. While neither were likely to be successful as 2019’sOscar winners 1917 and Parasite they should have attracted a far bigger audience than they did especially with Lionsgate opening The Father on over 600 screens.
The Croods 2 £8.58m; PAW Patrol: The Movie £5.68m; In The Heights £4.28m; The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard £3.84m; The Forever Purge £3.6m; Old £3.36m; Spirit Untamed £3m; Godzilla Vs Kong £2.5m; The Father £2.07m; Nomadland £1.93m.
Last week was CinemaCon while exhibitors removed social distancing and don’t require vaccine passports in the UK they did require both for attendees, why should their customers believe cinemas are safe if they had the same rules as they have for their paying customers?
COVID made issues facing industry visible to all but they can be traced back to 2002 after 17 years of steady growth on both sides of the Atlantic they stopped growing but box office sales have almost doubled.
In 1994 Screen International analysts predicted UK admissions would top 200m by 2000 while they didn’t get to 200m; they grew steadily over the following years thanks in part to National Cinema Day 1996-1998. In 2003 there was a similar analysis predicting admissions would top 200m by 2010 but they never did increase again until 2018 by 1% seeing industry backslapping itself that admissions had finally increased for the first time in 16 years. While over the same time streaming has killed off music and video stores.
The problem is cinema industry turned to the same solution did in the 1950s when TV was seen as the enemy and went for gimmicks including 3D, Smellovision and Cinerama with 3D, ScreenX and 4DX.
Customers first enjoyed 3D with films like Avatar but then when they realised many were being retrofitted and paying a third more for less 3D died off. Now cinemas are opting for things that increase sales like recliners and restaurants style food rather than improving cinema experience and customer service with exception of Everyman.
But didn’t need to happen if the growth continued in the US and the UK from 2003.No one can explain why admissions stopped growing in 2002 despite the films in 2003 onwards being exactly the same and why the industry never did anything about it apart from increase ticket prices 66%. Real prices closer to double as real admissions are closer to 90s levels as seen with inflation inflated US BO from the 90s less than BO taken in the years up to 2019, the same is true in the UK and many older cinema countries.
The problem is with no plan or strategy each studio and exhibitor had separate plans which made the situation far worse causing predictable long-term damage. While streamers sat back and gobbled up many high-profile films studios had made and delayed and helped boost their subscriber’s levels. CinemaCon was all about propaganda exhibitors wanted to hear nothing helpful for the industry to move forward as they don’t seem to have learnt anything over these 19 months despite billions being lost and many jobs being lost are still in denial as they were in March 2020. As the biggest issue facing cinema has always been about consumer confidence since they closed in March 2020 and the failure of exhibitors of only thinking about under 35s who were always going to be the ones rushing back but the problem is they are fickle and rush from one opening film to the next.
There were comments from David Heyman saying, “I’m someone who loves the cinema, and I am concerned, I think it’s really important that we make films for the cinema as well as for the small screen.” Having children, he was aware that viewing habits have changed also saying “Having had the experience of lockdown, having become used to watching things at home, getting people to go to the movie theatre is undeniably more of a challenge than it has been. But I believe in the cinema-going experience, and I will continue to make films that aspire to that.”
While Patty Jenkins also said, “I don’t know why we are talking about taking [exclusive theatrical windows] away,”… “One studio should plant a flag and make a huge commitment to the theatrical experience and the filmmakers will go there.”
While Paramount said “the approach will be on a picture-by-picture basis. I don’t think you are going to see any slate-long decisions.”… “We need to be allies, not adversaries,”… “Going forward, I think the long-term solution is that exclusive theatrical [window]. … Finding the proper window, we may still be trying to figure that out. We’ll figure that out together.” Just cutting theatrical widow from 90 days to 45 won’t change the problems facing the industry. Paramount’s 2015 VOD plan is still the best which would have seen films go to VOD a week after they dropped below a certain number of screens, so would be in exhibitors interest to keep hits playing wide in cinemas so flops
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie and Cinderella going to streaming highlights the problems facing the industry today with anything different is being sold to streaming as studios only want to release sure things in cinemas, but Free Guy has shown that audiences still want to see original films in cinemas.
But surely much of this has to come from exhibitors to improve the cinema experience and make it far more competitive with streaming and this should have been central to relaunching cinemas when they reopened in July last year, exhibitors had a second opportunity to do so this year when they reopened a second time. The problem is exhibitors just reopened cinemas without offering anything new just believing people will come.
Would have hoped for some humility from NATO after they fail to plan or have some kind of strategy in place to deal with the predictable impending global disaster in January 2020 and everything that followed which was much worse than it should have been and lasted much longer.
At CinemaCon this week Sony talked about preserving the theatrical window but then they have sold several to streaming (including The Mitchells vs. the Machines, Cinderella, Fatherhood, Vivo and Hotel Transylvania: Transformania) and delayed most of their films over the last 19 months (Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Venom 2 and Morbius) with the three major films they did release Peter Rabbit 2, Escape Room 2 and Don’t Breathe all taking 60%+ less at the box office.
Sony surprised audiences screening Ghostbuster: Afterlife audience reaction was very positive but have to take CinemaCon reactions with a pinch of salt as they are even more over the top than premieres in 2014 Disney said Million Dollar Arm tested better than Harry Potter and reaction at CinemaCon was similarly positive the film opened a few weeks later with $10.5m taking $36.4m.
Warner Bros also said at CinemaCon “Going to the theatre is simply in our DNA,”… “and that will never change. That won’t be replicated in any way. The problem was the industry was rudderless from NATO and MPA in their handling of COVID from January 2020 with no industry-wide plan or strategy in place studios and exhibitors behaved like headless chickens making poor decisions on both sides that predictably had long-term consequences.
After Tenet was underwhelmed at the BO Warner should have had informal discussions about their plans with exhibitors telling them of their concerns only a fraction of cinemagoers had returned and what they will do to improve those numbers as the studio didn’t want to delay the 2021 slate. The problem is the relationship between studios and exhibitors is similar to the relationship of the dogs and sheep in Babe when Fly says to Babe ‘you’re treating them like equals. They’re sheep; they’re inferior’ there needs to be someone like Babe saying ‘Oh, no, they’re not.’
It was easy for NATO’s John Fithian to say “simultaneous release does not work” at CinemaCon but what was the alternative to delay films for many more months as there were only bad options available theatrical and PVOD release was the best available. Until the majority feel safe to return to cinemas then studios need another revenue source for these films. NATO slammed Disney after Black Widow dropped 68% in its second weekend blaming piracy. But the reason why Black Widow was an average MCU and as with all origin films had a smaller fanbase as most really didn’t need to see what happened in Budapest as they didn’t need to see the Kessell Run in Solo, the other issue with Black Widow was it came out 7 years too late and after Lucy.
Piracy is just an excuse as if it’s a film people want to see in the cinema they will see it in the cinema, the reason why Black Widow dropped heavily was due to it being an average MCU fan rushed out to see it opening weekend but being origin story didn’t play beyond fanbase.
UK cinema tickets should have dropped 15% in July 2020 after VAT was dropped for the hospitality sector until 31st March 2022 most dropped prices cinemas didn’t. Exhibitors excuse was it would be only a few pennies saving but for 4DX £3.80 and £3.56 IMAX Cineworld Leicester Sq. per ticket. This also has a massive impact on BO taken since July 2020 as it’s been artificially inflated by 15%.
Omdia predicted yearly UK box office won’t get to 2019’s £1.25bn until 2023 (which was expected). The most important thing for exhibitors to do since cinemas reopened is to get people back to the cinema but nothing seems to have changed with how they are operating now to how they did pre-pandemic, but consumer habits have changed as have confidence levels, so exhibitors should have done much more to get people back into the cinema habit.
Omdia said the weekly box office will be returned to 80-85% of pre-pandemic levels by the end of the year and predict the 2021 box office will be half of 2019 and expects the box office to return to 2019 levels by mid-2022.
The consumer confidence level hasn’t changed in over a year with over 50% of people uncomfortable returning to cinemas and with those happy to return to the same 15-34 demographic. As this demographic is much fickler, films open but then as the older demographic isn’t there they drop much more than they do normally, which is why so many films between May and July dropped so heavily in their second weekends.
But if it was true that consumer confidence levels had dropped off in recent weeks, why aren’t exhibitors doing anything to boost consumer confidence? Last weekend was the lowest final weekend of August in the UK for over 21 years. It will pick up this weekend with Shang-Chi but that’s again due to the 15-34 demographic. Older demographics are still very slow to return, seen by André Rieu Together Again opening with £420k from 600 screens 75% less than pre-lockdown.
For the last 19 months exhibitors have been holding on to No Time To Die as their saviour but if older demographics are still uncomfortable to return it’s likely to do half the BO of Spectre and Skyfall and similar BO to Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. With a very crowded October, it’s also likely to cannibalise the BO.
In the US for CinemaCon attendees had to have proof of vaccination before entry but exhibitors don’t demand the same from customers in cinemas apart from in countries and cities that have forced them to implement it.
Always refer back to the Deadline article from April 2020 Reopening Hollywood: How Theatre Chains Will Try To Restore Customer Confidence In Moviegoing.
The industry knew exactly what was needed to make the majority feel comfortable to return to movie theatres many months sooner, but they took the easy option caring only about the 15-34 demographic and predictably it had long-term consequences.
After delaying the Australian release date of No Time To Die two weeks ago they have delayed several other films including Dune, The Matrix Resurrections, King Richard, Malignant, Cry Macho, The Many Saints of Newark, The Boss Baby 2, Belfast, House of Gucci, the Addams Family 2, Dear Evan Hanson and Cyrano. As all of these films will open weeks and months after their US release they will all likely match their box office expectations saying that if COVID drops off by November these films could perform much better than they would have in the previous slots.
F9 became the first film since 2019 to take over $700m worldwide taking 45% of its global box office from Asia where it opened a month before the rest of the world. Exhibitors were quick to talk about piracy from streaming for films like Black Widow and The Suicide Squad but nothing was mentioned about F9 being widely available illegally online weeks before the US. In normal circumstances, F9 should have taken $1.2bn+ worldwide taking a third more in many territories including China, the US and the UK.
The Boss Baby: Family Business and The Suicide Squad have also taken over $100m this week worldwide, 30 years ago films taking $100m was a sign of hit but now these films need to take many more times that amount to be a success.
It was the first week that box office was down from 2020 levels and this weekend was the lowest last week in August for over 21 years. The last weekend in August is normally a slow week but if cinemagoers really felt comfortable going to the cinema Andre Rieu’s 2021 Summer Concert: Together Again should have opened with double and Candyman at least a third more. The box office will be up next week with the arrival of Shang-Chi but cinema should be more than comic-book movies.
Give more credence to Morning Consult weekly Tracking the Return to Normal survey rather than surveys done on before of the cinema industry as there is always some biased in surveys but Morning Consult’s Tracking the Return to Normal isn’t tied to one industry. This week only 43% of adults are comfortable seeing a film in cinemas, the sixth consecutive week US comfort with moviegoing has been below 50% and the lowest since early May. As week are now into September and films target older demographics this could have major impact on box office away from Shang-Chi.
Venice Jury President Bong Joon Ho came up with the usual clickbait nonsense saying “COVID-19 will not destroy cinema”, COVID is just the latest excuse as streaming was, but the biggest enemy of cinema is the industry itself being far too slow to change and being fixated on cosmetic changes like recliners rather than improving cinema experience for its customers.
There was an article in the Independent this week saying with the reopening of the Odeon West End as a Luxe cinema the future is premium. But do cinemagoers really want to pay £20 to see a film in the cinema, as for more than a century cinema was a cheap night out and that was why 30m people went to the cinema each week in the 40s with over 1bn a year. UK admissions had 17 years of steady growth between 1985 and 2002 but they were flat until increasing by 1% in 2018 the year the industry claimed average ticket price had dropped, this was the same year Odeon Leicester Square reopened as a Luxe cinema and top price tickets were over £40 for Mary Poppin Returns.
I compare cinema today with how cinema was in the late 80s to early 00s, and despite admissions, the same level they are now and box office more than doubled cinema feels very different to how it used to be. I remember going to Leicester Square cinemas every weekend throughout the late 80s and 90s and cinemas were packed with lines around the square and sold-out signs outside cinemas. These same cinemas are a fraction of the size they are but now rarely sold out. Throughout the late 80s and 90s, I saw most of my films in Leicester Square as my locals were fleapits (before multiples came in the late 90s to my area) and prices in Leicester Square were similar to locals.
UK box office in detail
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £5,427,888 down 27.5% from last weekend £7,484,531 and down 11.1% from 2020 (£6,099,807)
The weekend admissions 728,340 down 30.8% 1,052,677 from last week; (856,536 admissions in 2020 this week was (down 15%);
Top 3 took £3,283,580 60.5% of the top 10; Free Guy 29.6% (£1,607,761); Candyman 20.5% (£1,112,674); Paw Patrol: The Movie 10.4% (£563,145);
Down 11.1% from 2020 (£6,099,807); Top 3 took £5,660,732 92.8% of £6,099,807; Tenet 87.5% (£5,335,654); Onward 3.1% (£185,028); 100% Wolf 2.3% (£140,050); #1 Tenet £5,335,654 1st week
Down 27.6% 2019 (£7,501,394); Top three 56.7% (£4,255,931) of the top 10; Once Upon A Time In Hollywood 24.5% (£1,841,873); The Lion King 16.3% (£1,226,964); Angel Has Fallen 15.8% (£1,187,094); 16 films opened taking (£1,135,694); The Informer 26.5% (£301,424); remaining 15 films shared 74.5% (£834,270);
Down 31.1% from 2018: (£7,876,859); Searching (£765,050); The Happytime Murders (£694,044); Yardie (£438,088); Cold War (£228,780); Upgrade (£58,006); Action Point (£33,993); #1 Disney’s Christopher Robin £1,173,235 3rd week 646 screens (14.9% of top 10)
Down 19% from 2017: (£6,700,471); American Made (£1,067,075); Logan Lucky (£705,087); Detroit (£658,028); Rough Night (£244,462); Mayweather Vs. McGregor (Boxing) (£171,256); Thomas & Friends: Journey Beyond Sodor (£92,389); #1 American Made £1,067,075 1st week 543 screens (15.9% of the top 10)
Down 39.9% from 2016: (£9,034,593); Bad Moms (£1,471,466); War Dogs (£1,005,133); The Purge: Election Year (£807,803); Mechanic: Resurrection (£508,715); Julieta (£356,191); Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (£31,128); #1 Finding Dory £1,510,744 5th eek (3rd #1) 611 screens down 48% (16.7% of the top 10)
Down 36.7% from 2015; (£8,579,970); Straight Outta Compton (£2,498,231); Hitman: Agent 47 (£961,411); 45 Years (£331,196); We Are Your Friends (£260,715); #1 Straight Outta Compton £2,498,231 1st week 429 screens (29.1% of top 10)
Down 40.3% from 2014: (£9,093,638); Let’s Be Cops (£1,650,912); Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (expansion) (£1,077,370); If I Stay (£505,704); As Above, So Below (£398,787); Million Dollar Arm (£150,050); Obvious Child (£42,022); The Grand Seduction (£41,322); #1 Lucy £1,972,039 2nd week 504 screens (21.7% of top 10)
Down 45.1% from 2013: (£9,874,123); One Direction: This Is Us (£3,471,872); Pain & Gain (£1,016,136); The Way, Way Back (£532,487); You’re Next (£523,549); Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain (£36,882); #1 One Direction: This Is Us £3,471,872 1st week 476 screens (35.1% of top 10)
Down 49.8% from 2012 (£10,812,241); Total Recall (£2,493,230); The Watch (£2,235,933); The Possession (£979,192); A Few Best Men (£263,770); Thomas & Friends: Blue Mountain Mystery (£108,503); Berberian Sound Studio (£45,516); Cockneys vs. Zombies (£11,474); Rec 3 (£1,263); #1 Total Recall £2,493,230 1st week 464 screens (23.1% of top 10)
Down 65.4% from 2011 (£15,690,651); One Day (£2,208,724); Final Destination 5 (£1,450,464); Conan the Barbarian (£622,268); The Skin I Live In (£325,349); #1 The Inbetweeners Movie £5,696,848 2nd week 471 screens 57% drop (36.3% of top 10)
Down 50.1% from 2010: (£10,857,796); Grown Ups (£2,006,945); Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (£1,604,545); Diary of a Wimpy Kid (£671,161); The Girl who Played with Fire (£404,896); #1 Grown Ups £2,006,945 1st week 401 screens (18.5% of top 10)
Down 40.9% from 2009; (£9,177,873); The Final Destination (£3,633,395); Funny People (£1,001,152); The Hurt Locker (£308,887); Broken Embraces (£296,048); Mesrine: Public Enemy No.1 (£57,978); The Final Destination £3,633,395 1st week 427 screens (39.6% of top 10)
Down 38.6% from 2008; (£8,832,337); Stepbrothers (£1,681,492); The Strangers (£1,250,624); Babylon A.D. (£536,968); The Wackness (£80,581); #1 Stepbrothers £1,681,492 1st week 362 screens (19.1% of top 10)
Down 29.8% from 2007: (£7,728,093); 1408 (£1,073,963); No Reservations (£512,657); Death Sentence (£260,733); Breach (£156,140); Hallam Foe (£132,972); Two Days in Paris (£110,284); Year of the Dog (£5,733); #1 The Bourne Ultimatum £2,232,971 3rd week 468 screens 22% drop (28.9% of top 10)
Down 8.1% from 2006; (£5,908,103); Little Man (£1,090,761); The Wicker Man (£736,316); The Sentinel (£627,838); Crank (£450,141); Adrift (£337,718); #1 You, Me and Depree £1,165,610 2nd week 412 screens 29% drop (19.7% of top 10)
Down 14.8% from 2005 (£6,367,870); The Dukes of Hazzard (£1,720,754); The Cave (£563,761); The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lavagirl in 3D (£399,436); Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (£110,557); #1 The Dukes of Hazzard £1,720,754 1st week 447 screens (27.1% of top 10)
Down 37.5% from 2004 (£8,683,904); Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (£2,200,271); The Chronicles of Riddick (£1,043,685); The Motorcycle Diaries (£333,368); Raising Helen (£209,201); #1 Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story £2,200,271 1st week 315 screens (25.3% of top 10)
Down 28.4% from 2003 (£7,578,928); Jeepers Creepers 2 (£1,069,346); The Lizzie McGuire Movie (expansion) (£405,205); Hollywood Homicide (£352,445); Intermission (£146,220); #1 The Pirates of the Caribbean 4th week (2nd #1) £2,037,014 444 screens 3% drop (26.9% of top 10)
Down 12.9% from 2002 (£6,235,380); Insomnia (£1,159,754); The Sweetest Thing (£592,722); Windtalkers (£388,212); #1 Insomnia £1,159,754 1st week 264 screens (18.6% of top 10)
Down 14.9% from 2001 (£6,378,036); A Knight’s Tale (£1,678,264); Angel Eyes (£162,648); What’s Cooking (£45,445); #1 A Knight’s Tale £1,678,264 1st week 377 screens (26.3% of top 10);
Next weekend in 2019 (£11,975,243); It Chapter 2 80.5% (£7,368,586); Once Upon A Time In Hollywood 11.8% (£1,084,302); Angel Has Fallen 7.6% (£695,622)
US Box Office
- Candyman – Universal Pictures
Opened with $22m; received positive reviews (86% Rotten Tomatoes) and B CinemaScore
Had 875th biggest opening in the US between The Monuments Men and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1997 Special Edition)
As with the opening of Free Guy three weeks ago as expectations were similar low for Candyman its opening was seen as better than expected but after receiving positive reviews, having the Blumhouse brand and as previous horrors have opened well it was always likely Candyman would open with $20m.
Took $1.9m from Thursday previews which were similar to Don’t Breathe taking $1.87m from Thursday midnights the same weekend in 2016 opened with $26.4m opening taking $89.2m; 2017’s Get Out took $1.8m from Thursday previews opening with $33.3m
Candyman took more on Thursday previews as The Forever Purge $1.33m taking 12.5m; Escape Room: Tournament of Champions $1.2m and $8.8m; Don’t Breathe 2 $965k Breathe 2 and $10.6m.
Taking $9.1m on Friday including Thursday previews.
Horrors have been the one genre of films that have performed very well this year as they play strongly to males aged 17-34 which is the key audience demographic who has been comfortable returning to cinemas since they reopened.
1992’s Candyman opened with $5.4m ($12.1m inflation inflated) taking $25.79m ($57.5m inflation inflated)
1995’s Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh opened $6m taking $13.9m.
Opened with $5.23m from 51 territories UPI and MGM; France, Italy and Germany now require health passes to attend cinemas, while 65% of Australian cinemas and New Zealand is completely shut, with much of Asia having restrictions in place. As studios are still opening these films despite these issues they can’t be used as an excuse as if studios wanted these films to perform normally then they wouldn’t be releasing them now.
- Free Guy – 20th Century Studios/Disney
Dropped 27% in its third weekend taking $13.55m and $79.31m
August releases historically have smaller drop-offs than films opening earlier in the summer even Emoji Movie dropped 31.2% and 43.5% in 4th/5th with strong word of mouth Free Guy is comparable to The Lego Movie dropping 37.2% and Night at the Museum ed by 35.4%.
Took $1.2m from IMAX cinemas in the US taking 9.3% of weekend box office taking $4.1m total and $12m worldwide.
1,020th biggest film in the US between The Purge: Election Year and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan; 1,771st biggest inflation inflated between Underworld and Mr Poppers’s Penguins and 7th biggest film of 2021 in the US between Cruella and Space Jam: A New Legacy.
A Quiet Place Part II and F9 have taken $160.07m and $172.73m with 45-day windows, Cruella $86.02m, Jungle Cruise $100.09m; Space Jam: A New Legacy $69.45m and Black Widow $181.46m were released in the movie theatres and streaming.
Free Guy has become Disney’s biggest original film since 2011’s The Help ($216.6m WW) their biggest original film before that was 2009’s The Proposal starring Ryan Reynolds ($317.3m WW). It was predictable that the one studio that hasn’t made anything original in over a decade gets the most original fresh Ted Lasso style comedy after acquiring Fox and then predictable they will then make lots and lots of sequels that will ruin the charm of what makes Free Guy unique.
Third weekends
1998’s The Truman Show dropped 37.9% taking $12.41m and $85.28m taking $125,61m and $264.11m WW
2012’s Wreck-It Ralph dropped 43.7% taking $18.52m and $121.75m taking $189.42m in the US and $471.2m WW.
2018’s Ralph Breaks the Internet dropped 36.4% taking $16.25m and $140.97m taking $201.09m in the US and $529.32m WW
2014’s The Lego Movie dropped 37.2% and $31.3m and $183.1m taking $257.76m in the US and $468.06m WW
2017’s The Lego Batman Movie dropped 41.2% taking $19.2m and $133.21m taking $175.75m in the US and $311.95m WW
2019’s The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part dropped 53.5% and $9.68m and $83.28m taking $105.8m and $192.3m WW
2010’s Tron Legacy dropped 2.1% taking $18.75m and $131.3m taking $172.06m and $400.1m WW
2018’s Ready Player One dropped 53.2% taking $11.51m and $114.92m taking $137.69m taking $482.89m WW
2018’s The Emoji Movie dropped 46.3% taking $6.45m and $63.43m taking $86.08m in the US and $217.77m WW
2015’s Pixels dropped 48.2% taking $5.43m and $57.65m and $78.74m in the US and $244.87m WW
2006’s Night at the Museum dropped 35.4% taking $23.73m and $163.84m taking $250.86m in the US and $574.48m WW
Took $37.3m (including $23.9m from China opening) from 47 territories
$1003m internationally and $179.6m worldwide; China $23.9m; UK $14.4m; Russia $8.5m; France $4m; Germany $3.5m; Japan $3.4m; Saudi Arabia $3.2m; Australia $2.8m; Hong Kong $2.6m; Korea $2.5m.
945th biggest film worldwide between The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Moulin Rouge and 12th biggest 2021 film worldwide between Jungle Cruise and The Suicide Squad.
- Jungle Cruise – Disney
Dropped 21% in its fifth weekend taking $5.02m and $100.09m
Despite it being available on Disney+ and widely available illegally online people choose to see it in cinemas showing again if it’s a film people want to see in the cinema they will see it in the cinema no matter being available elsewhere and Black Widow’s big second weekend drop off wasn’t to do with piracy but due to it being an average MCU film with limited appeal beyond fans.
To put Jungle Cruise fourth weekend into perspective 2019’s Hobbs & Shaw dropped 19.9% taking $6.46m and $157.27m taking $173.95m and four months later Jumanji: The Next Level dropped 46.6% taking $14m and $257.13m taking $320.31m
Fifth weekends:
2003’s The Haunted Mansion dropped 27.2% taking $2.86m and $64.73m of $75.84m and $182.29m WW
2000’s Mission to Mars dropped 53% taking $1.56m and $57m of $60.88m and $110.98m WW
2015’s Tomorrowland dropped 36.5% taking $2.21m and $87.9m of $93.43m and $209.03m WW
2003’s Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl dropped 30.9% taking $13.02m and $232.75m of $305.41m and $654.26m WW
1999’s The Mummy dropped 25.4% taking $7.41m and $127.52m of $155.38m and $416.38m WW
2001’s The Mummy Returns dropped 48.8% taking $7.75m and $181.18m and $241.26m and $443.28m WW
2016’s The Legend of Tarzan dropped 62.5% taking $2.46m and $121.91m of $126.64m and $348.9m WW
767th biggest film in the US between Se7en and Parenthood; 1,365th biggest inflation inflated between Breakdown and The Imitation Game; 129th biggest Disney film in the US between The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Gnomeo and Juliet.
Took $2.7m from 49 territories (34% drop) $86.9m total and $187m worldwide; UK $15.1m; Russia $8.3m; Japan $7.2m; France $6.6m; Saudi Arabia $3.9m; Spain $3.6m; Netherlands $3.6m; UAE $3m; Mexico $2.8m; Germany $2.6m
902nd biggest film the worldwide between The Grudge and Watchmen; 11th biggest 2021 film worldwide between The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It and Free Guy and 137th biggest Disney film worldwide between The Waterboy and The Horse Whisperer.
- The Suicide Squad – Warner Bros
Dropped 41% in its fourth weekend $1.98m and $52.73m
Fourth weekends
2016’s Suicide Squad dropped 41.3% taking $12.24m and $283.02m and $325.1m
2018’s Birds of Prey dropped #3 39.7% taking $4.1m and $78.85m of $84.15m
SambaTV reported The Suicide Squad has been seen by over 4.7m over its first 17 days on HBO Max the third most-watched HBO Max movie release after Mortal Kombat watched by 5.5m; Godzilla Vs Kong 5.1m; Wonder Woman 1984 3.9m; Zach Snyder’s Justice League 3.2m; The Conjuring 3 3m;
Tenet ($58.45m US and $363.65m worldwide Vs Inception $292.57m US and $836.73m WW). WW84 ($46.53m US and $166.53m WW Vs Wonder Woman $412.81m VS and $822.82m WW), The Little Things ($15.4m US and $29.84m WW), Tom and Jerry ($46.1m US and £126.84m WW), Mortal Kombat ($42.2m US and $83.6m WW Vs Mortal Kombat (1995) $70.45m US and $122.19m WW), Godzilla Vs Kong $100.45m US and $467.63m WW Vs Kong: Skull Island $168.1m US and $566.65m WW), In the Heights ($29.74m US and $42.94m WW), Space Jam 2 ($80m* US and $200m* WW Vs Space Jam $90.41m US and $230.41m WW) and The Suicide Squad $65m* US and $160m* WW Vs Suicide Squad $325.1m US and $746.84m WW) *estimates while with Mortal Kombat and Space Jam due to ticket inflation must more than double their box office to make a proper comparison.
1,658th biggest film in the US between Unfaithful and Four Weddings and a Funeral; 2,563rd biggest inflation inflated between Jersey Boys and Escape from L.A and 272nd biggest Warner Bros film between Message in a Bottle and Hubble 3D.
Took $4.6m down 47% from 73 territories (6.530 screens) and $101.8m total and $154.6m worldwide;
UK $17.7m; Russia $8.9m; Germany $5.7m; France $5.4m; Mexico $4.8m; Spain $4.7m; Korea $3.8m;
1,131st biggest film worldwide between Cool Runnings and Blade 2; 14th biggest film worldwide in 2021 between Free Guy and Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway and 183rd biggest Warner Bros film worldwide between Final Destination 5 and The Phantom of the Opera.
Box Office Top 10
UK Box Office Preview
The week after Bank Holiday weekend (Labor Day in the US) is normally a slow weekend for new releases due to schools returning the cinemagoing demographic is shifting away from children’s films into films targetting older audiences. With Venice Film Festival (formerly Deauville Film Festival) being the launch international launch of many autumns releases many that would premiere at Venice or Deauville and then have a local UK premiere a few days later.
This all changed when Disney delayed Black Widow to July in March forced them to move Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings to the only date possible September 3rd as with Eternals dated November 5th and Spider-Man: No Way Home December 17th. While at that time Sony had Venom: Let There Be Carnage set for September 17th (since delayed to 15th October) and MGM’s No Time To Die September 30th there wasn’t any other dates for Disney to open.
Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings received positive reviews (92% Rotten Tomatoes)
While Shang-Chi and Eternals are part of the MCU and the fanbase would be similar to see all of them the question is how it will play beyond the fans and as Shang-Chi and Eternals are unknown to many non -comic-book fans. Previously Marvel would soft launch new characters in other MCU films but with both of them are completely new, that said the basic plots are still very similar in all of the MCU films.
Shang-Chi will also be the first MCU since Captain Marvel not to have previews, it will be the seventh MCU film not to have previews inflating its opening and only fifth to be released by Disney (Ant-Man, Captain America: Civil War, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 and Captain Marvel).
It’s hard to make a comparison with previous MCU films 2016’s Doctor Strange opened with £9,288,898 with £3,796,170 previews and £5,492,728 Fri-Sun; Doctor Strange opening was during half-term but schools restart on September 1st.
Disney do need to have words with the man upstairs again as their recent releases have all opened against hot sunny weather and after cooler temperatures over the last few weeks the weather is expected to warm up again on Friday. It used to be you knew it was going to be a cold wet weekend if Disney opened a major film.
Here Today is Billy Crystal’s first leading film since 2012’s Parental Guidance but will get a very limited release. It received mixed reviews (47% Rotten Tomatoes) when it opened in May with $1.04m taking $2.8m.
Opening in two weeks
- Malignant – Warner Bros
Horror thriller starring Annabelle Wallis, Maddie Hasson, George Young, and Michole Briana White and directed by James Wan.
It was originally due to be released in August 2020 but Warner delayed it to September 2021; over recent years Warner has had successful openings for several horrors in early September including the two It films, as with all other releases this year will be released on HBO Max on the same day as a theatrical release in the US.
Horrors along with children’s films have been the two best-performing genres since cinemas reopened in May with The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It opening with £2,708,455, A Quiet Place Part II £3,567,048, Old £866,860, The Forever Purge £696,563, Spiral £779,107 and Candyman with x, the only horror that didn’t find audiences in cinemas were Don’t Breathe 2 £349,702 opening #7 and Escape Room: Tournament Of Champions #6 £278,097.
Was surprising that horrors were the genre of choice by many with the horror of COVID still prevalent across the UK but these horrors could be seen as escapism from the human horrors that the world has suffered over the last 19 months.
James Wan previously directed horrors
2016’s The Conjuring 2 opened £4,637,862 taking £10,896,992
2013’s Insidious: Chapter 2 opened £2,877,742 taking £6,996,519
2013’s The Conjuring opened £2,156,124 taking £9,337,626
2011’s Insidious opened £1,441,292 taking £7,035,245
2004’s Saw opened £1,239,813 (£1,993,641 inflation inflated) taking £6,645,485 (£10,686,058 inflation inflated)
He also directed 2018’s Aquaman and 2015’s Furious 7
- Copshop- STX
Action thriller starring Gerard Butler, Frank Grillo and Alexis Louder and directed by Joe Carnahan
Over the last four years since STX opened their UK distribution the one genre, they have had success with is an action thriller and films starring Gerald Bulter with 2018’s Den of Thieves and Mile 22 and 2019’s 21 Bridges. STX also acquired Greenland starring Gerald Bulter which they sold to Amazon and acquired world rights to the sequel Greenland: Migration at the Cannes virtual market in July.
Its STX’s first UK release since being acquired by Eros last year, their last film My Spy opened in the UK the week before cinemas closed for the first time in March 2020, since then they have sold several of their films to streamers including I Care A Lot, The Mauritanian, Songbird and Horizon Line.
Den of Thieves opened with £1,082,560 in February 2018 taking £2,790,151; Mile 22 opened September 2018 with £795,888 taking £1,420,868; 21 Bridges opened November 2019 with £655,213 taking £1,508,195
- Respect – Universal Pictures
Biographical musical drama about Aretha Franklin starring Jennifer Hudson as Aretha Franklin. Forest Whitaker, Marlon Wayans, Audra McDonald, Marc Maron, Tituss Burgess, and Mary J. Blige and by Liesl Tommy
Received mixed reviews called a standard biopic but Jennifer Hudson’s performance as Aretha Franklin could see her pick up a Best Actress Oscar nomination.
MGM would have hoped to repeat the success of Paramount’s Dreamgirls in 2006 opening with $8.95m from 852 screens over Christmas after two weeks on platform release, expanding to 1,907 screens in its 5th weekend taking $14.1m going on to take $103.36m in the US and $155.43m worldwide. Dreamgirls was nominated for 8 Oscars and Jennifer Hudson won Best Supporting Actress. Instead, the film opened with $8.8m in the US taking $16.3m.
In May 2019 Aretha Franklin documentary Amazing Grace opened with £166,593 from 69 screens