1. Free Guy – £2,267,660 – £7,197,309

Down 8.5% in its second weekend; took £4.93m in its opening 7 days the 6^th biggest 7 day week but the other films all had extended openings and the 36^th biggest week since 2019 between The Lego Movie 2 and Dark Phoenix.

3^rd biggest second weekend in the UK in 2021 between The Suicide Squad and Peter Rabbit: The Runaway and 27^th  biggest second weekend since January 2019 between The Suicide Squad and Last Christmas (close to The Lego Movie 2, Detective Pikachu, Shazam and Jungle Cruise).

335^th biggest second weekend in the UK between The Matrix and The Suicide Squad (close to Transformers, Enchanted, 22 Jump Street and The Hangover) and 506^th biggest inflation inflated opening between The Lion King 3D and The Suicide Squad (close to Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, The Greatest Showman, Last Christmas and Pitch Perfect 3).

Free Guy has been predictably called a surprise and a sleeper hit but while it might be an original film idea the concept of 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 TV show we needed now Free Guy was the film we needed now as it did 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. Remember waking up on 19^th June 2013 very early in the morning and watching the trailer for the first time and watched it on repeat several more times.  

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.

This was similar when watching the first trailer of Free Guy in December 2019 and all the trailers since that kept the film feel fresh while many of the other films that have been delayed multiple times felt old by the time the opened.

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.

In normal circumstances would expect second weekend similar to Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (£5,210,725), Deadpool (£5,694,280); The Lego Movie (£5,978,904); Toy Story (£4,798,378); The Incredibles (£4,187,280); The Simpsons (£4,027,220); Hancock (£3,666,398).

During the last 19 months of underwhelming BO and audiences starved of originality they 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 as 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.

Second weekends

1998’s The Truman Show dropped 23.7% taking £1,687,037 (£3,022,434 inflation inflated) taking £4,855,367 total £9,929,680 (£17,789,650)

2013’s Wreck-It Ralph dropped 24.1% taking £3,436,400 and £10,516,665 total £23,607,542

2014’s The Lego Movie dropped 25.7% (increased 1% without previews) taking £5,978,904 and £21,880,053 taking £32,887,286.

2017’s The Lego Batman Movie dropped 43.9% (19% without previews) taking £4,435,521 and £16,712,705 of £26,771,191

2018’s Ready Player One dropped 53.1% taking £2,395,663 and £11,483,687 total £16,114,011

Word of mouth for Free Guy has been very positive calling it the best video game movie and it’s Truman Show meets Ready Player One meets The Lego Movie, films often get the tag, “this is the film we need now” a fun, silly popcorn, but with Free Guy, it does exactly what it says on the tin. Free Guy is similar to the feel-good Ted Lasso on Apple TV it’s a film you can watch and just enjoy no need to do research before or after to understand the plot.

Ryan Reynolds has had mixed success at the box office now best known for Deadpool and vocally in The Croods and Pokémon: Detective Pikachu, before that 2002’s National Lampoon’s Van Wilder and 2006’s Definitely, Maybe showed off his comedic charm and 2009‘s The Proposal starring with Sandra Bullock was his biggest non-comic-book movie.

2.       The Paw Patrol Movie – £1,033,099 –  £4,469,162

Down 57.1% in its second weekend (17.8% without previews)

11^th biggest second weekend in the UK in 2021 between The Conjuring 3 and The Croods: A New Age and 69^th biggest second weekend since January 2019 between Godzilla: King Of The Monsters and The Personal History Of David Copperfield (close to Shaun The Sheep Movie 2, Spies in Disguise, Abominable and The Croods: A New Age).

877^th biggest second weekend between Godzilla: King Of The Monsters and Intolerable Cruelty (close to Dumb & Dumber To, Penguins of Madagascar, Hotel Transylvania and Open Season) and 1,112nd biggest inflation inflated second weekend between Godzilla: King Of The Monsters and Step Up  (close to Mirror Mirror, Spy Kids 2, The Wild Thornberrys and Abominable).

Hard to make direct comparisons with other Paw Patrol films as it’s 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.

Peppa Pig: My First Cinema Experience #4 dropped 51% in its second weekend over Easter 2017 taking £514,923 (opened with £1,050,962) and £2,375,396 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.

With The Paw Patrol Movie as Peppa Pig: My First Cinema Experience as these are just extended episodes in cinemas so might think why pay £25+ to take children to see it in the cinema when they can watch them at home for free.

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.

Also released in October for October half-term My Little Pony dropped 32% (21% not including previews) taking £622,946 taking £3,433,973

Other big-screen outings of animated toddler TV shows include

Bing at the Cinema opened from 85 Vue Cinemas in April 2018 with £65,535

Hey Dugge At, The Cinema opened in January 2019 from 88 Vue Cinemas with £67,672

Peppa Pig: Festival of Fun in April 2019 with £982,617, Vue Cinemas were the one exhibitor that had the 60-minute film at reduced prices.

3.       People Just Do Nothing: Big In Japan –    £896,992 – NE

Took £343,731 from previews on Wednesday and Thursday taking £553,261 Fri-Sun

British TV spinoffs have had mixed success and many of them have opened mid-August in the UK as after the June-July rush August slows down for US content and there is room for British films to find audiences as while in mid-August US schools are getting ready to return to UK schools don’t return until the end of the first week in September. (films opened in August are marked with *)

*1997’s Bean opened £2,563,326 (£4,547,227 inflation inflated) taking £17,902,161 (£31,757,642)

2000’s Kevin & Perry Go Large opened £2,404,517 (£3,945,594 inflation inflated) taking £10,247,636 (£16,815,439)

2002’s Ali G Indahouse opened £3,231,673 (£5,635,913 inflation inflated) taking £10,170,779 (£17,737,446)

*2011’s The Inbetweeners Movie opened £13,216,736 (£15,746,672 inflation inflated) taking £45,030,412 (£53,650,095)

*2012’s Keith Lemon: The Film opened £1,196,310 taking £2,900,378

*2013’s Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa opened £2,175,850 taking £5,223,520

2014’s Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie opened £4,301,306 taking £14,290,727

*2014’s The Inbetweeners 2 opened £12,538,114 taking £33,386,962

*2015’s Bad Education opened £594,861 taking £2,013,108

2016’s Dad’s Army opened £2,077,942 taking £8,372,614

2016’s Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie opened £4,042,959 taking £15,297,486

*2016’s David Brent: Life on the Road opened £1,460,290 taking £3,639,605

As with Keith Lemon: The Film and Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie these TV spinoffs might be terrible, but they do find an audience.

Having never heard of People Just Do Nothing before doing my preview three weeks ago had no but seen how terrible British TV spinoffs Keith Lemon: The Film and Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie could still have strong openings. After received similar three-star reviews to The Inbetweeners Movie opening a decade ago thought that over five days being something different it could have opened far stronger, but with Free Guy it holding it failed to find a wide audience. Maybe the issue is that while Keith Lemon and Mrs Brown’s Boys shows were still current, but that could also be a negative with the thinking why would people pay £10+ to see what they can watch at home on TV.

 

4. The Suicide Squad – £653,885 – £12,346,603

Down 38.7% in its fourth weekend.

483^rd biggest film in the UK between Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle and Snatch (close to Trainspotting, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983) and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer) and 736^th biggest inflation inflated between Buster and Valentine’s Day (close to The Meaning of Life, Highlander 2: The Quickening, Gone in Sixty Seconds and Under Siege).

75^th biggest Warner Bros film in the UK between The Final Destination and Batman (close to Shazam!, Batman and Robin, Space Jam and San Andreas) and 111^th biggest inflation inflated Warner Bros film between Lethal Weapon 4 and Valentine’s Day (close to Demolition Man, Pokemon Detective Pikachu, Under Siege and Superman IV).

Took 65% less than 2016’s Suicide Squad fourth weekend taking £1,855,420 (dropped 50%) £30,642,664 92.3% of £33,191,023 and 45.2% more than 2020’s Birds of Prey £358,436 (dropped 54%) £8,386,648 total 96.3% of £8,705,688

Other DC Extended Universe fourth weekends

2018’s Aquaman #3 dropped 24% taking £1,855,420 and £18,277,630 85.2% of £21,441,716

2017’s Wonder Woman #2 dropped 16% taking £1,575,673 and £18,836,596 84.9%  of £22,183,744

2016’s Batman v Superman dropped 57% taking £990,487 and £35,349,754 97% of £36,495,828

2013’s Man of Steel #5 dropped 67% taking £802,763 and £28,352,216 95.2% of £29,764,997

2017’s Justice League #4 dropped 63% taking £552,228 and £16,683,722 95.7% of £17,426,939

2019’s Shazam #5 dropped 59% taking £398,317 and £12,873,300 98% of £13,151,121

Despite all the negativity surrounding 2016’s Suicide Squad still managed to take a 2.95x opening dropping 62% taking £4,241,508 taking £22,214,243 66.93% of £33,191,023, stayed #1 for two weeks and was in the top 5 for 5 weeks and top 10 for 6 weeks.

5. Jungle Cruise – £652,473 – £10,025,793

Down 23% in its fourth weekend;

624^th biggest film in the UK between Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse and A Peanuts Movie (close to Tron Legacy, Rush Hour 3, 21 Jump Street and The A-Team (625^th film to take £10m+) and 885^th biggest inflation inflated film between Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse and A Peanuts Movie (close to The Angry Birds Movie, Edward Scissorhands, Big and Entrapment).

110^th biggest Disney film in the UK between Tron Legacy and The Village (close to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Flubber, Cool Runnings and National Treasure 2).

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 3% taking £2,037,014 #1 £18,601,540 taking £28,171,721 (£45,810,772 inflation inflated).

2004’s The Haunted Mansion dropped 28% taking £530,449 #4 £7,194,031 taking £8,078,765 (£12,990,798 inflation inflated)

2015’s Tomorrowland – A World Beyond #10 dropped 61% taking £121,847 #7 and £4,971,372

While Disney had huge success with Pirates of the Caribbean films the others based on theme park rides weren’t as successful and Disney and after 2002’s The Country Bears Disney ended their plans to make any more. Disney did make Tomorrowland probably to get Brad Bird to direct Incredibles 2 a few years later, as the film was a film he had wanted to make for many years and is very much a Disney family film of old, but it failed to find an audience in cinemas.

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.

Also opened

•             Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins – Paramount Pictures

Opened with £542,265 including £194,734 from previews on Wednesday and Thursday taking only £347,531 Fri-Sun from 520 screens including IMAX and 4DX screenings

2009’s G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra opened with £1,708,760 (including £281,666 previews) taking £6,293,469; taking $150,201,498 in the US and $302,469,017 worldwide

2013’s G.I. Joe: Retaliation opened with £2,792,861 (including £890,338 previews) taking £7,288,281; taking $122,523,060 in the US and $375,740,705 worldwide

Snake Eyes was hoped to relaunch the G.I Joe franchise for both Paramount and Hasbro but the $88m budget film is unlikely to do that after opening disappointingly in the US last month opening with $13.4m and receiving poor reviews (42% Rotten Tomatoes).

Snake Eyes and Black Widow highlights the problem with these origin movies they have very limited appeal as for most they know enough of the back story of characters in previous films so seeing them do it is far less exciting than Han Solo doing the Kessel run in 12 parsecs in Solo. Likewise in previous MCU films, Natasha and Clint talk a lot about what happened in Budapest but seeing what happened in Black Widow is anticlimactic as it’s just exposition you don’t need to see just need to know it happened.

One of the biggest issue with Snake Eyes is the title I must admit when it was first announced thought it was going to be a remake of the 1998 Nicolas Cage film, while I’ve seen the previous two G.I Joe films didn’t make the connection Snake Eyes was a character within it.

This was surely also the issue with Birds of Prey while DC fans knew exactly what Birds of Prey the film is needed to play beyond the fanbase that’s why some unofficially called it Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey. Tom Cruise’s Edge of Tomorrow was also called Live Die Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow but one could also ask why it wasn’t just called All You Need Is Kill the title of the novel it was based on.

In 2017 Paramount Pictures announced a five-year exclusive production deal with Hasbro to make live-action and animated films based on Hasbro, the partnership began in 2007 making six Transformers films (the seventh Transformers: Rise of the Beasts set for release next year) and two G.I Joe films.

This was similar to the deal Paramount Pictures made with Marvel Entertainment 10 years earlier to release 10 MCU films but were gazumped by Disney buying Marvel in 2009 (after Viacom turned down Paramount’s plan to buy Marvel) Paramount have been gazumped again with Hasbro buying eOne in 2019 as will they extend the deal that ends in 2022 eOne will release in the UK and Canada Dungeons & Dragons in March 2023 which will be released by Paramount in the rest of the world.

Paramount went from #1 in 2011 studio in the world to #7 due to poor decisions had a chance to buy Marvel but Viacom refused then Disney acquired, also lost Dreamworks to Disney, Blumhouse to Universal and Dreamworks Animation to Fox in an alternative universe Paramount have been #1 studios for the decade.

Will new management be repeating the same mistakes a decade later losing Hasbro and Skydance with their current deal ending this year and Skydance making several films recently for Netflix and sold several to Amazon and Apple.

•             Reminiscence – Warner

Opened with £260,111 from 524 screens

Warner Bros acquired world rights to the film in March 2019 probably to keep Christopher Nolan happy the director Lisa Joy is his sister-in-law and co-created HBO’s Westworld TV series. Often studios will acquire films to keep talent happy as was the case in 2014 with Sony Pictures acquiring The Silent Storm to keep Eon happy before the release of Spectre. In the Sony hacking emails saw comments from Sony Pictures UK slating the film but also suggesting they should acquire the film to keep Eon happy.

The trailer includes the line “When the waters began to rise and war broke out… nostalgia became a way of life, there wasn’t a lot to look forward to, so people began looking back, nothing is more addictive than the past”.  Sounds very much like things are now with nostalgia became a way of life and that nothing is more addictive than the past.

Critics called it a poor version of Inception

The trolling of Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds continued with Hugh Jackman getting Free Guy director Shawn Levy to troll him on Instagram, previously worked together on Real Steel a decade ago and recently reteamed to make Netflix’s The Adam Project. With Free Guy and Reminiscence opening a week apart there will likely be more to come from both Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds in the coming weeks.

Reminiscence was originally set to open in April but was delayed to September 3rd in the US opening week earlier internationally In February (was later brought forward a week to avoid Shang-Chi). Late August/Labour Day is normally a time when studios dump films, that said Warner released Tenet over the same weekend last year.

From the trailer, Reminiscence feels like a grown-up sci-fi film like Moon, Sunshine, Solaris, Ex_Machina and Gattaca that will struggle to find an audience especially in these current circumstances which will surely make Warner nervous with Dune opening in October and premiering at Venice Film Festival in a few weeks.

Reminiscence is Hugh Jackman’s first major cinema release since The Greatest Showman in 2017, The Front Runner and Bad Education had limited theatrical releases while Missing Link was animated.

• Censor – Vertigo

Opened with £63,632 from 170 screens

What a difference a year makes last year exhibitors were desperate for new content as major distributors had held back most of their major films and independent distributors took the gamble opening many films and exhibitors were happy to book them on wide releases.

A year later a British horror film that has received very positive reviews (89% Rotten Tomatoes) was only able to book in to 170 screens while Snake Eyes 526 screens, The Night House 346 screens and Reminiscence 525 screens. All three films were expected to underwhelm at the box office but exhibitors still opted to book them in more than double the screens as Censor.

When multiplexes came to the UK in 1985 they came with the expectation that they would give cinemagoers a wider choice of films and they would get a much wider release, why is it films like The Last Letter From Your Lover can open in 550 screens when they are always going to perform softly at the box office (opened #9 with £274,322) but then films like Censor don’t get a chance, it’s no wonder producers opt to sell their films to streaming services.

Studiocanal promoted The Last Letter From Your Lover as in cinemas only (released on Netflix in other countries) but dropped 78% in its second weekend taking £59,132. While Edgar Wright critically acclaimed The Sparks Brothers documentary dropped to #32 down 66% taking £6,076 from 27 screens and £209,027.

Also

Critical acclaimed Pig starring Nicolas Cage giving his best acting performance in years opened #19 with  £47,976 from 47 screens

Other Film News

It was clear May 2020 as it is clear in August 2021 that there was reluctance amongst older (35+) to return to cinemas but as Millennials and Generation Z were comfortable returning that was that mattered. 

What the industry failed to realise is under 35s are fickle rushing out to see the latest film over opening weekend and quickly move on to the next the following weekend but without older demographic going these films drop much heavier. Many say Black Widow suffered due to piracy but it’s an average MCU film and similar to other origin stories has limited appeal beyond fans, and it held exactly as Lucy did in 2014.

Cinema should be for the many not the few and as now the majority are vaccinated then if exhibitors want older audiences to return then should be giving them the confidence to return and this is with vaccine passports. Barbara Broccoli was among many in the arts and entertainment industry who were in favour of COVID passports in April and if No Time To Die is to get anywhere near the BO of either Skyfall or Spectre they are needed as over 35 will be vital for Bond success as they will be for Dune and Top Gun Maverick.

On Friday Universal Pictures Australia announced they were delaying No Time To Die release till November 11^th which lead many to speculate its globally release date would be delayed, but then Eon announced the world premiere would be on September 28^th at the Royal Albert Hall. Friday was also the second anniversary to when Eon announced the title of Bond 25 would be No Time To Die.

MGM announced the premiere 41 days before this compares with Spectre was announced July 17 for October 26 (102 days) and No Time to Die originally was announced on January 20 for March 31 (72 days).

Of all the films that have been delayed due to COVID No Time To Die feels like the oldest as it was originally due to be released in November 2019 before Danny Boyle dropped out as director.

Maybe MGM realised there will never be a good time to release No Time To Die and given up on the film matching the success of previous Bond films and want to start plans for the next Bond which would be the third reboot. By opening No Time To Die it’s likely to take half the UK box office of both Spectre (£95,183,468) and Skyfall (£102,816,893) instead taking similar to Casino Royale (£55,495,547).

CinemaCon started on Monday it needs to be an in-person event with no one hiding behind Zoom, face masks or social distancing as exhibitors don’t think they are necessary for paying public so they should doing exactly what they want the public to do. If NATO’s John Fithian and Charlie Rivkin had any conscious they would start CinemaCon saying we failed the industry and resign as despite having two months warning after China shutting cinemas days before their New Year we failed to take any responsibility in dealing with COVID.

As soon as China cinemas closed in January 2020 US should have gone on a war footing putting squabbles on hold and exhibitors and studios plan together a strategy of how they would deal with COVID over the months ahead China did so and had $1.2bn New Year week this year.

As everything that has happened since can be traced back to the lack of action in January instead of being proactive being reactive waiting on incompetent governments to make the decisions for them despite having films like Contagion and knowing how cinemas dealt with Spanish Flu.

Everything that is happening now is due to the industry being reactive rather than proactive for the last 18 months for COVID and 18 years for cinema, their failure to plan for worst-case scenarios in January 2020 predictably caused long-term damage as did reopen far too soon.

Exhibitors made masks political with AMC in June 2020 saying they weren’t required but after backlash 24 hours later announced they were, similarly, first rejected proof of vaccination but months later after NY announced plans to check said they won’t oppose it.

As soon as China shutdown cinemas in January squabbles should have been put aside industry and gone on war footing with NATO and MPA locked in a room together and not allowed out until they had a plan and a strategy for the whole industry in how they were going to deal with COVID.

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 subscribers levels. Was announced on Monday The Tragedy of Macbeth would close LFF with The Harder They Fall both released by streamers Netflix and Apple.

After playing chicken with Sony Pictures over the release of The Addams Family 2 and Hotel Transylvania 4 with both set to open on October 1^st, Sony opted to sell it to Amazon last week and days later MGM announced that it would be available on PVOD the same day as it’s cinema release.

Denis Villeneuve has not heard of the saying “Don’t shit where you eat” as ever since Warner Bros announced plans last December to release all of their 2021 slate in theatres and on HBO Max due to COVID he has been very vocal with his opposition to this decision. At the time of the announcement he wrote “AT&T hijacked one of the most respectable and important studios in film history. There is absolutely no love for cinema, nor for the audience here.” I always go back to Argo quote ‘there are only bad options, it’s about finding the best one, this is the best bad idea we have.” As the only other option Warner would have had was to delay many of these films another year.

Recently he said in Total Film interview “The way it happened, I’m still not happy,”.. “Frankly, to watch ‘Dune’ on a television, the best way I can compare it is to drive a speedboat in your bathtub. For me, it’s ridiculous. It’s a movie that’s made as a tribute for the big-screen experience.”

In the interview Denis Villeneuve says he is currently writing the second half of Dune and he is “very optimistic” but why would Warner want to work with him again after those comments.  Dune is likely to be similar to 2017’s Blade Runner 2049 which received critical acclaim and loved by cinephiles but was too pretentious for regular cinemagoers and the $150m budget film took $92.01m in the US and $259.33m worldwide. Dune opens at the Venice Film Festival next week and then its release is split over a month with most of Europe (apart from the UK) September 17^th and then the rest of the world October 22^nd as its likely to perform far stronger internationally than in the US.

These comments are similar to those of Christopher Nolan while it would be lovely to experience films the way they this isn’t how most people experience films anymore in cinemas and in the middle of a pandemic studios need to find different ways to get audiences to see the films. When cinemas when digital more than a decade ago this was meant to give all cinemagoers the same cinema experience but that hasn’t been the case as with no technically trained staff at most cinemas now they can’t fix any faults that occur as shows are now fully automated.

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 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 studio didn’t want to delay 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. As 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 fans rushed out to see it opening weekend but being origin story didn’t play beyond fanbase. As seen in the UK with Trolls World Tour taking £1m+ Godzilla Vs Kong £2.5m+ The Croods 2 £8m+ despite all being widely available illegally online for many weeks and of course Taken became $1bn franchise partly due to piracy after Fox dumped it internationally but fans loved it

In an interview in Deadline Cineworld boss is surprisingly positive about proof of vaccination needed saying that “in Israel, which became a kind of lab for the world, that once the third dose comes into effect, it has a great impact”. Had he thought similar about Asia 18 months ago being the lab of the world then things would be very different now, as industry should have seen what Asia did and done the same as having dealt with SARS in 2003 Asia were in a far better position to deal with COVID. As everything that has happened since is all due to industry not after seeing Asia go into lockdown in Jan/Feb preparing for it happening in the rest of the world, when cinemas did close in the West it was believed for only a few weeks and things would quickly return to normal.

He said the line-up for 2022 is very strong but these are similar comments made by exhibitors the year ahead since 2003 but then admissions and box office fails to match expectations and exhibitors blame the same slates they were so positive about. Never been given a reason why admissions stopped growing in the US and UK in 2002 after steady growth since the mid-80s. The films haven’t been any different since and many of the films have been bigger successes than those prior to 2003 so what changed?

The UK are very quick to say admissions increased to 177m in 2018 they highest since 1970 but that was only a 1% increase since 2002 while BO has almost doubled due to average tickets going from £4.29 to £7.22. I will say in response that after huge growth in 1993 due to Jurassic Park analysts predicted admissions would top 200m by 2000. While they didn’t grow to that level they were boosted in 1996-1998 with National Cinema Day which many hoped would become an annual event. In early 00s similar research was done predicting admissions would top 200m by the end of the noughties but didn’t increase after 2002.

Last month Vue said that ‘We’re about to embark on the second golden age of cinema’, the first golden age of cinema was between 1940 and 1956 when admissions topped 1bn. To put this into perspective UK population was about 40m and over 30m went to the cinema every week and as many people went to the cinema in the UK then as they do now in the US with a population 7x bigger.

The second golden age of cinema started in 1985 with British Film Year and the opening of the first multiplex cinema in the UK at the Point Milton Keynes which had over 1m admissions in the first year more than any other cinema in the UK for over 15 years. Admissions went from 54m in 1984 to 175.9m in 2002 up 226%. Those years were also my golden years of going to the cinema at least once a week mostly in Leicester Square as local cinemas near me were fleapits and the price in London wasn’t a huge difference it has become over the years since.

So if 2021 is the start of the second golden age this must top those years between 1985 and 2002 and admissions should be close to 300m in a decade and will increase by over 120m over those years, the only way this will happen is if the industry continues to claim average ticket price is dropping, as real admissions are probably closer to mid-90s levels with the average ticket price of about £9.50.

The recent poll by NRG that saw moviegoing confidence drop from 81% to 72% in only three weeks due to the growth of the delta variant with mums confidence dropping from 75% to 59%. Moviegoing comfort level dropped to 70% in Aug dropped from 81% on July 11 the fastest drop since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, 52% of consumers said it was due to the spread of new COVID19 variants and 42% said they’re “very concerned” about the spread of delta, up from 34% the week before.

The moviegoing comfort is the highest 70% is the highest under 18 and males which was predictable as this has been the demographic that has been most comfortable going to the cinema since movie theatres reopened.

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 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.

UK box office in detail

This weekend’s top 10 box office took £7,484,531 down 15.8% from last weekend £8,885,507 and up 751% from 2020 (£879,533) 

The weekend admissions 1,052,677 down 15.8% 1,249,720 from last week; (123,703 admissions in 2020 this week was (Up 751%);

Top 3 took £4,197,751 56.1% of the top 10; Free Guy 30.3% (£2,267,660); Paw Patrol: The Movie 13.8% (£1,033,099); People Just Do Nothing 12% (£896,992);  

Up 751% from 2020 (£879,533); top three took 55.2% (£452,647) of the top 10); Inception (10th Anniversary) 25.3% (£207,675); Unhinged 16.6% (£136,346); Pinocchio 13.2% (£108,626); #1 Inception (10th Anniversary) £207,675 1st weekend

Down 13.3% from 2019 (£8,636,602); top three took 71.3% (£5,325,890) of the top 10; Angel Has Fallen 39.8% (£2,122,408); Once Upon A Time In Hollywood 39.6% (£2,109,591); The Lion King 20.5% (£1,093,891); #1 Angel Has Fallen 1st week (£2,122,408) 537 screens (24.5% of top 10)

Down 41.5% from 2018: (£12,788,350); BlacKkKlansman (£1,234,214); The Spy Who Dumped Me (£1,057,211); The Children Act (£517,378); Slender Man (£389,339); Alpha (£225,606); Luis and the Aliens (£218,248); #1 Disney’s Christopher Robin £2,138,824 2nd week 673 screens 16% drop (16.7% of top 10)

Down 22.1% from 2017: (£9,602,351); The Hitman’s Bodyguard (£1,982,951); The Dark Tower (£910,529); Everything, Everything (£453,401); An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power (£201,130); #1 The Hitman’s Bodyguard £1,982,951 1st week 467 screens (20.6% of the top 10)

Down 42.4% from 2016: (£13,012,003); David Brent: Life on the Road (£1,460,290); Lights Out (£1,126,543); Swallows and Amazons (£676,175); Nine Lives (£636,804); Tickled (£25,602); #1 Finding Dory £2,868,459 4th week (2nd #1) 627 screens up 12% (22.1% of the top 10)

Down 20.3% from 2015; (£9,389,554); Paper Towns (£2,072,789); Sinister 2 (£1,069,261); Vacation (£608,748); The Bad Education Movie (£594,861); Strange Magic (£56,127); Good People (£25,454); #1 Paper Towns £2,072,789 1st week 472 screens (22.1% of top 10)

Down 33.2% from 2014: (£11,216,125); Lucy (£3,076,997); Into the Storm (£1,147,657); Deliver Us from Evil (£629,554); What If (£592,501); Doctor Who: Deep Breath (£522,908); 2 Days, 1 Night (£165,278); Thomas and Friends: Tale of the Brave (£60,328); Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (£12,117); Sin City (Re: 2014) (£10,244); #1 Lucy £3,076,997 1st week 486 screens (27.4% of top 10)

Down 29.3% from 2013: (£10,580,446); Elysium (£3,127,005); We’re the Millers (£1,508,326); The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (£1,143,385); Thomas & Friends: King of the Railway (£63,311); Jurassic Park 3D (£111,703); What Maisie Knew (£95,852); Lovelace (£86,076); The Kings of Summer (£6,773); #1 Elysium £3,127,005 1st week 463 screens (29.5% of top 10)

Down 57.2% from 2012 (£17,483,535); Brave (UK expansion) (£5,269,402); The Bourne Legacy (£4,620,289); The Expendables 2 (£1,985,082); The Wedding Video (£333,079); Take this Waltz (£70,358); #1 Brave £5,269,402 3rd week (1st #1) 553 screens 818% increase (30.1% of top 10)

Down 66.1% from 2011 (£22,058,353); The Inbetweeners Movie (£13,216,736); Cowboys & Aliens (£1,777,320); Spy Kids: All the Time in the World 4D (£703,078); Glee: The 3D Concert Movie (£356,271); The Guard (UK release) (£163,751); #1 The Inbetweeners Movie £13,216,736 1st week 453 (59.9% of top 10)

Down 47.4% from 2010: (£14,228,206); The Expendables (£3,935,700); Piranha 3-D (£1,325,324); Marmaduke (£1,243,789); The Illusionist (£164,950); The Human Centipede (£6,145); #1 The Expendables £3,935,700 1st week 453 screens (27.6% of top 10)

Down 10.7% from 2009; (£8,384,307); Inglourious Basterds (£3,596,415); Dance Flick (£462,825); Shorts (£171,876); I Love You, Beth Cooper (£123,519); #1 Inglourious Basterds £3,596,415 1st week 444 screens (42.8% of top 10)

Down 3.4% from 2008; (£10,756,388); Hellboy 2: The Golden Army (£2,969,602); Get Smart (£1,542,005); College Road Trip (£121,360); Somers Town (£121,345); #1 Hellboy 2: The Golden Army £2,969,602 1st week 464 screens (27.6% of top 10)

Down 23.8% 2007: (£9,824,857); Rush Hour 3 (£2,731,998); Surf’s Up (£601,289); License to Wed (£268,016); Waitress (£105,910); The Walker (£44,623); #1 Rush Hour 3 £2,731,998 1st week 359 screens (27.8% of top 10)

Up 11.3% from 2006; (£6,725,494); Snakes on a Plane (£1,069,608); John Tucker Must Die (£845,633); Harsh Times (£281,609); A Scanner Darkly (£242,990); #1 Snakes on a Plane £1,069,608 1st week 354 screens (15.9% of top 10)

Up 13.6% 2005 (£6,589,529); Bewitched (£1,053,432); Unleashed (£498,058); The Perfect Man (£186,460); #1 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory £1,691,431 4th week 516 screens 41% drop (25.6% of top 10)

Down 12.4% from 2004 (£8,540,203); The Village (£2,945,763); A Cinderella Story (£611,209); #1 The Village £2,945,763 1st week 433 screens (34.5% of top 10)

Down 10.8% from 2003 (£8,393,708); Tomb Raider 2 (£1,524,676); Confidence (£325,685); The Man Who Sued God (£195,418); Swimming Pool (£119,092); #1 American Pie: The Wedding £2,180,783 2nd week 425 screens 47% drop (26% of top 10)

Up 10.2% from 2002 (£6,787,774); The Guru (£1,521,984); Reign Of Fire (£932,168); Talk To Her (£174,757); Black Knight (£167,084); #1 The Guru £1,521,984 1st 368 screens (22.4% of top 10)

Up 11.9% from 2001 (£6,685,496); Heartbreakers (£751,754); Crocodile Dundee in L.A. (£354,593); Lucky Break (£348,613); Josie and the Pussycats (£37,662); #1 Planet of the Apes £2,364,945 2nd week 447 screens 57% drop (35.3% of top 10);

Next weekend in 2019 (£7,501,395); The Informer (£301,424); #1 Once Upon A Time In Hollywood £1,841,873 3^rd week (2^nd #1 split over 3 weeks) 9% drop 697 screens (24.5% of top 10).

US Box Office

• Free Guy – 20^th Century Studios/Disney

Dropped 35% in its second weekend taking $18.5m and $58.52m

Had the smallest second weekend drop of the all the major releases since Memorial Day; (-49% Cruella; -55% Jungle Cruise; -40 Peter Rabbit 2; -60% A Quiet Place Part 2; -67% F9 and -68% Black Widow, but mid-August to early September is historical very different to the rest of the summer with films normally dropping far less so Free Guy second weekend drop can’t be compared with any of those.

Even Emoji Movie after dropping 51.5% and 46.3% in 2nd/3rd weeks dropped 31.2% and 43.5% in 4th/5th with strong word of mouth Free Guy is comparable to The Lego Movie -27.8% and Night at the Museum increased by 20.8%.

Took $750k (39% drop) from IMAX cinemas in the US

A Quiet Place Part II and F9 have taken $159m and $171m with 45-day windows, while Cruella $85m, Space Jam: A New Legacy $62m and Black Widow $175m were released in 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 prior to 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 make Free Guy unique.

This was similarly done with The Lego Movie, after the surprise success of the first film Warner rushed to make several spinoffs and a sequel. While the first spinoff The Lego Batman Movie in February 2017 was as good as the original Lego Movie, the problem is the spoilt it releasing The Lego Ninjago Movie a few months later and then The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part  in 2019. Disney have experienced similar releasing 5 Star Wars films over 5 years, what made Star Wars films special were they were an event but coming every year they weren’t special anymore. Disney originally announced they would release a Star Wars film infinitely but after 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker decided to hold back the next film until 2023 instead making many TV series for Disney+. While Lego moved from Warner Bros to Universal last year.

Second weekends

1998’s Truman Show dropped 36.6% taking $20.01m and $64.53m taking $125,618,201 and $264,118,201 WW

2012’s Wreck-It Ralph dropped 32.7% taking $33.01m and $93.64m taking $189.42m in the US and $471.2m WW.

2018’s Ralph Breaks the Internet dropped 54.5% taking $25.56m and $119.1m taking $201.09m in the US and $529.32m WW

2014’s The Lego Movie dropped 27.8% and $49.84m and $130.14m taking $257.76m in the US and $468.06m WW

2017’s The Lego Batman Movie dropped 38.4% taking $32.65m and $97.22m taking $175.75m in the US and $311.95m WW

2019’s The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part dropped 39% and $20.8m and $62.28m taking $105.8m and $192.3m WW

2010’s Tron Legacy dropped 56.5% taking $19.15m and $87.37m taking $172.06m and $4-00.06m WW.

2018’s Ready Player One dropped 41% taking $24.62m and $96.48m taking $137.69m taking $482.89m WW

2018’s The Emoji Movie dropped 51.1% taking $12m and $49.1m taking $86.08m in the US and $217.77m WW

2015’s Pixels dropped 56.3% taking $10.5m and $45.71m and $78.74m in the US and $244.87m WW

2006’s Night at the Museum dropped 20.8% (Christmas holidays) taking $36.76m and $115.82m  taking $250.86m in the US and $574.48m WW

Took $17.1m from 46 territories (down 24%) $53.1m internationally and $111.9m worldwide; UK $9.8m; Russia $6.1m; France $2.7m; Japan $2.7m; Saudi Arabia $2.3m; Germany $2.3m; Korea $2.2m; Australia $2m; Hong Kong $2m; Mexico $1.7m.

• Paw Patrol: The Movie – Paramount Pictures

Opened with $13.14m; received mixed reviews (84% Rotten Tomatoes) and A- CinemaScore

Was released on Paramount+ same day

Took $12.8m from 33 territories 9down 18%) and $21.5m total internationally

• Reminiscence – Warner Bros

Opened with $1.95m received poor reviews (36% Rotten Tomatoes) and C+ CinemaScore

Warner Bros acquired Reminiscence in 2019 there were complaints by director Lisa Joy after announcing it would be released the same day on HBO Max (on August 27^th), Warner then decided to open internationally a week earlier but when Shang-Chi was moved to September 3^rd opted to open it same day globally, but that was probably also after they realised the poor reaction it received.

Was watched by 842k on HBO Max over it’s opening weekend.

Opened with $3m from 48 territories in 4,008 screens expanding in into 18 more territories next week.

• The Night House – Searchlight/Disney

Opened with $2.85m; received mixed reviews (84% Rotten Tomatoes) and C- CinemaScore

As often with Sundance Film Festival acquisitions there are very different reactions to the film from its premiere in January to it’s opening 6 months later and the reaction of critics and audiences.

• Don’t Breathe 2 – Sony Pictures

Dropped 52% in its second weekend taking $5.05m and $19.2m

2016’s Don’t Breathe dropped 40.1% taking $15.83m and $51.25m taking $89.21m and $157.83m WW

Opened with $3.4m from 23 territories

• The Suicide Squad – Warner Bros

Dropped 54% in its third weekend $3.4m and $49.26m

Third weekends

2016’s Suicide Squad dropped 52.1% taking $20.85m and $262.42m and $325.1m held on to #1 for three weekends, due to being the last major release of the summer.

2018’s Birds of Prey dropped #2 60.4% taking $6.8m and $72.32m of $84.15m with Sonic the Hedgehog opening #1 with $58,018,348

SambaTV reported The Suicide Squad has been seen by over 4m over its first 10 days on HBO Max.

20+ years ago studios couldn’t swallow back-to-back $200m+ films failures, but now the film studio is just a small cog in the mega-corporations value of $100bn+ many with debts of $50bn+ what’s another $200m loss when they are now seeing the value of streaming, Netflix has an annual income of over $20bn worldwide (from 209m subscribers) compared to $42.5bn global box office in 2019 and spent over $15bn on content.

Since cinemas reopened all of Warner films have fallen short of expectations with only Godzilla Vs Kong coming close to previous franchise success but that was mostly due to Asian BO.

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 $80m* US and $170m* 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.

1,793^rd biggest film in the US between BlacKkKlansman and My Sister’s Keeper; 2,723^rd biggest inflation inflated between Pure Luck and Circle of Friends and 293^rd biggest Warner Bros film between National Lampoon’s European Vacation and My Sister’s Keeper.

Took $8.7m down 49% from 73 territories (19,284 screens) and $91.5m total and $140.8m worldwide; UK $17m; Russia $8.4m; France $5.2m; Germany $4.9m; Korea $3.5m; Mexico $4.3m; Spain $4.1m.

Exhibitors have used piracy as the excuse why Warner films have dropped heavily in second weekends in the US but as piracy is a global threat why did The Suicide Squad drop 36% in its second w/e in Australia (similar drop to the UK) and about half what it dropped in the US

1,233^rd biggest film worldwide between Girls Trip and Source Code; 17^th biggest film worldwide in 2021 between Space Jam: A New Legacy and Tom and Jerry and 200^th biggest Warner Bros film worldwide between Gothika and Sommersby.

• Jungle Cruise – Disney

Dropped 30% in its fourth weekend taking $6.34m and $92.66m

To put Jungle Cruise fourth weekend into perspective 2019’s Hobbs & Shaw dropped 43.1% taking $8.06m and $147.62m taking $173.95m and four months later Jumanji: The Next Level dropped 25.6% taking $26.22m and $235.93m taking $320.31m

Fourth weekends:

2003’s The Haunted Mansion dropped 36% taking $3.92m and $58.8m of $75.84m and $182.29m WW

2000’s Mission to Mars dropped 41.9% taking $3.32m and $54.45m of $60.88m and $110.98m WW

2015’s Tomorrowland dropped 51.5% taking $3.49m and $83.68m of $93.43m and $209.03m WW

2003’s Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl dropped 18.6% taking $18.84m and $209.53m of $305.41m and $654.26m WW

1999’s The Mummy dropped 27.9% taking $9.94m and $114.33m of $155.38m and $416.38m WW

2001’s The Mummy Returns dropped 25.9% taking $15.13m and $166.68m and $241.26m and $443.28m WW

2016’s The Legend of Tarzan dropped 42.5% taking $6.57m and $115.97m of $126.64m and $348.9m WW

825^th biggest film in the US between When Harry Met Sally and The Town; 1,506^th biggest inflation inflated between The Fly and The Money Pit; 141^st biggest Disney film in the US between Flubber and Crimson Tide.

Took $4.1m from 49 territories (39% drop) $92.5m total and $173.7m worldwide; UK $13.9m; Russia $8m; Japan $6.8m; France $6m; Saudi Arabia $3.6m; Spain $3.3m; Holland $3.2m; UAE $2.9m; Mexico $2.7m; Germany $2.4m.

979^th biggest film in the worldwide between Evan Almighty and Mirror Mirror; 12^th biggest 2021 film worldwide between The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It and Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway and 146^th biggest Disney film worldwide between                                   George Of The Jungle and The Santa Clause 2.

• Respect – MGM

Dropped 57% in its second weekend taking $3.76m and $13.72m

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 5^th 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.

Respect 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.

Opened with $0.5m from it’s first international territory Australia but there are only about a third of cinemas open in Australia due to COVID.

• The Protégé – Lionsgate

Opened with $2.9m; received mixed reviews (62% Rotten Tomatoes) and B CinemaScore

Action thriller directed by Martin Campbell who directed the two reboots of James Bond Goldeneye in 1995 starring Pierce Brosnan and 2006’s Casino Royale starring Daniel Craig, but hasn’t directed much since 2011’s Green Lantern.

As often happens while talent quickly moves on to their next projects after flops the director is the scapegoat and its often several years till the next film they direct. As seen with Martin Brest hasn’t directed a film since 2003’s Gigli while both Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez acting careers have gone on strongly. Michael Lehmann was an upcoming young director but went from Heathers to flop Hudson Hawk since made a few comedies and moved into TV directing. Kevin Reynolds directed Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and then Waterworld in 1995 which wasn’t a huge flop but has directed only a few films since.

And starring Samuel L. Jackson (Snakes on a Plane opened 15 years ago the same weekend with $13.85m taking $34.02m and $62.02m WW.

UK Box Office Top 10

UK Box Office Preview

With strong word of mouth Free Guy should hold #1 against the new entries for a third weekend dropping about 20% taking £1.5m-£1.8m.

The biggest new entry will be Candyman remake which was due for release in June 2020 but was delayed to August 2021 due to COVID.

It’s a direct sequel to the 1992 horror; Candyman opened with £1,044,843 in March 1993 (£2,350,896 inflation inflated) taking £1,803,720 (£4,056,965 inflation inflated).

With the exception of Don’t Breathe and Spiral horrors have been the one genre that has performed strongly since cinemas reopened in May and late summer has been a successful date for horrors in the past.

The last weekend of August is The Full Monty weekend, the British feel-good comedy opening this weekend 24 years ago opening with £1,600,000 and played for over 6 months in cinemas taking £52,232,058.  In the years that followed there have been many other feel-good British comedies but with the exception of Calendar Girls none came anywhere close to The Full Monty’s success.

Our Ladies 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.

While it would be almost impossible for a film to have the success of The Full Monty in cinemas now a better comparison for Our Ladies is Sunshine on Leith 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.

But 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 (top 10 taking £5,001,792). Our Ladies opens during a quiet weekend but had a crowded September so will struggle to build momentum.

Of course the other issue it has to deal with is COVID as its target demographic have been very slow to return to cinemas, which is also likely to affect the other new release of the weekend Andre Rieu’s 2021 Summer Concert: Together Again. Between 2014 and 2020 Andre Rieu’s concerts have been hugely popular Event Cinemas screenings with 2020’s Andre Rieu: 70 Years Young opened £1,717,073 from screenings on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon; 2019’s Andre Rieu’s New Year Concert from Sydney £1,745,941; 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.

But the last Andre Rieu concert Andre Rieu’s Magical Maastricht: Together In Music opened last September with £124,101 as the audience these concerts are aimed have been very slow to return to the cinema since they reopened. Andre Rieu’s 2021 Summer Concert is the canary in the coalmine for Event Cinema and films targetting older demographics.

Opening in two weeks

• Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings – Disney

The 25th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe starring Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Meng’er Zhang, Fala Chen, Florian Munteanu, Benedict Wong, Michelle Yeoh, and Tony Leung and directed by Destin Daniel Cretton.

Marvel first announced Shang Chi same time announced Black Panther in Sept 2005 both part of the first 10 films Marvel would make along with Captain America, Avengers, Nick Fury, Ant-Man, Cloak & Dagger, Dr. Strange, Hawkeye and Power Pack, Iron Man and Thor joined list in 2006.

Marvel cynically waited till now to make #ShangChi as they did with Black Panther in 2018 as wanted the MCU fanbase to grow and it was far easier to do with white arrogant male superheroes but the delay backfired on #BlackWidow as waited far too long.

Received positive reactions from premiere but always have to take premiere reactions with a pinch of salt as audience is hyped up and only see the positives immediately after seeing the film as even Justice League were positive.

After releasing Cruella, Black Widow and Jungle Cruise with hybrid cinema and Disney+ release Shang-Chi is Disney’s first film since cinemas reopened to have Disney’s new 45-day window, Free Guy was also released with similar release but that was a former Fox film which couldn’t go directly to Disney+ due to HBO Pay TV deal that ends in 2022.

Shang-Chi was originally due for release on February 12, 2021, on first day of the Chinese New Year before moving to May 7^th and then September 3^rd to allow for the release of Black Widow in July. September 3^rd is an unusual release date for a tentpole film was Labor Day weekend (the end of summer) is normally a dump week for studios.

First trailer and poster were released in April which was poorly received saying both presented a “rather stereotyped” view of Chinese people and culture, Disney have a habit of adding Asian actors into their movies in the hope that they will help them play better in Asia. In May Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Eternals weren’t included on a Chinese state media list of upcoming MCU films which led many to speculate they wouldn’t be released China. (it still hasn’t got a Chinese release date).

Marvel President Kevin Feige went on a charm offensive to try to address China’s biggest concerns over the film at the US premiere talking to a Chinese film critic but it felt like it was being cynically done to make sure they are able to release the film in China as without it’s unlikely to be anywhere nearly as successful as other MCU films. China as many other countries have far more important things to deal with as COVID cases are again on the increase in China along with other parts of Asia.

Simu Liu surprisingly took to Twitter in response to Disney CEO Bob Chapek saying the release of Shang-Chi was an “interesting experiment.” Saying “We are not an “interesting experiment”. We are the underdog; the underestimated. We are the ceiling-breakers. We are the celebration of culture and joy that will persevere after an embattled year. We are the surprise.” Disney can release Shang-Chi however they want just because Simu Liu stars in the film doesn’t give him say on how it’s released, and after Scarlett Johansson’s lawsuit this will likely become a clause in their contracts in future.

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 they 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 1^st.

• Here Today – Sony Pictures

Comedy-drama starring Billy Crystal, Tiffany Haddish, Penn Badgley, Laura Benanti, Louisa Krause and directed by Billy Crystal; received mixed reviews (47% Rotten Tomatoes).