Top 5 Breakdown

1. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 -£6,097,082 – £27,419,501

Down 54% in its second weekend having the fourth biggest second weekend of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the UK behind Avengers: Age of Ultron £8.59m, Avengers Assemble £8.12m, and Iron Man 3 £6.3m.

Has become the biggest non-Avengers film after 10 days on release ahead of last year’s Captain America: Civil War which had taken £27.37m 1%+ more but of course ticket prices are up 2.7% more. Similarly, since Iron Man 3 was released in 2013 ticket prices have increased by 17%+ would see its £24.56m total now £28.73m making all three films performances very similar.

While Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 will shortly overtake, its predecessors total £28.5m its not holding as strongly as after two weeks the first film had taken only 48% of its final box office the sequel is performing close to other Marvel films taking about 70%.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 is currently the fifth biggest film of 2017; currently behind Beauty and the Beast £71.2m, La La Land, £30.4m, Sing £28.7m and Fast & Furious 8 £28.1m but by next weekend will become the second biggest film of 2017.

2017 top 10 films are 19% more than 2016 £301.75m Vs £253.53m

While recent Marvel Cinematic Universe films normally after dropping about 50% in their second-weekend hold strongly in their third weekends (except for Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man) will likely have a heavier drop this weekend with the arrival of Alien: Covenant which will likely open with £6.5m.

Depending on how Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 holds against Alien: Covenant it could become the biggest non-Avengers film in the UK taking £39m but it is likely to drop much heavier over the upcoming weeks than the first film as while reviews were positive they weren’t as strong as the first film which benefited from opening at the start of the summer holidays. 

Guardians of the Galaxy took £21.32m in its first 7 days 7.9% less than Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice (£23.16m) and 5.5% less than Captain America: Civil War (£22.57m); 10% less than Avengers: Age of Ultron and 1.9% less than Avengers Assemble.

After two weekends:

Iron Man 2 had taken 48.6% more than Iron Man £15.09 Vs £10.15m and Iron Man 3 had taken 142% (£24.56m) more than Iron Man and 63% more than Iron Man 2. But ticket prices increased by 26%+ between Iron Man 1 and Iron Man 3 2008 – 2013

Captain American: Winter Soldier had taken 58.4% more than Captain America: The First Avenger £10.93m Vs £6.90m and Captain America: Civil War had taken 150.4% more than Captain American: Winter Soldier £27.37m Vs £10.93m. But Captain America: Civil War can’t be directly compared to previous Captain America films as featured many other Avengers characters so played more like an Avengers film.

Thor: The Dark World had taken 46.7% more than Thor £13.97m Vs £9.52m Thor: Ragnarok opens in October as Captain America: Civil War Features Avengers characters so cannot be compared.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 took 97.8% more than Guardians of the Galaxy £27.4m Vs £13.84m. But after opening 108% more without previews shows that it’s not going to hold anywhere nearly as strong as the first film.

The fifteen Marvel Cinematic Universe films have now taken over £377m at the UK box office over the last 9 years Thor: Ragnarok will see the total cross £400m. With Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War and Ant-Man and the Wasp will see the film series take over £500m over the franchises first 10 years.

There were five end credit scenes at the end of the film but there could have been sixth according to director James Gunn featuring Gef the Ravager but he thought it might have been a bit confusing. While previous post-credit scenes in other Marvel Cinematic Universe films set up upcoming films Kevin Feige has said none of them set up Avengers: Infinity War. They do set up Adam Warlock who is likely to appear in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 which is expected to be released in 2020.

2. A Dog’s Purpose – £1,300,097 – NE

As with most family films opening was inflated with £667,169 from previews over Bank Holiday weekend which helped it open in second without the previews would have charted in fourth taking £631,717 Fri-Sun.

Its Fri-Sun opening was similar to recent family films including Swallows and Amazons £0.67, Nine Lives £0.63m, Robinson Crusoe £0.57m and Capture The Flag £0.77m

With The Boss Baby and Beauty and the Beast almost played out A Dog’s Purpose fills the gap before the summer family films open starting with Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul in three weeks’ time.

3. Fast & Furious 8 – £ 817,596 – £28,124,754

Down 53.2% in its fourth weekend;

Despite opening with £14.02m the fourth weekend of Fast & Furious 8 is the lowest since 2009’s Fast & Furious showing how front-loaded the film series has become as Fast & Furious 7 took almost double in its fourth weekend £1.61m Vs £815,797. This is also seen by its box office having the lowest opening to final box office ratio of the film series and the highest percentage of its opening weekend to the final box office (see chart below).

The eight Fast & Furious films have taken over £140m at the UK box office with 48% of the box office taken from the last two films Furious 7 and Fast and Furious 8.

As with US Fast & Furious 8 has under-performed inflated by a third of its box office taken from China $374m of its $1.162bn global box office to date.

Fast & Furious 8 has overtaken Logan £23.8m top become the third biggest film in the UK and will shortly overtake Sing £28.4m but will probably be beaten by Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 to beat La La Land £30.4m.  

Fast & Furious 8 is total is currently 19.1% down from Fast & Furious 7 with two extra days playing time. After 24 days, Fast & Furious 7 had taken £34.75m dropping 47% Vs 53% taking £1.61m Vs £0.81m (49.7% less).

4. The Boss Baby – £663,776 – £25,647,161

Down 48.87% in its fifth weekend suffering a bigger drop with the arrival of A Dog’s Purpose; has overtaken 2014’s How to Train Your Dragon 2 £24.25 and 2015’s Home £24.97m to become 20th Century Fox’s second biggest Dreamworks Animation film and by next weekend will have overtaken 2013’s The Croods £26.15m to become their biggest.

The Boss Baby could still overtake The Lego Batman Movie (£27m) to become the second-biggest animation film of 2017 behind Sing (£28.56m).

Upcoming animation films include Despicable Me 3, Cars 3, Captain Underpants (final Dreamworks Animation film released by 20^th Century Fox), The Emoji Movie, The Nut Job 2, Lego Ninjago, My Little Pony, Paddington 2, The Star, Coco and Ferdinand. 

5. Beauty and the Beast – £418,813 – £71,180,862

Down 50.9% in its eighth weekend

The Jungle Book last year took 39% more £570,486 in its eighth weekend with total of £44.58m 96.5% of final box office of £46.19m if Beauty and the Beast was to hold similar would add £2.53m to take £73.7m

But as Beauty and the Beast took less than The Jungle Book took in week 9 £412,358 total of £45.11m 97.6% of its final box office will likely add £1.73m with final BO of £72.9m.

Toy Story 3 took 85% more £756,575 in its eighth weekend £71.01m 96% of the final box office of £74m. Over the majority of the eight weeks of release Beauty and the Beast had taken more than Toy Story 3 but next weekend will see it drop below it as Toy Story 3 took £583,013 in week nine with a total of £71.8m.

While Beauty and the Beast is the eighth biggest film in the UK it is the 15^th biggest film in the UK by admissions showing how ticket prices have affected films box office Beauty and the Beast admissions will be 25% less than Toy Story 3 9.35m Vs 12.44m due to average prices increasing by over 30% over the last seven years £5.94 Vs £7.61.

Beauty and the Beast won Movie of the year at MTV Movie and TV Awards and Emma Watson won Best Actor the first time the acting award categories weren’t divided by gender.

Emma Watson said “”The first acting award in history that doesn’t separate nominees based on their sex says something about how we perceive the human experience,” “MTV’s move to create a genderless award for acting will mean something different to everyone but to me, it indicates that acting is about the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. And that doesn’t need to be separated into two, different categories.”

Other box office news

This weekend’s top 10 box office took £10,715,064 down 42.3% from last weekend £18,596,685;

Weekend admissions 1,446,028 down 41.8% from last week 2,484,839

15 films opened at weekend taking £2,345,447; A Dog’s Purpose 55.4%, Sleepless 15.7%, Mindhorn 11.9% and Unlocked 11.01% remaining 11 films shared £137,280 (5.86%)

Weekend was up 2.1% from last year (£10,487,731): Bad Neighbours 2: Sorority Rising £1,687,970, Florence Foster Jenkins £710,099, Robinson Crusoe £575,099, I Saw the Light £17,000 and Knight of Cups £10,323

Up 23.9% from 2015: (£8,641,505): Spooks: The Greater Good £1,003,938, The Age of Adaline £561,138, Big Game £533,429 opened.

Next weekend in 2016 (£8,970,999): The Angry Birds Movie £2,125,750, Our Kind of Traitor £350,870, Everybody Wants Some!! £165,463, Green Room £136,353, Mustang £65,057, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot £58,798 and The Darkness £51,465.

UK Box Office Top 10

 

US Box Office Top 10

US Box office

As in previous years’ summer season in the US has started with a Marvel Cinematic Universe film last year it was Captain America: Civil War and next year Avengers: Infinity Wars. Over the next few months will be many massive films opening from all he studios but most franchises and sequels. This montage features many of them.

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 opened with $146.5m 54% increase on the original film released in July 2014 with $94.3m. But rather than comparing the film with the previous installment it should be compared to previous Marvel Cinematic Universe films as the audience for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 like Doctor Strange should have been the same as last year’s Captain America: Civil War which opened 20% bigger with $179.1m. While the stories don’t link as they used to do in earlier films the end credit scenes set up future films. 

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 had the 17^th biggest opening in the US but close to The Fate of the Furious four weeks ago its opening was lower than tracking had estimated it as. This is after many films this year have been underestimated with their tracking Logan, Kong: Skull Island and Beauty and the Beast. So, could its international early release caused this to happen as reviews weren’t universal positive as previous Marvel films?  Vol 2.

In 2013 Iron Man 3 opened with $174.1m which was a straight sequel to Iron Man 2 (unlike Captain America Winter Soldier and Civil War was to The First Avenger) so Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 should have opened bigger especially thanks to The Lego Movie and Jurassic World in recent years Chris Pratt has had much bigger box office success than Robert John Downey Jr.

The first Guardians of the Galaxy opening was only 28.3% of its final box office but its sequel will be closer to 40% and will likely take a similar total of $335m.

Globally Guardians of the Galaxy has taken $428m with $285.1m internationally and $146.5m from the US (which will see it overtake the first film’s global take of $773.3m). This has seen the 15 Marvel Cinematic Universe films take over $11billion worldwide and Disney taking $2.25 billion globally this year so far.

The Fate of the Furious dropped 57.2% in its fourth weekend taking $8.52m and $207.13m; in comparison, Furious 7 took more than double in its fourth weekend $17.81m and a total of $320.08m 91% of its final box office of $353m.

The Fate of the Furious is holding close to Fast & Furious 6 which took $9.58m in its fourth weekend with a total of $219.72m 92% of its final box office of $238.6m. If The Fate of the Furious performs similar will end with about $225m which will be similar to both 2011’s Fast Five and 2013’s Fast & Furious 6 which is how The Fate of the Furious has performed everywhere apart from China.

The Fate of the Furious has taken $1.15 billion worldwide with a third of its global box office coming from China $374m (with $950m from international to date). Which was close to Transformers: Age of Extinction which took 30% $320m of its global box office of $1.104 billion from China without that box office neither would be looking to make further chapters. But of course, as studios only get 20% of rentals all it does is artificially inflate their box office.

The Boss Baby climbs up one place dropping down 34.1% in its sixth weekend taking $6.17m and a total of $156.73m and has now taken more than last year’s Trolls took which took $153m.

The Boss Baby is currently 20^th Century Fox’s #9 biggest animated film will shortly overtake Ice Age: Continental Drift and fourth biggest Dreamworks Animation film. Will likely end with $170m which will just be short from overtaking the $177m of Ice Age, How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Home.

Has become the #64 biggest animated film in the US and has overtaken Puss in Boots, Trolls, Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who! And Over the Hedge will shortly overtake Shark Tale, Ice Age: Continental Drift, A Bug’s Life, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out and Kung Fu Panda 2.

After opening strongly last weekend How to be a Latin Lover dropped heavily in its second weekend 57.2% as did Baahubali 2: The Conclusion 68.9% taking $5.25m and $3.24m.   

 

Beauty and the Beast drops 27.6% in its eighth weekend taking $4.93m and $487.59m total overtake last year’s Finding Dory $486m to become the eighth biggest film in the US; after eight weeks, The Jungle Book took a similar $4.44m taking $341m 93.7% of its final box office of $364m if Beauty and the Beast was to do similar will end with $521m $11m less than Rogue One: A Star Wars Story despite opening with $19m more.

Beauty and the Beast has now taken $1.18bn #11 worldwide overtaking Captain America: Civil War and Minions will shortly overtake Iron Man 3 and Frozen to be #9 biggest.

Opened May 12^thh

Opening UK

• Alien: Covenant – 20^th Century Fox

Sequel to 2012’s Prometheus, the second Alien prequel and the sixth part of the 38-year-old Alien film series. Starring Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride and Demián Bichir and the third Alien film directed by Ridley Scott.

Alien: Covenant received its UK premiere on May 4^th with early reaction has said the film brings back the horror to the franchise being an improvement on Prometheus but still not as great as some of its predecessors. While it might have brought back the horror to Alien it is a 15 as was Prometheus; surprisingly only 2010’s Aliens Vs. Predator was an 18 all others were 15s.

Last year 20^th Century Fox released X-Men: Apocalypse early internationally meaning reviews were released two weeks before opening in the US hurting its US opening while reviews for Alien: Covenant aren’t as bad they aren’t as great as expected could they hurt its US opening? 

In March 20th Century Fox screened 15 minutes of footage was screened at SXSW before a screening of the original 1979 film which was positively received. Ridley Scott introduced the footage saying “My mantra has always been to scare the living sh-t out of you,”

In 2015 Ridley Scott had plans for three sequels to Prometheus that would lead into Alien. The screenplay for the third sequel was written during the production of Alien: Covenant which is expected to start shooting in 2018 for release in 2019. Ridley Scott has recently said that he plans to make the sequel within the next 14 months after he finishes making Getty kidnapping drama All the Money in the World which will be released by Sony Natalie Portman is expected to start shooting shortly.

Prometheus opened June 1^st, 2012 with £6.23m taking £24.69m (holding strongly in its second weekend dropping only 36% taking £2.09m and £19.49m); in 2012 Prometheus had Snow White and the Huntsman opening against it opening with £3.58m opening 6 weeks after Avengers Assemble but Alien: Covenant opens only two weeks after Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 after opening with £13.09m dropping 50% in its second weekend.

In 2012 Prometheus opening in June 2012 with £6.23m was then the second biggest opening of 2012 behind Avengers Assemble £15.78m ending the year as the tenth biggest opening behind.

Skyfall £20.18m, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 £15.85m, The Dark Knight Rises £14.36m, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – £11.60m, The Amazing Spider-Man – £11.09m, Ice Age: Continental Drift – £10.08m, Ted – £9.33m, Taken 2 – £7.37m.

If Alien: Covenant opened similar it would have had the tent biggest opening of the year behind Beauty and the Beast £19.7m, Furious 8 £14.02m, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 £13.09m, Sing £10.48m, Logan £9.44m, Boss Baby £8.02m, The Lego Batman Movie £7.9m, Fifty Shades Darker £7.55m, La La Land £6.59m and Kong: sKull Island £6.23m.

With Pirates of the Caribbean 5, Wonder Woman, Transformers: The Last Knights, Despicable Me 3, Spider-Man Homecoming, War for the Planet of the Apes, Dunkirk, The Dark Tower, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, Thor: Ragnarok, Paddington 2, Justice League Part 1, Star Wars: The Last Jedi and others all likely to open bigger. Which will see Alien: Covenant have the 20^th biggest opening showing how the marketplace has shifted in just the last five years to films becoming far more front-loaded. 

In 2012 Prometheus stayed at #1 for three weeks in its fourth weekend only £90,000 separated it with new opener Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter £1.029m Vs £1.19m. The first major competition Prometheus had to face wasn’t until six weeks after release with The Amazing Spider-Man by which time it had taken £23.91m 97% of its final box office £24.69m.

Two weeks after opening it faces Pirates of the Caribbean Salazar’s Revenge (opening 6 years after the last sequel is expected to open close to the last film On Stranger Tides with £11.63m early buzz is good) and in weeks after Baywatch (helped by a 7-day opening weekend will be looking to beat opening of 22 Jump Street 3 day opening weekend having a £6.5m+ opening week), Wonder Woman (while not likely to match the heights of male comic-book movies still will have a strong opening) and The Mummy.

2015’s The Martian is Ridley Scott’s biggest opening in the UK with £6.53m was inflated with £1.63m from previews but without previews, Prometheus is his biggest film in the UK. His over biggest openings are 2000’s Gladiator £3.56m taking £31.2m total, 2001’s Hannibal £6.40m taking £21.58m, 2010’s Robin Hood £5.75m with £1.39m in previews taking £15.6m total and 2015’s The Martian went on to take £23.4m.

	year	UK BO	AV P Y	Ads yr	2017 BO	OWE	2017 Av
Prometheus	2012	£24.69	£6.37	3.88	28.72	£6.23	£7.41
Aliens Vs. Predator – Requiem	2007	£4.42	£5.20	0.85	6.30	£1.97	£7.41
Aliens Vs. Predator	2004	£5.01	£4.49	1.12	8.27	£2.03	£7.41
Alien: Resurrection	1998	£7.20	£4.03	1.79	13.24	n/a	£7.41
Alien 3	1992	£6.55	£3.21	2.04	15.12	n/a	£7.41
Aliens	1986	£5.12	£1.88	2.72	20.18	n/a	£7.41
Alien	1979	£3.86	£1.12	3.45	25.54	n/a	£7.41

In the US Alien: Covenant In Utero VR Tour will tour selective cinemas which will let fans experience the birth of the series’ iconic alien infamous chest-burster scene that featured in the first film in 1979 and the sequels and Prometheus which will let fans discovered the true meaning of terror.

• Miss Sloane – eOne

Thriller starring Jessica Chastain, Mark Strong, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Michael Stuhlbarg, Alison Pill, Jake Lacy, John Lithgow and Sam Waterston and directed by John Madden had its world premiere in November at the AFI Fest receiving positive reviews.

Opened in limited release on November 25^th in the US with half of what Lion also opened within three screens disappointing when it expanded to over 1,600 screens two weeks later. In comparison, it took Lion eleven weeks to expand to a similar number of screens. Jessica Chastain was nominated for Golden Globe Award for Best Actress Motion Picture Drama by which time the film was played out of theaters in the US.

So many platform releases studios expand their releases far too quickly e.g.: 2016 Queen of Katwe last year opening with $304,933 on platform release but expanded to 1,200 screenings taking only $2.49m. 2015 Steve Jobs opened with $521,522 on 4 screens, expanding to 60 screenings with $1.5m but then expanded week 3 to 2,500 taking only $7.1m.

Miss Sloane has received positive reviews with another strong performance by Jessica Chastain but her recent films have disappointed at the box office most recently with The Zookeeper’s Wife and The Huntsman: Winter’s War and Crimson Peak her last success was the Golden Globe-winning comedy The Martian in 2015. Next for Jessica Chastain is Molly’s Game also starring Idris Elba, Kevin Costner, Michael Cera and directed by Aaron Sorkin which will be released in the UK in January.

Despite flopping in the US as Rules Don’t Apply which opened the same weekend in the US Jessica Chastain came to the US to promote the film as Warren Beatty had done a few weeks earlier and will likely perform similarly in the UK.

• The Last Face – Lionsgate

Drama starring Charlize Theron, Javier Bardem, Adèle Exarchopoulos, and Jean Reno and directed by Sean Penn; was selected to compete for the Palme d’Or at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival receiving poor reviews.

Opening in the US

• King Arthur: Legend of the Sword – Warner Bros

Action adventure starring Charlie Hunnam as the title character, with Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey, Djimon Hounsou, Aidan Gillen, Jude Law and Eric Bana. (David Beckham follows up his cameo The Man From U.N.C.L.E. with a small role in the film) and directed by Guy Ritchie.

In 2014 Guy Ritchie signed up to the first of a planned six film series; King Arthur was originally set for release July 22^nd, 2016 but then moved to February 17^th, 2017 and then moved to March 24^th before being moved to May 12^th release date.

It’s always concerning when films are delayed as few films are successful after being delayed of course 20 years ago Titanic was delayed almost 6 months and became the biggest film ever and Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby performed strongly with their delayed dates. But the comparison is probably closer to Jupiter Ascending which was originally set for July 25^th,2014 and then delayed to February 6^th, 2015.

After being delayed almost a year expectations are low and reviews have been mixed. Opening a week before Alien: Covenant in the US and a week after in the UK it could generate some interest but seen how previous King Arthur adaptions have performed in recent years it is going to find it hard sandwiched between Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 and Alien: Covenant. But with Guardians 2 expected to drop around 60%, King Arthur should open with about $25m.

The last film adaption of King Arthur was in 2004 which opened with $15.19m taking $51.88m previous version 1995’s First Knight opened $10.85m taking $37.6m and 1981’s Excalibur opened with $4.51m taking $34.96m.

Guy Ritchie’s previous films

2015’s The Man From U.N.C.L.E. opened with $13.42m taking $45.44m

2011’s Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows opened with $39.63m taking $186.84m

2009’s Sherlock Holmes opened with $62.3m taking $209.02m

His previous 2008’s RockNRolla 2007’s Revolver and 2002’s Swept Away all flopped.

Guy Ritchie’s next is the Disney Live Action reimagination of Aladdin starts production in the UK in July for a likely 2018 release. Have been recent rumours that he could follow this up with The Man From U.N.C.L.E. sequel the 2015 original was a very underrated stylish spy comedy as well as another Sherlock Holmes sequel. 

• Snatched – 20^th Century Fox

Action comedy starring Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn along with Joan Cusack, Christopher Meloni, Ike Barinholtz, Óscar Jaenada, and Wanda Sykes and directed by Jonathan Levine.  

Buzz has been strong for the road comedy with Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn having great chemistry as mother and daughter perfect film for Mother Day weekend will perform far stronger than last year’s ensemble comedy Mother’s Day which was Garry Marshall’s final film before his death in July.

Snatched is Goldie Hawn’s first film since 2002’s The Banger Sisters which took $30.3m; previously starred in 1996’s Everyone Says I Love You and 2001’s Town & Country taking only $6.7m. In the 90s starred in many successful comedies including Bird on a Wire, Housesitter, Death Becomes Her and The First Wives Club it’s almost 40 years ago since her most famous comedy Private Benjamin. 

Expected to open with $18-25m (similar to last years Bad Moms $23.8m and Neighbours: Sorority Rising and The Boss $25.5m)  With trailers playing with many of the spring hits and opening over Mother’s Day weekend it could open stronger closer to Amy Schumer’s Trainwrecked $30.1m. In 2005 Monster in Law also opened Monther Day starring Jane Fonda and Jennifer Lopez which opened with $23.1m. But after the negative reviews will probably open similar to 2015’s Hot Pursuit 413.9m. 

Amy Schumer next stars in Thank You For Your Service opening in October about posttraumatic stress disorder

Amy Schumer next stars in Thank You For Your Service opening in October about posttraumatic stress disorder

• Lowriders BH Tilt

Drama starring Demián Bichir, Gabriel Chavarria, Theo Rossi, Melissa Benoist, Tony Revolori and Eva Longoria and directed by Ricardo de Montreuil. The film premiered last June at the Los Angeles Film Festival receiving mixed reviews; opened with only £6,543 from 100 screens last weekend in the UK.

Lowriders is the fourth film made by Blumhouse Productions after Split and Get Out, Sleight opened with $1.7m from 565 screens last weekend in the US and Lowriders will likely do similar this weekend.