- Napoleon – £5,235,706 – NE
Took £1,418,404 26.5% (previews Weds £789k/Thurs £601k)
Took £1.1m (21%) Friday; £1.48m (28.3%) Saturday; £1.26m (24.1%) Sunday.
278th biggest opening between The Revenant and Aquaman (close to Tenet, John Wick: Chapter 4, Legend and Murder on the Orient Express) and 427th biggest inflated opening between Paranormal Activity and Daddy’s Home 2 (close to Apollo 13, Saving Private Ryan, Ghost and American Beauty).
2015’s Legend opening was very similar to Napoleon; weekend BO was £5,235,706 Vs £5,189,074; preview BO £1.49m Vs £1.39m and Friday BO £1.1m Vs £1.0.05m and Fri-Sun £3.84m Vs £3.69m. But Legend had an 18 certificate while about a third of Napoleon BO came from IMAX/PLF. The Revenant had a similar opening (£5,235,851) but didn’t have previews; also opened similarly to Tenet £5,335,654 taking more from previews (£2,044,248).
5th biggest Ridley Scott opening between Robin Hood and Alien: Covenant (close to Hannibal, Prometheus and Gladiator) and 7th biggest inflated between Alien: Covenant and Kingdom of Heaven (close to Gladiator, American Gangster and Black Hawk Down).
Opening in 716 cinemas it was the 18th widest opening and 26th 700+ cinema opening since 2017’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Sony Pictures’ widest opening (the previous highest 2019’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood 697 cinemas). While opening in 716 cinemas it was probably playing in almost 2,000 screens as in multiplexes playing in about 4 screens, but as 40%+ of BO came from IMAX/PLF do these films really need to open so wide?
Ridley Scott’s Napoleon has a lot in common with his Best Picture Oscar-winning 2000’s Gladiator, both star Joaquin Phoenix outwardly he is a powerful leader, but in private his weal and whinny and the women are strong. Josephine demands Napolean to accept that she has a past, while in Gladiator Commodus’s sister, Lucilla tries to control him to protect her son but he wants to sleep with his sister.
Ridley Scott has been nominated for Best Director Oscar three times for Thelma & Louise, Gladiator and Black Hawk Down but hasn’t won and also nominated three times for Best Director BAFTA (Thelma & Louise, Gladiator and The Martian) but never won. Surely Ridley Scott deserves to finally win Best Director for Napoleon as aged 85 he’s unlikely to make many more films after next year’s Gladiator 2, having directed so many incredible and hugely successful films over the last 44 years.
It is Ridley Scott’s 27th film (currently shooting Gladiator 2 set for November 2024 release) his films have taken $1.7bn in the US almost $4.4bn worldwide including over £250m in the UK (£350m inflated).
Joaquin Phoenix has starred in two indie films (Beau Is Afraid and C’mon, C’mon) since starring in 2019’s Joker opened £12,555,329 taking £58,166,427; #1 for 6 weeks. He will next star in the sequel Joker: Folie a Deux opening in October.
2000’s Gladiator opened £3,555,446 (£6,486,837 inflated) taking £31,257,293 (£58,616,618 inflated)
1995’s Braveheart opened £1,322,291 (£3,028,350 inflated) taking £11,909,670 (£27,275,882 inflated)
2004’s Troy opened £6,017,523 taking £18,001,854
2020’s 1917 opened £7,446,302 taking £44,094,898
Others include.
2003’s Master and Commander opened £1,845,125 (£3,312,082 inflated) taking £7,078,944 (£11,660,311 inflated)
2005’s Kingdom of Heaven opened £2,530,445 (£4,281,878 inflated) taking £7,755,814 (£13,123,957 inflated)
2007’s 300 opened £4,746,071 (£7,490,334 inflated) taking £13,986,190 (£22,073,254 inflated)
1992’s The Last of the Mohicans opened £748,447 (£1,858,294 inflated) taking £4,872,044 (£12,096,633 inflated)
2004’s The Last Samurai opened £2,723,081 taking £11,688,667
2000’s The Patriot (opened £1,033,767/ £1,872,528 inflated); 2005’s Alexander (£1,200,083/ £2,030,714 inflated); Exodus: Gods and Kings (£2,607,453); The Revenant (£5,235,851); 2001’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (£715,609/£1,377,634) and 1992’s Dances with Wolves (£353,490 from 92 screens/£929,807 taking £10,598,273/£27,877,306 inflated).
Napoleon had its world premiere in France with critics calling it lazy, pointless, boring, migraine-inducing, too short and historically inaccurate, Ridley Scott responded by saying “The French don’t even like themselves” … “I find I’m reading a report of someone else’s report 100 years after the event. So, I wonder, ‘How much do they romance and elaborate? How accurate is it?’ It always amuses me when a critic says to me, ‘This didn’t happen in Jerusalem.’ I say, ‘Were you there? That’s the fucking answer.’” While Joaquin Phoenix said “If you want to really understand Napoleon, then you should probably do your own studying and reading. Because if you see this film, it’s this experience told through Ridley’s eyes.” Napoleon said “History is a set of lies that people have agreed upon” …”In politics… never retreat, never retract… never admit a mistake.”
A few days later had the UK premiere and critics were far more positive, including the Guardian 5 stars: The Times, Telegraph, Independent and Evening Standard 4 stars.
Two years ago, after House of Gucci premiered in London Ridley Scott gave his reasons for why The Last Duel failed to find an audience in cinemas saying “The best films are driven by the characters, and we’ll come to superheroes after this if you want, because I’ll crush it. I’ll fucking crush it. They’re fucking boring as shit,” … “comic-book scripts are not any fucking good.” …. “I think what it boils down to — what we’ve got today [are] the audiences who were brought up on these fucking cell phones. The millennials do not ever want to be taught anything unless they are told it on the cell phone,” …….“This is a broad stroke, but I think we’re dealing with it right now with Facebook. There is a misdirection that has happened where it’s given the wrong kind of confidence to this latest generation, I think.”
Like many other Ridley Scott films Napoleon is an Oscar contender, previous openings include Knives Out (£2,937,305); Black Swan (£2,762,429); The Imitation Game (£2,742,725); Bram Stokers Dracula (£2,640,000); Gangs of New York (£2,622,748); 12 Years a Slave (£2,511,349); The Social Network (£2,486,454); Jerry Maguire (£2,481,239); The Shape of Water (£2,466,217); Jojo Rabbit (£2,415,233); Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (£2,361,782); The Departed (£2,298,313); The Truman Show (£2,210,999); 127 Hours (£2,168,570); The Post (£2,152,977); The Iron Lady (£2,151,368); The Fighter (£2,118,140); The Impossible (£4,034,470); The Favorite (£3,973,975); War Horse (£3,944,746); Braveheart (£3,764,431); The Theory of Everything (£3,749,293); Catch Me If You Can (£3,720,957); Life of Pi (£3,610,604); Little Women (£3,578,877); Gladiator (£3,555,446); The King’s Speech (£3,523,102); Captain Phillips (£3,483,981); American Hustle (£3,467,644).
10 years ago, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg on a panel at the USC School of Cinematic Arts said studios would implode; and VOD was the future “They’re going for the gold,” said Lucas of the studios. “But that isn’t going to work forever. And as a result, they’re getting narrower and narrower in their focus. People are going to get tired of it. They’re not going to know how to do anything else.” …. Spielberg noted that because so many forms of entertainment are competing for attention, they would rather spend $250 million on a single film than make several personal, quirky projects. “There’s eventually going to be a big meltdown,” Spielberg said. “There’s going to be an implosion where three or four or maybe even a half-dozen of these mega-budgeted movies go crashing into the ground and that’s going to change the paradigm again.”
Earlier this year Apple announced they would spend $1bn on films a year and they would get a full theatrical release, Napoleon follows on from Killers of the Flower Moon with Argylle set for release in February. Apple has so far opted to hire a studio to release films rather than direct release, with Apple paying all production and most marketing costs and giving the studio a distribution fee, this will give studios access to a strong slate of high-budget original films, including Project Artemis, Blitz, The Gorge, The Instigators, Wolves and Untitled F1 Film starring Brad Pitt.
- 2. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes – £2,689,642 – £10,124,336
Down 50.4% in its second weekend
Took £708k 26.3% (58.8% drop £1.72m) Friday; £1.11m 41.3% (47.9% drop £2.13m) Saturday; £871k 32.4% (32.7% drop £1.56m) Sunday.
Took £7.44m in its opening 7 days 12th highest in 2023 between John Wick: Chapter Four and Five Nights at Freddy’s
277th biggest second weekend between Kong: Skull Island and F9 (close to Pirates of the Caribbean 5, War for the Planet of the Apes, Mad Max: Fury Road and Fantastic Beasts 3) and 532nd inflated between Rocky Balboa and Mr and Mrs Smith (close to Die Hard 2 Die Harder, Wayne’s World, 22 Jump Street and Ready Player One).
11th biggest 2023 second weekend between Fast X and John Wick: Chapter Four (close to Ant-Man 3, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Creed 3 and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish).
2012’s The Hunger Games dropped 39% £2,986,317 #1 505 screens and £9,854,228 of £23,684,966
2013’s THG: Catching Fire dropped 54% £5,525,476 #1 557 screens and £21,711,143 of £33,788,744
2014’s THG: Mockingjay, Part 1 dropped 61% £4,908,192 #2 569 screens and £21,247,573 of £30,840,529
2015’s THG: Mockingjay, Part 2 dropped 59% £4,534,464 #1579 screens and £19,323,711 of £29,046,986
The Hunger Games prequel comes 8 years after Mockingjay Part 2 opened compared to 5 years for Harry Potter.
2016’s Fantastic Beasts dropped 42% £8,892,489 #1 666 screens and £30,136,276 of £54,703,625
2018’s The Crimes of Grindelwald dropped 54% £5,622,755 #1 679 screens and £22,043,790 of £34,014,290
2022’s The Secrets of Dumbledore dropped 55% £2,643,621 #2 727 screens and £12,658,733 of £20,923,375
Many of the tweens who grew up with The Hunger Games books and films watching the first film in 2012 have returned to see the prequel 11 years later, but as with Fantastic Beasts doesn’t play beyond the fanbase.
- 3. Wish – £2,432,228 – NE
Took £405k 16.6% Friday; £1.07m 44% Saturday; £957k 39.3% Sunday.
672nd biggest opening between Saw V and The Woman In Black: Angel of Death (close to National Treasure 2, Free Guy, Moulin Rouge and Mirror Mirror) and 1,104th biggest inflated between Licence to Kill and House of Gucci (close to The Golden Child, Peter Pan (2003), Alice Through the Looking Glass and Parenthood).
12th biggest Disney animated film opening since 1989’s Oliver & Company between The Lion King (1994) and The Princess and the Frog (close to Chicken Little, Tarzan, Moana and Encanto) and 20th inflated between Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Moana (close to Pocahontas, Lilo & Stitch, The Emperor’s New Groove and The Hunchback of Notre Dame).
Wish having the 12th biggest Disney animated opening shows how leggy their animated films are, as Strange World took 4.6x opening and Encanto 4.23x, Disney animated original films open similar to Dreamworks Animation, while Pixar films open similar to Illumination.
30th biggest 2023 opening between Killers of the Flower Moon and Shazam 2 (close to Elemental, Scream 6, The Creator and A Haunting in Venice.
Opened in 617 cinemas 667th widest similar to The Lost City and The Secret Life of Pets 2 and the 185th 600+ cinema opening since 2015’s Jurassic World.
Disney has had huge success over the last decade since Frozen opened, the problem has been this has all been built from existing properties, sequels, remakes, reimaginations and then acquired properties MCU, and Star Wars and expected to repeat this formula with Indiana Jones but Dial of Destiny took $174.5m in the US and $384m worldwide almost half Kingdom of the Crystal Skull $317.1m US and $791m took 15 years ago.
The bubble was always going to burst on Disney as even Disney’s IPs have a expiry date as couldn’t solely depend on remakes, reboots, reimaginations and sequels forever as even Disney supply wasn’t going to last long making so many reimaginations so quickly 2019 had Dumbo, Aladdin and The Lion King as they should have been spaced out much more, but as with Star Wars and MCU Disney just believed as the voice in Field of Dreams ‘people will come’.
As Dr Ian Malcolm said in Jurassic Park “The problem was it didn’t require any discipline to attain it. You read what others had done and you took the next step. You didn’t earn the knowledge for yourselves, so you don’t take any responsibility for it. You stood on the shoulders of geniuses to accomplish something as fast as you could, and before you even knew what you had, you patented it, packaged it, and slapped it on a plastic lunchbox.”
Disney spent billions acquiring Marvel and Lucasfilm and raided studio vaults remaking and reimagining films and Wish feels like it was made to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the studio by incorporating Easter eggs of many other Disney animated films.
Whilst over the last few years rivals’ studios with Top Gun: Maverick, Barbie and Oppenheimer have been offering cinemagoers something different. Disney needs to create new IPs and the only way to do that is by taking risks as they did in the 80s and 90s making a wide mix of films going back to Disney’s roots, being the most creative studio in Hollywood.
The problem has been that over the last decade Disney has always taken the easy option with film, what is so frustrating is they have made so many excellent original TV shows over recent years including The Bear and Only Murders in the Building. The sad thing was in buying Fox it could have been Touchstone Pictures 2.0 as Fox had a lot of success making original films which has been Disney’s Achilles heel since 2009’s The Proposal.
Warner Bros did something similar with 2018’s Ready, Player, One. The sad thing is you look at Disney’s TV and they have so many great original TV shows from Only Murders in the Building to The Bear Pixar used to regularly make excellent original films, but over the last decade, they have made many more sequels with 2015’s Inside Out being one of their best recent films so no wonder has sequel next year. In response to Wish underperforming, we will see Frozen 3 and 4 and Toy Story 5 over the next few years and even fewer original films.
With Disney making properties the theatrical release for Wish is only a small part of the lifetime of the film as merchandising and theme parks will generate far more revenue over the following years, this of course is why Disney are in the property-making business and are far ahead of rivals.
For the last decade, Disney’s slate was far stronger than its rivals but over the last few years other studios have stepped up and offered audiences something different including Top Gun: Maverick last year and Barbie and Oppenheimer this year, films that live up to the hype so have much longer legs. Next year Disney will have more of the same with Inside Out 2 and Mufasa and from 20th Century Studios Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Deadpool 3 and Avatar 3.
Wish is the 62nd Disney animated film, their films since 2019’s Frozen II have disappointed, due to COVID-19 2021’s Raya and the Last Dragon went straight to Disney+ and Encanto and Strange World had disappointing openings; Encanto opened £1,720,132; Weds £106k; Thurs £83k; Frid £235k; Sat £757k and Sun £536k and Strange World £833,043; Weds £47k; Thurs £64k; Fri £78k; Sat £362k; Sun £277k.
It never makes any sense to open an aminated film day and date with the US as it’s still term time, so BO is limited mostly to Sat/Sun for the next four weeks. Disney used to delay their Thanksgiving animated film in the UK to late January opening ahead of the lucrative February half-term (As last year with Puss in Boots 2 Universal Pictures delayed their Christmas animated film Migration to late January).
Disney delayed by a week the openings of 2013’s Frozen (£4,704,940) and 2018’s Ralph Breaks the Internet (£4,032,775) shortening the gap before the Christmas holidays.
Opening 10 years after Frozen and released during Disney’s 100th anniversary they were surely hoping Wis would have similar success as it features Easter eggs to their classic animated films, but the news they were already developing Frozen 4 before Frozen 3 opened shows how Disney has changed over the last decade. Wish faces direct competition next weekend with the release of Wonka.
Opening in late November family films hope to play through to January as many Disney films have previously done with Frozen, Moana, Ralph Breaks the Internet and Frozen 2, While Encanto had a lower-than-expected opening it had long legs.
The 34 Disney animated films since Oliver & Company have taken over £450m and £715m+ inflated; average opening £2.48m and average BO is £13.5m and £21.6m inflated.
- 4. Saltburn £572,728 – £1,998,626
Down 31.9% in its second weekend
Took £159k 27.8% (25% drop £214k) Friday; £214k 37.4% (31% drop £310k) Saturday; £199k 34.7% (21% drop £252k) Sunday.
48th biggest 2023 second weekend between No Hard Feelings and 65 (close to Air, Babylon, The Fabelmans and The Great Escaper).
1,671st biggest second weekend between Finding Neverland and Groundhog Day (close to Zombieland, The Black Phone, Smokin’ Aces and Violent Night) and 2,130th biggest inflated between The Adventures of Baron Munchausen and Ender’s Game (close to The Last Boy Scout, Molly’s Game, True Romance and Arlington Road).
Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn received positive reviews but as her last film Oscar-nominated Promising Young Woman wasn’t given a cinema release in the UK due to the COVID lockdown (released on Sky Cinema) it was harder to see if that would translate into BO.
Emerald Fennell compared Saltburn to 1989’s Dangerous Liaisons took £2,687,526/£9,962,596 inflated)
1999’s Cruel Intentions dropped 31.2% £618,056 (£1.2m inflated) 39.4% of £5,129,562/£9,710,834 inflated)
2013’s The Bling Ring dropped 45% £76,540 #10 75 screens and £348,269 of £468,949), while critics have compared it to
The Talent Mr Ripley dropped 21.2% £999,350 (£1.81m inflated) and £3,015,164 45.7% of £6,598,782)
The most recent eat-the-rich films include.
2022’s The Menu dropped 53% £429,522 #5 598 screens and £1,960,561 of £3,866,701
2020’s Parasite up 81% £2,523,518 #2 428 screens (+291 screens) and £ 5,092,732 of £11,971,951
2017’s The Handmaiden took £817,153.
Saltburn has also been compared to 2008’s Brideshead Revisited dropped 48% £193,417 #9 228 screens and £874,658 of £1,425,495.
- 5. The Marvels £485,099 – £6,564,314
Down 61.4% in the third weekend
Took £103k 21.2% (60.1% drop £220k) Friday; £220k 45.4% (63.9% drop £609k) Saturday; £162k 33.4% (58.8% drop £393k) Sunday.
Third weekends
Captain Marvel dropped 49% £3,378,583 #1 632 screens and £29,494,638 of £39,234,293
The Flash dropped 53% £619,541 #7 578 screens and £8,008,947 of £8,856,170
1,114th biggest third weekend between Everything Everywhere All At Once andatarhead (close to Evil Dead Rise, The Sum of All Fears, Eyes Wide Shut and Insomnia)
The lowest MCU 3rd weekend; the previous lowest Ant-Man (£1,126,080); The Incredible Hulk (£654,214) and Captain America: The First Avenger (£597,916).
90th biggest comic-book third weekend between Everything Everywhere All At Once and Shazam! Fury Of the Gods (close to Watchmen, Daredevil, Sin City and Dick Tracy).
The 33 MCU films have taken £1.081bn in the UK since 2008 and £1.3bn inflated; after releasing three MCU films over the last two years with Captain America: Brave New World delayed to 2025 only as Deadpool 3 set for release in 2024 with several more TV shows set for release on Disney+.
87th biggest comic-book film between Hellboy 2: The Golden Army and Morbius (close to The Incredible Hulk, Blade 2, Sin City and Blade: Trinity)
1,093rd biggest between Dragonheart and Memoirs of a Geisha (close to Twins, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, The Mask of Zorro and Starship Troopers) and 1,655th biggest inflated between Just Married and Internal Affairs (close to A Life Less Ordinary, Vice Versa, Freddy’s Dead the Final Nightmare and Blame It on the Bellboy).
Deadpool 3 will be interesting to see how much it’s MCU and how much Fox Marvel is left, as unlikely to mock the MCU when Deadpool will be part of the new Avengers alongside reboots of Blade, Fantastic Four and X-Men, just thinking about reboots of those is tiresome as none of them need to be rebooted.
Much has been written that this is the beginning of the end of Marvel, in 9 months when Deadpool 3 opens with $150m+ it will be what crisis, that said reports are Captain America: Brave New World test screened badly and is having extensive reshoots early next year.
UK box office in detail
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £12,410,416 up 12.8% from last weekend’s £10,997,223: 1,537,746 up 13.1% from 1,360,295 admissions.
14th biggest weekend of the year out of 47 weeks between 13 January 2023 #1 Avatar: The Way of Water (£4,172,161) and 14 April 2023 #1 Super Mario Bros (£7,568,523)
35th biggest since cinemas reopened out of 158 weeks between 13 January 2023 #1 Avatar: The Way of Water (£4,172,161) and 14 April 2023 #1 Super Mario Bros (£7,568,523).
395th biggest top 10 of the last 21 years (out of 1,130) between 29 November 2002 #1 Die Another Day £5,364,433 (43.21% of top 10) and 10 April 2015 #1 Fast & Furious 7 £5,407,918 (43.59% of top 10) and 704th biggest inflated between 27 June 2014 #1 Mrs. Brown’s Boys d’Movie £4,301,306 (41.09% of top 10) and 28 March 2008 #1 27 Dresses £1,752,897 (21.69% of top 10)
The top 3 took (£10,357,576) 83.5% of the top 10; Napoleon 42.2% (£5,235,706); The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes 21.67% (£2,689,642); Wish 19.6% (£2,432,228)
380th highest #1 percentage (42.19%) between 10 June 2011 Kung Fu Panda 2 (42.42% and 15 June 2007 Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (42.15%).
482nd biggest admissions #1 (656,927) between 20 August 2010 The Expendables (661,462) and 24 November 2017 Daddy’s Home 2 (656,749)
Up 32.2% from 2022 (£9,383,987); Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical (£4,135,418); Strange World (£833,043); She Said (£444,806); Bones And All (£318,246); #1 Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical £4,135,418 1st week 684 screens (44.07% of top 10)
Up 44% from 2021 (£8,620,083); House Of Gucci (£2,425,628); Encanto (£1,720,132); Anything Goes – The Musical (£371,880); A Boy Called Christmas (£120,770); #1 House of Gucci £2,425,628 1st week 683 screens (28.1% of top 10).
2020 COVID Second Lockdown
Down 43.4% 2019 (£21,913,354); Frozen 2 (£15,088,012); Blue Story (£1,324,510); 21 Bridges (£655,213); Akhnaten – Met Opera 2019 (£170,400); Harriet (£115,120); #1 Frozen 2 £15,088,012 1st week 671 screens (68.85% of top 10)
Down 18.6% 2018:(£15,238,186); Robin Hood (£1,330,387); Nativity Rocks! (£834,414); The Girl in the Spider’s Web (£557,403); Shoplifters (£117,555); Assassination Nation (£70,891); Nobody’s Fool (£70,703); #1 Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald £5,622,755 2nd week 679 screens 54% drop (36.9% of top 10)
Down 27.5% 2017: (£17,120,343); Daddy’s Home 2 (£4,919,051); Frozen (£1,115,689); Battle of the Sexes (£552,521); Suburbicon (£231,412); The Star (£204,497); #1 Daddy’s Home 2 £4,919,051 1st week 505 screens (28.7% of the top 10)
Down 13.5% 2016: (£14,354,042); Allied (£1,331,919); Bad Santa 2 (£799,156); A United Kingdom (£618,652); Paterson (£169,911); Almost Christmas (£60,991); #1 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them £8,892,489 2nd week 666 screens 42% drop (62% of the top 10)
Down 15.8% 2015; (£14,738,989); The Good Dinosaur (£2,926,448); Bridge of Spies (£1,682,392); Black Mass (£1,272,249); Carol (£540,632); Being A.P. (£49,867); Doctor Zhivago (Re: 2015) (£16,344); #1 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2 £4,534,464 2nd week 579 screens 60% drop (30.8% of top 10)
Down 18.6% 2014: (£15,237,651); Paddington (£5,125,519); Horrible Bosses 2 (£1,257,808); 2001: A Space Odyssey (Re: 2014) (£69,567); I Am Ali (£8,131); #1 Paddington £5,125,519 1st week 518 screens (33.6% of top 10)
Down 37.1% 2013: (£19,719,142); The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (£12,189,733); Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor (£1,798,629); The Family (£444,659); Andre Rieu: Home for Christmas (£290,173); Blue is the Warmest Colour (£142,077); Parkland (£114,321); #1 The Hunger Games: Catching Fire £12,189,733 1st week 554 screens (61.8% of top 10)
Down 16.5% 2012 (£14,870,977); Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger! (£1,614,675); Silver Linings Playbook (£1,260,979); Gambit (£689,042); End of Watch (£618,546); Lawrence of Arabia (re: 2012) (£18,431); #1 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 £5,344,508 2nd week 559 screens 66% drop (36% of top 10)
Up 17.7% 2011 (£10,545,613); My Week with Marilyn (£749,819); 50/50 (£410,251); Dream House (£304,239); Moneyball (£230,848); The Deep Blue Sea (£108,767); Take Shelter (£83,982); #1 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 £4,574,978 2nd week 546 screens 67% drop (43.4% of top 10)
Down 0.4% 2010: (£12,372,683); Unstoppable (£1,714,871); London Boulevard (£577,224); The American (£411,707); The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (£219,259); Machete (£90,423); #1 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 1 £8,344,776 2nd week 581 screens 54% drop (67.4% of top 10)
Down 18.2% 2009; (£15,162,202); Paranormal Activity (£3,593,762); Law Abiding Citizen (£1,488,143); Nativity (£794,314); Bunny and the Bull (£40,801); #1 The Twilight Saga: New Moon £4,303,257 2nd week 504 screens 63% drop (28.4% of top 10)
Up 84.4% 2008; (£6,730,148); Four Christmases (£2,275,585); Changeling (£1,225,548); What Just Happened? (£178,818); Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas 3D (£23,640); #1 Four Christmases £2,275,585 1st week 434 screens (33.8% of top 10)
Up 84.3% 2007: (£6,731,904); The Darjeeling Limited (£435,198); August Rush (£359,564); Shrooms (£313,758); Sleuth (£165,788); Rescue Dawn (£89,988); Blade Runner – Director’s Cut (£15,580); #1 American Gangster £1,817,691 2nd week 416 screens 29% drop (27% of top 10)
Down 0.5% 2006; (£12,348,508); Flushed Away (£3,106,874); Deck the Halls (£600,047); Stranger than Fiction (£368,627); Big Nothing (£83,829); London to Brighton (£29,153); #1 Casino Royale £5,307,969 2nd week 506 screens 38% drop (43% of top 10)
Down 17.4% 2005 (£15,013,252); Flight Plan (£1,694,350); Exorcism of Emily Rose (£1,346,732); Mrs. Henderson Presents (£752,394); The Transporter 2 (£414,400); #1 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire £9,275,599 2nd week 536 screens (61.8% of top 10)
Down 19.5% from 2004 (£15,406,511); The Incredibles (£9,753,035); The Forgotten (£653,945); Beyond the Sea (£179,558); Enduring Love (£165,338); I Love Huckabees (£155,592); #1 The Incredibles £9,753,035 1st week 494 screens (63.3% of top 10)
Down 5.2% from 2003 (£13,095,047); Elf (£4,538,440); Master and Commander (£1,845,125); Spin the Bottle (£95,533); #1 Love Actually £4,660,595 2nd week 478 screens 30% drop (35.6% of top 10)
Down 31.9% 2002 (£18,217,586); Die Another Day (£9,122,344); Anita & Me (£453,613); #1 Die Another Day £9,122,344 1st week 430 screens (50.1% of top 10)
Up 7.1% 2001 (£11,583,257); Spy Game (£1,019,847); The Heist (£100,229); Baby Boy (£47,144); Me Without You (£45,532); #1 Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone £8,362,749 2nd week 507 screens 49% drop (72.2% of top 10);
Next week: (£6,230,511); Violent Night (£822,647); Casablanca (Re: 2022) (£25,116); #1 Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical £2,531,782 2nd week 692 screens 38% drop (40.64% of top 10)
October box office
October BO was £75.6m up 3% from 2022; 2023 BO is currently up 10% from last year but last year had Avatar 2 (£76.92m); Black Panther 2 (£33.24m); Matilda (£27.9m); I Wanna Dance with Somebody (£11.38m) opening in Nov/Dec which will perform far stronger than this year The Marvels, The Ballard of Songbirds and Snakes, Napoleon, Wish, Wonka and Aquaman 2.
Top 10 films in October were Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour £10.42m; Trolls Band Together £9.84m; Five Nights at Freddy’s £6.54m; Killers of the Flower Moon £6.1m; Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie £5.73m; The Exorcist: Believer £5.56m; The Great Escaper £4.02m; The Creator £4.99m; Saw X £4.35m and A Haunting In Venice £3m.
October admissions were 9,027,927; down 2.2% from 2022’s 9,210,112 last year; having the lowest October admissions (not including 2020) for the last decade.
Admissions would be much worse without Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour taking £10.42m adding 1.3m admissions but as standard prices were £19.89/£13.13 children and £23.89 IMAX/Dolby real admissions were about 500k.
2023 admissions are 104.618m as November/December admissions are likely to be lower than last year’s 8.1m and 9.3m due to The Marvels not getting anywhere near Black Panther 2 and Aquaman 2 no match for Avatar 2, admissions for 2023 will be similar to last year’s 117.28m. This would see UK admissions close to a similar level they were 30- years ago 114m when there was so much optimism after the massive success of Jurassic Park.
While admissions will be similar to 2022 BO will be about £1bn up about 11% from £902m coming from ticket inflation.
With Barbie dropping to 78th in last week’s chart taking £2,035 in its 18th weekend has taken £95,588,177 the fifth biggest film in the UK after Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Skyfall, No Time To Die and Spider-Man No Way Home. Barbie can’t be compared with these films as IMAX/PLF/3D (not Bond) inflated their BO. Ahead of Spectre, Avatar, Avengers: Endgame, Top Gun: Maverick and Star Wars: The Last Jedi, few would have predicted Barbie would outgross Avatar: The Way of Water and also be the biggest film of the year, the other surprisingly thin with Barbie id whilst studios save been very quick to announce sequels for films taking much less it’s unlikely there will be a Barbie sequel anytime soon.
While the WGA and SAG strikes might be over the predictable long-term consequences will have a massive impact on 2024’s BO with the first 6 months incredibly soft highlighted by Disney not releasing a wide release after Wish till May.
US Box Office
- Napoleon – Sony Pictures
Opened #2 $20.63m 3 days/$32.5m 5 days; received positive reviews (66% Rotten Tomatoes) and B- CinemaScore; Gladiator A/Killers of the Flower Moon A-
Took 34% from IMAX/70MM/PLF; IMAX took $5.3m from 399 screens 16% of the opening.
Opening day males 70%; over half 35+ and 15% 55+
Took $3m from Tuesday midnights; House of Gucci $1.3m; 1917 $3.25m; Killers of the Flower Moon $2.6m; Mission: Impossible $3.2m; Terminator 2: Judgment Day $2.4m; Inception $3m.
Napoleon is Apple’s second $200m budget drama released this autumn after Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon opened with $23m in the US and $21m internationally taking $65.61m and $151.81m worldwide, post-COVID studios seem to have lower their expectations on what a film needs to do to be profitable.
Both Napoleon and Killers of the Flower Moon were financed by Apple and then released by Sony and Paramount paying P&A costs and getting a distribution fee. Apple has said they would spend $1bn a year on films and is playing the long gap with films which will be released on Apple in 6-9 months.
Apple has almost 1 billion active customers worldwide which allows Apple to play the long game with streaming organically and build a library of must-see TV and films. Legacy studios would never fiancé films like Napoleon and Killers of the Flower Moon anymore, Napoleon was originally developed at 20th Century Studios in 2020, titled Kitbag as Ridley Scott has a production deal with the studio, but as with Killers of the Flower Moon moved to Apple as the legacy studio wouldn’t finance the $200m original film.
Ridley Scott has directed 29 films over the last 44 years, making $1.71bn in the US and $4.4bn worldwide.
2000’s Gladiator opened $34.81m taking $187.7m and $503.16m worldwide
1995’s Braveheart opened $9.93m talking $75.6m and $213.21m worldwide
2004’s Troy opened $46.86m taking $133.37m and $497.4m worldwide
2020’s 1917 opened $37m (after expansion) taking $159.22m and $384.57m worldwide
Others include.
2003’s Master and Commander opened $25.1m taking $93.92m and $211.62m worldwide
2005’s Kingdom of Heaven opened $19.63m taking $47.39m and $218.12m worldwide
2007’s 300 opened $70.88m taking $210.62m and $456.08m worldwide
1992’s The Last of the Mohicans opened $10.97m taking $75.5m
2004’s The Last Samurai opened $24.27m taking $111.12m and $454.62m worldwide
2000’s The Patriot opened $22.41m taking $113.33m and $215.29m worldwide
2005’s Alexander opened $13.68m taking $34.29m and $167.29m worldwide
2014’a Exodus: Gods and Kings opened $24.11m taking $65.01m and $268.17m worldwide
1990’s Dances with Wolves opened $9.49m (after expansion) taking $184.2m
Opened $46.3m from 56 territories (14,900+ screens) and $78.8m worldwide; UK $6.6m; France $5.6m; Germany $3.4m; Spain $3.3m; Italy $3.1m.
IMAX took $9m globally, including $3.7m from 324 international cinemas.
- The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes – Lionsgate
Dropped 35% in the second-weekend #1 $29.04m (3 days) and $41.3m (5 days) and $98.6m
232nd biggest second weekend between Ant-Man and the Wasp and Ratatouille (close to Solo: A Star Wars Story, The Crimes of Grindelwald, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) and John Wick: Chapter 4).
826th biggest between Date Night and The Addams Family (2019); 1,673rd inflated between Without a Paddle and Blow; 21st biggest 2023 between The Flash and M3GAN; 16th biggest Lionsgate film between The Expendables and John Wick: Chapter Two).
The Hunger Games films have taken over $1.55bn in the US and $3.15bn worldwide.
2012’s The Hunger Games dropped 61.6% $58.55m and $248.48m of $408.01m and $695.22m WW
2013’s The Hunger Games: Catching Fire dropped 53.1% $74.17m (3 days) and $296.29m of $424.66m and $865.01m WW
2014’s The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 dropped 53.3% $56.97m (3 days) and $225.68m of $337.13m and $755.35m WW
2015’s The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 dropped 49.3% $52m (3 days) and $198.54m of $281.72m and $659.54m WW
But as with most prequels, it opened with less than half of the earlier films opening 8 years after the last film and without Jennifer Lawrence.
2016’s Fantastic Beasts dropped 39.4% $45.08m (3 days) and $156.01m of $234.03m and $816.03m worldwide; $582m internationally 71.3%
2018’s The Crimes of Grindelwald dropped 52.7% $29.37m (3 days) and $116.55m of $159.55m and $655.775m worldwide; 75.7% internationally $496.2m
2022’s The Secrets of Dumbledore dropped 66.8% $14m and $67.11m of $95.85m and $407.15m worldwide; internationally 76.5% $311.3m
Despite opening with a third less than earlier films and similar to The Secrets of Dumbledore $44m could still be enough to justify further films as with 65% of the $100m budget from presales it will be profitable taking much less than Fantastic Beasts sequels. While Lionsgate needs tentpoles to stay competitive with studios as their only other IP is John Wick, they do have a Dirty Dancing sequel in development currently set for 2025 release, but can it possibly be as successful and beloved as the original film as made a sequel in 2004 Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights and it was a massive flop opening $5.9m taking $14.16m and $37.68m worldwide.
Opened $26.2m from 87 territories and $197.3m worldwide; took $11m globally from IMAX including $6.7m international.
922nd biggest worldwide between John Wick: Chapter Two and The Intern;30th biggest 2023 between Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie; 20th biggest Lionsgate film between The Expendables 3 and The Hitman’s Bodyguard.
On Tuesday it was announced the film had taken $100m+ in the US and $250m+ worldwide, 30 years ago $100m+ at US BO was a sign of success as films would often open in single digits, but when the Hunger Games prequel opens with almost $50m in three days its not that impressive that it takes $100m+ after 11 days.
- Wish – Disney
Opened $19.69m #3 (3 days)/ ($31.7m 5 days); received mixed reviews (49% Rotten Tomatoes) and A- CinemaScore.
Opened in 3D/PLF/ D-Box and 4DX screens.
Female: 64%; 25+: 52% and under 12s 32%
Took $2.3m from Tuesday midnights; Coco $2.3m; Encanto $1.5m; Moana $2.6m; Ralph Breaks the Internet $3.8m.
24th biggest Disney animation opening between Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Brother Bear (close to The Princess and the Frog, Mulan, Aladdin and Strange World) and the 29th biggest inflated between Treasure Planet and The Emperor’s New Groove (close to Beauty and the Beast (1991), Home on the Range, Strange World and The Little Mermaid (1989).
Ahead of opening Wish was expected to top the weekend taking $ 45m-$50m, but previously this would mean that it would open closer to $65m-$70m as these films would normally open bigger than early tracking as word-of-mouth spreads, especially made from the makers of Frozen and celebrating the 100th anniversary of Disney’s animated films.
Disney’s horribilis annus with The Marvels, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, The Haunted Mansion, The Little Mermaid and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania all came short of expectations. This has been expected for some time as year after year can’t depend solely on MCU, remakes, reimaginations and sequels as after time audiences will realise they are all hype no sustenance.
Since 1988 Olive & Company November has become the home of Disney animated films releasing 18th animated films since. Disney has had 5 of the 10 biggest Thanksgiving openings (Frozen 2; Frozen; Ralph Breaks the Internet; Moana and Toy Story 2); their animated films have taken over $4.24bn in the US and over $11bn worldwide.
Wish needs to be put into perspective opened exactly a decade after Frozen and in Disney’s 100th anniversary featuring Easter eggs of many of their animated films it was expected to open at a similar level or more. Disney have owned Thanksgiving weekend having five of the top 10 biggest openings. With Wish opening much less than Frozen is why of course Disney announced plans for Frozen 4 before the third film had opened and also have Toy Story 5 in development as they have struggled for the last decade with anything that’s not based on existing property.
2013’s Frozen opened $67.39m (after platform) taking $400.73m and $1.28bn worldwide
2014’s Big Hero 6 opened $56.21m taking $222.52m and $657.86m worldwide.
2016’s Zootopia opened $75.06m taking $341.26m and $1.025bn worldwide
2016’s Moana opened $56.63m taking $248.75m and $687.22m worldwide
2018’s Ralph Breaks the Internet opened $56.23m taking $201.09m and $529.32m worldwide
2019’s Frozen 2 opened $130.26m taking $477.37m and $1.453bn worldwide
2021’s Encanto opened $27.2m taking $96.09m and $256.78m worldwide
2022’s Strange World opened $12.15m taking $37.96m and $73.62m worldwide
Opened with $17.3m from 27 territories; China $3.5m; UK $3m; Mexico $2.1m; Spain $1.5m.
Strange World opened $9.2m from 42 territories and $27.8m worldwide. Encanto opened $29.3m from 47 territories; France $3.5m; Colombia $2.6m; UK $2.4m; Korea $2.2m; Italy $2.1m; Russia $1.9m; Spain $1.8m; Mexico $1.6m; Japan $1.6m; Germany $0.9m.
Incredible with a slate of films including Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, The Little Mermaid, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Disney won’t have $1bn+ BO this year as this time last year many would expect at least half of them to take over $1bn worldwide.
It will be the first year since 2009 that Disney hasn’t had one of the biggest top three films of the year.
- The Marvels – Disney
Dropped 38% in the third weekend taking $6.32m and $76.75m.
Third weekend
2019’s Captain Marvel dropped 49.6% $34.27m and $320.74m of $426.82m and $1.13bn WW
Lowest grossing MCU third weekend; previous lowest Black Widow $11.61m; Eternals $11.08m; The Incredible Hulk $9.57m.
MCU films have taken $11.8bn in the US and $29.72bn worldwide.
1,111st biggest between 27 Dresses and The Muppet Movie; 2,147th biggest inflated between The Boss and Fight Club; 28th biggest 2023 between Insidious: The Red Door and Blue Beetle; 91st biggest comic-book film between Blade 2 and Hellboy II: The Golden Army (close to The Green Hornet, Birds of Prey, Morbius and Dark Phoenix); 185th biggest Disney between Alice Through the Looking Glass and Father of the Bride Part II.
19% were 18-24 compared to 40% for Captain Marvel (was even worse for 13-17 8%) highlighting the problem with MCU films that are spinoffs of TV shows as they aren’t accessible to new audiences as they will need to see 125 hours (7,490 minutes) of MCU homework to fully understand the plots and all the inside jokes.
Took $7.9m from 52 territories $110.2m total and $187.1m worldwide; China $15.1m; UK $8.2m; Mexico $5.9m; France $5.9m; Indonesia $5.6m.
978th biggest worldwide between Watchmen and The Horse Whisperer; 32nd biggest 2023 between PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie and Insidious: The Red Door; 88th biggest comic book between Watchmen and Daredevil; 151st biggest Disney between Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and The Horse Whisperer.
- Trolls Band Together – Universal Pictures
Dropped 41% in the second weekend $17.8m and $64.76m.
549th biggest second weekend between Watchmen and Oblivion (close to Elemental, Lightyear, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie and Rugrats in Paris).
155th biggest animated film between Spies in Disguise and PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie; 1,353rd biggest between The Taking of Pelham 123 and Step Up; 2,488th inflated between Pay it Forward and Happy Death Day; 34th biggest 2023 between The Exorcist: Believer and PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie; 185th biggest Universal Pictures between The Exorcist: Believer and Battleship; 35th biggest Dreamworks Animation film between Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron and Flushed Away.
2016’s Trolls dropped 24.9% $34.97m and $93.94m of $154.02m and $347.18m worldwide; Trolls World Tour was due for release in April 2020 but due to COVID, it was released on PVOD which saw exhibitors ban Universal Pictures films.
The 47 Dreamworks Animation films have taken over $6.15bn in the US and $16.6bn worldwide.
2023 Studios Universal $1.72bn; Disney $1.41bn; Warner $1.15bn; Sony $911.9m; Paramount $840.7m.
Took $3.1m from 67 territories $81.4m total and $145.8m worldwide. UK $18m; France $10m; Germany $6.1m; Mexico $5.6m; Brazil $5.1m; started its international opening at the start of October.
- Thanksgiving – Sony Pictures
Dropped 31% in the second weekend $7.07m (3 days)/$10.5m (5 days) and $24m
Dropped similar to last year’s Violent Night 35% $8.72m and $26.71m of $50.05m
Eli Roth previously directed.
2018’s The House with a Clock in Its Walls dropped 52.6% $12.6m of $68.45m and $131.45m WW
2018’s Death Wish dropped 49.4% $6.58m and $23.85m of $34.01m and $49.56m WW
2007’s Hostel: Part II dropped 63.1% $3.02m and $14.2m of $17.6m and $35.72m WW
2006’s Hostel dropped 49% $9.97m and $35.13m of $47.32m and $81.97m WW
2003’s Cabin Fever dropped 53.6% $3.9m and $14.7m of $21.15m and $30.55m WW
Based on Eli Roth’s mock trailer from 2007’s Grindhouse and is the third feature film adapted from the mock trailers in Grindhouse after Robert Rodriguez’s Machete (2010) and Jason Eisener’s Hobo with a Shotgun (2011).
2011’s Hobo with a Shotgun had a limited cinema release taking $703,372 while 2010’s Machete opened $11.41m taking $26.59m and $45.49m WW.
Took $1.5m from 16 territories total $4.9m and $29.1m worldwide.
- Next Goal Wins – Searchlight
Dropped 34% taking $1.63m #11 and $5.65m
Taika Waititi’s 2019 JoJo Rabbit had a platform opening taking $349,555 from 5 screens but didn’t expand into 1,000+ screens until the 14th week of release taking $33.37m and $90.33m worldwide.
2016’s Hunt for the Wilderpeople opened in 5 screens $78,439 took $5.2m and $22.83m WW
2014’s What We Do in the Shadows opened in 5 screens $88,940 took $3.46m and $7.25m WW
Disney used to have a lot of success from feelgood sporting films in the 80s to 00s, but Next Goal Wins highlights the issues Disney have had with these films over the last decade as Million Dollar Arm tested higher than Harry Potter and received positive reaction from CinemaCon screening but struggled to find an audience opening a few months later.
Disney films include.
2014’s Million Dollar Arm dropped 33.7% $6.96m and $20.5m of $36.45m and $38.48m worldwide
1993’s Cool Runnings up 20.9% $8.51m and $17.2m of $68.85m and $154.85m worldwide
2006’s Invincible dropped 28.7% $12.15m and $34.79m of taking $57.8m
2004’s Miracle dropped 27.6% $14.03m and $37.07m $64.37m
2006’s Glory Road dropped 35.5% $16.92m and $27.7m of $42.64m
2000’s Remember the Titans dropped 8.1% $19.2m and $45.86m of $115.71m and $136.77m worldwide
2002’s The Rookie dropped 27% $11.7m and $34.94m of $75.6m and $80.69m worldwide
2015’s McFarland, USA dropped 28.9% $7.83m and $22.01m of $44.48m
2005’s The Greatest Game Ever Played up 6.6% $3.9m and $8.68m of $15.33m
Other studios include.
1993’s Rudy dropped 28.3% $3.6m and $11.26m of $22.75m
2000’s The Legend of Bagger Vance dropped 45.2% $6.31m and $20.89m of $30.91m
- Saltburn- MGM/Amazon
Up 477% adding 1,559 screens taking #9 $1.86m (3 days)/$3m (5 days) and $3.22m
It had a similar expansion as last year’s The Banshees of Inisherin taking $2.056m +284.3% adding 837 screens and $3.09m of $10.58m
2020’s Promising Young Woman opened $719,305 #5 from 1,310 screens taking $6.46m and $18.85m worldwide
Took $919k from 3 territories internationally $3.1m total and $6.2m worldwide.
UK Box Office Top 10
UK Box Office Preview
Event Cinema will be the big winners this weekend with Renaissance: A Film By Beyonce opening weeks after Taylor Swift: Eras Tour opening with £5,729,998 but despite Beyonce being as popular as Taylor Swift, her summer concerts receiving rave reviews from fans and critics presales have been softer than Eras Tour. As with Eras Tour, the standard price of £17.99 is slightly less than Eras Tour’s £19.89 and Beyonce fans are older than Taylor Swift, so fans won’t rush out to see it over the opening weekend so likely opens about half as much as Eras £5,729,998.
Napoleon will drop 50%-60% taking £1.9m-£2.5m (similar to 2015’s Legend taking £2,704,781 depending on how it holds over the coming weeks could take upwards of £20m.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will drop 50%-55% in its third weekend taking £1.2m-£1.5m
Wish will drop 45%-55% in its second weekend, taking £1.2m-£1.5m, similar to drops for Strange World and Encanto.
Andre Rieu’s White Christmas is his third concert released in cinemas this year, In Dublin 2023 opened in January with £715,986 #5 from 569 screens; Maastricht Concert: Love Is All Around opened in August in 588 screens with £710,326. While it’s his first Christmas concert since 2016, Christmas with Andre 2016 opened £1,180,208 #4 470 screens, showing his concerts aren’t finding as wide audiences as they used to do, White Christmas will be his 14th released in cinemas since 2014.
Before COVID the concerts would find a much wider audience; 2018’s Maastricht Concert, ’Amore £1,783,222; 2019 New Year Concert £1,745,941; 2019 Maastricht Concert – Shall We Dance? £1,492,154; 2020’s 70 Years Young £1,717,074. The first one after cinemas opened after COVID 2021’s Summer Concert: Together Again opened for much less £420,056 as have all others released since Dublin 2023 £715,986 and Love Is All Around £710,326 despite them playing on more screens and having encore screenings on Sunday afternoon. So White Christmas will likely open with about £700k-£800k.
As 20 years ago Elf is re-released a week after Love Actually re-release opening #2 and stayed there for 4 weeks, Elf has been re-released in cinemas every December since 2019 and in 2020 finally topped the BO; 2019’s re-release to £438,407; 2020’s £451,441 and 2021’s £1,726,846 after opening with £111,036 #14 from 252 screens.
It originally opened November 2003 £4,538,440 #2 from 392 screens taking £16,518,290.
Opening in two weeks
- Aquaman And the Lost Kingdom – Warner Bros
The 15th DC Extended Universe film and sequel to 2018’s Aquaman, starring Jason Momoa, Momoa, Patrick Wilson, Amber Heard, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and Nicole Kidman and directed by James Wan.
It was originally dared for December 16th, 2022, but was moved to March 2023 to avoid opening against Avatar 2 and was delayed again to December 2023 due to delays on the visual effects caused by COVID and Warner didn’t have the marketing funds available to release the film last year.
This meant Aquaman 2 is the fourth DC film opening this year after Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Flash and Blue Beetle all disappointed both critically and at the BO as Marvel’s Ant-Man 3 and The Marvels. All comic-book films have disappointed critically and at the BO apart from Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse.
Aquaman 2 has received poor buzz for months after seven poor test screenings (rumours of 20 scenes have been cut from the original cut) and three sets of reshoots there are very low expectations, especially after the poor reception of the other three DC films this year.
Warner’s boss David Zaslav had seen it last year and wasn’t happy with it but not to the point of shelving the film as they did with Batgirl.
The first trailer was shown at CinemaCon in April with the second trailer in September.
2018’s Aquaman opened £5,230,285 #1 from 604 screens taking £22,066,309
In 2018 Aquaman had direct competition from Spider-man: Into The Spider-verse opening against it £2,279,995 #2 567 screens.
James Gunn has said Aquaman, the Lost Kingdom and The Flash will lead into his first DC film Superman: Legacy opening in July 2025.