- Thunderbolts* – £5,979,242 – NE
Took £1,001,493 (16.75%) from Thursday previews.
Took £1.36m 22.75% Friday; £1.79m 29.94% Saturday; £1.84m 30.84% Sunday; £1.82m Monday; £532k Tuesday.
246th biggest opening between Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and The Lost World: Jurassic Park (close to Solo: A Star Wars Story, Angels and Demons, The Mummy Returns and The Blair Witch Project) and 362nd biggest inflated opening between The Lion King (1994) and Ali G Indahouse (close to Terminator 2: Judgement Day, The Silence of the Lambs, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Pearl Harbour).
13th biggest opening over the last 52 weeks between Captain America: Brave New World and Joker: Folie à Deux (close to Gladiator 2, Beetlejuice 2, Nosferatu, and It Ends with Us); 4th biggest 2025 opening between Captain America: Brave New World and Nosferatu.
27th biggest MCU film opening between Captain America: Winter Soldier and Shang-Chi (close to Black Widow, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 1, Iron Man and Eternals); hard to make a direct comparison as Thunderbolts* had Thursday previews and most recent MCUs haven’t had previews.
54th biggest comic book opening between Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Shang-Chi (close to X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Wonder Woman, Joker: Folie A Deux and Iron Man) and 67th biggest inflated opening between Shang-Chi and Fantastic Four (2005) (close to Batman Returns, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Kick-Ass and The Mask)
90th widest opening playing in 669 cinemas, similar to Bullet Train (close to The Wild Robot, The Garfield Movie, Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Oppenheimer; 255th 600+ cinema opening since 2015’s Jurassic World; but of course, the real number of screens playing Thunderbolt* was closer to 1,500.
The opening was 8.05% of the US opening (4 days), similar to Captain America: Civil War, The Equaliser 3, The Meg, and The Rocketeer and 6.7% (3 days), Cruella, The Mummy (2017), The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
Critics heralded Thunderbolts* as the best MCU film for years, but most of Phase 4 and Phase 5 have been underwhelming both critically and at the box office, so it wasn’t hard for Thunderbolts* to be the best MCU for years. What made Thunderbolts* better was the performance of Florence Pugh.
Despite Thunderbolt* opening similar to Joker: Folie A Deux 6 months ago, there hasn’t been the same vitriol surrounding its opening. Showing that the biases in making many towards Marvel hasn’t gone away despite recent films being almost as poor as DC.
The Thunderbolts title has an asterisk as they start as a group of antiheroes, and after saving the world, become The New Avengers, which was so predictable. 20th Century Fox had planned something similar with The New Mutants, developed in 2015 as a trilogy, which would have ended up seeing them join the X-Men. A decade later, The Thunderbolts will also join The X-Men in Avengers: Doomsday.
Thunderbolts are the 36th film in the MCU and is the final film of Phase Five, which has been very disappointing, featuring Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, The Marvels, Deadpool & Wolverine and Captain America: Brave New World.
Thunderbolts are yet another comic-book movie about a group of anti-heroes forced into a deadly mission that could bring them redemption, as seen in Guardians of the Galaxy and Suicide Squad. They are “forced” into action as the Avengers aren’t around, as was the case with Suicide Squad, so the B-Team.
The director compared Thunderbolts with films like Reservoir Dogs, Ronin and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, so audiences could just wait three weeks and see the real thing with the final Mission: Impossible film.
Thunderbolts will play only to the biggest MCU fans, as most of Phase Five has done, and was likely to open similarly to Captain America: Brave New World £6,404,345, taking £17,388,961; similar to 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy £6,363,110, taking £28,326,152.
The problem is that these have been made by the numbers of MCUs using characters from TV series that make them far less accessible to those who just liked watching the films without having to do homework to understand them.
Audiences will not return to the MCU until Avengers: Doomsday opens in a year. It will be interesting to see how it compares to Infinity War and Endgame, as they were the end of the original MCU, while Doomsday is about bringing the X-Men into the MCU.
The problem is that when a campaign starts muted, it’s hard to build up energy for it, so the positive reviews are too late, as people have already made up their minds about whether they are going to see it.
The energy and excitement for the MCU will return for Fantastic Four in July, but it’s the third version of Fantastic Four over the last 20 years, the last released a decade ago.
The 36 MCU films have taken £1.2bn since 2008 and £1.3bn inflated.
On Monday, Donald Trump announced plans to introduce a 100% tariff on non-US films, He listened to Bob Iger when he said the reason why MCUs have been poor recently was because they were filmed overseas and didn’t have studio monitoring production as they would have done if shot in LA.
According to a recent article in the WSJ, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige recently came to the realisation that Marvel has become a “no new fans club.” Telling his colleagues, “Watching every new Marvel TV show [and] film had started to feel more like homework than entertainment.” This has been the case since Avengers: Endgame, as Marvel has been doing the same thing Disney did with Star Wars, bringing in characters from TV series into the films.
This makes audiences need to see all the films and TV series to understand what’s happening. It never used to be like that at the start, as they were separate films, as the first Ant-Man was. The problem is that since Captain America: Civil War, they have felt episodic, making it hard to attract new audiences who just want to go to the cinema without doing homework before and after to understand what is going on. Surely that’s the reason why Thunderbolts* is revealing its new title telling audiences it’s a film you can start your MCU adventure with, and likewise, Fantastic Four: The First Steps title.
- 2. Sinners £1,870,959 – £10,618,274
Down 22.6% in its third weekend
£495k 26.5% (-34.8% £759k) Friday; £683k 36.5% (-29.9% £974k) Saturday; £692k 37% (0% 684k) Sunday; £646k Monday; £226k Tuesday
269th biggest third weekend between Pitch Perfect 2 and Shakespeare In Love (close to Interstellar, Signs, Bad Boys For Life and Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood) and 484th biggest third weekend between Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues and Logan (close to Blade Runner 2049, The English Patient, Back To The Future Part III and A Few Good Men)
15th biggest second weekend over the last 52 weeks, between Sonic The Hedgehog 3 and Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes (close to Mufasa: The Lion King, It Ends with Us, Venom: The Last Dance and Alien: Romulus); 4th biggest 2025 second weekend between Captain America: Brave New World and Snow White.
Director Ryan Coogler previously worked with Michael B. Jordan in 2016’s Creed dropped 52.2% £581,943 and £5,308,897, 93.4% of £5,684,690.
Sinners didn’t have the existing fanbase as Creed or Black Panther, but the trailer reaction has been positive. Comparison films included 2018’s A Quiet Place dropped 46.3% £1,024,722 and £8,262,665, 70% of £11,801,912; 2025’s Nosferatu dropped 46% £1,075,989 and £10,899,059 85.1% of £12,547,480.
Adult drama/thrillers have a similar third weekend.
2013’s Django Unchained dropped 29.9% £1,696,391/£2,070,480 and £10,308,028 68.5% of £15,050,558/£18,369,517
1998’s Saving Private Ryan dropped 17.5% £1,813,623/£3,586,743 and £10,438,327 55.7% of £18,748,640/£37,078,576
1996’s Seven dropped 19.4% £2,153,223/£4,216,508 and £11,000,524 57.2% of £19,226,287/£37,649,510
2002’s Signs dropped 29.3% £1,877,796/£3,488,586 and £11,021,673 68.5% of £16,084,656/£29,882,216
2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road dropped 33.9% £1,745,941/£1,929,979 and £13,722,941 79.8% of £17,203,206/£19,016,581
1991’s The Silence of the Lambs dropped 26.6% £1,478,029/£3,887,753 and £9,596,191, 56.1% of £17,119,333/£45,030,061
2011’s Black Swan dropped 32.8% £1,725,630/£2,269,517 and £10,648,346 67.8% of £15,708,154/£20,659,074
Jordan Peele’s
2022’s Nope dropped 49.7% £576,643 and £5,999,801 76.24% of £7,869,824
2017’s Get Out dropped 19.8% £1,095,500 and £6,794,001 67.6% of £10,053,463
2019’s Us dropped 45% £931,089 and £8,012,264 81.76% of £9,071,603
1995’s Interview with the Vampire dropped 35.5% £1,125,056/£2,758,983 and £7,593,726 72.22% of £10,515,385/£23,931,566
Sinners took £266,393 from its 10 days at the BFI IMAX, showing the only 70mm IMAX copy outside of the US.
675th biggest between Back to the Future Part II and Paranormal Activity 3 (close to Bullet Train, Speed, Apollo 13 and Shutter Island) and 1,121st biggest inflated between White Noise and Creed 2 (close to Blade: Trinity, Flatliners (1990), Die Hard and The Haunting).
- 3. A Minecraft Movie £1,267,360 – £53,303,536
Down 49.1% in its fifth weekend
£140k 22.7% (-75.7% £576k) Fri; £519k 41% (-54.1% £1.13m) Sat; £608k 47.9 % (-22.6% £786k) Sun; £807k Monday; £62k Tuesday
The 113th biggest fifth weekend between Ralph Breaks the Internet and Ratatouille (close to Alice in Wonderland, Independence Day, Babe and Ghost) and the 246th biggest inflated fifth weekend between Borat and Kindergarten Cop (close to The Matrix, Enchanted, The Beach and Cliffhanger)
The fifth week targeted a similar audience.
2023’s Super Mario Bros dropped 57.3% £1,309,546 and £49,062,732 89.9% of £54,578,335
2014’s The Lego Movie dropped 38.9% £998,176/£1,073,612 and £30,063,416 91.4% of £32,887,286/£38,760,016
2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle dropped 24.4% £1,840,248 and £32,478,009, 85.64% of £36,968,605
2006’s Night At The Museum dropped 17.8% £1,162,754/£1,902,905 and £20,019,417 90.6% £22,103,059/£36,172,768
2022’s Uncharted dropped 20.6% £1,059,861 and £21,762,317 90.3% of £24,091,881
44th biggest between Frozen 2 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (close to Fantastic Beasts, Super Mario Bros, The Full Monty and Marvel Avengers Assemble) and 107th biggest inflated between Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves and The World Is Not Enough (close to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Fatal Attraction and The Greatest Showman).
Jack Black’s viral hit Steve’s Lava Chicken is the shortest song ever (34 seconds) to make the UK’s singles chart and is now up to #9.
- 4. The Accountant 2 £466,800 – £1,740,041
Down 48.5% in its second weekend
£106k 22.75% (-66.8% £319k) Friday; £175k 37.5% (-52.3% £367k) Sat; £185k 39.7% (-16.3% £221k) Sun; £171k Monday
2,045th biggest second weekend between The Kite Runner and Sphere (close to Black Rain, Man On Fire, A Perfect Murder and The Hunt For Red October) and 2,579th biggest inflated second weekend between A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Boyz N The Hood (close to The Negotiator, The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, Attack the Block and Being John Malkovich).
53rd biggest second weekend over the last 52 weeks between Blink Twice and Flight Risk (close to Terrifier 3, Trap, A Real Pain and The Substance); the 17th biggest 2025 second weekend between Marching Powder and Flight Risk
Second weekends
2025’s Black Bag dropped 19.6% £735,933 and £2,282,295, 60.1% of £3,796,978
2024’s The Beekeeper dropped 28.7% £682,307 and £2,097,937 54.8% of £3,830,079
While 2016’s The Accountant dropped 37.1% £1,020,899 and £3,622,284 71.5% of £5,067,474
The Accountant 2 premiered at the SXSW, receiving positive reviews; a third film is in development. In 2021, the director said he had plans for a trilogy.
Since the release of The Accountant in 2016, Ben Affleck has starred in only a couple of films after the disappointing performance of Live By Night he directed, and Justice League, most recently appearing in 2023’s Air and a cameo in The Flash.
2,680th biggest between Cold Pursuit and Hostel 2 (close to Plane’s Trains and Automobiles, Don’t Say A Word, The Grudge 2 and Arlington Road) and 3,035th biggest inflated between Jennifer’s Body and Street Kings (close to Ripley’s Game, Wild Things, The Burbs and Money Train).
- 5. Until Dawn – £331,788 – £1,154,894
Down 41.4% in its second weekend
Took 84k 25.3% (-59.2% £206k) Friday; £121k 36.4% -45.5% £222k) Sat; £127k 38.2% (-8% £138k) Sunday.
2,439th biggest second weekend between Anchorman and Unlawful Entry (close to Leon, Beetlejuice, Midsommar and A Working Man) and 2,863rd biggest second weekend between Pretty in Pink and A Working Man (close to John Wick, Angel Heart, Big Trouble In Little China and Showgirls)
Climbed up one place due to Thunderbolts* being the only major release, and Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith and Pink Floyd only playing in cinemas for a week. It’s the 6th biggest horror in 2025 behind Wolf Man (£1.2m) and Heart Eyes (£1.3m).
Having a similar drop as
2025’s Companion dropped 50.4% £366,478 and £1,493,195 of £1,827,288
2024’s Imaginary dropped 37.7% £406,392 and £1,373,256 of £1,730,394
2024’s The Strangers: Chapter 1 dropped 23.2% £347,657 and £1,115,120 of £1,772,602
2029’s Midsommar dropped 59.2% £331,412 and £1,667,931 of £2,360,060
2017’s Happy Death Day dropped 56.4% £434,872 and £2,157,390 of £2,678,427
229th biggest horror between Urban Legend and Overlord (close to Jennifer’s Body, The Babadook, Tarot and The Fly II)
3,031st biggest between Paw Patrol Mighty Pups and Overlord (close to The Vanishing (1993), Catwoman, Donnie Darko and Mechanic: Resurrection)
UK box office in detail
The weekend’s top 10 box office took £10,759,008, up 6.6% from last weekend’s £10,091,278: 1,411,810 admissions, 2.5% from 1,254,592 admissions.
26th biggest weekend of the last 52 weeks between 19 December 2024 #1 Mufasa: The Lion King £4,415,961 (39.65%) and 23 August 2024 #1 Alien: Romulus £2,021,921 (19.18%)
86th biggest since cinemas reopened out of 233 weeks between 29 July 2022 #1 DC League of Super-Pets £2,694,626 (24.89%) and 09 June 2023 #1 Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse £4,062,817 (37.79%)
557th biggest top 10 of the last 22 years (out of 1,204) between 06 March 2009 #1 Watchmen £3,243,001 (30.08%) and 22 August 2008 #1 Hellboy 2: The Golden Army £2,969,602 (27.61%) and 864th inflated between 31 January 2014 #1 The Wolf of Wall Street £2,385,585 (26.30%) and 22 March 2019 #1 Captain Marvel £3,378,583 (35.20%)
The top 3 took (£9,117,561) 84.7% of the top 10; Thunderbolts* 55.6% (£5,979,242); Sinners 17.44% (£1,870,959); A Minecraft Movie 11.8% (£1,267,360).
211th biggest percentage share #1 (55.57%) between 01 August 2003 #1 Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines £6,080,369 (55.58%) and 02 August 2024 #1 Deadpool and Wolverine £8,021,084 ( 55.56%)
415th biggest admissions #1 (772,512) between 11 April 2003 #1 Johnny English £3,435,342 (773,726) and 18 October 2019 #1 Joker £5,489,716 (772,112)
Up 23.75% from 2024; (£8,694,226); The Fall Guy (£3,598,996); Star Wars: Episode I – Phantom Menace (£1,159,370); Tarot (£509,181); Macbeth: Ralph Fiennes And Indira Varma (£184,758); London 2024 (Opera) Carmen – ROH (£69,785); #1 The Fall Guy £3,598,996 1st week 697 screens (41.4% of top 10)
Down 28.22% from 2023; (£14,988,771); Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (£12,079,820); Return To Seoul (£75,273); #1 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 £12,079,820 1st week 704 screens (80.59% of top 10)
Down 54.58% from 2022 (£23,689,265); Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness (£19,765,718); Turandot – Met Opera 2022 (£110,203); Cabaret (50th Anniversary) (£19,238); Thunderball (Re: 2022) (£7,907); #1 Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness £19,765,718 1st week 684 screens (83.4% of top 10)
2021 Lockdown
2020 Lockdown
Down 40.35% from 2019: (£17,607,835); Long Shot (£856,333); The Curse of La Llorona (£609,745); Tolkien (£554,835); #1 Avengers: Endgame £14,331,192 67% drop 2nd week 677 screens (81.4% of top 10)
Down 18.73% from 2018: (£13,239,297); I Feel Pretty (£1,272,154); The Strangers: Prey at Night (£205,325); Tully (£138,674); Mary and the Witch’s Flower (£119,129); Lean on Pete (£85,597); 102 Not Out (£68,302); #1 Avengers: Infinity War £10,143,580 66% drop 652 screens 2nd week (76.6% of top 10)
Up 0.41% from 2017: (£10,714,932); A Dog’s Purpose (£1,300,097); Sleepless (£369,004); Mindhorn (£280,483); Unlocked (£258,452); Whisky Galore (£49,205); Lost in London (£25,248); #1 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 £6,097,082 2nd week 54% drop 634 screens (56.9% of top 10)
Up 2.59% from 2016: (£10,605,061): Bad Neighbours 2 (£1,691,699); Florence Foster Jenkins (£712,899); Robinson Crusoe (£575,321); I Saw the Light (£17,248); Knight of Cups (£10,323); #1 Captain America: Civil War £4,806,575 605 screens 2nd week (45.3% of top 10)
Down 28.21% from 2015; (£14,986,028); Far from the Madding Crowd (£1,450,297); Unfriended (£1,346,952); Two by Two (£566,871); Monsters: Dark Continent (£34,820); #1 Avengers: The Age of Ultron £8,591,670 589 screens 2nd week 57.32% 53% drop
Up 52.65% from 2014: (£7,048,138); Pompeii (£1,165,551); Tarzan (£808,174); Plastic (£154,441); Brick Mansions (£137,153); #1 The Amazing Spider-Man 2 £1,984,667 3rd week 41% drop 513 screens (28.2% of top 10)
Up 7.62% from 2013: (£10,240,223); 21 and Over (£772,235); All Stars (£563,563); I’m So Excited (£310,908); Dead Man Down (£294,125); Chimpanzee (£54,780); #1 Iron Man 3 £6,307,191 2nd week 558 screens 54% drop (61.6% of top 10)
Down 42.49% from 2012 (£18,708,577); American Pie: Reunion (£6,334,539); The Lucky One (£1,159,435); Beauty and the Beast 3D (£685,024); Safe (£679,716); Silent House (£214,731); #1 Avengers Assemble £8,121,916 2nd week 523 screens 49% drop (43.4% of top 10)
Up 11.99% from 2011; (£9,607,222); Water for Elephants (£1,270,483); Hanna (£1,135,782); Something Borrowed (£707,863); 13 Assassins (£124,377); #1 Thor £1,946,695 64% drop 2nd week 503 screens (44.4% of top 10)
Up 7.16% from 2010: (£10,040,063); Furry Vengeance (£1,778,050); Nightmare on Elm Street (£1,342,837); Hot Tub Time Machine (£904,959); The Back-Up Plan (£710,201); Four Lions (£608,608); #1 Iron Man 2 £3,214,776 58% drop 2nd week 522 screens (32% of top 10)
Down 16.69% from 2009; (£12,914,013); X-Men Origins: Wolverine (£6,658,979); The Hannah Montana Movie (£2,030,657); The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (£976,780); Is Anybody There? (£123,309); #1 X-Men Origins: Wolverine £6,658,979 1st week 488 screens (51.5% of top 10)
Up 9.33% from 2008; (£9,840,435); Iron Man (£5,465,103); Nim’s Island (£820,218); Made of Honour (£749,611); #1 Iron Man £5,465,103 1st week 500 screens (55.54%)
Down 28.46% from 2007: (£15,039,874); Spider-Man 3 (£11,827,013); Bridge to Terabitha (£1,045,444); Goya’s Ghosts (£49,660); #1 Spider-Man 3 £11,827,013 1st week 522 screens (78.6% of top 10)
Up 33.95% from 2006; (£8,032,130); Mission: Impossible III (£5,378,013); Confetti (£635,072); #1 Mission: Impossible III £5,378,013 1st week 512 screens (66.9% of top 10)
Up 53.93% from 2005: (£6,989,592); Kingdom of Heaven (£2,530,445); Machuca (£15,148); #1 Kingdom of Heaven £2,530,445 1st week 447 screens (36.2% of top 10)
Up 85.35% from 2004 (£5,804,618); Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (£1,045,501); Secret Window (£759,162); Our House (£146,061); #1 Kill Bill – Volume 2 £1,456,152 2nd week 47% drop 409 screens (25.1% of top 10)
Down 3.82% from 2003: (£11,186,072); X-Men 2 (£7,037,861); The Heart of Me (£52,466); Half Past Dead (£45,708); #1 X-Men 2 £7,037,861 1st week 449 screens (62.9% of top 10)
Up 48.68% from 2002 (£7,236,442); The Panic Room (£2,022,582); Showtime (£486,753); #1 About A Boy £2,239,288 4468 screens 2nd week (30.9% of top 10)
2024 Next week: (£5,979,754); Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes (£3,802,189); La Chimera (£99,985); Madama Butterfly – Met Opera 2023/24 (£96,727); Eurovision – Grand Final Live (£34,435); Shallow Grave (30th Anniversary) (£5,341); #1 Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes £3,802,189 1st week 658 screens (63.58% of top 10)
UK Box Office April
April BO was up 65% from 2024, taking £100.1m with A Minecraft Movie taking over 50% of the month’s BO £52m, showing it’s not as healthy as it looks, as with the amount of original films released in April; #2 Sinners £8.7m; #3 Six: The Musical £5.6m; #4 The Amateur £4m; #5 Snow White £3.9m; #6 Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge Of The Sith (Re: 2025) £2.5m; #7 The Penguin Lessons £2.4m; #8 Warfare £1.8m; #9 Death of A Unicorn £1.4m; #10 The Account 2 £1.3m.
2025 is currently 13% ahead of 2024 after a soft March and is 9% ahead of 2023.
There are high expectations for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning and Lilo & Stitch opening on May 21st but until then May looks incredibly soft after Thunderbolt, even with its asterisk failed to attract the MCU audiences that came before COVID.
The first quarter of 2025 was £231.6m, up 4% from Q1 2024 (£221.9m) but down 12% on Q1 2019 (£264m); admissions were 28.3m from January to March (Q1) 2% down from Q1 2024 and 24% down on Q1 2019, showing the growth was ticket inflation as it has been for over 20 years bar 2018 which saw a 1% increase.
There have been 242 films released in the first three months of 2025, more films are opening despite exhibitors complaining about a lack of films, the problem is that audiences aren’t seeing them, as they have become very selective in the films they see in the cinema. This has been the case for the last 20 years with more and more films being released each year but the BO being shared over fewer films.
The top 10 titles took £136.2m, 73% similar to 2024, 72%, but up on the 68% of 2019. Despite many more original films being released, but just not finding audiences. As the BFI report said, more films are playing in cinemas but taking less money, which is what I’ve said for many years, it’s never been about having more films.
UK qualifying films took 54.2% due to Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy, £46.2m; calling Bridget Jones 4 a UK film does play into Donald Trump’s little hands over tariffs, as it was made by Universal Pictures and StudioCanal, who own Working Title.
The biggest films of the 1st quarter are #1 Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy £46.2m; #2 Captain America: Brave New World £18m; #3 Dog Man £13.5m; #4 Nosferatu £13m; #5 A Complete Unknown £12.3m; #6 Snow White £9.1m; #7 We Live In Time £8.8m; #8 Mickey 17 £7m; #9 Babygirl £4.5m; #10 The Brutalist £3.8m.
US Box Office
- Thunderbolt* – Disney
Opened $74.3m; received positive reviews (88% Rotten Tomatoes) and an A- CinemaScore.
Sunday estimates were $76m, but actual figures came in $2m lower.
Took $11m from Thursday previews; Black Widow $13.2m; Captain America: Brave New World $12m; Ant-Man and The Wasp $11.5m; Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 1 $11.2m; Captain America: The Winter Soldier $10.2m
142nd biggest opening between Fantastic Beasts and The Simpsons Movie (close to Avatar, Star Trek, John Wick: Chapter 4 and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes).
EntTelligence said 4.7m saw Thunderbolts* (average price of $15.80); 1m less than Captain America: Brave New World the trailers playing with Thunderbolts were Fantastic Four: First Steps (July 25), Predator: Badlands (Nov. 7) and Tron: Ares (Oct. 10).
IMAX took $8.6m 11.3%; 3D 11%; IMAX/PLF/3D took 39%.
45% men 25+; 25% women 25+; men under 25 20%, and women under 25 10%, similar to Captain America: Brave New World; men under 25 18%.
The social media universe 570m similar to Captain America: Brave New World‘s 600m less than Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3‘s 709.7m followers across TikTok, YouTube, X, Instagram and Facebook; Pugh has over 23m views; Harbour 9.4m and Julia Louis-Dreyfus at 1.8m.
30th biggest MCU opening between Shang-Chi and Eternals (close to Doctor Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger); 34th biggest inflated opening between Eternals ($75.6m) and Ant-Man ($73.2m).
13th biggest MCU opening since Avengers Endgame, showing how disappointing MCU films have been since 2019 between Shang-Chi ($75.38m) and Eternals ($71.29m) with Black Widow, The Marvels along with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Captain America: Brave New World all coming short of expectations.
Disney will point to the massive success of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Deadpool & Wolverine, but their success predates Disney’s involvement, as without Sony Pictures and 20th Century Fox taking on the massive risks of making the first films, these films wouldn’t have been the success they became.
Took $12m in presales similar to 2021’s Eternals, ahead of Shang-Chi and behind Captain America: Brave New World.
Always find it strange, especially after so many tracking failures, when a film opens exactly as it was supposed to open a month ago.
Last, The Fall Guy opened the first weekend of May with $28.5m after Disney delayed Deadpool & Wolverine to July due to the SAG strike.
Took $18.1m worldwide from IMAX $8.6m US, and $9.5m internationally.
Thunderbolts^ had a $180m budget with marketing costs of $100m+
Next for Marvel is the fourth Fantastic Four film over the last 20 years, The Fantastic Four: First Steps in July, before Avengers: Doomsday in 2026, which incorporates X-Men into the Avengers bringing back many of the actors who featured in the 20th Century Fox films]]
It was expected to open with $175m worldwide, with $70m-$75m US and $90m-$100m internationally.
Opened $86.1m from 52 territories and $162.1m worldwide; China $10.4m; UK $7.7m; Mexico $7.3m; Brazil $4m; France $3.8m; Germany $3.6m; Korea $3.5m; Australia $3.4m; Japan $3.2m; Spain $2.8m.
Captain America: Brave New World opened with $92.4m from 52 territories and $192.4m worldwide; China $10.5m; UK $8.5m; Mexico $6.6m; Korea $5.6m; France $4.7m.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier opened $75.2m from 32 territories; Korea $10.9m; UK $10.1m; Mexico $8.6m; France $6.1m; Took $18m worldwide from IMAX.
- The Accountant 2 – MGM
Dropped 61% in the second weekend $9.49m #4 and $41.17m
2016’s The Accountant dropped 44.8% $13.64m and $47.53m of $86.26m and $155.56m worldwide
2024’s The Beekeeper dropped 48.1% $8.6m and $31.25m of $66.22m and $162.61m worldwide
Took $7.2m from 72 territories $24.6m total, and $65.7m worldwide.
- Sinner – Warner Bros
Dropped 28% in its third weekend $33.1m and $179.83m
49th biggest third weekend between The Hunger Games and Captain America: Civil War (close to Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker, Captain Marvel, Iron Man and Deadpool).
Low third weekend drop despite losing IMAX/PLF/70mm screens; Sinners will get 70mn screens back for a week on May 15th.
306th biggest between Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Men in Black 3; 868th biggest inflated between Sonic the Hedgehog and Prometheus; 3rd biggest 2025 film between Captain America: Brave New World and Dog Man; 6th biggest horror between A Quiet Place and Get Out; 58th biggest Warner Bros between The Perfect Storm and The Lego Batman Movie.
Sinners is being called the first major Oscar contender this year; Horrors have been rare Oscar winners, only The Silence of the Lambs and Get Out have won awards, but after Substance received five nominations, Sinners will get nominated next year.
Third weekends
2019’s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood dropped 41.8% $11.65m and $100.38m of $142.5m and $392.1m worldwide
2015’s Creed dropped 32.5%, $10.12m and $79.32m of $105.77m and $174.17m worldwide; had two more sequels and a fourth in development
2018’s Black Panther dropped 40.6%, $66.3m and $501.7m of $700.42m and $1.349bn worldwide
Similar films include.
2022’s Nope dropped 54.3% $8.5m, and $97.96m of $123.27m and $171.23m worldwide
2019’s US dropped 58.5% $13.79m and $152.38m of $175.08m and $256.07m worldwide
2017’s Get Out dropped 26.5% $20.74m and $110.72m of $176.04m and $255.4m worldwide
Other comparisons include.
1994’s Interview With The Vampire dropped 32.5%, $11.76m/$33.2m and $83.37m/$235.2m of $105.26m/$260.9m and $223.66m/$554.5m inflated worldwide
2025’s Nosferatu dropped 47.3% $6.89m and $81.9m of $95.6m and $181.01m worldwide
Opened with $10.4m from 71 territories, $57m total, and $236.7m worldwide; UK $13.8m; France $6.7m; Australia $4.3m; Mexico $3.4m; Germany $2.7m.
1,870th biggest worldwide between Hot Fuzz and 2 Guns; 12th biggest 2025 between Mickey 17 and A Working Man; 109th biggest horror between Pet Sematary and Rings; 253rd biggest Warner Bros between Magic Mike XXL and Magic Mike.
- A Minecraft Movie – Warner Bros
Dropped 40% in its fifth weekend, taking $13.72m #3 and $398.23m
53rd biggest fifth between Beauty and the Beast and Iron Man (close to Wicked, Jumanji: The Next Level, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Shrek)
52nd biggest between Frozen and Spider-Man: Far From Home; 202nd biggest, inflated between Platoon and Thor: Ragnarok; 2nd biggest film based on a video game between The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Sonic the Hedgehog 3; 5th biggest Warner Bros film between Wonder Woman and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II.
Fifth weekends
2023’s Super Mario Bros dropped 54.6% $18.55m, and $518.07m of $574.93m and $1.36bn worldwide
2014’s The Lego Movie dropped 33.5% $20.82m, and $209.13m of $257.96m and $470.75m worldwide
2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle dropped 30.6% $19.5m, and $316.45m of $404.54m and $962.54m WW
2023’s Barbie dropped 37.8% $21.03m and $566.81m of $636.23m and $1.447bn WW
Took $26.6m from 76 territories $475.2m total, and $873.4m worldwide; UK $69m; Germany $35.7m; Australia $33.5m; Mexico $31.2m; China $27.5m.
86th biggest worldwide between Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice; 2nd biggest video game worldwide between The Super Mario Bros. Movie ($1.359bn) and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 ($489.9m); 16th biggest Warner Bros film worldwide between Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
UK Box Office Top 10
UK Box Office Preview
As normal, there aren’t any major releases opening the week after the MCU film opens, despite the majority of films opening lower than expected since Avengers: Endgame, which sees them have a big second-weekend drop.
Thunderbolts* will have a second-weekend drop of 50%+, similar to 2023’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 55.7%; 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine 53.6%; 2025’s Captain America: Brave New World 54.3%. Taking £2.6m-£3.2m.
With no major new releases, it will probably be the second-lowest weekend of the year, with Sinners, A Minecraft Movie, and The Accountant 2 also holding their places.
It’s unlikely new releases Ocean With David Attenborough (Sunday), The Wedding Banquet and The Surfer will attract wide audiences.
- Opening in three weeks
- Karate Kid: Legends – Sony Pictures
Martial arts drama starring Jackie Chan, Ralph Macchio, Ben Wang, Joshua Jackson, Sadie Stanley and Ming-Na Wen and directed by Jonathan Entwistle; it’s the sixth film in The Karate Kid franchise, following The Karate Kid and follows on from events of the TV series Cobra Kai (2018–2025).
Development started in 2022 and is a sequel to the original films starring Ralph Macchio, the 2010 film starring Jackie Chan and the TV series Cobra Kai in a shared universe.
2010’s Karate Kid opened £4,882,306/£6,498,801, taking £11,613,244/£15,458,301
1986’s The Karate Kid Part 2 opened £415,683/£1,751,175, taking £3,427,577/£14,439,580
1989’s The Karate Kid Part 3 opened £528,464/£1,796,324, taking £3,398,000/£11,550,283
- Peppa Meets The Baby Cinema Experience – Trafalgar
In February, Mummy Pig announced on GMB that she was pregnant, which started a big campaign around the birth of her child. On April 25th, it was announced at Battersea Power Station that Mummy Pig was expecting a girl; both events generated huge media coverage.
Fans will get to meet the new member of the family in cinemas on May 30th in 14 countries with 10 new episodes.
2019’s Peppa Pig: Festival of Fun opened £982,617, taking £2,715,813
2017’s Peppa Pig: My First Cinema Experience opened £1,050,962, taking £3,719,305
2015’s Peppa Pig: The Golden Boots opened £687,417, taking £2,326,328
- The Salt Path – Black Bear
Biographical drama starring Gillian Anderson, Jason Isaacs, James Lance and Hermione Norris and directed by Marianne Elliott based on the 2018 memoir by Raynor Winn.
Premiered at the Toronto Film Festival