Top 5 Breakdown
- Doctor Strange – £9,288,898 – NE
After opening top on Tuesday was expected to have a lucrative opening as Spectre did last summer boosted by three days of half-term but surprisingly dropped #2 below Trolls Wed/Thurs taking £3.8m over three days;
Fri-Sun Doctor Strange took £5.43m which just saw it squeeze past X-Men: Apocalypse to avoid it being the worst Fri-Sun comic-book opening of the year taking £5.25m but whereas X-Men: Apocalypse mixed reviews were published 10 days early after embargo broke early.
Was the seventh biggest opening of the year behind Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice £14.62; Captain America: Civil War £14.46m; Deadpool £13.79m; Suicide Squad £11.21m; The Secret Life of Pets £9.86m; The Jungle Book £9.58m.
Was the fifth biggest Marvel opening in the UK ahead of Thor: The Dark World £8.65m and the seventh biggest on Fri-Sun box office only.
But why is Doctor Strange £9.28m in 6 days seen as a success when Suicide Squad opened in August with £11.21m from only 3 days and was also a 15 and received negative reviews; Doctor Strange had much more going for it strong buzz with positive reviews received huge media coverage due to the strong British cast including Benedict Cumberbatch who always generates huge media coverage after Sherlock. Doctor Strange opened on the second day of half-term with limited competition and a 12A certificate it should have easily beaten Suicide Squad.
| Avengers Age of Ultron | 23 April 2015 | £17.99m | 37.2% | £48.32m |
| Avengers Assemble | 26 April 2012 | £15.78m | 30.3% | £51.91m |
| Captain America: Civil War | 29 April 2016 | £14.46m | 39.1% | £36.94m |
| Iron Man 3 | 25 April 2013 | £11.39m | 31.1% | £36.68m |
It was the biggest ever opening for an original Marvel film and biggest Fri-Sun original Marvel opening ahead of Guardians of the Galaxy £4.98m.
| Guardians of the Galaxy | 31 July 2014 | £6.35m | 22.3% | £28.53m |
| Iron Man | 2 May 2008 | £5.46m | 31.8% | £17.13m |
| Thor | 27 April 2011 | £5.44m | 39.3% | £13.84m |
| Ant-Man | 17 July 2015 | £4.01m | 24.6% | £16.29m |
| The Incredible Hulk | 13 June 2008 | £3.25m | 40.3% | £8.06m |
| Captain America: The First Avenger | 29 July 2011 | £2.98m | 32.3% | £9.21m |
A year ago Spectre opened on Monday night taking £6.3m on Tuesday and £5.71m on Wednesday, of course Doctor Strange wouldn’t get close to those numbers; but whereas Spectre’s Monday night opening inflated its 6-day box office Doctor Strange and other early weekday openings like The Huntsman, Warcraft, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 don’t increase the film’s box office it just stretches it across a wider period. With Suicide Squad and The Jungle Book taking much more over only 3 days.
Doctor Strange received positive reviews but many felt was too similar in plot to previous Marvel films an arrogant man who goes on a journey and then saves the planet. While many said only Benedict Cumberbatch could play Doctor Strange we have seen him play similar characters before in Sherlock and The Imitation Game while Doctor Strange could easily be an Iron Man remake.
| O/WE | 2nd w/e | drop | Total BO | |||
| Iron Man | 2 May 2008 | £5.46m | 31.8% | £1.9m | -64% | £17.13m |
| The Incredible Hulk | 13 June 2008 | £3.25m | 40.3% | £1.8m | -43% | £8.06m |
| Iron Man 2 | 30 April 2010 | £7.68m | 36.7% | £3.2m | -58% | £20.92m |
| Thor | 27 April 2011 | £5.44m | 39.3% | £1.9m | -64% | £13.84m |
| CA: The First Avenger | 29 July 2011 | £2.98m | 32.3% | £1.47m | -51% | £9.21m |
| Avengers Assemble | 26 April 2012 | £15.78m | 30.3% | £8.1m | -49% | £51.91m |
| Iron Man 3 | 25 April 2013 | £11.39m | 31.1% | £6.3m | -54% | £36.68m |
| Thor: The Dark World | 30 Oct 2013 | £8.65m | 43.8% | £2.9m | -66% | £19.71m |
| CA: Winter Soldier | 26 March 2014 | £6.03m | 31.2% | £2.7m | -34% | £19.31m |
| Guardians of the Galaxy | 31 July 2014 | £6.35m | 22.3% | £3.32m | -39% | £28.53m |
| Avengers Age of Ultron | 23 April 2015 | £17.99m | 37.2% | £8.6m | -52% | £48.32m |
| Ant-Man | 17 July 2015 | £4.01m | 24.6% | £2.5m | -37% | £16.29m |
| Captain America: Civil War | 29 April 2016 | £14.46m | 39.1% | £4.79m | -66% | £36.94m |
With the £3.8m added from Tues-Thurs box office will see Doctor Strange likely to drop a massive 70% in its second weekend with a second weekend box office of £2.8m+ similar to Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: Winter Soldier and Ant-Man. Which would see Doctor Strange total box office of £27.6m would be the fifth biggest comic-book movie of 2016 and the tenth biggest film of 2016 until Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Star Wars: Rogue One.
| Deadpool | 10 February 2016 | £13.79m | £37.73m |
| Batman Vs Superman | 25 March 2016 | £14.62m | £36.17m |
| Captain America: Civil War | 29 April 2016 | £14.46m | £36.94m |
| Suicide Squad | 5 August 2016 | £11.21m | £33.41m |
| X-Men: Apocalypse | 20 May 2016 | £7.35m | £18.34m |
Marvel created a portal between London and Los Angeles
- Trolls – £3,256,912 – £14,001,328
Down 40.2% in its second weekend after an impressive half-term taking £5.3m holding top spot all week apart from Tuesday opening day for Doctor Strange. Was more than Zootropolis which took £4.5m Mon-Thurs during Easter. But Zootropolis benefited with two weeks of school holidays Trolls only has one (but some schools have their half-term holidays this week).
Over previous years’ autumn half-term has been very lucrative in recent years Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted and Hotel Transylvania in 2012, Turbo and Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2 in 2013, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (took £2.5m Mon-Thurs) and The Book of Life in 2014 and Hotel Transylvania 2 (took £4.51m Mon-Thurs) and Pan in 2015
Last year Hotel Transylvania 2 in its third weekend the weekend after half-term had taken £2.4m with the total box office of £16.01m after an extra week and an extra weekend of previews went on to take £19.72m.
Trolls has overtaken Kung Fu Panda 3’s total UK box office £13.99m to become 20th Century Fox’s biggest animated film of the year. While of course won’t get close to either Finding Dory £42.6m or The Secret Life of Pets £35.31m and is also unlikely as its now limited to the weekend box office to overtake Zootropolis £23.61m.
Trolls is performing close to 2013’s The Croods which opened with £5.37m compared with Trolls £5.43m. In its second weekend Trolls, £3.25m and drop of 40.2% comparable to £3.3m and 38% drop and £10.61m total. But The Croods opened at the start of Easter giving it two weeks of school holidays compared to Trolls one week which is why comparisons end here as The Croods dropped only 28% in its third weekend with £2.36m and £17.17m.
Last year Hotel Transylvania 2 dropped 17.9% in its second weekend taking £2.3m and £9.4m but its box office was inflated with two weekends of previews compared with Trolls one and being a sequel already had an inbuilt audience. In weekend three Hotel Transylvania 2 box office increased by 5.7% due to half-term taking £2.4m and £16.01m. The following weekend dropped 54% with £1.1m and £17.5m total. Trolls expected to drop 50%+ similar which will see it taking £1.5m+. After two weeks Hotel Transylvania 2.
Will have a better view on Trolls final box office this weekend but comparing to other one-week half-term Dreamworks Animation films looking like it would do 3.2x+ so a final total of £17m+
| Kung Fu Panda 3 | 18 March 2016 | £4.76m | x2.93 | £13.99m | 45% | £1.74m |
| Home | 20 March 2015 | £6.02m | x4.15 | £24.97m | 22% | £2.59m |
| Penguins of Madagascar | 5 Dec 2014 | £1.61m | x4.94 | £7.96m | 34% | £1.05m |
| How to Train Your Dragon 2 | 11 July 2014 | £7.81m | x3.15 | £24.25m | 76% | £1.87m |
| Mr Peaboy & Sherman | 7 Feb 2014 | £3.91m | x3.46 | £13.55m | +21% | £1.69m |
| Turbo | 17 Oct 2013 | £3.89m | x2.91 | £11.32m | 66% | £1.32m |
| The Croods | 22 March 2013 | £5.37m | x4.87 | £26.15m | 38% | £3.3m |
Currently, 20th Century Fox’s sixth biggest film of 2016 in the coming weeks will overtake Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie £16.04m, Alvin and the Chipmunks £16.45m and X-Men: Apocalypse £18.34m likely to become their third biggest film of the year. Apart from their breakout hit Deadpool
Apart from their breakout hit Deadpool 20th Century Fox have had more mid-range box office performers than other distributors The Revenant, X-Mn Apocalypse, Alvin and the Chipmunks 4, Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie, Kung Fu Panda 3, Independence Day: Resurgence. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.
Of the eight Dreamworks Animation films 20th Century Fox have released Trolls has overtaken Penguins of Madagascar £7.96m, Turbo £11.32m, Mr. Peaboy & Sherman £13.5m and Kung Fu Panda 3 £13.99m all except Penguins of Madagascar opened similarly during half-term holidays their three biggest films The Croods £26.15m, Home £24.97m and How to Train Your Dragon 2 £24.25m had the benefit from longer holidays.
20th Century Fox will release two more Dreamworks Animation films The Boss Baby and Captain Underpants in 2017 before moving to Universal.
20th Century Fox has had mixed success in recent years via their own animation studio Blue Sky Animation (Epic 2013, Rio 2 in 2014, The Peanuts Movie in 2015 and Ice Age: Collusion Course in 2016) will need to fill the hole Dreamworks Animation will give them from 2018 currently have Ferdinand dated December 22nd, 2017, Anubis 30th March 2018 and Pigeon Impossible 1st February 2019.
- Jack Reacher: Never Go Back – £1,258,900 – £5,576,134
Down 53.1% in its second weekend having a similar drop to Jack Reacher dropping 53% in its second weekend taking £1.68m 26.3% more with £7.1m total 21.7% more. If Jack Reacher: Never Go Back was to repeat Jack Reacher’s 2.43x opening its final box office will be about £6.5m which would be Tom Cruise’s lowest-grossing action film in the UK since Valkyrie in 2009 which took £6.34m.
As with the US away from Mission Impossible films the last Tom Cruise film to take more than £15m at the box office was 2005’s War of the Worlds. Have been rumours in recent years of a Top Gun 2 but it’s now 30 years after the first film but while many would love to see Maverick and Co again it’s would likely just be another case of memberries that we have had so many times in recent years as studios look back and remake but they are rarely as good as what came before. After all the hype even fans do admit Star Wars: The Force Awakens was a remake of Star Wars: A New Hope.
Next, for Tom Cruise is The Mummy reboot planned to be the first part of the Universal Monsters Cinematic Universe opens June 9th, 2017 was expected to do battle against zombies in World War Z 2 is likely to be delayed to late 2017. Late 2017 is also the likely release date for Mission Impossible 6 which Tom Cruise starts shooting early next year.
He also stars in American Made biographical crime drama directed by Doug Liman who previously made Edge of Tomorrow with him; Doug Liman has recently been talking about Edge of Tomorrow sequel which he has said will be a prequel and will revolutionize how people make sequels. (no pressure). 2014’s Edge of Tomorrow was Tom Cruise’s best original film in many years.
- The Girl on the Train – £1,215,472 – £20,427,279
Dropping 39.1% in its fourth weekend 23.6% less than Gone Girl fourth weekend box office which dropped 32% taking £1.59m taking £17.06m.
Over the next two weeks should overtake Gone Girl’s £22.4m but as with Bridget Jones’s Baby won’t last as long in the top 10 as Gone Girl did which stayed in the top 10 for 8 weeks.
On Sunday The Girl on the Train become the 13th film to take £20m eOne who have doubled their total box office for 2015 (£39.74m) and overtaken their total box office for 2014 (£81.36m) and are on track to top 2013 when they took £105.6m.
20 years ago £20m+ at the UK box office was a sign of a massive hit but when Deadpool, Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice and Captain America: Civil War take over 70% in their opening weekend. It’s only really an achievement for films like The BFG opening with £5.28m taking £30.43m; Zootroplis opening £5.3m taking £23.61m and The Revenant opening £5.07m taking £22.86m.
Will face competition this weekend from Ben Affleck’s The Accountant and then in two weeks with Arrival both targeting its audience demographics both receiving positive reviews. Many have called Arrival this year’s adult sci-fi drama comparing it to Gravity, Interstellar, and The Martian but its unlikely to e as successful at the box office.
- Bridget Jones’s Baby – £673,069 – £46,171,396
Down 40.1% in its seventh week on release and overtook The Jungle Book on Monday October 31st to be the biggest film of the year so far and the second biggest British film ever in the UK behind The Full Monty with £51.99m; Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Star Wars: Rogue One out in December will push it into third by the end of the year.
Many were seemingly surprised Bridget Jones’s Baby has taken over £10m more than comic-book movies Deadpool £37.9m, Captain America: Civil War £37.0m and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice £36.6m. But British base rom-com’s have always performed strongly as they play to a much wider audience and generate much more free media coverage as apart from James Bond or Harry Potter a film would rarely get mentioned on during news bulletins but a Renee Zellweger interview was included within BBC News.
Its UK box office performance has been a surprise to many but after the first two films were both the third biggest films of their years in 2001 and 2004 it wasn’t unexpected Bridget Jones’s Baby with the massive hype, positive reviews and strong word of mouth would do similar as Four Weddings and a Funeral and Love Actually had done in 1994 and 2003.
While having far stronger legs than Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason after receiving poor reviews and poor word of mouth in its seventh weekend took only £87,733 and £34.16m its weekend box office is 36.5% less than Bridget Jones’s Diary’s £1.03m weekend box office and taken £34.1m after seven weeks. Likewise, it’s 41.5% less than Love Actually, £1.12m seventh-weekend box office in 2004 which had taken £31.9m.
Bridget Jones’s Baby admissions are 5,603,325 which is still 44.3% less than Bridget Jones Diary 10,070,675 admissions and 30.1% less than Edge of Reason 8,017,817.
Similarly, while taking 66% more than 1994’s Four Weddings and a Funeral at the box office (£27.76m) Bridget Jones’s Baby admissions are still 26% less as average ticket prices were £3.25 over 150% less than are now.
Other box office news
I, Daniel Blake – eOne – £474,188 – £1.33m – up 18% after adding 117 screens from 94 to 211;
The BFG has become Steven Spielberg’s third biggest film in the UK taking £30.43m topping 2005’s War of the Worlds £30.36m. His top two are 2008’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull £39.74m and 1993’s Jurassic Park £46.47m;
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This weekend’s top 10 box office took £18,662,677 up 20.8% from last weekend £15,448,907; weekend admissions 1,874,869 up 20.8% from last weekend 1,874,869
The weekend was down 60.4% from same weekend last year (£47,149,888) when Spectre £41,213,634 opened.
Same weekend opening in 2014: Interstellar £5,362,778, Say When £93,000, The Skelton Twins £19,204 and November Man £5,000.
Next weekend in 2015: Brooklyn £1,038,779, Burnt £445,777, He Named Me Malala £97,238, Kill Your Friends £102,221 opened.
A recent survey said average ticket price was £8.24 (the same cost as 13 pints of cider) up from Cinema Exhibitors Association average ticket price of £7.21 for 2015 a 7.3% increase from 2014.
Complete UK Box office top 10 – October 28th – 30th 2016
US Box Office
- Lionsgate – Boo! A Madea Halloween – drops 41.5% – $16.6m – $52.1m; probably the biggest box office surprise of the year with Boo! First opening top in its first weekend but then in its second weekend held top despite the arrival of Inferno.
- Sony Pictures – Inferno – opens $15m; tracking a week ago had Inferno opening $25-30m but after opening with $800k from midnights and was estimated to open with $20m. But then across the weekend as figures kept dropping as did its predicted opening.
10 years ago, The Da Vinci Code opened with $77.1m going to take $217m becoming Tom Hanks third biggest live-action film. Was followed three years later with Angels & Demons opening 40% less with $46.2m taking $133.3m.
In the years after Angels & Demons Tom Hanks starred in several films that disappointed at the box office, not including Toy Story 3. Returning with critical and box office success with Captain Philips and Saving Mr. Banks in 2013, Bridge of Spies in 2015 and Sully last month.
The cause of the failure of Inferno can be seen by the poor Rotten Tomatoes scores for The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons both opened globally day and date so while they received poor reviews they still managed to have a strong opening before dropping 53% and 55.8% in their second weekend. But Inferno opened internationally early to avoid opening against Doctor Strange in doing so built two weeks of negativity and the poor word of mouth meaning it was always going to be DOA.
In recent years’ studios, have opened several films internationally early but apart from James Bond, Marvel and The Secret Life of Pets they always hurt their US openings. The Huntsman, X-Men Apocalypse, Warcraft and TMNT2 all had disappointing US openings after opening internationally first which has killed off many of these franchise.
- Paramount – Jack Reacher: Never Go Back – drops 58.1% – $9.5m – $39.6m; hard to compare its performance with Jack Reacher which dropped 10.6% in its second weekend taking $13.6m and $44.1m total as opening during lucrative Christmas period films often hold far stronger.
As word of mouth is poorer than Mission Impossible- Rogue Nation and Edge of Tomorrow both held well in the weeks after opening. Oblivion performance is probably most similar dropping 52% in its second weekend with its final box office 2.4x opening weekend which would see Jack Reacher: Never Go Back take $60m his worst performing film since 2012’s Rock of Ages being a musical can’t really be compared, 2010’s Knight & Day was his last action film not to take $80m at the US box office.
The failure of Jack Reacher: Never Go Back must ask the question Tom Cruise might have taken $3.6bn in the US over his 35-year acting career to date; but away from Mission Impossible franchise he’s not had a box office hit for 11 years; Edge of Tomorrow one of his best films in recent years was hurt by poor dating but due to positive word of mouth still managed to take $100m at the US box office to allow the possibility of a sequel . But like many of the 80s and 90s megastar actors, Tom Cruise is still seen as the world biggest movie star but this is due to historical successes rather than recent.Which is similar to the likes of Will Smith and Tom Hanks.
- Warner Bros – The Accountant – drops 37.9% – $8.4m – $61.2m; Has overtaken Ben Affleck’s 2003’s Paycheck; will shortly overtake 2002’s Changing Lanes and is currently performing like his 2010 film The Town which had taken $64.1m after three weeks.
- Universal – Ouija: Origin of Evil – drops 49.7% – $7.1m – $25.6m; after two weeks, it’s taken 26% less than 2014’s first film.
- Universal – The Girl on the Train – drops 40.4% – $4.2m – $65.9m; 47% less than Gone Girl after 4 weeks which had taken $124.1m;
- 20th Century Fox – Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children – drops 32.6% – $3.9m $79.9m; has overtaken 2012’s Dark Shadows now Tim Burton’s sixth biggest film in the US. Sleepy Hollow’s $101.1m box office is probably just a little too much.
- 20th Century Fox – Keeping Up with the Joneses – drops 38.2% – $3.3m -$10.7m;
- Warner Bros – Storks – drops 30.4% – $2.7m – $68.2m;
- FIP – Ae Dil Hal Mushkil – opens $2.1m from only 302 screens.
On limited release expansion
A24 – Moonlight – up 124% – $900,826 – adding 32 screens – total $1,47m
Main opening Friday weekend predictions:
Opening UK
- The Accountant – Warner Bros
Action thriller starring Ben Affleck, Anna Kendrick, J.K. Simmons, Jon Bernthal, Jeffrey Tambor and John Lithgow and directed by Gavin O’Connor.
Removing Ben Affleck’s appearances in Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad it’s his first lead role since 2014’s Gone Girl.
Likely to perform similarly to Argo and The Town with a £1m+ opening.
Similar films include:
1994’s Leon; 1995’s Assassins; 1997’s The Jackal; 2004’s Collateral; 2005’s Mr. and Mrs. Smith, 2008’s In Bruges: 2010’s The American; 2014’s John Wick and 2016’s Allied
Lead roles only
| Gone Girl | 2 October 2014 | £4.01m | 19.1% | £22.01m |
| Runner Runner | 27 September 2013 | £0.76m | 28.8% | £2.63m |
| Argo | 7 November 2012 | £1.28m | 26.1% | £4.92m |
| The Town | 24 September 2010 | £1.01m | 21.1% | £4.77m |
| The Company Man | 11 March 2011 | £36,785 | n/a | £36,785 TBC |
| State of Play | 24 April 2009 | £1.51m | 27.9% | £5.41m |
| Hollywoodland | 24 November 2006 | £65,735 | n/a | £65,735 TBC |
| Surviving Christmas | 3 December 2004 | unknown | n/a | unknown |
| Jersey Girl | 18 June 2004 | £226,970 | 53.4% | £423,556 |
| Paycheck | 16 January 2004 | £927,212 | 41.1% | £2.26m |
| Gigli | 26 September 2003 | unknown | n/a | unknown |
| Daredevil | 14 February 2003 | £1.95m | 36.4% | £5.35m |
| The Sum of All Fears | 16 August 2002 | £1.14m | 25.4% | £4.48m |
| Changing Lanes | 1 November 2002 | £808,268 | 28.6% | £2.82m |
Next up for Ben Affleck is his directorial follow-up to Oscar-winning Argo gangster drama Live By Night released January 13th, 2017 opens December 25th in the US to qualify it for the Oscars.
- The Light Between Oceans – eOne
Drama film directed by Derek Cianfrance based on the 2012 novel by M. L. Stedman starring Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Rachel Weisz, Bryan Brown, and Jack Thompson.
Received world premiere at Venice International Film Festival in September after the film receiving mixed reviews; Shannon Plumb wife of director Derek Cianfrance wrote an essay about the films premiere at Venice Film Festival and how negative reviews by mostly men broke the embargo by reviewing it two days before its premiere losing it several million dollars in its opening weekend at the US box office.78% of the reviews were from men who gave it negativity reviews.
The Light Between Oceans opened in the US the day after its Venice Film Festival screening receiving opening day CinemaScore 72% female scoring it A- 28% men gave it a B-. The film opened in eighth taking $4.76m going on to take $12.5m. It suffered being the final Dreamworks film released by Disney. With The Girl on the Train opening October 7th and Disney opening Pete’s Dragon in August and Queen of Katwe late September and with Sully and Bridget Jones’s Baby opening mid-September the only option for The Light Between Oceans was to open it Labour Day weekend which is seen as the dumping weekend for studios.
http://thetalkhouse.com/man-ring-derek-cianfrance-venice-premiere-light-oceans/
The Light Between Oceans was surprisingly missing from the London Film Festival instead received its UK premiere on October 19th. After flopping in the US will have a limited wide release but unlikely will last more than a week in cinemas as eOne concentrate efforts on Arrival which many are expecting to be this year’s adult sci-fi autumn hit following Gravity, Interstellar and The Martian over the last three years after receiving rave reviews at all the festivals it has screened at.
Director Derek Cianfrance previous film The Place Beyond the Pines opened with £665,935 in April 2013 taking £1.64m and Blue Valentine opened in 2010 with £176,422 from 36 screens.
Michael Fassbender breakout role was as Erick Lensherr in X-Men: First Class in 2011 with Shame, Prometheus, 12 Years A Slave most recently Steve Jobs and Erick Lensherr again in X-Men: Apocalypse will be seen next in Alien: Covenant and The Snowman. Alicia Vikander had an incredible 2015 starring in Ex Machina, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Burnt and this year in The Danish Girl and Jason Bourne and has been cast in the Tomb Raider reboot set for release in 2018.
It was the last Dreamworks film to be released by Disney’s Dreamworks signed a 30-picture deal in February 2009 but only actually made 14 films only 6 of they released globally. Their first I A Am Number Four released February 2011 was a flop but had much better success with Oscar-winning The Help and Oscar-nominated War Horse but most disappointed including Fright Night, Real Steel and People Like Us.
In August 2012 Dreamworks signed a deal with Mr. Smith Entertainment which saw eOne release their films in the UK and in December 2015 announced were launching Amblin Partners replacing Dreamworks with a five-year distribution deal with Universal Pictures and eOne with the first film to be released The Girl on the Train in October 2016. Upcoming Office Christmas Party (UK eOne), A Dog’s Purpose (UK eOne), Ghost in the Shell (worldwide Paramount), Ready Player One (worldwide Warner Bros) and Thank You for Service (UK eOne)
- Nocturnal Animals – Universal
Drama thriller starring Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Michael Shannon, Isla Fisher, Armie Hammer and Laura Linney and directed and written by Tom Ford, based on the 1993 novel Tony and Susan by Austin Wright; received its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, North American premiere at Toronto Film Festival and had its UK premiere at the London Film Festival in October. Receiving critical acclaim after Venice screening with acting performances praised.
Focus Features acquired world rights at Cannes Film Festival in 2015 with Universal Pictures releasing it internationally.
At the Toronto Film Festival as the film got towards the ending, the sound and picture stopped the audiences waited for a few minutes until the projectionist restarted the film showing that even in a digital age these projector faults can still happen.
Tom Ford’s directional debut A Single Man opened February 2010 with £1.26m taking £2.65m.
- A Street Cat Named Bob – Sony Pictures
Family comedy based on the book (that spent 2 years in the UK Top 10 bestsellers list) by busker James Bowen and the stray ginger cat who changed his life; stars Luke Treadaway, Joanne Froggatt, Anthony Head and Bob the Cat as himself directed by Roger Spottiswoode; one wonders how a director famous for action films including Deadly Pursuit, Air America, The 6th Day and James Bond Tomorrow Never Dies came to direct this low-budget British film.
The Duchess of Cambridge will attend London premiere on Thursday supporting her charity Action On Addiction.
Sony Pictures acquired rights in multiple countries including the UK for A Street Cat Named Bob at the AFM in November 2015.
These light feel-good comedies used to be a regular in cinemas but despite the positivity fail to find audiences in cinemas anymore; 2013’s One Chance a similar biographical comedy about Britain’s Got Talent winner Paul Potts receiving positive reviews opened with £700,000 in October 2013.
Opening US Friday
- Doctor Strange – Disney
14th film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong, Michael Stuhlbarg, Benjamin Bratt, Scott Adkins, Mads Mikkelsen, and Tilda Swinton and directed by Scott Derrickson.
Received its world premiere in Hong Kong on October 13th with its Los Angeles premiere October 20th. Received positive reviews although many described as generic superhero origin film having all the elements from previous Marvel Cinematic Universe with disappointing love interest and villain which has been seen in many recent Marvel films including Captain America: Civil War.
In recent years’ rival studios, rarely have opened films against Marvel but when they do they often perform quite well most notably last year with Trainwreck against Ant-Man. Which was similar to Spectre last year the first James Bond film since Casino Royale to have major films opening against it seeing a 20% drop in opening to Skyfall when The Peanuts Movie opened strongly with $44.2m against Spectre with $70.4m
In August 2014 Get on Up opened against Guardians of the Galaxy opening with $13.6m; in 2008 Made of Honor opened against Iron Man with $14.8m; in 2011 Jumping the Broom with $15.2m and Something Borrowed $13.9m opened against Thor; Friends with Benefits $18.6m against Captain America: The First Avenger in 2011; The Happening opened with $30.5m against The Incredible Hulk; in 2015 Trainwreck opened with $30.1m against Ant-Man $57.2m.
Early tracking has Doctor Strange opening between $55m-$75m would be close to The Incredible Hulk, Ant-Man, Captain America: The First Avenger and Thor openings all Marvel origin films which had films from rival studios opening against them; as The Peanuts Movie last year the buzz for Trolls is very positive and could eat into Doctor Strange opening.
| Iron Man | Paramount | 2nd May 2008 | $98.6m | $318.4m |
| The Incredible Hulk | Universal | 13th June 2008 | $55.4m | $123.8m |
| Iron Man 2 | Paramount | 7th May 2010 | $128.1m | $321.4m |
| Thor | Paramount | 6th May 2011 | $65.7m | $181.1m |
| Captain America: The First Avenger | Paramount | 22nd July 2011 | $65.1m | $176.6m |
| Marvel’s The Avengers | Disney | 4th May 2012 | $207.4m | $623.3m |
| Iron Man 3 | Disney | 3rd May 2013 | $175.1m | $209.1m |
| Thor: The Dark World | Disney | 8th Nov 2013 | $85.7m | $206.3m |
| Captain America: The Winter Soldier | Disney | 4th April 2014 | $95.1m | $259.7m |
| Guardians of the Galaxy | Disney | 1st Aug 2014 | $94.3m | $333.1m |
| Avengers: Age of Ultron | Disney | 1st May 2015 | $191.2m | $459.1m |
| Ant-Man | Disney | 17th July 2015 | $57.2m | $180.2m |
| Captain America: Civil War | Disney | 6th May 2016 | $179.1m | $408.1m |
- Trolls – 20th Century Fox
The 33rd animated feature by DreamWorks Animation and the eighth released by 20th Century Fox; based on the dolls of the same name by Thomas Dam featuring voices of Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Zooey Deschanel, Russell Brand, James Corden, and Gwen Stefani.
| Kung Fu Panda 3 | 29th January 2016 | $41.2m | $143.5m |
| Home | 27th March 2015 | $52.1m | $177.4m |
| Penguins of Madagascar | 26th November 2014 | $25.4m | $83.3m |
| How to Train Your Dragon 2 | 13th June 2014 | $49.4m | $177.1m |
| Mr. Peabody & Sherman | 7th March 2014 | $32.2m | $111.5m |
| Turbo | 17th July 2013 | $21.3m | $83.1m |
| The Croods | 22nd March 2013 | $43.6m | $187.2m |
2016 has been very success for animation; in recently years Illumination Entertainment has joined Pixar with Despicable Me 2, Minions and The Secret Life of Pets to move ahead of Dreamworks Animation which is now part of Comcast but 20th Century Fox will release two more of their films next year before Universal Pictures distribute their films in 2018.
| Kung Fu Panda 3 | 29th January 2016 | $41.2m | $143.5m |
| Zootopia | 4th March 2016 | $75.1m | $341.2m |
| The Angry Birds Movie | 20th May 2016 | $38.1m | $107.5m |
| Finding Dory | 17th June 2016 | $135.1m | $485.6m |
| The Secret Life of Pets | 8th July 2016 | $104.3m | $366.4m |
| Ice Age: Collision Course | 22nd July 2016 | $21.3m | $64.1m |
| Sausage Party | 12th August 2016 | $34.2m | $97.6m |
| Kubo and the Two Strings | 19th August 2016 | $12.6m | $47.6m |
| Storks | 23rd September 2016 | $21.3m | $68.3m |
With Storks and Kubo and the Two Strings disappointing at the box office it’s now several months since The Secret Life of Pets and Finding Dory with a few weeks before Moana three weeks away Trolls could fill the gap with some much-needed light relief from the election with Justin Timberlake’s Can’t Stop the Feeling now viewed on YouTube over 270 million times since May and over 44 million times in the last month.
Trolls is expected to open with a similar opening as last years The Peanuts Movie $44m would be the biggest non-Pixar and Illumination Entertainment animation opening of the year. Early November has been successful for Dreamworks Animation with Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa $63m, Megamind $46m and Bee Movie $38m.
- Hacksaw Ridge – Lionsgate
Biographical World War II film directed by Mel Gibson starring Andrew Garfield, Vince Vaughn, Sam Worthington and Hugo Weaving; received its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September receiving a 10-minute standing ovation and positive reviews.
Mel Gibson’s first film he has directed since Apocalypto in 2006 opened with $15m taking $50.8m; the same year he was ostracized by Hollywood after an anti-Semitic rant was captured on tape during a 2006 drunk-driving arrest, blaming his comments on alcoholism but his anti-Semitism views were well known with similar comments said in 2004 ahead of release of The Passion of the Christ.
Only ten years earlier he was king of the Hollywood having directed and starred in Oscar-winning Braveheart having previously starred in many 80s and early 90s blockbusters from Mad Max to Lethal Weapon.