- Napoleon – £1,908,971 – £9,312,612
Dropped 63.5% in the second weekend.
Took £510k 26.7% (53.6% drop £1.1m) Friday; £779k 40.8% (47.1% drop £1.48m) Saturday; £620k 32.4% (50.8% drop £1.26m) Sunday.
474th biggest second weekend between Moana and Napoleon (close to The Departed, American Hustle, Belfast and Bram Stoker’s Dracula) and 827th biggest inflated opening between The Hannah Montana Movie and Black Widow (close to Master and Commander, The Living Daylights, JFK and Walk the Line).
Napolean is the first film in three months to hold #1 for two weeks; after Barbie was #1 for 6 weeks there have been 11 different #1 over the last 14 weeks.
6th biggest Ridley Scott second weekend between Alien: Covenant and American Gangster (close to Exodus: Gods And Kings, House Of Gucci, Kingdom Of Heaven and Robin Hood) and 9th biggest inflated between Black Hawk Down and Robin Hood (close to Kingdom Of Heaven, Alien: Covenant, Robin Hood and Exodus: Gods And Kings).
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.
Second weekend
2000’s Gladiator dropped 2.7% £3,459,104 (£6,265,695 inflated) and £9,433,058 30.1% of £31,257,293 (£58,616,618 inflated)
1995’s Braveheart dropped 16.6% £1,101,858 (£2,523,508 inflated) and £3,355,975 28.1% of £11,909,670 (£27,275,882 inflated)
2004’s Troy dropped 58.7% £2,486,054 (£4,412,884 inflated) and £10,843,111 60.3% of £6,017,523 taking £18,001,854
2020’s 1917 dropped 16.9% £6,190,049 and £18,439,267 42% of £44,094,898
Others include.
2003’s Master and Commander dropped 40.2% £1,102,031 (£1,978,195 inflated) and £3,971,205 61.1% of £7,078,944 (£11,660,311 inflated)
2005’s Kingdom of Heaven dropped 45.2% £1,385,529 (£2,344,515 inflated) and £5,059,738 65.2% of £7,755,814 (£13,123,957 inflated)
2007’s 300 dropped 51.8% £2,287,590 (£3,610,315 inflated) and £9,073,923 64.9% of £13,986,190 (£22,073,254 inflated)
1992’s The Last of the Mohicans dropped 8% £688,290 (£1,708,932 inflated) and £1,975,376 40.5% of £4,872,044 (£12,096,633 inflated)
2004’s The Last Samurai dropped 24.8% £2,048,193 (£3,635,657 inflated) and £6,126,251 53.3% of £11,688,667 (£20,419,028 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.”
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.
761st biggest between American Gangster and The Artist (close to Red Dragon, Inglourious Basterds, Cliffhanger and Alita: Battle Angel) and 1,259th biggest inflated between Wild Hogs and The Mummy (2017) close to Fight Club, Rocky II, Valkyrie and Edge of Tomorrow).
- The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes – £1,689,887 – £13,036,525
Down 37.4% in its third weekend
Took £433k 25.6% (38.8% drop £708k) Friday; £697k 41.2% (36.7% drop £1.11m) Saturday; £560k 33.1% (35.7% drop £871k) Sunday.
297th biggest third weekend between Armageddon and Johnny English Strikes Again (close to Mad Max: Fury Road, Django Unchained, Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn 1 and Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes) and 531st inflated between The Matrix Revolutions and Maleficent (close to The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Gulliver’s Travels and Honey, I Blew Up the Kid).
Third weekends
2012’s The Hunger Games dropped 19% £2,394,782 #2 and £15,168,889 of £23,684,966
2013’s THG: Catching Fire dropped 51% £2,694,862 #2 and £26,358,083 of £33,788,744
2014’s THG: Mockingjay, Part 1 dropped 54% £2,249,045 #2 and £25,248,214 of £30,840,529
2015’s THG: Mockingjay, Part 2 dropped 50% £2,240,723 #1 and £23,321,491 of £29,046,986
The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes 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.
516th biggest between The Meg 2 and Wedding Crashers (close to Dungeons & Dragons, Jumanji, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Jungle Cruise) and 892nd biggest inflated between A Good Day to Die Hard and A Quiet Place (close to Midnight Express, Kingdom of Heaven, Superman IV and The Krays).
- Wish – £1,440,044 – £4,376,957
Dropped 40.8% in its second weekend.
Took £188k 13.1% (53.6% drop £405k) Friday; £662k 46% (38.1% drop £1.07m) Saturday; £590k 41% (38.3% drop £957k) Sunday.
672nd biggest second weekend between The Smurfs and Lyle, Lyle Crocodile (close to School of Rock, Back to the Future Part II, Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and Batman (1989) and 1,144th biggest inflated between Central Intelligence and State of Play (close to As Good As It Gets, Alice Through the Looking Glass, The Muppets Christmas Carol and Scrooged).
18th biggest Disney animated film second weekend since 1989’s Oliver & Company between The Princess and the Frog and Hercules (close to Lilo & Stitch, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Aladdin (1993) and Encanto) and 27th inflated between Oliver & Company (1989), Encanto, Brother Bear and The Rescuers Down Under (1991).
24th biggest 2023 second weekend between A Haunting In Venice and Five Nights At Freddy’s (close to Dungeons & Dragons, Meg 2: The Trench, M3gan and The Flash).
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 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.
Opened 10 years after Frozen and released during Disney’s 100th anniversary they were hoping Wish 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.
Late November opening for family films normally plays 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.
28th biggest Disney animated film between Brother Bear and Meet the Robinsons (close to The Little Mermaid (1990), Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Strange World and Oliver & Company (1990) and 31st biggest inflated between The Rescuers Down Under (1991) and Strange World (close to Oliver & Company and Encanto).
The 34 Disney animated films since Oliver & Company have taken over £455m and £720m+ inflated; the average second weekend £1.91m and the average BO is £13.34m and £21.1m inflated.
- Renaissance: A Film By Beyonce £1,082,080 – NE
Took £504k 46.6% Fri £268k 24.8% Sat; £310k 28.6% Sun; Eras Tour 38.8% Fri; Sat 33%; Sun 25.5%
51st 2023 opening between What’s Love Got to Do With It and The Fabelmans (close to Air, Asteroid City, Grand Turismo and Haunted Mansion).
1,537th biggest opening between What’s Love Got To Do With It? And Born on the Fourth of July (close to Galaxy Quest, Sleepless in Seattle, In The Heights and Shall We Dance?) and 2,105th inflated between What’s Love Got To Do With It? And War Dogs (close to The Princess Diaries, Much Ado About Nothing, Backbeat and Kinky Boots); of course, impossible to compare with any of them due to the price point being far more than standard prices.
Opened in 571 cinemas 265th widest opening similar to Sherlock Gnomes and Minions
2,230th highest screen average (£1,895) between Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and My Week with Marilyn (close to West Side Story, Alien Autopsy, Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach and Top Gun); this shows how poor its opening was despite standard price almost 750% more than Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (£2.15).
To put Renaissance’s opening into perspective with £17.99 standard price sold about 60k tickets over 3 days in 571 cinemas while Beyonce sold 238k for her London concerts alone. Over half a million fans in February tried to book tickets to her concerts in the summer despite them costing about £200, so why didn’t the fans who missed the chance to see her live in the summer see the £17.99 cheaper option?
Advance bookings opened in the UK on November 9 a month after they went on sale in the US but unlike Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, no booking data was released. Unofficially sources said they were less than a quarter of Eras Tour.
It took 4.96% of the US opening Vs 6.2% for the Eras Tour
The film had its US premiere on November 25th and UK premiere on November 30both attended by Beyonce and Taylor Swift generating huge social media coverage. Over 2.7 million fans worldwide attended Beyonce’s Renaissance tour this year generating almost $600m.
So why did Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour open 7 weeks ago with £5.72m (£2.25m Fri; £1.89m Sat; £1.46m Sun and Beyonce’s Renaissance open with 80% less as Beyonce is almost as popular as Taylor Swift and as her fans loved her summer concerts it would have given them a chance to experience it again. The 750,076 Swifties who managed to buy tickets for her Era Tours concerts would surely have mixed emotions about seeing it in the cinemas 9 months earlier, that said they probably had seen most of the concert on TikTok.
What would be interesting to know is how many who went to see Renaissance and Eras Tour also had tickets to see the live concerts or if they were playing those who couldn’t get tickets. In the past Event Cinema has screened live concerts of the likes of BTS and Take That and they took a similar BO over one night compared to Beyonce’s three days; 2017’s Take That: Wonderland Live £1,004,918 #5 from 481 screens; 2015’s Take That Live £965,000 #2 from 421 screens; 2019’s Greatest Hits Live £1,834,379 #5 606 screens. While 2022’s BTS Permission To Dance On Stage – Seoul opened £899,127 #3 from 351 screens.
The difference was that these were one-day screenings which made them Events where both Taylor Swift and Beyonce played on multiple days, while Eras Tour was an Event as the concerts hadn’t played in the UK yet for Beyonce it was 6 months later so didn’t justify the same high-ticket price.
Since Event Cinema arrived always believed it was a great addition to cinema, but they needed to justify the doubling of prices.
Took £429k 42.8% Saturday and £572k 57.1% Sunday.
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 on 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.
Also opened.
- Elf (20th Anniversary) – Warner Bros
Opened £345,365 #9 from 470 screens.
As 20 years ago Elf was 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; in 2020’s £451,441 and 2021’s £1,726,846 after opening with £111,036 #14 from 252 screens.
It originally opened in November 2003 with £4,538,440 #2 from 392 screens taking £16,518,290.
Saving Private Ryan was also re-released in 231 cinemas taking £19,832 for its 25th anniversary.
It was originally released in September 1998 with £2,704,522 from 423 screens (£5,348,645 inflated) taking £18,748,640 (£37,078,576 inflated)
UK box office in detail
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £9,107,292 down 26.6% from last weekend’s £12,410,416: 997,116 admissions down 35.2% from 1,537,746 admissions.
30th biggest weekend of the year out of 48 weeks between 27 January 2023 Avatar: The Way of Water (£2,116,615) and 01 September 2023 The Equalizer 3 (£2,783,302)
73rd biggest since cinemas reopened out of 159 weeks between 29 April 2022 Downton Abbey: A New Era (£3,072,762) and 01 September 2023 The Equalizer 3 (£2,783,302)
700th biggest top 10 of the last 21 years (out of 1,131) between 27 September 2019 #1 Downton Abbey £2,682,080 (29.41% of top 10) and 29 August 2014 #1 Lucy £1,972,039 (21.69% of top 10) and 971st biggest inflated between 06 March 2015 #1 The Second-Best Exotic Marigold Hotel £1,957,25 (23.70% of top 10) and 09 December 2016 #1 Fantastic Beasts £2,734,960 (32.31% of top 10)
The top 3 took (£5,038,902) 55.3% of the top 10; Napoleon 20.96% (1,908,971); The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes 18.56% (£1,689,887); Wish 15.81% (£1,440,044)
999th highest #1 percentage (20.96%) between 11 March 2011 Battle: Los Angeles (20.99%) and 09 April 2004 Scooby-Doo Too (20.92%).
1,019th biggest admissions #1 (239,520) between 13 June 2003 The Matrix Reloaded (241,340) and 16 July 2021 Black Widow (239,497)
Up 46.2% from 2022 (£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)
Up 49.2% from 2021 (£6,103,233); Christmas With Andre (£693,676); Boxing Day (£265,263); Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City (£253,200); The Matrix (Re: 2021) (£128,585); Elf (Re: 2021) (£111,036); C’mon C’mon (£106,680); CBeebies Christmas Show 2021 (£105,864); Love Actually (Re: 2021) (£24,848); It’s A Wonderful Life (1946) (75th Anniversary) (£27,723); Eurydice – Met Opera 2021 (£25,683); Blue Bayou (£8,975); #1 House of Gucci £1,511,982 2nd week 706 screens 38% drop (24.8% of top 10)
2020 COVID Second Lockdown
Down 43.1% 2019 (£15,983,967); Les Miserables: The Staged Concert (£946,786); Gremlins (4K Restoration) (£162,528); Motherless Brooklyn (£153,821); Elf (Re: 2019) (£148,489); Friends 25th: The One With The Anniversary (£126,302); Ordinary Love (£66,688); Honey Boy (£33,463); Frozen 2 £8,711,498 50% drop 2nd week 676 screens (54.5% of top 10)
Down 40.9% 2018:(£15,392,277); Ralph Breaks the Internet (£4,032,775); Creed 2 (£2,991,509); Disobedience (£193,907); Pokemon the Movie: The Power of Us (£177,750); The Possession of Hannah Grace (£113,537); #1 Ralph Breaks the Internet £4,032,775 1st week 613 screens (26.2% of top 10)
Down 7.8% 2017: (£9,864,139); Wonder (£1,240,245); The Man Who Invented Christmas (£168,137); The Nutcracker – Bolshoi 2017 (£160,421); Happy End (£135,682); The Disaster Artist (£130,238); #1 Paddington 2 £2,883,617 3rd week 2nd #1 37% drop 652 screens (29.2% of top 10)
Down 18.4% 2016: (£11,160,568); Moana (£2,214,898); Sully: Miracle on the Hudson (£1,786,844); The Edge of Seventeen (£273,139); Bleed for This (£250,975); Blue Velvet (Re: 2016) (£16,880); Eat that Question (£1,468); #1 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them £4,494,727 3rd week 649 screens 50% drop (40.3% of the top 10)
Down 0.2% 2015; (£9,087,311); Christmas with the Coopers (£683,217); Victor Frankenstein (£431,125); Krampus (£412,713); The Night Before (£272,930); The Lady of the Camellias – Bolshoi 2015 (£105,300); #1 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2 £2,240,723 3rd week 539 screens 51% drop (24.6% of top 10)
Down 20.5% 2014: (£11,455,843); Penguins of Madagascar (£1,575,949); Get Santa (£576,722); St. Vincent (£389,136); Black Sea (£246,309); The Pyramid (£190,049); Men, Women and Children (£73,393); #1 Paddington £3,837,885 2nd week 540 screens 25% drop (33.5% of top 10)
Down 19.5% 2013: (£11,314,366); Free Birds (£1,044,074); Saving Mr Banks (£795,615); Carrie (£662,625); The Best Man Holiday (£128,503); #1 The Hunger Games: Catching Fire £5,525,476 2nd week 55% drop 557 screens (48.8% of top 10)
Down 10.9% 2012 (£10,220,354); Rise of the Guardians (£1,968,984); Great Expectations (£544,636); Alex Cross (£226,780); Sightseers (£213,066); Trouble with the Curve (£41,391); #1 Skyfall £2,275,469 6th week 4th #1 41% drop 532 screens (22.2% of top 10)
Down 9.2% 2011 (£8,340,633); Happy Feet 2 (£1,686,197); Hugo (£1,225,987); The Thing (£485,534); The Big Year (£122,591); Margaret (£4,595); #1 Arthur Christmas £1,896,595 4th week 1st #1 502 screens 25% drop (22.7% of top 10)
Down 0.5% 2010: (£9,062,260); Megamind (£2,827,502); Monsters (£348,577); The Warrior’s Way (£105,389); Secretariat (£40,941); #1 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 1 £3,739,781 3rd week 570 screens 55% drop 41.2% of top 10)
Down 10.7% 2009; (£10,195,907); Planet 51 (£1,513,003); The Box (£474,938); The Descent: Part 2 (£313,739); Me and Orson Welles (£166,389); #1 Paranormal Activity £1,839,273 2nd week 398 screens 49% drop (18.1% of top 10)
Down 17.7% 2008; (£11,060,816); Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (£6,342,997); Transporter 3 (£958,615); Lakeview Terrace (£224,493); The Secret Life of Bees (£74,626); #1 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa £6,342,997 1st week 520 screens (57.3% of top 10)
Up 33.7% 2007: (£6,812,364); Fred Claus (£1,937,042); Hitman (£1,240,698); The Assassination of Jesse James (£180,886); This Christmas (£46,820); #1 Fred Claus £1,937,042 1st week 445 screens (28.4% of top 10)
Down 26.2% 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 3rd week 506 screens 38% drop (43% of top 10)
Down 5.1% 2005 (£9,591,419); Keeping Mum (£645,886); Doom (£612,087); Where the Truth Lies (£67,446); #1 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire £4,829,804 3rd week 536 screens 48% drop (50.3% of top 10)
Up 12.1% from 2004 (£8,128,185); Christmas with the Kranks (£777,771); Churchill: The Hollywood Years (£148,326); The Merchant of Venice (£147,709); The Polar Express (platform) (£104,632); School for Seduction (£39,213); #1 The Incredibles £4,187,280 3rd week 2nd #1 57% drop 495 screens (51.5% of top 10)
Down 13.7% from 2003 (£10,553,520); S.W.A.T. (£1,960,281); Brother Bear (£887,321); Timeline (£279,505); Thirteen (£53,553); #1 Love Actually £3,202,417 3rd week 478 screens 31% drop (30.3% of top 10)
Down 26.6% 2002 (£12,415,161); The Santa Clause 2 (£951,754); Enough (£340,600); The Quiet American (£240,552); #1 Die Another Day £5,364,433 2nd week 431 screens 41% drop (43.2% of top 10)
Down 1.2% 2001 (£9,215,665); Zoolander (£676,518); Bandits (£644,271); Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (£381,940); Ghosts of Mars (£104,723); The Devil’s Backbone (£45,145); #1 Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone £5,809,759 3rd week 508 screens 31% drop (63.1% of top 10);
Next week: (£4,557,646); The Nutcracker – ROH, London 2022 (£133,397); The Hours – Met Opera 2022 (£54,274); The Silent Twins (£33,599); #1 Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical £1,385,835 3rd week 17% drop 717 screens (30.41% of top 10)
Film News
November UK BO was £59.8m 9% less than November 2022 would see admissions of about 7.2m down 10.9% from 2022 (8.08m) using an £8.21 average from October. Admissions Jan-Nov 111.8m.
The biggest films in November
| THG: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes £11.3m |
| Napoleon £7.4m |
| The Marvels £6.74m |
| Trolls Band Together £4.18m |
| Killers of the Flower Moon £3.31m |
| Five Nights at Freddy’s £3.16m |
| Wish £2.93m |
| Saltburn £2.56m |
| Taylor Swift: Eras Tour £1.51m |
| Tiger 3 £1.45m |
December admissions last year 9.26m with Avatar 2. Matilda and I Wanna Dance With Somebody and 13.54m in 2021 due mostly to Spider-Man: No Way Home. Before 2020 December admissions were far higher; 2013 15.7m; 2014 17.11m; 2015 16.48m; 2016 15.21m; 2017 17.16m; 2018 15.66m and 2019 18.5m.
December 2023 will likely be less than last year; this will see UK admissions of about 120m similar to what they were in 1994 when there was real positivity and steady growth for almost 10 years. There was hope admissions could top 200m by 2000, while they didn’t get to 200m they still grew steadily for the next 9 years to 175m.
2023 monthly admissions
| January | 8,606,271 |
| February | 9,206,408 |
| March | 8,234,751 |
| April | 11,453,626 |
| May | 9,563,166 |
| June | 8,905,084 |
| July | 17,600,142 |
| August | 14,576,128 |
| September | 7,444,987 |
| October | 9,027,927 |
| November | 7,200,000 |
| Total | 111,818,490 |
Post-COVID has been much talk about the next Golden Age of cinema and that admissions could get finally to 200m but that no feels a long way away. BO for 2023 is expected to return to about £1bn for the first time since 2019, but to put that into perspective it would be similar to inflation inflated BO of 1994
US Box Office
- Renaissance: A Film By Beyonce – AMC
Opened $21.8m #1; received positive reviews (100% Rotten Tomatoes) and A+ CinemaScore (similar scores as Eras Tour)
It was front-loaded dropping 48% Saturday from Friday
Took $5.1m from Thursday midnights; more than $2.8m Eras Tour (but Thursday previews were only announced by Taylor Swift the day before at the premiere).
Impossible to compare it with other films which were Spectre $5.2m; Dune $5.1m; Straight Outta Compton $4.95m; Pitch Perfect 2 $4.6m.
956th biggest opening between Notting Hill and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life (close to Life of Pi, The Social Network, My Best Friend’s Wedding and American Reunion.
49% was from IMAX/PLF with IMAX taking $4.6m in the US and $5.1m worldwide.
Over 70% of Friday’s audience was female; 50% were Black; almost 70% were between ages 18 and 24 and 43% were between ages 25 and 34. Eras Tour was 82% female; 83% between 18 and 34; 32% between 25 and 34; and teenagers (17%).
As with Eras Tour and One Direction’s This Is Us 10 years ago only a very small percentage of fans came out to see it over the opening weekend as with $22 standard price had about 900k admissions.
EntTelligence reported 900k admissions with an average price of $22 as the standard price was $22.
| Beyonce Taylor Swift |
| Pre 1pm 12% 19% |
| 1pm to 5pm 33% 33% |
| 5pm to 8pm 34% 36% |
| 8pm + 21% 12% |
The big question was why AMC dated the film for the weekend after Thanksgiving which is historically one of the worst weekends of the year surely after the opening of the Eras Tour it deserved a prime slot, especially as AMC will be complaining next year of a lack of new high-profile content.
Eras Tour opened $92.8m (4.6m admissions (8.8m $10.53) with $19.89 standard price) taking $178.28m (8.9m admissions) (17m $10.53) and $248.97m worldwide (12m) (23.6m $10.53).
After Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour opened with $92.8m last month expectations were high for Beyonce her 56 summer concerts were the highest grossing by a female artist in history generating $579m in ticket sales, taking $10.3m per show. Beyonce played in 10 countries Across 39 cities and was watched by 2.7 million fans. The concerts for both Beyonce and Taylor Swift generated over $2bn.
As with Eras Tour, It’s impossible to compare the opening with any other concert film due to the standard price of $22, but that hasn’t stopped the industry from doing so.
Renaissance received its US premiere on November 25, A-list attendees including Taylor Swift, other Destiny’s Child members Kelly Rowland, Michelle Williams, LaTavia Roberson and LeToya Luckett, as well as Janelle Monáe, Halle Bailey, Gabrielle Union, Lupita Nyong’o, and Kris Jenner, generating massive social media coverage.
So why didn’t it open anywhere near Eras Tour Beyonce has almost as many fans as Taylor Swift and has older fans and sold as many albums as Taylor Swift including Destiny’s Child sales. Beyonce has far more Instagram followers 314m Vs 267m, while Swift has double the amount of streams as Beyonce.
Other concert films charging regular prices include.
2009’s Michael Jackson: This Is It opened $23.23m taking $72.09m and $261.18m worldwide
2011’s Justin Bieber: Never Say Never opened $29.51m $73.01m and $99.03m worldwide
2012’s Katy Perry’s Part of Me opened $7.13m $25.32m and $32.72m worldwide
2013’s One Direction: This Is Us opened $15.81m $28.87m and $68.56m worldwide
It was also called the biggest post-Thanksgiving opening ahead of 2003’s The Last Samurai 524.27m, but as standard prices are up 75%+ from 2003 ($6.03 Vs $10.53) but Renaissance standard price was 265% more ($22).
Eras Tour opened internationally $30.7m from 94 territories; played in over 8,500 screens worldwide and $123.5m worldwide.
Opened with $6.4m from 94 territories; France $1.4m; UK $1.2m; Australia $400k; $5.1m from IMAX worldwide.
Eras Tour opened $30.7m from 94 territories (5,300+ screens worldwide); playing in over 8,500 screens worldwide taking $123.5m worldwide.
- Napoleon – Sony Pictures
Dropped 65% in the second weekend taking $7.27m #6 and $45.89m.
1,985th biggest between Look Who’s Talking Too and The Rocketeer; 3,250th inflated between Geronimo: An American Legend and A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas; 44th biggest 2023 between Talk To Me and Gran Turismo; 127th biggest drama between Goodfellas and Gangster Squad; 262nd biggest Sony Pictures between Look Who’s Talking Too and Arthur Christmas.
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.
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.
As Killers of the Flower Moon was released on VOD on December 5th after 45 days Napolean will likely be released on VOD about January 8th.
Ridley Scott has directed 29 films over the last 44 years taking $1.752bn in the US and $4.5bn worldwide.
Second Weekends
2000’s Gladiator dropped 29.2% $24.64m and $73.66m of $187.7m and $503.16m worldwide
1995’s Braveheart dropped 24.2% $12.9m and $25.74m of $75.6m and $213.21m worldwide
2004’s Troy dropped 48.9% $23.92m and $85.96m of $133.37m and $497.4m worldwide
2020’s 1917 dropped 40.6% $21.98m and $76.6m of $159.22m and $384.57m worldwide
Others include.
2003’s Master and Commander dropped 39.4% $15.21m and $47.27m of $93.92m and $211.62m worldwide
2005’s Kingdom of Heaven dropped 51% $9.62m and $35.09m of $47.39m and $218.12m worldwide
2007’s 300 dropped 53.6% $32.87m and $129.16m of $210.62m and $456.08m worldwide
2004’s The Last Samurai dropped 42% $14.08m and $46.87m of $111.12m and $454.62m worldwide
2005’s Alexander dropped 65.2% $4.75m and $29.68m of $34.29m and $167.29m worldwide
2014’s Exodus: Gods and Kings dropped 66.4% $8.1m and $38.94m of $65.01m and $268.17m worldwide
1990’s Dances With Wolves opened $9.49m (after expansion) taking $184.2m
Took $28.6m (down 46%) from 63 territories $90.9m total and $136.6m worldwide; UK $11.8m; France $9.9m; Germany $6.2m; Spain $6.2m; Italy $6.1m. IMAX took $12.6m globally.
- The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes – Lionsgate
Dropped 51% in the third weekend #2 $14.17m and $120.91m.
347th biggest third weekend between You’ve Got Mail and Dreamgirls (close to Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, Hobbs & Shaw, Jason Bourne and Tomorrow Never Dies).
582nd biggest between G.I. Joe: Retaliation and Clear and Present Danger; 1,303rd inflated between Wayne’s World 2 and Daddy’s Home 2; 18th biggest 2023 between Five Nights at Freddy’s and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem; 13th biggest Lionsgate film between The Divergent Series: Insurgent and Fahrenheit 9/11.
The Hunger Games films have taken over $1.6bn in the US and $3.2bn worldwide.
Third Weekends
2012’s The Hunger Games dropped 43.4% $33.11m and $302.45m of $408.01m and $695.22m WW
2013’s The Hunger Games: Catching Fire dropped 64.7% $26.18m and $335.85m of $424.66m and $865.01m WW
2014’s The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 dropped 61.3% $22.02m and $258.13m of $337.13m and $755.35m WW
2015’s The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 dropped 63.7% $18.85m and $227.36m of $281.72m and $659.54m WW
2016’s Fantastic Beasts dropped 59.8% $18.11m and $185.08m of $234.03m and $816.03m worldwide; $582m internationally 71.3%
2018’s The Crimes of Grindelwald dropped 61.3% $11.36m and $134.5m of $159.55m and $655.775m worldwide; 75.7% internationally $496.2m
2022’s The Secrets of Dumbledore dropped 40.7% $8.3m and $79.56m of $95.85m and $407.15m worldwide; internationally 76.5% $311.3m
Took $14.9m from 87 territories $122.7m total and $243.9m worldwide; UK $16.2m; Germany $10.9m; France $9.4m; Australia $9.3m; Mexico $8.7m.
707th biggest worldwide between Hulk and Back to the Future Part III;28th biggest 2023 between Sound of Freedom and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves; 18th biggest Lionsgate film between The Expendables and Fahrenheit 9/11.
- Wish – Disney
Dropped 61% in the second weekend $7.7m #5 and $42.25m.
30th biggest second-weekend Disney animation opening between Home on the Range and Treasure Planet (close to The Emperor’s New Groove, The Little Mermaid, Winnie the Pooh and Strange World).
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 can’t year after year depend solely on MCU, remakes, reimaginations and sequels as after time audiences will realise they are all hype no sustenance.
Disney animated films
2013’s Frozen dropped 53.1% $31.61m and $134.25m of $400.73m and $1.28bn worldwide
2014’s Big Hero 6 dropped 38.3% $34.66m and $110.3m of $222.52m and $657.86m worldwide.
2016’s Zootopia dropped 31.6% $51.33m and $143.95m of $341.26m and $1.025bn worldwide
2016’s Moana dropped 50.1% $28.27m and $119.78m of $248.75m and $687.22m worldwide
2018’s Ralph Breaks The Internet dropped 54.5% $25.56m and $119.1m of $201.09m and $529.32m worldwide
2019’s Frozen 2 dropped 34% $85.97m and $288.84m of $477.37m and $1.453bn worldwide
2017’s Coco dropped 45.8% taking $27.53m and $110.1m of $210.46m and $807.81m worldwide
2021’s Encanto dropped 51.7% $13.14m and $58.36m of $96.09m and $256.78m worldwide
2022’s Strange World dropped 58.2% $5.08m and $25.68m of $37.96m and $73.62m worldwide
The 34 Disney Animated Classic films since 1988 have taken over $4.24bn in the US; $9bn inflated and over $11bn worldwide.
Took $18.8m from 33 territories total $39.6m and $81.6m worldwide; UK $5.5m; China $5.3m; France $4.1m; Mexico $3.6m; Germany $3.5m.
Strange World took $5.2m in its second weekend from 42 territories and $16.8m and $42.3m worldwide.
- The Marvels – Disney
Dropped 60% in the fourth weekend taking $2.52m #11 and $80.75m.
Fourth weekend
2019’s Captain Marvel dropped 39.7% $20.66m and $353.97m of $426.82m and $1.13bn WW
Lowest grossing MCU fourth weekend; previous lowest Black Widow $6.47m; The Incredible Hulk $4.89m.
MCU films have taken $11.8bn in the US and $29.745bn worldwide.
1,050th biggest between The Notebook and Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius; 2,033rd biggest inflated between Apocalypto and Fat Albert; 28th biggest 2023 between Insidious: The Red Door and Trolls Band Together; 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); 181st biggest Disney between While You Were Sleeping and War Horse.
The Marvels has become the lowest-grossing MCU and will be the first not to take over $100m in the US, 2019’s Captain Marvel opened with $153m. Bob Iger said, “We got to the point where if a film didn’t do a billion dollars in the global box office, we were disappointed,” …. “That’s an unbelievably high standard, and I think we have to get more realistic.”
When you live by the sword, you die by the sword, Disney are in the property business they always need to outdo the previous one, the problem is it has taken by the-by-the-numbers approach with recent MCU films that hasn’t matched the quality levels up to Avengers Endgame.
Marvel’s issues can be traced back to 2016’s Civil War as it was when audiences for solo films stopped growing (Black Panther was a one-off cultural phenomenon as was NWH). The end credit scene many cinemagoers wouldn’t see started issues compounded by TV spin offs made the films inaccessible to new audiences as Disney failed to learn lessons from Star Wars films.
Deadpool 3 could be the palate cleanser much depends on how much free rein Marvel has given Ryan, but then rumours Captain America: Brave New World tested very badly having extensive reshoots next year and then having unnecessary reboots of Blade and the third Fantastic Four in 20 years. Marvel will have accessible issues with the majority of their films until the next Avengers film in 2026, as the films till then won’t attract new audiences as newbies need to do 125 hours of homework.
Phase 4 of the MCU has been disappointing both critically and at the BO except for Spider-Man: No Way Home, so Marvel’s issues started long before The Marvels, as it affected Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Ant-Man 3, Black Panther Wakanda Forever, Thor: Love and Thunder, Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness, Eternals, Shang-Chi and Black Widow. There are now 8 months before the next MCU Deadpool 3, the big question is will Disney let Ryan Reynolds go as far as Fox did with the first two films or will they reign him in? Captain America: A Brave New World has been reportedly delayed to 2025 due to poor test screenings and it will have extensive reshoots early next year.
As always when a film underperforms excuses come out and this time Bob Iger said, “There wasn’t as much supervision on the set, so to speak, where we have executives [that are] really looking over what’s being done day after day after day.”
But surely the issue is due to studios signing inexperienced directors, Nia DaCosta had made two low-budget films (Little Woods $11m and Candyman $25m) before taking the huge leap to make a high budget ($275m) studios do this all the time. If the film underperforms it’s the director who always gets the blame rather than the producers who hired them.
I wonder if there’s a little bit of sexism in his comments as studios regularly signed directors who have made low-budget films to make high-budget films like Michael Lehmann going from Heathers to Hudson Hawk, Josh Trank from Chronicle to Fantastic Four, Michel Gondry from Be Kind Rewind to The Green Hornet, Gavin Hood from Tsotsi to X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Jean-Pierre Jeunet from Delicatessen to Alien: Resurrection, Spike Jonze from Being John Malkovich to Where The Wild Things Are, all struggled to get next directing job. But it’s even harder for female directors who have taken that leap and film underperforms to then move on to their next film.
After Wonder Woman was a huge BO hit Patty Jenkins received huge praise but ten after WW84 flopped struggled to find her next film dropping out from directing Cleopatra, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron and Wonder Woman 3. Why is it the director always takes the blame for a film flop when it comes to tentpoles hiring an inexperienced director allows producers to pull the strings.
If Disney felt the director needed more supervision, why did they shoot the film in the UK? The reason of course was filming in the UK they received a tax break of about $50m.
Took $3.4m from 52 territories $116.1m total and $197m worldwide; Disney have announced they will stop reporting internationally BO for The Marvels
924th biggest worldwide between The Intern and Stargate; 31st biggest 2023 between Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie; 86th biggest comic book between Birds of Prey and Superman II; 146th biggest Disney between Christopher Robin and Need for Speed.
- Trolls Band Together – Universal Pictures
Dropped 56% in the third weekend $7.83m #4 and $75.06m.
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 50.1% $17.44m and $116.16m 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
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 $3.9m from 71 territories $85.84m total and $160.6m worldwide.
UK Box Office Top 10
UK Box Office Preview
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’s prequel Wonka has been generating strong buzz for several weeks and received positive reviews. Roald Dahl’s film adaptions have been extremely popular in the UK. Wonka is directed by Paul King who previously directed the first two Paddington films both critical and BO hits and many critics compared Wonka to Paddington.
2014’s Paddington opened £5,125,519 #1 from 518 screens taking £37,965,541; it was #1 for 2 weeks; in the top 5 for 8 weeks and in the top 10 for 12 weeks; took £2m+ for 6 weeks and £1+ for 7 weeks.
2017’s Paddington 2 opened £8,260,160 #1 from 607 screens taking £42,643,286; it was #1 for 3 weeks split over 5 weeks, opened #1, then dropped #2 for 2 weeks before returning #1 in early December; in top 5 for 8 weeks and top 10 for 10 weeks; took £2m+ for 4 weeks and £1m+ for 9 weeks.
Opening the first week of December Wonks will likely be #1 for two weeks, then drop #2 in the third weekend against Aquaman 2 before returning to #1 in its fourth weekend as it will play strongly over the next 5 weeks.
Roald Dahl’s film adaptions play strongly to children and families, but the casting of Timothée Chalamet as Wonka will attract tweens/teens and as musicals are also very popular it should play to almost all demographics.
2005’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory opened £7,972,168 (£13,676,246 inflated) taking £37,354,584 (£64,081,749 inflated)
2016’s The BFG opened £5,288,529 taking £30,694,086
2022’s Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical opened £4,135,418 taking £28,044,574
The arrival of Wonka will see holdovers drooping over 50% with the biggest drops from The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes and Renaissance: A Film By Beyonce (60%+) with Napoleon dropping slightly less.
Opening in two weeks
- Anyone But You – Sony Pictures
Romantic comedy starring Sydney Sweeney, Glen Powell, Alexandra Shipp, GaTa, Hadley Robinson, Michelle Hurd, Dermot Mulroney, Darren Barnet, and Rachel Griffiths and directed by Will Gluck.
Will Gluck goes back to his rom-com roots (Friends with Benefits and Easy A) after directing Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway, Peter Rabbit 2 and Annie.
It’s a return to romcom for Glen Powell after starring in Top Gun: Maverick last year, he starred in Netflix’s Set It Up in 2018 alongside Zoey Deutch.
2011’s Friends with Benefits opened £1,947,272 #2 from 432 screens and £6,241,762
2010’s Easy A opened £277,975 #8 203 screens and £773,795
- Next Goal Wins – Disney
Sports comedy-drama starring Michael Fassbender, Oscar Kightley, Kaimana, David Fane, Rachel House, Beulah Koale, Will Arnett, and Elisabeth Moss and directed by Taika Waititi.
Based on the 2014 documentary of the same name by Mike Brett and Steve Jamison. Premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, received mixed reviews (42% Rotten Tomatoes) but struggled to find an audience in the US last month.
Taika Waititi’s 2020’s JoJo Rabbit opened £2,415,233 #5 from 532 screens taking £7,541,315
2016’s Hunt for the Wilderpeople opened £167,646 #15 from 63 screens taking £391,241
2014’s What We Do in the Shadows opened £127,765 #12 from 33 screens
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 sporting films include.
2014’s Million Dollar Arm opened £150,050 #15 from 236 screens
1994’s Cool Runnings opened £1,017,581 from 205 screens (£2,495,422 inflated) taking £9,506,926 (£23,313,908 inflated)
1997’s Fever Pitch opened £463,386 (£907,417 inflated) from 223 screens taking £1,672,141 (£3,274,438 inflated)
2009’s The Damned United opened £618,929 #5 from 236 screens taking £2,179,291
Fictional sporting films include.
2005’s Goal opened £857,253 #3 from 366 screens (£1,450,596 inflated) taking £2,110,210 (£3,570,780 inflated)
2001’s The Mean Machine opened £1,573,594 (£3,029,358 inflated) #3 from 313 screens taking £4,388,287 (£8,447,982 inflated)
2005’s Kicking And Screaming opened £240,452 #8 from 260 screens taking £615,675
- Ferrari – Black Bear
Biographical sports drama starring Adam Driver, Penélope Cruz, Shailene Woodley, Sarah Gadon, Gabriel Leone, Jack O’Connell, and Patrick Dempsey and directed by Michael Mann.
Based on the 1991 biography Enzo Ferrari: The Man, the Cars, the Races, the Machine by motorsport journalist Brock Yates.
Premiered at the Venice International Film Festival receiving positive reviews (73% Rotten Tomatoes)
The film was originally acquired by STX for the US and UK, but Neon then acquired US rights and Sky Cinema UK rights. It was the Surprise Film at the London Film Festival. This is the most high-profile film Sky Cinema has acquired for the UK (they also acquired Promising Young Woman). Will be interesting to see if major exhibitors will book it as they have previously refused to book Sky Cinema films despite the channel being available to less than a quarter of the population.
Michael Mann previously directed Blackhat, Public Enemies, Miami Vice, Collateral, Ali, The Insider, Heat, The Last of the Mohicans and Manhunter.
2009’s Public Enemies opened £2,228,291 #2 from 458 screens taking £6,686,950
2006’s Miami Vice opened £2,231,684 #1 from 408 screens taking £6,873,370
2004’s Collateral opened £2,238,200 #1 from 450 screens taking £8,192,302
2002’s Ali opened £1,315,506 taking £4,367,867 #3 from 330 screens (£8,408,671 inflated)
2000’s The Insider opened £437,078 (£791,707 inflated) 186 screens taking £1,379,265 (£2,498,351 inflated)
1996’s Heat opened £1,624,316 from 221 screens (£3,498,864 inflated) taking £9,717,993 (£20,933,082 inflated)
1992’s The Last of the Mohicans opened £748,447 from 235 screens (£1,858,294 inflated) taking £4,872,044 (£12,096,633 inflated)
2015’s Blackhat opened £147,199 #14
Adam Driver starred in 65 earlier this year (opening £1,270,409 and taking £3,211,908) and House of Gucci and The Last Duel in 2021.