Read many experts say UK box office is the equivalent to 10% of the US box office total while this was the case 20 or more years ago the same time £10m in the UK or $100m in the US meant the film was a success but not anymore.
After reading this week Blade Runner 2049 has taken far more than the normal 10% decided to see how many film releases this year have taken 10% of the US box office and of the 140 films I have been monitoring from the major studios and main independents 10% (10 films) of the 140 films so widened it out to between 8% and 12% but that was only 14% (20 films) of the 140 films released this year.
The problem is industry still compares a film’s success as it did 20 years ago but as ticket prices have more than doubled since while marketing costs and budgets have also more than doubled a film’s success can’t be calculated the same way. You only need to compare UK and US cinema ‘growth’ since 2002 with the growth of Netflix in 2002 Netflix had 857k subscribers in the US now its 109m while the UK had 1.2m in 2012 now its 6.8m the same time there hasn’t been any growth in admissions in either the US or the UK the only growth has been by ticket inflation. I say these things so many times but while cinemagoers who remember going to the cinema 15 years ago and paying £4
The films that were between 9% and 11% are mostly the expected wide demographic blockbusters Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Sing, Spider-Man Homecoming, Logan, Kong: Skull Island and The Mummy.
But while we might speak the same language in the UK as the US the audience is very different I previously described it as more sophisticated or more mature but then have Bridget Jones’s Baby last year being one of the biggest films of the year and the huge success of Mamma Mia and almost certainly its sequel next summer but that’s alongside the far bigger than US percentage success of Skyfall, Spectre, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Dunkirk and Blade Runner 2049.
The reason why Bridget Jones’s Baby, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Dunkirk and James Bond films is there is the Brit boost with the films made in the UK being “British” they receive far more media coverage and awareness are almost comfort films that draw audiences in as the voice says in Field of Dreams ‘If you build it they will come’ a nostalgia for better times the memberries effect that films like Jurassic World and Star Wars: The Force Awakens had globally.
This is similar to legacysequel T2: Trainspotting success earlier this year which opened 21 years after the first film as the teens who saw it in the 90s is the same age as the protagonists in the film and want to see those characters again. Both films T2: Trainspotting and Blade Runner 2049 were released in the UK by Sony Pictures.
In a similar way Blade Runner 2049 performance in the UK is similar as while the film flopped om is initial release it became a cult favourite and then a critical favourite far more in the UK than the US topping greatest film lists from the likes of Empire Magazine and the BFI whereas in the US it has received high critical praise but not on the same level as in the UK. As soon as critics called Blade Runner 2049 as good as the original the film was always never going to play outside its fanbase this didn’t help with its marketing again targeting its fanbase which alienated others I criticised a lot Star Wars: The Force Awakens for being a reboot of Star Wars: A New Hope but at least the marketing made the film widely accessible to all audience’s fans and non-fans.
As soon as critics called Blade Runner 2049 as good as the original the film was always never going to play outside its fanbase this didn’t help with its marketing again targeting its fanbase which alienated others while I have criticised Star Wars: The Force Awakens a lot for being a reboot of Star Wars: A New Hope but at least the marketing made the film widely accessible to all audience’s fans and non-fans.
Blade Runner 2049 the less is more approach which I do think is best with films marketing but not when you are trying to launch a film to a whole new generation and the film is so very different to the sci-fi they are used to seeing. While fans like this approach as they don’t want the marketing to spoil the film it does make the film far less accessible to other audiences. This made Blade Runner 2049 feel pretentious and inaccessible to fans of the original film as the original film flopped that meant the sequel was always likely to suffer smilar fate.
The success of Dunkirk taking £56.35m was the reason for both Blade Runner 2049 strong opening and Victoria and Abdul taking over £9m both trailers were screened before Dunkirk which played to a wide and older demographic and despite social media and digital marketing the best marketing for a film will always be seeing the trailer in a cinema with an audience. When I was a projectionist at Rank Film Distributors would always attach trailers before staff shows of upcoming screenings as that was always the best way to get people to come to see the next film. While Dunkirk performed well in the US it wasn’t anywhere nearly as successful as in the UK which took 30% of its US box office and about 10% of its global box office.
Warner Bros should have changed their marketing for Blade Runner 2049 after seeing Darren Aronofsky being similarly as secretive for mother plot details which his small fanbase liked this as with Blade Runner 2049 it was aiming for a wide audience that likes to know something before they go and see a film which is so different than what they might have seen before.
In 1996 Trainspotting took £12.43m was the tenth biggest film of the year T2: Trainspotting took £16.95m and is currently 18th biggest film of the year as average ticket prices have increased over 106% from 1996 from £3.70 to £7.62 admissions tell a different story Trainspotting 3.35m Vs 2.29m T2: Trainspotting.
Blade Runner 2049 is closest to Mad Max: Fury Road second weekend but dropped 49% including previews which went on to take £17,203,206.
While the marketing was stunning for Blade Runner 2049 it was similar to T2: Trainspotting as it was targeting the existing fanbase. T2 opened with £5,146,791 from 590 screens with no previews; it also opened against 5 other films that also took over £1m (Sing, La La Land, Split, Hacksaw Ridge and Lion) compared with only one for 2049 third weekend of Kingsman: The Golden Circle.
T2: Trainspotting took £2,935,145 in its second weekend (dropping 43%) and the total of £10,638,197 for 10 days in comparison Blade Runner 2049 took £3.1m; (dropping 49% with previews or 40% without) and £12.2m in 11 days (or £11.4m after 10 days). T2: Trainspotting took £16.95m and Blade Runner will likely take about £19m which will see it become Sony Pictures second biggest film in the UK behind Spider-Man; Homecoming but many expected it to take a third more.
Blade Runner 2049 opened last weekend with £6,071,625 (from 634 screens); including £858,095 from 552 previews over 30% of its opening box office came from 3D IMAX, PLF and 4DX all that had ticket surcharges of 30%; £648,605 from 375 3D screens, £498,215 from 37 IMAX/3D screens and £202,531 from 20 IMAX screens;
This compares to T2; Trainspotting £5,146,791 from 590 screens with no previews; it also opened against 5 other films that also took over £1m (Sing, La La Land, Split, Hacksaw Ridge and Lion) compared with only one for 2049 third weekend of Kingsman: The Golden Circle.
T2; Trainspotting took £2,935,145 in its second weekend (dropping 43%) and the total of £10,638,197 for 10 days in comparison Blade Runner 2049 took £3.1m; (dropping 49% with previews or 40% without) and £12.2m in 11 days (or £11.4m after 10 days). T2: Trainspotting took £16.95m and Blade Runner will likely take about £19m which will see it become Sony Pictures second biggest film in the UK behind Spider-Man; Homecoming but many expected it to take a third more.
cigarette burns and missed changeovers 