UK/US Box Office October 20th-22nd 2017 Week 43

Top 5 Breakdown

1. Blade Runner 2049 – £1,791,027 – £15,718,087

2D took £1,480,303 (83.3%) total £11,897,021 (75.7%); IMAX took £149,538 (8.4%) total £820,296 (5.2%); 3D took £75,869 (4.2%) total £1,520,306 (9.7%): IMAX/3D took £70,427 (3.9%) total £1,465,118 (9.3%).

Down 42.2% in its third weekend returning #1 only because other films underwhelmed as Blade Runner 2049 continues to perform as T2: Trainspotting but with 20% of its box office coming from 3D/IMAX/PLF and 4DX which will be about £4.5m of its final box office of £19m compared with none for T2: Trainspotting which took £16.95m and had the much more restrictive 18 BBFC certificate.

Blade Runner 2049 has become the eighteenth biggest film of 2017 and will overtake T2: Trainspotting shortly but will end with about £10m less than many expected but it was never likely to do is a sequel to a cult classic rather than the box office hit. Fans and critics got caught up in the hype and memberries to realize that it was never going to play as well to non-fans that said was always likely to perform far stronger in the UK than US taking currently 21% of its US box office.

With Thor: Ragnarok opening on Tuesday Blade Runner 2049 will drop many screens including all their 3D/IMAX/PLF and 4DX screens which will likely see it drop heavily this coming weekend taking about £794,791 is what T2: Trainspotting took in its fourth weekend against total £15.33m.

3^rd weekends

Gravity – £2,389,193 -51% – £19,444,886 59% of final BO (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire #1 £12,189,733)

Interstellar – £1,895,368 -50% – £15,866,812 – 79% of final BO (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 #1 £12,654,109)

The Martian – £2,419,958 -38% – £17,491,033 -75% of final BO (Hotel Transylvania 2 #1 £6,317,438)

Arrival – £778,449 -48% – £7,334,028 – 80% of final BO (Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them #2 £8,892,489 second weekend)

Mad Max: Fury Road £1,745,941 -34% – £13,722,941 -80% of final BO (San Andreas #1 £4,628,394)

Blade Runner 2049 third weekend box office is nearest to Mad Max: Fury Road which would see its current box office of £15.71m 80% of its final BO of £19.5m but will depend on how it holds this weekend against Thor: Ragnarok and Jigsaw.

 

2. Geostorm – £1,625,895 – NE

Despite negative reviews opened far stronger than many would have thought while a long way from last year’s Independence Day: Resurgence £5,067,855 or 2015’s San Andreas opening with £4,628,394 but bigger than 2014’s Into the Storm £1,147,657.

In the 90s and early 00s disaster movies were very successful with films including Independence Day, Armageddon, The Day After Tomorrow and 2012 but in recent years is one of many genres that have been replaced by comic-book movies. In 2015’s San Andreas was a success taking over £11m in the UK but is the success had a lot to do with Dwayne Johnson which opened a few months after the hugely successful Furious 7 and Central Intelligence and Moana last year. This year he couldn’t make Baywatch a success stars in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle this Christmas and then stars into action films next year Rampage and disaster film Skyscraper next summer.

19 years ago, Warner Bros released their film remake of the classic 60s British spy TV show agents. In August 1998 Warner Bros decided to not screen the film for the press was unheard of at that time which forced national press critics to pay to see the film, of course, generated much anger which was shown in the reviews they wrote for the film. With many writing in their review pages on the Friday no review for The Avengers as Warner Bros didn’t press screen the film but I will review it tomorrow. The Sunday Times wrote a full-page article about the film which they probably would have done had Warner press screened the film.

All those critics who paid to see the film boosting its opening to £937,166 in August 1998 and went on to take £2,000,442.

Over the years since distributors have regularly not screened films to critics for films they expect to receive negative response from critics which did generate some resentment from critics more probably being they are forced to pay and see films in regular cinemas dealing with regular cinemagoers than the posh surroundings of a Soho screening room and free coffee and biscuits. In recent weeks on both sides of the Atlantic studios choose to not screen for critics Flatliners and Geostorm.

After Geostorm flopped many asked why and those reasons are close to their other big flop which seems a long time ago now after having huge success with Wonder Woman, It and Dunkirk since King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. Geostorm was originally due for release in March 2016 delayed many times before finally moving to October 20, 2017 are very few films that are a successful after being delayed of course the most famous one was 20 years ago with Titanic delayed six months from July to December and that helped it become the biggest film globally until Avatar other successful films that were delayed include Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby.

The problem for most studios is most delayed films turn out more like Jupiter Ascending and mega-budget original films make studios much more nervous why are so many more sequels, reboots, remakes, re-imagination and comic-book films than original films. Warner Bros was the one studio that continued to make these original films but after recent failures likely they will make even fewer original films in the future.

3. The Lego Ninjago Movie – £1,346,411- £5,557,445

Down 63% in its second weekend (36% without previews) The Lego Ninjago Movie is in a strong position for half term week with a limited choice of films for younger audiences with only My Little Pony its competition targeting younger girls opened with only £916,123 at the weekend.

Currently 41^st biggest film of the year and eighth biggest Warner Bros film of 2017 and will overtake The Smurfs: The Lost Village and Captain Underpants by next weekend to become the sixth biggest animated film of the year behind Despicable Me 3, The Boss Baby, The Lego Batman Movie, The Emoji Movie and Cars 3.

It is surprising given the lack of children’s films on release that reviews effected The Lego Ninjago Movie more than films like Despicable Me 3 and The Emoji Movie but despite Warner Bros attempts to market the film to girls with the female lead Nya inspired by all her female heroes including Wonder Woman.

The Lego Movie took £5,978,904 in its second weekend in February 2014 (was half term week) taking £21,880,053

The Lego Batman Movie took £4,435,521 in its second weekend in February 2017 (was half term week) taking £17,445,478

A year ago, Trolls opened very strongly the same weekend taking £5,440,878 (final box office £23.99m) while Storks dropped 70% in its second weekend £668,760 taking £3,425,226 (final box office £6.88m)

4. Happy Death Day £998,388 – NE

After opening last weekend in the US with $26m many would expect a similarly sized opening in the UK as the US marketplace is crowded with films but are targeting older audiences and males Blade Runner 2049 and Geostorm and children The Lego Ninjago Movie and My Little Pony.

Happy Death Day opening was close to two films it was compared to Groundhog Day opened 7th May 1993 with £1,121,440 taking £5,065,608 and 13 Going on 30 opened 4th August 2004 with £1,184,273 taking £5,109,348. But of course, Groundhog Day released 24 years ago and 13 Going on 30 highlighting again the problem of the squeezed marketplace for these kinds of films today as opposed to 15-20 years ago when they would have performed far stronger.

The problem with Happy Death Day was its 15 certificates as it meant its key target audience preteens and young teens wouldn’t be legally able to see the film. This is highlights the problem with the US PG-13 compared to the BBFC 12A as while blockbusters like Jurassic World, Spectre and Star Wars: The Force Awakens get downgraded to a 12A teen horrors Happy Death Day and Krampus get 15s squeezing its audience as are too teeny for older teens who prefer their scares to be more like It.

BBFC re-wrote its guidelines on horror films after it received 134 complaints for 2012’s The Woman in Black a 12A certificate as it was Daniel Radcliffe’s first major film after Harry Potter (they have since re-classified the film a 15) in so pushing up the certificates of many other PG-13 films to 15s apart from the blockbusters that always seem to squeeze into being 12A.

As Universal Pictures UK would have known the issue with Happy Death Day after having a similar experience with Krampus two years ago (opened December 2015 with £412,713 only taking £1,184,159) was surprised that they didn’t go for a 12A edit which would have allowed the teen audience to legally see the film.

Teen horrors have underperformed in the UK in the past due to the hard 15 rating over PG-13 and R ratings they received in the US Scream and its many sequels and I Know What You Did Last Summer and many others failed to match their success theatrically in the UK but became far more successful on video and DVD.

5. The Death of Stalin – £995,458 – NE

A strong opening for director Armando Iannucci’s first film since directing 2009’s In The Loop which opened with £468,954 from 104 screens taking £2,123,530.

After receiving positive reviews since premiering at Toronto Film Festival last month The Death of Stalin had been generating strong buzz so it was surprising that the film only opening in 138 screens rather than opening wider.

While the weekend might have been a crowded weekend for new releases but had The Death of Stalin opened in another 100 screens would have likely opened top instead it’s expanding this weekend; exhibitors choose to book Geostorm, Happy Death Day and My Little Pony ahead of The Death of Stalin.

Must be very frustrating for eOne when they have a well-received film by critics receiving strong buzz but can’t get exhibitors to give it the wide release deserved but while the other films had fixed global release dated The Death of Stalin had much more flexible dating so didn’t need to open over such a busy weekend.

eOne have had a successful recent few years at the box office taking £109.9m at the box office and last year with almost 50% from two films The BFG £30.64m and The Girl on the Train £23.65m. It was the second time eOne had taken over £100m at the box office the last independent distributor to do so was Entertainment Film Distributors in 2002 with £137m and 2003 with £115m thanks to Lord of the Rings films.

eOne was the biggest independent distributor for four of the last five years and five times of the last eight but 2017 they will likely be behind both Lionsgate and Studiocanal with their 16 2017 film releases taking only £22.56m to date so it will be very unlikely they will get close to their 2015 total of £50.33m. Shows how tough independent market is even with the deep pockets eOne have available to them they are still largely dependent on output deals.

This year’s slate will be disappointing in comparison showing how tough it is as an independent distributor in the UK and how one film can make or break their year seen with Lionsgate with La La Land in January taking over £30m and next month with Studiocanal Paddington 2 £30m as their remaining films have disappointed.

eOne’s current biggest film of 2017 is Peppa Pig: My First Cinema Experience taking £3.62m taking 10% of what The BFG took last year had a strong slate on paper including Jackie, A Dog’s Purpose, A Minster Calls, Detroit, Hampstead, 47 Meters Down.

Remaining films of the year include Thank You For Your Service, Suburbicon, Just Getting Started and Molly’s Game none of which are likely to set the box office alight but do of course have the next Steven Spielberg film starring Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep The Post opening in January

Also released

Marshall – Sony Pictures £14,967 from 75 screens

UK box office in detail

This weekend’s top 10 box office took £9,783,969 down 19.7% from last weekend £12,090,715     

The weekend admissions 1,283,985 down 19.7% from last weekend 1,586,708 (average price £7.62 by UK Cinema Association/BFI for 2017).

Geostorm took 16.6% of the top 10; 28 films opened at weekend taking £5,646,885; Geostorm 28.79% (£1,625,895); Happy Death Day 17.68% (£998,388); The Death of Stalin 17.62% (£995,458); My Little Pony 16.22% (£916,123) remaining 24 films shared 19.67% (£1,111,021); ;

The weekend was down 36.7% from last year (£15,448,907): Trolls £5,440,878, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back £2,688,561, Ouija: Origin of Evil £779,626, I, Daniel Blake £444,800, Keeping Up with the Joneses £271,306, Queen of Katwe £73,754

Down 9.9% from 2015: (£10,858,414): Paranormal Activity: Ghost Dimension £1,472,427, The Last Witch Hunter £1,241,292

Next weekend in 2016: (£18,662,678) Doctor Strange £9,288,898.

 UK Box Office Top 10

 

US Box Office Top 10

US Box office

Lionsgate – Tyler Perry’s Boo 2! A Madea Halloween – opens $21.22m; receiving A- CinemaScore.  

Last year Boo! A Madea Halloween surprised everyone opening with $28.5m (going on to take $73m) ahead of both Jack Reacher: Never Go Back and Ouija: Origin of Evil so was no surprise the sequel opened with $21,2m ahead of the other new releases.

While the first film held #1 for two weeks with Jigsaw opening this Friday seven years after many thought the franchise ended with Saw 3D. Boo! A Madea Halloween took 2.56x times it’s opening the sequel will likely take about $60m; the next Tyler Perry’s A Madea Family Funeral opens August 3^rd, 2018 against The Equalizer 2, The Predator and Disney’s Christopher Robin reimagination.

The 16 Tyler Perry films have taken over $1 billion at the US box office but have very limited international appeal the first Boo! A Madea Halloween only took $1.62m internationally

Warner Bros – Geostorm – opens $13.7m; received B- CinemaScore and poor reviews.

After being delayed 18 months $120m budgeted Geostorm was never likely to open strongly opening lower than 2014’s Into the Storm $17.34m taking $47.6m Geostorm will be lucky if it got close to $40m at the box office as will drop 60%+ next weekend.

Geostorm took $36.4 million with global box office of $49.6 million

Despite Geostorm flopping and Blade Runner 2049 poor performance thanks to It box office Warner Bros are now almost 4% ahead of Universal Pictures and Disney taking $1.74bn to date.

Even if Thor: Ragnarok takes the expected 4300m in the US Disney are currently $340m behind Warner Bros and with early tracking predicting Justice League to open with $150m+ and take $400m Disney will only take over Warner Bros in December after Star Wars: The Last Jedi opens which is expected to open about 15% down from Star Wars: The Force Awakens $215m Vs $248m taking $795m.

Being the third Star Wars film in three years while is fantastic for fans will likely be getting a bit tiresome for others for all the faults Star Wars prequels had opening them every three years you had a gap between them to build up expectations sashed after seeing them but that was similar the case for both Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Rogue One once the memberries wore off.

Universal Pictures – Happy Death Day – drops 64% taking $9.36m in its second weekend taking $40.67m.

Dropping heavier than would have expected after received positive reviews and strong buzz but with a $4.8m is already in profit for Universal Pictures and they are probably already planning a sequel probably for release in 2019.

Warner Bros – Blade Runner 2049 – drops 52.5% taking $7.35m in its third weekend taking $74.2m;

In recent years studios are dropping screens far quicker with poor performers as exhibitors seek to replace them with another batch of new releases. Blade Runner 2049 dropped over 850 screens many of the IMAX, 3D and PLF screens to Geostorm.

Internationally Blade Runner 2049 took $14.3 million total $195m; opens in China and Japan next week which will be vital if the film will make a profit.

Sony Pictures – Only the Brave – opens with a disappointing $6.01m; after receiving very positive reviews 90% Rotten Tomatoes score an A CinemaScore.

Why did Only the Brave open so poorly after receiving such positive reviews and A CinemaScore part of the issue was opening over a busy weekend of new releases. Another was being the second disaster film opening over the weekend but despite Geostorm receiving very poor reviews still opened with double of Only the Brave. 

But I believe the main reason why Only the Brave disappointed was Sony Pictures strangely changing its title from Granite Mountain to Only the Brave in July. The film is based on the famous Granite Mountain Hotshots firefighters who battled Yarnell Hill Fire in June 2013. By calling it Granite Mountain was immediately identifiable as what the film was about rather than giving it a generic meaningless title the same as 2006 Jeff Fahey and made me think of 1993 Mark Dacascos action film Only the Strong.

Lionsgate was due to distribute the film in the US but due to a disagreement between production company Black Label Media was moved to Sony Pictures but Lionsgate kept international rights. Which also saw Sony Pictures get US rights for Sicario 2: Soldado they release next summer the sequel is missing Emily Blunt who was key to the success of the original film in 2015.   

Showing how poor Only the Brave opening was 

Backdraft opened May 1991 with $12,686,200

Firestorm opened in January 1998 with $3,849,308

Ladder 49 opened in October 2004 with $22,088,204

STX- The Foreigner – drops 58.4% taking $5.78m in its second weekend taking $23.18m;

The Foreigner will shortly overtake No Escape and The November Man to be his biggest action movie since Die Another Day his final appearance as James Bond in 2002 which shows what Daniel Craig risks that will probably happen to him if he gives up on Bond having recently signed to star in one final James Bond film to be released in 2019. But Pierce Brosnan, Timothy Dalton, and the late Roger Moore would probably tell him don’t ever leave James Bond wait to be pushed out as the only Bond actor that had a success after was Sean Connery.

The Foreigner has now taken $111.5m worldwide with $66m from China.

Warner Bros – It drops 42.2% taking $3.5m in its seventh weekend taking $320.23m; It is currently the fifth biggest film of the year but over the next couple of weeks will overtake Spider-Man: Homecoming: Homecoming had taken $314.05m in its seventh weekend and probably the most profitable of all five films with a budget of only $30m.

It was become #55 biggest film in the US overtaking Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Iron Man, Transformers and Suicide Squad and will shortly overtake Suicide Squad, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Guardians of the Galaxy and Spider-Man: Homecoming;

It will become Warner Bros sixth biggest film ever in the US behind The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, Wonder Woman, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and American Sniper.

The huge success of It should have boosted the performance of films opening afterward but instead, it squeezed their box office which saw most films that opened It underperform. As no one expected It to open as big and hold as strong there wasn’t the room afterward that rival studios normal give to avoid their films to cannibalize but instead it was similar to the summer when Spider-Man: Homecoming, War for the Planet of the Apes and Dunkirk opened which saw War for the Planet of the Apes get cannibilzed by the other two films. 

It took $320.2m US and $331.4m internationally and $651.6m globally #111 biggest overtaking Thor: The Dark World, Moana and Sing and will shortly overtake The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 and Big Hero 6. 

Universal Pictures – The Snowman – opens $3.44m; received D CinemaScore and very poor reviews while were very low expectation for Geostorm The Snowman was director Tomas Alfredson first film since 20112’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy based on a bestselling novel starring Michael Fassbender.

Michael Fassbender has had a very poor year at the box office with Assassin’s Creed and Alien: Covenant and starred recent flops The Light Between Oceans and Steve Jobs stars next in X-Men: Dark Phoenix opening in November 2018 the follow-up to last year’s disappointing X-Men: Apocalypse.

On limited release

A24 – The Florida Project – took $636,615 up 172.9% adding 79 screens taking $1.37m; Sean Barker’s film has been heralded by many as one of the best films of the year and is already generating strong Oscar buzz close to Moonlight last year also released by A24

Fox Searchlight – Goodbye Christopher Robin took $153,000 up 164.2% adding 52 screens taking $232,505; in comparison Finding Neverland expanded into 57 screens taking $836,754  (82% more) up 279% taking $1,149,279 in November 2004.  

This highlights the problem nowadays with adult dramas as with so many being released each weekend some wide and some on variously sized platform release is causing most of them to cannibalize.

While summer season can cope with similar demographic films opening close together as the audience that sees them is front-loaded but with these films, cinemagoers don’t rush out to see them so they need time build their audience in cinemas but as there are so many films opening every week exhibitors don’t give the films a chance. Studios need to be much more selective in the films they open in September/October and hold back films that don’t have a chance with awards.

Studios expand most of their releases far too quickly but as seen with The Florida Project as Moonlight and Lion last year the slow expansion is always best. So many films in recent years have one strong week of a platform release and then go wide failing to build on the momentum of the reviews received and the buzz received.

This has happened with many films in recent years including Steve Jobs in 2015 and this year’s Battle of the Sexes both of whom premiered at film festivals generating strong award buzz had decent limited box office but then expanded far too quickly; dive weeks after Battle of the Sexes opened it dropped almost 850 screens taking $590,000 over the weekend and only $11,457,167 much more was expected from Emma Stone’s first film since winning Best Actress Oscar for La La Land.

Bleecker Street – Breathe took $155,925 up 599.7% adding 311 screens taking $187,718; after having a disappointing platform release last weekend after receiving mixed reviews had a disappointing expansion which will mean it’s unlikely to expand any further.

While Breathe opened on platform release last week Annapurna Pictures went the opposite way going wide with Professor Marston & the Wonder Women dropping 68.9% in its second weekend taking $229,000 in its second weekend taking $1,309,446.

Opened October 27^th

Opening UK

• Thor: Ragnarok -Disney (Tuesday)

The seventeenth Marvel Cinematic Universe film and second sequel of 2011’s Thor and 2013’s Thor: The Dark World. Starring Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Idris Elba, Jeff Goldblum, Tessa Thompson, Karl Urban, Mark Ruffalo, and Anthony Hopkins and directed by Taika Waititi; reviews have called the film very funny but in doing so made it feel very different to previous Marvel films apart from Deadpool and the Guardians of the Galaxy films.

But is that humor enough to overcome the confusing plot repeating same formula features in all of Disney Marvel films has gotten tiresome now being the seventeenth version? But if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it which seems to be Disney’s plans with their infinite Star Wars films seen with the first two The Force Awakens and Rogue One and The Last Jedi is sure to be similar as many expect The Empire Strikes Back remake with a predictable Rey no I am your father twist.

Thor: Ragnarok is the third Marvel Cinematic Universe film of the year after Guardians of the Galaxy 2 opened with £13.09m taking £40.95 and Spider-Man: Homecoming opening £9.36m taking £30.38m; Warner Bros also released Wonder Woman opened with £6.17m taking £22.17m with Justice League opening in three weeks’ time early tracking in the US is predicting $150m+ opening compared to Thor: Ragnarok opening with $100m+. The question with the UK is how Paddington 2 might affect Justice League box office opening the weekend before of course targeting a completely different audience.

Marvel has opened internationally first almost all their films which had the UK often host the world of European premieres but Thor: Ragnarok had its world premiere in Los Angeles on October 10^th and Australian premiere October 13^th but wasn’t a UK premiere probably due to its release date being brought forward to have two extra days of lucrative half term holidays. As Marvel films generate huge media coverage by themselves there isn’t the need to have a premiere but the lack of premiere which was canceled after the terrorist attack at the end of the Ariana Grande concert in May did affect Wonder Woman’s opening and box office.

As last year with Doctor Strange, Thor: Ragnarok opens on Tuesday to give it a lucrative 6-day opening weekend over half-term holidays. As with most films having a six or seven-day opening apart from Spectre in 2015 don’t increase the film’s opening just share the box office over the six days; last year’s Doctor Strange took 41% (£3,796,170) from Tues-Thurs of its £9,288,898 opening weekend taking £5,492,728 Fri-Sun

Spectre – October 2015 took 52% 3.5 days (£21,321,626 of its opening £41,299,090

The Huntsman – April 2016 took 48% 4 days (£1,453,329) of its opening £3,032,962

Warcraft – June 2016 took 60% 4 days (£2,171,126) of its opening £3,623,725

TMNT 2 – June 2016 took 58% 4 days (£2,021,935) of its opening £3,495,445

Now You See Me 2 – July 2016 took 46% 4 days (£1,360,093) of its opening £2,964,641

War for the Planet of the Apes – July 2017 took 27% 3 days (£1,974,695) of its opening £7,195,773

Hard to compare Thor: Ragnarok box office with previous two Thor films as they were straight Thor films while Thor: Ragnarok is close to Captain America: Civil War being Avengers 2.1 having the addition of Hulk and Doctor Strange;

Thor: The Dark World opened with £8.642m in October 2013 taking £3.1m on Wednesday/Thursday and £5.5m from Fri-Sun close to last year’s Doctor Strange.

Thor opened in April 2011 with £5,449,300 including £2,335,701 from previews.

• Call Me By Your Name – Sony Pictures

Drama starring Timothée Chalamet, Armie Hammer, Michael Stuhlbarg, Amira Casar, Esther Garrel, and Victoire Du Bois and directed by Luca Guadagnino based on the novel of the same name by André Aciman; was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics before Sundance Film Festival receiving received universal acclaim.

• Breathe – STX

Biographical drama starring Andrew Garfield, Claire Foy, Hugh Bonneville, Tom Hollander, Ed Speleers and Dean-Charles Chapman and directed by Andy Serkis and screenplay by William Nicholson; had world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September opened the London Film Festival in October earlier this month but was overshadowed by the protesters from Picturehouse cinemas;

Breathe as with last year’s London Film Festival opener A United Kingdom received far less media coverage than previous festival openers opened in cinemas six weeks after with a disappointing £618,652 taking £2.18m;

Reviews have been mixed with many comparing it to a TV movie of the Oscar-winning The Theory of Everything while Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy performances have been praised the film itself not so much. after having a disappointing performance at the box office in the US any Oscar nominations are now highly unlikely but BAFTA was always more likely. 

Breathe is the third film released by STX in the UK both Wind River and Home Again disappointed at the box office taking only £1.2m and £1.13m. Breathe is likely to take similar while upcoming Den of Thieves starring Gerald Butler and Gringo are unlikely to do much better this is while A Bad Moms Christmas sequel to STX’s biggest hit to date Bad Moms will be released through Entertainment films as the first film.

STX’s first films that could breakout are next summer’s comedy I Feel Pretty, starring Amy Schumer, Michelle Williams and Emily Ratajkowski and The Happytime Murders starring Melissa McCarthy, Maya Rudolph, and Elizabeth Banks. The UK distribution market is very hard to crack with so many companies tried and failed over the decades to launch film distribution with eOne, Lionsgate and Studiocanal surviving because they were acquired by international companies. 

• Jigsaw – Lionsgate

Horror starring Matt Passmore, Callum Keith Rennie, Clé Bennett, and Hannah Emily Anderson and directed by Michael and Peter Spierig, The eighth part of the Saw franchise. 2010’s Saw 3D was originally planned to be the final film of the franchise but as with all film series nowadays this means little as they will always come back.

Opening in the US

• Suburbicon – Paramount Pictures

Crime comedy starring Matt Damon, Julianne Moore and Oscar Isaac directed by George Clooney and written by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen; premiered at Venice Film Festival and screened at the Toronto Film Festival receiving mixed reviews only 40% score on Rotten Tomatoes and unlikely to generate much interest at the box office despite the talent on and off screen.

During the publicity tour for Suburbicon Matt Damon said Ben Affleck told him Harvey Weinstein tried to get Gwyneth Paltrow give him a massage in 1995. But must question the timing of his comment which just happens to be the week his new film opens as a few weeks ago it was reported that Matt Damon tried to “kill” a story about Harvey Weinstein’s behavior when it was investigated by a reporter in 2004. He went on to say “Everybody knew,” like, yeah, I knew he was an a**hole. I mean, he was proud of that. You know what I mean? That’s how he carried himself.’ ‘I knew he was a womanizer. You know, I wouldn’t want to be married to the guy but I’m not – it’s not my business really.’

Suburbicon is George Clooney’s sixth film he has directed while they have been well received critically only 2014’s The Monuments Men a success at the box office.

George Clooney’s last directed film was 2014’s The Monuments Men opening $22m previously directed 2011’s The Ides of March opening with $10.47m, 2008’s Leatherheads $12.68m; his previous two films 2005’s Good Night, and Good Luck had a slow expansion only getting into 800 screens and 2002’s Confessions of a Dangerous Mind took four weeks to go wide.

Joel Coen and Ethan Coen’s most recently wrote and directed 2016’s Hail, Caesar with 2015’s their last screenplay written for Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies.

• Jigsaw – Lionsgate

Seven years after Saw 3D which was expected to be the final part of the franchise opened with $22.5m in October 2010 with previous instalments opening between $14.11m (Saw VI) and $33.61m (Saw III) Jigsaw is expected to open somewhere in the middle boosting by Halloween weekend and a slow week at the box office should be able to squeeze past Tyler Perry’s Boo 2! A Madea Halloween second weekend of $15m+ but like previous installments won’t be around for long. 

• Thank You for Your Service – Universal Pictures

Biographical war drama starring Miles Teller, Haley Bennett, Beulah Koale, Amy Schumer and Scott Haze and written and directed by Jason Hall based on the non-fiction book by David Finkel; had its world premiere at the Heartland Film Festival on October 15, 2017.

After the disappointing performance of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk last year opening wide November 18^th with $901,062 its going to be hard for the film to find its audience as so many films have this Fall in the very crowded marketplace which has seen so many adult demographic films cannibalize each other and Thank You For Your Service will probably be another opening with only $5m.

• All I See is You – Open Road Film

Psychological drama starring Blake Lively and Jason Clarke and directed by Marc Forster; premiered at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival receiving positive reviews but is only opening on a limited wide release. 

Blake Lively with roles in The Age of Adaline, The Shallows and now All I See is You has allowed her to move on from Serena van der Woodsen from Gossip Girl which is always hard when actors play roles for many years.

She next stars in spy thriller The Rhythm Section with Jude Law from Eon Productions which will be released by Paramount Pictures next year.