- Kung Fu Panda 4 – £2,834,711 – £12,792,574
Dropped 43.54% in the second weekend.
Took £1.04m 36.7% (41.24% drop £1.77m) Friday; £888k 31.33% (70.88% drop £1.26m) Saturday; £906k 31.97% (up 5.47% £859k) Sunday.
260th biggest second weekend between The Bourne Ultimatum and Monsters vs. Aliens (close to Night at the Museum, Daddy’s Home, High School Musical 3 and Pitch Perfect 2) and 485th biggest inflated between Terminator Salvation and F9 (close to Casper, The Incredible Hulk, The Jungle Book (1993 re-issue) and Hannah And Her Sisters).
48th biggest second-weekend animated between The Secret Life of Pets 2 and Monsters vs. Aliens (close to Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, Ratatouille, Monsters University and Zootropolis) and the 77th inflated animated between Home and Ice Age (close to Wall·E, Pocahontas, Hercules and The Lego Movie: The Second Part).
12th biggest Dreamworks Animation second weekend between Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and Monsters Vs. Aliens (close to Shrek, Shark Tale, Kung Fu Panda and Trolls Band Together) and the 21st biggest inflated between Home and Trolls Band Together (close to Trolls, Antz. Rise Of The Guardians and Flushed Away).
Took £8,847,719 in its opening 7 days Fri-Thurs and £9,957,863 including previews taking about £1m a day Mon-Thurs (Mon £1.51m/Tues £1.04m) and £6,661,830 Mon-Thurs. By Sunday will have taken £20m+ making it the highest-grossing film of the series in the UK, but the other films opened away from school holidays making it impossible to make comparisons. As with Migration over half-term, it’s the only family film released for Easter, over previous years there would be several family films opening over both school holidays.
Second weekends
2008’s Kung Fu Panda dropped 53% £2,812,094 #3 456 screens and £10,877,368 of £19,634,723 (£29,905,193 inflated)
2011’s Kung Fu Panda 2 dropped 63% £2,277,474 #2 and £9,241,635 of £16,199,968 (£21,172,235 inflated) 590
2016’s Kung Fu Panda 3 dropped 64% (45% without previews) £1,740,695 #1 590 screens and £7,084,403 of £13,993,060 (£14,956,145 inflated)
38 Dreamworks Animation films have taken over £725m and almost £1bn inflated.
In 2010 Jeffrey Katzenberg said that there were plans for six films in the series. In August 2022 Dreamworks Animation confirmed Kung Fu Panda 4 was in production with details released at CinemaCon 2023. The trailer was released in December and viewed over 142m times in the first 24 hours more than The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Minions: The Rise of Gru, Sing 2 and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.
With the lucrative Easter holidays, Kung Fu Panda 4 will hold strongly over the next week taking £20m+ by April 14and there are another two months until the next two major animation films Inside Out 2 and Despicable Me 4.
532nd biggest between Ransom and The Impossible (close to Hook, Charlie’s Angels (2000), Jungle Cruise and Ghostbusters (1984) and 906th biggest inflated between Independence Day: Resurgence and Honey, I Blew Up the Kid (close to Spy Kids, Flashdance, The Mask Of Zorro and Superman IV).
102nd biggest animated film between Space Jam: A New Legacy and Rise of the Guardians (close to Chicken Little, Lilo & Stitch, Rise of the Guardians and The Lion King 3D) and 129th biggest inflated between Megamind and Horton Hears a Who (close to Bee Movie, The Cat in the Hat, Early Man and Cars 3).
Being the final weekend of the school holidays Kung Fu Panda 4 will likely have a small drop in its third weekend, the big question is how will Back to Black and Civil War perform, if Back to Black were to open as recent Bob Marley One Love
- 2. Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire – £1,954,064 – £9,163,361
Dropped 52.8% in the second weekend.
Took £644k 32.96% (66.28% drop £1.91m) Friday; £678k 34.7% (75.03% drop £1.32m) Saturday; £632k 32.34% (28.83% drop £888k) Sunday.
468th biggest second weekend between The Second-Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Terminator Salvation (close to The Silence of the Lambs, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Fast & Furious and King Kong) and 802nd biggest inflated between The First Wives Club and Shallow Hal (close to San Andreas, 12 Monkeys, The Scorpion King and The Living Daylights).
Godzilla X Kong didn’t drop as heavily as other MonsterVerse films due to the Easter holidays, that said Sat/Sun BO was much lower than expected, this was also the case for most other films. The weather was the warmest of the year but it wasn’t outdoor garden weather so weather can’t be used as an excuse, but its hold was likely one of the reasons why Monkey Man and The First Omen opened lower than expected, that said being Easter holidays was the wrong time to open both films.
The fifth film of the MonsterVerse and sequel to 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong
Second weekends
2014’s Godzilla dropped 57% (47% without previews) £2,731,355 #2 and £11,828,213 of £17,074,621 (£20,123,660 inflated)
2017’s Kong: Skull Island dropped 56% (52% without previews) £2,705,634 #2 and £11,066,584 of £15,616,015
2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters dropped 70% (55% without previews) £1,033,322 #6 and £5,529,880 of £6,901,606
2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong dropped 67% £254,172 #5 and £1,736,299 of £6,779,991
789th biggest between Alita: Battle Angel and Cold Mountain (close to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Cliffhanger, Cloverfield and the Perfect Storm) and 1,281st biggest inflated between Racing Stripes and G. I. Joe (close to Super 8, Predator, Edge of Tomorrow and RoboCop (2014).
- 3. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire – £1,371,435 – £12,103,645
Down 35.7% in its third weekend
Took £477k 34.79% (46.88% drop £898k) Friday; £456k 33.26% (52.4% drop £731k) Saturday; £438k 31.95% (13.78% drop £508k) Sunday.
411th biggest third weekend between St. Trinian’s and Three Men and a Little Lady (close to Batman Forever, Hook, Jurassic Park 3 and Jumanji) and 692nd biggest inflated between Elvis and Hairspray (close to Aliens, G-Force, Space Jam: A New Legacy and Parenthood).
2021’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife dropped 49% £1,066,150 #2 and £7,513,854 of £11,494,268
2016’s Ghostbusters dropped 55% £599,673 #6 and £9,088,751 of £10,554,557
1984’s Ghostbusters took £12.4m (£54,258,564 inflated)
1989’s Ghostbusters 2 dropped 37% £587,204 (£2,008,591 inflated) and £3,920,186 of £8,301,000 (£28,216,275 inflated)
Interestingly over the 40 years of Ghostbusters, they all had similar openings and BO including inflation. While the original Ghostbusters film opened in December 1984 the same weekend as Gremlins.
562nd biggest between The Lion King 3D and Robots (close to Ghostbusters (1984), Back to the Future, Batman and Home Alone) and 958th biggest inflated between Ghostbusters Afterlife and Fame (close to South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, 21 Jump Street, Shaun of the Dead and Moonwalker).
- 4. Dune Part 2 £1,127,052 – £36,814,712
Down 32.4% in the sixth weekend
Took £342k 30.35% (47.4% drop £650k) Friday; £402k 35.67% (46.5% drop £567k) Saturday; £383k 33.98% (13.74% drop £444k) Sunday.
62nd biggest sixth weekend between Jurassic World and Les Miserables (close to Spectre, Sherlock Holmes, Life of Pi and Inception) and 146th biggest inflated between Three Men And A Baby and Shrek 2 (close to Pulp Fiction, Gladiator, King Kong and Mission Impossible).
Dune Part 2 took 172.5% more than Dune’s sixth weekend (413,585 #6) but kept most IMAX/PLF while Dune had House Of Gucci #1 £2,425,628; Ghostbusters: Afterlife #2 £2,099,374; Encanto #3 £1,720,132; Eternals #4 £586,304; No Time To Die #5 £492,635.
Holding well for its sixth weekend holding on to most IMAX screens for another week until Civil War while new releases Monkey Man and The First Omen underperformed meant it stayed in the top 5 for a sixth weekend.
Like other lengthy films Dune Part 2 is taking the bulk of its BO over the weekend with 42% of its weekend BO from Saturday.
Sixth weekends
2021’s Dune dropped 35% £413,585 #6 448 screens £20,954,264 95.5% of £21,947,056; Dune took 3.73x opening if Dune part 2 did similar it will take £34m+
2010’s Inception dropped 36% £1,076,106 #6 and £31,575,347 90.3% of £34,976,999 (£46,851,543 inflated); took 5.92x opening
2013’s Gravity dropped 46% £592,321 #4 and £25,763,353 78.6% of £32,756,514; 5.24x opening
2014’s Interstellar dropped 65% £213,953 #10 and £19,727,100 93.2% of £21,173,601; 3.73x opening
2015’s The Martian dropped 26% £437,450 #6 and £22,593,037 95.8% of £23,589,854; 3.61x opening
2017’s Blade Runner 2049 dropped 39% £213,054 #9 and £18,640,036 98.5% of £18,918,361; 3.1x opening
2017’s Logan dropped 48% £234,304 #10 and £23,329,028 98.6% of £23,655,614; 2.5x opening
2023’s Oppenheimer dropped 20% £1,638,665 and £53,173,902 89.3% of £59,550,750; took 5.37x opening.
2007’s I Am Legend dropped 63% £240,122 #11 and £25,348,532 (£39,754,529 inflated); 2.3x opening
2005’s War of the Worlds dropped 43% £572,379 #6 and £28,924,152 95.2% of £30,367,791 (£51,386,687 inflated); 3.43x opening
2017’s Dunkirk dropped 49% £998,531 #2 and £51,679,746 91% of £56,797,955; 5.65x opening
103rd biggest between Iron Man 3 and Love Actually (close to Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, Independence Day, Men In Black and Die Another Day) and 224th biggest inflated between Saving Private Ryan and Gandhi (close to Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Minority Report, Back to the Future Part II and The Fugitive).
21st biggest Warner Bros between Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Batman Vs Superman (close to Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, The Batman, Inception and Fantastic Beasts 2) and 39th inflated between Fantastic Beasts 2 and Man of Steel (close to I am Legend, Gravity, The Fugitive and It).
Took £246k 30.37% Friday; £270k 33.33% Saturday; £294k 36.3% Sunday.
1,883rd biggest opening between What We Did On Our Holiday and The Wedding Date (close to Godzilla Minus One, Midsommar, Changing Lanes and Universal Solider) and 2,336th inflated between Muppet Treasure Island and Species 2 (close to Violent Night, Escape From LA, Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang and Blown Away).
16th biggest 2024 opening between The Beekeeper and The Iron Claw
Had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 11, 2024, receiving a standing ovation and positive reviews (88% Rotten Tomatoes) being described as a mashup of revenge action films.
It was Dev Patel’s first film since 2021 The Green Knight opened £166,118 #8 taking £393,993. Likely to open similarly to the first John Wick film opened in April 2015 with £539,602 #6 and £1,439,149; opened in the UK almost 6 months after the US opening and
In 2021 It was acquired by Netflix for $30m, but after Jordon Peele saw it and felt deserved a theatrical release acquired it via Monkeypaw Productions via his distribution deal with Universal Pictures. It has been described as John Wick in Mumbai, while Dev Patel said it was inspired by The Raid and Blue Lee films; it was filmed in 2021.
Also opened.
• The First Omen – £521,572
Took £170k 32.63% Friday; £189k 36.28% Saturday; £162k 31.09% Sunday
The prequel to 1976’s The Omen received positive reviews, but audiences weren’t so keen.
It’s the first Omen film since 2006’s The Omen opened on 6/6/6 £2,096,002 (including £1,157,846 previews) £3,408,693 inflated taking £4,220,983 (£6,864,514 inflated); it was very front-loaded with previews taking 55.24% of opening and £938,156 Fri-Sun.
20th Century Studios has recently made horrors; 2022’s Barbarian opened £380,812 #8 taking £1,082,037 and 2023’s The Boogeyman opened £492,071 #5 taking £1,753,891.
After the soft BO of the 2006 reboot, it was surprising Disney opted to try to reboot The Omen again as unlike Halloween it was similar to The Exorcist based on an old franchise no one cares about anymore.
UK box office in detail
The weekend’s top 10 box office took £9,166,231 down 37.6% from last weekend’s £14,699,986: 1,157,352 admissions down 37.6% from 1,856,059 admissions.
41st biggest weekend of the last 52 weeks between 12 January 2024 #1 Wonka £2,227,606 (23.76%) and 01 December 2023 #1 Napoleon £1,908,971 ( 20.96%)
85th biggest since cinemas reopened out of 177 weeks between 29 April 2022 #1 Downton Abbey: A New Era £3,072,762 (33.5%) and 01 December 2023 #1 Napoleon £1,908,971 (20.96%)
709th biggest top 10 of the last 22 years (out of 1,149) between 29 April 2022 #1 Downton Abbey: A New Era £3,072,762 (33.5%) and 31 October 2003 #1 Finding Nemo £3,393,575 (37.04%) and 977th biggest inflated between 22 April 2005 #1 The Interpreter £1,212,734 (22.27%) and 14 March 2003 #1 Maid In Manhattan £1,281,755 (25.11%).
The top 3 took (£6,160,210) 67.2% of the top 10; Kung Fu Panda 4 34.15% (£5,020,600); Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire 28.15% (£4,139,394); Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire 14.51% (£2,133,302).
663rd highest #1 percentage (30.93%) between #1 02 April 2004 Scooby-Doo Too (30.93%) and 29 June 2018 #1 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (30.89%)
867th biggest admissions #1 (357,918) between 19 August 2005 #1 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (359,115) and 11 November 2011 #1 Immortals ( 357,497)
Down 56.7% from 2023; (£21,185,037); Super Mario Bros (£15,691,810); Air (£1,174,554); The Pope’s Exorcist (£707,050); Superman (45th Anniversary) (£15,399); #1 Super Mario Bros £15,691,810 1st week 718 screens (74.07% of top 10)
Down 21.7% from 2022 (£11,707,957); Fantastic Beasts 3 (£5,884,934); The Outfit (£96,600); Julia (£1,471); #1 Fantastic Beasts 3 £5,884,934 1st week 711 screens (50.3% of top 10)
2021; Lockdown 2
2020: Lockdown 1
Down 15.9% from 2019; (£10,896,294) Wonder Park (£1,586,003); Hellboy (£989,562); Wild Rose (£772,060); Little (£540,579); Mid90s (£100,454); #1 Dumbo £2,345,046 down 33% 3rd-week 2nd-week #1 split over 3 weeks 697 screens (21.5% of top 10)
Down 27.9% from 2018: (£12,710,945); Rampage (£4,109,247); Truth or Dare (£931,250); Luisa Miller Met Opera 2018 (£231,297); #1 Rampage £4,109,247 55 screens 1st week.
Down 39% from 2017: (£15,013,493); The Boss Baby (£8,025,886); Peppa Pig: My First Cinema Experience (£1,050,962); Going in Style (£569,392); Table 19 (£130,602); City of Tiny Lights (£28,038); Raw (£67,042); #1 The Boss Baby £8,025,886 1st week.
Down 17.3% from 2016: (£11,079,652); The Huntsman: Winter’s War (£3,032,962); Midnight Special (£497,109); Hardcore Henry (£201,827); The Man Who Knew Infinity (£147,990); #1 The Huntsman: Winter’s War £3,032,962 1st week.
Down 58.5% from 2015; (£22,075,680); Fast & Furious 7 (£12,765,033); The Water Diviner (£521,546); While We’re Young (£427,151); Blade Runner: The Final Cut (Re: 2015) (£267,452); #1 Fast & Furious 7 £12,765,033 1st week.
Down 27% from 2014: (£12,545,501); Rio 2 (£2,882,680); Noah (£2,511,397); Divergent (£1,767,295); La Boheme – Met Opera 2014 (£374,522); The Double (£281,794); #1 Rio 2 £2,882,680 1st week.
Up 14.4% from 2013: (£8,015,138); Dark Skies (£1,031,948); Spring Breakers (£345,153); The Odd Life of Timothy Green (£269,465); A Late Quartet (£107,158); #1 The Croods £2,364,348 3rd week 28% drop
Down 33.6% from 2012 (£13,797,117); Titanic 3D (£2,856,540); Mirror Mirror (£2,389,033); The Pirates! In An Adventure with Scientists (£2,166,162); The Cold Light of Day (£503,985); Headhunters (£264,769); #1 Titanic 3D £2,856,540 1st week 427 screens (20.7% of top 10)
Up 92.1% from 2011; (£4,770,365); Rio (£1,515,853); The Roommate (£120,365); Mars Needs Mums (£113,559); Tomorrow, When the War Began (£85,841); Silent House (£8,539); #1 Rio £1,515,853 1st week.
Up 3.4% from 2010: (£8,861,394); Whip It! (£353,041); I Am Love (£171,959); Shelter (£141,452); The Infidel (£135,448); #1 Clash of the Titans £2,441,682 2nd week 57% drop.
Down 9.9% from 2009; (£10,172,026); Monsters vs. Aliens (£4,345,711); The Boat that Rocked (£1,804,773); Religulous (£18,736); #1 Monsters vs. Aliens £4,345,711 1st week.
Up 38.4% from 2008; (£6,623,644); Son of Rambow (£897,089); Never Back Down (£845,530); Awake (£546,562); One Missed Call (£432,327); Funny Games (£88,376); How She Move (£78,771); #1 27 Dresses £1,028,661 2nd week 41% drop.
Up 30,4% from 2007: (£7,026,692); Blades of Glory (£1,023,836); Sunshine (£1,021,063); The Messengers (262,562); #1 Mr Beans Holiday £2,451,283 2nd week 62% drop
Down 35.6% from 2006; (£14,229,376): Ice Age II (£9,775,974); She’s The Man (£994,304); Alien Autopsy (£796,119); The Dark (£265,084); #1 Ice Age II £9,775,974 1st week 502 screens (68.7% of top 10)
Up 33.7% from 2005 (£6,854,564); Sahara (£1,370,577); The Assassination of Richard Nixon (£157,756); Man of the House (£126,331); #1 Sahara £1,370,577 399 screens 1st week (20% of top 10)
Down 5.9% from 2004 (£9,743,104); 50 First Dates (£1,651,544); Shaun of the Dead (£1,603,410); Capturing the Friedmans (£66,689); Blind Flight (£6,634); #1 Scooby-Doo Too £2,038,602 2nd week 43% drop 20.9% of top 10 (20.9% of top 10)
Up 114.6% from 2003 (£4,270,657); Shanghai Knights (£749,655); A Man Apart (£527,730); Blue Crush (£491,419); #1 The Recruit £923,834 2nd week (3rd weekend down 17% 378 screens (18.1% of top 10)
Up 41.8% from 2002 (£6,466,007); Collateral Damage (£434,639); 24 Hour Party People (£265,428); Kate & Leopold (£204,325); #1 Blade 2 £1,335,594 2nd week 47% drop
2023 Next week: (£12,342,706); Renfield (£680,661); Suzume (£469,100); Der Rosenkavalier – Met Opera 2023 (£96,666); Assassin Club (£43,187); Raging Bull (4K Restoration) (£27,981); #1 Super Mario Bros £7,568,523 2nd week 51% drop 722 screens (61.32% of top 10)
US Box Office
- Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire – Warner Bros
Dropped 61% in the second weekend $31.2m and $134.54m.
207th biggest second weekend between Shark Tale and Bohemian Rhapsody (close to Venom: Let There Be Carnage, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, War of the Worlds and Solo: A Star Wars Story.
498th biggest between The Incredible Hulk and Live Free or Die Hard; 1,195th biggest inflated between This is the End and Friday the 13th Part 3; 3rd biggest 2024 between Kung Fu Panda 4 and Bob Marley: One Love; 76th biggest sci-fi between Godzilla (1998) and Wanted; 85th biggest Warner Bros between Argo and Superman.
The budget was $135m with Legendary funding 75% and Warner Bros 25% with Warner paying P&A costs which are probably another $65m+ with promotional partners.
Previous MonsterVerse film’s second weekends
2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters dropped 67.7% $15.45m and $78.5m of $110.5m and $387.3m worldwide
2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong dropped 56.1% $13.88m and $70m of $100.91m and $470.11m worldwide
2014’s Godzilla dropped 66.8% $30.94m and $148.29m of $200.67m and $524.97m worldwide
2017’s Kong: Skull Island dropped 54.4% $27.83m and $109.1m of $168.05m and $568.65m worldwide
While
1998’s Godzilla dropped 59.1% $18.02m and $99.32m of $136.31m and $379.01m worldwide
2005’s King Kong dropped 57.6% $21.25m and $108.58m of $218.08m and $556.9m worldwide
Took $59.3m internationally from 69 territories $226m total and $361.13m; China $92.2m; Mexico $23.7m; UK $11.2m; India $10.2m; Australia $7.4m.
Took $34.1m globally from IMAX; US $13.7m; International $7.7m; China $12.7m.
424th biggest worldwide between The World is Not Enough and Tenet; 5th biggest 2024 between Kung Fu Panda 4 and Bob Marley: One Love; 89th biggest sci-fi between Planet of the Apes (2001) and Tenet; 81st biggest Warner Bros between The Hangover 3 and Tenet.
- The First Omen – Disney
Opened $8.36m #4; received positive reviews (86% Rotten Tomatoes) and C CinemaScore (2006’s The Omen C+)
Took $725k from Thursday previews.
Ahead of opening, The First Omen was expected to open between $13m-$14m targetting young female audiences the same that was expected to come out to see Immaculate; the budget was $30m and was made for Hulu but Disney opted to give it a theatrical release as Paramount did with Smile and Mean Girls.
While the original 1976 film directed by Richard Donner was a critical and box office hit, the budget was $2.8m and it took $50m, the sequels weren’t nearly as successful 1978’s Damien: Omen II took $24m and 1981’s The Final Conflict took $20m and it took 25 years until the original films 30th anniversary for 20th Century Fox to make another film; 2006’s The Omen opened $16.02m taking $54.6m and $119.97m worldwide and received poor reviews.
This was expected to be the end for the film series, but with Disney now owning 20th Century Fox they are going through the studio’s library reimagining many of their films for streaming and theatrical. Horrors are very lucrative as they have a strong fanbase and budgets are normally low, while 20th Century Studios have had some success with horrors like 2022’s Barbarian taking $40m and 2023’s The Boogeyman $43m, films with low budgets so can be quite profitable for the studio.
Opened $9.1m from 43 territories and $17.5m worldwide; Mexico $1.6m; Indonesia $700k; UK $700k; S Korea $600k; Brazil $600k.
- Monkey Man – Universal Pictures
Opened $10.11m #2; received positive reviews (88% Rotten Tomatoes) and B+ CinemaScore.
Took $1.4m from Thursday previews similar to The Northman’s $1.35m and Violent Night‘s $1.1m.
Has been compared to John Wick and Jason Bourne and opened similarly to 2014’s John Wick opened $14.41m taking $43.03m and $86.08m worldwide. The sequels and Bourne films took far more.
2017’s John Wick: Chapter 2 opened $30.43m taking $92.02m and $174.34m worldwide
2019’s John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum opened $56.81m taking $171.01m and $328.34m WW
2023’s John Wick: Chapter 4 opened $73.81m taking $187.13m and $440.15m WW
After acquiring the film Universal Pictures will surely want to make a film series.
The soft opening for Monkey Man despite positive reviews, strong buzz and 4.3m watching the Superbowl TV spot in the first 24 hours shows again that trailer views mean very little in how a film will perform. As many who saw the trailer thought looks great will wait to watch it on Peacock so it would have probably had a bigger audience watching it on Netflix had it stayed there.
While internationally it opened even worse despite Dev Patel heavily promoting the film. The film has been compared to John Wick as has its opening so the question is, as John Wick will there be sequels and if so will they perform far stronger once audiences have embraced the film on streaming? If so could also be compared with Taken, that said Taken’s international BO pushed 20th Century Fox into giving it a US opening and then made it almost a billion-dollar franchise.
Opened $2.6m from 27 territories.
- Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire – Sony Pictures
Dropped 42% taking $9m #3 in the third weekend and $88.8m.
805th biggest third weekend between Legally Blonde and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (close to The Lost City, The Magnificent Seven, Immortals and Sleepy Hollow) Ghostbusters 2 $8.8m #826; Ghostbusters (2016) $10.12m #672; Ghostbusters: Afterlife $10.35m #649; Ghostbusters (1984) $13.05m #424.
937th biggest between The Ugly Truth and Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief; 1,914th biggest inflated between Kicking and Screaming and The Lost Boys; 5th biggest 2024 between Bob Marley: One Love and Mean Girls; 123rd biggest Sony Pictures between The Ugly Truth and Anyone But You.
Third weekends
2021’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife dropped 57.2% $10.35m and $102.2m of $129.36m and $204.33m worldwide
2016’s Ghostbusters dropped 51.8% $10.12m and $106.49m of $128.35m and $229.14m worldwide.
1989’s Ghostbusters 2 dropped 36.4% $8.8m and $73.64m of $112.49m ($297m inflated) and $215.39m worldwide
1984’s Ghostbusters down 13.5% $13.05m and $61.48m of $243.57m ($763.35m inflated) and $296.57m worldwide; was #1 for 7 consecutive weeks and returned #1 for another 7 weeks over the following 5 months.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife had a budget of $75m less than half of the budget of 2016’s Ghostbusters; in August 2016 Sony Pictures said they expected to lose $70m on Ghostbusters as the break-even point was $300m.
It’s a strange coincidence all previous Ghostbusters films have taken similar BO in the US.
Took $7.1m from 31 territories $49.3m total and $138.2m worldwide; UK $5.3m; Mexico $2.7m; Australia $2m; Germany $1.7m; Spain $1.3m.
1,373rd biggest worldwide between Nine Months and Bridge to Terabithia; 10th biggest in 2024 between The Beekeeper and Mean Girls; 176th biggest Sony Pictures between Annie (2014) and Last Action Hero.
- Kung Fu Panda 4 – Universal Pictures
Dropped 25% in the fifth weekend $7.77m #5 and $165.97m.
259th biggest fifth weekend between Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
69th biggest animated film between Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation and Kung Fu Panda 2; 347th biggest between 2012 and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves; 892nd inflated between District 9 and Split; 2nd biggest 2024 between Dune: Part Two and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire; 45th biggest Universal Pictures between Fifty Shades of Grey and Sing.
Since acquiring Dreamworks Animation success has come from existing properties with original films underperforming their next two The Wild Robot and Dog Man are more important titles.
The Wild Robot trailer looks gorgeous similar to The Iron Giant and Wall-E while Dog Man is the spinoff to the underrated Captain Underpants that took less than half of Cars 3 (opened with $53.7m similar to King Fu Panda 4). The question is will audiences come out to see The Wild Robot as they did for Wall-E but didn’t for The Iron Giant?
Fifth weekends
2008’s Kung Fu Panda dropped 37.4% $7.31m and $193.22m of $215.77m and $632.08m worldwide
2011’s Kung Fu Panda 2 dropped 53.8% $4.17m and $153.06m of $165.24m and $665.69m worldwide
2016’s Kung Fu Panda 3 dropped 28.9% $8.98m and $128.35m of $143.52m and $521.17m worldwide
48 Dreamworks Animation films have taken $6.3bn from the US and $16.83bn worldwide.
Upcoming Dreamworks Animation films The Wild Robot opens in September and Dog Man in January with two untitled films also set for release in 2025.
Took $27.4m from 69 territories and $243.52m total and $410.4m worldwide; China $42.7m; Mexico $31.8m; UK $16m; Germany $13.3m; Italy $10.3m; Spain $9.6m; Australia $7.7m; France -$7.5m; Brazil $6m.
Has staggered opening over the next few weeks ahead of Easter making it impossible to compare internationally with other animated films, which said Universal has staggered the openings of several animated films over recent years.
70th biggest animated film worldwide between Beauty and the Beast (1991) and Sing 2; 341st biggest between The Mummy and Kingsman: The Golden Circle; 42nd biggest Universal Pictures between The Mummy and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.
- Dune Part 2 -Warner Bros
Dropped 35% in its sixth weekend $7.43m #6 and $265.09m.
133rd biggest sixth weekend between Inside Out and 101 Dalmatians (close to Inception $7.83m #116; Oppenheimer $8.22m #100; Gravity $8.53m #93; The Martian $9.07m #82; Joker $9.22 #77.
Dune Part 2 for a sixth weekend is again coincidentally similar to Oppenheimer’s weekend BO.
129th biggest between Shrek and Despicable Me 3; 404th biggest inflated between Back to School and Smokey and the Bandit II; 30th biggest sci-fi between The Matrix Reloaded and Star Trek (2009); 24th t biggest Warner Bros between Gravity and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
Sixth weekends
2021’s Dune dropped 34.5% $2.08m and $102.15m of $108.89m and $433.79m worldwide
2010’s Inception dropped 30.5% $7.83m and $262.03m of $292.58m and $839.03m worldwide
2023’s Oppenheimer dropped 23.4% $8.22m and $299.45m of $329.01m and $957.59m worldwide
2013’s Gravity dropped 33.4% $8.53m and $231.24m of $274.09m and $773.03m worldwide
2014’s Interstellar dropped 30% $5.45m and $166.75m of $188.02m and $731.07m worldwide
2015’s The Martian dropped 22.5% $9.07m and $196.84m of $228.43m and $630.62m worldwide
2016’s Arrival dropped 46.8% $2.97m and $86.66m of $100.54m and $203.38m worldwide
2017’s Blade Runner 2049 dropped 37.1% $1.46m and $88.05m of $92.07m and $267.68m WW
2017’s Logan dropped 34.2% $4.02m and $218.02m of $226.27m and $619.02m worldwide
2009’s Avatar dropped 18.3% $34.94m and $551.74m of $749.76m and $2.743bn worldwide
Visual cinematic films including Oppenheimer, Interstellar, Gravity, Prometheus and Inception are comparable titles. At the same time, as Tenet, Dune Part 2 will have all IMAX/PLF/Dolby screens which Oppenheimer never had as Barbie had some PLF screens.
Took $11.2m from 73 territories $400.1m total and $665.19m worldwide; China $47.7m; UK $46.3m; Germany $37.6m; France $36.4m; Australia $21.1m; S. Korea $17.1m; Spain $14.1m; Mexico $11.4m; Italy $10.9m; Poland $10.2m; Holland $10m; Switzerland $7.6m.
Has taken $64.3m from IMAX in the US $75.1m internationally and $139.4m worldwide.
152nd biggest worldwide between Man of Steel and Kung Fu Panda 2; 31st biggest sci-fi between The Hunger Games and Star Wars Ep. II: Attack of the Clones; 27th biggest Warner Bros between Man of Steel and Justice League.
UK Box Office Top 10
UK Box Office Preview
The new releases Back to Black and Civil War join holdovers Kung Fu Panda 4, Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire playing to different demographics and success should lead to success across all of them.
Amy Winehouse generated huge media coverage when she was alive and in January 2023 a week after production started on the film pictures of Marisa Abela and Eddie Marsan as Amy and her father, Mitch Winehouse found their way to social media generating much criticism. The film had its world premiere on Monday and the embargo ended Tuesday morning, received mixed reviews as it gives a vanilla version of her life while also being too soon for a biopic compared to Bohemian Rhapsody, Rocketman and most recently Bob Marley: One Love.
After the death of Amy Winehouse, there were several attempts to make a biopic about Amy Winehouse including in 2015 Noomi Rapace was in talks to star with Kirsten Sheridan directing. They didn’t progress until 2018 when Winehouse’s estate announced they had signed a deal for a film about her life and career with Studiocanal.
Sam Taylor-Johnson previously directed 2009’s Nowhere Boy opened £148,157 #7 176 screens taking £1,292,610; 2015’s Fifty Shades of Grey opened £13,550,290 #1 586 screens taking £34,662,255 and 2019’s A Million Little Pieces opened £25,746 #32 from 59 screens.
Showing the huge popularity of Amy Winehouse in the UK the 2015 documentary Amy opened £523,192 #5 133 screens taking £3,763,429.
Music biopics have been extremely popular in the UK over recent years and Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black 2018 album sold 3.93m copies in the UK and is the 12th biggest-selling album in the UK.
It’s hard to compare with other musician biopics as most had previews inflating their openings.
2024’s Bob Marley: One Love opened £6,950,773 (£2,707,330 previews) taking £16,607,577
2006’s Walk the Line £1,111,142 #2 198 screens taking £9,737,493
2022’s Elvis opened £4,023,572 #1 740 screens; £1.25m (31.1%) Fri; £1.45m (36%) Sat £1.29m (36%) Sun; taking £27,492,430; had long legs staying in top 5 for 7 weeks and top 10 for 11 weeks.
2018’s Bohemian Rhapsody opened £9,530,463 (£3,054,530 previews) taking £55,376,188.
2019’s Rocketman opened £5,381,904 #2 705 screens (including £1,360,606 from three days of previews) taking £23,502,881: top 5 for 5 weeks and top 10 for 7 weeks.
These films had the musician’s estate approval Rocketman was produced by Elton John while Queen produced Bohemian Rhapsody. The difference between those biopics is the main musicians died 20+ years ago while Amy Winehouse is only 14 years after her death which feels too soon for a biopic.
The question is will audiences embrace Back to Black as they have with these other biopics that also received mixed reviews or will Kung Fu Panda 4 hold #1 in its third weekend at the end of the Easter school holidays as Panda 4 will likely hold similar to its second weekend taking about £2.5m.
Advance sales look quite soft
Civil War has received positive reviews with some comparing it to 28 Days Later as instead of Zombies the characters are travelling through a war and the film isn’t about a Civil War but about the journalists who are following the story.
Alex Garland previously directed 2022’s Men opened £519,907 #3 568 screens taking £1,004,483; 2018’s Annihilation was released theatrically in the US and internationally on Netflix; 2015’s Ex Machina opened £1,093,952 #5 442 screens taking £2,890,149.
2002’s 28 Days Later opened £1,500,079 (£2,769,377) taking £6,315,553 (£11,659,482 inflated)
2006’s Children Of Men opened £1,284,254 #1 (£2,088,561 inflated) taking £4,858,150 (£7,900,729 inflated)
2013’s The Purge opened £1,019,877 #6 taking £3,365,209; 2014’s The Purge: Anarchy opened £1,165,143 #3 taking £4,430,522; 2016’s The Purge: Election Year opened £807,803 #5 taking £1,908,983; 2018’s The First Purge opened £1,778,157 #1 taking £5,904,674
Other similar films include.
2005’s War of the Worlds opened £8,644,787 (including £1,116,200 previews) £14,536,457 inflated taking £30,600,000 (£51,454,777 inflated)
1999’s The Siege opened £845,954 (£1,591,438 inflated) taking £3,143,307 (£5,913,300 inflated)
Also wrote screenplays for 28 Days Later, Sunshine, Never Let Go and Dredd and wrote the scripts for follow-ups to 28 Months Later, and 28 Years Later directed by Danny Boyle.
Opening in two weeks
- The Fall Guy – Universal Pictures
Action comedy based on the 1980s TV series starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, with Winston Duke, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Hannah Waddingham, and Stephanie Hsu and directed by David Leitch. Premiered at SXSW receiving positive reviews.
Development started in 2010 with director Martin Campbell in talks to direct for Dreamworks/Disney and then in 2013 with Dwayne Johnson in talks to star and McG to direct, but it wasn’t until Ryan Gosling and David Leitch.
After the huge success of Barbie last summer, the success of 21 Jump Street films 12 years ago and David Leitch’s previous films Bullet Train, Deadpool 2, Atomic Blonde and Hobba & Shaw are huge expectations on The Fall Guy.
- Tarot – Sony Pictures
Supernatural horror starring Harriet Slater, Adain Bradley, Avantika Vandanapu, Wolfgang Novogratz, Humberly González, Larsen Thompson, and Jacob Batalon and directed by Spenser Cohen and Anna Halberg and based on a 1992 novel, Horrorscope, by Nicholas Adams; was originally called Horrorscope and was changed to Tarot.
- Love Lies Bleeding – Lionsgate
Thriller starring Kristen Stewart, Katy O’Brian, Jena Malone, Anna Baryshnikov, Dave Franco, and Ed Harris and directed by Rose Glass. Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival receiving positive reviews (93% Rotten Tomatoes). Had its European premiere at the Berlin Film Festival and UK premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival. Lionsgate acquired UK rights in November 2023.
Rose Glass previously directed 2020’s Saint Maud (opened £263,433 #2 334 screens taking £849,698 between the first and second lockdown, and received positive reviews.
cigarette burns and missed changeovers 