UK/US Box Office August 23rd-25th week 34 and It Chapter 2 preview

 

1. Angel Has Fallen  – £2,122,408 – NE

Took £718,402 from previews on Wednesday/Thursday without it would have opened below taking only £12,817 more than Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood.

Had 679^th biggest opening in the UK between The World’s End and Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween (close to The Magnificent Seven, Ride Along 2, The Omen and Gangster Squad) and the 886^th biggest inflation inflated between Why Him? and Superbad (close to Get Smart, John Wick: Chapter Two, Cowboys & Aliens and Get Out).

Lionsgate’s 16^th biggest opening in the UK between Olympus Has Fallen and Dirty Grandpa and 19^th biggest inflation inflated between The Expendables 2 and Fighting With My Family.

Lionsgate’s third #1 film of the year after John Wick: Chapter 3: Parabellum (£3,562,524) in May and Fighting With My Family in March (£2,022,174).

In 2013 Olympus Has Fallen won the battle against White House Down (opened with £1,184,338 taking £4,175,310)

London Has Fallen opened March 2016 with £3,229,675 (including £511,336 previews) taking £10,831,576

Olympus Has Fallen opened April 2013 with £2,247,900 (including £851,675 previews) taking £6,131,193

All films suffered having the hottest August Bank Holiday ever in the high 80s but with over 500,000 free cinema tickets available on Sunday for National Lottery Cinema Day box office should have been much stronger as those free tickets are worth almost £5m and the weekend top 10 box office was £8.36m.

Would be interesting to know how many of these free cinema tickets were used on Sunday and what films they saw. As the day was to celebrate National Lottery’s investment in the British film industry, but there was only one British film in the top 15 this weekend Blinded By the Light #14 taking £149,433.

Took £361,692 on Bank Holiday Monday taking its total to £2.5m.

2. Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood – £2,109,591 – £12,736,799

Down 72% in its second weekend (58.7% not including previews) having the biggest second weekend drop for a Quentin Tarantino film in the UK Inglourious Basterds dropped 63% and The Hateful Eight 60%.

Had the second biggest Quentin Tarantino second weekend in the UK after Django Unchained (£2,419,846).

Had the 353^rd biggest second weekend opening in the UK between Ice Age: Continental Drift and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (close to The Meg, Alien: Covenant, Saving Private Ryan and The Last Samurai) and 481^st biggest inflation inflated between Rush Hour and Jumper (close to Lucy, Lethal Weapon 4, American Hustle and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels).

Sony Pictures UK 33^rd biggest second weekend in the UK between Godzilla and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (close to Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Django Unchained, XXX and Snatch) and 44^th biggest inflation inflated between Vertical Limit and Maid In Manhattan (close to The Panic Room, Bad Boys 2, Hollow Man and The Social Network).

15^th biggest second weekend of the year between Shazam and Glass (2^nd biggest original film second weekend after Rocketman #12); took £10.63m in its opening week 7^th biggest (£8.2m without previews); 16^th biggest film of 2019 between Shazam and Glass.

The nine Quentin Tarantino films have taken over £91m in the UK and over £140 m inflation inflated.

Took £522,000 on Bank Holiday Monday taking its total to £13.2m.

3. The Lion King – £1,093,891– £69,064,201

Down 56% in its sixth weekend;

13th biggest film in the UK between Mamma Mia! and Star Wars: Rogue One and 34th biggest inflation inflated between The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe and Jurassic World

7th biggest Disney film in the UK after Star Wars: The Force Awakens; Avengers: Endgame; Star Wars: The Last Jedi; Toy Story 3; Beauty and the Beast and Avengers: Infinity War.

After having the 18^th biggest opening weekend in the UK and 11^th biggest Fri-Sun and opening at the start of the summer holidays along with all the hype and love for the film should have expected The Lion King to hold much stronger over the summer holiday?

While The Lion King might be the 33rd film to take £1m+ in its 6th weekend it had the 31^st biggest 6^th weekend between Bridget Jones’s Baby and Avenger Infinity War close t Mary Poppins Returns (£998,726); Calendar Girls (£979,974);

Below films including

Avatar took 371%+ (£5,155,844); Titanic 211%+ (£3,403,199); Paddington 159%+ (£2,834,003); Toy Story 4 131%+ (£2,525,047); Mamma Mia! 102%+ (£2,208,482); The Greatest Showman £1,499,524); 101%+ (£2,201,523); Bohemian Rhapsody 41%+ (£1,534,249); Toy Story 3 37%+ (£1,499,524); The Jungle Book 32%+ (£1,445,165); Frozen 20%+ (£1,314,153) and Beauty and the Beast 20%+ (£1,312,335).

While The Lion King is the 13^th biggest film in the UK taking almost £70m would have expected it to of taken £100m+ as Avengers: Endgame.

The Lion King continues to hold similar to 2017’s Beauty and the Beast taking 0.4% more (£68,772,576 Vs £69,064,201) and 2% more than Toy Story 3 (£67,593,215 Vs £69,064,201)  while has taken 25% more than Toy Story 4 (£51,622,537 after 6 weeks) but first 4 weeks was term time; but over 30% less than Skyfall (£93,769,331) and Spectre (£90,634,770) which is the box office I expected The Lion King to have taken after 6 weeks.

As The Lion King opened at the start of the summer holidays was expecting it to be leggier than all the other Disney imaginations this year the original animated film is the most beloved animated film of all time ahead of release expected it to take £100m+ but will end taking about £80m. The original 1994 animated film was the biggest film of 1994 taking over £24m (over £80m today).

Aladdin and The Lion King were always expected to perform strongly this year as the originals were hugely successful at the box office it is different for next year’s as the original animated film Mulan was one of Disney’s lowest grossing animated films in the UK opening with £1,648,488 taking £9,454,609 and their 33rd biggest inflation inflated (£16,938,530) taking similar box office to Moana, Coco, The Emperor’s New Groove and The Good Dinosaur.  

12 Disney reimaginations have taken almost £380m since 2010 and £390m inflation inflated; Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is Disney’s fourth reimagination opens in October sequel to Maleficent opened May 2014 with £6,590,071 taking £19,292,000 but the sequel is tracking to open lower in the US so likely to open lower in the UK.

Took £400,000 from Bank Holiday Monday taking it total to £64.4m

4. Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw – £634,421 – £17,849,035

Dropped 55.8% in its fourth weekend;

Had the 5th biggest 4th weekend of the Fast and Furious franchise close to Fast & Furious 8 (£817,596) and Fast & Furious 6 (£846,541) ahead of Fast & Furious, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, 2 Fast 2 Furious and The Fast and the Furious.

Is the 5th biggest Fast & Furious film (after Fast & Furious 7, The Fate of the Furious, Fast & Furious 6 and Fast & Furious 5) and will shortly overtake Fast & Furious 5 (£18,368,657).

Universal Pictures 35th biggest film in the UK between Fifty Shades Freed and Johnny English Strikes Back and 40^th biggest inflation inflated between Fast & Furious and Snow White and the Huntsman

The 9 Fast and Furious films have taken over £162m at the box office since 2001 and over £184m inflation inflated.

Fast and Furious 9 is currently shooting for release next May and then Fast and Furious 10 set for release in April 2021 was expected to be the final film of the series but after Hobbs & Shaw has taken almost $440m worldwide before opening in China this week there will surely be a Hobbs & Shaw 2 opening in 2022.

Hobbs & Shaw is Universal Pictures 3rd biggest film of 2019 (after How to Train Your Dragon 3 and The Secret Life of Pets 2) and the 12^th biggest film of 2019 after Avengers: Endgame, The Lion King, Toy Story 4, Captain Marvel, Aladdin, Spider-Man Far From Home, Dumbo, Rocketman, How to Train Your Dragon 3, The Secret Life of Pets 2 and The Lego Movie 2.

With Downtown Abbey: The Movie opens next month targetting Bridget Jones/Mamma Mia! demographic and Cats in December (despite mixed reception from trailer should be hoping cinemagoers still love their musicals at Christmas (Mary Poppins Returns, The Greatest Showman and Les Misérables) should end the year strongly. While in 2020 have the triple whammy of No Time to Die (Bond 25), Fast & Furious 9 and Minions: The Rise of Gru.

5. Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark – £611,218  – NE

Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark had a strong opening in the US two weeks ago but was always likely to open with far less in the UK due to it receiving a 15 certificates so the target audience can’t legally see them opening with only 3% of its US opening ($20.91m). This follows on from last weeks Good Boys opening with £844,169 4% of its US opening ($21.4m).

This is the problem with the 12A certificate Vs PG-13 as the BBFC are seemingly more lenient with blockbusters giving them a 12A with films including The Hunger Games Mockingjay, Spectre and  Jurassic World receiving 12A despite having scenes that are borderline 12A but then will give other films like Scary Stories 15s. Surely the BBFC should bring back the 12 certificate for films like Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark Good Boys and Blockers?

In 12012 BBFC poorly decided to give The Woman In Black a 12A as it was Daniel Radcliffe’s first film after ending Harry Potter franchise. The film terrified pre-teens and BBFC received many complaints, which has seen the BBFC up many non-blockbusters to 15.

Many believe UK openings are about 10% of their US but this is only the case with blockbusters with other films its normally between 7%-12% more for British film (Toy Story 4 11% while Rocketman 21%) while with films like Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark and Good Boys its closer to 3%.

Was a strange decision to open Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark the same weekend as Crawl as both are 15 rated horrors and would attract similar audience which meant neither film opened as strongly as might have expected.

With a lack of new releases this weekend and positive word of mouth Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark could hold well this weekend.

Took £144,515 from Bank Holiday Monday with a total of £755,733.

UK box office in detail

This weekend’s top 10 box office took £8,636,602 down 46.2% from last weekend £16,071,094

The weekend admissions 1,110,880 down 47.1% from last weekend 2,098,106; average ticket £7.56 up 5% from last year’s £7.22 and Applaudience estimate ticket price of £10.28

13 films opened at weekend taking (£3,563,517); Angel Has Fallen 59.5% (£2,122,408); Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark 17.1% (£611,218); Crawl 12.8% (£458,796); remaining 10 films shared 10.4% (£371,095)

Top three took 71.3% (£5,325,890) of the top 10; Angel Has Fallen 39.8% (£2,122,408); Once Upon A Time In Hollywood 39.6% (£2,109,591); The Lion King 20.5% (£1,093,891);  

The weekend down 32.4% from 2018: (£12,788,350); BlacKkKlansman (£1,234,214); The Spy Who Dumped Me (£1,057,211); The Children Act (£517,378); Slender Man (£389,339); Alpha (£225,606); Luis and the Aliens (£218,248); #1 Disney’s Christopher Robin £2,138,824 2nd week 673 screens 16% drop (16.7% of top 10)

Up 28.9% from 2017: (£6,700,471); American Made (£1,067,075); Logan Lucky (£705,087); Detroit (£658,028); Rough Night (£244,462); Mayweather Vs. McGregor (Boxing) (£171,256); Thomas & Friends: Journey Beyond Sodor (£92,389); #1 American Made £1,067,075 1st week 543 screens (15.9% of the top 10)

Down 33.6% from 2016: (£13,012,003); David Brent: Life on the Road (£1,460,290); Lights Out (£1,126,543); Swallows and Amazons (£676,175); Nine Lives (£636,804); Tickled (£25,602); #1 Finding Dory £2,868,459 4^rd week (2^nd #1) 627 screens up 12% (22.1% of the top 10)

Down 8.1% from 2015; (£9,389,554); Paper Towns (£2,072,789); Sinister 2 (£1,069,261); Vacation (£608,748); The Bad Education Movie (£594,861); Strange Magic (£56,127); Good People (£25,454); #1 Paper Towns £2,072,789 1^st week 472 screens (22.1% of top 10)

Down 23% from 2014: (£11,216,125); Lucy (£3,076,997); Into the Storm (£1,147,657); Deliver Us from Evil (£629,554); What If (£592,501); Doctor Who: Deep Breath (£522,908); 2 Days, 1 Night (£165,278); Thomas and Friends: Tale of the Brave (£60,328); Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (£12,117); Sin City (Re: 2014) (£10,244); #1 Lucy £3,076,997 1^st week 486 screens (27.4% of top 10)

Down 18.3% from 2013: (£10,580,446); Elysium (£3,127,005); We’re the Millers (£1,508,326); The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (£1,143,385); Thomas & Friends: King of the Railway (£63,311); Jurassic Park 3D (£111,703); What Maisie Knew (£95,852); Lovelace (£86,076); The Kings of Summer (£6,773); #1 Elysium £3,127,005 1^st week 463 screens (29.5% of top 10)

Down 19.9% from 2012 (£10,782,345); Keith Lemon: The Film (£1,196,310); The Three Stooges (£509,324); The Imposter (£252,170); Shadow Dancer (£201,936); #1 Brave £2,371,691 4^th week (2^nd #1) 556 screens 55% drop (21.9% of top 10)

Down 44.9% from 2011 (£15,690,651); One Day (£2,208,724); Final Destination 5 (£1,450,464); Conan the Barbarian (£622,268); The Skin I Live In (£325,349); #1 The Inbetweeners Movie £5,696,848 2^nd week 471 screens 57% drop  (36.3% of top 10)

Down 39.3% from 2010: (£14,228,206); The Expendables (£3,935,700); Piranha 3-D (£1,325,324); Marmaduke (£1,243,789); The Illusionist (£164,950); The Human Centipede (£6,145); #1 The Expendables £3,935,700 1^st week 453 screens (27.6% of top 10)

Up 3% from 2009; (£8,384,307); Inglourious Basterds (£3,596,415); Dance Flick (£462,825); Shorts (£171,876); I Love You, Beth Cooper (£123,519); #1 Inglourious Basterds £3,596,415 1^st week 444 screens (42.8% of top 10)

Down 19.7% from 2008; (£10,756,388); Hellboy 2: The Golden Army (£2,969,602); Get Smart (£1,542,005); College Road Trip (£121,360); Somers Town (£121,345); #1 Hellboy 2: The Golden Army £2,969,602 1^st week 464 screens (27.6% of top 10)

Up 8.7% from 2007: (£7,941,925); Knocked Up (£1,583,998); Lady Chatterley (£48,776); Flood (£2,501); #1 The Bourne Ultimatum £2,864,804 2^nd week 457 screens 56% drop (36.1% of top 10)

Up 41.4% from 2006; (£6,106,683); You, Me and Depree (£1,636,249); Severance (£483,152); Volver (£433,283); #1 You, Me and Depree £1,636,249 1^st week 409 screens (26.8% of top 10)

Up 31.1% from 2005 (£6,589,529); Bewitched (£1,053,432); Unleashed (£498,058); The Perfect Man (£186,460); #1 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory £1,691,431 4^th week 516 screens 41 drop (25.6.1% of top 10)

Up 1.1% from 2004 (£8,540,203); The Village (£2,945,763); A Cinderella Story (£611,209); #1 The Village £2,945,763 1^st week 433 screens (34.5% of top 10)

Up 1.2% from 2003 (£8,393,708); Tomb Raider 2 (£1,524,676); Confidence (£325,685); The Man Who Sued God (£195,418); Swimming Pool (£119,092); #1 American Pie: The Wedding £2,180,783 2^nd week 425 screens 47% drop (26% of top 10)

Up 27.2% from 2002 (£6,787,774); The Guru (£1,521,984); Reign Of Fire (£932,168); Talk To Her (£174,757); Black Knight (£167,084); #1 The Guru £1,521,984 1^st 368 screens (22.4% of top 10)

Up 29.2% from 2001 (£6,685,496); Heartbreakers (£751,754); Crocodile Dundee in L.A. (£354,593); Lucky Break (£348,613); Josie and the Pussycats (£37,662); #1 Planet of the Apes £2,364,945 2^nd week 447 screens 57% drop (35.3% of top 10);

Next weekend in 2018: (£7,876,859); Searching (£765,050); The Happytime Murders (£694,044); Yardie (£438,088); Cold War (£228,780); Upgrade (£58,006); Action Point (£33,993); #1 Disney’s Christopher Robin £1,173,235 3^rd week 646 screens (14.9% of top 10)

Also opened

• Crawl – Paramount Pictures

Opened with £458,796 from 483 screens

Opening 20 years since the similarly themed Lake Placid opened with £931,472 taking £3,493,960

Similar films

1999’s Deep Blue Sea opened £1,946,454 taking £8,087,585

2010’s Piranha 3D opened £1,325,324 taking £4,466,428

2016’s Don’t Breathe opened £1,028,938 taking £3,719,221

2016’s The Shallows opened £800,963 taking £1,723,386

2017’s 47 Meters Down opened £637,964 taking £1,326,136

2018’s The Meg opened £3,651,111 taking £15,075,792

• Pain & Glory – Pathe

Opened with £307,131 from 125 screens

Pedro Almodóvar film had its international premiere at the Cannes Film Festival receiving positive reviews (90% Rotten Tomatoes score) Banderas won Best Actor award and Alberto Iglesias won Best Soundtrack award.

Opened in Spain in March becoming the highest-grossing Spanish film at the box office of the year taking €5.3 million and $18.4m worldwide.

Previous Pedro Almodóvar films

2016’s Julieta opened with £356,191

2011’s The Skin I Live In opened with £325,349

2006’s Volver opened with £433,283

2002’s Talk To Her opened with £174,757

1990’s Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! Opened with £81,747

1989’s Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown is Pedro Almodóvar most well know film which was recently turned into a West End stage show.

• It – Warner Bros (re-release)

Opened with £9,242 from 94 screens

Ahead of It Chapter 2 release in two weeks’ time Warner Bros re-released the first film on limited release, they will also screen double bills of the two films the day before its opening on September 5^th.

Other Box Office News

Admissions increased by 1m between January- and July this year compared to last year to 102m

Top 30 biggest films of 2019 (Jan-July) took £630.73m (not included 2018 releases) almost 86% of 2019’s £736.44m box office  

Top 30 biggest films of 2018 (Jan-July) took £649.16m (not included 2017 releases) almost 89% of £729.22m box office

Top 30 biggest films of 2017 (Jan-July) took £671.63m

 

UK Box Office Top 10

 

US Box office

• Angel has Fallen – Lionsgate

Opened with $21.38m; received poor reviews (40% Rotten Tomatoes score) but A- CinemaScore

Ahead of release Angel has Fallen was tracking to open in the teens but as with Good Boys last weekend and other Gerald Butler films opened bigger than expected but would have expected both to open as they did so why do analysts underestimate both films openings?

London Has Fallen opened March 2016 with $21.63m taking $62.52m and $205.75m worldwide

Olympus Has Fallen opened March 2013 with $30.37m taking $98.92m and $170.27m worldwide

Opened with $8.6m internationally 

• Ready or Not – Fox Searchlight

Opened with $8.01m and $11.04m over 5 days; received positive reviews (87% Rotten Tomatoes score) but only B+ CinemaScore.

Was expected to open bigger but while critics liked the film audiences had a much more mixed response, Ready or Not will expand further this weekend but will likely  drop heavily.

Had the widest release for a Fox Searchlight film in the US previous widest 2002’s The Banger Sisters 2,739 screens and 2006’s The Hills Have Eyes 2,621

Art-house horror have had mixed success at the box office with films including 2013’s Stoker opened with $160,547 from limited release taking $1.71m; 2015’s Crimson Peak opened with $13.14m taking $31.1m; 2016’s The Witch opened with $8.8m taking $25.13m; 2018’s Suspiria opened on limited release $184,037 taking $2.48m

• Good Boys – Universal Pictures

Dropped 45% in its second weekend taking $11.63m and $41.94m

Holding similar to last year’s Blockers which took $10.77m and $37.4m and $40.3m total

Second weekends

1999’s American Pie took $13.55m down 27.5% and $45.52m taking $121.46m

2005’s The 40-Year-Old Virgin took $16.27m down 24% and $48.56m taking $109.44m

Universal Pictures have taken over $1bn at the box office this year in the US it is the 9^th year running have taken over $1bn in the US are currently #2 studio in the US but with Abominable, Last Christmas, Queen & Slim, Black Christmas, Cats and 1917 are likely to be no match for Warner Bros It Chapter 2 and Joker and Warner Bros will likely end the year in second place where they have been since 2016 behind Disney.

With Trolls World Tour, Fast & Furious 9, Minions: The Rise of Gru and Halloween Kills they have a good chance to hold their own against Disney in 2020.

Took $3.5m from 22 territories and $6.9m total and $49m worldwide; 84% US and 16% international but still has 28 territories still to open in

• Overcomer – Sony /Affirm

Opened with $8.14m; received poor reviews (33% Rotten Tomatoes score) and A+ CinemaScore

Opened in 1,723 screens almost half of the number of screens the rest of the top 10 films were playing in which saw it have the second-best screen average of the top 10 after Angel Has Fallen.

20 years ago only a small amount of films opened in over 3,000 screens but all of the top 20 biggest films opened in over 3,000 screens with many opening on over 4,000 screens. Most films now are opening far too wide and probably could be as successful opening in far less screens.

Alex and Stephen Kendrick’s previous faith-based films 2015’s War Room opened with $11.35m taking $67.79m; 2011’s Courageous opened with $9.11m taking $34.52m; 2008’s Fireproof opened with $6.83m taking $33.45m.

• Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw – Universal Pictures

Dropped 43.1% in its fourth weekend taking $8.068m and $147.62m

Dwayne Johnson’s films have taken $3.55bn in the US and $10.386bn worldwide; Jumanji: The Next Level opens in December followed by Jungle Cruise next July.

Universal Pictures have had 6 #1 this year the same amount as Disney for a total of 10 weekends and  Us, Yesterday, and Good Boys are among the highest grossing original movies of 2019.  ;;

The nine Fast and Furious films have taken $1.664bn in the US and $5.72bn worldwide; Fast & Furious 9 is set for release May 22^nd, 2020 and Fast & Furious 10 2^nd April 2021.

Took $120.6m from 68 territories internationally (including $102m from China) and $588.9m worldwide; #159 biggest film worldwide between Men in Black and The Croods.

• The Angry Birds Movie 2 – Sony Pictures

Dropped 38.4% in its second weekend taking $6.38m and $27.1m

2016’s The Angry Birds Movie took $18.76m in its second weekend down 51% and $66.42m taking $107.5m and $352.3m worldwide.

Took $10.2m from 43 territories and $47.6m total; The Angry Birds Movie 2 still has many major territories to open in including Mexico; Australia; Italy; Germany; France but is likely to take half of the original film took worldwide.

• The Lion King – Disney

Dropped 34.6% in its sixth weekend taking $8.06m and $510.55m total

Had the 78^th biggest 6^th weekend between Back to the Future and Fatal Attraction; holding similar to Avengers: Endgame but took almost 25% less than #34 Toy Story 4 ($10.45m); #41 Aladdin ($10.11m) and the original 1994 animated film #46 ($9.94m); #26 The Jungle Book ($10.94m); #18 Incredibles 2 ($11.89); #41 Aladdin ($10.11m); #29 Beauty and the Beast (1991) ($10.67m); #63 Finding Dory ($11.28m).

Overtook Beauty and the Beast to become the highest grossing Disney reimagination in the US and their 10^th film to take over $500m at the box office; 3 Star Wars films (Star Wars: The Force Black Panther Awakens, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) 4 MCU films (Avengers: Endgame, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Marvel’s The Avengers) 1 Pixar sequel (Incredibles 2) and two reimaginations (The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast) equals very little creativity.

13^th biggest film in the US between Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and 2017’s Beauty and the Beast

The Lion King was the 14th film to take over $500m at the US box office which should be an amazing achievement for a film but for the fact the original film took $313m in 1994 which would be about $700m inflation inflated.

While Disney will receive much praise for the performance of their summer films do believe all of them came short to expectations. At the start of the year many believed The Lion King would be the biggest film of the year and possibly of all time did possibly think ahead of release $1bn US was possible, but then dropped it to $800m; likewise Avengers: Endgame if it was the biggest film worldwide should surely be the biggest film ever in the US and UK too?

The original The Lion King animated film is the most beloved animated film of all time and Disney pulled out all the stops for the reimagination; the teaser trailer became the most watched trailer in 24 hours overtaking It (197m views) in November 2018 (224.6m views) was beaten by Avengers: Endgame two weeks later and its official trailer was seen 174m times in April.

Trailers were played with all of the biggest films of the year Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, Aladdin and Toy Story 4 and the remake featured an all-star voice cast including Beyoncé who recording songs for its soundtrack.

Ahead of release many expected The Lion King to become one of the biggest films ever in the US and the world instead holding close to Incredibles 2 which took $440.6m after 3 weeks 72.4% of $608.58m total which will see it take $600m+.

The Lion King has taken about 95% of its final box office within 6 weeks and will take about $540m  will see it miss out from getting into the top 10 biggest films in the US.

Rather than exhibitors worrying about Netflix films shortened theatrical window they should be more concerned with films like The Lion King (opening with $191.7m) and Avengers: Endgame (opening with $357.1m) as these films open big but then drop big and exhibitors make more money the longer films are playing; Avengers Endgame took 73%+ of total BO within 10 days while The Lion King took 66% of its total box office within 10 days.

Most films take 70%+ of their BO within 4 weeks Gravity 73% Gone Girl 75% The Martian 74% Bladerunner 2049 89% A Star Is Born 70% so a 21-day theatrical window is the best of both for exhibitors and Netflix as it gives film fans the opportunity to see the films in cinemas but over a limited playing time.

The original The Lion King took over $1m for 35 weeks in the US in 1994 when ticket prices were more than half while the reimagination 25 years later will take $1m+ for about 10 weeks.

20 years ago when a film took $100m at the box office was the sign of a films success but have been 749 films taking over $100m. (In 1970 Airport became one of the first films to take over $100m at the US box office will be over $500m today). Have been 211 films taking $200m+; 85 films have taken over $300m and 37 over $400m should now be the sign of a film’s success at the box office.

Disney have 119 films taking over $100m (1987’s Good Morning, Vietnam its 1^st); 60 films taking over $200m (1998’s Armageddon its 1^st) and 19 films taking over $400m (2006’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest its 1^st).

The originally film took $422.78m (24th biggest film in the US between Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and $803.2m Inflation inflated (20th biggest film in the US between Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace and The Sting).

The Lion King took over $1m at the US box office for 35 weeks (till February 1995) taking $31285m; re-released in IMAX in 2002 taking $15.68m and in 2011 in 3D taking $94.24m with $422.78m total;

Globally took $968.5m 42nd biggest film worldwide between Despicable Me 2 and 2016’s The Jungle Book; would be about $2.5bn worldwide inflation inflated.

Ten years ago Sean Parker said “A million dollars isn’t cool. You know what’s cool? A billion dollars,” the same could be said about global BO with 42 $1bn+ films since 1993 need to take $2bn+ globally now

Decade or more ago $1bn worldwide was cool but with China inflating global BO now 42 members since 1993 as with $100m used to being sign of success both need to be doubled as should really be $1bn US and $3bn+ global club that Avengers Endgame and The Lion King should be members?

14 Disney reimaginations have taken $3.258bn in the US and $8.9bn worldwide

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is the fourth Disney reimagination to open this year in October; early box office tracking has it expecting opening with $40m+ 40% less than 2014’s Maleficent ($69.43m), it was surprising Disney brought forward release date 8 months in March from May 29^th 2020 as that was the same weekend Maleficent opened in 2014.

Do find it strange when a studio has success with a film opening over a specific weekend that they don’t release the follow up the same weekend. Especially as Disney last week delayed their 101 Dalmatians reimagination Cruella from December 2020 to the same weekend (28^th May 2021) and Aladdin reimagination opened well this year in this slot with $915m taking $353.86m. While Disney haven’t had much success opening original films during May their last Tomorrowland in 2015 (opened with $33.1m taking $93.43m).

Disney have specific slots during the year when they normally release their films; February (Marvel), March (Pixar), April (Marvel), May (Disney), June (Pixar) July (Disney), August (Disney), October (Marvel), November (Disney) December (Lucasfilm).

Took $38.2m from 56 territories and $997.9m total and $1.508bn worldwide #9 biggest between Furious 7 and Avengers: Age of Ultron; China $120.4m; UK $84.8m; France $71.3m; Brazil $66.2m; Mexico $51.4m; Germany $48.5m; Russia $44.8m; Japan $42.6m; Australia $41.8m; Spain $37.8m; Korea $35m; Netherlands $29m; India $26.2m

• Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – Sony Pictures

Dropped 34.8% in its fifth weekend taking $5m and $123.19m

Has overtaken Inglourious Basterds to become Quentin Tarantino’s second biggest film in the US after Django Unchained ; after holding similar to Inglourious Basterds over its opening four weeks Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is now holding similar to Django Unchained taking about 90% of its final box office of $140m+

Fifth weekends

2009’s Inglourious Basterds took $3.81m and $110.11m 91.2% of $120.54m

2012’s Django Unchained $4.94m and $146.23m 89.8% of $162.8m

It was reported that due to the deal Quentin Tarantino struck with Sony Pictures to acquire the film it will need to take over $400m to break even. In November 2017 Sony Pictures acquired distribution rights agreeing to all of Quentin Tarantino demands which included final cut, $95m budget and 25% of first-dollar gross and the film rights revert back to him after 10 to 20 years.

Django Unchained took $425.4m and Inglourious Basterds took $321.5m worldwide.

The nine Quentin Tarantino films have taken almost $773m at the US box office and $1bn inflation inflated and almost $1.71bn worldwide

Took $28m from 55 territories $116.6m total internationally and $239.8m worldwide; #629 biggest film worldwide between Resident Evil: Retribution and Crocodile Dundee II

Has become Quentin Tarantino’s third biggest film worldwide after Django Unchained $425.4m; Inglourious Basterds $321.5m overtaking 1994’s Pulp Fiction $213.9m.

• The Peanut Butter Falcon – Roadshow Attractions

Up 945.8% in its second weekend (adding 942 screens) taking $3m and $3.72m total

• Brittany Runs a Marathon – Amazon

Opened with $180,711 from 5 screens

Another film acquired at the Sundance Film Festival this year ( Amazon paid $14m for world rights) that failed to find an audience opening several months later a week after Blinded By the Light opened (dropped 54.3% in its second weekend taking $1.98m and $8.1m).

UK Box Office Predictions

The week after August Bank Holiday is the dumping weekend for distributors as they clear their shelves for autumn with new releases A Million Little Pieces, Mrs Lowry & Son, The informer, The Mustang and The Souvenir unlikely to find an audience.

The weekend before school’s return has the fewest £1m+ earners over the last 18 years in 2017 American Made had the lowest #1 for the final weekend in August since 2001 with films including Grown Ups and The Guru both shockingly bad films but they still managed to open bigger. It wasn’t always this way as 22 years ago The Full Monty opened with £1.6m (£2.83m today) and went on to become the biggest film in the UK until Titanic.

Next week It Chapter 2 will likely open similar to the first part (£10m) and then Downtown Abbey: The Movie is expected to open strongly the following weekend despite at the moment not booked into Vue Cinemas, as they look to have repeated their dispute with Universal Pictures they had earlier this year which saw Mary Queen of Scots not playing in their cinemas until several weeks after opening and having fewer screenings of How to Train Your Dragon 3;

Wowcher had a 2for1 offer at Vue Cinemas but the only films that weren’t included were Hobbs & Shaw, Downtown Abbey and The Adams Family Movie which could be connected to this dispute? But as seen with previous disputes with Warner Bros for A Star Is Born last October Vue Cinemas not showing either films had little impact on their opening weekends.

Major exhibitors have again refused to book Netflix award contenders including The Irishman, surely it should be up to the distributor how long they want the theatrical window as they have invested much more into the film. As cinemagoers have become much more selective with the films they see in cinemas exhibitors need change their stance over how different films are released. What might work for a megamovie doesn’t work for an art-house film so a much more flexible window is needed?

Do believe exhibitors have too much power over requiring films to have a 17 theatrical window but then can still pull an underperforming films from their cinemas within weeks as has often happened this year, but the distributor can’t give these films an early VoD release.

With Angel Has Fallen likely to drop 60%+ in its second weekend and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood dropping 50%+ the weekend will likely be similar to the first weekend of September 2017 when no film took over £1m (American Made took £968,068 and Dunkirk £935,980).

Opening in UK Next Week

• It: Chapter Two – Warner Bros

Supernatural horror sequel to the 2017 film It based on the 1986 novel It by Stephen King starring Bill Skarsgård, James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain, Bill Hader, Isaiah Mustafa, Jay Ryan, James Ransone, Andy Bean, Jaeden Martell, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, Chosen Jacobs, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Jack Dylan Grazer and Wyatt Oleff and directed by Andy Muschietti.

Set in 2016, 27 years after the events depicted in the first film.

The teaser for the first film was seen over 197 million times in the first 24 hours (with 81m views on Facebook) in March 2017 (after 36 hours, the trailer had been seen 246m times) overtaking previous record set by The Fate of the Furious of 139m in December 2016. It has since been overtaken by two Avengers: Endgame trailers seen 289m and 269m times, Avengers: Infinity War 230m times and The Lion King 224.6m times.

It: Chapter Two doesn’t feature in the top 20 most watched trailers has been watched about 60m times similar to Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Shazam!

Early social media reactions have been positive saying it is scarier than the first film but does feel long (2hour 50mins almost 30 minutes longer than the first film).

Director Andy Muschietti’s first cut of It Chapter 2 was 4 hours long and he hopes Warner Bros will release a directors cut as he knew that 4 hours was unreasonable (was revealed this week Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman will be over 3h 30mins long his longest ever probably because as it was made by Netflix they allowed him to make the film he wanted). He also hoped that the two films could be put together with a running time of 390 minutes.

“I can’t tell you, and this is only an expression of desire, of course. The supercut is something that is yet not out as an idea,” Muschietti said. “We have to talk about it. But I definitely want to make a supercut with material that nobody has seen because it was lifted from ‘Chapter Two.’ But also new stuff, new material…It would probably be around six and a half hours.”

It opened with £10,002,443 having the fifth biggest Fri-Sun opening of the UK of 2017 and the six biggest opening of the year behind Beauty and the Beast, The Fate of the Furious, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, Despicable Me 3; It Chapter 1 is the 62^nd biggest opening in the UK and is the 110^th biggest film in the UK taking £32.34m; it Chapter 1 is Warner Bros 25^th biggest film in the UK.

After a disappointing year for Warner Bros its 8 releases in 2019 have taken £65m almost 80% less than Disney’s £305m+ The Lego Movie 2 their current biggest film taking £19m should end the year strongly with Joker, The Goldfinch Doctor Sleep and Motherless Brooklyn opening after It Chapter 2.

It Chapter 2 features one change to the books a hate crime scene (gay man attacked by a group of bigots is thrown off the bridge and then attacked and killed by Pennywise) wasn’t in the original TV series, but director Andy Muschietti said, “it was always an essential part of the story”.

Andy Muschietti said Stephen King was affected by the true story Charlie Howard, who was killed in Bangor, Maine in 1984 by a group of teens for being gay when he wrote It and included it. “Of course, the names are changed, but the beating happened almost exactly like it’s described in the book, and Charlie died in three feet of water in the canal.”

Jessica Chastain said “Stephen King wrote the novel It because a hate crime was committed in his childhood town. That darkness, he wanted to explore and that’s the first scene in our film… It’s going to be hard to talk about this without crying…. ‘I think you need that scene because he writes about the darkness that’s under the surface. The dirt under the fingernails of these small towns or of mankind. That’s what It represents. It’s the darkness of human behaviour’…. ‘I think it was important to see Adrian’s scene and not to change it from what it is in the novel because we’re living in a time right now where it is very much a part of our culture and part of our conversation, and we haven’t moved past it. So, we can’t pretend that it doesn’t still exist because it’s part of our every day,’

As with the first film It Chapter 2 has the weekend to itself with no competition until Event Cinema’s Fleabag – NT Live 2019 on Thursday 12^th September and Downton Abbey: The Movie opening the following weekend expected to target Mamma Mia/Bridget Jones/50 Shades of Grey female heavy 35+ audience.

An immersive horror experience “It Chapter 2: The Vaults Experience” ran throughout August letting horror fans to get face to face with Pennywise over 11,000 square feet across nine different interactive spaces around Waterloo station’s disused railway tunnels.

Two years ago Warner Bros had a similar Pennywise immersive experience at the Peckhamplex cinema in London which they renamed the PennyPlex.

Warner Bros also released IT Chapter 2 VR experience as did for the first film.

Opening in US Next Week

• It: Chapter Two – Warner Bros

It Chapter 1 opened the same weekend two years ago with $123.4m (taking $327.5m in the US and $700m worldwide); It Chapter 2 was being tracked to open with $110m+ a month ago; It Chapter 2 faces even less competition than the first film.

Had the biggest ever September opening, largest Fall opening and biggest opening for an R-rated horror film; previous biggest openers were Hotel Transylvania 2 $48.5 million and Gravity’s $55.7 million and the previous biggest R-rated horror was Paranormal Activity 3’s $52.5 million;

It Chapter 1 had 86% Rotten Tomatoes score and B+ CinemaScore in comparison the first two Conjuring films received A- (The Conjuring dropped 46.9%,  The Conjuring 2 63.2%, Anabelle 57.3% and Annabelle: Creation 55.4% while Get Out only 15.4% and Split 35.9%); audience was split 51% female vs. 49% male with 10% of the audience under the age of 18 65% over the age of 25.

It opened with $62m internationally from 46 territories and $179m globally with the UK the biggest international territory went on to take $700m worldwide.

Stephen King has published 54 novels including 7 under the name Richard Bachman, 6 non-fiction books and almost 200 short stories. Over 40 have been adapted into films taking over $1.48bn in the US and $1.72bn worldwide.

It Chapter 2 will be more front-loaded than original film which dropped 51% in its second weekend had limited competition of  American Assassin and mother! as the sequel has with The Goldfinch and Hustlers.

How different US box office is on Sunday September 10^th, 2017 Disney were only $8m ahead of Warner Bros overtaking Disney the following day compare this to now with Disney having taken almost $1.8bn more than Warner Bros this year.

The rivalry between the two studios has been strong for many years through the 90s and 00s the studios were very close, but the last time Warner Bros were #1 was 2013, Disney has been #1 since 2016 thanks to properties. The difference between Warner Bros and Disney is they still make a mix of films, genres and properties with The Goldfinch opening the week after It: Chapter Two. With Wonder Woman 1984, Tenet, The Witches and Dune they should have a far stronger year in 2020 getting much closer to Disney.

Advance bookings for It Chapter 2 are strong outselling all other horror films including previous record holder Halloween.