UK Box Office December 29th-31st 2023; Wonka has the UKs biggest ever 4th weekend

1. Wonka – £6,672,464 – £43,822,435

Down 7.5% in the fourth weekend

Took £2.38m 35.6% (up 17.8% £2.02m) Friday; £2.33m 34.9% (Up 0.9% £2.31m) Saturday; £1.95m 29.2% (30.6% drop £2.81m) Sunday; took £1.21m New Years Day and £1.69m on Tuesday.

The biggest fourth weekend ahead of Star Wars The Force Awakens £6m; Avatar 2 £5.86m; Skyfall £5.56m; Avatar £4.77m; No Time to Die £4.62m; Spider-Man No Way Home £4.47m; Barbie £4.42m; The Fellowship of the Rings £4.37m; The Lion King (2019) £4.36m; and 23^rd biggest inflated between Monsters, Inc. and Beauty and the Beast (2017) (close to Jurassic Park, A Bug’s Life, The Lion King (1994) and Alice in Wonderland).

The last week of December is the most lucrative of the year as seen with Wonka taking £13.9m over the 10 days (9 cinema days) since the school holidays started on December 22. Also boosted by Boxing Day openers performing far stronger than they would any other time of the year as seen in 2016 with Monster Trucks opening with £1,726,229 and Collateral Beauty £1,177,943 over a normal weekend would have opened with far less. It also sees holdovers have low drops and family-friendly films increase box office, which has seen Wonka have 4 weekends taking £6m+ for 4 weeks.

67^th biggest film in the UK between The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe and Toy Story 2 (close to Minions: The Rise of Gru, Mary Poppins Returns, Paddington 2 and Alice In Wonderland) and 105^th biggest inflated between Mary Poppins Returns and 1917 (close to Slumdog Millionaire, Paddington, Inside Out and The Hangover Part II).

16^th biggest Warner Bros film between Harry Potter & The Prisoner Of Azkaban and The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug (close to The Dark Knight, Harry Potter & The Goblet Of Fire, Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory).

Wonka was playing in 779 cinemas and 1,435 screens.

David Heyman has had the Midas Touch this year producing two of Warner Bros biggest films Barbie and Wonka both shot at Leavesden Studios. He has had huge success with Warner Bros producing Harry Potter films, 11 of Warner Bros’s biggest 20 films in the UK are produced by him. He also developed Paddington at the studio for many years before they dropped the project and Studiocanal acquired it and both films were critical and box office success with a third film set for release next November. David Heyman also has the long-development I Am Legend sequel starring Will Smith and Michael B. Jordan which could go into production next year with a 2025 release.

2014’s Paddington dropped 13% by £2,513,675 and £18,120,879 #2 from 588 screens 47.7% of £37,965,541; was #1 for 2 weeks; in the top 5 for 8 weeks and in the top 10 for 12 weeks; took £2m+ for 6 weeks and £1+ for 7 weeks.

2017’s Paddington 2 dropped 31% £4,545,218 #2 from 638 screens and £22,990,836 53.9% of £42,643,286; #1 for 3 weeks split over 5 weeks, opened #1, then dropped #2 for 2 weeks before returning #1 in early December; top 5 for 8 weeks and top 10 for 10 weeks; took £2m+ for 4 weeks and £1m+ for 9 weeks.

Wonka was always going to perform strongly in the UK, the only question was how big Roald Dahl’s film adaptions have been extremely popular in the UK, UK audiences love musicals, especially around Christmas, (The Greatest Showman and Mary Poppins Returns) and Wonka has become the must-see Christmas film that Barbie was the summer must-see.  

Fourth weekends

2022’s Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical dropped 37% £1,318,128 and £12,763,079 45.5% of £28,044,574

1996’s Matilda dropped 2.9% £676,174 (£1,476,618 inflated) and £5,272,384 (£11,513,747) 51.5% of £10,227,163 (£22,333,913 inflated)

2005’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory dropped 41% £1,691,431 (£3,246,262) #1 and £30,091,611 (£57,753,021) 80.5% of £37,354,584 (£64,081,749 inflated)

2009’s Fantastic Mr Fox dropped 14% £675,753 (£1,003,692) and £7,714,879 (£11,458,864) 83.3% of £9,260,892 (£13,755,148)

2016’s The BFG dropped 35% £1,110,536 #4 and £23,510,073 76.6% of £30,694,086

1990’s The Witches took £2,135,460 (£7,405,372 inflated) and 1996’s James And The Giant Peach £5,750,628 (£12,558,128 inflated)

British audiences love seeing musicals even films that underwhelmed have performed stronger in the UK including most recently In The Heights taking 4x £1,073,687 opening and Cats (3.75x £3,207,471 opening). So, with the combination of a musical, a prequel of a beloved children’s film, Roald Dahl, similarities to Paddington and a strong British cast it was a no-brainer that Wonka was going to have long legs.

Wonka can also be compared to 2018’s Mary Poppins Returns dropped 40% £4,444,023 #1 from 718 screens and £34,295,862 77% of £44,541,719. The difference was Mary Poppins Returns opened the weekend before Christmas and its third weekend was the first weekend of January.

As in the US up to July 20^th Warner Bros had a very disappointing year, they had released 8 films taking £45m, they released another 8 films from July 21^st to December 20^th taking £180m, showing again how one or two films can turnaround a studio. This was seen last year with Top Gun Maverick for Paramount and their BO dropping almost 50% this year. When studios release fewer films as Paramount and Disney do they have nowhere to hide when films underwhelm, but with Warner Bros releasing 16 films and having two massive hits their losses aren’t as visible now as Disney.

20 +years ago, Warner and Disney would release over 30 films each and they had a scattergun approach with budgets much less than they are now they were hoping that one or two would be big hits and if they didn’t there was always another film opening the next week. Over the last decade with studios reducing the films they release and films having shorter runs the flops are more noticeable and the losses are much bigger, and budgets have grown.

Netflix had that scattergun approach with the content they made for streaming, they have also cut back for quality over quantity, which is something Bob Iger has said Disney would do but they already release fewer films under Disney brand than any other studio.

• 2. Ferrari £1,981,677 – NE

Took £975,272 (49.1%) from previews; £261k (13.2%) Tues; £319k (16.1%) Weds; £315k (15.9%) Thurs.

Took £361k 18.2% Friday; £366k 18.5% Saturday; £274k 13.8% Sunday; Took £181k New Years Day and £180k Tuesday 

869^th biggest opening between Liar Liar and The Equalizer 2 (close to Unbreakable, Le Man’s 66, Tron Legacy and Daredevil) and 1,359^th biggest inflated between Blair Witch 2 and Munich (close to The Running Man, Enemy of the State, A Perfect World and The Prestige).

37^th biggest 2023 opening between A Haunting In Venice and Saw X (close to M3gan, The Creator, Saw X and Cocaine Bear)

Micheal Mann’s biographical sports drama Ferrari will likely lead the new releases after it received huge media coverage with Sky Cinema heavily promoting the film having a big London premiere and the Surprise Film at the London Film Festival. Unlike other Sky Cinema acquisitions, they aren’t releasing it on the same day in cinemas which has seen major exhibitors book the film, unlike other Sky Cinema films. While Sky Cinema handled the premiere its cinema release has been handled by Black Bear who acquired ST

Recent racing films 2019’s Le Man’s 66 opened with £2m taking £5,919,482; 2013’s Rush £2.1m taking £10,115,328 and 1990’s Days Of Thunder £590,553 (£2,046,395 inflated) taking £3,430,086 (£11,885,994 inflated) while most recently Gran Turismo opened with £1,045,838 taking £2,662,023.

Based on the 1991 biography Enzo Ferrari: The Man, the Cars, the Races, the Machine by motorsport journalist Brock Yates. Premiered at the Venice International Film Festival receiving positive reviews (73% Rotten Tomatoes)

The film was originally acquired by STX for the US and UK, but Neon then acquired US rights and Sky Cinema UK rights. It was the Surprise Film at the London Film Festival. This is the most high-profile film Sky Cinema has acquired for the UK (they also acquired Promising Young Woman). Will be interesting to see if major exhibitors will book it as they have previously refused to book Sky Cinema films despite the channel being available to less than a quarter of the population.

Michael Mann previously directed Blackhat, Public Enemies, Miami Vice, Collateral, Ali, The Insider, Heat, The Last of the Mohicans and Manhunter.

2009’s Public Enemies opened £2,228,291 #2 from 458 screens taking £6,686,950

2006’s Miami Vice opened £2,231,684 #1 from 408 screens taking £6,873,370

2004’s Collateral opened £2,238,200 #1 from 450 screens taking £8,192,302

2002’s Ali opened £1,315,506 taking £4,367,867 #3 from 330 screens (£8,408,671 inflated)

2000’s The Insider opened £437,078 (£791,707 inflated) 186 screens taking £1,379,265 (£2,498,351 inflated)

1996’s Heat opened £1,624,316 from 221 screens (£3,498,864 inflated) taking £9,717,993 (£20,933,082 inflated)

1992’s The Last of the Mohicans opened £748,447 from 235 screens (£1,858,294 inflated) taking £4,872,044 (£12,096,633 inflated)

2015’s Blackhat opened £147,199 #14

Adam Driver starred in 65 earlier this year (opening £1,270,409 and taking £3,211,908) and House of Gucci and The Last Duel in 2021.

• 3. Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom £1,732,614 – £5,983,518

Down 30.4% in the second weekend

Took £621k 35.8% (6.6% drop £655k) Friday; £639k 36.9% (£645k 1% drop) Saturday; £470k 27.1% (£598k 21.4% drop) Sunday.; took £333k New Years Day and £393k Tuesday. 

536th biggest second weekend between Doctor Dolittle and Apollo 13 (close to Snatch, Sleepy Hollow, The Fifth Element and Creed 2) and 929th biggest inflated between 102 Dalmatians and My Bloody Valentine (close to Top Gun, Wolf, The Green Mile and Daredevil).

12th biggest DC second weekend between Birds of Prey and The Flash

75th biggest comic-book second weekend between Birds of Prey and Fantastic Four (2005) (close to The Incredible Hulk, Black Widow, The Hulk and Blade 2) and 85th biggest inflated between Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) and Daredevil (close to Dick Tracy, Blade, Green Lantern and Superman IV).

20th biggest 2023 second weekend between Napoleon and Dungeons & Dragons (close to John Wick: Chapter Four, Fast X, Meg 2: The Trench and Insidious 5).

Aquaman 2 opened in 749 cinemas and 1,165 screens.

2018’s Aquaman dropped 54% £2,383,974 #2 and £10,056,769 of £22,066,309

Shazam! Fury Of The Gods dropped 54% £1,094,707 #2 and £4,093,818 of £5,892,663 almost half of 2019’s Shazam! Dropped 46% £2,162,719 #2 and £8,906,160 of £13,151,121, The Flash dropped 68% £1,336,897 #2 and £6,771,495 of £8,856,170; MCU’s Ant-Man 3 dropped 65% £3,049,939 and £14,653,459 of £19,263,938 and The Marvels dropped 63% £1,255,158 #2 and £5,713,712 of £7,095,634.

The 16 DC Extended Universe films have taken £330n+ since Man of Steel in 2013 and £360m+ inflated.

After having a much lower second-weekend drop due to the lucrative post-Christmas week it will likely drop 50%+ in its third weekend, that said with wet windy weather, most schools closed till Tuesday and is the only film for tween/teen boys could have a smaller drop, that said it’s still going to struggle to get to £10m. Currently 13^th biggest DC Extended film between Birds of Prey and Shazam! Fury Of The Gods.

While Aquaman 2 sees the end of the current DC Extended Universe, James Gunn’s DC slate of films starts with Joker: Folie á Deux opening in October 2024 a musical sequel to the 2019 hit, Superman: Legacy July 2025 and The Batman – Part II October 2025. 

As with MCU what will be more interesting to see is what James Gunn does with the lesser-known DC films as Batman and Superman films have always been popular at the box office in all the different versions that have been made over the years on the big and small screen.

• 4. The Boy and the Heron – £1,640,667 – NE

Includes £953,498 (57.9%) from previews Tues- Thurs £745k (45.4%); £205k (12.5%) from additional previews.

Taking £691k (42.1%) Fri-Sun; £251k (15.3%) Friday; £274k (16.7%) Saturday; £166k (10.1%) Sunday; took £153,805 New Years Day and £152k Tuesday

As Godzilla Minus One opened £816,891 earlier in the month almost four times more than 2004’s Zatoichi opened #12 £137,049 from 48 screens the previous biggest Japanese live-action film, it’s impossible to make any comparisons with other similar films as none have opened anywhere nearly as big.

Hayao Miyazak’s The Boy And The Heron broke records for Japanese animated films when it opened earlier in the month in the US and within a day it took more than Spirited Away open in the UK in 2003 £152,504 from 51 screens taking £1.18m; 2010’s Ponyo opened £171,857 #17 from 221 screens.

The Boy And The Heron had four days of previews over the most lucrative week of the year which made it impossible to make any direct comparisons to any other film and it also opened in less than a quarter of the screens of most other films in the top 10. Opening on 154 screens it had a screen average of £10,319 the 8^th highest screen average of 2023 between Wonka (699 screens) and Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny (743), does show again as with Bollywood releases films don’t need to open as wide as they are and these films are opening strongly without IMAX/PLF surcharges.

1,042^nd biggest opening between Casper and Rango (close to Pacific Rim: Uprising, The Great Wall, Waterworld and Judge Dredd) and 1,626^th biggest inflated between Spies In Disguise and Notorious (close to Inspector Gadget, Lethal Weapon, The Fly and Nacho Libre)

• 5. Anyone But You – £1,253,694 -NE

Took £520,278 (41.7%) from previews Tues-Thurs; £104k Tues; £188k Weds; £229k Thurs.

Took £278k (22.1%) Friday; £307k (24.5%) Saturday; £145k (11.5%) Sunday.

1,358^th biggest opening between Save the Last Dance and The English Patient (close to What Happens in Vegas, Silver Linings Playbook, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and 500 Days of Summer) and 1,975^th biggest inflated between Next and A Perfect Murder (close to No Strings Attached, Romeo and Juliet, Dave and Serendipity).

46^th biggest 2023 opening between 65 and Blue Beetle (close to Magic Mike’s Last Dance, Babylon, No Hard Feelings and What’s Love Got to Do With It).

60^th biggest rom-com opening between What Happens In Vegas and How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days (close to Four Weddings and a Funeral, While You Were Sleeping, New Year’s Eve and 500 Days Of Summer) 87^th biggest inflated between Love, Simon and LA Story (Housesitter, Sweet Home Alabama, Crazy, Stupid, Love and Mannequin).

Will Gluck returns to his rom-com roots after directing Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway, Peter Rabbit and Annie.

It’s a return to romcom for Glen Powell after starring in Top Gun: Maverick last year, previously starred in Netflix’s Set It Up in 2018 alongside Zoey Deutch.

2011’s Friends with Benefits opened £1,947,272 #2 from 432 screens and £6,241,762

2010’s Easy A opened £277,975 #8 203 screens and £773,795

Also opened.

• Next Goal Wins – Disney

Opened £844,604 from 583 screens.

Included £418,623 (49.2%) previews from Tues- Thurs

Based on the 2014 documentary of the same name by Mike Brett and Steve Jamison. Premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, received mixed reviews (42% Rotten Tomatoes) but struggled to find an audience in the US last month.

Taika Waititi’s 2020 JoJo Rabbit opened £2,415,233 #5 from 532 screens taking £7,541,315.

2016’s Hunt for the Wilderpeople opened £167,646 #15 from 63 screens taking £391,241

2014’s What We Do in the Shadows opened £127,765 #12 from 33 screens

Disney used to have a lot of success from feelgood sporting films in the 80s to 00s, but Next Goal Wins highlights the issues Disney have had with these films over the last decade as Million Dollar Arm tested higher than Harry Potter and received positive reaction from CinemaCon screening but struggled to find an audience opening a few months later.

Disney sporting films include.

2014’s Million Dollar Arm opened £150,050 #15 from 236 screens

1994’s Cool Runnings opened £1,017,581 from 205 screens (£2,495,422 inflated) taking £9,506,926 (£23,313,908 inflated)

1997’s Fever Pitch opened £463,386 (£907,417 inflated) from 223 screens taking £1,672,141 (£3,274,438 inflated)

2009’s The Damned United opened £618,929 #5 from 236 screens taking £2,179,291

Fictional sporting films include.

2005’s Goal opened £857,253 #3 from 366 screens (£1,450,596 inflated) taking £2,110,210 (£3,570,780 inflated)

2001’s The Mean Machine opened £1,573,594 (£3,029,358 inflated) #3 from 313 screens taking £4,388,287 (£8,447,982 inflated)

UK Cinema News

This weekend 6 films were taking £1m+ including previews, last year over the same weekend there were 3 Avatar: The Way Of Water, Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody and Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical, which saw the top 10 up by 12%.

The market is much healthier when more films are sharing the BO as they are playing to different demographics.

But BO was down by a third from 2019, 6 films also took £1m+ (Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker; Jumanji: The Next Level; Little Women; Frozen 2; Cats and Spies In Disguise but they took double the BO between them.

The box office was also down for the last weekend since 2009 when Avatar #1 but ticket inflation is up 50% since have to go back to probably 2004, while preview BO added several million to the weekend totals. While the weekend figure looks strong for the top 5 if you take preview BO away then weekend BO isn’t nearly as strong, that said cinema attendance on New Year’s Eve as Christmas Eve and Boxing Day are less busy than on other days.

There were reports of technical faults with the Sony 500 projectors on New Year’s Eve selected Curzon, Vue and Everyman cinemas were affected. Some digital projectors are now over 10 years old it’s likely similar faults could happen in the future as many of these cinemas need upgrading but exhibitors are being selective in the cinemas they upgrade.

UK box office in detail

This weekend’s top 10 box office took £16,079,436 up 23.9% from last weekend’s £12,979,322: x admissions up 32.4% from 1,580,916 admissions.

7^th biggest weekend of the year out of 52 weeks between 02 June 2023 #1 Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse (£9,159,823) and 05 May 2023 #1 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (£12,079,820)

18^th biggest since cinemas reopened out of 163 weeks between 02 June 2023 #1 Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse (£9,159,823) and 11 November 2022 #1 Black Panther Wakanda Forever (£12,363,870)

179^th biggest top 10 of the last 21 years (out of 1,135) between 02 June 2017 #1 Wonder Woman £6,179,616 (38.36% of top 10) and 16 August 2019 #1 Once Upon A Time In Hollywood £7,544,445 (46.94% of top 10) and 404^th biggest inflated between 14 December 2018 #1 Aquaman £5,230,285 (35.87% of top 10) and 07 May 2004 #1 Van Helsing £5,429,632 (59.99% of top 10)

The top 3 took (£10,386,755) 64.6% of the top 10; Wonka 41.5% (£6,672,464); Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom 12.32% (£1,981,677); Ferrari 10.78% (£1,732,614);

391^st highest #1 percentage (41.5%) between 30 May 2014 Maleficent (41.64%) and 20 June 2014 The Fault in Our Stars (41.45%)

349^th biggest admissions #1 (837,197) between 10 June 2005 Mr and Mrs Smith (837,245) and 20 March 2015 Home (835,772)

Up 12.1% from 2022 (£14,337,250); Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody £3,325,458; Corsage £203,121; Berliner Philharmoniker Live: New Year’s Eve Concert 2022 £54,784; #1 Avatar: The Way of Water £7,643,764 3rd week (53.31% of top 10)

2021; Lockdown 2

Down 32.4% 2019 (£23,799,781); Little Women (£3,578,877); Spies in Disguise (£1,487,638); Playing with Fire (£762,850); #1 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker £9,311,240 2nd week 741 screens 55% drop (39.1% of top 10)

Down 23.7% from 2018: (£21,066,980); Bumblebee (£5,103,382); Holmes & Watson (£1,418,030); #1 Mary Poppins Returns £7,441,687 2^nd week 10% drop 740 screens (35.32% of the top 10)

Down 34.5% from 2017: (£24,534,387); The Greatest Showman (£4,754,049); Berliner Philharmoniker: New Year’s Eve Concert (£61,387); #1 Star Wars: The Last Jedi £7,975,174 3^rd week 22% drop 691 screens (32.51% of top 10)

Down 7.2% from 2016: (£17,313,519); Why Him? (£2,183,715); Monster Trucks (£1,726,229); Collateral Beauty (£1,177,943); Berliner Philharmoniker Live 2016 – New Year’s Gala Concert (£51,162); #1 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Rogue One: A Star Wars Story £5,959,299 3^rd week up 4% 673 screens (34.42% of the top 10)

Down 8.2% from 2015; (£17,525,083); Snoopy and Charlie Brown: A Peanuts Movie (£3,639,383); Daddy’s Home (£1,628,219); In the Heart of the Sea (£570,543); #1 Star Wars: The Force Awakens £10,164,805 2nd week 665 screens (58% of top 10)

Down 1.9% from 2014: (£16,382,437); Exodus: Gods and Kings (£2,607,453); Annie (£2,310,453); Unbroken (£656,991); Big Eyes (£135,582); #1 The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies £4,249,226 3rd week 601 screens 21% drop (25.9% of top 10)

Down 11.3% from 2013: (£18,132,029); The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (£2,235,612); 47 Ronin (£1,415,252); All Is Lost (£231,595); Justin Bieber’s Believe (£205,242); #1 The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug £5,450,824 3^rd week 589 screens up 2% (30.06% of top 10)

Down 21.1% from 2012 (£20,367,014); Jack Reacher (£3,575,066); Parental Guidance (£1,293,400); Midnight’s Children (£101,725); Safety Not Guaranteed (£33,028); #1 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey £6,850,728 3^rd week up 15% 596 screens (33.64% of top 10)

Down 17.8% from 2011 (£19,565,424); Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (£8,188,209); The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (£4,325,594); The Lady (£91,690); The Artist (£48,445); Hannah and Her Sisters (Re: 2011) (£2,548); #1 Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol £8,188,209 509 screens (41.85% of top 10)

Down 6.2% from 2010: (£17,137,638); Gulliver’s Travels (£7,028,747); Love and Other Drugs (£1,606,253); The Way Back (£1,327,650); #1 Gulliver’s Travels £7,028,747 1st week 497 screens

Up 4.8% from 2009; (£15,390,090); Did You Hear About The Morgans (£1,155,060); Post Grad (£12,486); #1 Avatar £5,940,479 (£8,067,071 inflated) 493 screens 2nd week split over 3 weeks (38.6% of top 10)

Up 75.1% from 2008; (£9,184,877); Yes Man (£2,331,490); Bedtime Stories (£1,551,605); Australia (£1,294,414); #1 Yes Man £2,331,490 1st week (25.4% of top 10)

Down 24.4% from 2007: (£21,258,964); I Am Legend (£11,009,365); Balls of Fury (£638,761); The Kite Runner (£468,592); #1 I Am Legend £11,009,365 1st week 440 screens (51.8% of top 10)

Down 5.6% from 2006; (£15,231,586); Night at the Museum (£7,690,312); It’s a Boy Girl Thing (£1,141,268); #1 Night at the Museum £7,690,312 1st week 488 screens (50.5% of top 10)

Up 36.6% from 2005 (£11,774,274); Cheaper By The Dozen 2 (£2,287,967); The Producers (£1,311,179); Just Like Heaven (£1,201,381) #1 The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe £2,994,438 3rd week 2nd 1 over 3 weeks 527 screens 41% drop (47.7% of top 10)

Up 137.1% from 2004 (£6,781,968); Without a Paddle (£595,249); #1 The Incredibles £1,296,3333rd week split over 7 weeks 485 screens (19.11% of top 10)

Up 33.1% from 2003 (£12,084,935); Peter Pan (£1,359,372); Cold Mountain (£380,994); Out of Time (£311,508); #1 Lord of the Rings: Return of the King £7,149,427 2nd week 59.2% of top 10)

Up 21.3% from 2002 (£13,253,300); Chicago (platform) (£113,386); Blood Work (£61,053); #1 Lord of the Rings: Two Towers £8,177,801 2nd week 499 screens 37% (61.7% of top 10)

Up 12.6% from 2001 (£14,285,925); The Mean Machine (£1,573,594); Serendipity (£635,042); #1 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings £7,825,995 2nd week 470 screens 29% drop (54.8% of top 10);

Next week: (£11,210,520); A Man Called Otto (£1,088,410); Andre Rieu In Dublin 2023 (£715,987); Till (£327,496); #1 Avatar: The Way of Water 4^th week £5,870,063 23% drop 714 screens (52.36% of top 10);

 

US BO 2023

US 2023 BO squeezed past $9bn for the first time since 2019 but BO is still 20% down from 2019 and admissions are the lowest for over 50 years, as cinema prices increase yearly box office should always increase yearly, especially when 40% of the BO comes from IMAX/PLF for tentpoles.

The top 10 films took almost $3.5bn taking almost 40% of the annual BO showing audiences are coming out to see these films in huge numbers but are much more selective with the other films released.

Much has been made about the BO of Taylor Swift: Eras Tour taking $179.63m but far more impressive was Sound of Freedom which opened with $19.68m taking 9.36x opening $184.17m. The standard price for Eras Tour was $19.89 while Sound of Freedom was the standard price with no premium IMAX/PLF, and it didn’t have the huge marketing campaigns all other films in the top 20 had.

Universal Pictures was the #1 US studio taking $1.93bn for the first time since 2015, as in 2015 it was due to a mix of genres across the year as success breeds success; Super Mario Bros Movie $574.9m; Oppenheimer $326m; Fast X $150.1m Five Nights at Freddy’s $137.2m.

Disney is #2 taking $1.89bn; Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 was their biggest film of the year $359m; The Little Mermaid #2 $298.17m but showing how disappointing their year was Avatar The Way of Water $283.06m was #3 ahead of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania $214.5m; The Marvels $84.4m and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny at $174.4m. According to Bob Iger Disney’s new mantra is quality over quantity but that has been the case for over a decade as Disney release fewer films than rival studios, it wasn’t always the case as in the 80s and 90s Disney would release over 30 films a year more than any other studio, but you will be hard to find many of them on Disney+.

Warner Bros #3 took $1.4bn after a very poor first 6 months few expected the studio to take over $1bn as up to July 20^th the studio had taken $316m from 7 films with two DC flops Shazam! Fury of the Gods and The Flash, but then Barbie took $636.2m and then took another $700m from three films over Christmas (Wonka; Aquaman 2 and The Color Purple)

Sony #4 took $1bn Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse $381.3m and then had a wide mix of mostly original films including Napoleon $60m; The Equalizer 3 $92.3m; A Man Called Otto $64.2m and No Hard Feelings $50.4m. As Sony has two very lucrative streaming deals with both Netflix and Disney+ it allows them to take the risk on films other studios don’t as they have mounted up huge losses from streaming platforms. Sony has again a similar mix of films for this year including Ghostbusters – Frozen Empire, Bad Boys 4, Venom 3 and The Karate Kid.

Paramount #5 $837.4m after having the huge success of Top Gun Maverick in 2022, 2023 was mostly disappointing as many years have been over the last decade Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One $172.1m; Transformers: Rise of the Beasts $157m; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem $118.6m and Scream VI $108.1m. Poor dating meant Dead Reckoning only had a week in IMAX, (Part 2 will get much longer in 2025). 2024’s Bob Marley: One Love, If, A Quiet Place: Day One, Transformers One, Smile 2 and Gladiator 2 against rival studios is lacking again.

Lionsgate #6 $550.4m with the bulk of it coming from John Wick: Chapter 4 $187.1M and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes $322.7m, how much longer can these two series go on for, John Wick 4 was a massive hit for Lionsgate and have spinoff Ballerina opening in the summer, while The Hunger Games prequel has taken less than $350m worldwide is that enough to justify another film, that said Lionsgate need sequels to both of these and Saw to stay competitive with studios.

MGM/Amazon #7 $270.3m has had a steady year, while they might have a huge library many of the key properties have already been licenced off, Creed III took $156.2m; Air $52.4m; Saltburn $11.3m and The Boys in the Boat $24.8m. They recently acquired the Christmas action film Red One starring Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans set for November.

Studios have only themselves to blame as it was always going to be the long-term consequences of allowing the strikes to happen and then allowing them to go on so long. Studios should be talking now to IATSE to avoid another strike from July 31st.

That said might be a shortage of tentpoles are still plenty of films and the industry should have been working on ways to get audiences to see these films they don’t normally see in cinemas anymore, films they did go to see before cinemas were swamped with tentpoles. 

These films need more careful handling. Audiences won’t rush out to see them over the opening weekend just because they have seen TV ads dozens of times and it opens in half a dozen screens in a multiplex. 

The problem is many studios have had a diet of tentpoles for so many years they have forgotten how to market these other films. 

While exhibitors are always after the sure thing, film audiences will rush out to see immediately as there’s another batch of films opening the following weekend, if they don’t find audiences immediately, they will have showtimes heavily reduced in week 2.

There was a lot of doom and gloom ahead of Christmas due to the lack of tentpoles, but BO is shared across many films rather than just one.

UK 2023 BO

While Universal Pictures was the biggest studio in the US and internationally Warner Bros was the biggest in the UK, it had been trailing Universal Pictures right up to the last week of thew year but the £8m from Wonka and Aquaman 2 over the last weekend saw Warner Bros take approx. £225m (21.08%) Vs Universal Pictures £215m (20.24%) with Disney #3 taking £195m.

With BO for 2023 likely to be about £1.08bn the top 5 took about 30% of the annual BO; top 10 about 40% and top 20 about 55%. Admissions are likely to be about 120m similar to the level they were 30 years ago.

US Box Office

• Wonka – Warner Bros

Up 25% in its third weekend taking $22.47m #1 and $133.12m

122^nd biggest third weekend between Thor: Love and Thunder and Ted (close to Despicable Me, The Little Mermaid (2023), Daredevil and Superbad (close to Lightyear, The Pacifier, Green Lantern and Mamma Mia!). Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 and Oz the Great and Powerful).

467^th biggest between Taken 2 and Sister Act; 1,078^th inflated between Devil’s Advocate and Jack; 18^th biggest 2023 between Fast X and Five Nights at Freddy’s; 19^th biggest musical between The Jungle Book and Into the Woods (overtaking Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!, Hairspray and Dreamgirls); 78^th biggest Warner Bros between Ocean’s 8 and The Matrix Revolutions.

According to EnTelligence average price $13.20 25% more than the industry average ($10.53m)

Showing how short memories are AMC’s Adam Aron said “I really want to salute David Zaslav and Warner Bros for its courageous decision to hold its Christmas movie slate intact. The entire movie ecosystem needs Hollywood’s major studios to continue to release movies theatrically in significant quantity so that we all can survive and thrive. And when studios do, moviegoers the world over come out to theatres in droves. In Warner’s case, they were rewarded by moviegoers to the tune of $700 million. That is an impressive haul.”

This is very different to the comments he made in December 2020 after Warner Bros announced they would release films on HBO Max same day as cinemas “Clearly, Warner Media intends to sacrifice a considerable portion of the profitability of its movie studio division, and that of its production partners and filmmakers…. We have already commenced an immediate and urgent dialogue with the leadership of Warner on this subject.” another exhibitor said “Obviously they don’t care about theatrical anymore,” Warner Bros made this decision after being forced to open Christopher Nolan’s in August taking only $58m in the US and $365.3m worldwide less than half it was expected to take.

Wonka’s budget was $125m and its global marketing costs were probably as much so the film would surely need to take $600m+ worldwide, but the new post-COVID order is that $400m is the mark of success. The problem is there are so many so-called industry experts but much of it is speculation as football transfer fees and player’s wages, It is hard to know what fact or fiction is. As industry seemed to low-balled expectations of what is a success, but only studio accountants knew, that said Hollywood accounting has famously twisted numbers to show hits and flops.

Wonka is a musical, but you wouldn’t have known that from the trailers as Deadline reported test screen audiences hate musicals, the only way to get people into cinemas is to trick them which makes no sense. Both Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story ($10.5m opening) and In the Heights ($11.5m opening) were sold as musicals but was impossible for them not to be.

Other Roald Dahl’s film adaptions third weekends

2005’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory dropped 42% $16.38m and $148.09m of $114.05m of $206.45m and $474.96m WW

2009’s Fantastic Mr Fox dropped 52.2% $1.39m and $16.25m $21m and $46.47m WW

2016’s The BFG dropped 51.5% $3.78m and $47.37m of $55.48m and $195.24m WW

1996’s Matilda dropped 40% $3m and $25.25m of $33.45m

1996’s James And The Giant Peach dropped 32% $3.58m and $19.67m of $28.94m

In the UK Wonka is performing similarly to Paddington

2015’s Paddington dropped 32.6% $8.26m and $50.3m of $76.27m and $282.43m WW

2017’s Paddington 2 dropped 29.2% $5.66m and $32.11m of $40.9m and $227.3m WW

2018’s Mary Poppins Returns dropped 44.1% $15.86m and $138.81m of $171.95m and $349.54m WW

Took $39.1m (up 17%) from 77 territories $253.1m total and $386.9m worldwide; UK $55.3m; Mexico $19.7m; France $16.2m; Germany $14.9m; Australia $13.9m; Japan $11.6m; Italy $10.9m; Spain $10.7m; Brazil $7.4m; Holland $7.4m; China $6.8m.

357^th worldwide between Solo: A Star Wars Story and Dune; 18^th biggest worldwide between Meg 2: The Trench and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny; 13^th biggest musical worldwide between Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! And Grease) close to La La Land, The Greatest Showman, Mary Poppins Returns and Chicago; 65^th biggest Warner Bros worldwide between Meg 2: The Trench and Dune.

Next week Wonka will overtake 2017’s The Greatest Showman’s $438.55m worldwide BO and get close to 2005’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’s $474.96m worldwide.

Took $14.5m from IMAX worldwide.

• Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom – Warner Bros

Dropped 34% in the second weekend $18.27m and $76.46m

523^rd biggest second weekend Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Lucy (close to Free Guy, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Lightyear and Wonka).

1,035^th biggest between The Post and Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials; 2,020^th biggest inflated between Racing Stripes and Dying Young; 31^st biggest 2023 between Insidious: The Red Door and Blue Beetle; 91^st biggest comic-book between Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows and Blade 2; 176^th biggest Warner Bros between Meg 2: The Trench and Arthur.

2018’s Aquaman dropped 23.2% $52.11m and $189.04m of $335.06m and $1.51bn WW

Impossible to compare its second weekend with any other DC film due to the lucrative Christmas period which sees films hold far stronger than any other time of the year, a better indicator will be third and fourth weekend drops, but again they can’t be compared directly.

2023’s The Flash dropped 72.5% $15.14m and $87.52m of $108.13m and $270.63m WW

2023’s Blue Beetle dropped 51.4% $12.15m and $45.7m of $72.48m and $129.28m WW

2023’s Shazam! Fury of the Gods dropped 69% $9.34m and $45.94m of $57.63m and $133.83m WW

2019’s Shazam! Dropped 54.3% $24.45m and $94.22m of $140.37m and $365.97m WW

DC Extended Universe took $2.73bn in the US and $6.97bn worldwide.

Took $50.5m (down 33%) from 73 territories and $187.4m and $269.11m WW; China $45.8m; Mexico $12.7m; France – $9m; Germany $8.4m; UK $7.5m; Brazil $6.5m; S. Korea $5.8m; Australia $5.7m; Malaysia $4.3m; Taiwan $4.2m.

IMAX took $9.9m internationally including $6m from China; global IMAX took $14m from 1,522 screens.

620^th biggest worldwide between Mr. Peabody & Sherman and 10,000 B.C.; 25^th biggest 2023 between Creed III and The Nun II; 74^th biggest comic-book between Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer and Batman Returns; 107^th biggest Warner Bros between Tomb Raider and 10,000 B.C.

The Flash second weekend took $26.6m in the second weekend (down 64.5%) $123.3m total and $210.9m worldwide; #China $23.6m; Mexico $14.4m; UK $8.5m; Brazil $5.4m; Korea $4.7m; Australia $4.6m; France $4.4m; India $3.9m.

Shazam 2 second weekend took $12.1m from 77 territories $55.8m total and $101.74m worldwide; Mexico $7.7m; China $5.8m; UK $5m; Brazil $2.5m; Australia $2.4m.

• Migration – Universal Pictures

Up 37% in the second weekend $17.01m and $54.1m

588^th biggest second weekend between Mulan (1998) and The Expendables (close to Rugrats in Paris, Trolls Band Together, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and Meet the Robinsons).

167^th biggest animation (and 1,527^th biggest) between The Lego Ninjago Movie and Planes: Fire and Rescue; 2,693^rd inflated between Poltergeist and Empire of the Sun; 42^nd biggest 2023 between Napoleon and Shazam! Fury of the Gods; is the 218^th biggest Universal Pictures between My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 and Dawn of the Dead.

2022’s Puss in Boots: The Last Wish increased 35.3% $16.81m and $61.22m of $185,53m and $481.07m worldwide

The 13 Illumination Entertainment films have taken $3.78bn in the US and $9.54bn worldwide.

Took $17.1m (up 70%) from 68 territories $46.46m total and $105.65m worldwide; Germany $6.8m; Mexico $5.4m; France $6.6m; Italy $2.9m; Spain $2m.

208^th biggest animation worldwide between Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron and Rugrats in Paris; 1,704^th worldwide between Pathaan and First Man; 217^th biggest Universal Pictures between Sisters and First Man.

• The Color Purple – Warner Bros

Opened $11.73m #4 and $44.04m; received positive reviews (86% Rotten Tomatoes) and A CinemaScore

Had a strong opening day taking $18m on Christmas Day having the second-best opening on Christmas Day after 2009’s Sherlock Holmes $24.6m, but then dropped off heavily down 61.4% on Tuesday taking $7m. Was surprising a film like The Color Purple would drop off so heavily as all other films on December 26^th had much smaller drops even Aquaman 2 dropped only 21.5%.

Had a similar huge drop on January 1^st 82.8% the biggest drop in the top 25 with Aquaman 2 again dropping less 50.7%, so what’s gone so wrong with the film as it received positive reviews, has a 95% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

The film has surprisingly got s $100m budget so would need to take $300m worldwide to turn a profit and it will take the majority of its BO in the US as internationally it will depend on receiving Oscar nominations to build awareness.

1985’s The Color Purple ($15m budget) opened on a platform release with $1.71m from 192 screens and expanded into 1,109 screens after 8 weeks taking $94.17m.

2006’s Dreamgirls opened after platform $14.1m taking $103.36m and $155.43m worldwide

2021’s West Side Story opened $10.57m taking $38.53m and $76.01m worldwide

2012’s Les Misérables opened $27.28m taking $148.8m and $442.29m worldwide

2017’s The Greatest Showman opened $8.8m taking $174.34m and $438.55m worldwide

43^rd biggest musical in the US between Evita and Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile has overtaken Burlesque, West Side Story and Rock of Ages and will shortly overtake Moulin Rouge, Sweeney Todd and South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.

Starts its international release in the middle of January ahead of Oscar nominations as they will help it find an audience internationally.  

• The Boys in the Boat – MGM/Amazon

Opened $8.4m #6 and $22m (received mixed reviews (58% Rotten Tomatoes) and A CinemaScore

George Clooney previously directed.

2002’s Confessions of a Dangerous Mind opened $87,199 from 4 screens taking 4 weeks to expand into 1,769 screens taking $16m and $33.01m worldwide

2005’s Good Night and Good Luck opened $421,446 from 11 screens taking 7 weeks to expand to 803 screens taking $31.55m and $54.64m worldwide

2008’s Leatherheads opened $12.68m taking $31.37m and $41.34m worldwide

2011’s The Ides of March opened $10.47m taking $40.96m and $76.33m worldwide

2014’s The Monuments Men opened $22m taking $78.03m and $158.7m worldwide

2017’s Suburbicon opened $2.84m taking $5.77m and $15.52m worldwide

His last two films The Midnight Sky and The Tender Bar were made for Netflix and given a limited theatrical release. Will next star in Wolfs with Brad Pitt directed by Jon Watts set for release next September made by Apple released by Sony Pictures.

• Anyone But You – Sony Pictures

Up 46% $8.75m #6 taking $24.83m

Second weekends

1996’s One Fine Day was up 28.9% $8.02m and $19.43m taking $46.15m and $97.52m

Most recent rom-coms

2023’s No Hard Feelings down 47.6% $7.85m and $29.66m of $50.45m and $87.25m worldwide

Ticket to Paradise dropped 40.3% $9.85m and $33.58m of $68.27m and $168.76m worldwide.

It’s been called a sorta sequel to 1997’s My Best Friend’s Wedding dropped 30.7% $15.01m and $49.22m taking $127.12m and $299.28m worldwide) as it features Dermot Mulroney and Rachel Griffiths as parents of Sydney Sweeney (aged 26). The film has been compared to Much Ado About Nothing and 1999’s 10 Things I Hate About You dropped 39.4% $5.04m and $20.43m of $38.17m and $53.47m worldwide.

Will Gluck’s previous films took $380m in the US and $890m worldwide.

2009’s Fired Up dropped 32.5% $3.7m and $10.03m of $17.23m and $18.6m worldwide

2010’s Easy A dropped 40.2% $10.6m and $32.71m of $58.4m and $76.2m worldwide

2011’s Friends with Benefits dropped 50.2% $9.27m and $38.17m of $55.8m and $146.59m worldwide

2014’s Annie up 3.9% $16.47m and $45.7m of $85.91m and $139.82m worldwide

2018’s Peter Rabbit took $115.23m and $346.72m worldwide and 2021’s Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway $40.5m and $150.97m worldwide

Took $5.8m from 14 territories and $30.9m worldwide. 

• Ferrari – Neon

Opened $3.92m #8 and $10.77m; received positive reviews (73% Rotten Tomatoes) and B CinemaScore

Michael Mann previously directed.

2015’s Blackhat opened $3.9m taking $8m and $19.66m worldwide

2009’s Public Enemies opened $25.27m taking $97.1m and $214.1m worldwide

2006’s Miami Vice opened $25.72m taking $63.45m and $163.79m worldwide

2004’s Collateral opened $24.7m taking $101m and $220.23m worldwide

2001’s Ali opened $14.71m taking $58.2m and $87.81m worldwide

1999’s The Insider opened $6.71m taking $29.08m and $60.28m worldwide

1995’s Heat opened $8.44m taking $67.43m and $187.43m worldwide

1992’s The Last of the Mohicans opened $10.97m taking $75.5m

1986’s Manhunter opened $2.2m taking $8.62m

His films have taken $526.3m in the US and $1.05bn worldwide.

2019’s Ford v Ferrari opened $31.47m taking $117.62m and $225.5m worldwide

2013’s Rush opened $187,289 5 screens expanded into 2,297 second weekend $10.01m taking $26.94m and $95.22m worldwide

2023’s Gran Turismo opened $17.41m taking $44.42m and $121.92m worldwide 

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• Poor Things – Searchlight

Up 7% from 800 screens taking $2.26m #12 taking $10.26m.

Yorgos Lanthimos previously directed The Favourite took 6 weeks to expand into 800 screens; expanding into 91 screens in its third weekend taking $1.5m and $3.54m showing that Poor Things has probably expanded far too quickly into 800 screens after having a strong platform, this often happens when studios expand these films far too quickly.

It will be interesting to see how it expands over the coming weeks as The Favourite didn’t expand to its widest point until into over 1,500 screens; taking $34.36m and $95.91m worldwide.

2017’s The Killing of a Sacred Deer opened in $115,120 from 4 screens (expanded into 238 screens after 4 weeks); taking $2.29m and $6.93m worldwide.

Platform opening

• All of Us Strangers – Searchlight Pictures

Down 4% $113,605 from 6 screens in NY/LA average $18k and $346,514; received critical acclaim (93% Rotten Tomatoes). Had a better screen average than The Zone of Interest $32,483; American Fiction $32,067 and Anatomy of a Fall $23,569.

• The Zone of Interest – A24

Up 17% $96,634 from 6 screens and $474,079       

Jonathan Glazer’s films receive critical acclaim (sometimes polarised) but struggle to play beyond art-house. While The Zone of Interest will play well on limited release, the question is how wide it will go and when it expands over 100+ screens will it find a wider audience.

Receiving 3 Golden Globe nominations will help as will its likely Best Foreign Film win, while it will also likely receive similar BAFTA and Oscar nominations in January if the expansion is time with Golden Globe award and Oscar nominations that will of course help it find a wider audience.  The Zone of Interest received widespread critical acclaim (92% Rotten Tomatoes) since the Cannes Film Festival premiere.

2001’s Sexy Beast opened $170,356 from 9 screens; expanded into 194 screens after 7 weeks (widest) taking $6.94m and $10.04m

2004’s Birth opened $1.28m #13 from 550 screens (widest) taking $5.09m and $23.92m worldwide

2014’s Under the Skin opened $133,154 #29 from 4 screens; expanded into 176 screens (widest) after 3 weeks taking $2.61m and $5.83m worldwide

• American Fiction – MGM

Down 4% taking $410,617 from 40 screens and $1.665m             

American Fiction received its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival receiving critical acclaim (95% Rotten Tomatoes) and received two Golden Globe nominations for Best Film Comedy or Musical and Best Actor for Jeffrey Wright.

UK Box Office Top 10

UK Box Office Preview

Wonka will hold #1 for a fifth weekend down about 25%-30% taking £4.5-£5.5m; if Wonka takes £5.52m it will overtake 2009’s Avatar to become the biggest fifth weekend. Most schools are still closed until Tuesday and the cinema is the best escape from the cold, wet windy weather. By Sunday Wonka will have overtaken Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince, Black Panther and The Greatest Showman becoming one of the 40 biggest films in the UK. Wonka will likely stay #6 for a 6^th weekend staying #1 for as many weeks as Barbie.

One Life boosted by previews Mon-Thurs (taking £454k Mon; £347k Tues so far) should see it open with over £2.5m over 7 days. One Life opens almost exactly 30 years after Schindler’s List opened £723,973 (£1,775,405 inflated) taking £14,150,675. The film received strong media coverage and positive reviews.

Blumhouse’s Night Swim will attract regular horror fans while being trailered with Five Nights At Freddy’s last October awareness is much lower than M3gan a year ago, so likely to open with £1m-£1.5m similar to The Exorcist: Believer, Evil Dead Rises and The Black Phone.

Ferrari will likely have a bigger drop than Aquaman 2 as about 50% of its opening came from previews, so will likely drop upwards of 70% with Aquaman 2 dropping 50%+ which will see both taking similar BO.

 Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla could squeeze into the top 5 as it has 4 days of previews taking £125k, but The Boy And The Heron probably playing on about 150 screens. Will see Sofia Coppola having her second biggest opening in the UK after 2004’s Lost in Translation opened £797,071 #5 from 97 screens (expanded into 280 after 4 weeks) taking £9,865,162.

Last weekend’s other new releases The Boy And The Heron, Anyone But You and Next Goal Wins took about 50% from previews they will also drop 60%-70%.

Opening in two weeks

• The Color Purple – Warner Bros

Coming-of-age musical period drama starring Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, Corey Hawkins, Halle Bailey, Louis Gossett Jr. and Fantasia Barrino and directed by Blitz Bazawule.

Based on the stage musical of the same name, which was based on the 1982 novel by Alice Walker, it’s the second film adaptation of the novel after the 1985 film directed by Steven Spielberg. It was produced by Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey.

The world premiere was in London on November 20, 2023, and received positive reviews and two Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress. Opened in the US on Christmas Day. Several other musicals

The musical version of The Color Purple had a limited run in London in the summer of 2013 at the Menier Theatre and it had a limited UK tour September-November 2022.

The original film opened in the UK in February 1986 it expanded very slowly (unlike the musical which will open in 500+ screens) taking £1,432,351 (£6,307,093 inflated). It was overshadowed by Out of Africa opening two weeks later both at the BO taking £5,178,866 (£21,955,086 inflated) and Oscars despite being nominated for 11 Oscars (not director) didn’t win any while Out of Africa won 7 including Best Picture and Director.

Opens days after Oscar nominations are announced (January 23) which Warner Bros will be hoping to get to build momentum and awareness without which likely to open similar to 2011’s The Help opened £896,597 #7 from 294 screens taking £3,865,125 and 2017’s Fences opened £102,688 #14 from 21 screens expanding into 359 after 3 weeks taking £350,071 #13 and £1,158,590 rather than 2007’s Dreamgirls opened £1,329,817 (£2,127,707 inflated) taking £3,475,271 (£5,560,434 inflated)

• All Of Us Strangers – Disney

Romantic fantasy starring Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Jamie Bell, and Claire Foy and directed by Andrew Haigh based on the 1987 novel Strangers by Taichi Yamada, the second film adaption of the novel after the Japanese film The Discarnates (1988).

Had a world premiere at Telluride Film Festival and received critical acclaim (93% Rotten Tomatoes).

While it opened on limited release in December in the US will likely open wide in the UK and its strong British cast and critical acclaim along with likely Oscar and BAFTA nominations will help it hind an audience in the UK. While being about a gay relationship it’s also about loneliness that affects many.

Andrew Haigh also directed 2011’s Weekend opened on limited release at £30,474 from 10 screens #23 only played in a maximum of 20 screens taking £221,169; 2015’s 45 Years opened £331,196 #10 from 68 screens and expanded into 103 screens taking £1,829,573 and 2018’s Lean on Pete opened £85,597 #12 from 46 screens taking £473,558.

The problem is while it was made by Searchlight Pictures it’s being released by Disney who can’t handle these kinds of films anymore as they need careful handling, it needs to have a slow expansion to build awareness but as seen with Rye Lane last year they opened far too wide in 369 screens similar is likely with All Of Us Strangers. These kinds of films used to have platform openings as they still do in the US but it’s very rare for a film to have one now, as these films won’t normally find their audience immediately which often means these films will lose screens within a few weeks of opening.

• Baghead – Studiocanal

Horror starring Freya Allen leads, Jeremy Irvine, Ruby Barker, Peter Mullan, Saffron Burrows and Julika Jenkins and directed by Alberto Corredor based on a 2017 short film of the same name.