- The Suicide Squad – £2,267,135 – £7,982,931
Down 30.3% in its second weekend; took £5.72m over its opening 7 days 3rd biggest this year between F9 and Peter Rabbit 2 and 28th biggest since January 2020 between Dolittle and Bad Boys For Life (all apart from Bad Boys For Life had previews to increase its opening week BO).
Had the 2nd biggest second weekend of 2021 between F9 and Peter Rabbit 2 and the 26th biggest opening since January 2019 between The Lego Movie 2 and Last Christmas (close to Detective Pikachu, F9, Shazam and Tenet).
335th biggest second weekend in the UK between The Matrix and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (close to Ant-Man and The Wasp, X-Men: The Last Stand, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer and X-Men Origins: Wolverine) and 506th biggest inflation inflated between The Lion King 3D and Robots (close to Thor, Cloverfield, The Hulk and Kingsman: The Secret Service).
50th biggest comic-book second weekend between Ant-Man and The Wasp and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (close to Superman Returns, Justice League, The Incredible Hulk and Black Widow); and 58th biggest inflation inflated comic-book between Ant-Man and The Wasp and The Hulk.
57th biggest Warner Bros second weekend between The Matrix and The Hangover (close to Aquaman, Superman Returns, Shazam! and Tenet) 162nd biggest Warner Bros opening inflation inflated between The Secret Garden and Dark Shadows (close to Rampage, Edge of Tomorrow, Tomb Raider and Green Lantern).
8th biggest DC Extended Universe second weekend close to Justice League (£2,990,473); Aquaman (£2,383,993) and Shazam! and £2,162,719) but took 28% more than 2020’s Birds of Prey (£1,773,023) but its second weekend was affected by COVID pre-lockdown issues that said the industry was in complete denial of COVID and was predictably coming after seeing China did closing their cinemas a month earlier.
Despite receiving poor reviews 2016’s Suicide Squad had the 10th biggest second weekend taking £4,241,508 between Batman Vs Superman 9.1% less (£4,661,959) and Finding Dory (£3,975,736) taking 25.5% less than Deadpool (£5,694,280) but only 11.7% less Captain America: Civil War (£4,806,575).
What these summer releases do highlight is the effect of preview box office how it inflates weekend box office and then sees films drop much more heavily but it was surprising that as The Suicide Squad was opening against Jungle Cruise and Space Jam: A New Legacy against The Croods 2: A New Age they didn’t have previews to have the head start over the other.
Despite all the negativity surrounding 2016’s Suicide Squad still managed to take a 2.95x opening dropping 62% taking £4,241,508 taking £22,214,243 66.93% of £33,191,023, stayed #1 for two weeks. Taking only £319,416 less than Find Dory in its third weekend dropping down #2 (£2,868,459 Vs £2,549,043) was in the top 5 for 5 weeks and top 10 for 6 weeks.
It was surprising the BBFC tweeted last week “The DC Comics reboot you’ve been waiting for is finally here. This version of The Suicide Squad packs quite a punch compared to the first film & the violence is much stronger. We rated it 15 for strong bloody violence, gore, language, brief drug misuse”.
The BBFC rated the last film 15 so if the sequel packs quite a punch compared to the first film and the violence is much stronger why was the certificate the same? Many on social media were surprised the film was only a 15 as it is very violent and opening in the middle of the summer holiday children 12 or younger will likely see it as children will always try to sneak into a higher certificate film. Mine was Fatal Attraction at the Plaza Lower Regent Street in early 1988 when I was 14 don’t know why friends wanted to see it.
Martin Scorsese said in October 2019 “I tried, you know? But that’s not cinema. Honestly, the closest I can think of them, as well-made as they are, with actors doing the best they can under the circumstances, is theme parks. It isn’t the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being.”
In November 2019 Martin Scorsese said in the New York Times “Many franchise films are made by people of considerable talent and artistry. You can see it on the screen. The fact that the films themselves don’t interest me is a matter of personal taste and temperament.
In a recent interview, James Gunn talked about Martin Scorsese’s comments about comic-book movies saying there was a lot of things that he agreed with saying “There are a lot of heartless, soulless spectacle films out there that don’t reflect what should be happening. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve talked to film directors before they went and made a big movie, and said, ‘Hey, we’re in this together, let’s do something different with these big movies. Let’s make them something different than everything that has come before them.’ And then see them cater to every single studio whim and be grossed out, frankly.”
With Black Widow, The Suicide Squad, Shang-Chi, Venom 2, Eternals and Spider-Man: No Way Home opening within 6 months surely Martin Scorsese’s comments are correct as other films and older blockbusters Bond, Ghostbusters and Top Gun will be squeezed to make room for them by exhibitors.
I know that I’m in the minority but I’m bored of many of them as so many feel the same and prefer something different from them as Deadpool, Wonder Woman and Zack Snyder’s Justice League I did enjoy MCU films when they started Iron Man, Captain America, The First Avenger and Winter Soldier and Ant-Man as they were different as were the first X-Men films but the rest all feel so similar.
Seeing the long list of comic-book movies being released over the next few years is just exhausting to me, but of course, I’m not their target demographic anymore, maybe if I was 25 years younger I would be as excited to see them as I was back then to see those big 90s action movies. This is not me being anti-Disney as many of those big 90s action movies were Disney’s from The Rock to Crimson Tide.
11 DC Extended Universe Films have taken almost £250m
After Warner had massive success with Joker in 2019 all seemed very positive with DC with Aquaman and Shazam! also received positively by critics and fans it looked like they had moved on from Batman Vs Superman, Suicide Squad and Justice League. It is hard to make comparisons with the box office of Birds of Prey, Wonder Woman: 1984 and The Suicide Squad with previous DC films but what it does do is put much more pressure on 2022 films including The Batman, Black Adam, The Flash and Aquaman 2 as they will have four MCU films opening alongside them which feels like a repeat of 2016.
After the disappointing performance of WW84, last Christmas could have thought Warner would have delayed The Suicide Squad to next year but with The Batman opening in March, this would have meant all other films being delayed.
2. Jungle Cruise – £1,960,317 – £6,162,295
Down 12.6% in its second weekend had the 7th biggest 7 day opening of the year taking £4.2m between The Conjuring 3 and Cruella and the 48th since January 2020 between The Gentlemen and Terminator: Dark Fate.
Had the 411th biggest second weekend between The Beach and The Departed (close to Angry Birds, Into the Woods, King Kong, and Moana); 600th biggest inflation inflated opening between Angry Birds and The Second-Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (close to Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, The Proposal, Glass and A Quiet Place).
81st biggest Disney second weekend between Into the Woods and Glass (close to Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil, Black Widow and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy); 110th biggest Disney second weekend inflation inflated between The Proposal and Sister Act 2 Back In The Habit.
The 4th biggest second weekend of the year between Peter Rabbit 2 and Black Widow and the 35th biggest second weekend since January 2019 between Peter Rabbit 2 and Glass (close Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, Tenet, Glass and Black Widow).
It used to be theme park rides that would be the basis of films, but Disney went the other way with their theme park rides, but while a ride lasts for minutes it’s harder to turn it into a feature-length film.
It’s the sixth Disney film based on a theme park ride after the Pirates of the Caribbean five-film series (between 2003 and 2017); 2003’s The Haunted Mansion, 2000’s Mission to Mars, 2002’s The Country Bears and 2015’s Tomorrowland.
2003’s The Pirates of the Caribbean opened £3,765,450 (£553,344 previews) (£6,123,097 inflation inflated) taking £28,171,721 (£45,810,772 inflation inflated).
2004’s The Haunted Mansion opened £1,677,927 (£2,698,137 inflation inflated) taking £8,078,765 (£12,990,798 inflation inflated)
2015’s Tomorrowland – A World Beyond opened £1,482,178 taking £4,971,372
While Disney had huge success with Pirates of the Caribbean films the others based on theme park rides weren’t as successful and Disney and after 2002’s The Country Bears Disney ended their plans to make anymore. Disney did make Tomorrowland probably to get Brad Bird to direct Incredibles 2 a few years later, as the film was a film he had wanted to make for many years and is very much a Disney family film of old, but it failed to find an audience in cinemas.
Jungle Cruise wants to be Pirates of the Caribbean meets The Mummy with Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt similar to Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz in The Mummy in 1999 dropped 32.7% taking £2,535,195 (£4,347,769 inflation inflated) and £8,482,144 taking £17,439,339 (£29,907,845 inflation inflated).
In 2001 The Mummy Returns dropped 47.3% taking £3,063,383 opened with £5,929,146 (£5,342,422 inflation inflated) and £10,839,568 taking £20,390,060 (£35,559,477 inflation inflated); The Mummy box office is similar to Jumanji Welcome to The Jungle and Jumanji: The Next Level box office.
3. Space Jam: A New Legacy – £1,070,174 – £8,789,359
Down 16.7% in its fourth weekend
While opening (£1,363,556) against The Croods: Anew Age saw the films cannibalize each other’s openings since then both films have held very strongly taking only 41.11% of its box office within its opening 10 days and has so far taken 6.45x opening with still several weeks of school holidays.
121st biggest animated film between Mulan (1998) and Planes (close to The LEGO Ninjago Movie, Bee Movie, Captain Underpants and Hotel Transylvania).
717th biggest film in the UK between The Naked Gun 2 ½: The Smell Of Fear and Garfield (close to Pan, Fantastic Mr Fox, Rampage and Yogi Bear); 995th biggest inflation inflated between The Magic Roundabout and 27 Dresses (close to The Legend of Tarzan, James And The Giant Peach, Hotel Transylvania, and Ferdinand).
While Warner Bros would hope comparisons were going to be made with The Lego Movie, Wreck-It Ralph, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Space Jam and Ready Player One.
Instead, it was always more likely to perform similar 2017’s The Emoji Movie #5 dropping 34% in its fourth weekend taking £682,694 and £10,534,953 72.1% of £14,612,815; (29th biggest film of 2017 and the 7th biggest original film of the year).
2003’s Looney Tunes: Back in Action #6 dropped 20% taking £416,828 and £4,467,748 86.7% taking £5,153,828 and £8,287,447 inflation inflated
While
2013’s Wreck-It Ralph dropped 59% #2 taking £1,402,000 and £20,432,173 86.59% of £23,607,542
2018’s Ready Player One dropped 57% 4 taking £503,099 taking £15,439,019 95.8% of £16,114,011.
Space Jam opened in the UK 5 months after the US in March 1997 and was the third biggest film in April 1997 after A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back special editions and ahead of The English Patient and Romeo & Juliet taking £11,648,511 (£20,663,943 inflation inflated) was the 11th biggest film of 1997 behind The Full Monty, Men In Black. The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Tomorrow Never Dies, Bean, Star Wars Special Edition, Batman and Robin, Evita, Ransom and Liar Liar.
It’s surprising Space Jam: A New Legacy found an audience in the UK as it’s much heavily focussed on basketball and centred around LeBron James who isn’t as well known in the UK, while the original film had a similar plot featuring Michael Jordon it felt far more accessible. In Space Jam: A New Legacy felt they needed to try much harder and in doing so it was a far less enjoyable film as there wasn’t the need to include so many cameos from Warner Bros. properties especially from properties that target older audiences.
4. The Crood: A New Age – £867,255 – £5,932,160
Down 2.9% in its fourth weekend;
While The Croods: A New Age opened 87% less than 2013’s The Croods (£5,372,290) four weeks ago it is holding as well with minimal drops over the last month taking only 34.6% of its box office in its opening 10 days and has already taken 8.52x it’s opening similar to Frozen, Moana, Rio, Monsters University, Lilo & Stitch, Chicken Run, The Pirates! In an Adventure With Scientists and The Angry Birds Movie 2.
Exhibitors talk a lot about piracy damaging box office but the top 5 films this weekend are all available at home for free legally and illegally but people still choose to see these films in cinemas. As with Trolls World Tour when it played in cinemas in July 2020 4 months after being released on VOD and still managed to take over £1m shows that piracy isn’t such an issue to exhibitors as it is to studios.
1,041st biggest film in the UK between The Blind Side and Le Man’s 66 (close to Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Isle of Dogs, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and ParaNorman) and 1,273rd the biggest inflation inflated between The Wild and Le Man’s 66 (close to Zathura, The Legend of Zorro, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2).
148th biggest animated film in the UK between Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (close to Dr Seuss’ The Lorax, Storks, Smurfs: The Lost Village and The Angry Birds Movie 2).
The Croods: A New Age is currently the 33rd biggest DWA film in the UK but with four weeks of summer holidays to play should overtake Penguins of Madagascar, Captain Underpants and Abominable.
Fourth weekends
2013’s The Croods #2 dropped 15% taking £1,999,475 and £22,736,517 86.3% of £26,328,511
2017’s Captain Underpants #12 dropped 17% taking £276,313 and £6,315,046 78% of £8,100,263 (had tough competition from The Emoji Movie #4 £1,028,182 and Despicable Me 3 #6 £633,634)
2019’s Abominable #7 up 1% taking £771,601 and £6,937,629 83.1% of £8,341,976 (had competition from The Addams Family #2 £ £2,234,172 and Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon #6 £1,013,592)
2007’s Bee Movie #7 down 21% taking £856,922 and £7,615,281 84.3% of £9,034,528 (had competition from Enchanted #3 £1,490,517 and Alvin and the Chipmunks #6 £1,096,851)
The Crood: A New Age was Dreamworks Animations 38th film since 1998 (Spirit Untamed #39 and The Boss Baby: Family Business #40) the 38 Dreamworks Animation films have taken over £640m (over £83m inflation inflated) upcoming Spirit Untamed (July 30); The Boss Baby: Family Business (October 22) with The Bad Boys and Puss In Boots: The Last Wish opening in 2022.
Despite opening against Space Jam: A New Legacy four weeks ago both films have held very well over the weeks since due to summer holidays starting and a lack of other competition for children while for younger audiences Spirit Untamed opened and The Paw Patrol Movie.
Exhibitors got their knickers in a twist with Black Widow and piracy but not said anything about The Croods: A New Age which has been available illegally online since December, so people could easily watch it at home for free, but they wanted to see it in the cinema.
The 38 DWA films have taken over £645m since 1998 (over £835m inflation inflated)
Will be interesting to see how The Boss Baby: Family Business performs in October as similar to The Croods: A New Age opens in UK cinemas several months after the US and opens against three other animated films The Adams Family 2, Hotel Transylvania 4 and Ron’s Gone Wrong for the lucrative Halloween half-term.
5. Black Widow – £539,999 – £17,489,773
Dropped 35.1% in its fifth weekend
Black Widow is holding similar to Scarlett Johansson’s 2014’s Lucy despite opening with 124%+ (£6,889,187 including £2,250,092 previews) in its fifth weekend was #4 dropped 32% taking £551,482 and £13,031,253 92.2% of £14,129,734 (4.6x opening).
Lucy was of course an original film but opened 4 months after Captain America: Winter Soldier (opened with £6,037,850 taking £19,261,224).
This is the biggest problem with Black Widow it opened 7 years too late and even if it opened in May 2020 as originally planned without being released on Disney+ it would have struggled to be a similar success as other MCU films as with Lucy and everything else that has come since it feels old.
While the pairing of Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh was great it would have worked far better had we not seen Lucy or Red Sparrow, the problem is Marvel do play safe they were too busy making arrogant male superheroes and were gazumped by Warner making Wonder Woman and it is a surprising critical and box office hit after the very disappointing Batman Vs Superman. Much was made about them making Black Panther but again that was made 20 years after Warner made Blade when comic-book movies weren’t anywhere nearly as popular as they were in 2018. While Marvel gave Black Panther and Spider-Man soft launches in Captain America: Civil War.
Had the 15th biggest MCU 5th weekend similar to Captain America: Civil War (£668,009); Iron Man (£629,232); Iron Man 3 (£606,579); Thor: Ragnorok (£596,034); Captain America: Winter Soldier (£512,358); Iron Man 2 (£511,895); Ant-Man and the Wasp (£492,445); Doctor Strange (£454,088); Thor: The Dark World (£423,374)
After 32 days Black Widow is the 18th MCU film similar to Iron Man 2 (£19,975,518); Thor: The Dark World (£19,220,530); Captain America: Winter Soldier (£18,028,302); Ant-Man and the Wasp (£16,713,037); Iron Man (£16,131,085); Ant-Man (£15,397,073).
51st biggest comic-book film in the UK between X-Men Origins: Wolverine and X-Men: First Class (close to Batman Begins, Venom, Batman and Robin and Thor); 61st biggest inflation inflated between Ant-Man and Blade 2 (close to Justice League, Ant-Man, Kick-Ass and The Hulk).
314th biggest film in the UK between Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and Tarzan (close to I, Robot, Moulin Rouge, Tenet, and Justice League); and 521st biggest inflation inflated between G-Force and Taken 3 (close to Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, X-Men: Apocalypse, Waterworld and Mad Max: Fury Road).
68th biggest Disney film in the UK between Bolt and Tarzan (close to Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Ralph Breaks The Internet and Armageddon) and 97th biggest inflation inflated between G-Force and Ant-Man and The Wasp (close to Kill Bill Volume One, Unbreakable, Oz: The Great and Powerful and The Rock).
The problem many had with Black Widow was it felt old, and it was trying to be clever with lots of in-jokes MCU fans will love but won’t play beyond fans unlike other MCU films, did possibly think when it opened on July 7th the day of England’s Euro Semi-Final it might help attract a strong female audience who don’t normally see these films.
Fourth weekends
2014’s Lucy #4 dropped 32% taking £551,482 and £13,031,253 92.2% of £14,129,734 (4.6x opening)
2017’s Wonder Woman #5 dropped 43% taking £911,311 and £20,731,916 93.8% of £22,086,045 (3.57x opening)
Black Widow also has similarities with the Bourne film series.
2002’s The Bourne Identity #9 dropped 46% £307,895 (£528,776 inflation inflated) taking £7,228,666 (£12,414,448 inflation inflated) 93.6% of £7,717,876 (£13,459,677 inflation inflated) (3.6x)
2004’s The Bourne Supremacy #6 dropped 16% £459,979 (£728,385 inflation inflated) taking £10,609,616 (£16,800,527 inflation inflated) 93.1% of £11,396,052 (£18,325,055 inflation inflated) (4.2x)
2007’s The Bourne Ultimatum #4 dropped 32% £744,851 taking £21,439,515 90.9% of £23,586,781 (3.6x)
2016’s Jason Bourne #6 dropped 42% £732,632 of £21,213,260 92.5% of £22,938,616 (3.02x)
Haven’t exhibitors said regularly over the last 15 months ‘There’s a huge amount of pent-up demand and we do know from the customer research we’ve done that people believe you can’t recreate that big-screen experience at home” so why would they opt to see Black Widow illegally at home on their phone than go to see it on the big screen in the cinema?
The issue is that the makeup of the majority of cinemagoers is 16-34. These are people who will rush out to see the latest film over the opening weekend but as there aren’t other demographics going as strongly films are opening big and then dropping as big as this demographic is fickle.
Black Widow will be the first MCU film since Ant-Man and the Wasp in 2018 not to take over £20m, but as the first Ant-Man was a very different MCU film can’t compare Black Widow to either of them so will be the lowest-grossing MCU film since Captain America: Winter Soldier in 2014, Black Widow should have been made straight after Winter Soldier, instead, Marvel was focussed on Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War and introducing Spider-Man.
The 24 MCU films have taken over £775m at the UK box office since 2008 and almost £810m inflation inflated; Disney’s 18 MCU films since 2012 have taken almost £645m (removing the two Spider-Man films taking £68m+ and pre-Disney MCU films taking £70m.
After two years without any MCU films, there are four within 6 months with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Eternals and Spider-Man: No Way Home all due for release between September and December.
While there are big questions over both Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Eternals, Spider-Man: No Way Home will be another £30m+ box office hit and be one of the top 5 biggest films of the year.
With Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and The Marvels all set for 2022 MCU films could take over £1bn at the UK box office by the end of next year.
Also opened
• Stillwater – eOne
Opened #7 with £478,386 from 488 screens
Tom McCarthy is best known for directing 2016’s Oscar-winning Best Picture Spotlight opened with £1,060,435 #5 from 241 screens in January 2016 taking £5,851,006.
Had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on July 8 receiving mixed reviews (84% Rotten Tomatoes).
The film was released in August to separate it from Matt Damon’s next film The Last Duel directed by Ridley Scott, they previously worked together on Oscar-nominated 2015’s The Martian.
Stillwater has generated controversy after Amanda Knox has said the film ripped off her story ‘without her consent, she is never mentioned in the film director Tom McCarthy said the Knox case was “initial inspiration point but not much beyond that. I just had a daughter then and I thought how it would be like” and that “It’s loosely inspired by that case, so I didn’t want to try and do a recreation of that. I want Allison to kind of be her own stand-alone character, but it was definitely great to have that for a reference.”
Two weeks ago Stillwater had its New York premiere, on the ticket had a warning, “attendees voluntarily assume all risks incident to attending this event, including the risks of exposure to communicable diseases, viruses, bacteria or illness which cause sickness. And hereby waives all potential claims relating to such risks. While Brillant Consulting Inc and Jazz at Lincoln Centre are taking measures to enhance the safety of our attendees, exposure to infectious diseases including COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present. By attending this event you voluntarily assume all risks relating to exposure to infectious disease.”
A similar warning was placed at the entrance of Disney World in May last year, do wonder if exhibitors have also hidden this in their terms and conditions when buying tickets for cinemas.
Matt Damon comments in recent Sunday Times interviews generated much controversy online but why does talent go off-topic with interviews, as they are there to talk about the film, why was this a subject Matt Damon even talked about especially after received backlash from his comments about Harvey Weinstein in 2017, surely his PR should have stopped this line of questioning from being discussed?
But both stories created much media coverage for the film and Matt Damon is as The Sunday Times described him as “one of the last movie stars” Stillwater is his first film since 2019’s Ford v. Ferrari.
• The Last Letter From Your Lover – Studiocanal
Opened #9 with £274,322 from 545 screens
Previous films adapted from Jojo Moyes novels 2018’s Head Full of Honey opened in April 2019 with £8,193 from 121 screens and 2016’s Me Before You opened with £1,790,657 taking £9,588,072.
Shailene Woodley and Felicity Jones did many interviews ahead of the release
Always surprises me when a distributor opens a film so wide, opening in 550 screens it had the worst screen average in the top 10 and then Sony Pictures opened critical acclaimed Zola on only 110 screens.
With so many films opening over the next few weeks and the film receiving mixed reviews Studiocanal must have realised that the film would have a very limited cinema run even though they are advertising it as “playing exclusively in cinemas” in the UK and Ireland from August 6”. Unlikely it will be holding on to many of its 545 screens this weekend.
On the opposite scale had Oscar-winning The Father that received critical acclaim but also had a very wide release in June opening #6 taking £397,418 from 626 screens with a screen average of only £ £635, the film has gone on to take £2,031,592 after 8 weeks but neither film needed to open so wide, but now that films are digitally released studios play don’t seem to worry about how wide a film’s release is as when it was 35mm prints they would be far more selective in choosing locations to play films.
Was released on Netflix in selected territories on 23 July with Studiocanal releasing in UK, France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Scandinavia, and China.
As with The Secret Garden and Gunpowder Milkshake why is The Last Letter From Your Lover being released in UK cinemas after being released on Netflix elsewhere in the world.
Films like The Last Letter From Your Lover and Gunpowder Milkshake were always going to struggle to find an audience now so why make it even harder for these films so why make it even harder to release them after VOD release in other countries?
• Zola – Sony Pictures
Opened #15 with £49,668 from 110 screens
Despite receiving positive reviews (87% Rotten Tomatoes) it struggled to find an audience showing Entertainment Films decision to delay The Green Knight from its August 6th release date.
Will the UK get a similar film in a few years based on the Wagatha Christie scandal currently in UK courts about Coleen Rooney’s Instagram scandal with Rebekah Vardy.
Other Film News
After UK cinemas had their biggest weekend since February 2020 exhibitors were in buoyant mood heralding it as the start of a new golden age of cinema, despite the weekend being still about 50% normal than normal pre-pandemic last weekend of July which is one of the most lucrative weekends of the year. If cinema was really back having both The Suicide Squad and Jungle Cruise opening, with cooler wetter weather and summer holidays the weekend should have been much bigger.
Vue cinemas as having finally realised many years too late that streaming companies aren’t the bad guys as those who stream a lot also go to the cinema a lot
As UKCA said in May “It’s not a competition between us and the streaming sites,” …. “People with a voracious appetite for films use streaming and want to go to cinemas. We’re more worried about bars and restaurants. That, and the reinvention of golf and darts as shared communal experiences.”
Vue said ‘The future is going to be one of integration, where you will have a content producer that could be Netflix or it could be Warner Brothers… ‘Then they will release a film theatrically, on a big screen, and then on home entertainment, either through subscription service or premium on-demand service.’
But he also said ‘Right now, the studios don’t control the cinemas. So I think the natural next step for an organisation like Amazon would be to purchase a cinema circuit,’ studios used to own cinema chains in the US up to 1948 before the Paramount Decree stopped the big six studios from owning cinemas. The Paramount Decree ended in August 2020 allowing the big six to buy cinema chains but the big six in 1948 didn’t include Disney and that is why they were able to buy the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles. Studios did own cinema chains internationally with Warner previously owning Vue Cinemas then Warner Cinemas and Paramount and Universal co-owning CIC and then UCI Cinemas which merged with Odeon Cinemas in 2004.
Vue also said their admissions at the end of July were more than 2.5x their weekly average for the last 18 months, which was no surprise being the summer holidays cooler weather and the arrival of The Suicide Squad and Jungle Cruise. Also saying “We are going to see almost three years of movies released in 18 months,” … all that happens when studios open multiple films over the same week as seen with Space Jam: A New Legacy Vs The Croods: A New Age and The Suicide Squad Vs Jungle Cruise it cannibalizes each other’s box office, and over the remaining weeks of the year except for October 1st weekend when No Time To Die opens every weekend has at least 2 wide releases with many weekends having many more.
Normally when a big movie like No Time To Die opens rival studios leave space for the film but the following weekend The Adamy Family 2 and Hotel Transylvania: Transformania opens, the following weekend Halloween Kills and The Last Duel and then the week after Dune, Dear Evan Hansen, Ron’s Gone Wrong, The French Dispatch, The Boss Baby 2 and Jackass Forever open. This used to be seen as counter-programming but all it does is cannibalize with none of the films likely to perform as strongly as they could have if more spread out.
Omdia predicted yearly UK box office won’t get to 2019’s £1.25bn until 2023 (which was expected). The most important thing for exhibitors to do since cinemas reopened is to get people back to the cinema but nothing seems to have changed with how they are operating now to how they did pre-pandemic, but consumer habits have changed as have confidence levels, so exhibitors should have done much more to get people back into the cinema habit.
Omdia said weekly box office will be returned to 80-85% of pre-pandemic levels by the end of the year, the last two weeks were down 35% from 2019 levels due to The Suicide Squad Vs Jungle Cruise but many of the weeks before were over 60% less. They predict the 2021 box office will be half of 2019 and expects the box office to return to 2019 levels by mid-2022.
While Ofcom reported last week streaming service subscriptions to Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video increased by over 50% to 31m. Would be interesting to know how many subscribe to cinema subscription services Cineworld Unlimited and Odeon Limitless and the usage of them over the last 3 months since cinemas reopened as I would imagine they have made up a much higher percentage of cinemagoers.
While Glasgow Film Theatre David Gattens said in City Am interview “The invention of microwaves or Uber Eats hasn’t killed restaurants. It’s the same with streaming; it complements cinemas rather than being a competitor. Some of the heaviest Netflix users are also the biggest cinemagoers too.”
On Monday it was revealed movie theatres wouldn’t oppose proof of vaccine requirement that becomes mandatory in New York next month with Los Angeles likely to follow.
When there were murmurings of similar in the UK earlier this year the UKCA immediately rejected them and since then they have become political as mask-wearing has become. I always go back to Argo quote ‘there are only bad options, it’s about finding the best one, this is the best bad idea we have.” As over the last year, exhibitors must be seen that admissions have been soft and they aren’t increasing as fast as expected, despite the backslapping of UK exhibitors last weekend after having the biggest weekend since February 2020.
The problem is the minority is far more vocal about being anti masks, anti-vaccine, and anti-proof of the vaccine but now the majority have had the vaccine and everyone over 18 has had the chance to have the vaccine industries need to think about the majority first rather than the minority.
We are now 50 days away from the release of No Time To Die in the UK and exhibitors have for the last 18 months seen it as their saviour but it will only get close to matching Spectre (£95,183,468) and Skyfall (£102,816,893)
box office if older audiences feel comfortable to return to the cinema, but that hasn’t been the case for the last year. I like many of the 50% haven’t been to the cinema since January 2020, this is the longest ever time I’ve not been to the cinema for over 40 years, and I almost lived in the cinemas in the late 80 to early 00s.
Surprisingly, the world premiere hasn’t been announced, Spectre was announced July 17 for October 26 (102 days) and No Time to Die originally was announced on January 20 for March 31 (72 days); probably either Sept 27/28 in 50 days at the Royal Albert Hall. There is also the possibility Barbara Broccoli could demand vaccine passports for its release as she has been in favour of them since April and they become mandatory in New York from September 13.
If No Time To Die does open in September as planned it won’t have an opening as big as Spectre and will be unlikely to take a similar box office as either Skyfall or Spectre and be more like Casino Royale (£55,495,547). As the long gap for its release as other films that have been delayed has affected their box office as they feel old before they open and there will still be a nervousness amongst many in going back to cinemas again and crowded cinema. While the other thing is will talent want to attend a premiere with 5,000+ other people and thousands of fans, will they want to walk the red carpet and meet random strangers?
While exhibitors have improved some of their safety measures the biggest issue most people have in going back to the cinema as it is going on public transport is other people, so exhibitors need to offer different things to different customers. With films playing on multiple screens, it should give them the scope to offer different customers different experiences, if people still want to social distance then they should be given that option.
The other surprising news on Monday was AMC and Warner announced a 45-day theatrical window for their releases in 2022 having done a similar deal with Cineworld earlier this year. This is after Warner announced in December2020 all of their 2021 slate would be released on HBO Max the same day as the cinema release. Cutting theatrical window from 9 days to 45 doesn’t fix the problem as films needed a flexible window so flops could be released on VOD within 17 days and then hits could play longer than 45 days if they were still playing strongly in theatres.
The other issue is rather than having all studios have similar theatrical windows each studio is negotiating separately with exhibitors so bigger studios and exhibitors can get better terms than smaller companies. The one positive with the 90-day window it was industry-wide, but the problem was while studios have been talking about shorter windows for the last decade exhibitors rejected them.
Had all exhibitors come on board 5 years earlier there could have been a similar deal in place as the Virtual Print Fee with studios signing up for 10-year deals along with revenue sharing which had been discussed in 2017 the last time studios talked about shortening windows.
COVID has returned some of the power back to studios as exhibitors have seen that with streaming platforms studios can open films globally without cinemas and of course got their knickers in a twist with VOD and theatrical openings highlighting piracy as the reason why films have dropped so heavily.
To be seen to be cool to the Redditors that have to save them they have announced they will accept bitcoin as payment for movie tickets by the end of the year.
While I will never condone piracy only need to look at 2008’s Taken 20th Century Fox dumped in France in February 2008 but due to piracy from its Asian release in April the studio took notice and realised what they had and they released it in the US in September 2008 and the US in January 2009 taking $145m in the US and $226.63m.
The three films took almost $1bn at the box office worldwide. Also only need to look at films like Trolls World Tour and Godzilla Vs Kong that still found an audience in the UK months after being released on VOD.
A new poll by NRG has seen moviegoing confidence drop from 81% to 72% in only three weeks due to the growth of the delta variant with mums confidence dropping from 75% to 59%.
Moviegoing comfort level dropped to 70% in Aug dropped from 81% on July 11 the fastest drop since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, 52% of consumers said it was due to the spread of new COVID19 variants and 42% said they’re “very concerned” about the spread of delta, up from 34% the week before. What is interesting from this data is that in the US its mums and parents that are most concerned but younger children are going to the cinema in the UK seen by BO taken by Space Jam: A New Legacy and The Croods 2: A New Age over the last 4 weeks, that said it’s still about a third of what it would normally be for these films.
The moviegoing comfort is the highest 70% is the highest under 18 and males which was predictable as this has been the demographic that has been most comfortable going to the cinema since movie theatres reopened.
Always feel Morning Consult’s weekly Tracking the Return to Normal gives a far better view of consumer confidence as it’s not working on behalf of the film industry the data can be far more reliable as there is no biased in the data or the questioning that was designed to get the data. As the panel of people polled would likely be a wide range of demographics and types of cinemagoers. All polling questioning has some unintentionally biased built-in as the company that has asked for the data is doing it to get the answer they want, and the questioning is tailored to get the answer that they want and the way it is laid out is the best possible for the client.
This week Amazon released the new trailers for Everybody’s Talking About Jamie and Cinderella with them going to Amazon highlights the biggest issue with cinema today these are potential cinematic crowd-pleasers but in a post-pandemic world studios are more risk-averse only want to open ‘sure things’ making cinema feel like Groundhog Day.
UK box office in detail
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £8,459,738 down 17.6% from last weekend £10,270,607 and up 2,250% from 2020 (£359,962)
The weekend admissions 1,189,837 down 11.9% 1,350,444 from last week; (50,628 admissions in 2020 this week was (Up 2,250%)
Top 3 took £5,297,626 62.6% of the top 10; The Suicide Squad 26.8% (£2,267,135); Jungle Cruise 23.2% (£1,960,317); Space Jam: A New Legacy 12.7% (£1,070,174).
Up 2,175% from 2020 (£451,343); Top three took 50.3% (£267,343); Unhinged 33% (£175,263); Onward 11.1% (£58,951) 20.3%; 100% Wolf 6.2% (£33,129); #1 Unhinged £175,263 1st week 243 screens
Down 33.1% from 2019 (£12,630,683) (Blinded by the Light (£966,095); Playmobil (£376,296); Bring the Soul: The Movie (Concert) (£237,537); The Art of Racing in the Rain (£197,009); #1 The Lion King £4,366,824 down 16% 4th week 714 screens
Down 5.3% 2019 (£8,930,609) of the top 10; The Lion King 34.5% (£4,366,824); Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw 23.2% (£2,938,833); Toy Story 4 12.8% (£1,624,952)
Down 48.5% 2018: (£16,439,374); The Meg (£3,651,111); The Darkest Minds (£388,325); Dog Days (£59,223); Heathers (30th Anniversary) (£43,462); Pope Francis – A Man of His Word (£21,593); #1 The Meg £3,651,111 1st week 499 screens (22.2% of top 10)
Down 20.7% 2017: (£10,664,274); Annabelle: Creation (£1,960,203); Atomic Blonde (£1,686,430); The Nut Job 2: Nutty By Nature (£354,276); A Ghost Story (£133,899); Overdrive (£60,043); Step (£5,039); #1 Dunkirk £2,634,839 4th week 677 screens 43% drop (24.7% of top 10)
Down 60.3% 2016: (£21,285,722); Suicide Squad (£11,252,225); Sid & Nancy (30th Anniversary) (£6,048); #1 Suicide Squad £11,252,225 1st week 573 screens (52.8% of the top 10)
Down 15.8% 2015; (£10,047,581); Fantastic Four (£2,686,176); The Gift (£584,552); The Diary of a Teenage Girl (£81,185); The Rape of Lucretia – Glyndebourne 2015 (£29,796); Marshland (£40,060); Max (£38,901); #1 Fantastic Four £2,686,176 1st week 539 screens (26.7% of top 10)
Down 60.6% 2014: (£21,448,750); The Inbetweeners 2 (£12,538,114); La Traviata – Glyndebourne 2014 (£112,970); All this Mayhem (£12,247); #1 The Inbetweeners 2 £12,538,114 1st week 509 screens (58.4% of top 10)
Down 41.7% 2013: (£14,517,689); Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa (£2,175,850); Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (£2,137,835); Grown Ups 2 (£2,075,831); The Lone Ranger (£1,342,196); Barbie Mariposa & The Fairy Princess (£33,161); #1 Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa £2,175,850 1st week 441 screens (14.9% of top 10)
Down 1% 2012 (£8,544,393); Step-Up 4: Miami Heat (£680,052); Offender (£74,154); The Lodger (Re: 2012) (£30,131); 360 (£25,834); The Dinosaur Project (£7,586); #1 Ted £3,174,766 2nd week 513 screens 66% drop (37.1% of top 10)
Down 32% 2011 (£12,426,990); Super 8 (£2,207,063); Mr. Popper’s Penguins (£1,515,248); Sarah’s Key (£116,211); #1 Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 £2,810,088 4th week 525 screens 38% drop (22.6% of top 10)
Down 48.6% 2010: (£16,470,599); Knight & Day (£2,404,163); Step Up 3 (£2,015,403); Cats & Dogs: Revenge of Kitty Galore (£1,553,005); 5#1 Toy Story 3 £4,666,021 3rd week 555 screens 62% drop (28.3% of top 10)
Down 9.9% 2009; (£9,386,362); The Ugly Truth (£1,976,043); G. I. Joe (£1,708,760); Orphan (£570,146); Mersin: Killer Instinct (£135,999); Adam (£23,201); #1 The Ugly Truth £1,976,043 1st week 400 screens (21.1% of top 10)
Down 44.9% 2008; (£15,353,692); The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (£4,434,650); Make it Happen (£505,820); The Fox and the Child (£132,441); Elegy (£71,274); Death Defying Acts (£3,977); CJ7 (£437); #1 The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor £4,434,650 1st week 477 screens (28.8% of top 10)
Down 13.9% 2007: (£9,824,857); Rush Hour 3 (£2,731,998); Surf’s Up (£601,289); License to Wed (£268,016); Waitress (£105,910); The Walker (£44,623); #1 Rush Hour 3 £2,731,998 1st week 359 screens (27.8% of top 10)
Down 0.7% 2006; (£8,521,761); Monster House (£1,030,305); Nacho Libre (£993,948); Lady in the Water (£452,744); #1 Cars £1,340,219 3rd week (2 weeks #1) 498 screens 27% drop (15.7% of top 10)
Down 12.4% 2005 (£9,659,697); Herbie: Fully Loaded (£774,412); Stealth (£525,902); The Devil’s Rejects (£323,196); #1 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory £4,441,851 2nd week 532 screens 44% drop (45.9% of top 10)
Down 15.7% 2004 (£10,036,048); I, Robot (£4,745,541); 13 Going On 30 (£1,184,273); Home on the Range (£198,226); #1 I, Robot £4,745,541 1st week 447 screens (47.3% of top 10)
Up 0.1% 2003 (£8,452,765); The Pirates of the Caribbean (£3,765,450); Rugrats Go Wild (£360,005); What a Girl Wants (£220,217); #1 The Pirates of the Caribbean £3,765,450 1st 452 screens (44.5% of top 10)
Down 6.9% 2002 (£9,089,415); Eight Legged Freaks (£1,031,494); Heaven (£78,207); #1 Men In Black 2 £3,106,105 2nd week 512 screens 50% drop (34.2% of top 10)
Down 12.1% 2001 (£9,615,584); The Parole Officer (£902,028); Help! I am a Fish (£81,908); #1 Cats and Dogs £2,813,072 2nd week 453 screens 24% drop (29.2% of top 10);
Next weekend in 2019 (Top three took 71.3% (£11,466,617) of the top 10 (£16,071,094); Once Upon A Time In Hollywood 46.9% (£7,544,445); The Lion King 16.5% (£2,486,795); Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw 8.9% (£1,435,377);
US Box Office
- The Suicide Squad – Warner Bros
Opened with $26.2m; received positive reviews (96% Rotten Tomatoes) and B- CinemaScore
Took $4.1m from Thursday previews 80% less than 2016’s Suicide Squad.
Final figures came were $300k lower than estimates on Sunday it was $26.5m.
2016’s Suicide Squad took $64.89m (including $20.5m previews 31.6% of Friday); Sat $38.57m -40.6%; Sunday $30.21m opening with $133.68m 41.1% of $325.1m US and $746.84m worldwide.
Its Thursday previews were similar to 2020’s Birds of Prey $4m; taking $12.96m on Fri; $12.19m Sat and $7.85m Sun, it’s release was just before the start of the COVID so its total box office was $84.15m Us and $201.85m worldwide was likely affected.
Thursday previews were similar to A Quiet Place Part II $4.8m had in May opening with $47.54m which received similar very positive reviews but had a wide demographic being PG-13 and opening Memorial Day weekend.
The Suicide Squad took $12.1m on Friday including $4.1m previews; dropping 32.1% on Saturday at $8.21m and dropping 27.6% Sunday taking $5.94m.
As with all films opening this year, tracking was all over the place with long-range estimates between $30m-$60m, but the problem is awareness for these films is high but this hasn’t turned into the box office.
SambaTV reported The Suicide Squad was watched by 363k householders on Thursday, being households must be more than the 500k who saw it in cinemas on Thursday.
With 949k watching on Friday and 2.8m over opening weekend, this is similar to the 2.8m people who saw the film in cinemas but need to remember this number is households so in many homes there will be more than one person watching. Also as seen with Pearl & Dean research for Black Widow in the UK over 40% who saw the film in cinemas over the opening weekend had Disney.
Also need to remember HBO Max have over 47m subscribers in the US and the film was available freely but only 6% of subscribers watched it over the opening weekend which does make me question these numbers as surely far more subscribers are watching as Samba TV also reported Black Widow has been watched so far 1.1m times, Mulan 968k, Jungle Cruise 777k and Cruella 531k in the US.
Many questions how Netflix calculate viewing figures by if someone has watched a few minutes of a film despite this being the same way box office is calculated as once someone has brought their cinema ticket the amount is added to the box office no matter if they turn up, sleep through it, or walk out after 5 minutes cinemas don’t give refunds.
Netflix has over 207m subscribers worldwide and their biggest films Extraction 99m; Bird Box 89m; Spenser Confidential 85m; 6 Underground 83m; Murder Mystery 83m; The Old Guard 78m; Enola Holmes 76m; Project Power 75m; Army of the Dead 75m; Fatherhood 74m, shows a large number of their subscribers are watching these films and TV shows. Bridgerton S1 82m; The Witcher S1 76 m; Stranger Things S3 64m; Tiger King 64m; The Queen’s Gambit 62m; Sweet Tooth 60m; Emily in Paris 58m; Fate: The Winx Saga 57m; Shadow and Bone 55m; You S2 54m.
Until there is a proper way to calculate viewing figures from an outside agency then it will be impossible to know how many people are really watching, but that is similar to TV ratings as they are just an algorithm created from a small panel and cinema admission figures are the industries claimed average ticket price divide by the box office, the problem is while the industry average is $9 many moviegoers pay three times that amount so real admissions are closer to what they were 20 years ago.
The film industry needs to retrain how they calculate success as the 2.8m new HBO Max subscribers added in the last quarter will add $420m to $6.6bn taken this year from other 44.2m with exhibitors also swapping $20 movie tickets to subscription-based cinema will bring in more customers meaning more 1000% profit popcorn sold.
After 2016’s Suicide Squad received scathing reviews despite dropping 67.4% in its second weekend taking $43.53m and $222.64m and 52.1% $20.85m and $262.42m still held on to #1 for three weekends, due to being the last major release of the summer. It dropped to second by Don’t Breathe opening with $26.41m in its fourth weekend, in a strange twist of fate its sequel opens next weekend.
Warner will be wondering how they did everything right with The Suicide Squad this time, with James Gunn as director, strong cast, great reviews, and word of mouth but still, it’s likely to take half Suicide Squad took 5 years ago which had none of those things. Exhibitors keep demanding studios to release their biggest movies and keep to the theatrical window but if a fraction of the audience is going to see them in cinemas then studios have to release them on other platforms at the same time.
Warner has gambled with several films over the last year from Tenet to Suicide Squad but none of them has come close to take box office they would in normal circumstances so either exhibitors need to do much more to make people feel comfortable returning or studios will delay more of their films if exhibitors want studios to keep to the theatrical window.
After The Suicide Squad opened with 71% less than Suicide Squad last weekend in the UK where COVID cases are in the decline and this was also ahead of it being available on HBO Max (as HBO Max isn’t yet available in the UK) it was surely expected that even with the positive reviews and strong awareness that The Suicide Squad would open with a bigger percentage drop in the UK were COVID cases are now the highest since January especially as the social distancing and seat separation policies that were in place then are no longer in place in most cinemas.
2016’s Suicide Squad opened with $6.2m in 1,233 screens on its opening day (had 62% of Friday BO and the biggest Friday opening in August) was less than The Suicide Squad opened with last weekend in the UK.
20+ years ago studios couldn’t swallow back-to-back $200m+ films failures, but now the film studio is just a small cog in the mega-corporations value of $100bn+ many with debts of $50bn+ what’s another $200m loss when they are now seeing the value of streaming, Netflix has an annual income of over $20bn worldwide (from 209m subscribers) compared to $42.5bn global box office in 2019 and spent over $15bn on content.
Since cinemas reopened all of Warner films have fallen short of expectations with only Godzilla Vs Kong coming close to previous franchise success but that was mostly due to Asian BO.
Tenet ($58.45m US and $363.65m worldwide Vs Inception $292.57m US and $836.73m WW). WW84 ($46.53m US and $166.53m WW Vs Wonder Woman $412.81m VS and $822.82m WW), The Little Things ($15.4m US and $29.84m WW), Tom and Jerry ($46.1m US and £126.84m WW), Mortal Kombat ($42.2m US and $83.6m WW Vs Mortal Kombat (1995) $70.45m US and $122.19m WW), Godzilla Vs Kong $100.45m US and $467.63m WW Vs Kong: Skull Island $168.1m US and $566.65m WW), In the Heights ($29.74m US and $42.94m WW), Space Jam 2 ($80m* US and $200m* WW Vs Space Jam $90.41m US and $230.41m WW) and The Suicide Squad $80m* US and $180m* WW Vs Suicide Squad $325.1m US and $746.84m WW) * estimates while with Mortal Kombat and Space Jam due to ticket inflation must more than double their box office to make a proper comparison.
3,093rd biggest film in the US between Dumb and Dumberer and Micki + Maude; 4,018th biggest inflation inflated between Drowning Mona and North Country and 494th biggest Warner Bros film between Wildcats and Blood Work.
Took $5.7m from 713 IMAX screens in 62 territories including 394 in the US taking $2.6m (10% of its opening BO) and took $2.45m internationally from 319 IMAX screens.
Took $35m from 69 territories (17,053 screens) and $44.9m total and $72.2m worldwide; in 2016 Suicide Squad opened with $133.3m from 57 territories (17,630 screens) opening $1.2m more than Deadpool opening with $132.1m, opened bigger than Warner Sunday estimates $132m with the UK opening much higher than estimates $14.8m Vs $13.9m.
2,188th biggest film worldwide between Shanghai Noon and Down to Earth; 27th biggest film worldwide in 2021 between The Boss Baby: Family Business and The Forever Purge and 315th biggest Warner Bros film worldwide between Grumpier Old Men and 12 Strong.
- Jungle Cruise – Disney
Dropped 55% in its second weekend taking $15.81m and $65.44m
To put Jungle Cruise second weekend into perspective and show how far away from normal US BO is currently this time in 2019 Hobbs & Shaw dropped 57.9% taking $25.26m and $108.37m and four months later Jumanji: The Next Level dropped 55.3% taking $26.5m and $102.31m, instead, it’s the second weekend was similar to 2015’s Tomorrowland dropped 56.7% taking $14.3m and $63.68m seen as a massive disappointment at the time.
Until the industry realises this then nothing is going to change and it’s only going to get worse in the Fall as there are many more films opening and most are targetting an older demographic which is going to see box office cannibalize.
SambaTV reported Jungle Cruise was watched by 777k US households Disney+ Premier Access over its opening weekend, 46% more than Cruella (531k US households). These numbers always seem so low when there are over 40m Disney+ subscribers in the US so that means only 2% of Disney+ subscribers paid $29.99 to watch, while at the same time almost five times the amount of people who saw Jungle Cruise in cinema.
Rather than exhibitors complaining about Disney and Warner Bros opening films on streaming same day surely they should be using these numbers to show that despite having the choice to see these films at home the majority still choose to see them in the cinema.
Instead of antagonising studios exhibitors should be using this to sell the cinema experience, as studios should be able to decide how they want their films to be released not exhibitors as they are the ones spending $200m+ making Jungle Cruise and another $200m marketing it.
It used to be theme park rides that would be the basis of films, but Disney went the other way with their theme park rides, but while a ride lasts for minutes it’s harder to turn it into a feature-length film.
It’s the sixth Disney film based on a theme park ride after the Pirates of the Caribbean five-film series (between 2003 and 2017).
2003’s The Haunted Mansion dropped 61.3% taking $9.39m and $45.97m (60.6%) of $75.84m and $182.29m worldwide
2000’s Mission to Mars dropped 50.2% taking $11.38m and $40.61m (66.7%) of $60.88m and $110.98m worldwide
2002’s The Country Bears dropped 40.8% taking $3.14m and $11.79m (69.4%) of $16.99m and $18.01m WW
2015’s Tomorrowland dropped 56.7% taking $14.3m and $63.68m (68.1%) of $93.43m and $209.03m
2003’s Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl dropped 27% taking $34.03m and $133m (43.5%) of $305.41m and $654.26m worldwide
1999’s The Mummy dropped 42.7% taking $24.85m and $80.58m (51.8%) of $155.38m and $416.38m WW
2016’s The Legend of Tarzan dropped 45.5% taking $21m and $81.8m (64.6%) of $126.64m and $348.9m
1,280th biggest film in the US between The Taking of Pelham 123 and Step Up; 2,121st biggest inflation inflated between Night Shift and This Christmas; 196th biggest Disney film in the US between Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo and Step Up.
Took $15.1m from 49 territories $56.5m total and $121.8m worldwide; UK $8.5m; Russia $5.9m; France $4.2m; Japan $4m; Saudi Arabia $2.7m; UAE $2.2m; Mexico $2m; Spain $2m; Korea $1.9m; Hong Kong $1.9m; Holland $1.8m;
Had strongholds in its second weekend France (-6%), Switzerland (-12%), UK (-17%), Belgium (-17%), Netherlands (-17%), Germany (-22%), Hungary (-32%), New Zealand (-35%) showing that it is the perfect summer family popcorn movie.
1,776th biggest film in the worldwide between Calendar Girls and When Harry Met Sally; 19th t biggest 2021 film worldwide between Raya and the Last Dragon and Wrath of Man and 216th biggest Disney film worldwide between Calendar Girls and Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo.
- The Green Knight – A24
Dropped 62% in its second weekend taking $2.59m and $12.16m
As often happens with films like these they receive critical acclaim, but audience reaction is mixed and they drop heavily in their second weekends which does show that Entertainment Films decision to delay its UK release (on August 6th) was the right one despite receiving much negativity about the decision.
Now the studio is a small part of massive media companies they can swallow the losses they are making from these films, whereas indies are struggling as seen with STX last looking to cut debt selling off their libraries.
As all the research has shown for the last 16 months despite The Green Knight receiving positive reviews it was likely to struggle in cinemas as films targetting older demographics have struggled to find an audience since cinemas reopened in May.
Stillwater held far better in its second weekend down 45% taking $2.82m and $9.96m holding in #5 while The Green Knight dropped from #3 to #6.
- Space Jam: A New Legacy – Warner Bros
Dropped 43% in its fourth weekend taking $2.43m and $65.69m
1,271st biggest film in the US between Ever After A Cinderella Story and Stakeout; 2,112th biggest inflation inflated between Silent Hill and Napoleon Dynamite; 208th biggest Warner Bros film in the US between Magic Mike XXL and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.
Fourth weekends
1996’s Space Jam dropped 66.5% taking $4.54m and $73.35m taking $90.41m ($160m inflation inflated) and $230.51m worldwide $398m inflation inflated)
2017’s The Emoji Movie dropped 31.2% taking $4.44m and $71.85m of $86.08m in the US and $217.77m WW.
2012’s Wreck-It Ralph dropped 10.8% taking $16.57m taking $149.27m taking $189.42m in the US and $471.2m WW.
2018’s Ralph Breaks the Internet dropped 42.9% taking $9.27m and $154.14m taking $201.09m in the US and $529.32m WW.
2010’s Tron Legacy dropped 46.2% taking $10.09m and $148.21m of $172.06m and $400.06m WW.
2018’s Ready Player One dropped 35.6% taking $7.41m and $126.1m of $137.69m taking $482.89m WW
1,268th biggest film worldwide between Saw IV and American Made; 14th biggest film of 2021 worldwide between Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway and Tom and Jerry; 205th biggest Warner Bros film worldwide between Unknown and Pokemon 2000.
Took $5.6m from 67 territories (down 37%) $69.8m total and $135.4m worldwide; UK $12.1m; Australia $8.3m; Mexico $7.7m; Spain $3.8m; France $2.8m.
- Black Widow – Disney
Dropped 39% in its fifth weekend taking $3.92m and $174.28m.
286th biggest film in the US between The Greatest Showman and Fast & Furious Presents Hobbs & Shaw; 621st biggest inflation inflated between Superman III and Slumdog Millionaire and 71st biggest Disney film between Pretty Woman and National Treasure.
The 24 MCU films have taken over $8.7bn in the US (By next year will have taken over $10bn) and $22.87bn worldwide.
Dropped 48% taking $4m from 48 territories $176.5m total and $359.8m worldwide; Korea $25.9m; UK $23.9m; France $14.2m; Mexico $9.7m; Australia $9.5m; Russia $9.3m; Japan $8.2m; Germany $7.5m; Spain $6.9m; Hong Kong $6.5m; Brazil $6.5m.
400th biggest film worldwide between Dr Seuss’ The Lorax and Hannibal; 5th biggest film worldwide in 2021 between Godzilla vs. Kong and A Quiet Place: Part II; 81st biggest Disney film between Who Framed Roger Rabbit? And Mary Poppins Returns.
UK Box Office Top 10
UK Box Office Preview
After generating strong buzz over the last few weeks and positive reviews Free Guy is the film we need now a fun popcorn movie something that has been missing from cinemas since they reopened a year ago. Free Guy is a film with a soul similar to films like Wreck-It Ralph and The Lego Movie along with a touch of The Truman Show. In normal circumstances would expect it to open with upwards of £4m similar to the without preview openings of
2013’s Wreck-It Ralph opened with £4,526,380 taking £23,607,542
2014’s The Lego Movie opened with £8,051,140 (including £2,155,094 previews) taking £32,887,286.
2018’s Ready Player One opened with £5,113,041 (including £1,081,559 previews) taking £16,114,011
And the inflation inflated 1998’s The Truman Show opened £2,210,999 (£3,961,145 inflation inflated) taking £9,929,680 (£17,789,650), but it’s more likely to open similar to The Truman Show actual 1998 opening but that will be enough to open #1.
Don’t Breathe 2 is the sequel to the 2016 film, opened on September #3 with £1,028,938 from 446 screens, most horrors have done well since cinemas reopened in May and being the sequel to Don’t Breathe which as well-received critically and being different to other films playing should have a similar-sized opening.
While for younger audiences The Paw Patrol Movie is likely to perform similar to the last two films; 2020’s Paw Patrol: Ready, Race, Rescue opened #10 £483,886 from 524 screens taking £1,772,296 and 2019’s Paw Patrol: Mighty Pups opened #5 £521,505 from 507 screens taking £1,265,526.
After washout from cool wet weather over recent weeks this weekend is due to be drier and warmer that could stop these films opening as well along with a little thing called COVID that has been holding back many from going back to the cinema this past year.
After soft drops for both The Suicide Squad, Jungle Cruise and Space Jam: A New Legacy last weekend they will likely have bigger drops this weekend.
Opening next Wednesday People Just Do Nothing: Big In Japan film spinoff to the BBC Three comedy show which could go either way as British TV spinoffs have had mixed success and many of them have opened mid-August in the UK as after the June-July rush August slows down for US content and there is room for British films to find an audience.
Other mid-August TV spinoffs include
1997’s Bean opened £2,563,326 (£4,547,227 inflation inflated) taking £17,902,161 (£31,757,642)
2011’s The Inbetweeners Movie opened £13,216,736 (£15,746,672 inflation inflated) taking £45,030,412 (£53,650,095)
2012’s Keith Lemon: The Film opened £1,196,310 taking £2,900,378
2013’s Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa opened £2,175,850 taking £5,223,520
2014’s The Inbetweeners 2 opened £12,538,114 taking £33,386,962
2015’s Bad Education opened £594,861 taking £2,013,108
2016’s David Brent: Life on the Road opened £1,460,290 taking £3,639,605
As with Keith Lemon: The Film and Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie these TV spinoffs might be terrible, but they do find an audience. Must admit had never heard of People Just Do Nothing before I Googled it a few weeks ago but I’m not its target demographic.
Also opening next Wednesday is Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins, while the previous two G.I Joe films performed ok at the UK box office; 2009’s G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra opened with £1,708,760 (including £281,666 previews) taking £6,293,469; $302,469,017 worldwide
2013’s G.I. Joe: Retaliation opened with £2,792,861 (including £890,338 previews) taking £7,288,281; $375,740,705 worldwide
Snake Eyes opened poorly in the US last month and received poor reviews dropping heavily in its second weekend, as with so many mid-week openings Snake Eyes could be DOA by Friday. Hugh Jackman’s Reminiscence was due to open on Wednesday but has been moved back to next Friday.
Opening in two weeks
- The Night House – Disney/Searchlight
Psychological horror starring Rebecca Hall, Sarah Goldberg, Evan Jonigkeit, Stacy Martin and Vondie Curtis-Hall and directed by David Bruckner; had a world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival receiving positive reviews (88% Rotten Tomatoes)
Searchlight Pictures acquired world rights for $12m at the Sundance Film Festival, but as many previous big Sundance acquisitions, the films rarely find an audience when they open in cinemas a few months later.
- Pig – Altitude Film Distribution
Thriller starring Nicolas Cage, Alex Wolff and Adam Arkin and directed by Michael Sarnoski
Received critical acclaim (97% Rotten Tomatoes) many praising Nicolas Cage performance saying it was one of the best of his career.
cigarette burns and missed changeovers 