- Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore – £5,884,934 – NE
Had the 2nd biggest opening in 2022 after The Batman (£13.53m) and the 8th biggest opening since cinemas reopened between Fast & Furious 9 and Dune
Had the 222nd biggest opening in the UK between Inception and Dune (close to Dumbo, Kung Fu Panda, Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves and The Lost World: Jurassic Park) and the 332nd biggest inflation inflated between Scooby-Doo Too and The Fifth Element (close to The Flintstones, Mrs Doubtfire, Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and The Hunger Games).
40th biggest Warner Bros opening between Inception and Dune (close to Kong: Skull Island, Wonder Woman, Tenet and Aquaman) and 59th biggest Warner Bros inflation inflated opening between Scooby-Doo Too and Dune (close to Batman, Sweeney Todd, The Bodyguard and Beetlejuice).
Took £2.2m on Friday: £2.1m Saturday and £1.85m Sunday compared to Fantastic Beasts opened £15.33m taking £4.3m Friday; £5.9m Saturday; £5.13m Sunday and Fantastic Beasts 2 opened £12.3m taking £3.5m Friday: £4.7m (estimate) Saturday; £4.11m (estimate) Sunday
While Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 took £9.5m from its opening day but Fantastic Beasts films cannot be compared to Harry Potter films even though they are part of the same universe as prequels play to the fanbase and not extended audience as they aren’t as accessible to non-fans.
Had the 8th widest ever just behind 718 cinema Death on the Nile opened in February opening in 711 cinemas and 1,959 screens compared to The Batman opening with 706 cinemas and 2,658 screens on 4th March, but the marketplace is far more crowded now than it was 6 weeks ago; the first Fantastic Beasts film opened in 669 cinemas and 1,880 screens; but is there a need for these films to open so wide as 20 years ago a wide release would be about 500 cinemas.
2018’s Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald opened 20% less than the first film so would have expected the third film to open with about 30% less but that would be the case without any competition, but the third film does have an advantage over the previous two films as opening on Friday which is part of Easter holidays. While cold wet weather over the weekend should have continued to make going to the cinema an activity many would do over the Easter holidays.
The Fantastic Beast films were never going to perform like Harry Potter films as they targeted an older audience and a major part of the attraction of the Harry Potter films was children had read the books and grown up with Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter. It was similar to how The Hobbit films were less successful than the original Lord of the Rings trilogy.
They feature lessen known characters that were mentioned in passing in the original films and prequels. These films often tell stories only fans want to see as was the case with Star Wars Anthology films Rogue One and Solo expanding on how the rebels got the plans to the Death Star and the Kessel Run that were covered enough in The New Hope.
At the UKCA Conference last week Phil Clapp spoke of cinema attendance returning to normal by 2023 with 2020 admissions expected to be 80% of 2019 level 140m (£1.05bn) and that admissions will top 200m within 5-10 years. But how is this going to happen as the industry heralded 2018 ‘s admissions 177m up for the first time since 2002 as a huge success as it was the highest for 48 years despite it only being a 1% increase since 2002? UK admissions had increased steadily from 1985 with British Film Year from 54m to 175.9m in 2002.
While Fantastic Beasts 3 opened softly advance sales for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness have been very strong since they went on sale last week highlighting one of the biggest issues with cinema today as it’s now comic-book movies Vs everything else, so it will be interesting to see how other films perform in the 8 weeks between Doctor Strange 3 and Thor 3 and if they both perform similarly to previous instalments which were front-loaded. Of course, Doctor Strange has the advantage of following Spider-Man’s No Way Home.
It was surprising Warner didn’t open Fantastic Beasts on Weds/Thurs as many films often have extended openings but as with the first two films it opened on Friday, but as it was the Easter holidays missed out on two lucrative days.
Filming was due to start in spring 2020 but was delayed due to COVID instead starting filming in September and Mads Mikkelsen replaced Johnny Depp. Was originally set for 12th November 2021 but after production was delayed moved to July 15th, 2022, but in September 2021 It was brought forward to April 15th opening a week earlier in the UK.
Fantastic Beasts 3 had its world premiere on March 29th in London and reviews called it the best Fantastic Beast film so far, but the buzz has been very soft ahead of its opening, so it was surprising Warner opened it in April over November as the other two Fantastic Beasts films, maybe it was a concern with Qatar 2022 World Cup due to open a few days later had it opened in November. With Avatar 2 set for release two days before the World Cup final studios don’t seem to be concerned with it even though the last final in 2018 was seen by 1.12bn worldwide and 31m watched the Euro 2020 final last year in the UK.
JK Rowling has received a lot of negative media coverage in recent years over her comments about the transgender community which has seen Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson criticise her. Last week Russian President Putin was comparing the treatment of Russia with the Western cancel culture which saw it become front-page news, the question is will either affect Fantastic Beasts.
Over recent years there is always one film that gets singled out as an example of everything bad in Hollywood today, in 2016 it was the female Ghostbusters film, while it wasn’t a good film it didn’t shouldn’t have received any of the misogynistic comments. 2018 Solo: Star Wars Anthology, 2019 X-Men: Dark Phoenix, 2020 The New Mutants, 2021 Black Widow and most recently Morbius were singled out for their negatives before Fantastic Beasts 3. While many films receive backlash after they have opened as was the case with Disney’s Star Wars sequels these films received negativity many months before opening.
Warner Bros announced 5 Fantastic Beasts films in 2016 and 20th Century Fox announced 4 Avatar sequels in 2017 in response to Disney announcing a Star Wars film every year in 2013. Rival studios needed to have similar-sized films to stay competitive, but of course after Disney acquired 20th Century Fox they took ownership of Avatar sequels and they weren’t as important as Star Wars and the MCU. Avatar 2 opens in December 13 years after the first film opened and a lot has changed since back then only Iron Man and Incredible Hulk had been released and cinemagoers embraced 3D while audiences were in awe over Avatar it soon became the Smurf movie, can the sequel possibly be as big as the first film and then, of course, have the inflation issue as tickets are now a third more expensive.
Dropped 42% in second weekend taking £8,892,489 and £30,136,276; Allied opened #2 with £1,331,919 and Bad Santa #4 £799,156
Dropped 50% in third weekend taking £4,494,727 from 649 screens and £37,886,538; Moana opened #2 £2,214,898 and Sully: Miracle on the Hudson #3 £1,786,844
Dropped 40% in fourth weekend taking £2,734,960 from 620 screens and £42,392,249; Moana #2 £1,911,784 and Sully: Miracle on the Hudson #3 £1,222,683
After 4 weeks at #1 dropped to #3 in fifth weekend down 48% taking £1,416,433 from 480 screens and £44,963,803; Rogue One: A Star Wars Story opened #1 £17,305,011 and Moana #2 £1,424,527
Stayed in top 5 for 6 weeks and In top 10 for 9 weeks taking £568,432 in 9th weekend and £54,000,202 98.9% of £54,593,487
2018’s Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald opened £12,318,966 (19.6% less) from 674 screens; with The Grinch #2 at £3,906,597 and Bohemian Rhapsody #3 at £3,021,648
Dropped 54% in second weekend taking £5,622,755 from 679 screens and £22,043,790; with The Grinch #2 £3,283,072 and Bohemian Rhapsody #3 £2,211,454 and new releases Robin Hood #4 £1,330,387; Nativity Rocks! #5 £834,414; The Girl in the Spider’s Web #6 £557,403
Dropped to #3 in third weekend down 52% taking £2,709,967 from 661 screens and £26,753,839; with Ralph Breaks the Internet opening #1 £4,032,775 and Creed 2 #2 £2,991,509
Dropped 46% in fourth weekend #4 taking £1,468,736 from 619 screens and £29,271,816; with Ralph Breaks the Internet #1; The Grinch #2 and Creed 2 #3
Stayed in the top 5 for 4 weeks and in the top 10 for 8 weeks taking £365,814 at the 9th weekend and £33,501,931 98.5% of £33,995,565
Normally rival studios keep their distance from tentpoles as they did with the first two Fantastic Beast films not opening anything targetting a similar demographic in the week before or after but opening ahead of Easter the marketplace is far more crowded with The Bad Guys and Sonic The Hedgehog 2 opening two weeks before along with Morbius (targetting older audience) and surprisingly Paramount is opening The Lost City on Wednesday only 5 days after Fantastic Beasts 3 opens, but that will be playing to an older female audience.
The 11 Harry Potter films have taken over £540m at the UK BO and over £775m inflation inflated
It’s the sixth different film to open #1 this year after Spider-Man: No Way Home for 3 weeks (3 in 2021); Sing 2 2 weeks; Uncharted for 3 weeks and The Batman for 4 weeks; Sonic the Hedgehog 2 1 week; despite Fantastic Beasts 3 having a much softer opening than previous two Fantastic Beasts films its likely to remain #1 until Downton Abbey: A New Era opens on April 29th.
Opened with $58m from 22 territories (ahead of opening in the US this weekend) with China the leading territory with $10m despite many cinemas closed due to COVID; Germany $9.4m; Japan $8.6m; the UK $8m; Australia $3.9m; Spain $3.1m;
In comparison 2018’s Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald opened with $191m internationally from 79 territories and $253m worldwide with $37.5m from China and $16.4m in the UK and 2016’s Fantastic Beasts opened with $45.5m internationally from 63 territories taking $19.16m in the UK.
2. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 – £2,903,033 – £10,643,082
Down 41.8% in its second weekend (took £2,753,715 Mon-Thurs)
Had the 239th biggest second weekend between Daddy’s Home and Johnny English Strikes Back (close to Jumanji: The Next Level, Night at the Museum, Monsters vs. Aliens and Cats and Dogs) and the 384th biggest inflation inflated between Maleficent and What Lies Beneath (close to Beetlejuice, Wall·E, Night at the Museum 2 and Pokemon Detective Pikachu).
11th biggest Paramount Pictures second weekend between Daddy’s Home and Monsters vs. Aliens (close to
Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, Star Trek, Daddy’s Home 2 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles); Paramount Pictures’ biggest opening in the UK since Rocketman in 2019
Had the 4th biggest week of 2022 after The Batman (£19.14m); Uncharted (£8.39) and Sing 2 (£7.83m) taking 1% less (£7.51m) in comparison Sonic the Hedgehog in 2020 took £10.51m, but the original film opened at the start of half-term while the sequel opened at the start of the two-week Easter holidays.
2020’s Sonic The Hedgehog dropped 12% in its second weekend taking £4,171,244 from 634 screens and £14,688,538 76.1% of £19,280,822; didn’t have any competition as The Call Of The Wild opened #4 with £1,465,400 while Dolittle #2 £2,032,270 targeted younger audiences and Parasite #3 £1,722,236 targetting older audiences and its box office was affected by COVID seeing it pulled from cinemas after 5 weeks after the first lockdown.
2019’s Pokémon Detective Pikachu dropped 45% heavier as opened during term-time £2,718,117 from 604 screens and £8,884,880 taking £13,368,175
Uncharted dropped 20% taking £3,775,360 from 630 screens taking £12,163,778 and £23,641,476
3. The Bad Guys – £1,120,106 – £4,851,461
Dropped 50.9% in its second weekend (down 28.5% not including previews) Took £1,452,434 Mon-Thurs
821st biggest second weekend between SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water and Grown Ups 2 (close to Mousehunt, Mulan, Atlantis: The Lost Empire and The Nutcracker and the Four Realms) and 1,109th inflation inflated between The Peacemaker and Hustlers (close to Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, Divergent, Mr Popper’s Penguins and Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events).
163rd biggest animated film between The Prince of Egypt and Corpse Bride (close to The Angry Birds Movie 2, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Ron’s Gone Wrong and Wonder Park) and 165th biggest inflation inflated between The Angry Birds Movie 2 and Ron’s Gone Wrong (close to Storks, Smurfs: The Lost Village, Wonder Park and Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas).
It’s the 42nd Dreamworks Animation film, the seventh released by Universal Pictures since they acquired the studio in 2016 and their first original animated film since Abominable in 2019.
30th biggest Dreamworks Animation second weekend between Megamind and Penguins of Madagascar (close to Flushed Away, Puss in Boots, Abominable and Bee Movie).
While Dreamworks Animation had huge success with the Shrek film series (Shrek The Third and Shrek 2 are their two biggest films in the UK, Shrek Forever After #4 with Shrek #19 despite opening in 2001. While they also had success with How To Train films and the first instalments of The Boss Baby, Trolls and The Croods, their sequels were affected by opening during the pandemic.
Dreamwork Animation has fallen behind Pixar and Illumination while they make some enjoyable animated films, they don’t have the success of their rivals anymore and as Comcast own Dreamworks Illumination is a far more valuable brand for the studio with films like Sing 2 and Minions 2 while Dreamworks Animation will likely see more sequels upcoming including Puss In Boots 2 later this year and Shrek 5 currently in development.
His Dreamworks Animation films have taken in £700m at the UK BO since 2001 over £900m
Being the start of the Easter holidays and playing to a younger audience it should perform steadily over the next two weeks. Critics have described it as the best Dreamworks Animation film for several years, but critics also loved Captain Underpants, but it struggled to find an audience.
4. Morbius – £740,336 – £5,084,271
Down 77.3% in the second weekend
24th biggest second-weekend drop between Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets and Molly’s Game (close to Godzilla Vs. Kong, The Huntsman: Winter’s War, Robin Hood and King Arthur (2017); hard to make direct comparisons as some had extended previews of more than a day
1,181st biggest second between Arthur and the Invisibles and The Constant Gardener (close to Layer Cake, The Lone Ranger, Poltergeist and Ghost in the Shell) and 1,290th inflation inflated between Gemini Man and Sherlock Gnomes (close to Poseidon, Candyman, Warcraft: The Beginning and Fantastic Four (2015).
81st biggest comic-book second weekend between Ghost Rider and Fantastic Four (2015) (close to Blade: Trinity, Daredevil, Hellboy and Kick-Ass 2) and 82nd biggest inflation inflated between Hellboy and Fantastic Four (2015) (close to The Green Hornet, Green Lantern, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance and Hellboy).
2018’s Venom dropped 63% in its second weekend #2 taking £3,002,032 and £13,729,817 from 554 screens taking £19,907,988
2021’s Venom 2 dropped 60% in its second weekend taking £2,470,169 and £11,193,195 from 607 screens £18,300,000.
But better comparisons are with
2019’s X-Men: Dark Phoenix dropped 72% (62% not including previews) taking £1,043,284 #5 from 611 screens and £5,930,679 taking £6,728,850 as it also had a problematic production and several delays.
1998’s Blade dropped 35% £1,067,918 (£1,992,740 inflation inflated) taking £3,449,428 56% of £6,161,443 (£11,497,283 inflation inflated)
2002’s Blade 2 dropped 47% £1,335,594 (£2,426,006 inflation inflated) and £5,591,963 62% of £9,022,422 (£16,388,554 inflation inflated)
2004’s Blade Trinity dropped 64% £945,981 (£1,584,360 inflation inflated) and £4,436,579 73% of £6,094,509 (£10,207,285 inflation inflated)
There have been many films delayed due to COVID but the delay from January to April was due to having more extensive reshoots but used COVID and Spider-Man as an excuse as delays for Dark Phoenix and The New Mutants did far more damage than if it had just opened in January which is often the case with films that have been delayed as it overshadows the film’s opening.
The film was made in 2019 before Sony announced a new deal with Marvel to make a sequel to Spider-Man Far from Home, the first trailer was released in January 2020, including an image of Spider-Man refereeing to the end of Far from Home. Morbius had its first reshoots in February 2020.
It has been delayed seven times since its original July 2020 release date, many of these were due to COVID but the last delay from January to April was rumored to the film having extensive reshoots after the success of Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Spider-Man No Way Home adding more of Michael Keaton’s Vulture. At the end of Morbius Keaton’s Vulture has a brief appearance, he also appears in the end credit scene in Venom 2 and also appeared in Spider-Man Homecoming.
Sony Pictures have access to about 900 Marvel characters (compared to the 7,000+ Disney owners) but most of them are supporting characters that aren’t well known away from comic-book fans so they will struggle to exploit them as they will need to be launched within Spider-Man or Venom film.
5. The Batman – £623,866 – £39,230,409
Down 48% in the sixth weekend.
68th biggest the sixth weekend between Tenet and Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (close to Quantum of Solace, Free Guy, Shang-Chi and Avengers: Endgame).
£754,851 less than 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises £1,378,717 (18% ticket inflation since) #4 down 9% from 398 screens taking £52,534,102 93.2% of £56,374,370
£284,752 less than 2008’s The Dark Knight £908,618 (45% ticket inflation since) #5 down 38% from 396 screens taking £45,787,563 92.9% of £49,263,805
£1,044,600 less than 2019’s Joker £1,668,466 #1 down 32% from 601 screens taking £54.33m 93.9% of £57.8m
£330,290 more than 2005’s Batman Begins £293,576 (60% ticket inflation since) #6 down 46% from 293 screens taking £15,460,356 92.7% of £16,665,365
The biggest 2022 release of the year overtaking Sing 2 (£31.85m) and the third biggest film since cinemas reopened;
12th biggest comic-book movie (23rd to take £30m+ since Men In Black in 1997 will soon become 75th film to take over £40m) between Captain Marvel and Deadpool (close to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Spider-Man: Far From Home and Captain America: Civil War) Batman Vs Superman #17 £36,495,828; Man of Steel #24 £29,830,339); The Dark Knight Rises #5 £56,374,370; The Dark Knight #8 £49,263,805; #4 Joker £57.8m
20th biggest inflation inflated between Captain Marvel and Batman; #14 Batman Forever (inflation inflated) Batman #20 £38,840,287 (inflation inflated), Batman and Robin #38 £27,117,137, Batman Begins #39 £26,607,971 and Batman Returns #42 £25,721,677; The Dark Knight #4; The Dark Knight Rises #6; Joker #8
76th biggest film in the UK (131st to take £30m+ since Jurassic Park) between Captain Marvel and Star Wars Revenge of the Sith (close to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of The Crystal Skull, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Fast & Furious 7 and The Simpsons) and 163rd biggest inflation inflated between Captain Marvel and Hannibal (close to The Mask, Men In Black 2, Batman and X-Men 2).
17th biggest Warner Bros film between Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (close to Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug, Batman Vs Superman, Inception and Fantastic Beasts 2) 31st inflation inflated biggest between Scooby-Doo and I am Legend (close to The Bodyguard, Ocean’s Eleven and Batman Vs Superman).
Using DCM’s average ticket price of £9.71 The Batman would have 4.1m admissions but using the average of £7.52 from last year this would be 5.21m.
In 1989 Batman opened in 400 cinemas took £12,034,291 inflation inflated £38,840,287); Batman was the second-biggest film of the year after Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
1992’s Batman Returns took £10,979,599 and £25,721,677 inflation inflated; 7th biggest of 1992
1995’s Batman Forever took £20,015,001 and £43,250,807 inflation inflated; 2nd biggest of 1995
1997’s Batman and Robin took £14,676,429 £27,117,137 inflation inflated; 7th biggest of 1997
With Fantastic Beasts 3 opening in April and delaying Black Adam to October Warner Bros’s major summer film is Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis opening in June after having its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.
Also Opened
- The Outfit – Universal Pictures
Opened with £96,600 from 154 screens
The film received its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival receiving positive reviews (90% on Rotten Tomatoes); opened on March 18th in the US at #8 with $1.49m. Directed by Graham Moore screenwriter of The Imitation Game making his directorial debut.
The film stars Mark Rylance who most recently starred in The Phantom of the Open and starred in several Steven Spielberg films including 2015’s Bridge of Spies (opened for £1.7m taking £7.3m).
- CODA – BFI/Apple
Unreported from 150 screens
After winning Oscars including Best Picture at the Oscars two weeks ago BFI COSA was re-released in independent cinemas
Other Box Office News
FDA launched their yearbook last week with concerns that the cinema recovery faces the cost of the living challenge, but people always turned to cinema in a time of a recession, in the US BO increased over six of the last seven recessions, and the Depression saw big increases in cinema attendance, so if a trip to the cinema is a cheap night out (as the industry claims) attendance should soar to record levels this year.
Industry average ticket price increased 11.4% from 2020 (£6.75 to £7.52) but real average prices are probably about a third more as IMAX/PLF screenings have become even more popular since cinemas reopened and as the US dynamic pricing has seen ticket prices increase further for tentpoles like The Batman. Vue has reduced many of their cinemas to about £6.99 but they have 91 cinemas with 870 screens which are about 10% of the cinemas in the UK and 20% of the screens.
Everyman Cinemas are more honest about average ticket pricing and their average is about £11 with customers spending on average £8.96 on food and drink showing that exhibitors are in the popcorn business and not the cinema industry.
This was seen when cinemas were able to gain the hospitality VAT reduction from July 2020 to September 2021 to 5% and then to 12.5% till March 31st but didn’t pass on the reduction to customers unlike the rest of the hospitality sector. This was why hospitality sector prices increased o April 1st.
At the UKCA conference last week talked about targetting towards 200m yearly admissions, cinema admissions grew steadily from 1985 to 2002 but then they stopped growing in 2003 until they increased by 1% in 2018, the highest for 40 years and this was heralded as a massive success. In compassion, BO had increased from £743m in 2002 to £1.27bn in 2018 up 72.4% and the industry ticket average was up over 82%, so this “growth” was purely ticket inflation.
I know I’m a broken record when I say this but after the steady growth between 1985 to 1993 industry experts predicted in Screen International in early 1994 admissions would top 200m by 2000, while they didn’t get to 200m they continued to increase until 2002, had prices not stared to creep upwards from then I do believe admissions would have been over 250m in 2019. In the 90s they were looking towards 300m+ admissions.
The top 20 films’ box office took £542m, taking 91% of the total £597m. 28% came from two films: Universal’s No Time To Die and Sony’s Spider-Man: No Way Home’ two films took 28% leaving 477 fighting over scraps this is far from healthy.
The report also admitted average price increased 11.4% to £7.52 despite 6 months of that time hospitality VAT was reduced to 5% which they didn’t pass on… exhibitors said at the time they didn’t pass it on as it was only a few pennies but when you’re talking about £20 IMAX/PLF and London it must be at least £2. As the report said 25% of 2021 BO came from London so that’s 18.5m so probably about £50m of last year’s BO came from VAT cut.
Top price tickets for Fantastic Beasts 3 at the Odeon Leicester Square are £32.50 up from £30 for The Batman; less than 50ft away it’s also showing on 5 screens at the Vue West End with a top price of £16.99 half the price, but still 126% more than industry average. If prices in London are far more than in the rest of the UK and it takes 25% of the annual BO it should be pushing the average price up much more.
Before 2009 Odeon Leicester Square used to take over £5m annually in ticket sales, this dropped in 2009 to £3.8m which saw increases in sales at the Empire and Vue West End, and revenues returned to the Odeon in 2010 to £5m. Since then the cinema has had a huge refurbishment with seating capacity reduced by over1,000 but despite the drop in seats I rarely sell out,
I remember going to the Odeon Leicester Square in the late 80s, 90s and early 00s and the cinema would sell out on opening weekends, but tickets were less than a quarter of the price they are now. I saw most of my films in Leicester Square cinemas in the late 80s and 90s but haven’t paid to see a film in any of the cinemas in over a decade, the only time I go to them is for a preview screening.
While the standard ticket price is high there are many things inflating admissions from Meerkat Movies on Tues/Weds (but not seen any data to see how popular it is the impact it has on cinema attendance unlike with Orange Wednesday) to subscription cinema services of Cineworld and Odeon paying £215 a year with some watching upwards of 200 films a year. Cineworld, Odeon and Vue had almost 70% of the UK market share with Cineworld having 23% and Odeon 21.9%
The average spend per head of the UK population pre-pandemic was £18.72 a year, in 2002 was £12.73 up only £5.99 in 20 years despite 82%+ ticket inflation since and the massive growth in food sales in cinemas, in 2002 concession sales were limited popcorn, syrup, hotdogs, nachos and sweets.
The industry talks a lot about the change, especially at the UKCA conference and CinemaCon but they are very slow to do so and when they do they see it as revolutionary as AMC announcing last year they will sell their popcorn in shops only a century after companies like Butterkist, while at CinemaCon AMC famously announced in 2016 text-friendly cinemas only to backtrack on the idea 24 hours later after it was received poorly, they want to be seen to looking cool with AMC also announcing they will accept payment by Bitcoin when probably most have no clue how to get it.
More admissions mean more popcorn sold and that’s where exhibitors’ real profits are as Guy Hands said when he brought Odeon Cinemas “When we bought it, the management team believed they were part of the film business. I had the difficult job of explaining to them that they were in the popcorn-selling business.”
I have gone back 20 years charting the top 10 the average weekend BO is £12.4m and inflation inflated is £14.4m only 10 weekends out of the last 70 weeks since 1st lockdown in March 2020 has BO been over £12.4m and only 7 since have been over inflation inflated average.
There have been 553 weeks £10m+, 370 weeks over £12.4m average, 65 weeks with BO over £20m; 8 over £30m and 2 over £40m (SPECTRE and Avengers Endgame).
UK box office in detail
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £11,707,957 down 8% from last weekend’s £12,727,545
413th biggest top 10 of the last 20 years close to 11 March 2022 #1 The Batman and 14 November 2014 #1 Interstellar and 658th biggest inflation inflated over last 20 years close to 10 September 2004 #1; Open Water; 27 June 2014 #1 Mrs Brown’s Boys d’Movie; 28 March 2008 #1 27 Dresses; 18 February 2022 #1 Uncharted
The weekend admissions were 1,556,909 up 8% 1,692,493from last week; using the average price of £7.52 calculated by CAA 2021 admissions 74m with UK BO of £556.9m;
Top 3 took £9,908,073 84.6% of the top 10; Fantastic Beasts 3 50.2% (£5,884,934); Sonic the Hedgehog 2 24.8% (£2,903,033); The Bad Guys 9.6% (£1,120,106);
2021 n/a cinemas closed
2020 n/a cinemas closed
Down 14.1% from 2019; (£13,628,515) Shazam! (£4,067,068); Pet Sematary (£1,554,881); Peppa Pig: Festival of Fun (£982,617); Missing Link (£644,649); The Sisters Brothers (£253,187); The Keeper (£77,806); The Golden Age – Bolshoi Ballet 2019 (£76,563); #1 Shazam! £4,067,068 1st week 599 screens (29.8% of top 10)
Down 11.9% from 2018: (£13,288,645); A Quiet Place (£2,696,892); Love, Simon (£1,179,593); Ghost Stories (£591,787); Death Wish (£156,795); Giselle – Bolshoi 2018 (£124,824); 120 Beats per Minute (£76,509); Thoroughbreds (£50,811); Wonderstruck (£30,642); The Hurricane Heist (£23,348); #1 Peter Rabbit (£3,152,269) down 44% 4 weeks
Down 22% from 2017: (£15,013,493); The Boss Baby (£8,025,886); Peppa Pig: My First Cinema Experience (£1,050,962); Going in Style (£569,392); Table 19 (£130,602); City of Tiny Lights (£28,038); Raw (£67,042); #1 The Boss Baby £8,025,886 1st week
Up 5.7% from 2016: (£11,079,652); The Huntsman: Winter’s War (£3,032,962); Midnight Special (£497,109); Hardcore Henry (£201,827); The Man Who Knew Infinity (£147,990); #1 The Huntsman: Winter’s War £3,032,962 1st week
Down 5.6% from 2015; (£12,405,583); The DUFF (£891,691); John Wick (£539,602); Woman in Gold (£494,512); Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 (£480,158); Hot Tub Time Machine 2 (£90,301); Force Majeure (£87,398); Lost River (£54,264); #1 Fast & Furious 7 £5,407,918 2nd week 57% drop
Up 33.4% from 2014: (£8,774,743); The Quiet Ones (£681,305); Calvary (£571,489); The Raid 2 (£454,150); The Last Days on Mars (£46,925); #1 Captain America: The Winter Soldier £1,782,201 1st week (3rd week) 2nd week #1
Up 6.7% from 2013: (£10,971,615); Oblivion (£4,959,386); Scary Movie 5 (£1,085,932); The Place Beyond the Pines (£671,119); #1 Oblivion £4,959,386 1st week
Down 6.9% from 2012 (£12,576,386); Battleship (£3,763,348); Cabin in the Woods (£1,601,161); Delicacy (£81,683); A Night to Remember (Re) (£3,273); #1 Battleship £3,763,348 1st week
Up 145.4% from 2011 (£4,770,365); Rio (£1,515,853); The Roommate (£120,365); Mars Needs Mums (£113,559); Tomorrow, When the War Began (£85,841); Silent House (£8,539); #1 Rio £1,515,853 1st week
Up 32.1% from 2010: (£8,861,394); Whip It! (£353,041); I Am Love (£171,959); Shelter (£141,452); The Infidel (£135,448); #1 Clash of the Titans £2,441,682 2nd week 57% drop
Down 16.1% from 2009; (£13,950,469); Fast & Furious (£4,928,784); 17 Again (£2,564,102); Race to Witch Mountain (£581,250); Dragonball Evolution (£379,777); Let the Right One In (£224,154); 50 Dead Men Walking (£99,440); #1 Fast & Furious £4,928,784 1st week
Up 82.2% from 2008; (£6,403,618); 21 (£1,649,855); Leatherheads (£474,780); Shine a Light (£338,061); Pathology (£313,886); Rec (£92,545); Strange Wilderness (£13,360); #1 21 £1,649,855 1st week
Up 71.1% from 2007: £6,842,807); Wild Hogs (£1,691,797); Shooter (£716,202); Curse of the Golden Flower (£362,169); Perfect Stranger (£277,047); The Lives of Others (£223,586); #1 Wild Hogs (£1,691,797 1st week
Up 32.2% from 2006; (£8,853,843): Scary Movie 4 (£1,953,094); Take the Lead (£621,735); An American Haunting (£541,446); Glastonbury (£23,893); #1 Ice Age II £3,608,531 2nd week 67% drop
Up 70.8% from 2005 (£6,854,564); Sahara (£1,370,577); The Assassination of Richard Nixon (£157,756); Man of the House (£126,331); #1 Sahara £1,370,577 1st week
Up 20.2% from 2004 (£9,743,104); 50 First Dates (£1,651,544); Shaun of the Dead (£1,603,410); Capturing the Friedmans (£66,689); Blind Flight (£6,634); #1 Scooby-Doo Too £2,038,602 2nd week 43% drop 20.9% of top 10
Up 63.7% from 2003 (£7,153,823); Johnny English (£3,435,342); The Jungle Book 2 (£1,436,730); S Club Seeing Double (£338,383); The Little Polar Bear (£71,408); #1 Johnny English £3,435,342 1st week 48% of top 10
Up 64.9% from 2002 (£7,099,174); Bend It Like Beckham (£2,001,795); The Queen of the Damned (£611,440); K-Pax (£567,349); The One (£493,491); Y Tu Mama Tambien (£182,166); #1 Bend It Like Beckham £2,001,795 1st week 28.2% of top 10
Next weekend 2020 and 2021 – Cinemas Closed First Lockdown
Next weekend in 2019 (£10,896,294) Wonder Park (£1,586,003); Hellboy (£989,562); Wild Rose (£772,060); Little (£540,579); Mid90s (£100,454); #1 Dumbo £2,345,046 down 33% 3rd week 2nd week #1 split over 3 weeks 697 screens 21.5% of top 10
US Box Office
- Sonic The Hedgehog 2 – Paramount Pictures
Opened with $72.1m; received mixed reviews (68% Rotten Tomatoes) and A CinemaScore (as the first film)
121st biggest opening between The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Eternals (close to The Simpsons Movie, Despicable Me 3, Shrek Forever After and The Incredibles).
Paramount’s biggest 3 day opening since 2014’s Transformers Age of Extinction $100.03m
Took $6.25m from Thursday midnights ($5m) and fan previews on Wednesday ($1.25m) up from $3m from Thursday previews for the original film that opened with $58.01m taking $148.97m and $319.71m; it only played for 5 weeks as its release was affected by the start of lockdown.
It’s Paramount’s fifth #1 since cinemas reopened after A Quiet Place Part 2, Scream, Jackass Forever and The Lost City; in 2019 Paramount only had 1 film at #1 and 2 #1 films in 2018.
Paramount has been the lowest-performing studio over the last decade since 2011 when they were the #1 studio in the US and globally due to releasing Marvel and Dreamworks Animation films they lost to rival studios. These films are part of the slate of films made while Jim Gianopulos headed the studio.
Paramount’s next release is Top Gun: Maverick opening almost three years after it was originally due to be released on 12th July 2019, delayed first due to production delays and then COVID several times.
The sequel opens 36 years after the original film opened, the question with these long-gap sequels is who is the target audience for these films is it the teenagers who saw the original film in cinemas now in their 50s or their children who are more interested in comic-book movies? While the way we watch films has changed dramatically since Top Gun: Maverick needing to open with almost as much as Top Gun’s lifetime 1986 US BO $176.78m and need to take upwards of $1bn globally.
Despite Tom Cruise’s massive success at the box office he has yet to have a $1bn+ global hit while 2005’s War of the Worlds is the last non-Mission Impossible global success.
With Sonic the Hedgehog 2 likely to take upwards of $30m in its second weekend it will impact Fantastic Beasts 3 opening, the second film opened with $62.16m with the third likely to open with about $30m.
Took $37m from 53 territories and $142.1m worldwide; 1,242nd biggest worldwide between Power Rangers and SpongeBob SquarePants: The Movie; 7th biggest worldwide between Uncharted and Scream; 140th biggest Paramount Pictures film worldwide between Paranormal Activity 4 and SpongeBob SquarePants: The Movie.
- Ambulance – Universal Pictures
Opened with $8.69m; received positive reviews (69% Rotten Tomatoes) and A- CinemaScore
Took only $700k from Thursday midnights in comparison The 355 took $350k
No surprise Ambulance struggled to find an audience as it struggled to do similar over the last few weeks when it opened internationally early, never makes any sense to open films like these international first as their key market is still the US.
The film couldn’t go day and date on Peacock (as Marry Me) as the film was an acquisition
Michael Bay’s films have taken $2.32bn in the US and $6.46bn worldwide
Away from directing 5 Transformers films over the last 15 years the most recent films he has directed were 2016’s 13 Hours opened $16.19m taking $52.85m and $69.41m worldwide and 2013’s Pain & Gain opened $20.24m taking $49.87m and $87.3m
Previously directed
2005’s The Island opened $12.4m taking $35.81m and $162.94m
2003’s Bad Boys 2 opened $46.52m taking $138.6m and $273.33m worldwide
2001’s Pearl Harbour opened $59.07m taking $198.54m and $449.22m worldwide
1998’s Armageddon opened $36.08m taking $201.57m and $553.7m worldwide
1996’s The Rock opened $25.06m taking $134.06m and $335.06m worldwide
1995’s Bad Boys opened $15.52m taking $65.8m and $141.4m worldwide
His films show how cinemagoing has changed over the last 20 years going from the big action films many produced by Jerry Bruckheimer to comic-book movies over the last decade. These box office totals seem small in comparison to comic-book films today but the average ticket price is now over 200% more than they were when many of these films were released. While many of these action films have the rewatchable factor that many recent comic-book movies don’t have.
Took $2.8m from 68 territories and $22.45m and $31.2m worldwide; 4,003rd biggest film worldwide between Joyful Noise and Spring Breakers; 422nd biggest Universal Pictures film between The Great Muppet Caper and Virus.
- Morbius – Sony Pictures
Dropped 74% taking $10.2m in its second weekend taking $57.07m
55th biggest second-weekend drop between 50 Shades of Grey and Kin (close to Morgan, The Bye Bye Man, Demolition and Mortal Kombat).
Things could have been very different had Morbius opened in July 2020 as it was originally dated in January 2019 and the film would have been a very different film as has gone through several reshoots.
Comparisons could be made with X-Men: Dark Phoenix also went through extensive reshoots and the ending was completely changed due to it being too similar to Captain Marvel. As with Morbius Dark Phoenix’s release date was moved to open after Captain Marvel as Morbius was originally due to open before both Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Spider-Man No Way Home.
Second weekends
2018’s Venom dropped 56.4% $35m and $142.1m 66.5% of $213.51m and $856.08m worldwide
2021’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage dropped 64.7% $31.75m and $141.41m 66.2% of $213.55m and $502.05m worldwide
2019’s X-Men: Dark Phoenix dropped 71.4% $9.35m and $52.11m 79.1% of $65.84m and $252.44m
The vampire comic-book film has comparisons with
1998’s Blade dropped 36% $10.92m and $34.73m 56.8% of $61.12m and $131.21m worldwide;
2002’s Blade 2 dropped 60% $13.02m and $54.92m 66.7% of $82.34m and $155.01m;
2004’s Blade Trinity dropped 59% $6.6m and $35.4m 67.5% of $52.41m and $131.97m worldwide
It’s the 32nd consecutive weekend with at least one comic book movie in the Top 5 going back to September with Shang-Chi, Venom 2, Eternals, Spider-Man No Way Home, The Batman and Morbius. The industry sees this as a positive but while in other genres of films success means success over a wide range of genres, success for one comic-book movie only means success for the next which will be the case until Doctor Strange opens in a month and then there is the longest gap from May to July until the next released.
Took $15m from 62 territories (down 62%) and $69.3m internationally and $126.4m worldwide; 1,389th between Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie and Parenthood; 10th biggest film worldwide between Death on the Nile and Jackass Forever; 91st biggest comic-book movie worldwide between Blade and Wonder Woman 1984; 183rd biggest Sony Pictures film worldwide between This Is the End between Sex Tape.
- The Lost City – Paramount Pictures
Dropped 39% in its third weekend taking $9.02m and $68.71m
Industry predictably heralded the opening of The Lost City as they did earlier In the year with Scream and Jackass Forever despite both performing similar to films released 20 years ago.
1,221st biggest film between Cool Running and Sahara; 2,041st biggest inflation inflated between The Dictator and Blank Check; 175th biggest Paramount Pictures film between Boomerang and Sahara.
The industry has seemly lowered expectations on what success is with films this year, as Scream and Jackass Forever were seen as successful despite both taking less than films released 20 years ago while The Lost City was being compared with Sandra Bullock films which dropped far less in their third weekend 2013’s The Heat dropped 43.5% taking $14m and $112.36m and 2009’s The Proposal dropped 30.8% taking $12.85m and $94.33m while taking $163.95m while 1999’s The Mummy dropped 44.5% taking $13.79m and $100.21m taking $155.38m.
The industry also says box office is back to normal, if it is normal it’s a new normal that sees the divide between comic-book movies Vs everything else becoming wider and films like The Lost City which should have longer legs struggling to maintain that momentum past opening weekend.
EntTelligence reported an average price of $11.90 with exhibitors not up charging for the film as they did with The Batman; this is still a third more than the industry claimed average ($9.18) and as other films premium formats taking 21% from Friday.
Similar films third weekends
2008’s Tropic Thunder dropped 29.2% by $11.51m and $83.85m taking $110.51m and $195.7m worldwide
1984’s Romancing of the Stone dropped 0.3% by $5.55m and $19.64m taking $76.57m ($310m inflation inflated)
1998’s Six Days Seven Nights dropped 29.2% $7.57m and $47.13m taking $90.5m ($260m inflation inflated)
2005’s Sahara dropped 30.9% $9.02m and $48.94m taking $50.56m ($80m inflation inflated)
2008’s Fool’s Gold dropped 49.2% $6.55m and $52.71m taking $70.23m and $111.23m worldwide
2012’s Journey 2: The Mysterious Island dropped 32.5% by $13.38m and $76.64m taking $103.88m and $335.29m worldwide
2021’s Jungle Cruise dropped 42.3% by $9.12m and $82.26m taking $116.98m and $220.88m worldwide
Took $2.1m from 25 territories and $9.7m internationally; expands into more this weekend including the UK.
- The Batman – Warner Bros
Dropped 41% in its sixth weekend taking $6.45m and $359m
53rd biggest film in the US between Deadpool and Inside Out; Batman Vs Superman #69; Aquaman #65 $335.1m; Joker #64 $335.45m; Wonder Woman #32 $412.56m; The Dark Knight Rises #22 $448.13m; The Dark Knight #13 $553.72m.
151st biggest inflation inflated between Signs and Up; 5th biggest Warner Bros film between Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 ($381.2m) and American Sniper ($350.12m).
Batman BO sixth weekends
1989’s Batman dropped 19.8% $8.95m and $202.86m 80.7% of $251.34m ($882m) Int $160.16m ($560m) $411.5m WW ($1.4bn)
1992’s Batman Returns dropped 34.2% $2.83m and $150.59m 92.4% $162.9m ($530m) Int $103.99m ($338m) $266.89m WW ($870m)
1995’s Batman Forever dropped 31.9% $3.6m and $171.15m 93% of $184.07m ($573m) Int $152.5m ($471m) WW $336.56m ($1.04bn)
1997’s Batman and Robin dropped 60.5% $703,205 and $104.55m 97.4% of $107.35m ($235m) Int $130.88m ($395m) WW $238.23m ($720m)
2005’s Batman Begins dropped 21.7% $4.72m and $191.1m 92.4% of $206.85m ($435m) Int $166.8m ($350m) WW $373.66m ($790m)
2008’s The Dark Knight dropped 35.6% $10.54m and $489.41m 91.5% of $534.85m Int $471.11m WW $1.005bn
2012’s The Dark Knight Rises dropped 34.4% $7.22m and $422.25m 94.2% of $448.14m Int $633m WW $1,081bn
2016’s Batman Vs Superman dropped 29.7% $3.86m and $325.19m 98.4% of $330.36m Int $543.27m WW $873.63m
2017’s Justice League dropped 75.2% $1.01m and $222.69m 97.2% of $229.02m Int $428.9m WW $657.92m
2019’s Joker dropped 31.7% $9.22m and $313.51m 93.4% of $335.45m int $738.15m WW $1.74bn
Took $6.6m (down 51%) from 75 territories taking $377.2m and $736.16m worldwide;
116th biggest film worldwide between The Matrix Reloaded and Up; 29th biggest comic-book movie between Suicide Squad and Captain America: The Winter Soldier; 21st biggest Warner Bros film worldwide between The Matrix Reloaded and Inception; Suicide Squad #19; Wonder Woman #16 and Batman Vs Superman #15.
UK Box Office Top 10
UK Box Office Preview
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore will drop between 45%=55% taking £2.5m-£3.5m holding #1 for a second weekend
Opening Wednesday The Lost City has been compared to action-adventure films like Romancing of the Stone and Tropic Thunder.
It’s Sandra Bullock’s first action comedy since 2013’s The Heat opening with £2,500,522 (including £910,146 previews) £2,879,621 inflation inflated taking £6,825,860 and £7,860,715 inflation inflated; and first rom-comedy since 2009’s The Proposal opening with £3,249,640 (including £1,153,357 previews) £4,492,149 inflation inflated taking £11,740,551 and £16,229,585 inflation inflated.
While Channing Tatum recently starred in Dog opening with £822,123 taking £3,228,094 and action-comedies 21 Jump Street in 2012 opened with £1,556,039 taking £9,863,555 and 22 Jump Street opened at £4,854,991 taking £18,322,998
Other similar films include
1998’s Six Days Seven Nights opened £908,713 taking £4,535,477
2005’s Sahara opened £1,370,577 taking £4,726,275
2008’s Fool’s Gold opened £975,498 taking £2,241,576
2008’s Tropic Thunder opened £2,483,271 (£474,296 previews) taking £8,387,745
2012’s Journey 2: The Mysterious Island opened £1,200,587 taking £6,467,920
2021’s Jungle Cruise opened £2,241,651 taking £12,487,739
Having a 5-day opening looking to open with £2m-£2.5m, the two days of previews will help it open ahead of the third weekend of Sonic The Hedgehog 2 dropping 30%-40% taking £1.8m-£2.5m
The Bad Guys should hold forth due to the second week of the Easter holidays and having a smaller second-weekend drop without previews (28.5%) taking £0.7m-£0.9m
The two unknowns are the other new releases while The Northman has received critical acclaim with many comparing it to Gladiator others have said it will be a hard sell to mainstream audiences and will polarise regular cinemagoers. Robert Eggers previously directed 2016’s The Witch (opened #7 £447,626 from 179 screens taking £883,088) and 2020’s The Lighthouse (opened #10 £384,284 from 83 screens) both received critical acclaim and had very low budgets.
All the reviews for The Northman have said how bloody, brutal, violent and gruesome it is so how is it only a 15?
Similar recent films include
The Green Knight opened #8 in September with £166,118 from 73 screens
The Last Duel opened #6 October with £325,523 from 439 screens
While 2007’s 300 opened £4,746,071 taking £13,986,190 with a $90m budget it needs to perform similar to 300 but
Operation Mincemeat is John Madden’s first film since 2016’s Miss Sloane, also directed by Mrs Brown, Shakespeare in Love, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, The Debt, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and the sequel The Second-Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
April has been a lucrative time to open adult dramas at the weekend after the Easter holidays end with films like Woman in Gold (£494,512 #7 from 226 screens and Eye in the Sky (£1,110,959 #3 from 428 screens. While The Duke opened with £992,659 in February taking £5,047,071.
Weekend temperatures are expected to be the hottest of the year which will likely be used as an excuse for films underperforming this weekend.
Opening next week
- The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent – Lionsgate
Action-comedy starring Nicolas Cage (as a fictionalised version of himself), Pedro Pascal, Sharon Horgan, Neil Patrick Harris, and Tiffany Haddish and directed by Tom Gormican
Had its world premiere at SXSW receiving positive reviews
Nicolas Cage has starred in many films over the last decade but few of the many people have seen them apart from his vocal roles in The Croods films
cigarette burns and missed changeovers 