UK/US Box Office December 15th – 17th 2017 Week 51

Top 5 Breakdown

1. Star Wars: The Last Jedi – £28,010,841 – NE    

Had the biggest opening of the year ahead of Beauty and the Beast £19.7m (was a three-day opening) and the third biggest opening ever in the UK behind 2015’s Spectre £41.3m (having 7-day opening weekend) and Star Wars: The Force Awakens £34.01m;

While this all seems very impressive it had only the third biggest Fri-Sun opening in the UK behind The Force Awakens £24.33m, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2 £23.75m; opening 16% less than the Force Awakens for its three-day opening and 19% less than for its four-day opening.

The last Jedi added £3m from Monday bring it 5 days today to £31.17m

Star Wars: The Force Awakens took £2.4m from midnight screenings and £9.67m from Thursday (previous highest Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 £9.48m, The Last Jedi took £7.68m); Friday £6.9m and Saturday £8.7m (having the biggest ever Saturday more than previous record holder Skyfall The Last Jedi had the third biggest) Sunday £8.5m total £24.23m and four-day total of £34.01m;

Last Tuesday when I preview The Last Jedi estimated its 4-day opening to £31.5m a 7.5% drop holding stronger due to the 15% ticket inflation since. By the time I did Gower Street 5 Shots competition on Wednesday night was for 3-day opening I reduced it to £20.55m which was very close to the final figures not having any access to the advance ticket sales as none were revealed.

Originally expected The Last Jedi to take £108m but after opening 21% less and reaction not nearly as positive for The Force Awaken despite what many fans say that the Rotten Tomatoes audience score is fake news created by Star Wars haters.

But now looking at closer to £95m this is dependent on how it holds over the coming weeks as this weekend is a completely second weekend for The Last Jedi unlike Rogue One and The Force Awakens which had Christmas Day cut in the middle.

While Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle opens on Wednesday after taking £2.1m from previews while the trailers look terrible to me people do love Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart. They starred together in last year’s successful comedy Central Intelligence. Dwayne Johnson starred in the dreadful Baywatch this summer which still managed to take over £9.52m so Jumanji over lucrative Christmas holiday is likely to get close to the box office of the original film 21 years ago.

Kevin Hart now wants to remake another Robin William’s classic comedy Mrs Doubtfire, but they tried that before with the dreadful Big Mommas House starring Martin Lawrence; Jumanji with its 7-day opening weekend is likely to open with £6m+ which will likely be half of The Last Jedi second weekend box office buy will drop about 60%.

Pitch Perfect 3 also has a 5-day opening weekend early reviews have been mixed but fans of the first two will likely come back for one last time its 5-day opening could help it get close to opening of Pitch Perfect 2 but likely to be front-loaded as Jumanji unlikely to last out long after schools return o January 2^nd.

Many believe The Last Jedi will have strong legs as to The Force Awakens opening weekend was only 27.6% of its final box office of £123m. But only need to see the mixed reaction the film has received with audiences The Last Jedi compared to The Force Awakens (was a backlash to the film but came weeks after opening rather than days when people realised the reason why they enjoyed it, so much was because it was a remake of A New Hope) while Star War fans have called it fake news  

Most people assumed The Last Jedi would be the biggest film of 2017 but after opening with £28.01m and likely to drop 60%+ in its second weekend will it overtake Beauty and the Beast £72.35m. After 2017 has been the year for women with films like Beauty and the Beast, Wonder Woman and Hidden Figures it would be great for Beauty and the Beast to end the year #1, The Last Jedi will of course overtake its final box office which dependent on how it holds next weekend is likely to take about £96m 22% less than The Force Awakens. 

Having the widest ever release in the UK playing in 723 cinemas more than Rogue One opened in 698 cinemas last year and The Force Awakens 670 cinemas while Revenge of the Sith opened in 490 cinemas, Attack of the Clones in 2002 opened in 467 cinemas. Of course, with many multiplexes showing it on the majority of their screens with many showing it every 15 mins at peak times over the weekend it was probably showing in more than 3,000 screens. For the prequels, physical prints were distributed and to show the film on multiple screens several prints were needed, or they would link them across the projection room but with the recent films to add an extra screen is a click of a button.

Did random price check of 234 UK cinemas (Cineworld, Empire, Everyman, Light, Odeon, Picturehouse, Showcase and Vue) showing Star Wars The Last Jedi regular adult tickets averages are 2D £11.604 3D £13.19 IMAX £17.91 and 4DX £17.55; while average ticket price is still claimed to be £7.41. From my random survey, only 7% of cinemas are lower than UKCA claimed average with Cardiff the cheapest and of course Leicester Sq. the most expensive.

Averages:

63 – Odeon Cinemas – 2D – £12.76 – 3D – £14.54 – IMAX £19.29 (10 screens)

64 – Cineworld Cinemas – 2D – £11.34 – 3D – £13.31 – IMAX – £18.34 (11 screens)

56 – Vue Cinemas – 2D – £10.14 – 3D – £12.38 – IMAX – 314.16 (3 screens)

20 – Everyman Cinemas – 2D -£14.85

10 – Empire Cinemas – 2D – £8.26 – 3D – £9.86 – IMAX – £14.98 (2 screens)

10 – Picturehouse Cinemas – 2D – £12.32- 3D – £14.98 – IMAX – £13.00 (1 screen)

10 – Showcase Cinemas – 2D – £10.39 – 3D – £12.39 – IMAX – £18.40 (1 screen)

I paid first time £10.49 and second time £16.49 in 3D at my local Vue cinemas for Star Wars: The Force Awakens those two cinemas would cost £5.99 (Vue have cut their prices for their Harrow cinema by 43%) but for the North Finchley Vue up 9.6% for The Last Jedi its £15.49 for 2D and £18.19 for 3D.

If the industry was honest with the average pricing it wouldn’t be such an issue for me but as UK Cinema Association and BFI keeps claiming its only £7.42 while there are a handful of cinemas that charge that price the vast proportion of cinemas its more than a third more.   

Was looking at the number of screenings of The Last Jedi in the UK in many multiplexes are 40+ shows a day; it will open in about 600 screens which will be about 24,000 each day over 100,000 over 4 days. If had an average of 200 seats at average of £11.61 that’s a possible opening of £232.5m it’s opening w/e will be about 12% capacity £28m;

My local multiplexes had over 30 screenings each day was probably repeated in cinemas across the UK so must have been about 25,000 screens each day of its four-day opening so almost 100,000 screenings. If each screen had 100 seats would have been over 10m seats available with an average ticket price according to my survey of over 230 screens for a standard adult 2D £11.57 2.4m sold 24%.

The Last Jedi was showing about 40 IMAX screens 100s of PLF screens, many 4DX and despite the negativity surrounding 3D all the cinemas I checked has screenings in 3D all of those have surcharges of more than a third which more than doubles the industry claimed price of £7.42,

While critical reaction was predictably positive (93% Rotten Tomatoes score) as critics often get caught up in the hype and the build-up to the screenings only must-see five-star reviews written for films like Spectre to know that many of these must be almost prewritten in advance. But audience reaction has been more mixed with Rotten Tomatoes score only 57% less than Attack of the Clones while The Force Awakens is still 89%.

An online petition started to remove Star Wars: The Last Jedi from official canon which has received over 13,000 signatures. The petition reads “Episode VIII was a travesty, it completely destroyed the legacy of Luke Skywalker and the Jedi. It destroyed the very reasons most of us, as fans, liked ‘Star Wars.’ This can be fixed. Just as you wiped out 30 years of stories, we ask you to wipe out one more, ‘The Last Jedi.’ Remove it from canon, push back Episode IX and re-make Episode VIII properly to redeem Luke Skywalker’s legacy, integrity, and character.”

“The Last Jedi ends with the death of Luke Skywalker, something director Rian Johnson felt was necessary so that the next chapter could focus exclusively on the new batch of characters such as Rey, Finn, and Poe Dameron. Fans clearly feel betrayed by the decision and have argued that “The Last Jedi” doesn’t feature enough Skywalker given that it’s his final “Star Wars” movie.

Many are frustrated that the film doesn’t continue much of what happened in The Force Awakens and it also is making up its rules as it goes along which would be fine if it was a newly launched film series but not one that is now 40 years old. I won’t mention anything more in-case the one person who reads this hasn’t seen the film apart from Rey parents reveal which was so frustrating as after the build up from The Force Awakens to find out who her parents were, but it could be a double bluff and the truth will come out in Star Wars IX if that is that case it will annoy many even more as everyone as expecting the “no I am your father reveal”.

The problem with it being Star Wars and dare saying something negative even if they are probably thinking similar is the reaction it gets on social media. The abuse critics get for not being like all the other lemmings on not like it is madness.

Its 40 years since Star Wars A New Hope was released and 37 years after The Empire Strikes Back and we are still talking about these films as we are with the prequels for different reasons. Will we be talking about The Force Awakens, Rogue One and The Last Jedi in 40 years’ time in the same way as we compare them to Star Wars XXVIII and the Jar Jar Binks spinoff movie? I am much harder on a Star Wars film like a Marvel Cinematic Universe film as we have over a DC Extended Universe film because we have seen that Lucasfilm can make amazing Star Wars films, but they don’t seem to be able to make them as they are playing safe.

Can excuse The Force Awakens a bit for remaking A New Hope as it was the first new Star Wars film for 30 years and Disney wanted to launch the franchise to the next generation the same can’t be said for The Last Jedi as you would have hoped Lucasfilm would have moved the story on rather than just repeat what came before.

Disney’s annual Star Wars film is turning the extraordinary film series into something ordinary. Being only 4, 7 and 10 when the original trilogy opened it was only when those films were released on video was hard to see them as parents had Betamax video player and local video rental shops were mostly VHS.

Must admit someone from secondary school gave me pirate copies of the films shot on a video camera on Betamax and for many, they were the only way I got to see them. This was until Odeon Marble Arch had a 70mm film season in the early 90s seeing the films properly for the first time in cinema since I was 10 which was an incredible experience to see these amazing films on the big screen. This was part of 29^th Century Fox’s marketing for the Star Wars 20^th anniversary re-release in 1997.

I was working at 20^th Century Fox in 1999 when The Phantom Menace was released and when the first print arrived in the country they held several staff screenings that same day for everyone to see it. Was huge excitement and anticipation going into their screening room it was more muted going out. For Attack of the Clones, I escorted the first print to Scotland for the first screening in Europe for Ewan Macgregor and then a second screening for selective press. By the time Revenge of the Sith opened was sadly no longer at Fox and had to see it like everyone else at my local which was the same as The Force Awakens and Rogue One. For The Force Awakens, the enjoyment of the film was ruined due to the house lights coming on just as Rey landed on Ahch-To.

When Disney acquired Lucasfilm 5 years ago was concern about Disneyfication of Star Wars after having three in three years those concerns are completely justified these aren’t films anymore they are properties and all about merchandising.

2. Paddington 2 – £1,357,273 – £31,365,641

Down 19.69% in its seventh weekend holding strongly despite Ferdinand having a second weekend of previews taking £1m before its official opening on Friday and losing many screens to The Last Jedi.

Has overtaken Thor: Ragnarok to be the sixth biggest film of the year and will overtake IT but be overtaken by Star Wars: The Last Jedi to end the year as the sixth biggest film of the year behind Beauty and the Beast, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Dunkirk, Despicable Me 3 and Guardians of the Galaxy 2.

For the first six weeks of Paddington 2 release, it was ahead of Paddington but now in its seventh weekend it’s 4.5% (£1.46m) down taking a similar £1,268,785. Hard to compare with the sequel as its seventh weekend was the second weekend of January while Paddington 2 still has the two lucrative weeks of the Christmas holidays that start this week.

During the lucrative Christmas holidays in 2014, Paddington took £12.7m with only Ferdinand as its only competition Paddington 2 could take about £5m.

After the success of Paddington 2, Studiocanal are likely to make an official announcement for Paddington 3 likely to be released in November 2020.

3. Daddy’s Home 2 – £1,032,977 – £11,393,266

Down 9.04% in its fourth weekend holding surprisingly well against The Last Jedi as Daddy’s Home held well against The Force Awakens two years ago but Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle will likely be more direct competition for it from Wednesday.

Will shortly become one of the top 30 biggest films of the year how it holds over the next week against Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Pitch Perfect 3. Unlikely it will come Daddy’s Home which took £1,500,364 in its fourth weekend £14,076,257 19% more on its way to £17.2m.

Daddy’s Home 2 will shortly have taken over $100m in the US and $160m worldwide to date which compares to Daddy’s Home taking $242m worldwide so more than likely there will be a Daddy’s Home 3.

Mark Wahlberg will team up again with Daddy’s Home 2 director and Paramount Pictures in the comedy Instant Family opening in February 2019. He also stars in Ridley Scott’s All the Money in the World and will also be The Six Billion Dollar Man Warner Bros acquired from Weinstein recently when they acquired US rights to Paddington 2 which they release in January.

4. Wonder – £467,987 – £3,513,838  

Down 36.99% in its third weekend; after its strong performance in the US and having an extensive talker screening program on World Kindness Day on 13^th November Lionsgate must be disappointed with its performance in the UK.

Cinemagoers now have such short memories so should have opened the film on November 17^th in the UK took as an alternative to Justice League as it did in the US and would have then been able to benefit from the buzz generated from the talker screenings a few days earlier.

Was always unlikely to match its US success but despite The Blind Side in April 2010 about American football held far stronger taking £5,933,635.

Three years ago, Lionsgate UK boss suggested British films should be cheaper in cinemas saying a British film should cost £4 and Hollywood blockbuster £10 which sounded like the Eady Levy that was launched in 1957 and ran to 1985 to help support the British Film Industry.

Rather than being for British films, it should be for films like Wonder that people used to go regularly to see a few years ago but are the films people have stopped going to see unless they are surrounded by award nominations like Lion earlier this year. If the UK marketplace is to grow again it is these kinds of films distributors and exhibitors need cinemagoers coming back to.

I have monitored the box office of 168 films releases of 2017 all films released by the major distributors and many from the smaller ones which have taken £1.128bn to date for 2017 at the recent ECA Slate Day ComScore said there would be over 800 film releases and 130 Event Cinema screenings which will add £30m to the box office 2.7% share;

While the box office is increasing for the top 10 and top 20 films released in the UK the remaining films are being squeezed at the box office so distributors need to be much more selective with the films they release while exhibitors need to give the smaller films more playing time in cinemas as they used to do. 

The problem, of course, is the sheer number of films released 800 plus 130 Even Cinema screenings those have squeezed the independent market with exhibitors preferring a couple of Event Cinema screenings which they can charge a premium on to an unknown independent film that might get positive reviews but will be much harder to get an audience. 20 years ago, the industry said 400 films were far too many being released now it’s more than double while the box office for them shrinking. 

The top 100 films taken £1.1bn compares to £1.048bn for the top 100 films last year; 2017’s top 10 with two weeks to go of the year is £402.22m (Star Wars: The Last Jedi will add up to £35m over the next two weeks and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Pitch Perfect 3 £12m+) compared with last year’s top 10 films took over £415m of the year’s box office; this year’s top 20 £652.44m compares with £620m last year 50% of the annual box office of £1.236 billion breaking down that same amount. The top 100 films of 2016 took £1.048bn leaving about £300m to be shared with the other 800 films released.

 

5. Justice League – £222,698 – £17,214,315

Down 59.67% in its fourth weekend; has become #23 biggest film of the year but this is still almost £5m less than DC Extended Universe Wonder Woman this summer.

Justice League has taken 58% of Man of Steel, 47% of Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, 52% of Suicide Squad and 78% of Wonder Woman.

Showing how disappointing the box office for Justice League is it won’t match the box office of last year’s lowest-performing comic-book film X-Men: Apocalypse £18.27m.

Only five Marvel Cinematic Universe films have taken less than Justice League Iron Man, Ant-Man, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger and The Incredible Hulk and only four   Marvel films X-Men, The Wolverine, X-Men First Class and X-Men: Origins Wolverine.

Despite the negativity surrounding the DC Extended Universe films they have taken $3.7bn globally and after the 12^th highest grossing film franchise. Aquaman is their only film set for release in 2018 with Shazam and Wonder Woman 2 already dated for 2019 with Suicide Squad 2 expected to start shooting in October next year and The Batman with or without Ben Affleck is also expected to start next year. After the announcement, Disney is to but Fox there is, even more, urgency for Warner Bros to make DC Extended Universe a success.

Warner Bros currently have 20 films dated for 2018 with a wide mix of genres including tentpoles all studios have including Tomb Raider, Ready Player One, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Rampage and also Clint Eastwood’s The 15:17 to Paris and A Star is Born remake and Ocean’s 8 that is already getting men upset being a female version of the Ocean’s film series with the same misogynistic comments that were around last year for Ghostbusters.

UK box office in detail

This weekend’s top 10 box office took £31,667,446 up 472.2% from last weekend £5,515,125;

The weekend admissions 4,155,833 up 397% from last weekend 835,416 (average price £7.62 by UK Cinema Association/BFI for 2017);

Using the average ticket price for The Last Jedi from 234 of the 723 cinemas showing the film in 2D admissions are up 227% highlighting how ticket inflation has affected the box office over the last 15 years; Industry will be claiming The Last Jedi had admissions of 3,675,963 but using my average price of £11.60 are 2,729,952 but this doesn’t account for IMAX, PLF, 3D, 4DX and premium prices if they are similar to The Force Awakens took over half of its box office with 3D 35% 10% for IMAX.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi took 88.45% of the top 10 compares to 88.3% of Star Wars: The Force Awakens;

8 films opened at weekend taking £28,075,083; Star Wars: The Last Jedi taking 99.8% (£28,010,841) with remaining 7 films taking 64,242

The weekend was up 44.3% from last year (£21,944,702): Rogue One: A Star Wars Story £17,305,011, The Nutcracker – Bolshoi 2016 £135,026

Down 17.1% from 2015: (£38,533,406): Star Wars: The Force Awakens £34,011,849, Sisters £1,215,368

Next weekend in 2016: (£12,473,395) Passengers £2,418,976, Ballerina £1,094,317

 

UK Box Office Top 10

 

Next weekend box office predictions the UK 

 

US Box Office Top 10

Next weekend box office predictions the US

US Box office

 

Disney – Star Wars: The Last Jedi – opens with $220.009m; received A CinemaScore as Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Star Wars: The Force Awakens; the prequels all received A- CinemaScore. While critical reaction was predictably very positive audience reaction has been much more mixed fans have predictably loved it calling it the best Star Wars since Empire Strikes Back others have called it very disappointing.

The Last Jedi had the second biggest opening in the US behind 2015’s The Force Awakens it was always likely to open lower despite the massive hype it had received being the second film of a trilogy often sees a drop-in box office as was the case with The Empire Strikes Back in 1980 and Attack of the Clones in 2002.

The film took $45m from Thursday midnights was the second biggest opening ahead of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 but its midnight screenings started at midnight while The Last Jedi started at 6pm. While average ticket price since Deathly Hallows Part 2 is up over 13% but The Last Jedi opened in many more IMAX and PLF screens which makes a comparison of a film opening only a few years ago impossible to do. (PLF box office in 2015 added over $400m to the year’s box office

It took $104.68m on Friday and $63.99m on Saturday and $51.33m Sunday

A month ago, tracking was predicting the film to open with $200m; 2 years ago, Star Wars: The Force Awakens was tracking to open with $195m (industry experts in August 2015 were predicting a $300m+ opening and they also predicted it would become the biggest film globally topping Avatar both were unlikely, and both never happened) last year Rogue One was tracking to open with $130m. A month later after the hype machine went into fifth gear both films opened 20% bigger so was always likely that The Last Jedi would do similar as I tweeted a month ago predicting the opening of $215m-$220m.

Many experts were predicting The Last Jedi to have similar legs as The Force Awakens but the second sequels were always going to be a much harder sell to non-Star Wars who came to see The Force Awakens as it was the first Star Wars film for 10 years. But The Last Jedi is likely to hold similar to Rogue One dropping in the high 50s in its second weekend especially with Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Pitch Perfect 3 opening on Wednesday and Friday. 

The announcement Disney were to buy 20^th Century Fox brought much shock and concern that the joint company would have a monopoly in film and TV this was highlighted this weekend with Disney-Fox films taking 90% of the box office taking $249.1m of $275.5m. 81% from Star Wars: The Last Jedi and 11% from Ferdinand.

The issue I had an issue with Disney after they brought the success other studios developed. Paramount did the hard work 10 years ago launching Marvel by the time Disney had acquired Marvel in 2009 and took over distribution in 2012 five films had been released. This is similar to with Disney also buying Lucasfilm in 2012 after 20th Century Fox had released the original trilogy and the prequels almost 20 years later but still the brand was strong. They will similarly in 2020 do it with Indiana Jones which again Paramount developed almost 40 years earlier.

While you must praise Disney for what they have done combining these brands is little creative going on especially when you add the reimaginations Disney are also making. Disney has done close to what Chelsea and Manchester City had done spent billions on buying success buying the biggest footballers on the planet to buy the premier league.

Ian Malcolm said it best in Jurassic Park to my issue with what Disney is doing ‘If I may… Um, I’ll tell you the problem with the scientific power that you’re using here, it didn’t require any discipline to attain it. You read what others had done and you took the next step. You didn’t earn the knowledge for yourselves, so you don’t take any responsibility for it. You stood on the shoulders of geniuses to accomplish something as fast as you could, and before you even knew what you had, you patented it, and packaged it, and slapped it on a plastic lunchbox, and now’

10 years ago, Disney was as any other studio they made a wide range of movies released 11 films 9 original films and two sequels now this is reversed with 8 films released and only two were original Born in China and Coco. Had Dick Tracy and The Rocketeer been a success for Disney 25+ years they would have probably gotten into the comic-book business sooner (both are underrated comic-book movies).

Dick Tracy was the ninth biggest film of 1990 was only one sequel in the top 10 Die Hard 2: Die Harder biggest films were Home Alone, Ghost, Dances with Wolves and Pretty Woman (was the type of film Disney were making in the early 90s.

The Rocketeer was #27 biggest film of the year biggest films were Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Beauty and the Beast and The Silence of the Lambs with only four sequels in the top 20.

Fast forward 26 years later to 2017 top films will be Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Beauty and the Beast, Wonder Woman and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 with the numbers reversed 14 sequels, two remakes and only for original films Dunkirk, Get Out, The Boss Baby and Split.

While these sequels and reboots often bring easier success, they have no substance they are quickly forgotten as they rarely live up to the hype around them which goes back to the South Park memberries that these films are like the emperor’s new clothes all hype.

Maybe I’m harder on Disney for doing this as close to my negativity for Paramount Pictures now as both studios have made some incredible original films and to just be depended on tried and test cheapens them. This is highlighted by Disney’s top 10 films all sequels, reboots, reimaginations or comic-book movies outside the top 10 Frozen Inside Out, Zootopia, Finding Nemo, The Lion King, The Sixth Sense, Up, The Incredibles, Moana and Monster Inc.  shows what they can do if they make original films so it’s sad they don’t make them as often as they used to. 

The Last Jedi took 4230m internationally with a global opening of $450m which is the fifth biggest opening but third not including China with the UK having the biggest opening $36.7m (£27.55m). IMAX took $40.6m from 776 screens worldwide the biggest opening weekend of the year and the second biggest global opening weekend ever. Internationally, took $16m from 11 territories.

After having the second biggest opening ever in the US it had only the 10^th biggest Monday ever almost 50% less than The Force Awakens $21.8m Vs $40.1m taking $241.8m Vs $288.07m;

The Last Jedi will drop 60%+ in its second weekend taking about $88m but also faces competition from Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle expected to open $60m+ over 5 days. and Pitch Perfect $40m while The Greatest Showman $15m over 5 days, Father Figures a $10m,   Paramount’s Downsizing $10m and All the Money in the World the big unknown which has received so much media coverage not for the film itself but the late casting change.

20^th Century Fox – Ferdinand – opens with $13.4m; receiving positive reviews and A CinemaScore is likely to perform well over the lucrative next two weeks of the Christmas holidays.

Two years ago, 20h Century Fox released Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip against Star Wars: The Force Awakens opened with $14.28m going on to take $85.88m;

Blue-Sky Studios Animation over the last 15 years while not being nearly as successful as Pixar or Illumination have been a steady performer over the years for 20th Century Fox with Ice Age and Rio franchises along with The Peanut Movie.

If Disney does buy Fox, they will have no need for Blue Sky Studios and will likely be sold to probably Paramount Pictures who have struggled with animation after losing Dreamworks Animation to 20^th Century Fox in 2013.

Disney – Coco – drops 46.1% in its fourth weekend taking $9.94m and $150.73m; after four weeks Moana took similar $18.53m and taken $144.7m.

Coco has taken $299m internationally and global box office of $450m.

Lionsgate – Wonder – dropped 38.1% in its fifth weekend taking $5.22m and $109.08m total; after five weeks The Blind Side in 2009 took $15.05m in its fourth weekend taking $149m of its final box office of $258.9m.

Warner Bros – Justice League – dropped 56.9% in its fifth weekend taking $4.3m and $219.59m total;

Justice League has taken $416.5m internationally taking over 65% of its global box office (more than Man of Steel $377m, Wonder Woman $409m and shortly Suicide Squad $420m) and $636m globally; over $100m of that is from China which was the biggest international market for Justice League by far but of course only brings I half the rentals of other countries so as with, so many films nowadays artificially inflate their box office.

A24 – The Disaster Artist adds 170 screens down 57.3% taking $2.71m and $13.01m total;

Despite receiving two Golden Globe nominations after receiving positive reviews 92% Rotten Tomatoes and adding 170 screens had a heavy drop in only its third weekend.

The marketplace for award contenders is very crowded with many cannibalizing this will only get worse over the next week with Downsizing, The Post, The Greatest Showman, All the Money in the World, Molly’s Game and Phantom Thread all opening with Lady Bird, The Shape of Water, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Darkest Hour, Call Me By Your Name and I, Tonya all currently being squeezed.

Only need to see how The Florida Project is now #28 only playing in 66 screens after 11 weeks taking only $5.13m received critical acclaim but hasn’t been able to hold on to its screens.

Paramount Pictures – Daddy’s Home 2 dropped 35.8% in its sixth weekend taking $3.81m and $96.59m;

Daddy’s Home took $3.05m in its sixth weekend taking $143.03m (48% more) if Daddy’s Home 2 continues to hold as it is will end with $98m which would be 35% less than the original film and Paramount’s second biggest film of the year;

Despite the casting of Mel Gibson in the sequel and the poor reviews the sequel has performed surprisingly strongly and would have hoped the casting of Mel Gibson would make people avoid it but this will probably see him returning to more studio releases as Lethal Weapon 5 moves ever closer possibility doesn’t anyone remember how awful the last film was?

Up to December 10^th, Paramount Pictures had taken 5.1% share of the US box office the seventh biggest studio taking only $506.4m over $350m less than Lionsgate in sixth. Paramount need Downsizing opening on Friday their final release of the year to take over $120m at the box office to avoid them having their worst ever year in their history previous lowest was 2004 with $628.3m when their biggest films were Mean Girls, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events and The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.

2018 will be a holding year for Paramount Pictures as Jim Gianopulos who became Chairman of the studio earlier this year gets his first slate together but with distance now between Paramount and other studios and after Disney buying Fox they look very isolated and will need to merge with Lionsgate, STX, Annapurna Pictures or Sony Pictures to not lose their place as one of the soon to be big five.

Paramount released 12 films in 2017 and have only 8 films currently dated for 2018 Cloverfield 3 (set for release in February but the trailer still not released), Annihilation (selling international rights to Netflix), Action Point, Sherlock Gnomes (sequel to 2011’s Gnomeo & Juliet) A Quiet Place. Overlord (sounds like it could be Cloverfield 4) and then the two main films Mission Impossible 6 (last two films took about $200m in the US and $690m worldwide) and Transformers spin-off Bumblebee (after the poor reception of previous two Transformers films Bumblebee does have a massive positive it’s not directed by Michael Bay but Travis Knight who directed last year’s Kubo and the Two Strings).

On limited release

Neon – I, Tonya down 35.2% with $171,279 from 5 screens taking $548,644 received positive reviews currently 90% Rotten Tomatoes score.

Margot Robbie received Best Actress Golden Globe nomination as Nicole Kidman was similarly nominated in 1995 for her performance in Gus Van Sant’s black comedy To Die For winning the Best Actress Golden Globe.

Sony Classics – Call Me by Your Name added 21 screens up 67.7% in its fourth weekend taking $ 486,415 from 30 screens taking $1.99m;

Focus Features – Darkest Hour added 31 screens up 14.3% in its fourth weekend taking $847,525 from 84 screens total $2.3m;

Fox Searchlight – The Shape of Water added 117 screens up 49.9% taking $1.71m from 158 screens and $3.59m total; received very positive reviews (98% Rotten Tomatoes score) since its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival; expends into 600+ screens this weekend.

Opening UK

Opened December 20^th

• Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle – Sony Pictures

Action adventure comedy starring Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Nick Jonas, and Bobby Cannavale and directed by Jake Kasdan.

When the remake was first announced in August 2015 internet response was negative with many saying it was too soon after Robin Williams death. The casting of Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart of easing some of that negativity but then when the first picture was released in September was an outcry over Karen Gillan’s revealing costume, is the criticism the filmmakers said the film would explain why she is wearing the outfit. 

A few months later at CinemaCon, it was revealed that four high school students come across the video game and become the characters of the Jumanji video game, but that still doesn’t explain why she is wearing a revealing Lara Croft style outfit supposedly poking fun at the sexism in video games while others are dressed properly. In a recent interview, Karen Gillan agreed that her costume was ridiculous.

2002 film Zathura as also marketed as a spiritual sequel to Jumanji with the tagline “A new adventure from the world of Jumanji” the film received positive reviews from critics but flopped at the box office opened in February 2006 with £1.31m taking £4.11m.

The original film opened in February 1996 with £2.1m taking £13.41m; Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle had previews two weeks ago taking £2.1m which will be added to its five-day opening weekend.

Welcome to the Jungle was also the international title to Dwayne Johnson’s first starring film 2003’s The Rundown.

• Pitch Perfect 3- Universal Pictures

Musical comedy starring Anna Kendrick, Anna Camp, Rebel Wilson, Brittany Snow, Hailee Steinfeld, Alexis Knapp, Ester Dean, Hana Mae Lee, Chrissie Fit, Kelley Jakle, Shelley Regner, Elizabeth Banks, and John Michael Higgins and directed by Trish Sie; sequel to 2015’s Pitch Perfect 2 and planned to be the final instalment in the Pitch Perfect trilogy.

The 2012 original film was a sleeper hit in the US released during the peak years of TV series Glee receiving positive reviews opened in September in the US

While the sequel was a much bigger success in the UK and UK it had lost much of the charm that made the original film so much fun (apart from the puking scenes which did ruin the films enjoyment for me).

Anna Kendrick is fabulous in everything she stars in (almost made Twilight films and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World bearable) but it was her breakthrough role as Natalie Keener starring with George Clooney in 2009’s Up in the Air that got her noticed. Last year starred in Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, The Accountant and voiced Trolls and is currently making Noelle for Disney playing Santa Claus’s daughter.

The first film opened December 21st, 2012 opening with £952,000 taking £6.7m the sequel opened #1 May 15th, 2015 (ahead of Mad Max Fury Road with £4.5m) with £4.92m (up 425% from the original film) taking £1.59m on its opening day went on to take £17.23m.

After the massive success of the sequel, a third film was soon announced with a July 21st, 2017 date announced before being pushed back to August 4th it was pushed back to December in October.

Elizabeth Banks was attached to direct and has since been replaced by Trish Sie he only film previously was 2014’s Step Up: All In, the fifth part of the dance film series.

Early reviews have been mixed which was expected as the third film in what felt fun and original feel tired but with a five day opening at the start of the Christmas holidays likely to open strongly £4m+ over its five days but like Pitch Perfect 2 be much more front-loaded than the original film.

Opening December 26^th

• The Greatest Showman – 20^th Century Fox

Musical drama starring Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Michelle Williams, Rebecca Ferguson, and Zendaya and directed by Michael Gracey Featuring songs by La Land’s Oscar-winning songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul; premiere December 8, 2017, on the RMS Queen Mary 2 while it was docked in New York City.

Has received three Golden Globe Nominations Best Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, Best Actor Comedy or Musical for Jackman and Best Original Song for This is Me. From the murmurings on social media while embargo in place many don’t seem to believe it is deserving of those nominations. 

Was first announced in 2009 with Jackman in the lead according to him 20^th Century Fox wasn’t willing to take the risk on an original musical until the strong buzz was starting up for La La Land. This is surprising as 20^th Century Fox is currently one of a few studios still willing to make riskier projects making of course after the news last week Disney were to acquire the studio this is unlikely to be the case when its absorbed into Disney who are more interested in properties than films.  

Have been few original musicals released in recent years, of course, the most recent one was La La Land but that had months of hype that lead up to its release in January which saw it open with £6.59m and take £30.4m.

It’s almost 15 years ago since The Greatest Showman’s writers Bill Condon Chicago opened having three weeks of exclusive release at Warner West End opening with £113,386 and second £82,314 and third weekend £67,405 opening wide in its fourth weekend with 1,983,505 went on to take £16,111,718 and won 6 Oscars.

Moulin Rouge opened in the UK in September 2001 with £2,403,378 taking £17,047,358 over it nine weeks in the top 10.

Most of the film musicals released over the last 16 years since Moulin Rouge have been based on stage shows

Les Misérables, Mamma Mia! (with sequel Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again opening next summer), Hairspray, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Evita, Rent, Dreamgirls, Into the Woods, Dreamgirls, The Producers with the original film musicals.

Across the Universe opening September 2007 with only £27,471; it was overshadowed by production issues featuring Beatles songs while far from good is very watchable especially featuring many Beatles classics that are rarely allowed to feature in films

Opening in the US

• Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle – Sony Pictures

Jumanji opened in December 1995 with $11.08m would be the equivalent of $23m today (n 1995 average ticket price was $4.35 compared to $8.95 today). Taking $100.47m would be over $200m today; Welcome to the Jungle is tracking to open with $45m for its opening 5-day weekend.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle has been called a standalone sequel to 1995’s Jumanji but everyone seems to of forgotten there was a 2005 sequel Zathura: A Space Adventure

Zathura opened 10 years later with $13.42m (showing in 10 years how ticket prices had dramatically increased) taking only $29.25m.

• Pitch Perfect 3- Universal Pictures

Reportedly the final part of the trilogy but similar has been said for so many other film series; the first film was a genuine sleeper hit opening with only $5.1m in September 2012 and took $65m which as less than Pitch Perfect 2 opened in May 2015 with $69.2m and took $184.29m.

The original film received positive reviews 80% Rotten Tomatoes score Pitch Perfect 2 had a 66% score and was much more front-loaded while Pitch Perfect 3 has currently only a 42% score so while expected to open with $30-35m it is expected to drop heavily over the following weeks despite the lucrative Christmas holidays.

Anna Kendrick revealed in an interview for Harper’s Bazaar said studio executives demanded the cast were wearing much more revealing clothing and should be tighter and sexier and show more skin. As a film aimed at teen female audiences its surprising that they would want or need to do this, but this was similar to Karen Gillan’s revealing costume in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and which sorta makes more sense as they were going for a Lara Croft style look.

• The Greatest Showman – 20^th Century Fox

After starring as Logan for the final time in an X-Men film earlier this year Hugh Jackman stars in the musical drama The Greatest Showman about the life of P.T. Barnum is complete different t anything else that is being released at Christmas.

The Greatest Showman is the kind of original film that only a studio like 20^th Century Fox would be willing to make 16 years after releasing Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge.

Of course, the question is will Disney owned Fox be willing to make these kinds of films which is what cinema should be about giving cinema audiences something different. This is probably the reason why I am much harder on Disney as we have seen what incredible original live action and animation films they have made over the years but more recently after being burned on films like the John Carter, Lone Ranger and Tomorrowland they have been playing it safe making properties rather than films.

Opening in a very crowded marketplace this Christmas will find it hard to find an audience and will need positive reviews to get audiences attention.

On Sunday Fox broadcast A Christmas Story Live while the live musical received a mixed response on social media the live trailer for The Greatest Showman was positively received.

The Greatest Showman opens almost 25 years to the day Chicago opened on limited release taking $2.07m from 77 screens and went on to take $170.68m.

Its 16 years ago since Moulin Rouge opened which also opened on limited release for two weeks before opening wide taking $13.71m and 457.38m total

Of course, La La Land opened last December also on limited release with $881,104  and went on to take $151.1m but was surrounded by months of hype.

Other recent musicals original and based on stage shows have had mixed performance at the box office from the highs of Les Miserables, Mamma Mia (with sequel released next summer), Into the Woods, Enchanted, Hairspray, High School Musical 3: Senior Year to Hersey Boys, Burlesque, Rock of Ages, Rent, Across the Universe and The Producers

• Downsizing – Paramount Pictures

Drama starring Matt Damon, Christoph Waltz, Hong Chau, Jason Sudeikis, and Kristen Wiig and directed by Alexander Payne; premiered at the Venice International Film Festival receiving positive reviews from critics.

Alexander Payne’s first film since 2013’s Nebraska also released by Paramount disappointed at the box office despite critical acclaim that was after his previous two The Descendants and Sideways were critical and box office successes as well as Oscar winners.

Downsizing was meant to be the film Alexander Payne was going to direct after Sideways but then directed The Descendants and Nebraska. In 2014 was announced Downsizing was to be his next film and to be released by 20^th Century Fox but in 2015 was announced Annapurna Pictures would produce the film and it would be released by Paramount Pictures

Downsizing is Alexander Payne’s first film to open wide with so many films opening wide it’s surprising not opening on a limited release with an expansion early next year.

The big question with Downsizing is will recent comments made by the sexual harassment in Hollywood by Matt Damon affect the film’s release close to those he said before the release of Suburbicon in October which then flopped after it was reported that he tried to kill a Harvey Weinstein story in 2004. Matt Damon recently said “We’re in this watershed moment and it’s great,” “but I think one thing that’s not being talked about is there are a whole shitload of guys the preponderance of men I’ve worked with — who don’t do this kind of thing and whose lives aren’t going to be affected.”

As with Ben Affleck, it must be very hard for Matt Damon to avoid questions about the sexual allegations as Harvey Weinstein was a major influence on both producing their Oscar-winning Good Will Hunting which opened 20 years this month. 

• Father Figures – Warner Bros

Comedy starring Owen Wilson, Ed Helms, J. K. Simmons, Katt Williams, Terry Bradshaw, Ving Rhames, Harry Shearer, June Squibb, Christopher Walken, and Glenn Close and directed by Lawrence Sher.

The spec script then called Bastards was acquired by Paramount Pictures in 2011 in 2014 Alcon Entertainment acquired the project after they put it in turnaround to be released through their output deal with Warner Bros.

Filming started in October 2015 and was originally set for release in November 2016, then moved to January 2017 before moving to December. In September its title was changed from Bastards to Father Figures but in the UK, will be called Who’s Your Daddy?

Having been delayed many times the film has very low expectations but being the only  

• The Post – 20^th Century Fox

Political thriller starring Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Sarah Paulson, Bob Odenkirk, Tracy Letts, Bradley Whitford, Bruce Greenwood, Carrie Coon, and Matthew Rhys and directed by Steven Spielberg; premiered in Washington, D.C. on December 14, 2017 receiving critical acclaim receiving six Golden Globe Nominations: Best Motion Picture Drama, Best Director, Best Actress Drama for Streep, Best Actor Drama for Hanks, Best Screenplay and Best Original Score; opens on limited release on December 22^nd (in 9 cinemas) before opening wide on 12^th January.  

Often critics call a film the film of the moment, but The Post is truly this with the current battles with President Trump declaring many trusted the news organisations fake news. With critics making comparisons between the administrations of Richard Nixon and Donald Trump.

Steven Spielberg had originally planned to direct The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara after Ready Player One but after casting issues in March 2017 was announced he would direct and Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep would star. It is the fifth film directed by Steven Spielberg Tom Hanks had starred in (Saving Private Ryan, Catch Me If You Can, The Terminal and Bridge of Spies). Spielberg said. “When I read the first draft of the script (in February), this wasn’t something that could wait three years or two years this was a story I felt we needed to tell today.”

The Post also handles the treatment of women in the workplace showing how Meryl Streep character the first female publisher of a major American newspaper is undermined by her male bosses who don’t believe a woman can run a newspaper. Institutionalized sexism and a free press are “joined at the hip,” Spielberg said. “The relevance is up to everybody. But obviously, sometimes bad things happen twice, and history is certainly repeating itself.”

After directing Ready Player One and The Post back to back as he did 24 years ago with Jurassic Park and Schindler’s List Steven Spielberg has yet to confirm if he will direct another film before making Indiana Jones 5 with Harrison Ford which is set for release in July 2020.

• Hostiles – Entertainment Studios

Western starring Christian Bale, Rosamund Pike, Wes Studi, Jesse Plemons, Adam Beach, Rory Cochrane and Ben Foster and written and directed by Scott Cooper; had the world premiere at the Telluride and Toronto Film Festivals in September receiving positive reviews with many praising Christian Bale’s performance. Shortly after its screenings, it was acquired by Entertainment Studios.

Opening Christmas Day

• All the Money in the World – Sony Pictures

Crime thriller starring Michelle Williams, Christopher Plummer, Mark Wahlberg, Romain Duris, Andrew Buchan, and Timothy Hutton and directed by directed by Ridley Scott. After several sexual harassment allegations made against Kevin Spacey Sony Pictures and Ridley Scott made the shock announcement they would reshoot the scenes he appeared in with Christopher Plummer who was Ridley Scott’s first choice to play Getty.

Sony Pictures screened the film to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and was no surprise it received three nominations: Best Director, Best Actress Drama for Williams and Best Supporting Actor for Plummer; Early reviews today have been very positive praising the performances especially Michelle Williams; has currently 90% Rotten Tomatoes score. 

• Molly’s Game – STX Entertainment

Crime drama film starring Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba, Kevin Costner, Michael Cera, Brian d’Arcy James, Chris O’Dowd, Bill Camp, Graham Greene, Claire Rankin, Joe Keery, and Jeremy Strong and written and directed by Aaron Sorkin  based on memoir Molly’s Game: From Hollywood’s Elite to Wall Street’s Billionaire Boys Club, My High-Stakes Adventure in the World of Underground Poker by Molly Bloom; premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival receiving positive reviews with an 87% Rotten Tomatoes score praising Jessica Chastain’s performance and Aaron Sorkin’s script and received two Golden Globe nominations for Best Screenplay and Best Actress Drama for Chastain.

25 years after writing screenplay for Oscar-winning A Few Good Men went on to write 1995’s The American President was the inspiration to The West Wing which ran from 1999 to 2006 also created underrated TV series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and The Newsroom and screenplays to Charlie Wilson’s War, The Social Network, Moneyball and Steve Jobs.

Molly’s Game was originally developed at Sony Pictures but in early 2016 Sony left the project probably after Steve Jobs flopped at the box office and STC Entertainment acquired US rights. After being box office poison in recent years its Kevin Costner’s first film since last years Hidden Figures.

• Phantom Thread – Focus Features

Drama starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Lesley Manville, and Vicky Krieps and written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Has received positive reviews positive reviews with 91% Rotten Tomatoes score mostly highlighting the performance of Daniel Day-Lewis.  It was announced the film would be Daniel Day-Lewis’s final performance before retiring made it favourite to win Best Actor Oscar recently receiving Golden Globe Best Actor nomination.

Paul Thomas Anderson films receive critical acclaim and perform well on limited release but often underwhelm at the box office his biggest success in the US was 2007’s There Will Be Blood 9taking $40.22m) also starred Daniel Day-Lewis which he won his second-Best Actor Oscar for also winning for My Left Foot in 1990 and Lincoln in 2012.