UK/US Box Office October 13th-15th 2017 Week 42

Top 5 Breakdown

1. The Lego Ninjago Movie – £3,642,038 – NE

After taking £1,484,747 from previews last weekend took £2.08m Fri-Sun would have seen it open in second place behind Blade Runner 2049 but until UK industry stop including preview box office within a film’s opening The Lego Ninjago Movie is #1 as Blade Runner itself opening was inflated from £858,095 from previews.

It’s the fifth animated film to be #1 this year after Sing, The Lego Batman Movie, The Boss Baby and Despicable Me 3.

After having a disappointing opening in the US last month after receiving mixed reviews The Lego Ninjago Movie was never likely to open close to either The Lego Batman Movie opened in February with £7.9m taking £2.16m while The Lego Movie opened in February 2014 opening with £8.03m taking 32.8m from previews.

Being the first children’s film out for the half term holidays will help but of course won’t get anywhere near the total box office of either films as the only animated competition is from My Little Pony after flopping in the US is unlikely to do much better in the UK but with Thor: Ragnarok opening on Tuesday gives it a very lucrative six-day opening weekend with four days of half-term holidays.

After The Lego Ninjago Movie opened disappointing in the US last month an opening similar to last year’s Storks £2,247,038 (including £973,846 from previews) could have been more expected so. Warner Bros next animated films are Teen Titans Go based on DC Comics animated TV series and Smallfoot in 2018 and The Lego Movie 2 in 2019 has recently had a rewrite by Phil Lord & Chris Miller as at the end of the first film Finn’s dad says his sister will be allowed to play with the Lego which will see how different a boy plays vs how a girl plays.

The last two October half-terms have had two strong family film performers Hotel Transylvania 2 took £19.72m and Trolls £23.36m but of course neither The Lego Ninjago Movie or My Little Pony will come close. With Kingsman: The Golden Circle, It Blade Runner 2049 and The Lego Ninjago Movie unlikely to match last year’s Bridget Jones’s Baby, The Girl on the Train and Trolls box office much will depend on Thor: Ragnarok (social media early reviews has been positive) and Paddington 2 (Studiocanal UK have had a very disappointing year but one £30m+ will change their fortunes around similar to Lionsgate starting the year with £30m La La Land) to beat last year’s Doctor Strange and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

This year does have Justice League (early buzz has been positive) but misses out from the annual Disney Christmas animated film Coco which is moved to January so despite taking £1bn two weeks earlier than last year annual box office for 2017 is likely to be slightly up from last year but close to 2015 which of course had Spectre and Star Wars: The Force Awakens taking over £225m between them.

While Star Wars: The Last Jedi will likely take £120m+ it will be depended on Doctor Thor: Ragnarok, Paddington 2 and Justice League will need to take over £100m between them. But it shouldn’t have been anywhere nearly as tight as it is now after the highest admissions in March/April 2017 should have easily broken away from previous years and should be looking at over 190m admissions for the year instead it will be around 172m £1.31mbn for the year up about 5% from last year

2. Blade Runner 2049 – £3,098,872 – £ 12,184,828

Down 49% in its second weekend much has been made that Blade Runner 2049 has taken 50% more than the US films normally take 10% but the audience for the sequel was always very different to the US.

While we might speak the same language our tastes in movies are often very different while the 10% rule can be often used for megamovies as with Dunkirk it was never going to be the case with Blade Runner 2049 as the original film ever since it was released in 1982 had been called a masterpiece and in the top 10 greatest films lists by the British Film Institute and other British media entities.  While in the US its only #97 on the 2007 American Film Institute Greatest American Films.

Similar reviews for Blade Runner 2049 in the UK were almost all overwhelmingly positive with many five-star reviews but while there was similar in the US there were also many who disagreed and is why it only had an 89% Rotten Tomatoes score.

As I said previewing the films potential box office while many compared the film to other recent adult sci-fi films Gravity, Interstellar, The Martian, Arrival and Mad Max: Fury Road by comparison film was always T2: Trainspotting which can be seen on its opening weekend and second-weekend box office.

2^nd weekends

Gravity – £4,838,152 down 22% – £14,711,488

Interstellar – £3,777,804 down 30% – £12,131,990

The Martian – £3,854,809 down 41% – £13,211,096

Arrival – £1,496,205 down 49% – £5,782,996

Mad Max: Fury Road £2,639,888 down 42% – £9,690,578

Blade Runner 2049 is closest to Mad Max: Fury Road second weekend but dropped 49% including previews which went on to take £17,203,206.

But the film I compare Blade Runner 2049 to is similar legacysequel T2; Trainspotting released 21 years after the original with its marketing similar targeting its original teens fans now in their 40s the same age as the characters in the film. T2 opened with £5,146,791 from 590 screens with no previews; it also opened against 5 other films that also took over £1m (Sing, La La Land, Split, Hacksaw Ridge and Lion) compared with only one for 2049 third weekend of Kingsman: The Golden Circle.

T2; Trainspotting took £2,935,145 in its second weekend (dropping 43%) and the total of £10,638,197 for 10 days in comparison Blade Runner 2049 took £3.1m; (dropping 49% with previews or 40% without) and £12.2m in 11 days (or £11.4m after 10 days). T2: Trainspotting took £16.95m and Blade Runner will likely take about £19m which will see it become Sony Pictures second biggest film in the UK behind Spider-Man; Homecoming but many expected it to take a third more.

Blade Runner 2049 opened last weekend with £6,071,625 (from 634 screens); including £858,095 from 552 previews over 30% of its opening box office came from 3D IMAX, PLF and 4DX all that had ticket surcharges of 30%; £648,605 from 375 3D screens, £498,215 from 37 IMAX/3D screens and £202,531 from 20 IMAX screens; B

This compares to T2; Trainspotting £5,146,791 from 590 screens with no previews; it also opened against 5 other films that also took over £1m (Sing, La La Land, Split, Hacksaw Ridge and Lion) compared with only one for 2049 third weekend of Kingsman: The Golden Circle.

T2; Trainspotting took £2,935,145 in its second weekend (dropping 43%) and the total of £10,638,197 for 10 days in comparison Blade Runner 2049 took £3.1m; (dropping 49% with previews or 40% without) and £12.2m in 11 days (or £11.4m after 10 days). T2: Trainspotting took £16.95m and Blade Runner will likely take about £19m which will see it become Sony Pictures second biggest film in the UK behind Spider-Man; Homecoming but many expected it to take a third more.

Blade Runner after 11 days on release is the 23^rd biggest film of the year and will shortly overtake Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant along with Baby Driver and The Emoji Movie.

3. The Snowman – £1,377,909 – NE

After receiving negative reviews, The Snowman opened surprising better than expected but with poor word of mouth as with many other releases over recent weeks won’t last long in the charts.

Over recent years October/November has been a great time to release adult sci-fi films and adult thrillers with Gone Girl in 2014 opening with £4.11m including £517,000 previews and last year The Girl on the Train £6.96m including £1.78m previews but The Snowman was never likely to get anywhere near as I would have expected with its poor reviews to of opened closer to Untraceable opened March 2nd, 1998 with £549,524 taking £1,517,882 or Zodiac opened May 20th, 2007 with £818,369 taking £3,440,289.

There were six new entries in the top 10 this weekend and will be at least four new entries this weekend Happy Death Day, The Death of Stalin, Geostorm, and My Little Pony. This highlights the problem in recent years with far too many films being released which is cannibalizing the marketplace with the top 20 films this year expected to take over 60% of the box office for 2017 and the top 100 over 90% but are still over 700 other films including Event Cinema and Secret Cinema also released.

4. Kingsman: The Golden Circle – £1,347,964 – £21,781,664

Down 36.1% in its fourth weekend; has overtaken War for the Planet of the Apes to become the 16^th biggest film of the year and by next weekend will overtake Wonder Woman and Fifty Shades Darker showing misogyny rules at the box office

Kingsman: The Golden Circle has overtaken Mission: Impossible: Rogue Nation £21.05m and should overtake Jason Bourne £23.4m, The Bourne Ultimatum £23.42m and become James Bond’s number #2 and will also overtake Logan to be 20^th Century Fox’s #2 biggest film in the UK behind The Boss Baby.

20^th Century Fox releases three more films this year Murder on the Orient Express (many were pleased when they saw the trailer to realise Johnny Depp was the one that was murdered).

Battle of the Sexes and Ferdinand; they have had a very mixed year releasing 20 films taking £144.18 at the box office saw them releasing their final two Dreamworks Animation films The Boss Baby taking £28.75m their biggest hit of the year. While 20th Century Fox ends the year releasing Ferdinand their first animated film since last year’s Ice Age 5 and recently announced a production deal with Locksmith Animation to produce an animated film every 18 months; first Ron’s Gone Wrong set for November 2020 the loss of Dreamworks Animation.

While Logan and Kingsman: The Golden Circle performed well their big summer franchises War for the Planet of the Apes and Alien: Covenant underwhelmed while their potential new franchise Assassin’s Creed also disappointed while both Hidden Figures despite the lack of Oscar recognition and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul both performed strongly. Action and drama play a big role in their 2018 slate Maze Runner: The Death Cure, Spy thriller Red Sparrow starring Jennifer Lawrence, three X-Men films New Mutants, Dark Phoenix and Deadpool 2 (after the positive reaction to the original film can he sequel possibly live up to expectations not helped being sandwiched between Han Solo and Jurassic World 2 (similar to War for the Planet of the Apes sandwiched between Spider-Man: Homecoming and Dunkirk). James Cameron’s long in development Alita: Battle Angel and The Predator reboot ending the year with the long in development Queen bio-pic Bohemian Rhapsody opening against Mary Poppins Returns which will be an interesting battle.

5. Botoks – £792,477 – NE

Polish drama directed by Patryk Vega who directed last year’s Pitbull: Tough Women which opened exclusively in Odeon cinemas last December 2016 taking £456,375.

UK box office in detail

This weekend’s top 10 box office took £12,090,715 up 6.33% from last weekend £11,370,380    

The weekend admissions 1,586,708 down 6.87% from last weekend 1,477,662 (average price £7.62 by UK Cinema Association/BFI for 2017).

The Lego Ninjago Movie took 30.12% of the top 10; 16 films opened at weekend taking £7,062,858; The Lego Ninjago Movie 51.56% (£3,642,038); The Snowman 19.5% (£1,377,909); remaining 14 films shared £2,042,911 (28.92%);

The weekend was down 18.83% from last year (£14,897,205): Inferno £2,970,027, Storks £2,247,038, Miss Saigon: 25th Anniversary Performance £2,033,031, American Honey £175,383

Down 30.61% from 2015: (£17,426,172): Hotel Transylvania 2 £6,317,438m, Suffragette £2,938,446m, Pan £2,738,758, Crimson Peak £967,168, The Lobster £229,619, The Program £144,181

Next weekend in 2016: (£15,448,907) Trolls £5,440,878, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back £2,688,561, Ouija: Origin of Evil £779,626, I, Daniel Blake £444,800, Keeping Up with the Joneses £271,306, Queen of Katwe £73,754

 

UK Box Office Top 10

 

US Box Office Top 10

US Box office

Universal Pictures – Happy Death Day – opens $26.5m; receiving B CinemaScore

Tracking going into the weekend was predicting an opening in the mid-teens but the Groundhog Day meets Scream plot and the strong trailers a $20m+ should have been expected a far bigger opening as there has been a lack of films aimed at women under 25 since July.

With a $4.8m budget Happy Death Day will be similarly as profitable to Universal as Split and Get Out were for them and they are already developing a sequel likely be released in 2019.

Teen horror has been hugely successful over the last 20 years as they were horror films for non-horror fans I hate horror films but went to see Scream in October 1996 at the old Plaza Lower Regent Street at Pre-MIFED distributor screening three months before opening and loved it and it was no wonder to me it was a huge success. What I was surprised to know was that Scream which was then called A Scary Movie was one of the many scripts Rank Film Distributors rejected was one of many scripts they rejected others included Dumb and Dumber, The Mask and Austin Powers.

Scream starred Neve Campbell who starred in the teen favorite 90s TV drama Party of Five she also starred in the teen horror The Craft a year earlier now better known by many starring in Netflix’s House of Cards. While her Party of Five co-star Jennifer Love Hewitt starred in similar teen horror I Know What You Did Last Summer Sarah Michelle Gellar also starred in the film and Scream 2 at the same time she was starring in Buffy the Vampire Slayer on TV. Sequels followed soon after for both films and other similar films Urban Legend and Final Destination film series followed and most recently was Christmas teen horror Krampus. 

Happy Death Day stars Jessica Rothe is her first leading role previously was one of Emma Stone’s flatmates in La La Land before starring in many TV shows.

2017 has been the year of horror with massive success with Get Out, Split, Annabelle: Creation, It now Happy Death Day with Saw reboot Jigsaw opening next weekend. But has also been many horror films disappointing at the box office this year It Comes at Night, Alien: Covenant, Flatliners, Mother, The Bye Bye Man, The Mummy, Rings, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter and Underworld: Blood Wars.

Darren Aronofsky’s Mother was original due to open on October 13^th against Happy Death Day replacing the previously dated Friday the 13^th reboot. Paramount Pictures probably brought forward the release of mother as feared Happy Death Day would affect its box office as they thought mother would also play strongly to a female audience with Jennifer Lawrence in the lead not realizing that the film would alienate most women and men.

The poor tracking of Blade Runner 2049 last weekend and Happy Death Day this weekend highlights the problem with tracking and the dependence studios seem to have with data analysis as rather than just seeing how the trailers play an audience react as seen in the film Big when Josh doesn’t get what’s fun about a building that transforms into robot. While things might look good on a spreadsheet regular cinemagoer aren’t so calculated in the films they choose to see so most of the time they just want to watch something mindless and brainless like Happy Death Day or The Emoji Movie compared to mother or Blade Runner that they must Google afterward to understand.

Warner Bros – Blade Runner 2049 – drops 52.7% taking $15.49m in its second weekend taking $60.97m;

The inquest started days after Blade Runner 2049 opened lower than expected in the US with many suggesting that the issue was director Denis Villeneuve had a plot embargo that included not revealing Ryan Gosling‘s Officer K is a replicant which the film reveals within minutes of the films start.

After Darren Aronofsky’s was similarly very secretive of the plot of Mother last night Warner Bros should have released that similar was likely to happen for Blade Runner 2049. But the problem for the sequel was that its marketing being so secretive meant that it alienated non– fans and this was highlight by the rave reviews from critics which would normally be a positive but being compared to the original meant that it was unlikely to play to non-fans.

One of the most controversial scenes of Blade Runner 2049 was the hologram sex scene between Deckard and Rachael a robo-ménage à troi like the sex scene between Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson in 2013’s Her. After the recent Weinstein allegations, it’s no wonder female audiences were a no-show for Blade Runner 2049 as that scene was unnecessary and made many feel very uncomfortable watching. Denis Villeneuve and Spike Jonze can get away having scenes like these in their films as its seen as art but if Michael Bay included similar scenes in his films it would be misogynistic.

Since the release of the original Blade Runner in 1982, the film has received critical acclaim but was not on the same level it received in the UK why it was always likely to perform stronger in the UK than the US.

Internationally Blade Runner 2049 took $29.3 million from 64 territories total $158.6m; the film underperformed in one of its key Asian territories South Korea with China and Japan now even more important for the film to be a success.

STX- The Foreigner – opens with $13.11m; received A- CinemaScore;

The Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan action thriller opened slightly bigger than expected as its been seven years since Jackie Chan’s last live-action wide release The Karate Kid and its Pierce Brosnan biggest lead role action film since his last appearance as James Bond 15 years ago in Die Another Day; Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief and Mamma Mia! opened bigger than The Foreigner.

The Foreigner has now taken $100m worldwide with $66m from China.

Warner Bros – It drops 39.3% taking $6.05m in its sixth weekend taking $314.93m; become the fifth biggest film of the year behind Beauty and the Beasty, Wonder Woman, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Spider-Man: Homecoming (which It could overtake as Spider-Man: Homecoming had taken $294.95m in its fifth weekend so It could end with $335m)

It was become #60 biggest film in the US overtaking Iron Man 2 and Independence Day and will shortly overtake Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Iron Man, Transformers and Suicide Squad.

It took $319.8m US and $298.8m internationally and $630m globally; after 10 days on release its #9 biggest film of the year globally overtaking Transformers: The Last Knight and Logan to be the ninth biggest film globally in 2017; #117 biggest ever ahead of Logan, Iron Man 2 and The Martian and will shortly overtake Sing and Moana and will take more than $650m worldwide. 

The final trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi was released last Monday and was viewed 124m in its first 24 hours despite massive hype which was still surprisingly over 70m less than It teaser trailer was viewed in its first 24 hours in March with 197m views. The Fate of the Furious trailer #2 139m, Thor: Ragnarok teaser #3 136m and Beauty and the Beast trailer #4 127.6m;

Warner Bros announced It 2 will be released in September 2019 which will arrive with huge hype and pressure to match the success of the first film.

Despite receiving strong reviews both Marshall and Professor Marston & the Wonder Women failed to get into the top 10 both were strangely given limited wide releases; Marshall opening with $3.01m from 821 screens and Professor Marston & the Wonder Women $736.883 from 1,229 screens both should have been given platform releases to build word of mouth.

Professor Marston & the Wonder Women is the 20th worst debut all-time for a film opening in over 1,000 screens

The problem with these limited wide releases is these films have nowhere to go and exhibitors will dump both very quickly especially as they are both independent distributors. Annapurna Pictures launched their US distribution with much excitement in August with Kathryn Bigelow’s Detroit but that flopped despite receiving positive reviews and Brad’s Status never went wide and now Professor Marston poor performance it has been a baptism of fire for the new distributor.

Maybe the reason why Annapurna went so wide in its opening weekend was after Brad’s Status got stuck o only 453 screens thought they wouldn’t have much chance to go wide otherwise. Annapurna has recently delayed their Death Wish remake to next March.

The marketplace for adult-targeted would be award contenders continues to cannibalize with last week’s Battle of the Sexes and Victoria and Abdul being replaced by two new films targeting same demographics also received positive reviews on limited wide release Professor Marston & the Wonder Women and Marshall. These two films are likely to be replaced by yet more films over the next few weeks this market cannibalization of similar demographic films opening close together doesn’t benefit anyone as close to the cannibalization of the popcorn movies but at least they normally have one big opening weekend but these films need time to find their audiences which they barely have a chance to.

On limited release

A24 – The Florida Project – opens $ 368,149 up 133.7% adding 29 screens taking $590,957; Sean Barker’s film has been heralded by many as one of the best films of the year and is already generating strong Oscar buzz close to Moonlight last year also released by A24

Fox Searchlight – Goodbye Christopher Robin opened with $57,917 from 9 screens; received 63% Rotten Tomatoes score; showing how the adult marketplace has squeezed over recent years the similar themed Finding Neverland opened on 8 screens in November 2004 taking $220,524. Miramax slowly expanded its release over 8 weeks before it played to over 1,000 screens which were close to Weinstein’s platform expansion of their Oscar-winning Lion this year; expands into 45-55 screens this weekend.

20^th Century Fox released Goodbye Christopher Robin three weeks ago in the UK taking a disappointing £2.29m as author A. A. Milne Winnie the Pooh children books are beloved by children old and young and the Disney animated films have been very successful over the years and Disney release their own Christopher Robin reimagination film next August

As with this weekend’s other adult drama festival films Marshall and Professor Marston & the Wonder Women and recent releases Victoria and Abdul, Battle of the Sexes, Stronger, Wind River, and mother all were potential award contenders when screened at various festivals last month and this month. But as with the summer months being cannibalized with far too many films targeting similar demographic the same is the case in between September and December but the difference is these films need a far slower platform approach but studios often expand far too quickly. A24 are repeating their much slower platform release with The Florida Project after they had huge success last year with Oscar-winning Moonlight.

Bleecker Street – Breathe opened with $22,285 from 4 screens; received 57% Rotten Tomatoes score reviews have been very different in the US compared to UK as US critics have described it as a TV movie version of The Theory of Everything while UK critics highlight the strong performances of the leads. After Breathe average platform opening its unlikely to attract a wide audience in the US while despite opening the London Film Festival earlier this month its unlikely to generate much interest in the UK either. Breathe was a surprising choice to open the London Film Festival given the size of films that have opened in in recent years and this was shown by the lack of media coverage which was overshadowed by the protest from Picturehouse employees.

Opened October 20^th

Opening UK

• Geostorm – Warner Bros

Disaster science-fiction action starring Gerard Butler, Jim Sturgess, Abbie Cornish, Alexandra Maria Lara, Richard Schiff, Robert Sheehan, Daniel Wu, Eugenio Derbez, Ed Harris and Andy García and directed by Dean Devlin as his feature film directorial debut; filming three years ago but after poor test screenings were re-shoots last December 2016.

Was originally set for release on March 25, 2016 but has been moved many times since for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Jungle Book and Live By Night switching from March 25, 2016, to October 21, 2016, to January 13, 2017, and then finally moved to October 20, 2017.

In recent weeks have been rom-coms, serial killer and now a disaster and teen horrors movies all were a mainstay at the box office in the 80 90s and early 00s but in recent years have disappointed at the box office.

Monday saw Hurricane Ophelia hit the UK when the sun turned red which could have been a scene from Blade Runner 2049 or viral marketing campaign from the man upstairs for Geostorm but will this help or hinder the film. In 2014 in the week before Noah was released in the UK were floods in the UK while in 1996 ahead of the release of Independence Day alien life was discovered on Mars similarly when The Martian was released in 2015 water was discovered on Mars.

• Happy Death Day – Universal Pictures

Teen horror starring Jessica Rothe and Israel Broussard and directed by Christopher B. Landon produced by Jason Blum through his Blumhouse Productions banner; been described as Scream meets Groundhog Day.

After Blumhouse Productions have already had strong success earlier this year with Split (opening with £2,548,516) and Get Out (opened with £2,160,099) teen horror 

Happy Death Day will suffer similarly as Krampus did a teen horror that gets a 15 which means most of its target audience won’t be legally allowed to see it as being the same certificate as It while it is too teeny for older audiences.

In 2012 BBFC gave The Woman in Black a 12 certificate (Daniel Radcliffe’s first film after Harry Potter) which surprised many receiving many complaints so maybe since the BBFC have become harder on teen movies as Krampus opened December 2015 with £412,713 only taking £1,184,159 even though reviews described the horror close to Gremlins.

Groundhog Day opened 7^th May 1993 with £1,121,440 taking £5,065,608

13 Going on 30 opened 4^th August 2004 with £1,184,273 taking £5,109,348

Edge of Tomorrow opened 30^th May 2014 with £1,886,096 taking £7,756,477

Next Halloween Universal Pictures release the reboot of the classic teen horror Halloween 40 years after the original was released and the 11^th Halloween film.

• Marshall – Sony Pictures

Biographical legal drama starring Chadwick Boseman, Josh Gad, Kate Hudson, Dan Stevens, Sterling K. Brown and James Cromwell and directed by Reginald Hudlin; premiered at Howard University in September; the film marks the 50th anniversary of Thurgood Marshall’s Supreme Court arrival.

In 2013 Chadwick Boseman starred in the excellent baseball drama 42 as Jackie Robinson opened with £3,797 from 8 screens and in 2014 in Get On Up as James Brown opened with £110,417 from 229 screens;

Marshall premiered at the London Film Festival was always unlikely to find an audience in the UK but now even more unlikely after it flopped in the US.  Similar themed Selma opened February 2015 with £792,365 but had the advantage of being Oscar-nominated and British actor David Oyelowo receiving much media coverage ahead of its release.

Chadwick Boseman next stars in Black Panther opening in February it is the eighteenth film from the Marvel Cinematic Universe its second trailer was released this week

• My Little Pony – Lionsgate

Animated musical fantasy based on the television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic featuring the voices of Tara Strong, Ashleigh Ball, Andrea Libman, Tabitha St. Germain, Cathy Weseluck, Emily Blunt, Kristin Chenoweth, Liev Schreiber, Michael Peña, Sia, Taye Diggs, Uzo Aduba, and Zoe Saldana and directed by Jayson Thiessen.

Opening ahead of half term holidays targeting young girls it could find limited appeal as Ballerina did last Christmas opening with £1,094,317 (including £598,166 from 478 previews) and went on to take £3,909,055 and Peppa Pig: My First Cinema Experience opened with £1,050,962 taking £3,565,202.Unlike last year with Trolls and Storks for October half term and with The Lego Ninjago Movie playing to young boys My Little Pony could attract young girls too but neither will match the success of last year’s films.

• The Death of Stalin – eOne

Comedy-drama starring Steve Buscemi, Simon Russell Beale, Paddy Considine, Rupert Friend, Jason Isaacs, Michael Palin, Andrea Riseborough and Jeffrey Tambor and directed by Armando Iannucci based on the graphic novel of the same name; premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival and has received very positive reviews.

Its Armando Iannucci’s first film since directing 2009’s In The Loop opening with £468,954 taking £2,123,530.

It was reported that Russian authorities were considering banning the film in Russia last month; Russia’s Communist party previously called the film “revolting” and Vzglyad, a pro-Kremlin newspaper, called the film “a nasty send-up by outsiders who know nothing of our history Should it be screened in Russia? Of course not.”

Last month several studios were changing the locations of several of their films to avoid the possibility of hacking by Russia.

• The Princess Bride (30^th Anniversary) – Lionsgate (Monday)

Romantic fantasy adventure comedy starring Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon, Wallace Shawn, André the Giant and Christopher Guest and directed Rob Reiner based on William Goldman 1973 novel; film #88 on The American Film Institute’s 100 Years…100 Passions list of the 100 greatest film love stories #46 in Channel 4’s 50 Greatest Comedy Films and in 2016 inducted into the National Film Registry deemed as “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant”.

The film celebrated its 30th-anniversary last month in the US but as so many of these anniversaries, UK re-releases center on their original US release date rather than their UK which would have been next March for The Princess Bride.

Opening in US

• The Snowman – Universal Pictures

Crime thriller starring Michael Fassbender, Rebecca Ferguson, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Val Kilmer and J. K. Simmons and directed by Tomas Alfredson and based on the novel

There has been a nostalgic return to the 80s and 90s with many films in recent years with the legacysequels, remakes, and reimaginations. In recent weeks has also been a return of many genres which were also very successful over those years rom-com with Home again and disaster with Geostorm and serial killer thrillers with The Snowman but these films have failed to find their audience. It’s close to a month ago when American Made opened again Flatliners were both upstaged by It movie and this weekend sees a similar 90s battle at the box office of The Snowman and Geostorm two more films that are relics from the 90s and both will be upstaged by Tyler Perry’s Boo 2! A Madea Halloween as Jack Reacher: Never Go Back and Ouija: Origin of Evil was the same weekend last year with the first Boo! A Madea Halloween film.

Was surprising Universal Pictures switched The Snowman with Happy Death Day with their US versus international release as poor reviews for The Snowman currently with 24% will damage its US opening but was always unlikely to underwhelm in the US as Michael Fassbender’s biggest opening away from X-Men and Alien films was the flop Assassin’s Creed opened last December $10.27m but The Snowman is likely to open close to 2013’s The Counselor opening with $7.84m.

• Geostorm – Warner Bros

Natural disaster films became hugely popular in the 70s with films Earthquake, The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno in the 90s they return with Twister, Deep Impact, Armageddon, Dante’s Peak, Volcano, Independence Day and Titanic and in 00s The Day after Tomorrow and 2012. In recent years been far fewer Into the Storm, Independence Day: Resurgence and San Andreas except for San Andreas they disappointed at the box office its success probably more to do with Dwayne Johnson who in 2015 could do no wrong.

As with many genres of films, natural disaster films as finding its home on TV with the totally crazy Sharknado films and the craziness of those films have been seen in the trailers for Geostorm as its Armageddon meets Twister and Dante’s Peak. 

Will recent natural disasters affect either Geostorm or Only the Brave after recent hurricanes hitting Puerto Rico and the southern United States and earthquakes in Mexico along with the wildfires currently in California that could be right out of a scene from Only the Brave also opening at the weekend? But what will most likely hurt both films are the two opening the same weekend as would be targeting similar demographics; both films were expected to open with $15-20m but this could be shared between the two.

• Tyler Perry’s Boo 2! A Madea Halloween – Lionsgate

Comedy horror was written, produced, directed and starring Tyler Perry; the tenth film in the Madea series and sequel to last year’s Boo! A Madea Halloween opened same weekend last year with $28.5m taking $73.2m.

The first film surprised everyone opening so strongly opening ahead of both Jack Reacher: Never Go Back and Ouija: Origin of Evil and the sequel is likely to open similarly $20m+ which will see it opening top as Happy Death Day will likely take $15m-in its second weekend.

• Only the Brave – Sony Pictures

Drama starring Josh Brolin, Miles Teller, Jeff Bridges, Taylor Kitsch, Jennifer Connelly and directed by Joseph Kosinski. Was originally titled Granite Mountain and released by Lionsgate but due to a disagreement between production company Black Label Media was moved to Sony Pictures but Lionsgate kept international rights.

Joseph Kosinski previously directed 2013’s Oblivion opening with $37,054,485 and 2010’s Tron Legacy opening with $44,026,211. He was rumored to be next directing Tron 3 before Disney canceled the film instead has signed up to direct Tom Cruise again in legacysequel Top Gun: Maverick set for release in July 2019 33 years after the first film.

The film is based on a true story about the Granite Mountain Hotshots firefighters who battled Yarnell Hill Fire in June 2013 so was surprising the title was changed to a generic title as calling it Granite Mountain Hotshots would be a strong marketing element while it makes sense for international where the story is unknown.  

Been described as the best firefighter film since 1991’s Backdraft (opening $12.68m in May 1991 taking $77.86m) receiving positive reviews.

Other firefighter films include Ladder 49 opening with $22.08m taking $74.54m and 1989’s Always opening $3.71m taking $43.85m

While similarly themed Deepwater Horizon opened last September with $20.22m taking $61.42m

• The Killing of the Sacred Deer – A24

Psychological horror-thriller starring Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, Barry Keoghan, Raffey Cassidy, Sunny Suljic, Alicia Silverstone, Bill Camp and directed by Yorgos Lanthimos; premiered at Cannes Film Festival receiving critical acclaim and has a 79% Rotten Tomatoes score.

The Lobster opened May 2016 with $190,252 from 4 screens and The Killing of the Sacred Deer is expected to open similar on

• Wonderstruck – Roadshow Attractions

Drama starring Oakes Fegley, Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams and Millicent Simmonds and directed by Todd Haynes; premiered at the Cannes Film Festival receiving positive reviews but only has a 67% Rotten Tomatoes score.

Todd Haynes last film Carol opened November 2015 with $253,510 from 5 screens a similar opening would normally be expected but the problem is the marketplace is very crowded with similar films and as Goodbye Christopher Robin and Breathe underwhelmed on limited release last weekend similar is likely this weekend.