UK/US Box Office March 29th – 31st week 13

 

 

1. Dumbo   –  £6,076,779 –  NE

Took from 3D £513,112 (8.4%); IMAX £139,762 (2.3%); 2D £5,423,905 (89.2%)

Had the 187^th biggest opening in the UK between Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Blade Runner 2049 (close to Fifty Shades Freed, Solo: A Star Wars Story and The Hangover Part III) and 263^rd biggest inflation inflated opening between Tangled and Solo: A Star Wars Story (close to Batman, The Pirates of the Caribbean and Batman Returns).

Dumbo had the second biggest open of the year after Captain Marvel and again as Captain Marvel had a three-day opening despite the film opening in many territories on Wednesday.

36^th biggest Disney opening in the UK between Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 1 and Solo: A Star Wars Story and 48^th biggest inflation inflated opening between Tangled and Solo: A Star Wars Story (close to Signs, Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy).

Had Disney’s fourth #1 of the year after Mary Poppins Returns, Glass and Captain Marvel (will have many more for the rest of the year including Avengers: Endgame, Toy Story 4, The Lion King, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, Frozen 2 and Star Wars Episode IX ()only films that might not be #1 is Aladdin as it opens against The Secret Life of Pets 2 and Artemis Fowl, unlikely any of 20^TH Century Fox’s films will be #1)

Dumbo had pre-sales of 266,392 compared to Captain Marvel 493,848; How to Train Your Dragon 3 85,245; The Lego Movie 2 89,048 and Alita: Battle Angel 34,360

Having 15,525 showtimes over the weekend; Captain Marvel 19,709; How to Train Your Dragon 3 11,158; The Lego Movie 2 11,391 and Alita: Battle Angel 8,169

With 3,529,057 seats available compared to Captain Marvel 4,375,895; How to Train Your Dragon 3 2,648,840; The Lego Movie 2 2,532,642 and Alita: Battle Angel 1,649,539

Using industry average ticket price of £7.22 that’s a 24% capacity compared to 40% for Captain Marvel 4 weeks ago; exhibitors feel the need to open these films in as many screens as possible leaving millions of seats empty; Dumbo opened in 661 cinemas but was probably showing in over 1,200 screens.

Despite receiving mixed reviews, being a bit quirky for younger audiences and having to deal with the first sunny days of the year Dumbo opened better than the US opening with 13.5% of its US opening.

The industry uses 10% of the US opening as a guide to how films will open in the UK, most mainstream blockbusters will open with 10% as did most of Disney’s other reimaginations; Alice in Wonderland, The Jungle Book, Christopher Robin, Alice Through the Looking Glass and Maleficent all opened close to the 10% of US opening and Beauty and the Beast opened over and Cinderella under.

Dumbo isn’t as loved as Beauty and the Beast, but Dumbo did reflect the state of the country over the weekend as it was a strange coincidence Disney dated Dumbo to open on March 29^th which was to be Brexit Day, for many was to be Dumbo Day.  

Disney have had huge success with their direct live-action remakes of their animated films and could see that Dumbo’s underwhelming performance was because they allowed Tim Burton to expand on the film. These films might receive criticism for being the same film, their success shows audiences don’t care, from the trailers for Aladdin and The Lion King it looks like Disney are back to straight remakes with these two animated films and both are expected to be much bigger hits.

It used to be Disney would re-release a Disney classic every few years and audiences would come back to see them on-mass the same is now true with these reimaginations.

Ahead of release I was predicting an opening similar to The BFG or Paddington but many within the industry predicted a much bigger opening despite much lower expectations in the US; Dumbo had taken £5m by Saturday evening (including advance booking) which does show that it looks like it will be very front-loaded especially as it sees competition from Missing Link, Peppa Pig: Festival of Fun, Shazam and Wonder Park for Easter holidays.

The plot of Dumbo felt like Disney were trolling us as V.A. Vandevere (character was inspired by Walt Disney and P.T. Barnum) acquires a small touring circus with an elephant who can fly, merging it with his own, promising a partnership but then fires all of its employees a month later. This is exactly what Disney did within a few days of announcing the acquisition of 20th Century Fox buying it for its properties then letting go of many of its staff.

2. Captain Marvel –  £1,770,433 –  £32,490,765

Down 47.6% in its fourth weekend

Fifth biggest MCU fourth weekend after Black Panther, Avengers Assemble, Avenger Infinity War and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2

Eighth biggest MCU after Avenger Infinity War, Black Panther, Avengers Assemble, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, Iron Man 3 and Captain America: Civil War.

104^th biggest film in the UK between Deadpool and It and 112^th biggest film inflation inflated between Deadpool 2 and Suicide Squad; has become the first film to take over £30m in 2019 and the first to do so since Mary Poppins Returns in January.

28^th biggest Disney film in the UK between Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Incredibles and 37^th biggest inflation inflated between Calendar Girls and High School Musical 3 (close to Captain America: Civil War, Wall·E, Armageddon and Wreck-It Ralph).

16th biggest comic-book film in the UK between Deadpool 2 and Thor: Ragnarok and 23^rd biggest inflation inflated between Deadpool 2 and Suicide Squad.

The 21 Marvel Cinematic Universe films have taken over £625m over the last 11 years (£662m inflation inflated); advance booking opens on Tuesday Avengers: Endgame expected to open with £30m over its fourth day weekend despite being over 3 hours long and take close to last year’s Avengers: Infinity War (£70,804,892).

Cinema websites crashed on the demand as they did previously, but if Captain Marvel had 15,000 screening Avengers: Endgame will have probably double playing every 30 minutes in most multiplexes. Remember 20 years ago when over 100,000 tickets were sold in advance most of them in person for Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, there were lines across Leicester Square as people waited to book, now its refresh, refresh on the computer.

3. Us –  £1,692,205 – £6,080,519

Down 38.8% in its second weekend

Having a decent second week hold taking £770,000 from Saturday

Had 443^rd biggest second weekend between What Lies Beneath and The Ring and 612^th biggest inflation inflated second weekend between Exodus: Gods and Kings and Lost in Translation (close to Drag Me to Hell, Saw, Wrath of the Titans and Fight Club).

Had a similar second week drop

2017’s Get Out (#3 second weekend) £1,366,829 down 37% taking £4,864,838 (£10,053,463 total)

2018’s Halloween ((#3 second weekend) £1,678,162 down 37% taking £5,854,328 (£8,171,544 total)

But more than last years A Quiet Place (#3 second weekend) £1,907,585 down 29% taking £6,350,119 (£11,801,912 total)

Holding much stronger than

2018’s The First Purge £798,455 dropping 55% taking £3,367,946 (£6,085,402 total)

With Pet Sematary  opening Thursday Us is likely to have a much bigger drop this weekend and with four wide releases this weekend will also drop down the charts much quicker than in the US.

4. Fisherman’s Friends – £629,247 – £4,842,734

Down 35.3% in its third weekend; had one of the smallest drops in the top 10 due to strong word of mouth, while performed strongly during the week targeting an older demographic.

With all the doom and gloom of Brexit Fisherman’s Friends is the perfect antidote as was the case in 1997 when The Fully Monty became such a massive success opening the weekend Princess Diana died, after her death there was a lot of sadness and The Full Monty was the perfect tonic.

Third weekends

Sunshine on Leith in October 2013 took £469,898 down only 36% and £3,219,089 taking £4,499,183

Finding Your Feet in February 2018 took £573,481 up 22% and £3,547,352taking £5,436,523

Its 25 years ago in May since Four Weddings and a Funeral opened with £1,432,424 taking £27,369,755 (£60,802,963 inflation inflated) three years later The Full Monty opened with £1,600,000 taking £52,232,058 (£92,657,361 inflation inflated).

Much praise for Fisherman’s Friends success must be given to Entertainment Film Distributors marketing the film heavily and opening so wide as so many similar films fail to find an audience will be interesting to see if Wild Rose manages to find an audience in two weeks’ time on the back of Fisherman’s Friends success.

5. What Men Want –  £300,641 –   £2,438,028

Down 41.6% in its third weekend holding in the top 5 longer than might have expected due to a lack of new film releases over recent weeks this will change this weekend with fir wide releases Shazam, Missing Link, Pet Sematary and Peppa Pig: Festival Of Fun all opened ahead of half term holidays.

UK box office in detail

This weekend’s top 10 box office took £11,266,298 up 17.3% from last weekend £9,597,710

The weekend admissions 1,547,766 up 16.4% from last weekend 1,329,323 average ticket $7.22 down from last year’s £7.49

18 films opened at weekend taking (£6,650,829); Dumbo 91.4% (£6,076,779); remaining 17 films shared 8.6% (£574,050): Top three took 74.2% (£9,539,417) of the top 10; Dumbo (£6,076,779) 63.7%; Captain Marvel (£1,770,433) 18.5%; Us (£1,692,205) 17.7%;    

The weekend was down 36.8% from 2018: (£17,838,773); Ready Player One (£5,113,041); Isle of Dogs (£1,641,509); Blockers (£1,349,627); Duck Duck Goose (£653,832); Cosi Fan Tutte – Met Opera 2018 (£261,409); Midnight Sun (£163,482); Journeyman (£60,249); #1 Peter Rabbit 3rd week up 22%

Down 22.6% from 2017: (£14,560,830); Ghost in the Shell (£2,300,753); Smurfs: The Lost Village (£1,383,059); Free Fire (£480,644); Peter Kay’s Car Share: A Second Series Celebration (£283,024); Madama Butterfly – Royal Opera, London 2016/17 (£65,810); The Autopsy of Jane Doe (£12,678); #1 Beauty and the Beast £6,750,000 3^rd 45% drop

Down 54.7% from 2016: (£24,577,822); Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (£14,621,007); Zootropolis (£5,306,726); My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (£983,534); Capture the Flag (£86,104); #1 Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice £14,621,007 1^st week

Down 12.7% from 2015; (£12,903,791); Cinderella (£3,803,799); The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water 3D (£2,262,498); Get Hard (£1,438,389); Seventh Son (£411,576); Wild Tales (£183,423); The Signal (£10,103); #1 Cinderella £3,803,799 1^st week

Up 3.5% from 2014: (£10,881,865); Captain America: The Winter Soldier (£6,037,850); Muppets Most Wanted (£2,214,906); The Legend of Hercules (£189,881); 20 Feet from Stardom (£62,154); #1 Captain America: The Winter Soldier £6,037,850 1^st week

Down 9.7% from 2013: (£12,481,896); GI Joe: Retaliation (£2,792,861); Trance (£1,592,339); ; The Host (£991,017); Finding Nemo 3D (£264,779); In the House (£209,431); Good Vibrations (£56,320); #1 The Croods £3,305,642 2^nd week 38% drop

Up 12.3% from 2012 (£10,028,615); Wrath of the Titans (£2,192,740); The Pirates! In an Adventure With Scientists (£2,176,195); StreetDance 2 (£608,024); #1 The Hunger Games £2,986,317 2^nd week 39% drop

Up 56.8% from 2011 (£7,183,735); Limitless (£2,087,363); A Turtle’s Tale (£1,122,067); The Eagle (£1,038,954); Faster (£157,169); Country Strong (£22,001); #1 Limitless £2,087,363 1^st week

Up 9.7% from 2010: (£10,270,286); Nanny McPhee & the Big Bang (£2,586,760); The Blind Side (£1,313,317); #1 Nanny McPhee & the Big Bang £2,586,760 1^st week

Up 30% from 2009; (£8,665,959); Knowing (£2,471,605); The Haunting in Connecticut (£1,127,679); The Damned United (£618,929); Two Lovers (£88,060); Traitor (£78,675); The Life Before Her Eyes (£1,596); #1 Knowing £2,471,605 1^st week

Up 39.4% from 2008; (£8,081,479); 27 Dresses (£1,752,897); Drillbit Taylor (£724,738); First Sunday (£40,706); Grindhouse (£27,225); The Hottie and the Nottie (£17,167); #1 27 Dresses £1,752,897 1^st week

Down 8.3% from 2007:(£12,296,196); Mr Beans Holiday (£6,440,093); Meet the Robinsons (£895,955); The Hills Have Eyes II (£775,160); The Last Mimzy (£188,116); The Namesake (£125,084); Days of Glory (£64,434); #1 Mr Beans Holiday £6,440,093 1^st week

Up 83.8% from 2006; (£6,128,821): Failure to Launch (£874,999); The Shaggy Dog (£831,250); Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addiction (£487,031); Firewall (£465,880); Yours, Mine and Ours (£330,665); The White Countess (£70,012); #1 Inside Man £1,117,054 2^nd week 38% drop

Up 50.4% from 2005 (£7,489,470); The Ring Two (£2,062,792); Be Cool (expansion) (£1,150,434); Downfall (£163,413); #1 The Ring Two £2,062,792 1^st week

Up 39.6% from 2004 (£8,067,662); The Passion of the Christ (expansion) 3^rd week (£2,019,935); Dawn of the Dead (£1,944,745); Agent Cody Banks 2 (£246,755); Under the Tuscan Sun (£203,634); The Station Agent (£97,044); The Honeymooners (£8,229); Fear X (£7,902); #1 The Passion of the Christ £2,019,935 3rd week up 573%

Up 173.9% from 2003 (£4,112,397); The Recruit (expansion) (£923,834); The Core (£583,238); Cradle 2 The Grave (£374,938); The Rules of Attraction (£227,531); #1 The Recruit £923,834 1^st week (2^nd weekend up 2545%

Up 22.3% from 2002 (£9,207,851); Blade 2 (£2,540,226); Crossroads (£1,126,053); E.T. (20th Anniversary) (£465,048); The Count of Monte Cristo (£47,675); #1 Blade 2 £2,540,226 1^st week  

Next weekend in 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

Book Office News

Box office was down 37% from the same weekend last year with 11 of the 13 weeks this year down from 2018 and 2018 also ended softly.

With four new releases this weekend ahead of the Easter holidays it should improve but 2019 is unlikely to match 2018 until Avengers: Endgame opens in four weekend time. On Tuesday websites crashed under the demand for tickets which should see a £30m+ opening in the UK, but cinema should be more than just the latest comic-book movie to get people going to cinemas.

The top 10 films of 2019 (January-March) took £135m 36% less than the top 10 film 2018 (January-March) £212m Black Panther, Peter Rabbit and Darkest Hour all took over £20m compared to only Captain Marvel this year while the hold-overs from 2018 Mary Poppins Returns, Bumblebee and Aquaman took much less than Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and The Greatest Showman.

Captain Marvel £32.49m; How to Train Your Dragon 3 £19.28m; The Lego Movie 2 £18.19m; Glass £10.65m; instant Family £10.45m; Stan & Ollie £10.20m; Green Book £9.81m; Alita: Battle Angel £9.01m; Mary Queen of Scots £8.78m; Us £6.08m.

 

UK Box Office Top 10

US Box office

• Dumbo – Disney

Opened with $45.99m; received mixed reviews (50% Rotten Tomatoes) but more positive A- CinemaScore

Ahead of opening tracking had Dumbo opening anywhere between $30m+ and $60m+ after the film received mostly positive social media buzz looked like Disney had another reimagination hit on their hands but most of the tweets highlighted the look of the film rather than film itself.

When the embargo ended days before the film ended (always a bad sign to have an embargo ending so close to release date, especially for a film like Dumbo being a remake there aren’t any spoilers that ca be revealed) reviews were much more negative than I would have expected.

Dumbo took $2.6m from Thursday midnights

Disney’s reimaginations have been criticised in the past being just live action remakes of the original animated film (Beauty and the Beast, Jungle Book and Cinderella) but with Dumbo director Tim Burton expanded the plot of the original film but audiences didn’t respond to it as strongly showing Disney were right? Just to remake without changes?

This is likely to be the case with Aladdin and The Lion King reimaginations opening in May and July, from the trailers they look like scene by scene live action remakes. Many expect The Lion King to be one of the biggest films of the year and one of the biggest films ever. The original The Lion King animated film took almost $1bn worldwide in 1994 with ticket inflation of about 250% since if the reimagination was as successful as the original film it will take over $2.5bn worldwide (2^nd biggest film globally after Avatar (by the end of 2019 Disney/Fox could have 8 of the biggest films worldwide).

In 2017 Beauty and the Beast opened with $174.75m taking $504.01m

In 2016 The Jungle Book opened with $103.26m taking $364m

In 2016 Alice Through the Looking Glass opened with $26.85m taking $77.04m

In 2015 Cinderella opened with $67.87m taking $201.15m

In 2014 Maleficent opened with $68.43m taking $241.41m

In 2010 Alice In Wonderland opened with $116.1m taking $334.19m

Possibly part of the problem with Dumbo was hiring Tm Burton as a director while Disney had huge success with Alice in Wonderland remake 9 years ago Dumbo felt much darker and quirkier tonally more Edward Scissorhands.

Since Alice in Wonderland was released Tim Burton has had mixed success as a director with his last 2016’s           Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children a moderate hit taking %87.24m in the US and $296m worldwide with a $110m budget, while Dumbo had a budget of $170+ the same size as Disney’s other reimaginations which seemed far too much for a film like Dumbo?

Tim Burton fans loved that Dumbo saw Danny DeVito and Michael Keaton together again in their first Tim Burton film since Batman Returns in 1992;

Tim Burton has directed 19 films since Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure in 1985 and Dumbo is his fifth biggest opening after Alice in Wonderland, Planet of the Apes, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Batman Returns

Its 30 years in June since Tim Burton directed Batman and its now 31 years ago since Beetlejuice (still rumours of a sequel).

Internationally opened with $71m from 53 territories ($20m+ lower than expected) $116m total worldwide opened #1 in most territories; China $10.7m; UK $7.4m; Mexico $7.2m; Russia $4.4m; Italy $3.8m; France $3.6m; Spain $3.6m; Brazil $2.5m; Japan $2.4m; Australia $2.1m

Opened lower internationally than Alice Through The Looking Glass $75m and Cinderella $89m but it did have the second biggest international opening of 2019 after Captain Marvel but that is because the year has started so soft and will likely be until Avengers: Endgame opens at the next of the month which could opened with anything up to $800m worldwide with $300m+ from US $200m from China.

With Easter holidays starting this week Dumbo should have a strong couple of weeks but does face competition from Missing Link and Shazam!

• Us – Universal Pictures

Dropped 53.3% in its second weekend taking $33.22m and $127.84m

After opening with 128% more than Get Out Us was always expected to much heavier than Get Out in its second weekend as word of mouth has been much more mixed as were reviews. Us was always likely to be much more front-load than Get Out with Get Out dropping only 15.4% in its second and 26.5% in its third.

Get Out took $38.23m in its second weekend taking $78.07m and $176.1m total and $255.4m worldwide with a $4.5m budget; Us has $20m budget and likely to take $180m+ in the US and $280m+ worldwide.

Us had #142 biggest second weekend between Kung Fu Panda and Despicable Me 3 (close to A Quiet Place $32.97m and Halloween $31.41m)

Took $22.6m from 60 territories $46.3m total and $174.3m worldwide

• Captain Marvel – Disney

Dropped 39.7% in its fourth weekend taking $20.66m and $353,87m

46^th biggest film in the US between Inside Out and Furious 7; 19^th biggest Disney film in the US between Inside Out and Zootopia; 8^th biggest Disney MCU and 14^th biggest comic-book movie in the US between Deadpool and Spider-Man 3.

Took $26.4m from 54 territories and $636.8m and $990.6m worldwide #38 between The Dark Knight and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone; China $151.5m; UK $42.7m; Korea $42.4m; Brazil $34.0m; Mexico $31.5m; Australia $24.6m; France $22.8m; Germany $20m; Russia $19.8m; Indonesia $19.2m.

Will shortly become Disney’s 19^th film to take over $1bn worldwide all of them have come from the last 13 years (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest #1 in 2006) 17 of the sequels reboots or comic-book films (10 from acquired existing properties) with two original films Frozen and Zootopia

The 21 Marvel Cinematic Universe films have now taken $7.22bn in the US and $18.52bn worldwide

UK Box Office Predictions

With positive reviews Shazam should squeeze past Dumbo despite not being as well known as other comic-book characters the trailers have been positively received and played with Captain Marvel.  Shazam will likely open similar to last years Aquaman £5m+.

With the arrival of Missing Link Dumbo will likely drop 45% taking £3.4m ahead of the Easter holidays with Missing Link likely to open similar to previous Laika films. Hugh Jackman has received strong media coverage this week as its his first major release since The Greatest Showman and during a BBC Radio 2 interview talked about plans for a sequel which Disney will surely want after it was a bigger success globally than Mary Poppins Returns.

Pet Sematary being very different to other films targetting children for Easter holidays (open similar to recent horrors Insidious: The Last Key £1,840,992 and Hereditary £1,863,913 but does benefit from having an extra day opening on Thursday)

Peppa Pig: Festival of Fun will target younger audiences; while I often seem to be critical of exhibitors pricing Vue have tickets for the film at a reduced rate £5.74 for adults and children. Peppa Pig: My First Cinema Experience opened in April 2017 with £1.05m taking £3.62m and Peppa Pig: Festival of Fun should open similarly doing steady business over the next two weeks after Easter.

With the four new releases Captain Marvel and Us will see big drops as will the remaining films on release as they will lose many screens.

Opening in UK Next Week

 

• Wonder Park – Paramount Pictures (Monday 8^th)

Animated adventure featuring voices of Brianna Denski, Matthew Broderick, Jennifer Garner, Ken Hudson Campbell, Kenan Thompson, Ken Jeong, Mila Kunis and John Oliver, directed by  David Feiss; was originally called Amusement Park.

Produced by Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Movies; it is the third animated film from Nickelodeon Movies after Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and Barnyard

After the film underwhelmed in the US last month its unlikely to do much better in the UK this month even with Easter holidays and opening on Monday to give it a 7 day opening weekend because of both Missing Link and Peppa Pig: Festival of Fun opening three days earlier.

• Hellboy – Lionsgate

Supernatural superhero film and reboot of the Hellboy film series starring David Harbour,Milla Jovovich, Ian McShane, Sasha Lane, Daniel Dae Kim, and Thomas Haden Church and directed by Neil Marshall.

It started as a sequel to Hellboy II: The Golden Army becoming a reboot instead but without Guillermo del Toro involvement which also saw Ron Perlman not starring in the film.

Hellboy was previously made by Sony Pictures in 2004 directed by Guillermo del Toro who also directed the sequel Hellboy 2: The Golden Army in 2007 released by Universal Pictures; both films received positive reviews but underwhelmed at the box office.

Hellboy opened in September 2004 with £1,058,375 taking £3,005,789

Hellboy 2: The Golden Army opened in August 2008 with £2,969,602 (including £1,095,188 previews) Fri-Sun £1,874,414 taking £6,772,936

Unlikely Hellboy will open any bigger than the sequel despite opening 11 years later and will ne very front-loaded as like the first two films has limited fanbase; the first two films were rated 12s but the reboot is a 15 for strong bloody violence and gore isn’t really the kind of film that you would expect to open in the middle of the Easter holidays.

• Little – Universal Pictures

Fantasy comedy starring Regina Hall, Issa Rae, and Marsai Martin, directed by Tina Golden and produced by Will Packer; Marsai Martin came up with the idea in 2014 after being inspired by the film Big.

• Wild Rose – eOne

Musical drama starring Jessie Buckley, Julie Walters, Sophie Okonedo, Jamie Sives, Craig Parkinson, James Harkness, Janey Godley, Daisy Littlefeld, Adam Mitchell, Ryan Kerr, and Nicole Kerr and directed by Tom Harper; had world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2018.

eOne acquired world rights for the film at the Cannes Film Festival in 2017 it was then titled Country Music; the film is produced by Faye Ward from Fable Pictures who also produced Suffragette and Stan And Ollie.

Mid-April has been a good time normally to open an adult drama and with trailers with Fisherman’s Friends eOne will be hoping audiences want some more to feel good especially as April 12^th could be the day we Brexit. 

Opening in the US

• Hellboy – Lionsgate

Previous films released in 2004 and 2008 received positive reviews but were very front-loaded at the box office

Hellboy opened with $23.17m taking $59.62m and $99.3m worldwide with a $66m budget

Hellboy II: The Golden Army opened in 2008 with $34.53m taking $75.98m and $160m worldwide with an $85m budget

Was surprising Lionsgate rebooting the franchise but ever since The Hunger Games franchise ended in 2015 have been searching for the next property, they can build a franchise. Two years ago they were hoping Power Rangers could be their next franchise planning a series of films but when the first film opened in 2017 with $40.3m taking $85.36m and $142.3m worldwide killed the series dead.

First trailers received missed reception with some comparing it to Suicide Squad, but the second trailer received much more positive response but, on the film, has been poor.

After Lionsgate had a very disappointing year in 2018 taking only $388.9m in the US Hellboy is a key film on their 2019 slate along with John Wick: Chapter 3: Parabellum, Angel has Fallen and Rambo: Last Blood.

Early tracking for the film was looking at a poor $16m+ opening and $34m total which would be less than the first film took 15 years ago.

Hellboy might be a small niche superhero as Shazam opening the week before but that has received strong buzz and critical reaction while Hellboy will have a much more limited audience.

• Missing Link – United Artists Releasing

Stop-motion animated comedy adventure featuring voices of Hugh Jackman, Zoe Saldana, Timothy Olyphant, Emma Thompson, and Zach Galifianakis and written and directed by Chris Butler.

Produced by Laika the first not to be distributed by Focus Features; Annapurna Pictures acquired US rights in April 2018

Missing Link is the fifth Stop-motion animation film made by Laika

While Laika films receive critical acclaim they aren’t  as successful as other animated films as Universal Pictures now own Dreamworks Animation who had similarly themed Abominable set for release this year probably decided to pass on Missing Link.

Focus Features previously released Laika films during less crowded periods with limited children’s competition.

Coraline opened February with $16.84m taking $75.28m

ParaNorman opened August 2012 with $14.08m taking $56m

The Boxtrolls opened September 2009 with $17.27m taking $50.83m

Kubo and the Two Strings opened August 2016 with $12.6m taking $48.02m

Early reviews have been positive as previous Laika animated films, but they have limited appeal at the box office and will open similar to previous films in mid-teens.

• Little – Universal Pictures

Little could be seen as another female reimagination of a male led film as What Men Want, the writer of Little admits that she was “inspired” to write the scrip after seeing Big.

Have been many body switch films over the years including Freaky Friday, 17 Again, Like Father, Like Son, Vice Versa, Switch, The Change-Up, The Hot Chick, 13 Going on 30 and It’s a Boy Girl Thing.

2011’s The Change-Up opened with $13.53m taking $37.08m

2004’s 13 Going on 30 opened with $21.05m taking $57.23m

With trailers playing with Us and What Men Want should see it open in high teens.