- Black Widow – £1,801,017 – £11,209,008
Dropped 73.86% in the second weekend (61.2% not including previews)
Had the 36th biggest second-weekend drop between Fantastic Four (2015) and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (close to Assassin’s Creed, Warcraft: The Beginning, Godzilla Vs. Kong, Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Tron Legacy, Kick-Ass 2, Furious 8, Hellboy and Monster Trucks)
Disney’s second-biggest drop after 2010’s Tron Legacy 75.34% (£1,970,692) which does highlight the reason for Black Widow’s big drop as it only played to the fanbase and while it might have been well-received and received positive reviews its audience was limited especially opening so close to F9, the other issue was as always the 2 days of previews taking 33% of the opening.
Had 451st biggest second weekend between Jurassic Park 3 and The Wolverine (close to Passengers, The Incredible Hulk, Kill Bill Volume One and Birds of Prey) and 672nd biggest inflated opening between The Pink Panther and Michael Jackson’s This Is It (close to The Bourne Legacy, Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery, Captain America: The First Avenger and Bumblebee).
The 60th biggest second-weekend comic book between The Incredible Hulk and The Wolverine (close to X-Men, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Fantastic Four and Kick-Ass).
The 39th biggest Disney second weekend between Aladdin and Maleficent (close to Mary Poppins Returns, Finding Dory, Zootropolis and Ant-Man and The Wasp).
23rd biggest MCU second weekend between The incredible Hulk (£1,870,800) and Captain America: The First Avenger (£1,470,703 inflation inflated £1,784,618); after 12 days Black Widow has taken similar to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 1, Captain America: Winter Soldier, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Iron Man and Ant-Man (17th biggest MCU after 12 days)
92.3% from 2D (£1,663,288) total 91.8% (£10,290,526); 7.1 from IMAX (£127,415) total 6.5% (£733,298).
0.6% from 3D (£10,314) total 1.6% (£185,183); surprising to see Black Widow was released in 3D but must have only opened in a handful of screens in 3D.
Normal Disney seems to have the magic touch with dating, but Black Widow was hit with a double whammy of non-film related issues.
Opened the day England Vs Denmark Euro 2020 Semi-Final and the weekend of Euro Final against Italy. While few expected to reach the final, the fact that England was playing so many games at Wembley Stadium, was a massive gamble but saying that the decision for Black Widow to open July 7th in the UK was a global decision as it was going day and date in many territories.
But studios know by now that it’s a massive gamble to open films during both Euro’s and World Cup as even if England didn’t get to the final the games get a big TV audience so it’s not worth the risk, why over previous years studios have either opted to open films early like Edge of Tomorrow and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom or afterwards like Transformers: Age of Extinction (having previews from July 5th but officially opening a week later).
Its second weekend was the hottest weekend of the year; hot weather is always used as an excuse for films underperforming but if it’s a film people really want to see they will see it no matter the weather and the reason why studios opened their biggest films during the summer was audiences liked going into cinemas to get a break from the sun. While the summer season is very lucrative as school holidays start at the end of July and children go to the cinema a lot during the 6 weeks of holiday as every day is a potential £1m+ day or was in normal circumstances.
It always seemed that Disney would open their biggest films over a cold wet weekend and then the following weekend when a rival studio opened they’re it would be hot and sunny as it was last weekend but after the softer than expected opening for Black Widow last weekend would have expected that it held far stronger in its second weekend.
As with Cruella over Whitsun Bank holiday in May Black Widow had similar hottest temperatures of the year, the last time this seemed to happen for Disney was Monsters University in July 2013 opening with £3,463,917 only 4% of US opening of $82.4m but it did have very long legs playing throughout the summer holidays taking only 29% of £30m over its opening 10 days.
The problem many had with Black Widow was it felt old, the film is of course older than it should have been as it was originally due for release in May 2020, but old because of films like Lucy and Red Sparrow (both were rated 15) and Wonder Woman.
Second weekends
2014’s Lucy dopped 35.9% taking £1,972,039 and £8,006,914 56.6% of £14,129,734 (4.6x opening)
2018’s Red Sparrow dropped -36.7% £1,166,764 and £4,019,594 62.8% of £6,395,074 (3.57x opening)
2017’s Wonder Woman – dropped 43.6% (29.8% without previews taking £3,480,956 (against The Mummy opening with £3,343,650) and £12,841,001 58.1% of £22,086,045 (3.57x opening)
Black Widow also has similarities with the Bourne film series.
2002’s The Bourne Identity dropped 48.8% £1,100,791 (£1,919,737 inflation inflated) taking £4,198,872 54.4% of £7,717,876 (£13,459,677 inflation inflated) (3.6x)
2004’s The Bourne Supremacy dropped 42.4% £1,565,396 taking £6,138,348 53.8% of £11,396,052 (4.2x)
2007’s The Bourne Ultimatum dropped 56.3% £2,864,804 taking £12,926,467 54.8% of £23,586,781 (3.6x)
2012’s The Bourne Legacy dropped 65.4% £1,596,289 taking £7,828,435 72% of £10,869,199 (2.3x)
2016’s Jason Bourne dropped 67.8% £2,448,307 of £14,062,015 61.3% of £22,938,616 (3.02x)
Of course, exhibitors had other reasons why Black Widow dropped much more heavily as they asked by a well-reviewed, the well-received film would drop so heavily in its second weekend, blaming it on being released on Disney+ and that generated huge piracy, but that wasn’t seemingly an issue with F9 that was illegally available online a month before being released in Asia in May.
Haven’t exhibitors said regularly over the last 15 months ‘There’s a huge amount of pent-up demand and we do know from the customer research we’ve done that people believe you can’t recreate that big-screen experience at home” so why would they opt to see Black Widow illegally at home on their phone than go to see it on the big screen in the cinema?
Some cinema chains in Germany, Denmark, Japan, and Belgium have refused to play due to it also being released on Premier Access on Disney+ but all these all exhibitors are doing is cutting off their nose to spite the face as they are the only losers as customers will just go to rival chains to watch it as Pearl & Dean research said 40% of those who watched it in the UK over the opening weekend also had Disney+.
While UKCA said in May “It’s not a competition between us and the streaming sites,” …. “People with a voracious appetite for films use streaming and want to go to cinemas. We’re more worried about bars and restaurants. That, and the reinvention of golf and darts as shared communal experiences.” As seen with Godzilla Vs Kong and Black Widow if it’s a film people want to see in the cinema they will see it in the cinema and then probably watch it again at home before going to see it again in the cinema.
Rather than seeing streaming as the enemy, they should opportunity especially now streaming services are fragmenting as Odeon and Cineworld can sell their subscription cinema as the one place you can see all the films first for one monthly fee.
There are many reasons why Black Widow performed as it did but why did NATO single it out as F9 and many others did exactly the same.
The problem has been as many Western politicians and NATO have been in complete denial of COVID and how it was going to affect consumer confidence for the last 18 months this is why we are predictable in this situation now than many expected.
The problem was exhibitors sat on their laurels in the early 00s rather than build on the strong 80s and 90s growth and then were far too busy with the film to digital conversion which took their eyes off the game allowing streaming to grow while theatrical shrank in comparison.
But that’s the age-old thing with exhibitors they are scared of change, they think as they have done it the same way for decades they don’t need to change but as seen with Blockbuster Video need to always be looking forward to seeing what your competitors are doing and being better.
Instead, exhibitors opted for short-term gimmicks as they did in the 50s like 3D and now 4DX and ScreenX rather than long-term solutions in how to build audiences again as did so successfully in the 80s and 90s especially as films are meant to be bigger and better now?
The issue is that the makeup of the majority of cinemagoers is 16-34. These are people who will rush out to see the latest film over the opening weekend but as there aren’t other demographics going as strongly films are opening big and then dropping as big as this demographic is fickle.
This is going to happen again this weekend with Space Jam 2 having a big drop off and then repeated with Snake Eyes and The Suicide Squad. The big question will be will over 35 demographics be back by Fall as many of them play to a much older audience including No Time to Die and Dune.
Despite being well-reviewed Black Widow was always going to be front-loaded as Star Wars Anthology films have a much smaller fanbase as most people already know enough about Black Widow’s past. The other issue is it came over 5 years too late and is just a female Bourne meets Red Sparrow meets Lucy.
The other was while it might have been two years since the last MCU film was released fans have just had WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki TV series on Disney+ as with the issue with too many Star Wars films being released a few years ago many non-fans would say the same about MCU.
Pearl & Dean research last week said 40% of those who saw Black Widow had Disney+ so many of them probably watched Black Widow then ordered it at home to watch and then returned to see it again in cinemas.
NATO’s anger against Disney is hiding their own failures as all exhibitors had to do is watch Contagion in January last year to realise the impact COVID was going to have globally.
Despite featuring in the second MCU film (Iron Man 2 in 2010) she has featured in nine films before she got her solo film after Iron Man 2, The Avengers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame. This is despite while promoting the home media release of Iron Man 2 in 2010 Kevin Feige talked about plans to make a solo Black Widow film, and Scarlett Johansson has had discussions to start in the film, but then they focused on 2012’s The Avengers.
The problem with Marvel films is the female characters have always been poorly written. There were similar issues with Captain Marvel made almost 10 years after Iron Man 2, there’s a one-size-fits-all approach to the writing of the characters Gamora, The Wasp, Scarlet Witch, Black Widow and Captain Marvel all started out as villains before realising they were fighting for the bad guys, moving over to the good side. There has also been a one size fits all approach to male comic-book characters being rich arrogant males that find themselves and become good guys.
Scarlett Johansson starred in the action film Lucy in 2014 taking $126.67m in the US and $457.5m worldwide which was released a few months after Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which is surely when Black Widow should have happened, but Marvel was more interested in Avengers: Age of Ultron and Captain America: Civil War.
Ahead of release Black Widow was surely expected to take upwards of £30m with F9 taking £25m+ but both will not get anywhere near Peter Rabbit 2 box office of almost £19m and as Peter Rabbit 2 tickets were mostly children’s tickets with no surcharges for IMAX, PLF, 3D, 4DX, ScreenX while it will take a third less than the first film it has done vastly better.
Black Widow will likely take similar to Captain America: Winter Soldier, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Iron Man, Ant-Man and Thor taking about £17.5m, the 19th biggest MCU film only Iron Man, Ant-Man, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger and The Incredible Hulk will have taken less, but impossible to compare with those earlier MCU films and Ant-Man.
Similar to Paramount moving A Quiet Place Part 2 to May 28th a week ahead of The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It saw both films cannibalize each other opening Black Widow so close to F9 with the Euro’s also on cannibalized both films. It could have been much worse as F9 was going to open on July 9th to open against Black Widow but was brought forward two weeks in May.
Black Widow will be the first MCU film since Ant-Man and the Wasp in 2018 not to take over £20m, but as the first Ant-Man was a very different MCU film can’t compare Black Widow to either of them so will be the lowest-grossing MCU film since Captain America: Winter Soldier in 2014, Black Widow should have been made straight after Winter Soldier, instead, Marvel was focussed on Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War and introducing Spider-Man.
While Marvel is quick to launch Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor they feel they need to softly open other characters which are strong enough to support their film as the fanbase for Marvel films will see all the films and TV shows they create, but the Black Widow was similar to Black Panther Marvel felt they needed to have both features in other films before having their solo films. While Warner was already filming Wonder Woman when Batman Vs Superman was released.
The 24 MCU films have taken almost £770m at the UK box office since 2008 and over £785m inflation inflated; Disney’s 18 MCU films since 2012 have taken over £6252m (removing the two Spider-Man films taking £68m+ and pre-Disney MCU films taking £70m.
After two years without any MCU films, there are four within 6 months with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Eternals and Spider-Man: No Way Home all due for release between September and December.
While there are big questions over both Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Eternals, Spider-Man: No Way Home will be another £30m+ box office hit and be one of the top 5 biggest films of the year.
With Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and The Marvels all set for 2022 MCU films could take over £1bn at the UK box office by the end of next year.
2. Space Jam: A New Legacy – £1,363,556 – NE
1,135th biggest opening in the UK between Muppet Treasure Island and Babe (close to ParaNorman, Epic Movie, Stuart Little 2 and Real Steel and 1,304th biggest inflation inflated between Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit and This is 40 (close to Cruella, Parasite, Smurfs: The Lost Village and Shaun The Sheep Movie 2).
Often people use hot weather as the reason why films underperform but Space Jam: A New Legacy probably opened as it would have done in normal weather conditions as while Warner Bros would hope comparisons were going to be made with The Lego Movie, Wreck-It Ralph, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Space Jam and Ready Player One.
Instead, many have compared it to 2017’s The Emoji Movie, which said it opened with £2,702,809 including £917,908 (34%) previews (Fri-Sun £1,784,901) as it opened the start of August with little competition it still managed to play strongly through summer holidays despite adults slating it taking only 42% in its first 2 weeks and took £14,612,815 (29th biggest film of 2017 and the 7th biggest original film of the year).
It’s surprising Warner Bros made a sequel to Space Jam for many reasons, it is 25 years after the first film was released, while the film was a big hit (at that time) in 1996 in the US opening with $26.52m ($48m inflation inflated) taking $90.41m ($160m inflation inflated) and $230.51m worldwide $398m inflation inflated).
Was the 15th biggest film of 1996 in the US behind Independence Day, Twister, Mission: Impossible, The Rock, The Nutty Professor, Ransom, The Birdcage, A Time to Kill, 101 Dalmatians, The First Wives Club, Eraser, Phenomenon, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Star Trek: First Contact.
The problem with the film is that while the Looney Tunes are globally known basketball and the basketball players that are featured aren’t so well known outside of the US. While 25 years ago this was normal as US studios were making films primarily for the US market but now films need to play globally.
The problem studios have is as original films aren’t finding audiences in cinemas they have to search their libraries for potential sequels, remakes and reimaginations, but now having to go back future to find these films.
In 1996 Space Jam was an expensive film to make $80m (most films made by studios were half as much) the sequel budget is almost twice as much $150m but as with many of these long gap sequels, it’s unlikely to take twice the box office.
As was the case with Independence Day opened the same year taking $306.16m in the US ($526m inflation inflated) and $817.5m worldwide ($1.4bn inflation inflated) 2016’s Independence Day: Resurgence took a third less $103.14m in the US and less than half $389.68m worldwide despite production and marketing costs doubling along with ticket prices.
Space Jam opened in the UK 5 months after the US in March 1997 ahead of Easter the same weekend 20th Century Fox released Star Wars: A New Hope Special Edition (opening with £3.8m) opening with £1.46m (thanks to ComScore) and was the third biggest film in April 1997 after A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back special editions and ahead of The English Patient and Romeo & Juliet taking £11,648,511 (£20,663,943 inflation inflated) was the 11th biggest film of 1997 behind The Full Monty, Men In Black. The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Tomorrow Never Dies, Bean, Star Wars Special Edition, Batman and Robin, Evita, Ransom and Liar Liar.
Back in the 90s it was normal for studios to locally date films to dates that were better for the specific country rather than going global day and date, back then many Christmas films were often delayed a whole year or as with National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation opened 6 months later under a different title. In December 1996 101 Dalmatians, Jingle All the Way and Matilda and Disney had huge success earlier in the year doing the same with Toy Story, which also opened 5 months earlier in the US.
2003’s Looney Tunes: Back in Action opened with £926,447 (including £300,059 previews 32%) £1,489,743 inflation inflated taking £5,153,828 and £8,287,447 inflation inflated
2013’s Wreck It Ralph opened with £4,526,380 taking £23,607,542
2018’a Ready Player One opened with £5,113,041 (including £1,081,559 previews) taking £16,114,011
But even in normal circumstances and having the weekend to itself Space Jam: A New Legacy was never going to open anywhere near those two.
A sequel to Space Jam started soon after the first film opened but as Michael Jordan didn’t agree to the sequel plans fell apart, instead made Looney Tunes: Back in Action with a Space Jam sequel to be made soon after but after its poor performance plans for the sequel were ended. In 2014 Warner Bros announced plans for a sequel starring LeBron James.
On April 3rd Warner Bros released the first trailer with fans comparing it to Tron Legacy and Ready Player One as it had cameos of characters from Warner Bros franchises and many Hanna-Barbera shows (over 30); in June, a second trailer was released.
There was controversy surrounding the design of Lola Bunny she is much less sexualized than in Space Jam, she is wearing a full-length uniform instead of the crop top she wore in the first film.
Director Malcolm D. Lee said in the first film “Lola was very sexualized, like Betty Boop mix with Jessica Rabbit,”… “Lola was not politically correct…. This is a kids’ movie, why is she in a crop top? It just felt unnecessary, but at the same time there’s a long history of that in cartoons.”
While Space Jam: A New Legacy probably opened as it would have done it cannibalized The Croods: A New Age but as limited family films are opening over the next 6 weeks both films could do steady business, but both will take a fraction of their original films box office.
3. The Forever Purge – £720,032 – NE
Includes £18,000 from Cineworld Unlimited previews
As it was predictable opening Space Jam: A New Legacy against The Croods: A New Age would cannibalize both films box office the same was expected with The Forever Purge opening against Escape Room: Tournament of Champions and of course the same thing happened.
Opened 11% less than 2016’s The Purge: Election Year £807,803
59.5% less (38% less without previews) than 2018’s The First Purge opened with £1,778,157 (including £618,396 from 2 days of previews (Fri-Sun £1,159,761); (dropped 55% in its second weekend taking £798,455 and £3,367,946) £6,085,402 total.
29.4% less than 2013’s The Purge £1,019,877 and 38.2% less than 2014’s The Purge: Anarchy £1,165,143 taking £4.43m
In October 2018, James DeMonaco, the creator of the Purge franchise said he would write another film as he had a “really cool ending” to the series; opened July 2nd in the US.
It’s the fifth and final film in The Purge franchise and direct sequel to 2016’s The Purge: Election Year; was originally set for July 2020 delayed a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2018’s The First Purge opened with £1,778,157 (including £618,396 from 2 days of previews; (dropped 55% in its second weekend taking £798,455 and £3,367,946) £6,085,402 total.
Despite opening during the World Cup and hot weather, The First Purge had the biggest opening of the series. Showing that despite the World Cup and the hot weather people still wanted to go to the cinema and anyways believe if a distributor released the right film as Universal Pictures and 20th Century Fox did in 2014 with Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie and The Fault in Our Stars to quote Field of Dreams “people will come” no matter the weather or other non-film related issues.
The Purge opened May 31st, 2013, with £1,019,877 taking £3.36m
The Purge: Anarchy opened 25th July 2014 with £1,165,143 taking £4.43m
The Purge: Election Year opened 26th August 2016 with £807,803 taking £1.91m (was due for release on 15th July in the UK but was delayed 6 weeks only a couple of weeks before its release date).
As The Forever Purge didn’t open day and date with the US why did it open against another horror, the problem Universal have is they are releasing 21 films between June-December and there is no space in that schedule as The Purge films haven’t performed well in the past and they release the latest M. Night Shyamalan thriller Old in two weeks and then Candyman reboot in August and Halloween Kills in October with the small matter of No Time To Die in September.
As Universal also released Freaky two weeks earlier they couldn’t open The Forever Purge on any other date. In the end, both Freaky (dropped 91% in its third weekend taking £10k and £794k) and The Purge failed to find audiences as they were both overshadowed by A Quiet Place Part 2 and The Conjuring 3.
4. The Crood: A New Age – £696,563 – NE
Opened 87.1% less than 2013’s The Croods (£5,372,290 including previews) and 80.2% (£3,521,347 without)
As with Freaky opening two weeks earlier, was surprising that Universal Pictures still decided to give The Croods 2: A New Age a theatrical release in the UK opening over 8 months after opening in the US especially after they brought forward the release of The Boss Baby: Family Business in the US to July 2, due for release 22 October making a very crowded Halloween half-term for children’s films with Hotel Transylvania: Transformania and The Addams Family 2 opening three weeks earlier.
On October 22nd, The Boss Baby 2 opens against Dune, Dear Evan Hansen, Ron’s Gone Wrong, The Many Saints Of Newark, The French Dispatch and Jackass Forever with Halloween Kills and The Last Duel opening the week before and Last Night In Soho the week after.
This is only three weeks after No Time To Die opens and Spectre was #1 in its third weekend down 40% taking £7,833,891 and £77,579,879 81.5% of £95,183,468. No Time To Die is unlikely to open as big as Spectre (£41,299,090) only having one day of previews and if COVID cases are still high older audiences will be much more hesitant to see it in crowded screenings so more likely to have longer legs.
Normally rival studios keep their distance from James Bond films but the week after Hotel Transylvania: Transformania and The Addams Family 2 both open, while they are both targetting different demographics they will likely take screens away from No Time To Die as will the film’s opening over the following two weeks. What’s surprising is normally Eon want James Bond to be the big film distributor is working on and they would want to distance it from other films released by the distributor, but this doesn’t seem to be the case this time.
After sacrificing Trolls World Tour in April 2020 to PVOD release after cinemas closed in March would have thought The Croods 2: A New Age might have also gone to PVOD but as both original films were big hits in the UK, The Croods taking £26,328,511 and 2017’s The Boss Baby were big hits in the UK opened with £8,025,886 (including £5,227,582 65% from previews) taking £28,682,992 surely wanted to release both in the UK especially after missing out on Troll World Tour (as 2016’s Trolls opened with £5,440,878 (including £2,426,072 previews 44%) taking £23,364,692); they were the three biggest Dreamworks Animation films 20th Century Fox released when they had a distribution deal with them.
It was released in the US in November 2020 receiving positive reviews opened with $9.72m (when most cinemas were still closed) taking $58.56m in the US and $171.06m and released PVOD release in December.
2013’s The Croods took $188.16m in the US and $587.2m opening in the UK with £5,372,290 (including £1,850,943 34% in previews) taking £26,328,511
The sequel was first announced in 2013 due to be released in November 2017 but was cancelled released on November 3, 2017; in November 2016 after Universal’s acquisition of DreamWorks (for $3.8bn) and was revived in 2017.
It was surprising Universal Pictures opted to open The Croods: A New Age against Space Jam: A New Legacy as they could have opened it anytime but opening directly opposite to Space Jam: A New Legacy it was always likely the two films would cannibalize each other and the Croods 2 would lose the battle as it was completely overshadowed by Space Jam 2 marketing.
That said with school holidays starting this week both films should find audiences over the next 6 weeks due to limited competition from other family films, Jungle Cruise opens in two weeks to older children and The Paw Patrol Movie and Spirit Untamed to younger. Was surprising that Universal didn’t switch The Croods: A New Age with Spirit Untamed.
Exhibitors have gotten their knickers in a twist with Black Widow and piracy being the cause it is having a big second-weekend drop but The Croods: A New Age has been available illegally online since December.
5. F9 – £446,126 – £14,147,648
Dropped 59.3% in its fourth weekend.
8th biggest Fast and Furious fourth weekend in the UK between Fast & Furious and Tokyo Drift
421st biggest film in the UK between Schindler’s List and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (close to World War Z, Batman and Robin, Thor, and True Lies; 645th biggest inflation inflated between Rugrats in Paris: The Movie and Pitch Perfect 3 (close to Kill Bill – Volume 2, The Perfect Storm, A.I. and Deep Blue Sea).
49th biggest Universal Pictures film in the UK (and their 118th film to take over £10m) between Mrs Brown’s Boys d’Movie and Lucy (close to Robin Hood, Fast Five, Fast & Furious and Kick-Ass) and 54th biggest inflation inflated between Step Up 2 and Pitch Perfect 3.
Ahead of the release of F9 it was expected that both F9 and Black Widow would speed past Peter Rabbit 2 box office within weeks of opening, but instead, F9 will fall short and Black Widow will likely only slip past, so those who have been singing along Cinema is coming home, we’re too quick to believe this as those that have sung footballs coming home for the past month.
As both films opened lower than they would have done in normal circumstances made worst opening during Euro’s, it’s almost like COVID has made the industry forgetful as this was sadly as predictable as England losing in penalties.
After three weeks Fast & Furious 7 had taken 83.4% £32,018,450 of its £38,385,021; The Fate of the Furious taken 88.4% £26,195,070 of £29,630,188 while Hobbs & Shaw took 79.51%; The Fast and the Furious 76.56% the leggiest.
If F9 holds similar to The Fate of the Furious it will take between £15.5m-£16.2m which will be the lowest-grossing film of the series since 2009’s Fast & Furious, F9 must have expected to take similar to Fast & Furious 6 and Hobbs & Shaw. Originally F9 was due to open this weekend against Black Widow so Universal dodged a bullet opening it this weekend, but with the Euro’s neither date was best for it, probably would have been better to open in May alongside the Asian release.
Had the biggest third-weekend drop (59.1% due to Black Widow and Euro’s Final) all other films dropped between 42%-51% with the first film have the least drop 34.3%
While the Fast and Furious series was very successful from the first film in the US it didn’t become globally successful till the fourth film in 2009 Fast and Furious opened with £4,928,784 taking £13,539,304 with 2017’s The Fate of the Furious taking more in its opening weekend (£14,026,301).
The 10 films have taken almost £180m in the UK to date and almost £200m inflation inflated since 2001 with at least two more Furious films and Hobbs & Shaw sequel there is still a lot of mileage in this franchise but it’s unlikely to ever match its Furious 7 peak and there is also the question of China and if they are losing interest in the franchise and their taste in US movies.
Also Opened
• Escape Room: Tournament of Champions – Sony Pictures
Opened with £278,097 from 414 screens
Sony heavily marketed the sequel with a strong trailer and strong social media marketing
The sequel was delayed several times from last year due to COVID but surprising its opening on July 16th on the UK opening against The Forever Purge (never made any sense opening two horrors against each other) and opening at the start of the summer holidays.
Escape Room opened in February 2019 #4 behind How to Train Your Dragon 3, Green Book and Glass taking £820,218 from 363 screens; dropping 46% in the second weekend taking £441,358 and £1,636,555 only lasting two weeks in the top 15, so the sequel is likely to be even more front-loaded so why make it even harder for itself opening against The Forever Purge, while The Purge films aren’t as successful in the UK as the US opening the two the same weekend will predictably just cannibalize the little box office they could each get.
Distributors used to date films well, but over recent years this has become poor, a lot has to do studios believing that almost every film needs to open day and date, but as seen with the reopening after COVID it doesn’t while there is a piracy issue if they are films people want to see in the cinema, they will see them in the cinema as will be with The Croods 2.
Maybe instead of release dates being chosen after discussions with marketing and sales teams, they are now chosen by AI looking at historical data, but that only works if the ducks are in a row, but their rival studios are using the same data and coming up with the same conclusions so opening similar films next to each other with predictable results.
This weekend is historically the first weekend of summer in the 90s saw huge launches for Jurassic Park and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, both opening more than a month after the US, and in 2019 The Lion King opened this weekend.
• Summer Of Soul (Or When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) Disney/Searchlight
Opened with £62,562 from 131 screens
Despite critical acclaim Summer of Soul struggled to find an audience with a screen average of only £478, its the latest film targetting older audiences that has struggled to find an audience because they just aren’t going back to the cinema.
The end of the reduced capacity, social distancing and start of the summer holidays won’t make many people change thier opinion about returning to the cinema before September. This is what exhibitors have failed to understand for over a year despite thier own research telling them this.
Documentary directed by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival featuring performances from Sly and the Family Stone, Nina Simone, Mahalia Jackson, the Staples Sisters, Stevie Wonder, Glady Knight and the Pips, Max Roach and Abby Lincoln.
It had a world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival winning Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award; received critical acclaim (98% Rotten Tomatoes) Rolling Stone said it was “the Perfect Movie to Kick Off Sundance 2021” and was “an incredible, vital act of restoration and reclamation”.
The first trailer premiered during the Oscars in April; Searchlight and Hulu acquired rights to Summer Of Soul in February
Other Box Office News
The three films dropping out the top 5 all heavily dropped A Quiet Place Part 2 (-65.1%); Peter Rabbit 2 (-83.7%); In The Heights (-70.2%) as they all lost a large number of screens with the five new entries; with Peter Rabbit 2 now just going to squeeze past £19m taking £18,615,939 to date less than half the original film £41.1m.
Despite taking less than 50% it has been a very strong performance especially seeing how both F9 and Black Widow will both take vastly less than they were expected to take and In The Heights taking £4.1m was also a good performer.
Other Film News
On Monday, all social distancing and reduced capacity ended in England, while this was celebrated by exhibitors it probably won’t have any impact on cinemagoers as those who have felt comfortable returning to cinemas over the last 9 weeks will keep going back, but those who were previously hesitant will be even more so without any restriction.
Last Thursday Professor Chris Whitty warned that hospital numbers could get scary within weeks as daily cases topped almost 50,000 and that was before the effects of Euro Final and Freedom Day set in which could see numbers double over the coming weeks. Many say there isn’t an issue if cases increase as hospital numbers aren’t increasing as much as they did previously, but everyday case number are announced 10% of those will be serious and 10% of those will end up in deaths. While we still don’t know the long terms effects of COVID on children.
So, while cinema companies and the hospitality sector have rejected COVID passports since they were first mentioned in February other countries have brought them in, France has a Health passport for hospitality and travel. While in April James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli was amongst many leading arts figures calling for COVID passports, if cases continue to increase could she demand them to be implanted for the release of No Time To Die in September?
My issue since January 2020 has been the industry has always been reactive rather than proactive, as soon as China closed all cinemas days before their New Year the rest of the world should have prepared for the worst-case scenarios, don’t their homework watch movies like Contagion and Outbreak, as Steve Martin’s character says in Grand Canyon “That’s part of your problem, you haven’t seen enough movies. All of life’s riddles are answered in the movies.”
The film industry had an advantage over other industries as Hollywood has made movies about every possible and impossible natural and unnatural disaster so all they had to do is watch and as Matt Hancock did a few months later after watching Contagion use them as a guide to what needs to be done.
As soon as China went into lockdown in January it didn’t take a genius to think about the film Contagion and the end credits of Rise of the Planet of the Apes where the ill pilot coughs at the airport and it spreads the virus globally as what happens when patient zero went to the ski resort Europe in January 2020.
As the problem has been exhibitors have always been short-sighted thinking short-term never the bigger picture, seen by their rush to reopen cinemas in July last year which was obviously several months too soon and what happened was so predictable, as is their rush to remove all social distancing and reduced capacity as neither have much impact on cinemas as regular capacity is only about 20%.
Many exhibitors will be behaving like pubs on Monday removing all restrictions stopping track and trace and this is all short-termism which will force COVID passports to become law like France and other countries as personal responsibility doesn’t work in the UK. The problem as seen last week many selfish people won’t think of others because COVID 50k daily cases will become 100k+ cases and more within the next two weeks and the real figures will be a lot more as many won’t report.
I will admit forgetting to turn my Bluetooth on when I pop into a shop for a few minutes aw Bluetooth drains the battery, but many are purposely not doing it. This short-termism started with COVID back weeks before the first lockdown with Phil Clapp saying in early March in Variety they were following government advice but back then the government was even more clueless than it is now the same personal responsibility should have been in action by companies thinking about their customers.
Over the last 8 weeks cinema industry has heralded Cinema Is Back but despite the biggest post-pandemic openings for F9 and Black Widow both opened over 30% less than should and will take 30%+ less and this was predictable as despite the industry’s claims many still won’t return.
Exhibitors need to think beyond the 16-34 audience as predictably The Father, Supernova and Another Round struggled to find an audience as older audiences still aren’t comfortable going back and this will be more so after social distancing and reduced capacity ends.
This goes back to the age-old issue exhibitors need to be proactive, but they have always been reactive with COVID ever since March 2020. It was a nothing to see attitude and COVID was completely ignored at the UKCA conference in early March 2020.
It’s just short-sighted behaviour by exhibitors to reject COVID passports as it’s biting off the nose to smite the face as while F9 and Black Widow had good openings they were still at least a third down on what they should have been before opening F9 was a certainty to take £20m+ now it’s likely to take £16m likewise Black Widow £30m+ will struggle to take £20m+
There were suggestions during Boris Johnson’s press conference on Monday that COVID passports could be mandatory by the end of September saying that they will be needed for nightclubs and venues that have large crowds, but exhibitors could say cinemas don’t have the crowds of other venues.
UK box office in detail
This weekend’s top 10 box office took £5,617,410 down 42.2% from last weekend £9,713,818 and up 2,222% from 2020 (£241,928)
The weekend admissions 790,072 down 42.2% 1,366,219 from last week; admissions in 2020 this week was 3,323,043 (Down 76.2%)
Top 3 took £3,884,605 69.1% of the top 10; Black Widow 32.1% (£1,801,017); Space Jam: A New Legacy 24.3% (£1,363,556); The Forever Purge 2 12.8% (£720,032);
Up 2,222% from 2020 (£241,928); Top three took 43.8% (£106,068) of the top 15); Onward 13.2% (£49,271) 20.3%; Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back 13.8% (£33,343); Trolls World Tour 9.7% (£23,454);
Down 74.1% from 2019 £21,701,796; top 3 The Lion King (67.9%) (£16,671,764); Toy Story (11.1%) (£2,704,238) Spider-Man: Far From Home (9.5%) (£2,325,794); #1 The Lion King 1st week £16,671,764 713 screens (67.9% of the ten)
Down 71.4% from 2018: (£19,632,862); Mamma Mia: Here we Go Again! (£9,735,931); Hotel Artemis (£357,261); Spitfire (£211,464); Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures! The Movie (£125,081); Escape Plan 2 (£6,737); #1 Mamma Mia: Here we Go Again! £9,735,931 1st week 702 screens (49.6% of top 10)
Down 74.6% from 2017: (£22,066,254); Dunkirk (£10,023,720); Andre Rieu’s 2017 Maastricht Concert (£1,439,604); #1 Dunkirk £10,023,720 1st week 638 screens (45.4% of top 10)
Down 66.8% from 2016: (£16,914,463); The BFG (£5,288,529); Star Trek Beyond (£4,740,040); Andre Rieu’s 2016 Maastricht Concert (£1,414,075); #1 The BFG £5,288,529 1st week 680 screens (31.2% of the top 10)
Down 57.1% from 2015; (£13,074,413); Ant-Man (£4,011,345); Andre Rieu’s 2015 Maastricht Concert (£1,107,000); The Gallows (£335,875); Self/Less (£215,247); Thomas & Friends: Sodor’s Legend Of The Lost Treasure (£155,354); True Story (£137,463); 13 Minutes (£12,572); #1 Ant-Man £4,011,345 1st week 555 screens (30.6% of top 10)
Down 65.3% from 2014: (£16,203,729); Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (£8,705,995); Monty Python Live (Mostly) – O2 London 2014 (£1,178,091); Andre Rieu’s 2014 Maastricht Concert (£830,586); Pudsey the Dog: The Movie (£446,450); Some Like It Hot (Re: 2014) (£12,869); #1 Dawn of the Planet of the Apes 1st week 561 screens (53.7% of top 10)
Down 42.6% from 2013: (£9,787,596); The World’s End (£2,123,576); The Frozen Ground (£89,515); Breathe In (£26,910); Easy Money (£21,346); Roman Holiday (Re: 2013) (£12,701); #1 Monsters University £2,791,078 2nd week 532 screens 19% drop (28.5% of top 10)
Down 70.1% from 2012 (£18,751,675); The Dark Knight Rises (£14,362,443); Lola Versus (£348); #1 The Dark Knight Rises £14,362,443 1st week 594 screens (76.6% of top 10)
Down 66.9% from 2011 (£16,959,452); Cars 2 (£3,541,664); Horrible Bosses (£2,077,239); Beginners (£146,096); #1 Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 £8,523,417 2nd week 581 screens 64% drop (50.2% of top 10)
Down 62.9% from 2010: (£15,116,235); Inception (£5,912,814); The Concert (£38,053); #1 Inception £5,912,814 1st week 452 screens (39.1% of top 10)
Down 79.7% from 2009; (£27,606,395); Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (£19,784,924); Moon (£157,867); The Informers (£6,149); #1 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince £19,784,924 1st week 584 screens (71.6% of top 10)
Down 62.2% from 2008; (£14,835,085); Wall·E (£4,253,736); Meet Dave (£681,584); Donkey Punch (£144,953); City of Men (£17,000); Standard Operating Procedure (£3,539); #1 Mamma Mia! £4,561,109 2nd week 435 screens 31% drop (30.7% of top 10)
Down 53.1% from 2007:( £11,971,119); Hairspray (£2,045,912); Firehouse Dog (£90,730); #1 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix £6,639,973 2nd week 566 screens 60% drop (55.4% of top 10)
Down 51.1% from 2006; (£11,474,975); The Break-Up (£2,412,097); Stormbreaker (£1,244,892); Garfield 2 (£739,560); #1 Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest £3,868,216 3rd week 520 screens 36% drop (33.7% of top 10)
Down 49.9% from 2005 (£11,195,244); Madagascar (£5,431,639); Wedding Crashers (£2,182,597); Festival (£34,010); #1 Madagascar £5,431,639 1st week 505 screens (48.5% of top 10)
Down 61.6% from 2004 (£14,628,009); Spider-Man 2 (£8,766,902); The Prince and Me (£366,942); Nathalie (£39,084); #1 Spider-Man 2 £8,766,902 1st week 504 screens (59.9% of top 10)
Down 28.2% from 2003 (£7,829,988); The Hulk (£3,529,440); Buffalo Soldiers (£113,664); Brown Sugar (£90,877); Four Feathers (£61,800); #1 The Hulk £3,529,440 1st 500 screens (45.1% of top 10)
Down 28.9% from 2002 (£7,900,053); Stuart Little 2 (£1,343,398); Jason X (£233,090); The Abduction Club (£24,940); #1 Scooby-Doo £2,513,564 2nd week 474 screens 51% drop (31.8% of top 10)
Over previous years many big summer movies opened this weekend including.
In 2001 this weekend Jurassic Park III opened with £4,762,155. In 1999 Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace £9,512,295; in 1998 Godzilla £4,176,960; in 1997 The Lost World: Jurassic Park £5,700,000; in 1995 Batman Forever £4,714,153; in 1993 Jurassic Park £4,875,137; in 1992 Batman Returns £2,774,796; in 1991 Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves £5,709,845; in 1990 Back to the Future Part III £3,850,830; in 1989 Licence to Kill £3,171,415
Next weekend in 2019 (£19,106,503) Top three took 77.9% (£14,899,487) of the top 10; The Lion King 55.8% (£10,660,287); Toy Story 3 13.2%) (£2,525,047) Spider-Man: Far From Home 8.9% (£1,714,153); The Lion King £10,660,287 down 36.1% 2nd week #1 713 screens.
US Box Office
- Space Jam: A New Legacy – Warner Bros
Opened with $31.05m; received mixed reviews (31% Rotten Tomatoes) and A- CinemaScore.
Took $13.1m from Friday didn’t have any Thursday previews.
Ahead of release it was expected to open between $18m-$24m with Black Widow holding #1 but Black Widow dropped more than expected and despite negative reviews and being available freely on HBO Max Space Jam: A New Legacy opened more than expected.
SambaTV reported 2.1m households watched Space Jam: A New Legacy on HBO Max over the weekend would be another $60m in BO (if each household was four people) compared to 1.1m for Black Widow opening weekend on Disney+ Premier.
It was surprising Warner Bros made a sequel to Space Jam for many reasons, it is 25 years after the first film was released, while the film was a big hit (at that time) in 1996 in the US opening with $26.52m ($48m inflation inflated) taking $90.41m ($160m inflation inflated) and $230.51m worldwide $398m inflation inflated); Space Jam received slightly better reviews (44% Rotten Tomatoes) but harder to comparing ratings as the older the film the lower the ratings often gets.
Many reviews have compared it to The Emoji Movie, but it received far better reviews, The Emoji Movie received 7% Rotten Tomatoes, opened with $24.53m in July 2018 taking $86.08m in the US and $217.77m worldwide.
And other films including 2012’s Wreck-It Ralph opened $49.03m taking $189.42m in the US and $471.2m worldwide. 2018’s Ralph Breaks the Internet opened $56.23m taking $201.09m in the US and $529.32m worldwide
2014’s The Lego Movie opened $69.05m taking $257.76m in the US and $468.06m worldwide. 2019’s The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part opened $34.11m taking $105.8m and $192.3m worldwide
2010’s Tron Legacy opened $44.02m taking $172.06m and $4-00.06m worldwide.
2018’s Ready Player One opened $41.76m taking $137.69m taking $482.89m worldwide
It was surprising that Warner repeated the same things many took issue with Ready Player One adding far too many references and cameos of characters from Warner Bros franchises many of which don’t play to the demographic of the film or feel like they belong together in a film, which is what made Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Lego Movie, The Lego Batman Movie and Wreck-It Ralph work so well as they included characters from different franchises that could be part of the same universe.
The opposite to this includes 1992’s Cool World, The Pagemaster, The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle, Monkeybone and The Happytime Murderers, trying to connect multiple universes that shouldn’t be joined.
Opened with $22.1m from 63 territories.
- Black Widow – Disney
Dropped 68% in its second weekend taking $25.87m and $131.6m.
Had the biggest second-weekend drop of the MCU; previous highest drops Spider-Man: Homecoming (-62.25); Ant-Man and the Wasp (-61.6%); Captain America: The First Avenger (-60.7%); The incredible Hulk (-60.1%)
21st biggest MCU second weekend only Captain America: The First Avenger ($25.55m) Ant-Man ($24.9m); The Incredible Hulk ($22.13m).
But all were very different MCU films to Black Widow, The Incredible Hulk opened a month after Iron Man and wasn’t part of the MCU at the time of release made by Universal Pictures, Captain America: The First Avenger was one of the launch films opening two months after Thor, while Ant-Man was a very different MCU film more like an 80s Disney family film.
While Black Widow was the 24th MCU film the franchise had built up a huge fanbase, but Black Widow was always likely to be front-loaded and made 5 years too late was only likely to play to fans like Rogue One and Han Solo. Black Widow was telling a story most people didn’t need to be explained in a two-hour film.
Exhibitors predictably have a different idea that as it was also available to Disney+ Premier that stopped people from seeing it in cinemas, but the issue there as has been the case with all summer films is that they are playing to the 15-34 demographic who are fickle, they will rush out to see a film over opening weekend and by next weekend they are on to the next.
It’s interesting when Universal Pictures was forced to release Trolls World Tour on PVOD in April 2020 AMC and Regal immediately said they wouldn’t book any of their films, but when Disney announced plans first to release theatrical releases to Disney+ and then same time in movie theatres with Cruella, Black Widow and Jungle Cruise there were murmurings of anger but no threats of boycott.
The response from NATO was predictable blaming Black Widow’s heavy second-week drop on being released on Disney+ and piracy, asking how a well-received, well-reviewed MCU film drops off so much, the reason was two-fold.
As seen by all other blockbusters released this year they are all targeted to the same audience demographic 16-34 who have been the majority returning to movie theatres since they reopened. They will normally rush out to see the latest film over the opening weekend and then move on to the next film. The big drop off is normally replaced by older audiences who don’t rush out to see the latest films but as they aren’t going to movie theatres these films are dropping off much faster.
The other reason is Black Widow was always likely to be more front-loaded similar to Star Wars Anthology Solo and Rogue One as would struggle to play beyond fans and the film came 65 years too late for many others as they have seen it all before better in many other films, with Scarlett Johansson in Lucy and with the plot the Bourne film series and Red Sparrow.
The exhibitors have said Black Widow should have opened with $110m+, this is correct in normal circumstances but despite exhibitors thinking differently these are far from normal, as seen previously by F9 and A Quiet Place Part 2, both would have also taken $100m+ in normal conditions. Interestingly, exhibitors have singled out Black Widow issues with piracy but F9 have far bigger issues having been released in Asia a month before the US where most piracy comes from. F9 was available illegally online a month before its US release.
If Disney+ was the reason then surely Space Jam: A New Legacy would have opened much lower as it was available free only HBO Max while Black Widow cost $29.99. Saying that Space Jam 2 will likely have a similar big drop off next week as Black Widow, F9, A Quiet Place Part 2 and Cruella.
SambaTV reported 2m watched Black Widow In the US on Disney+ with 1.1m in its first weekend and 900k in its second weekend, these numbers are similar to those who watched the last episodes of Loki (1.9m); The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (1.7m) and WandaVision (1.4m) but this is only 5% of Disney+ 40m+ subscribers in the US so you do wonder what subscribers are watching.
The problem with streaming services no real viewing figures are released and what is created by algorithms similar to Nielsen and BARB TV ratings in the US and UK. While admissions in cinemas are similar as they just use an average ticket price and divide that with its box office but as ticket prices differ across the country and in each cinema it’s impossible to get an actual figure.
The question for NATO and exhibitors is talk is cheap what they are going to do, some international exhibitors boycotted Black Widow but all that does is cut off their nose to spite their face as they will be the only loser if they threaten to boycott Disney films especially as Disney has a long memory.
Disney famously banned Los Angeles Times critics in 2017 after they ran a three-part article on Disney’s business links with the city of Anaheim. It became a battle between journalism and censorship with other news organisations supporting Los Angeles Times with The New York Times saying: “A powerful company punishing a news organization for a story they do not like is meant to have a chilling effect…. This is a dangerous precedent and not at all in the public interest.”
The Los Angeles Critics Association, The New York Film Critics Circle, The Boston Society of Film Critics and the US’s National Society of Film Critics said they wouldn’t consider Disney films for awards until the ban was lifted. After the backlash, Disney said, “We’ve had productive discussions with the newly installed leadership at The Los Angeles Times regarding our specific concerns, and as a result, we’ve agreed to restore access to advance screenings for their film critics.”
If exhibitors start a fight with Disney they won’t get universal support as Disney has so much power and the only loser will be them as Disney will just opt to release all their films on Disney+ until they ended the boycott.
477th biggest film in the US between The Last Airbender and Rio 2; 931st biggest inflation inflated between Paranormal Activity and The Wolf of Wall Street and 100th biggest Disney film between Bringing Down the House and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.
By next year, the 30 MCU films will have taken over $10bn at the US box office since 2008.
Dropped 55% taking $29.9m from 48 territories $132m total and $263.8m worldwide; Korea $19.1m; UK $15.6m; France $11.5m; Australia $7.9m; Mexico $7.9m, Russia $7m; Japan $5.6m; Hong Kong $5.1m; Germany $4.6m; Brazil $4.5m; Italy $4.3m; Spain $4.2m.
Took $17.2m in IMAX globally this weekend with $1.8m from the US from 394 screens and took $1.4m from 248 screens internationally and $7m total.
583rd biggest film worldwide between Real Steel and Cinderella (1950); 5th biggest film worldwide in 2021 between Godzilla vs. Kong and A Quiet Place: Part II; 103rd biggest Disney film between Real Steel and Cinderella (1950);
- Escape Room: Tournament of Champions – Sony Pictures
Opened with $8.8m; received mixed reviews (42% Rotten Tomatoes) and B CinemaScore (same as the first film)
Was expected to open high teens but open with half what it was expected despite a very strong marketing campaign and trailer from Sony.
Took $1.2m from Thursday previews comparable to The Forever Purge $1.33m while A Quiet Place Part II‘s took $4.8m but Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It didn’t have Thursday previews.
2017’s Escape Room opened with $18.23m taking $57m and $155.71m worldwide; the original film opened #2 in January against the third weekend of Aquaman, but the sequel opened against Space Jam: A New Legacy and week after Black Widow, would have thought it would have opened over a less crowded period.
Escape Room: Tournament of Champions should have benefited from having trailers with Spiral, A Quiet Place Parts 2, The Conjuring 3 and The Forever Purge and the horror genre has been the one genre performed steadily over the last few months.
Took $3.4m internationally from 18 territories and $4.5m total.
- F9 – Universal Pictures
Dropped 33% in its fourth weekend taking $7.67m and $154.89m.
358th biggest film in the US between A Quiet Place: Part II and Fantastic Four; 750th biggest film inflation inflated between A Quiet Place: Part II and The Conjuring; 49th biggest Universal Pictures film in the US between Fast & Furious and Neighbors.
$100m US box office for decades used to be a sign of a film’s success at the box office, A Quiet Place Part 2 was the 769th film to do so since Mary Poppins in 1964 took $102,272,727 ($888,106,669 today).
Was always expected F9 would have the biggest post-pandemic opening to date, but as seen elsewhere in the world word of mouth has been mixed and it had big second weekend drops as the film series feels like it has jumped the shark, (saying that many thought the same many films ago) with the film having a space sequence.
Fourth weekends
2001’s The Fast and the Furious dropped 34.2% taking $8.08m and $115.61m taking $144.51m in the US; $206.45m WW
2003’s 2 Fast 2 Furious dropped 43.9% taking $6.22m and $113.9m taking $127.12m in the US; $236.41m WW
2006’s FF: Tokyo Drift dropped 43.2% taking $2.54m and $57.43m taking $62.61m; $157.79m WW
2009’s Fast & Furious dropped 47.3% taking $6.2m and $145.36m taking $155.06m in the US; $359.34m WW
2011’s Fast Five dropped 48.3% taking $10.57m and $186.86m taking $210,03m in the US; $630.16m WW
2013’s Fast and Furious 6 dropped 51.2% taking $9.58m and $219.72m taking $238.67m in the US; $789.3m WW
2015’s Furious 7 dropped 38.9% taking $17.82m and $320.08m taking $353.1m in the US; $1.516bn WW
2017’s The Fate of the Furious dropped 57% taking $8.57m and $207.2m taking $225.76m in the US; $1.236bn WW
2019’s Hobbs & Shaw dropped 43.1% taking $8.06m and $147.62m taking $173.95m in the US; $760.37m WW
The 10 Fast and the Furious films have taken over $1.83bn in the US and over $6.436bn worldwide.
Took $28.64m from 57 territories $436.82m total international and $591.71m worldwide; 37.6% of worldwide box office from China ($203.88m) showing how important it is to the franchise, and how concerning F9 took a third less than The Fate of the Furious as it’s been reported Chinese audiences are getting bored with the repetitive natural of US films.
165th biggest film worldwide between Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace; 3rd biggest film worldwide in 2021 between Tang Ren Jie Tan An 3 (Detective Chinatown 3) and Godzilla vs. Kong; 17th biggest Universal Pictures film worldwide between Mamma Mia! and Fifty Shades of Grey.
F9 will be the lowest-grossing film of the series since 2011’s Fast Five taking $630.16m worldwide. Many will use COVID as an excuse, but it took a third less than The Fate of the Furious in China which after a record-breaking Chinese New Year is close to normal. 18 months ago.
- The Forever Purge – Universal Pictures
Dropped 45% in its third weekend taking $4.11m and $35.86m.
2,425th biggest film in the US between The Theory of Everything and Taps; 3.395th biggest inflation inflated between Did You Hear About the Morgans? And Victory; 309th biggest Universal; Pictures film between The Boy Next Door and Changeling.
Third weekends
2013’s The Purge dropped 56.9% taking $3.58m and $59.6m taking $64.47m
2014’s The Purge: Anarchy dropped 44.2% taking $5.85m and $63.26m taking $71.96m
2016’s The Purge: Election Year dropped 50.1% taking $6.18m and $71.1m taking $79.21m.
2018’s The First Purge dropped 45.2% taking $5.1m and $60.31m taking $67.56m
The five films have taken $300m in the US and almost $475m worldwide; the budgets for all five films were under $20m and the film series has been very profitable for Universal Pictures.
Took $3.69m from 37 territories $12.44m total and $40.41m worldwide; has further expansion internationally in August; apart from 2018’s The First Purge the film series hasn’t been as successful internationally with the US taking over 65% of the box office.
- The Boss Baby: Family Business – Universal Pictures
Dropped 47% in its third weekend taking $4.73m and $44.65m.
185th biggest animated film in the US between Smurfs: The Lost Village and The Fox and the Hound; 1,969th biggest film in the US between The Artist and Meet Joe Black; 2,946th biggest inflation inflated between The Presidio and The Fly II; 258th biggest Universal Pictures film between Timecop and Meet Joe Black.
2017’s The Boss Baby dropped 39.3% in its third weekend taking $16.01m and $116.79m 66.7% of $175m in the US and $527.96m worldwide.
The Boss Baby: Family Business starts its stagged international release next week in South Korea and then openings in other countries between August and October, opening in the UK in October, due to The Croods A New Age being delayed 7 months from December 2020 to July 2021 due to UK cinemas being closed.
It was due to open on September 17, but in May Universal Pictures brought forward its release date to July 2nd to boost subscriptions on its streaming site Peacock, similar to what both Disney and Warner have done several times over the last year to boost their subscribers on Disney+ and HBO Max.
The only issue with Universal, Warner and Paramount doing this is their streaming services aren’t currently global.
Taken $3.69m from 8 small territories.
Dropped 29% in its eighth weekend taking $2.38m and $154.96m.
Was released on PVOD on 12th July showing that the shortened window had no impact at all on people wanting to see the film in cinemas, so exhibitors claiming shortened theatrical window would damage the box office was predictably wrong.
This is exactly how a cinema release should be that the film is still playing in cinemas when it’s released on VOD, as it used to often be 20 years ago when films would play in cinemas for more than twice as long and films would be released on video and DVD while they were still playing in theatres. It will be interesting to see Monday’s box office for A Quiet Place Part 2.
SambaTV reported 521k US householders watched it on Paramount+ over its first week for free
Paramount Pictures had the last film to take $100m at the US box office before the pandemic, Sonic the Hedgehog in February 2020 and they also have had the first film to take over $100m.
A Quiet Place Part 2 opened with $47.54m similar to the first film $50.2m was celebrated by the industry but in normal circumstances would expect the sequel to open more than the original and opening over Memorial Day weekend could have opened up to $100m. All films that have opened since July have taken at least 30% less than they should have done it’s this short-sightedness that will mean Western box office will take much longer to return to normal levels than Asia.
With COVID cases on the increase again in the US and the rest of the world but without the same restrictions in many places this will make many older demographics much more hesitant to return to the cinema anytime soon. All these summer films are all targetting similar audiences but later this year there will be films targetting older audiences.
2018’s A Quiet Place dropped 38.3% in its eighth weekend taking $2.43m and $180.13m 95.8% of $188.02m (3.7x opening) and $341m worldwide.
357th biggest film between Over the Hedge and F9; 750th biggest inflation inflated film between 3 Men and a Little Lady and F9 and 48th biggest Paramount Pictures film between Over the Hedge and Beverly Hills Cop II; (106th $100m+ film since Love Story (1970).
Took $1.2m from 44 territories taking $130.6m and $260.25m worldwide; 7% ahead of A Quiet Place with 11 territories still to open.
592nd biggest film worldwide between Real Steel and Cinderella (1950); 5th biggest film 2021 film worldwide between Black Widow and Cruella; 73rd biggest Paramount Pictures film worldwide between The Truman Show and Super 8.
UK Box Office Top 10
UK Box Office Preview
Cooler temperatures and the start of the summer holidays should see box office increase from last weekend’s hot weather should see both Space Jam: A New Legacy and The Croods: A New Age have small drops
While M. Night Shyamalan’s Old will open #1 as his other films early reaction has been mixed comparing it to both Unbreakable and The Happening.
Unbreakable opened December 2000 with £2,004,890 (£3,412,870 inflation inflated) taking £11,222,712 (inflation inflated £19,563,228)
The Sixth Sense opened November 1999 with £4,792,296 (£8,730,858 inflation inflated) taking £25,407,279 (£46,288,321 inflation inflated).
Signs opened September 2002 with £3,767,713 (£6,578,128 inflation inflated) taking £16,084,656 (£28,082,535 inflation inflated)
The Village opened August 2004 with £2,945,763 (£4,913,979 inflation inflated) taking £9,980,280 (£16,648,619 inflation inflated)
The Happening opened June 2008 with £1,632,055 (£2,350,787 inflation inflated) taking £3,895,001 (£5,610,300 inflation inflated)
After Earth opened in June 2013 with £2,249,532 taking £6,137,273
The Visit opened in September 2015 with £1,031,292 taking £2,805,591.
Split opened January 2017 with £2,548,516 taking £11,018,069.
Glass opened in January 2019 with £3,423,380 taking £9,646,964.
With 50% ending on Monday along with social distancing will we finally see the pent-up demand exhibitors have been talking about for the last 15 months and see Black Widow and other films not have big drops. But despite a return to “normal” box office is likely to remain soft until September that is if No Time To Die still opens and if by then COVID passports might be mandatory.
Opening in two weeks
- The Suicide Squad – Warner Bros
Sequel to 2016’s Suicide Squad and the tenth film in the DC Extended Universe featuring ensemble cast Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman, Sylvester Stallone, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, and Peter Capaldi and written and directed by James Gunn.
David Ayer was set to direct the Suicide Squad sequel in March 2016 but a few months later opted to develop a Gotham City Sirens film instead. Warner Bros hired James Gunn in October 2018 after being temporarily fired by Marvel Studios as the director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
It’s released in the UK a week earlier than the US where it will be released theatrically and on HBO Max as all of Warner Bros films this year. It was a surprising decision for Warner to open it a week earlier in the UK as it meant opening against Jungle Cruise, but since cinemas reopened a year ago studios are making many strange dating decisions. Maybe it’s because that was the same date Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 1 opened in 2014 or just because their AI system tells them that it’s the best date to open, it would be if it wasn’t for Jungle Cruise.
The trailers have given the film a Guardians of the Galaxy vibe to them, receiving a positive response, the first (red band) released on March 26th viewed 150m+ times within a week, breaking the record previously held by the trailer for Mortal Kombat. A second green band trailer was released on April 1st playing with Godzilla vs. Kong screenings in the US, with another released on June 22nd pretending that it had been leaked days before release.
Despite receiving poor reviews 2016’s Suicide Squad opened with £11,209,442 having the sixth biggest opening of the year after Star Wars: Rogue One (£17,305,011); Fantastic Beasts (£15,333,146); Batman Vs Superman (£14,621,007); Captain America: Civil War (£14,466,681); Deadpool (£13,729,803) and the 5th biggest opening without previews behind Fantastic Beasts; Batman Vs Superman; Captain America: Civil War; Star Wars: Rogue One.
It was also the third biggest DC opening after Batman Vs Superman £14.62m and The Dark Knight Rises £14.36m opening similar to both Man of Steel and The Dark Knight.
Taking 33.9% of its total box office over opening weekend, dropped 62.3% in its second weekend taking £4,241,508 and £22,214,243 66.9% of £33,191,023 total BO.
It was very front-loaded taking £4.7m on Friday 41% of its opening weekend similar to Batman Vs Superman 43.57% compared to Captain America: Civil War taking 32.49% from Friday.
The one positive The Suicide Squad has is like 2016’s Suicide Squad it has several weeks before the next blockbuster opens after a busy three weeks of new releases, that said it will play to an older audience as it’s like to get a 15 as Suicide Squad got in 2016, so plays to a very different audience to all those other summer releases. Despite poor reviews still stayed #1 for two weeks, was in the top 5 for 5 weeks and top 10 for 6 weeks.
With The Suicide Squad opening against Jungle Cruise, it’s unlikely to repeat that despite probably being far better received critically and by fans.
The early Twitter reaction has been positive but as always have to take these comments with a pinch of salt as are written immediately after seeing the film with emotions at the highest so views are extremely biased, and reviews written a few hours or days later will often have a very different response.
How and where they see the film also has a part to do in what they think of a film immediately afterwards as often happens when films don’t have an embargo with critics able to write reviews immediately after the screening ends, as it seems like critics want to be the first review studios see and as with Skyfall and Spectre the poster quote.
The opposite happened with The Greatest Showman Fox screened the film in early December but had an embargo until close to its opening and critics had time to scrutinize it while cinemagoers just enjoyed it for what it was, why there were many very snobbish snooty reviews for the film. Fortunately for the studio most ignored those reviews and went by word of mouth which is always the most important.
With a film like The Suicide Squad how critics watched the film has a massive impact on their reaction as seen with the exhibitor screening of Kick-Ass which received a poor reception from exhibitors when they first screened it, but then they invited exhibitors to a second screening with comic-book fans and exhibitors reaction was totally different. As is the case with a film like The Suicide Squad if critics watch it alone with only critics reaction would be very different to an audience filled with comic-book fans.
In normal conditions would expect an opening of £6m+ but these aren’t normal conditions, and The Suicide Squad doesn’t have the weekend to itself opening against Jungle Cruise, but as it’s a 15 will play to an older audience, which could be positive or a negative. So, looking at opening closer to £4m-£5m over its 4 days opening similar to Aquaman, Ant-Man and The Wasp, X-Men, Batman Forever, The Wolverine, Batman Begins, Superman Returns, The Mask. Shazam and Ant-Man
- Jungle Cruise – Disney
Fantasy adventure based on the 1955 Disneyland theme park ride, starring Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Édgar Ramírez, Jack Whitehall, Jesse Plemons, Paul Giamatti and directed by Jaume Collet-Serra based on Disney’s theme park attraction of the same name; it will be released on July 30th in cinemas and Disney+ Premier Access as Black Widow.
Jungle Cruise has been compared to Romancing of the Stone by both Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt with mystical Pirates of the Caribbean elements
It used to be theme park rides that would be the basis of films, but Disney went the other way with their theme park rides, but while a ride lasts for minutes it’s harder to turn it into a feature-length film.
It’s the sixth Disney film based on a theme park ride after the Pirates of the Caribbean five-film series (between 2003 and 2017); 2003’s The Haunted Mansion, 2000’s Mission to Mars, 2002’s The Country Bears and 2015’s Tomorrowland.
While Disney had huge success with Pirates of the Caribbean films the others based on theme park rides weren’t as successful and Disney and after 2002’s The Country Bears Disney ended their plans to make anymore. Disney did make Tomorrowland probably to get Brad Bird to direct Incredibles 2 a few years later, as the film was a film he had wanted to make for many years and is very much a Disney family film of old, but it failed to find an audience in cinemas.
Jungle Cruise was first announced in 2011 to star Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, in 2015 it was developed to star Dwayne Johnson and director Jaume Collet-Serra was attached to the project in July 2017.
Was originally set to open on October 11th, 2019, but when Maleficent 2 was moved there in July 2018 and delayed to July 24, 2020, delayed again in April 2020 to July 2021 due to COVID.
Jungle Cruise could go either way Dwayne Johnson is very popular and pairing up with Emily Blunt it could be similar to Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz in The Mummy in 1999 opened with £3,771,429 (£6,467,866 inflation inflated) taking £17,439,339 (£29,907,845 inflation inflated).
In 2001 The Mummy Returns opened with £5,929,146 (£10,340,201 inflation inflated) taking £20,390,060 (£35,559,477 inflation inflated); The Mummy box office is similar to Jumanji Welcome to The Jungle and Jumanji: The Next Level box office.
Of course, the question will be if exhibitors decide to boycott the film as many did for Black Widow and after NATO’s angry email blaming its big drop in its second weekend due to being released on Disney+ same day causing piracy.
- Spirit Untamed – Universal Pictures
Animated adventure sequel produced by DreamWorks Animation featuring voices of Isabela Merced, Jake Gyllenhaal, Marsai Martin, Mckenna Grace, Julianne Moore, Walton Goggins, and Eiza González and directed by Elaine Bogan.
A spin-off of 2002’s Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (opened July with £719,681 (£1,255,096 inflation inflated) including £203,571 previews #3 behind The Minority Report #1 (£4,506,315) and Spider-Man (£1,452,348) taking £1,691,098 (£2,949,210 inflation inflated)
It was also based on its popular Netflix animated spin-off television series Spirit Riding Free.
Will play to younger children through summer holidays along with The Paw Patrol Movie opening in two weeks.
Received mixed reviews (45% Rotten Tomatoes) opened in the US in June opening with $6.3m taking $17.4m in the US and $27.3m worldwide.
- The Sparks Brothers – Universal Pictures
Documentary directed by Edgar Wright. The film is about Ron and Russell Mael, members of the pop and rock duo Sparks; had its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.
After the Sundance Film Festival, Focus Features acquired US rights and Universal Pictures international.
Received critical acclaim (95% Rotten Tomatoes)
Opens Sundance Film Festival: London on July 30th with screenings across the country.
The Sparks Brothers is the first of two films directed by Edgar Wright opening this year with Last Night in Soho opening in October (originally due for release last year but delayed due to COVID.
cigarette burns and missed changeovers 