This weekend
Major release
- 10 Cloverfield Lane – Paramount Pictures
Micro budget film was originally produced by Paramount’s Insurge Pictures under the title The Cellar shot in 2014 was then changed to Valencia.
In January audiences for 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi were surprised to see the trailer which has been described by J.J. Abrams as a blood relative of Cloverfield but many have speculated that the film became the Cloverfield sequel during post-production as those who had seen a test screening of Valencia say that had nothing to do with Cloverfield.
J.J Abrams has recently said the film doesn’t include the Cloverfield monster which has left many speculate it isn’t the Cloverfield sequel many are expecting. J.J Abrams also said he had plans for a third film.
The film has had a similar viral marketing campaign as Cloverfield with a five versions of the trailer screened with Deadpool all having one subliminal frame making them different that was sent to different exhibitors in the US.
Has received positive reviews but many have mentioned that it only becomes the Cloverfield sequel in the final third which must show the film was morphed into 10 Cloverfield Lane from Valencia during post production. The question is will this be enough for audiences who are expecting it to be the Cloverfield sequel its being promoted as the film received B- CinemaScore its likely it will be very front-loaded as Cloverfield was many are celebrating its success in the US but this will only be the case if it holds strongly in the coming weeks which is doubtful.
Since its opening last Friday in the US there have been many articles cheerleading its marketing which was squeezed in less than 3 months compared to many films which have marketing campaigns two years or more to their release. It shows again how Jekyll and Hyde Paramount Pictures marketing department is when they have time they create the horrible marketing campaign that is Terminator: Genisys and Star Trek Beyond when they have less time to think they come up with Mission Impossible Rogue Nation.
Was originally dated for April before being brought forward to open day and date with the US but then was surprisingly pushed back a week as audiences will need to avoid looking at social media for a week to avoid spoilers. These films are often very front loaded with audiences wanting to see the film before spoilers are leaked so delaying film by a week makes little sense?
Cloverfield opened February 1st 2008 with £3,485,956 going on to take £9.5m.
Also released
- High-Rise – Studiocanal
Sci-fi action thriller starring Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Miller, Luke Evans, Elisabeth Moss, James Purefoy and Keeley Hawes and directed by Ben Wheatley based on novel by J.G. Ballard. Receiving its premiere last September at Toronto Film Festival and then n October at the London Film Festival receiving positive reviews over the last month the film has toured the UK hosted by stars and the director holding Q&As afterwards.
Ben Wheatley’s last film A Field in England had a unique cinema, Film 4 TV, DVD, and VOD release in July 2013 taking £21,400 from 17 cinemas and 367,000 watching on Film 4, selling 11,000 DVDs and 1200 from Film4OD.
His Sightseers opening in November 2012 also by Studiocanal had a regular theatrical releasing opening with £213,000 from 92 screens compared to his 2011 Kill List opening with £88,000 from 47 screens.
- Risen – Sony Pictures
Biblical drama directed by Kevin Reynolds starring Joseph Fiennes, Tom Felton and Peter Firth has been described as a sort of sequel to The Passion of the Christ opening almost 12 years to its opening (which took £10.6m in the UK). Started limited release with £229,426 (is more likely the opening Risen will have wide) rather than its £2,019,935 when it went wide two weeks later.
25 years ago Kevin Reynolds directed Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves which was a massive success taking almost $400m worldwide and Bryan Adams song (Everything I Do) I Do It for You was number 1 in the UK for 16 weeks still the longest ever in British chart history) and film took £20.1m at the box office. But he followed it up with Rapa Nui in 1994 and Waterworld in 1995 similar to Kevin Costner the 20 years since haven’t been as successful for the director who has made few films since.
Similar to directors Martin Brest who directed the massive 2003 flop Gigli and Michael Lehmann who made the equally terrible 1991 flop Hudson Hawk the director gets stuck with the flop while the acting talent seems to move on from it far easier. As it is now Oscar winner Ben Affleck rather than Gigli actor saying that Jennifer Lopez has found it much harder to go on with her acting career many critics saying her performance in Jersey Girl which opened a year later also starring Ben Affleck was her best role as she died very early on. But the film itself was a rather fun cute film with a great cameo from Will Smith.
- The Boy – Entertainment
Psychological horror which received mixed reviews in the US opening disappointingly likely to do similarly in the UK especially opening a week after The Witch which was received far more positively.
- Rock the Kasbah – Sony Pictures
Comedy drama featuring a strong ensemble cast Bill Murray, Bruce Willis, Zooey Deschanel, Kate Hudson, Scott Caan, Danny McBride and Kelly Lynch and directed by Barry Levinson.
After Barry Levinson directed many classic 80s films including Diner, Rain Man and Good Morning Vietnam it’s sadly been almost 20 years since he has directed a good film Wag the Dog and Sleepers telling a fictional (at the time was meant to be factual) similar story of Spotlight.
After receiving negative reviews, it opened October 23rd with the fifth worse ever opening of a film opening in over 2,000 screens similar to Jem and the Holograms that also opened s its seems crazy for it as Jem to have a theatrical release as its likely to open similar to Jem’s £8,869.
Out next week
Major release
- Batman Vs Superman Dawn of Justice – Warner Bros
Second instalment of DC Extended Universe which started with 2013’s Man of Steel directed by Zack Snyder and starring Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Jeremy Irons, Holly Hunter, and Gal Gadot.
Was originally set for release July 17th 2015 delayed to May 6th which would have seen it open against Captain America: Civil War brought forward to March 25th to avoid the films going head to head.
Last year there was friendly rivalry between Star Wars The Force Awakens and Batman Vs Superman when Zack Snyder posted pictures of a Stormtrooper being put into a Gotham police car and Henry Cavill wearing a Jedi robe holding a lightsabre. Star Wars hit back attaching a tiny little Tumbler from the Dark Knight trilogy to the bottom of the Millennium Falcon. Ben Affleck revealed the reason behind rivalry was down to camera operator Colin Anderson who worked on both The Town and Argo and also with J.J. Abrams on many of his films.
First trailer was released in April 2015, second trailer at Comic Con, third trailer in December 2015 with the final trailer released last month. The tone has lightened over the trailers to make it much more accessible. A final Korean trailer was released today
Early buzz was strong but an article on Hitfix started a rumour Warner Bros were nervous but this was more as the film has a $400m budget and is the start of a massive franchise has huge pressure on it to be a massive success far bigger than Man of Steel or any of the Christopher Nolan The Dark Knight trilogy. Article did say the two standouts are Ben Affleck as Batman were and Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor the latest rumour has Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman steals the film as she did in she did in the trailers.
Massive question is how will it open after the surprise opening of Deadpool of £13.79m an opening similar to last year’s Avengers Age of Ultron £17.99m would be expected but had the weekend to itself with no major films opening against it and also had extra days of previews and was a shorter film.
There is a lot riding on the success of Batman Vs Superman which is the reason why buzz has been muted recently it’s been three years since Man of Steel opened with £11.2m while Batman Begins opened June 2005 with £4.42m, The Dark Knight opened in July 2008 with £11.19m and The Dark Knight Rises in July 2012 with £14.36m.
Director Zack Snyder has had mixed success at the box office from 300 – March 2007 – £4.76m, Watchmen – March 2009 – £3.24m, Sucker Punch – March 2011 – £814,976. Man of Steel was his most recent film directed.
Warner Bros must have faith in Zack Snyder as has given him directing duties on Justice League double opening in 2017 and 2019 rumoured to have budget of over $500m+ but that compared to a rumoured budget of $1 billion for the two Avengers: Infinity War films set for release in 2018 and 2019.
A supercut has been made from all the footage released to date which is 11 minutes long.
Receives world premiere March 20th in New York with London European premiere on March 22nd.
It will be the first film to be released in 4DX in New York City the technology providing environmental effects synced with the movie, including “motion-activated seats, wind, fog, rain, lightning, vibration, snow, and scents.
Advance sales are outpacing both Deadpool and Avengers Age of Ultron which is about $20-25m similar to 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises was expected to open with about $140m in the US a few weeks ago now likely $180m+ which would come short of 2012’s The Avengers $207.4m and Avengers Age of Ultron $191.2m which it will be likely compared to which is why there is so much pressure on the film.
Research by Movio says the audience profile is predictably 78% male and 14-49 70% of which go to see films in their opening weekend and go to the cinema 3.2 more times than regular US cinemagoers. 57% of the advance sales have been for Thursday night previews and 22% for Friday night.
Wonder Woman shined in the recent trailers will she bring in the female audience. Most comic-book adaptions play more to men than women but DC will be hoping Wonder Woman’s introduction to Batman Vs Superman and her own movie released in 2017 will bring in the female audience as female characters have been lacking in Marvel adaptions.
After the success of Deadpool Warner Bros have plans to release an uncut R-rated Ultimate Edition on Home Entertainment release will be in July to be used to help promote release of Suicide Squad.
Also released
- Zootropolis – Disney
Last March Disney confused many renaming Zootopia to Zootropolis for Europe which will also likely confuse many as will audiences realise Zootopia and Zootropolis are the same film? Disney have a second animated film out in December titled Moana many thought would have its title changed as is first name of Italian Porno actress Moana Pozzi.
The 55th Disney animated feature film features voices of Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman and Shakira who sings new song called Try Everything which Disney will be hoping will repeat the success of Frozen’s Let It Go.
In a scene the heroine bunny police officer named Judy Hopps condescendingly calls a character of another species “articulate” which was reminiscent of a cringe-worthy comment by Joe Biden made about then candidate Barack Obama in 2007.The film also includes pop-culture references about police profiling and workplace discrimination makes it play as well to adults and children.
Faces competition in the UK opening two weeks after Kung Fu Panda 3 part of a successful franchise which was similar to last summer’s Minions Vs Inside Out that also benefited opening the start of summer holidays as Zootropolis opens the day Easter school holidays begin
The original idea for Zootopia was a James Bond parody featuring talking animals featuring a Jack rabbit spy called Jack Savage the film was titled Savage Seas with several other films planned The Savage Chronicles. But then they got rid of the spy plot and concentrated on the animal city plot which became the central plot.
During a recent Q&A event director Rich Moore said they made the decision to switch the narrative focus from Nick Wilde to Judy Hopps during production in order to improve the story. As Nick was too cynical of Zootopia and in the film they wanted the audience to like the world.
Has become the best rated film of 2016 playing as strongly with children as well as adults it has surprisingly received a PG certificate from the BBFC; after received its UK premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival had Idris Elba hosted Gala screening Monday March 7th at Hackney Picturehouse.
Recent Disney animated films opened
Big Hero 6 opened in February 2015 – £4.29m
Frozen opened in December 2013 – £4.7m
Wreck-It Ralph opened February 2013 – £4.53m
As all family films Zootropolis will have weekend previews this Sat/Sun (likely of £1.5m+) which will be added to its opening weekend which should see it have an opening between to Home/Inside Out last year £6.02m- £7.34m.
- My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2– Universal Pictures
Sequel has Nia Vardalos and John Corbett returning for the wedding of their daughter is directed by Kirk Jones who previous directed other surprise hits Waking Ned in 1998 ad Nanny McPhee in 2005.
The original film was a sleeper hit after opening with £1.5m in September 2002 went on to take more than £13.4m despite never topping the charts similar to in the US were it is the highest grossing romantic comedy of all time. It is then surprising it has taken 14 years for a sequel which Universal have kept international rights to.
Whereas first film had strong early buzz has been little for the sequel two massive films its opening against both have their own specific audience so this might not get squeezed out as many might of thought that is if fans know it’s being released but marketing has been very quiet for the film.
Out in two weeks
Major release
- Eddie the Eagle – Lionsgate Films
Sports comedy starring Taron Egerton, Hugh Jackman, Christopher Walken and Jim Broadbent and directed by Dexter Fletcher produced by Mathew Vaughn.
Received its world premiere at Sundance Film Festival receiving very positive reviews. Film has been compared to Cool Runnings, One Chance and Dodgeball full of the inspiration clichés schmaltz and sentimentality that features within the trailers.
After the strong buzz it received it disappointed in the US when it opened last month but should do far better in the UK if audiences can see past the three big releases from last weekend; Receives UK premiere March 17th opening March 28th to give it a 7 day opening during Easter holidays.
Has a big talker screening program to build world of mouth to try to hold its own against the bigger movies. As it is a film audiences will enjoy if they go to see it but the problem in recent years exhibitors won’t give films time to find its audience as with so many films out each week they are quick to pull them for the next big release.
Films like Cool Runnings (took £9.2m in 1994) and Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (took £9.9m in 2004) both were given time to build and find its audience.
These days if they don’t find an audience in its first weekend its unlikely to be around for long.
Last month for the junket in the US Ryan Reynolds interviewed Hugh Jackman
While Eddie the Eagle is a British sports underdog there are countless US sports films made telling similar stories than have made feel good inspirational films.
Sport in the UK is as big as the US but there are fewer inspirational films
In the US
Opening Friday
- Divergent: Allegiant – Lionsgate
Third part of Divergent film series being spilt into two parts as most final chapters have been. Unlike Deathly Hallows, Mockingjay and Breaking Dawn final film is being shot as a separate film and will be directed by Lee Toland Krieger instead of Robert Schwentke who directed first part film’s release was switched with Power Rangers reboot to June 2017 unlike first three which were released in March.
Divergent films have received poor reviews compared with other young adult apocalyptic films with Allegiant receiving negative reviews.
After having a disappointing opening internationally Allegiant is likely to similarly under perform in the US. As with Grimsby opening three weeks after its UK opening it only makes sense opening a film ahead of its US launch if the film is likely to get strong buzz but as last year with Avengers Age of Ultron and Spectre both had lower opening than were expected due to international buzz. Disney opened Zootropolis internationally before US to open with school holidays not impacting on its US opening as buzz was very strong.
Divergent opened March 21 2014 with $54.6m
Insurgent opened March 20th 2015 with $52.2m
- Miracles from Heaven – Sony Pictures
Opening just in time for Easter Christian drama based on the memoir of the same name by Christy Beam. Starring stars Jennifer Garner, Kylie Rogers and Queen Latifah. Sony Pictures had success in recent years with Heaven is Real taking $91.4m in 2014 and War Room taking $67.8m in 2015.
Midnight Special – Warner Bros
Sci-Fi film written and directed by Jeff Nichols starring Adam Driver, Michael Shannon, Kirsten Dunst, and Joel Edgerton. Started shooting in January 2014 was originally dated for release December 2014 before being moved to November 2015 and then to its March date.
Received its premiere at Sundance Film Festival in January and European premiere last month at Berlin receiving very positive reviews. Studios often have problems releasing tiny films like this Fox had success with Chronicle in 2012 but Midnight Special has to cope being sandwiched between 10 Cloverfield Lane and Batman V Superman Dawn of Justice.
- The Bronze – Sony Classics
Comedy drama directed by Bryan Buckley and written by Melissa Rauch. Received its premiere at Sundance Film Festival in 2015 receiving average reviews. US rights were acquired by Relativity Media dated for July 2015 but release was delayed when closed with Sony Classics acquiring it.
cigarette burns and missed changeovers 