| Date | |
|---|---|
| Author | Mia Blakeney |
Box Office Round-up
Please note: with Sonic The Hedgehog 3 opening on Saturday, it will be down as opening next week and will appear at the top of next week’s chart.
Mufasa: The Lion King opened in the top spot at the UK box office with £4.4m, the 14th highest opening weekend of 2024. While this is some way down on the £16.7m The Lion King opened with in 2019, there’s plenty of opportunity for Mufasa to draw in audiences across the Christmas period, which is always good for cinema.
Wicked continued its terrific run, falling just 28% to £2.5m. That takes its total after five weekends in cinemas to a huge £48.2m, making it the fourth biggest film of the year-to-date and with the Christmas holidays now here, it should have a bumper two weeks ahead. In terms of stage-to-screen musicals, the pinnacle is Mamma Mia, which finished its run with £69m, and the sequel Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again finished with £65.6m. Wicked will probably fall short of those totals but not by too much. The initial Film Monitor data suggests that Wicked has already delivered over 12 16-34 adult TVRs to date.
Moana 2 added £2.1m, down 43% from last weekend. That takes its total to £29.8m and it is now the seventh highest grossing film of the year, and it’s likely to climb a place or two more before the year is done. The initial Film Monitor data suggests that Moana 2 has already delivered 11 16-34 adult TVRs to date.
On its sixth weekend, Paddington In Peru posted a solid hold, falling 21% to £653k. That’s the best hold in the top 10. It takes its total to £31.3m, which makes it’s the sixth biggest film of 2024 to date. It’s now less than £7m behind the final total of the first Paddington (£38.1m). The initial Film Monitor data suggests that Paddington In Peru has delivered 7 16-34 adult TVRs.
Gladiator II rounded out the top five, adding £498k in third, a drop of 46% from last weekend. After six weekends in cinemas, Gladiator II is up to £29.5m, making it the eighth biggest film of 2024 to date, having just been overtaken by Moana 2. The target is still the £31.3m the first Gladiator finished its run with in 2000, and with the Christmas holidays ahead, it’s going to get there. The initial Film Monitor data suggests that Gladiator II has delivered 8 16-34 adult TVRs.
Outside of the top five, Conclave is £33k away from £5m, capping a great year for distributor Black Bear. The Royal Opera House ballet, The Nutcracker came in seventh with £227k.
Next Weekend
Better Man is a biopic of pop-star Robbie Williams from The Greatest Showman director, Michael Gracey, and Robbie Williams is portrayed as a chimpanzee throughout the film. Yes, it’s bonkers, but it’s also brilliant. It’s in cinemas on Boxing Day.
We Live In Time is a British romantic drama from John Crowley starring Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield. An up-and-coming chef (Pugh) and a recent divorcée (Garfield) find their lives forever changed when a chance encounter brings them together, in a decade-spanning, deeply moving romance. It’s in cinemas on 1 January.
Nosferatu is a new version of the classic vampire horror. A gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman and the terrifying vampire infatuated with her, causing untold horror in its wake. It stars Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult, Bill Skarsgård, and Willem Dafoe. It’s in cinemas on 1 January.
The Buzz
Superman is back in summer 2025. Launching a new era for DC Comics, led by James Gunn, director of the Guardians Of The Galaxy trilogy, the new iteration of Superman stars David Corenswet as Superman / Clark Kent, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor. The first trailer is pleasingly old-fashioned and fun but has plenty of spectacle and Variety are reporting that it’s the most watched trailer launch in DC Comics and Warner Bros’ history with over 250 million views in its first 24 hours. It looks like being a genuine cinematic event next summer and is forecast to deliver 8 16-34 men TVRs. It’s in cinemas on 11 July.
Across The Pond
Sonic The Hedgehog 3 opened in the top spot with a terrific $62m. Mufasa: The Lion King opened in second with $35m. That’s a slightly disappointing figure but there’s plenty of time for it to pull in the crowds across the Christmas period. Wicked came in third, adding $13.5m for a new total of $383.9m. Moana 2 fell to fourth, adding $13.1m, for a new total of $359.1m. Faith-based drama Homestead rounded out the top five, opening with $6.1m.