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| Author | Zoe Aresti |
The Weekend Round-up
Finding Nemo is one of Pixar’s most beloved titles so when it announced that a sequel was on the way, it became one of the most anticipated family films in years. Finding Dory finally opened on Friday and its £8.1m opening weekend is the second highest Friday to Sunday total for a Pixar title, behind Toy Story 3, which opened with £11.5m in 2010. It’s the biggest opening weekend for an animated film in 2016, eclipsing The Secret Life Of Pets’ £5.9m back in June. Toy Story 3 is still the highest-grossing animated title of all time in the UK, with £74m.
Jason Bourne opened in second with £7.6m, which included £2.3m from Wednesday and Thursday previews. While that beats the £6.6m The Bourne Ultimatum opened with, that was a Friday to Sunday total, so it’s slightly down on that. It is a big improvement on the opening weekend for The Bourne Legacy though, which delivered £4.6m, which included four days of previews worth £2.5m, after opening on a Monday.
Last week’s top film, The BFG, dropped 36% in third to £3.4m. It did have a very strong midweek last week though and after 10 days in cinemas has now banked £14.5m.
Star Trek Beyond had a tough weekend in the face of Jason Bourne, dropping 51% to £2.3m, for a 10-day total of £10.2m. It is going to fall well short of the £21.4m the re-booted Star Trek delivered in 2009.
The Secret Life Of Pets rounded out the top five, adding £730k and crossing the £30m mark in the process. It now sits on £30.5m and is the fifth 2016 release to pass £30m.
Outside of the top five, Ghostbusters crossed the £9m mark in sixth and Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie has crossed the £15m mark in ninth.
Overall the box office was up 34% from last weekend and up 66% from the same weekend last year, when the top four films were Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation, Inside Out, Southpaw and Ant-Man.
Next Weekend
Suicide Squad is DC Comics’ second big title of the year, after Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and it’s the most-buzzed about film of the summer, which will hopefully translate into a big opening weekend. Margot Robbie stars as Harley Quinn, who leads a team of imprisoned supervillains who are recruited by a secret government agency to execute dangerous black ops missions in exchange for clemency. It’s the only major release this weekend, which tells you how big the rest of the distributors think it could be.
The Buzz
Bad Moms is a raucous comedy starring Mila Kunis, Kathryn Hahn and Kristen Bell as three overworked and under-appreciated mums who ditch their conventional responsibilities for a jolt of long overdue freedom, fun, and comedic self-indulgence. It opened on Friday in the US and grossed a decent $23.4m (see below). It’s also had some strong reviews, with Variety calling it ‘a fitfully hilarious satire’ and Entertainment Weekly calling it ‘one of the funniest movies of the year - and one of the most necessary.’ It’s out in the UK on 26 August.
Across The Pond
Jason Bourne opened in the top spot with $59.2m, which is a big improvement on the $38.1m The Bourne Legacy opened with in 2012. However, it was behind the $69.2m that the last Matt Damon Bourne film, Ultimatum, opened with in 2007.
Last weekend’s number one film, Star Trek Beyond, fell a chunky 58% in second to $24.7m. That takes its 10-day total to $106.4m, and it is certain to fall well short of Star Trek Into Darkness’ final total of $228.8m.
Bad Moms opened in third with $23.8m, and the audience was predominantly female (82%) and 48% of the overall audience was over the age of 34. The Secret Life Of Pets added $18.9m in fourth and closed in on the $300m mark, finishing the weekend on $296.9m. Lights Out rounded out the top five, adding $10.8m, bringing its total to $42.9m.