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| Author | Mia Blakeney |
Box Office Round-up
On an incredible weekend for the box office, the biggest of the year to date, Moana 2 opened in the top spot with a huge £12m, the third highest opening of the year to date, behind only Wicked last weekend (£13.7m) and Deadpool & Wolverine in July (£12.6m). In recent years, the first Moana has become the most popular film on streaming, but when it first opened in UK cinemas in December 2016 it only opened with £2.2m, so this sequel has improved upon that by almost £10m. The first film finished on £20.7m but this sequel will have surpassed that by this time next week. In terms of animated films this year, Moana 2 has also opened ahead of Inside Out 2 which opened with £11.3m in June and went on to become the biggest film of the year-to-date with £59.2m.
After posting the biggest opening weekend of the year last weekend, Wicked followed it up with a terrific hold, falling 39% to £8.4m. That takes its total after just 10 days in cinemas to a huge £28.5m, making it the fifth biggest film of the year-to-date and with Christmas still three weeks away, there’s so much more to come. 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 is currently tracking for a similar total. The initial Film Monitor data suggests that Wicked has already delivered over 8 16-34 adult TVRs to date.
Gladiator II added £2.5m in third, a drop of 47% from last weekend, which is pretty healthy considering the competition from Wicked and Moana 2. After three weekends in cinemas, Gladiator II is up to £23.6m, and the target is still the £31.3m the first Gladiator finished its run with in 2000. With the Christmas holidays ahead, there’s a good chance Gladiator II gets there. The initial Film Monitor data suggests that Gladiator II has delivered 7 16-34 adult TVRs.
On its fourth weekend Paddington In Peru took a bit of a tumble, falling 57% to £1.8m. That takes its total after twenty-four days in cinemas to £27.3m, which makes it’s the sixth biggest film of 2024 to date, and it still looks on track for a similar total to Paddington 2 (£42.7m).
Rounding out the top five, papal-thriller Conclave opened with £1.1m, which includes £179k from previews. This is a film that is expected to feature heavily in the BAFTA and Oscar nominations in January, so it could be in cinemas for a while.
Outside of the top five, Indian drama and Cannes prize winner All We Imagine As Light opened in seventh with £111k, which includes £60k from previews. Classic Christmas films are back too, as the 20th anniversary re-release of The Polar Express opened in ninth with £84k (including £34k from previews), while Elf opened in 12th with £51k.
Next Weekend
Pushpa 2 – The Rule is a sequel to the hit Telugu-language action-drama. The clash is on as Pushpa and Bhanwar Singh continue their rivalry in this epic conclusion to the two-parted action drama. It’s in cinemas from Wednesday.
Nightbitch stars Amy Adams in the latest film from Marielle Heller (A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood, Can You Ever Forgive Me). A woman pauses her career to be a stay-at-home mom, but soon her domesticity takes a surreal turn.
Solo Leveling - ReAwakening is an anime and the follow-up to Solo Leveling. Over a decade after 'gates' connecting worlds appeared, awakening 'hunters' with superpowers, weakest hunter Sung Jinwoo encounters a double dungeon and accepts a mysterious quest, becoming the only one able to level up, changing his fate.
The Buzz
The Amateur is a tense drama starring Rami Malek in his first lead role since winning an Oscar for playing Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody. Malek plays a CIA cryptographer who manages to blackmail his agency into training him to let him go after a group of terrorists who killed his wife. This is the second big screen feature for director James Hawes who had big success earlier this year with Anthony Hopkins drama One Life, and has directed several episodes of Slow Horses on Apple TV. The supporting cast for The Amateur is high quality, and features Laurence Fishburne, Caitríona Balfe, Jon Bernthal and Rachel Brosnahan. It’s one of the best films for ABC1 adults in Q2 when it hits cinemas on 11 April.
Across The Pond
On a historic Thanksgiving weekend for the box office, Moana 2, Wicked and Gladiator II drove the box office to a huge five-day total of over $420m, the biggest ever for the Thanksgiving holiday. Moana 2 opened in the top spot, and in just five days has banked a ridiculous $225.2m. Wicked posted a sensational hold in second, adding $118.2m across the five days for a new total of $263.1m. Gladiator II added $44.3m for the five-day weekend which takes its total to over $111m. Red One had a good three-day weekend, adding $12.9m, a drop of just 3% from last weekend, which takes its total to $76.1m. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever rounded out the top five, adding £3.3m for the three-day weekend for a new total of $32m.