| Date | |
|---|---|
| Author | Mia Blakeney |
Box Office Round-up
Coming in at the top spot, Smile grossed at a brilliant £1.8m on its opening weekend showing at 519 locations and receiving a number of top reviews from critics. This trauma-inducing horror has proved to be perfect for horror fanatics, becoming the second horror film in September to not only rule the weekend, but also have the best opening of the month. The film achieved high figures across a number of critic websites, in addition to 56% of the audience agreeing that they would ‘definitely recommend it to their friends’, whilst 87% said it either met or exceeded their expectations (Source: FilmSource UK, Comscore UK reports).
It’s comparative Split (2017) delivered £2.5m at the box office on its opening weekend so we are looking a bit behind compared, but considering this film’s plot is better than expected, we can hopefully see this horror gain more and more admissions across the month, especially nearer to Halloween. We originally forecasted £3.4m in total at the box office so hopefully we can see Smile surpass this, which might be likely as we have seen some positive reviews so far:
"The combination of a committed central performance from the increasingly gaunt and haunted Bacon, and a jarring, tortured score, makes for an enjoyably nasty brush with the smiling face of evil." – Wendy Ide, The Observer
"The horror film boasts a strong central performance and, even while its exploration of trauma and mental illness remain at surface-level, the jump-scares and intrigue are haunting enough to keep the story afloat." – Mae Abdulbaki, Screen Rant
"Does what it needs to as a dark, bloody, scary horror that has left a big grin on my face." – Daniel Rutledge
Don’t Worry Darling takes the second spot this week grossing at £1.8m which is a 34% decline week on week. It's currently totalling at £6.1m which is quite strong considering it’s only on its second week and we forecasted UK box office to reach a total of £8.5m, so it should be able to reach this in the next couple of weeks. Thanks to the Styles superfans!
Ticket To Paradise comes in third place this week, seeing a 52% decline grossing at £1.3m, contributing to a cume of £5.1m. This frivolous rom com seems to be doing well so hopefully we can see a few more weeks of ABC1s turning up to the cinema. It’s comparative, The Lost City finished on £10.7m, which also received pretty similar figures across it’s opening two weeks, so hopefully we can see Ticket To Paradise deliver similar figures.
Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris released last Friday grossing at £807k across 661 locations. The film received a number of positive reviews, gaining a brilliant 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, 3/5 The Guardian, 70% on Metacritic and 7.1/10 on IMDB so hopefully this inspires our forecasted audience of ABC1 women to boost the box office figures up over the next few weeks.
The re-release of Avatar takes the 6th spot in the box office, grossing at £734k in it’s second week, a 40% decline compared to last week. As Comscore are treating this as separate release from the original, this week is now contributing to a total of £2.4m. As mentioned last week, these figures are the best for a re-release this year, surpassing Spider-Man: No Way Home’s recent re-release, and the recent re-releases of E.T. and Jaws.
Following this, See How They Run fell to 7th place, adding £318k for a new total of £4.2m. Minions: The Rise of Gru has risen again by 6% this week contributing to a cume of £45.7m and DC League of Superpets comes in at 9th place with £224k, adding to the total of £15.4m.
The box office saw no change from last weekend but is down 68% from the same weekend last year.
Next Weekend
The Woman King – follows the remarkable story of the Agojie, the all-female unit of warriors who protected the African Kingdom of Dahomey in the 1800s with skills and a fierceness unlike anything the world has ever seen.
The Lost King - is the life-affirming true story of a woman who refused to be ignored and who took on the country's most eminent historians, forcing them to think again about one of the most controversial kings in England's history.
Amsterdam - A fascinating and richly intricate tale that brilliantly weaves historical fact with fiction for a timely, cinematic experience.
Vengeance - A radio host from New York City attempts to solve the murder of his girlfriend and travels down south to investigate the circumstances of her death and discover what happened to her.
The Buzz
The long-awaited BFI London Film Festival is just around the corner, hosted at the Southbank Centre from 5th – 16th October. There is a plethora of films we have to look forward to, kicking-off with Matilda The Musical, which stars Emma Thompson, Lashana Lynch and newcomer Alisha Weir. The film comes from Matthew Warchus who is the current artistic director of London’s Old Vic Theatre and who directed the original play working alongside its writer Dennis Kelly and songwriter Tim Minchin on the screen version. Matilda the Musical across the theatre received widespread critical acclaim and box-office popularity winning ‘Best Musical’ across Critic’s Circle Theatre Awards, Theatre Awards UK, Evening Standard’s Awards in 2011 & ‘Best Musical’ Laurence Olivier award in 2012. The original 1996 adaptation of Matilda stole the nation’s hearts and became a family-classic over the years to come, so we can expect the combination of current Matilda the Musical lovers and those who appreciate a nostalgic story will be the driving viewers of this new adaptation.
Other than Matilda the Musical, there are a number of reputable films we have to look forward into, including Decision to Leave, The Whale, Bones and All, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Banshees of Inisherin, Empire of Light, Living and many more. We can also look forward to a number of screen talks from the likes of Jennifer Lawrence, Noah Baumbach, Mia Hansen-Løve, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Janelle Monáe, Bill Nighy and Aubrey Plaza. A big week for film buffs!
Across The Pond
Smile may be full of terror and trauma, but it is the sole bright spot in the box office this weekend, opening to $22 million and coming in first place by a huge margin. This horror nabbed the best opening since Bullet Train nearly two months ago, beating out bigger budget and more hyped titles such as The Woman King and Don't Worry Darling. Last week’s champ Don’t Worry Darling came in second place, following up its respectable $19.4 million opening with a lackluster $7.3 million weekend two. The Woman King took third place with $7 million, down just 36% in its third weekend and bringing its cume to $46.7 million. As expected, the killer word of mouth is leading to strong holds, though it still has a long road to make back its $50 million budget.
The biggest disappointment this weekend came from Universal’s Judd Apatow-produced Bros. The film had a lot going for it, being touted as the first major studio LGBTQ+ rom-com and winning over both critics (91% on Rotten Tomatoes) and audiences (A CinemaScore) alike. Unfortunately, hardly anyone showed up, with the Billy Eichner-starring film grossing just $4.8 million from 3,350 screens. Fifth place went to the re-release of Avatar, which grossed $4.7 million this weekend, down 55% from the last frame. This is a good hold for a re-release, and the post second weekend cume is $19 million domestically and $58 million internationally; the interest here is a great sign for this December’s release of Avatar: The Way of Water, the 13 years in the waiting sequel.