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| Author | Mia Blakeney |
Box Office Round-up
Wicked is one of the biggest stage shows of all-time and it’s well on its way to being one of the biggest films of 2024. It opened with a huge £13.7m, the biggest opening weekend of 2024 to date, surpassing Deadpool & Wolverine’s £12.6m. In terms of stage-to-screen musicals, the pinnacle until this weekend was Mamma Mia, which opened with £6.6m on its way to £69m. The sequel Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again opened with £9.7m, on its way to £65.6m. Wicked has opened significantly bigger, but can it match the lifetime totals? Audience scores are terrific and Christmas is a month away, so there’s a chance but there’s some big films on the horizon (Moana 2, Mufasa: The Lion King, Sonic The Hedgehog 3).
Gladiator II added £4.7m on its second weekend, a drop of 46% from last weekend, which is pretty healthy considering the competition from Wicked, and the fact it will have ceded a lot of PLF screens to Wicked. After two weekends in cinemas, Gladiator II is up to £18.5m, and the target is still the £31.3m the first Gladiator finished its run with in 2000.
On its third weekend, Paddington In Peru posted another decent hold falling just 38% to £4.2m. On its third weekend back in July, Despicable Me 4 fell 37% to £3.1m, so that shows how well Paddington In Peru is holding up. After seventeen days in cinemas, it has banked £24.5m and it still looks on track for a similar total to Paddington 2 (£42.7m).
Red One had another solid weekend, falling 38% to £867k. That takes its total after 19 days in cinemas to £5.9m, and it has now surpassed the final total of Dwayne Johnson’s action-thriller Skyscraper, which finished with £5.3m in 2018. As we get closer to Christmas, Red One should be a good option for those that want a Christmas film.
Heretic rounded out the top five, adding £205k, a chunky drop of 59% from last weekend. That takes its total to £5.4m, and it should still have the legs to overtake Speak No Evil’s final total of £5.6m.
Outside of the top five, Polish comedy Listy Do M. 6 (Letters To Santa) opened in ninth with £123k. Listy Do M. 5 finished its run with £256k in 2022 so that’s the target for Listy Do M. 6.
Next Weekend
Moana 2 is the sequel to the biggest film on streaming. After receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors, Moana must journey to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she's ever faced.
Conclave is the latest film from Edward Berger (All Quiet On The Western Front). When Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) is tasked with leading one of the world's most secretive and ancient events, selecting a new Pope, he finds himself at the centre of a conspiracy that could shake the very foundation of the Catholic Church. Isabella Rosselini and Stanley Tucci co-star.
All We Imagine As Light is the Cannes prize winning drama from Payal Kapadia. In Mumbai, Nurse Prabha's routine is troubled when she receives an unexpected gift from her estranged husband. Her younger roommate, Anu, tries in vain to find a spot in the city to be intimate with her boyfriend.
The Polar Express receives a 20th anniversary re-release.
The Buzz
Minecraft is the best-selling video game of all-time and in April it makes the leap to the big screen with A Minecraft Movie. The game has reportedly sold over 300 million copies, has 170 million active players, and the average Minecraft player is a 24-year-old male (source). In the new film, four misfits are suddenly pulled through a mysterious portal into a bizarre, cubic wonderland that thrives on imagination. To get back home, they'll have to master this world while embarking on a quest with an unexpected, expert crafter. The cast includes Jack Black, who has proven a perfect fit for similar material in Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle, and The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and he stars alongside Jason Momoa. It’s in cinemas on 4 April and should be one of the biggest films of H1 2025.
Across The Pond
Wicked and Gladiator II both opened on Friday in North America, and Wicked came out on top with a huge $114m, the third biggest opening weekend of 2024 (behind Deadpool & Wolverine and Inside Out 2). Gladiator II opened in second with $55.5m, but with the Thanksgiving holiday coming this week, there’s plenty more to come. Red One fell to third, adding $13.3m, a drop of 59% from last weekend. That takes its total after two weekends in cinemas to $52.9m. Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin. opened in fourth with $5.1m, while Venom: The Last Dance added $4m in fifth which takes its total to $133.8m.