| Date | |
|---|---|
| Author | Mia Blakeney |
Box Office Round-up
This year’s big Christmas film came out of the traps fast this weekend as Wonka opened with a terrific £8.9m, the fourth biggest opening weekend of 2023 (behind Barbie, Oppenheimer and Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3). We haven’t had a film featuring Willy Wonka since Tim Burton’s Charlie And The Chocolate Factory in 2005 and that opened with £8m, finishing on £37.8m. Last year, Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical opened with £4.1m but showed strong legs getting to £28m by the end of its run. Wonka director, Paul King’s last film, Paddington 2 opened with £8.3m in November 2017 and finished its run with £42.6m. Everything is pointing to Wonka finishing comfortably above £40m, maybe above £50m.
Disney’s Wish added £1.1m on its third weekend, a drop of just 22% from last weekend. That takes its total to £5.8m and it will hopefully surpass Encanto’s final total of £8.6m before Christmas.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes fell to third on its fourth weekend, adding £961k, a drop of 43% drop from last weekend. It has now banked a solid £14.8m and, while it looks like being the lowest performing film in The Hunger Games series (the first film finished with £24.1m), it should be in cinemas across the Christmas period which will see it get up towards £20m.
After two weekends in the top spot, Napoleon fell to fourth, adding £951k, a drop of 50% from last weekend. That takes its total after three weekends in cinemas to £11.4m and it has now overtaken House Of Gucci, Scott’s 2021 film, which finished on £10m. It has also now overtaken Martin Scorsese’s Killers Of The Flower Moon, which is currently on £10m.
Saltburn rounded out the top five adding £418k, another strong hold, falling just 29% from last weekend. That takes its total to £4.1m, and although the film had opened much lower than 2022’s The Menu, Saltburn’s consistently strong holds will see it surpass the final total of The Menu today.
Outside of the top five, South Asian release Animal continued its strong run, adding £401k which was enough for sixth. This takes its total after two weekends in cinemas to £1.6m and continues a terrific year for south Asian releases.
Next Weekend
Godzilla Minus One is a new Godzilla film from Toho Studios and their first since 2016’s Shin Godzilla. Set in post-war Japan is at its lowest point when a new crisis emerges in the form of a giant monster, baptized in the horrific power of the atomic bomb. It has been a surprise hit in North America becoming the highest grossing Japanese language film of all-time.
The Buzz
Paddington in Peru is the third film in the beloved series about Michael Bond’s intrepid bear. The first two Paddington films have been predominantly set in London but in this third instalment, Paddington and his adopted family – the Browns – decide to visit his aunt Lucy in Peru. However, circumstances lead them towards misadventures in the Amazon rainforest and mountains of Peru. Ben Whishaw returns to voice Paddington and Olivia Colman and Antonio Banderas have joined that classy cast. Both Paddington films to date have delivered well over 4m DCM admissions from a November release date and Paddington In Peru should be one of the biggest films of 2024 when it hits cinemas on 8 November 2024.
Across The Pond
There’s two Japanese films in the top three of the US box office as Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy And The Heron opened at the top of the North American box office with a terrific $11m. The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes is in second, adding $9.4m, down 34% from last weekend, which takes its total to $135.7m. Godzilla Minus One stayed in third adding a terrific $8.3m, which takes its total after two weekends in cinemas to $25.3m. Trolls Band Together added $6.2m in fourth for a new total of $73.1m and Wish completed the top five, adding $5.3m for a new total of $49.4m.