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On paper it looked like a record breaking summer and so it proved as summer 2019 has now been confirmed by ComScore as the highest grossing summer of all time at the UK Box Office, smashing the record set by summer 2018.
Blockbuster releases such as The Lion King, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Toy Story 4 and Once Upon a Time In… Hollywood have seen UK cinemagoers flocking in droves to their local cinemas. The UK Box Office grossed a huge £474m in the 3 May-29 August period, which is up from the £440m grossed during the same period in 2018, an increased of 8%.
While the films on offer have satisfied a range of audiences, the biggest films have proven a great way to target the hard-to-reach 16-34 audience, with The Lion King expected to have delivered over 30 16-34 TVRs across the industry and Toy Story 4 over 22. While it is now outside of the summer period, It: Chapter Two has picked up the baton.
Summer 2019 has been far stronger than the earlier part of the year, with the total 18-week period from May to August up 7% compared to Summer 2018. The differential peaked in early July with the release of Spider-Man: Far From Home, with box office for the first 10 weeks of summer running over 30% ahead of 2018. While August was not as strong as the earlier months (17% down vs August 2018), the summer tentpoles have reversed the trend seen up to the end of Q1 when grosses were down 24% vs Jan-March 2018.
This box office momentum is expected to continue for the rest of 2019, with major releases such as Frozen II, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and Cats still to come. Once again, the 16-34 audience will be heading to the cinema in their droves to, with The Rise Of Skywalker expected to deliver 23 16-34 TVRs across the industry.
Q1 2020 is set to be equally huge, with top awards contender 1917, the latest instalment in the Kingsman franchise The King’s Man, and a brand-new original story from Pixar in Onward, the first of two original Pixar films in 2020. That should help get the year off to a great start but Q2 is where things get really big, with the release of the 25thinstalment in the James Bond franchise, No Time To Die on 3 April. Cinema’s future is looking rosey.
Speak to your DCM rep today to book in to the biggest upcoming films of 2019 and beyond.