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| Grimsby sickens but fails to gross as Deadpool continues heroics at the UK box office | Grimsby sickens but fails to gross as Deadpool continues heroics at the UK box office |
| (6 months later) | |
| The disappointment: Grimsby | The disappointment: Grimsby |
| With its traditionally scripted set-up, extreme gross-out humour and lampooning of beery lad culture that hardly qualifies as innovative, Grimsby was never likely to endear itself to critics as much as past Sacha Baron Cohen triumphs such as Borat. But he has always been pretty reliable at the UK box office, with even the so-so offering The Dictator taking £11.4m. Grimsby contains at least one rather remarkable talking-point scene, unfolding inside an elephant’s vagina, which you would imagine would help the film achieve audience traction. | With its traditionally scripted set-up, extreme gross-out humour and lampooning of beery lad culture that hardly qualifies as innovative, Grimsby was never likely to endear itself to critics as much as past Sacha Baron Cohen triumphs such as Borat. But he has always been pretty reliable at the UK box office, with even the so-so offering The Dictator taking £11.4m. Grimsby contains at least one rather remarkable talking-point scene, unfolding inside an elephant’s vagina, which you would imagine would help the film achieve audience traction. |
| Grimsby’s debut of £1.93m, including Wednesday/Thursday previews of £441,000, will be viewed as disappointing. The Dictator began with £4.96m including previews of £1.54m in 2012. Other Baron Cohen films are less aptly compared, since they benefited from established characters, but Bruno opened in July 2009 with exactly £5m, without benefit of a previews boost, while Borat, the comedian’s biggest UK hit with a £24.15m total, began in November 2006 with £6.24m including £910,000 in previews. | Grimsby’s debut of £1.93m, including Wednesday/Thursday previews of £441,000, will be viewed as disappointing. The Dictator began with £4.96m including previews of £1.54m in 2012. Other Baron Cohen films are less aptly compared, since they benefited from established characters, but Bruno opened in July 2009 with exactly £5m, without benefit of a previews boost, while Borat, the comedian’s biggest UK hit with a £24.15m total, began in November 2006 with £6.24m including £910,000 in previews. |
| The winner: Deadpool | The winner: Deadpool |
| Despite falling 48% in its third frame, Deadpool had no trouble resisting the challenge of Grimsby, retaining the chart crown with takings of £2.99m. Its total after 19 days is a healthy £31.15m. That’s higher than all the X-Men and Wolverine films (the franchise’s best performer, Days of Future Past, took £27.3m). It’s better than Sam Raimi’s first two Spider-Man films (£29m and £26.7m lifetime), and is closing in on Spider-Man 3’s £33.6m. Deadpool’s number is well ahead of the first two Iron Man films (£17.4m and £21.2m respectively), and distributor Fox will be hoping it can eventually catch Iron Man 3 (£37m). These comparisons are not adjusted for ticket price inflation. | Despite falling 48% in its third frame, Deadpool had no trouble resisting the challenge of Grimsby, retaining the chart crown with takings of £2.99m. Its total after 19 days is a healthy £31.15m. That’s higher than all the X-Men and Wolverine films (the franchise’s best performer, Days of Future Past, took £27.3m). It’s better than Sam Raimi’s first two Spider-Man films (£29m and £26.7m lifetime), and is closing in on Spider-Man 3’s £33.6m. Deadpool’s number is well ahead of the first two Iron Man films (£17.4m and £21.2m respectively), and distributor Fox will be hoping it can eventually catch Iron Man 3 (£37m). These comparisons are not adjusted for ticket price inflation. |
| Ryan Reynolds’ previous attempt at a comic book superhero franchise, Green Lantern, self-destructed with a poor £6.19m here. Deadpool has already achieved five times that film’s UK box-office. | Ryan Reynolds’ previous attempt at a comic book superhero franchise, Green Lantern, self-destructed with a poor £6.19m here. Deadpool has already achieved five times that film’s UK box-office. |
| Star Wars exits | Star Wars exits |
| Falling out of the UK top 10 in its 11th week of play, Star Wars: The Force Awakens has now reached an astonishing £122.6m. In 2012, Skyfall become the first film to crack £100m at UK cinemas (with £103.2m), and, after Spectre fell short with £94.7m, it remained the only one to achieve this feat until the arrival of the latest Star Wars. | Falling out of the UK top 10 in its 11th week of play, Star Wars: The Force Awakens has now reached an astonishing £122.6m. In 2012, Skyfall become the first film to crack £100m at UK cinemas (with £103.2m), and, after Spectre fell short with £94.7m, it remained the only one to achieve this feat until the arrival of the latest Star Wars. |
| The Force Awakens is now running 19% ahead of Skyfall, and Disney could conceivably squeeze a bit more life out of the film in the Easter holidays. The earliest possible DVD release date, respecting the 16.5-week theatrical window required by the multiplex chains in the UK, is 11 April. | The Force Awakens is now running 19% ahead of Skyfall, and Disney could conceivably squeeze a bit more life out of the film in the Easter holidays. The earliest possible DVD release date, respecting the 16.5-week theatrical window required by the multiplex chains in the UK, is 11 April. |
| The foreign language hit: Rams | The foreign language hit: Rams |
| Excluding Bollywood titles, no foreign-language film managed £1m at the UK box office in 2015, and only three cracked £300,000: Wild Tales, Force Majeure and Timbuktu. This led to a lot of despondency in the indie distribution and exhibition sectors, a discouragement for future risk-taking. So the current success of Rams – an Icelandic film about two mutually antipathetic sheep-farmer brothers from a director with no name recognition here – is all the more heartening. | Excluding Bollywood titles, no foreign-language film managed £1m at the UK box office in 2015, and only three cracked £300,000: Wild Tales, Force Majeure and Timbuktu. This led to a lot of despondency in the indie distribution and exhibition sectors, a discouragement for future risk-taking. So the current success of Rams – an Icelandic film about two mutually antipathetic sheep-farmer brothers from a director with no name recognition here – is all the more heartening. |
| Rams was released here three weeks ago with a debut of £26,900 from 20 cinemas – hardly a number that suggested Grímur Hákonarson’s film would go on to become a breakout art house hit. In fact, Rams benefited from only limited showtimes at most of its venues (a programming strategy that might be seen as either timid or realistic depending on your point of view) and so the opening site average of £1,343 was not bad. | Rams was released here three weeks ago with a debut of £26,900 from 20 cinemas – hardly a number that suggested Grímur Hákonarson’s film would go on to become a breakout art house hit. In fact, Rams benefited from only limited showtimes at most of its venues (a programming strategy that might be seen as either timid or realistic depending on your point of view) and so the opening site average of £1,343 was not bad. |
| The film’s distributor, Soda, was able to expand Rams for its second weekend, and again for its third, and held on to 24 cinemas for the fourth frame. Box office is now at £180,000, which is a healthy 6.7 times the opening number. Only eight non-Bollywood foreign-language films grossed more than that last year, and that’s including Gemma Bovery, which was partly in English. Rams will have no problem cracking £200,000 here, and it remains to be seen how far Soda can extend the run, building on warm audience buzz for the title. So far, it’s played in 60 UK and Ireland cinemas, and a further 71 have booked it for the future. | The film’s distributor, Soda, was able to expand Rams for its second weekend, and again for its third, and held on to 24 cinemas for the fourth frame. Box office is now at £180,000, which is a healthy 6.7 times the opening number. Only eight non-Bollywood foreign-language films grossed more than that last year, and that’s including Gemma Bovery, which was partly in English. Rams will have no problem cracking £200,000 here, and it remains to be seen how far Soda can extend the run, building on warm audience buzz for the title. So far, it’s played in 60 UK and Ireland cinemas, and a further 71 have booked it for the future. |
| The flop: Secret in Their Eyes | The flop: Secret in Their Eyes |
| When Universal bought select territory rights including the UK on Secret in Their Eyes, the studio must have had high hopes. The remake of the highly regarded Argentinian 2010 foreign-language Oscar winner rounded up a cast including Chiwetel Ejiofor, Nicole Kidman and Julia Roberts, and its script was in the hands of Billy Ray, whose screenplay credits include The Hunger Games and Captain Phillips. | When Universal bought select territory rights including the UK on Secret in Their Eyes, the studio must have had high hopes. The remake of the highly regarded Argentinian 2010 foreign-language Oscar winner rounded up a cast including Chiwetel Ejiofor, Nicole Kidman and Julia Roberts, and its script was in the hands of Billy Ray, whose screenplay credits include The Hunger Games and Captain Phillips. |
| Universal may have lost heart after Secret in Their Eyes ended up grossing just $20.2m (£14.5m) in the US, despite an initial broad rollout into more than 2,300 cinemas. The film was released here last Friday on 110 screens with limited marketing support, and the result was pretty much a foregone conclusion: a soft UK opening of £117,000, yielding an average of £1,064. In fact, everyone will probably be vaguely relieved to see the site average hit four figures. Expect a rapid burnout as showtimes quickly get downgraded. | Universal may have lost heart after Secret in Their Eyes ended up grossing just $20.2m (£14.5m) in the US, despite an initial broad rollout into more than 2,300 cinemas. The film was released here last Friday on 110 screens with limited marketing support, and the result was pretty much a foregone conclusion: a soft UK opening of £117,000, yielding an average of £1,064. In fact, everyone will probably be vaguely relieved to see the site average hit four figures. Expect a rapid burnout as showtimes quickly get downgraded. |
| Meanwhile, spare a thought for The Benefactor, starring Richard Gere, Dakota Fanning and Theo James, essentially a video-on-demand title. Hardy souls able to track it down in cinemas delivered box office at the weekend of £25 from two venues, according to official data gatherer comScore (formerly Rentrak). | Meanwhile, spare a thought for The Benefactor, starring Richard Gere, Dakota Fanning and Theo James, essentially a video-on-demand title. Hardy souls able to track it down in cinemas delivered box office at the weekend of £25 from two venues, according to official data gatherer comScore (formerly Rentrak). |
| The future | The future |
| The disappointing performance of Grimsby and the paucity of other appealing releases helped the market to record a decline of 41% from the previous session. Takings are also 22% down on the equivalent frame from 2015, when The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Focus were the top new releases. Multiplex bookers will now be pinning a lot of hopes on the arrival this week of London Has Fallen, the suitably mayhem-packed sequel to Olympus Has Fallen, starring Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart and Morgan Freeman. The Coen brothers’ star-packed Hail, Caesar! provides nice counter-programming, as does The Choice, the latest in the conveyor belt of films based on Nicholas Sparks novels. Cate Blanchett and Robert Redford star in Truth – although the space for a true tale about US journalism is rather healthily occupied currently by Spotlight, which won the best picture Oscar on Sunday. | The disappointing performance of Grimsby and the paucity of other appealing releases helped the market to record a decline of 41% from the previous session. Takings are also 22% down on the equivalent frame from 2015, when The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Focus were the top new releases. Multiplex bookers will now be pinning a lot of hopes on the arrival this week of London Has Fallen, the suitably mayhem-packed sequel to Olympus Has Fallen, starring Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart and Morgan Freeman. The Coen brothers’ star-packed Hail, Caesar! provides nice counter-programming, as does The Choice, the latest in the conveyor belt of films based on Nicholas Sparks novels. Cate Blanchett and Robert Redford star in Truth – although the space for a true tale about US journalism is rather healthily occupied currently by Spotlight, which won the best picture Oscar on Sunday. |
| Top 10 films February 26-28 | Top 10 films February 26-28 |
| 1. Deadpool, £2,987,877 from 568 sites. Total: £31,154,4542. Grimsby, £1,928,789 from 522 sites (new)3. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip, £1,221,818 from 567 sites. Total: £14,666,3454. How to Be Single, £954,311 from 445 sites. Total: £3,666,9585. Goosebumps, £499,446 from 526 sites. Total: £8,152,6096. The Forest, £448,258 from 344 sites (new)7. The Revenant, £433,363 from 421 sites. Total: £21,759,6898. Dad’s Army, £363,608 from 415 sites. Total: £7,713,1499. Zoolander 2, £310,204 from 415 sites. Total: £4,535,47210. Triple 9, £292,606 from 432 sites. Total: £1,471,050 | 1. Deadpool, £2,987,877 from 568 sites. Total: £31,154,4542. Grimsby, £1,928,789 from 522 sites (new)3. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip, £1,221,818 from 567 sites. Total: £14,666,3454. How to Be Single, £954,311 from 445 sites. Total: £3,666,9585. Goosebumps, £499,446 from 526 sites. Total: £8,152,6096. The Forest, £448,258 from 344 sites (new)7. The Revenant, £433,363 from 421 sites. Total: £21,759,6898. Dad’s Army, £363,608 from 415 sites. Total: £7,713,1499. Zoolander 2, £310,204 from 415 sites. Total: £4,535,47210. Triple 9, £292,606 from 432 sites. Total: £1,471,050 |
| Other openers | Other openers |
| Secret in Their Eyes, £117,094 from 110 sitesAction Hero Biju, £17,464 from 32 sitesTere Bin Laden: Dead or Alive, £7,137 from nine sitesKanithan, £6,329 from five sitesThe Propaganda Game, £4,132 from four sitesKing Jack, £2,479 from five sites | Secret in Their Eyes, £117,094 from 110 sitesAction Hero Biju, £17,464 from 32 sitesTere Bin Laden: Dead or Alive, £7,137 from nine sitesKanithan, £6,329 from five sitesThe Propaganda Game, £4,132 from four sitesKing Jack, £2,479 from five sites |
| Remember, £2,216 from two sitesThe Truth Commissioner, £1,776 from two sitesSant Te Sipahi, £925 from five sitesThe Hexecutioners, £199 from one siteExposed, £88 from five sitesThe Benefactor, £25 from two sites | Remember, £2,216 from two sitesThe Truth Commissioner, £1,776 from two sitesSant Te Sipahi, £925 from five sitesThe Hexecutioners, £199 from one siteExposed, £88 from five sitesThe Benefactor, £25 from two sites |
| Thanks to comScore and Rentrak UK | Thanks to comScore and Rentrak UK |
| All figures relate to takings in UK and Ireland cinemas. | All figures relate to takings in UK and Ireland cinemas. |
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