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UK box office report, July 3-5: Christopher Nolan, your country needs you

Cinema goers at Showcase Cinema in Bluewater Shopping Centre, Dartford on July 4 - Will Oliver/EPA
Cinema goers at Showcase Cinema in Bluewater Shopping Centre, Dartford on July 4 - Will Oliver/EPA

Reopened UK cinemas make modest start

Saturday July 4 was the date that cinemas in England were permitted to open up again following a Government-mandated closure lasting nearly four months. But with no new titles being offered by distributors at the weekend, it’s understandable that not many venues chose to so – just 42, according to the UK Cinema Association, plus a few drive-ins.

The total weekend gross across England and Ireland was £257,000 according to data gatherer Comscore. In 2019, UK and Ireland weekend cinema box office averaged £15.42m. In other words, the current market is operating at just under 1.7 per cent of pre-covid levels. It’s worth also considering that only outdoor/drive-in venues were open in England on Friday (with regular “hard-top” cinemas following on Saturday), and that Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish cinemas are still closed – all factors dragging down the weekend numbers.

The data might make depressing reading for cinema operators, but all will see the July 4 reopening as a test run, in order to work out new operating systems for the covid world. The plan is for venues to be fully operational in time for the big new releases such as Mulan and Tenet, currently slated for August.

Pixar’s Onward tops the chart

Onward - Pixar
Onward - Pixar

Onward, the latest film from animation house Pixar, topped the UK box office at the weekend, with takings of £21,600 from 47 sites across England and Ireland. Onward also topped the final UK chart before cinemas were ordered closed, when it was in its second week of release.

Onward transitioned to home entertainment platforms while cinemas were closed, and is already available both to rent and to buy and own. That being the case, Disney was unlikely to witness customers flocking to see it at newly reopened cinemas. Total box office for Onward is now at £5.30m, and the film will remain the lowest-grossing Pixar film ever at UK cinemas, an honour previously held by Cars 3 (with £11.7m).

Onward didn’t just suffer from cinemas being ordered closed so soon into its run – UK cinema audiences were in any case beginning to dwindle, thanks to concern about covid.

Trolls World Tour takes runner-up spot

Trolls World Tour - Dreamworks
Trolls World Tour - Dreamworks

When Universal announced that Trolls World Tour would premiere as a premium video-on-demand title, cinema operators were quick to vent their disapproval. Most multiplex chains demand an exclusive 16-week window for films before they are permitted to transfer to other platforms, and here was a major film that was hitting VOD before they had the chance to play it.

It remains to be seen whether Cineworld, which is firmly opposed to any diluting of the theatrical window, will play Trolls World Tour when it reopens its doors on July 31. Universal advises that the only chain currently playing it is boutique operator Everyman, which means that Odeon and Showcase, which both have some venues open, have opted not to do so.

Archive titles fill the void

A drive-in screening of Grease - Getty
A drive-in screening of Grease - Getty

In the UK Top 10, no fewer than six films are at least two years old. The Greatest Showman (in fourth place) is joined by Dirty Dancing, Grease, The Terminator, Fight Club and the first Star Wars film. In the case of the latter two titles, single drive-in screenings on Sunday presented by Secret Cinema were enough to land the films a place in the Top 10.

As for Grease, its seventh place in the Comscore chart was earned courtesy of events at two drive-in cinemas, one in Colchester, the other in Enfield, north London.

The future

Despite the mediocre box office recorded at the weekend, a lot more cinemas are joining the fray this coming weekend – and distributor Altitude says its new film Black Water: Abyss will be playing in just over 100 venues across the UK and Ireland. Screen International reports that 17 more Odeons and five more Showcases are opening this Friday. Scottish venues open from July 15.

While major independent cinemas (such as HOME Manchester) have identified September 4 as their likely reopening date, there’s a rather coastal flavour to the indie venues that are playing Altitude’s hungry-crocodile-v-cavers Australian horror film. These include cinemas in Cleethorpes, Burnham-on-Sea, Ryde, Skegness, Great Yarmouth, Felixstowe, Worthing, Mablethorpe, Gorleston-on-Sea and Guernsey.

Also opening this weekend is Love Sarah, in which three women from different generations come together to open a bakery in west London – which had been the cherished dream of the woman who connects all three, prior to her untimely death. Celia Imrie leads the cast.

Top 10 Films Jul 3-5

  1. Onward, £21,626 from 47 sites. Total: £5,297,979 (18 weeks)

  2. Trolls World Tour £19,941 from 33 sites. Total: £25,777 (13 weeks)

  3. Bad Boys for Life £16,070 from 18 sites. Total: £16,094,329 (25 weeks)

  4. The Greatest Showman, £14,499 from 48 sites. Total: £49,351,203 (2017 release)

  5. 1917, £12,744 from 44 sites. Total: £43,788,801 (26 weeks)

  6. Dirty Dancing (30th Anniversary), £12,195 from 6 sites. Total: £245,148 (2107 release)

  7. Grease (40th Anniversary), £11,925 from 2 sites. Total: £513,990 (2018 release)

  8. The Terminator, £9,963 from 1 site. Total: £151,121 (2015 reissue)

  9. Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, £7,475 from 1 site. Total: £16,351,159 (1997 reissue)

  10. Fight Club £7,095 from 1 site. Total: £5,670,538 (1999 release)

Thanks to Comscore; @cSMoviesUK. All figures relate to takings in UK and Ireland cinemas.