The winner: Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel may have dropped by 48% from its UK opening salvo, but a haul of £6.64m represents the second biggest weekend takings of the year so far, beaten only by its debut session of £12.75m. Captain Marvel’s total after 10 days is a spiffy £23.7m.
For comparison, just over a year ago, Black Panther declined by 35% on its second weekend, by which time it had reached £29.5m. However, thanks to the earlier film’s previews strategy, that total was earned over 13 days. Avengers: Infinity War fell 56% on its second weekend, so Captain Marvel is not burning out quite so rapidly. The superhero film, starring Brie Larson, has already overtaken the lifetime total of many Marvel titles, including Doctor Strange, both Ant-Man films, and the first two instalments of Captain America, Iron Man and Thor. Reaching the £37m total of Captain America: Civil War is a realistic target.
The plucky alternative: Fisherman’s Friends
A scrappy Britcom about a bunch of grizzled Cornish fishermen singing sea shanties wasn’t the most obvious easy sell at the box office, so UK distributor Entertainment Films should be pleased with Fisherman’s Friends’ debut of £1.15m from 506 cinemas, landing in second place behind Captain Marvel.
This number failed to match the first weekend of wide play for the quirky British film Calendar Girls in 2003 (£1.76m), but the singing fishermen hardly boast equivalent appeal to Women’s Institute members who strip. Fisherman’s Friends shares writing credits with last year’s grey-pound romance Finding Your Feet, starring Imelda Staunton, Timothy Spall and Celia Imrie. That one began with £923,000 from 489 cinemas, on its way to a total of £5.81m.
Third place: What Men Want
US comedy What Men Want comes next in the UK lineup, debuting with a decent £817,000 from 495 cinemas (£837,000 including previews). The pattern of regional success for Fisherman’s Friends and What Men Want – which has a cast led by Taraji P Henson – is a study in contrasts.
Data company Applaudience, which tracks admissions at almost every UK cinema, has crunched the numbers on both titles. Fisherman’s Friends sold more tickets than What Men Want in every region of the UK except Greater London and Northern Ireland, where it was soundly beaten by Henson’s romp in both places. The Cornwall comedy crushed the rival new release in south-west England, as you would expect, but also performed significantly better in most regions, including south-east and east England (12.4% of tickets sold were for Fisherman’s Friends, and 6.5% for What Men Want). The latter achieved a 9.4% admissions share in Greater London, compared to 4.8% for Fisherman’s Friends.
The arthouse disappointment: Girl
Lukas Dhont’s Girl premiered to acclaim at Cannes last year, winning the Camera d’Or for debut feature; it was submitted as Belgium’s entry to the foreign language Oscar; and it received a Golden Globe nomination. Reviews were mostly very positive for this tale of a transgender teenaged dance student. Distributor Curzon Artificial Eye will therefore be disappointed by Girl’s weak, 31st-place debut of £17,100 from 24 cinemas (£23,900 including previews).
Girl’s simultaneous release on the digital platform Curzon Home Cinema contradicts the theatrical window policy at independent chain Picturehouse, which didn’t play it at any site. Consequently, Girl missed out on showings in cities such as Brighton and Cambridge.
But that doesn’t explain the weak numbers for Girl where it did screen. More likely, the film suffered from swirling controversies concerning Dhont’s right to tell this story, and his casting of a cisgender male actor as a transgender girl. Or maybe the storyline simply didn’t appeal that strongly, even to LGBT audiences. Gay men may have been drawn instead to Simon Amstell’s directing debut Benjamin, which opened with £21,600 from 17 sites, and £33,200 including previews.
The market: down the rabbit hole
Despite the strong showing by Captain Marvel, cinema box office is 28% down on the equivalent weekend of 2018, which saw the arrival of Peter Rabbit and Tomb Raider. Cinema operators now have their hopes pinned this coming weekend on Jordan Peele’s Us, and will be rooting for it to exceed 2017’s Get Out (£10.4m lifetime at UK cinemas). Alternatives include the Rudolf Nureyev biographical drama The White Crow and the YA novel adaptation Five Feet Apart.
Top 10 films March 15-17
1. Captain Marvel, £6,643,217 from 652 sites. Total: £23,657,527 (two weeks)
2. Fisherman’s Friends, £1,154,865 from 506 sites (new)
3. What Men Want, £836,612 from 495 sites (new)
4. The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, £643,624 from 599 sites. Total: £17,522,378 (six weeks)
5. Fighting With My Family, £632,598 from 497 sites. Total: £4,640,128 (three weeks)
6. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, £530,499 from 548 sites. Total: £18,696,164 (seven weeks)
7. Instant Family, £467,902 from 441 sites. Total: £9,746,027 (five weeks)
8. Green Book, £351,502 from 427 sites. Total: £9,091,220 (seven weeks)
9. Miszmasz Czyli Kogel Mogel 3, £167,935 from 137 sites (new)
10. The Kid Who Would Be King, £108,728 from 317 sites. Total: £3,426,172 (five weeks).
Other openers
The Prodigy, £96,905 from 92 sites
Ben Is Back, £82,204 from 114 sites
Benjamin, £33,194 (including £11,546 previews) from 19 sites
Band Vaaje, £31,458 from 15 sites
Girl, £23,895 (including £6,750 previews) from 24 sites
Harvie and the Magic Museum, £19,689 from 97 sites
Under the Silver Lake, £13,820 (including £2,430 previews) from seven sites
RISE: The Story of Augustines, £8,503 from two sites
Chaal Jeevi Laiye, £7,196 from nine sites
Children of the Snow Land, £4,458 (including £3,416 previews) from one site
The Fight, £4,393 from 22 sites
Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes, £1,974 from one site
Milan Talkies, £1,082 from six sites.
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