Victor Frankenstein stiffs
With a reported production budget of $40m (£26.7m), Victor Frankenstein looks as if it might be a costly disappointment for its stakeholders, including distributor Fox. The film has grossed only $5.1m in the US after 10 days, but the UK was viewed as potentially more fertile terrain, given a British setting and cast including James McAvoy and Daniel Radcliffe. Weekend takings of just £375,000 are boosted by Thursday previews to a four-day tally of £431,000. Thanks to a wide release in 419 cinemas, that works out to a site average of £1,029 (or £896 if previews are excluded). The film landed in lowly eighth place in the box office chart, and it would have been ninth without the boosts from previews.
Aside from his turn in X-Men, McAvoy has struggled to launch hit films in the UK lately, with Trance and Welcome to the Punch being among his box office underachievers. However, the low-budget Irvine Welsh adaptation Filth proved a profitable success, with a UK gross of £3.9m. Radcliffe scored massively with The Woman in Black (£21.3m) in 2012, but has since struggled to pull audiences to Horns and What If.
With Victor Frankenstein, Fox gambled that audiences were ready for another telling of Mary Shelley’s oft-told tale, offering a fresh spin that deviated significantly from the novel. Audiences, however, appeared to be indifferent.
Christmas movies hit a cold front
While there is no major Christmas-themed family film, like a Nativity, this year, three titles for grownups competed for the festive audience at the weekend. All are showing a distinct lack of sparkle at the box office.
Best of a weak bunch is Christmas With the Coopers, which landed in fifth place. The family ensemble comedy managed £524,000 from 372 cinemas over the weekend period, with previews boosting the tally to £683,000. Multi-generation family outings could yet drag this one to a decent number by Christmas Day.
In ninth place is horror-comedy Krampus, with £413,000 from 324 cinemas (although it beat eighth-placed Victor Frankenstein over the actual weekend period). Certified 15 for “strong threat”, Krampus offered a clear alternative to other films on release, although the Christmas theme may not be an attraction for genre fans.
Landing outside the top 10 is The Night Before, the latest comedy from producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (Bad Neighbours). The film got off to a disastrous start, with £273,000 from 279 cinemas, yielding an average of £978 per cinema. Bad Neighbours kicked off with £3.29m plus £5.16m in previews, in May 2014.
Bad Santa proved in 2003 that it is possible to engage comedy audiences with a festive film that isn’t exactly selling fuzzy and feelgood, but The Night Before appears to have missed the mark.
The Good Dinosaur stumbles
After two weekends of play, prospects are dimming for Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur. The weak opening of £2.93m may be part of a pattern of family films and animations opening relatively weakly in late November, but then holding steadily right through to Christmas. Rise of the Guardians from DreamWorks Animationa, for example, opened with a mere £1.97m in late November 2012 and Arthur Christmas began with £2.11m in November 2011.
Rise of the Guardians dropped a relatively slim 19% in its second frame, while Arthur Christmas actually went up 10% in its second session. The Good Dinosaur, in contrast, has fallen 42% from its opening number, for a 10-day total of £5.12m. Disney will be hoping for a strong recovery once schools break for the Christmas holiday, although its Star Wars: The Force Awakens should compete heavily for the family audience, despite a 12A rating in the UK for “moderate violence, threat”.
Carol keeps its box office glow
Enjoying the smallest decline of any film in the top 10 is Carol, down just 27% from the opening session. Second-weekend takings of £346,000 boost its tally so far to £1.26m. However, it’s worth noting that the weekend saw Todd Haynes’ film expand from 206 cinemas to 291 – a significant increase. This means that Carol’s location average fell by 49% at the weekend. You’d expect a location average to contribute to the dilution of location average when a film expands, because this pulls in a bigger proportion of regional multiplexes relative to key arthouse venues where grosses are typically richer for this kind of product.
Considering the glowing reviews for Carol, festival buzz and strong marketable elements including Cate Blanchett and source author Patricia Highsmith, its box office numbers look a tad soft. Still, Carol was always going to find it hard to generate audience excitement equivalent to the critical reaction.
Distributor StudioCanal opted not to release it in January during the awards season, when contenders will include The Danish Girl, Joy, The Hateful Eight, Room, The Revenant, The Big Short and Spotlight. But, at this time of year, there really is no safe haven, and Carol faced competition from Bridge of Spies and Black Mass in its late November opening frame. A relatively quiet early December, before The Force Awakens opens, offers a couple of weeks where the crowded marketplace can stabilise.
Sunset Song lights up Scotland
Landing outside the top 10 with £114,000 from 80 cinemas, including £28,000 in previews, Terence Davies’ period romance Sunset Song is hardly a box office powerhouse. In Scotland, however, where it did 69% of its business – and especially at independent cinemas in cities such as Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Dundee – it’s a different story. Distributor Metrodome is billing Sunset Song as Davies’ biggest opening, because the previews push the tally past his previous best, The Deep Blue Sea (£109,000) in 2011.
Mockingjay flies low
Although the market is pretty flat overall, and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 topped the chart with the lowest gross for a film in poll position since late September, there is at least some strength in depth. Carol, in 10th place, grossed the highest amount for a film at the foot of the top 10 since Minions propped up the chart with £390,000 in August. Mockingjay – Part 2 grossed 6.5 times what Carol did. For comparison: just over a month ago Spectre, in its debut weekend, grossed 270 times the film in 10th place, Crimson Peak.
The future
The UK box office is down 35% on the previous frame, and is also down 19% on the equivalent session from 2014, when Paddington retained the top spot and Penguins of Madagascar was the top new release. Cinema owners are now counting the days until the arrival of Star Wars: The Force Awakens on 17 December. Until then, they must suffer through one more weekend of middling business. This Friday, the big film was expected to be By the Sea, written and directed by Angelina Jolie-Pitt, and co-starring and produced by her and Brad Pitt. Disappointing figures at the US box office have lowered expectations for that film, but salvation may be at hand: Universal has yanked up the release of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler’s comedy Sisters six days to Saturday 12 December. Alternatives include the American indie comedy Grandma, which is earning Oscar buzz for Lily Tomlin.
Top 10 films December 4-6
1. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, £2,240,723 from 539 sites. Total: £23,321,491
2. The Good Dinosaur, £1,701,333 from 531 sites. Total: £5,124,823
3. Spectre, £1,241,619 from 467 sites. Total: £90,634,770
4. Bridge of Spies, £1,084,468 from 573 sites. Total: £3,891,395
5. Christmas With the Coopers, £683,217 from 372 sites (new)
6. Black Mass, £475,400 from 444 sites. Total: £2,382,913
7. The Lady in the Van, £470,763 from 504 sites. Total: £10,450,946
8. Victor Frankenstein, £431,125 from 419 sites (new)
9. Krampus, £412,713 from 324 sites (new)
10. Carol, £345,950 from 291 sites. Total: £1,262,722
Other openers
The Night Before, £272,930 from 279 sites
Bolshoi Ballet: The Lady of the Camellias, £105,300 from 215 sites
Sunset Song, £85,665 (plus £28,247 at previews) from 80 sites
Düğün Dernek 2, £18,431 from four sites
Judge Singh LLB, £6,618 from five sites
Chemsex, £5,420 (plus £5,400 previews) from five sites
Sankarabharanam, £3,727 from 17 sites
The Lesson, £3,056 from seven sites
11 Minutes, £1,407 (+ £2,351 previews) from three sites
The Honourable Rebel, £622 from three sites
Future Shock! The Story of 2000 AD, £153 from one site
The Show of Shows, £321 (+ £4,889 previews) from four sites
• Thanks to Rentrak.
