Quigley

Could someone post week-by-week comparison of Frozen and Frozen II ?

Weekend: 2nd–5th December 2020 and Monday holiday Ranking Title Weekend admissions % change from last weekend Total admissions (up to Sunday) Monday admissions Week 1 Ευτυχία (Eftyhia) [GR] 91,782 -9.4% 311,600 19,831 3 2 Jumanji: The Next Level 39,049 – 39,049 8,894 1 3 ...Για πάντα (...For Ever) [GR] 37,195 – 45,240 7,785 1 4 Frozen II 24,377 -24.5% 292,976 5,161 6 5 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker 20,827 -59.1% 220,141 3,769 3 6 J'accuse [French–Italian] 13,762 – 15,304 2,618 1 7 Spies in Disguise 13,672 -24.3% 37,804 2,745 2 8 Playmobil: The Movie 11,096 -33.0% 48,894 2,314 3 9 Knives Out 5,798 -37.8% 98,665 877 5 10 Bombshell 4,163 -52.0% 15,578 667 2 Source: https://flix.gr/news/box-office-02-01-2020.html http://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-eytyxia-is-the-winner-of-the-holiday-season/ The new year started on high note, with a whopping 275,953 admissions sold over the 4-day weekend, going up to 333,826 admissions when adding in Monday, which was a public religious holiday. The undisputable winner was Greek biopic 'Eftyhia', which dramatizes the life the most prominent female Greek lyricist of the 20th century, Eftyhia Papagiannopoulou. (Here is a very popular song written by her, as a remake recorded for the purposes of the movie.) Its third weekend is actually higher than 'Joker's' third weekend (90,571 admissions). It is also on par with the third weekend of 'A Touch of Spice' (est. 92K admissions). That film went on to become the biggest Greek film of all time with 1.3 million admissions. On the other hand, 'El Greco' had scored a 104K-admission third weekend but stopped at 767K admissions. 'Eftyhia' certainly capitalised the holidays but it remains to be seen whether it can achieve significant holding power to approach the nauseating heights of the aforementioned blockbusters. A closer target is the biggest Greek film of the past decade, 'Worlds Apart', with 668,892 admissions. That film sold 59,215 admissions on its third weekend, with a cume-to-date of 370,711 admissions. Up to and inlcuding its 9th weekend, that film hadn't had a single drop bigger than 40%. That's a tough feat for 'Eftyhia', but the film has clearly resonated with audiences and it has all the qualifications necessary to get there. There's still a long way to go, but it will certainly reach third place among the decade's Greek films. The decade's Top 15 Greek films can be seen in my previous post, which has been updated with the latest numbers and rankings for 'Eftyhia', 'Star Wars 9' and 'Frozen II'. Speaking of 'Frozen II', the film is already in the Animated All-Time Top 10. It is sitting comfortably at #9 at the moment and is, by all accounts, well-positioned to reach second place. Can it get to first place though? Whether it succeeds or not, one thing is clear by looking at the Top 10 list: Greek kids are obsessed with ice... Biggest animated films (since 2003) Ranking Title Total admissions Multiple 1 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs 384,829 4.79 2 Ice Age: The Meltdown 346,500* 3.73 3 Finding Nemo 340,731** 7.47 4 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa 323,607 6.43 5 Ratatouille 312,019 4.46 6 Inside Out 310,104 4.94 7 Despicable Me 3 308,997 3.75 8 Ice Age: Continental Drift 305,445 4.50 9 Frozen II 298,137 4.22 10 Happy Feet 295,500 5.17 * This is my own estimated but I'm pretty confident it's between 335,000 and 355,000 admissions **When adding 'Finding Nemo's' 3–D re-release, its total goes up to 368,841 admissions. 'Jumanji 2' surprised by opening 59% higher than its predecessor, which was released back in January 2018. Given that it has reached 50K admissions in 6 days, it should be able to cross the 100K-admission milestone easily and beat its predecessor in the menatime (that one finished with about 80K admissions). By the way, 'Eftyhia's' success is made even more impressive by the fact that it had competition from another Greek film, '...For Ever'. Directed by the guy behind the 'Bachelor' sequels (see my previous post on Greek films), it certainly did not disappoint in its opening and it should be able to approach 150K admissions if it doesn't drop hard. Despite being ahead of its immmediate predecessor last weekend, 'Star Wars 9' is now trailing that film by 30K admissions. The gap can only widen from now on. This saga ended on a low note, although Disney only needs to wait another 5 to 10 years in order to build up hype again for the franchise. I'm not concerned at all. Finally, 'Knives Out' is days away from the 100K-admission milestone.

2019 Summary & Recap of the decade 2019 Summary In 2019, an official total of 9,508,103 admissions were sold in theaters. However, a small number of independent distributors refuse to report their admissions. This includes Netflix. Opinions may differ on whether the theatrical window should shorten and whether cinemas and studios are right to oppose the parallel online release of their films, but, if anything, we can agree that Netflix's secretive practices and its contempt for long-held traditions of transparency on reporting admission figures is something that should concern us all. Back to the topic, 2019's admissions represent a 1.6% increase from 2018's 9,354,103 admissions. Therefore, 2019 ranks 7th among the last decade. The decade hardly ended on a positive note, although there were individual films that did very well and broke records ('Avengers: Endgame', 'Joker', possibly 'Frozen II'). However, 2019 has achieved a different decade record: the biggest Top 10 admissions as a proportion of yearly admissions**. 2019's Top 10 have sold 3,440,381 admissions. As a proportion of total yearly admissions, that is 36.2% (and it is gonna get much higher). That is a decade record, with 2012 and 2015 close behind. Risking sounding like Bernie Sanders, it seems that, while attendance as a whole has stagnated over the last decade, the... rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. **I should note that I have added the total admissions of the Top 10 films, even if they were released at the end of the year and thus even if they sold some of their admissions in the following year. This sum is divided by the total number of admissions earned during the calendar year of the films' release. Although not a perfect way to compare, I am being consistent by applying the same calculation to every single year of the decade. Top 15 films of 2019 Ranking Title Admissions 1 Joker 903,652 2 Avengers: Endgame 538,330 3 Ευτυχία (Eftyhia) [GR] 331,431 4 Frozen II 298,137 5 The Lion King 295,316 6 Once Upon a Time in Hollywood 232,159 7 The Favourite 225,203 8 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker 223,910 9 Captain Marvel 202,622 10 Spider-Man: Far from Home 189,621 11 Green Book 188,584 12 Toy Story 4 179,649 13 The Secret Life of Pets 2 165,851 14 The Mule 163,132 15 It: Chapter Two 154,781 *Films in bold are still in theaters. 'Joker's' run is basically over. For 'Eftyhia', the sky is the limit. 'Frozen II' is headed for around 350,000 admissions and 'Star Wars 9' is headed for around 250,000 admissions. Decade Recap These are the yearly admissions & grosses of the last decade: Year Admissions (millions) Gross (million euros) Average ticket price (euros) 2010 11.66 94.6 8.11 2011 10.84 89.2 8.23 2012 10.12 70.2 6.94 2013 9.01 59.3 6.58 2014 8.97 58.0 6.46 2015 9.81 63.4 6.46 2016 10.02 64.4 6.43 2017 10.08 65.0 6.45 2018 9.36 – – 2019 9.51 61.0 6.42 Due to the economic crisis that precipitated in 2010, Greece's cinema market received a big hit (in 2009, admissions were even higher at 12.29 million admissions) and the market has remained stagnant since then. The biggest failure of the decade has been 3–D. Just like in the rest of the world, 3–D share of total admissions has dropped drastically, making up 14% of total admissions in 2012 (1.5 million admisisons), while in 2019 it barely exceeded 1% (113,000 admissions). Greek films of the decade Greek films 2010-2019 Ranking Title Admissions Ranking 1 Ένας άλλος κόσμος (Worlds Apart) 668,892 2015 2 Αν… (What If…) 531,447 2012 3 Μικρά Αγγλία (Little England) 361,708 2013 4 Ρόζα της Σμύρνης (Roza of Smyrna) 356,983 2016 5 I Love Καρδίτσα (I Love Karditsa) 354,619 2010 6 Ευτυχία (Eftyhia) 331,431 2019 7 Ο Θεός αγαπάει το χαβιάρι (God Loves Caviar) 317,735 2012 8 Νήsos 2: Το Κυνήγι του Χαμένου Θησαυρού (The Island 2: Treasure Hunt) 299,295 2011 9 Bachelor 2 237,559 2017 10 The Bach3lor 235,553 2018 11 Καζαντάκης (Kazantzakis) 232,851 2017 12 Αιγαίο SOS (Aegean S.O.S.) 223,756 2018 13 Το τελευταίο σημείωμα (The Last Note) 203,615 2017 14 Τέλειοι ξένοι (Perfect Strangers) 199,516 2016 15 Ζητείται ψεύτης (Need for Lies) 189,340 2010 It is worth noting that Νήsos ('The Island'), the predecessor of 'The Island 2', was released on 29th December 2009, so it technically belongs to the previous decade although it sold most of its admissions during this decade. It sold 548,733 admissions in total. Director Christopher Papakaliatis is the clear winner of the decade, with the first two films of the list belonging to him and being far far ahead of any competitors. Pantelis Voulgaris owns the third biggest film, 'Little England', as well as the 13th ('The Last Note'). Other directors with two films in the Top 15 are John Smaragdis ('God Loves Caviar' #6, 'Kazantazkis' #10) and John Papadakos (sequels 'Bachelor 2' and 'Bach3lor'). Sources: http://freecinema.gr/2019-greek-box-office-in-review/ https://flix.gr/articles/decade-2010-greek-box-office.html https://flix.gr/articles/greek-box-office-2010-2019.html

Weekend: 26th–29th December 2019 Ranking Title Weekend admissions % change from last weekend Total admissions Week 1 Ευτυχία (Eftyhia) [GR] 101,348 +96.9% 186,196 2 2 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker 50,873 -25.8% 183,401 2 3 Frozen II 32,297 +73.2% 258,088 5 4 Spies in Disguise 18,056 – 18,056 1 5 Playmobil: The Movie 16,565 +69.5% 33,202 2 6 Knives Out 9,316 +23.3% 90,237 4 7 Bombshell 8,677 – 8,677 1 8 Last Christmas 6,066 +22.2% 121,752 7 9 Midway 5,260 +18.5% 31,446 3 10 21 Bridges 2,253 +65.5% 21,752 4 Source: http://www.grandmagazine.gr/ngine/article/4983/box-office-meres-eutuxias-sta-ellinika-kinimatografika-tameia https://flix.gr/news/box-office-26-12-2019.html http://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-eytyxia-brings-havoc-to-star-wars/ The past weekend, which was the last of the year, 262,925 admissions were sold across the country. This was the biggest weekend of the last 4 years, since the final weekend of 2015, when 'Worlds Apart' and 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' took the nation by storm, with a total weekend take of 295,060 admissions. It was also the 9th biggest weekend of the last decade (5 of them were in early 2010). Based on weekend admissions, 2019 finished 2.8% ahead of 2018 and 4.5-5.5% ahead of 2015-2017. Using the last four years' weekend-to-weekday ratio, my estimate of the year's total admissions is 9.5 million, which is close to the 9.45 million admissions estimate reported by FreeCinema. Overall, this means we had a slightly better year – exclusively thanks to 'Endgame, 'Joker' and, now it seems, 'Eftyhia' too. And what a weekend it was... I was expecting small increases across the board and big drop for 'Star Wars 9'. Instead, 'Eftyhia' nearly doubled and the average increase was around 50%. Only 'Star Wars 9' dropped, but even so, it was a much better drop than either 'TFA', 'Rogue One' or 'TLJ'. That being said, the particular day-to-day pattern of their release means that it is not possible to make an apples-to-apples comparison. 'Rise of Skywalker' is actually ahead of 'The Last Jedi' at the same point in its run (186K vs 181K admissions). However, TLJ's second Sunday was the 24th of December, which means it had still not been boosted by the Christmas break. 'Eftyhia' surprised with its humongous boost. The 100K-admission-plus sophomore frame is bigger than both 'Worlds Apart' and 'What If...', which are the two biggest Greek hits of the last decade. Both of them are directed by renowned Greek actor-director-screenwriter Christopher Papakaliatis. If we take into account Greek films from the previous decade, 'Loufa kai Parallagi: Seirines sto Aigaio' from 2005 (150K admissions), 'El Greco' from 2007 (128K admissions) and 'Molis Horisa' from 2008 (115K admissions) had bigger second weekends. Quite impressively, 'Eftyhia' has already surpassed 'Star Wars 9's' total, despite opening with 40,000 fewer admissions. 'Frozen II' has now officially surpassed its predecessor (234K admissions). It is now headed full-speed for the Animated Top 10 and the 300K-admission milestone. It will need to beat 'Finding Dory' (295,338 admissions) to achieve this. If it maintained the 8,000-admission daily average throughout the holiday period, it would get to 330K admissions on 7th January. Although such a total seems doable, it is hard to say if it can reach the 385,000 admissions required to claim the animated record from 'Ice Age 3'. In other news, 'Knives Out' is headed for 100K admissions and 'Last Christmas' has its eyes on the 150K-admission milestone. As for animated films, 'Playmobil' had a strong boost albeit from a very low starting point. 'The Addams Family' had a small increase (+5%) despite dropping from 41 to 21 screens, while 'Abominable' dropped 45% after losing 27 of its 40 screens. The latter is still ahead in total admissions (93,664 vs 88,850) but it remains unclear if either will reach 100K admissions. Today, Thursday, 'Jumanji 2' becomes the first wide release of 2020. Its predecessor sold about 80,000 admissions back in January-February 2018, so I don't expect this one to make waves.

Weekend: 19th–22nd December 2019 Ranking Title Weekend admissions % change from last weekend Total admissions Week 1 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker 68,605 – 94,578 1 2 Ευτυχία (Eftyhia) [GR] 51,471 – 51,471 1 3 Frozen II 18,645 -39.5% 211,954 4 4 Playmobil: The Movie 9,774 – 9,774 1 5 Knives Out 7,557 -57.1% 74,882 3 6 Last Christmas 4,966 -38.0% 111,102 6 7 Midway 4,437 -63.0% 22,303 2 8 Abominable 3,036 -3.0% 89,277 9 9 Rémi sans famille [French] 2,604 N/A 12,725 6 10 The Addams Family 2,020 -52.7% 85,449 7 Source: https://flix.gr/news/box-office-191219.html http://www.grandmagazine.gr/ngine/article/4978/box-office-xekinise-o-polemos-ton-astron-gia-tin-kataktisi-ton-tameion The weekend's 178,910 admissions may not sound like that much but it is actually the fourth-biggest of 2019 so far. There is only one weekend of the year left, but thanks to the Christmas holidays it is possible that there will be an increase in admissions despite no big openers. I would bet on its staying level or slightly decreasing though compared to the one that just passed. Overall, 2019 will finish around 1.5% ahead of 2018. Since this is my estimate based on weekend admissions only, the actual percentage may be slightly different but the bottom line is that 2019 changed very little compared to 2018. It avoided the catastrophe of having the lowest attendance of the last 20 years thanks to two films: 'Joker' and 'Endgame'. Let's dive down into the specifics.... 'Star Wars 9' continued the declining trend of the franchise with most of the enthusiasm of the 2015 sequel having worn off. The opening dropped 32% compared 'The Last Jedi', although it would have likely been a smaller drop if it weren't for the Wednesday previews. The 25,973 admissions sold on that day were more than any other day of its opening frame. This certainly does not bode well for its long-term prospects. Based on the trajectory of TFA, TLJ and Rogue One, it seems that this one will finish between 200–250K admissions. Star Wars Title National OW Release date Total admissions Multiple Star Wars: The Force Awakens 137,128 Thu 24 Dec 15 446,258 3.25 Star Wars: The Last Jedi 100,121 Thu 14 Dec 17 298,770 2.98 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker 68,605 Wed 18 Dec 19 94,578 1.38 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story 60,213 Thu 15 Dec 16 191,209 3.18 Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith 40,500 Fri 20 May 05 143,000 3.53 Solo: A Star Wars Story 21,325 Thu 24 May 18 47,133 2.21 Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace – Fri 15 Oct 99 190,000 – Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones – Fri 17 May 02 120,000 – On the other hand, Greek historical drama 'Eftyhia' opened very impressively with more than 50K admissions. Word of mouth seems to be very positive. It's gonna make a lot of money and, in all likelihood, it will surpass 'Star Wars 9' in total admissions. 'Frozen II' had a slightly higher drop than expected although it has all the chances to recover over the holiday period. Although it should clear 300,000 admissions, it is hard to predict how much further it can get by the end of its run. 'Last Christmas' will probably get close to 150K admissions by the end of its run and 'Abominable', which seems to have won the race between itself and 'The Addams Family', is gonna cross the 100K-admission milestone before the holidays are over. Schools and universities are closed until the 7th of January in Greece.

Weekend: 12th–15th December 2019 Ranking Title Weekend admissions % change from last weekend Total admissions Week 1 Frozen II 30,821 -43.9% 187,061 3 2 Knives Out 17,603 -31.6% 60,574 2 3 Midway 11,979 – 11,979 1 4 Last Christmas 8,009 -29.1% 103,177 5 5 Black Christmas 4,511 – 4,511 1 6 The Addams Family 4,272 -19.4% 82,811 6 7 Abominable 3,130 +22.7% 85,245 8 8 21 Bridges 3,069 -63.7% 15,924 2 9 La Belle Époque [French] 3,002 – 3,002 1 10 Dronningen [Danish–Swedish] 1,265 -44.4% 4,357 2 Source: https://flix.gr/news/box-office-12-12-2020.html The 94,722 people who attended movie theaters last weekend was the lowest number ever witnessed in December during the last decade. This year has truly been one of record-highs and record-lows. Elsa has done some clearly irreversible damage to the box office, which remains in deep-freeze mode. 'Frozen II' dropped more steeply than last weekend but it is planning to capitalise on the Christmas holidays, since there is no serious competition ahead. 300,000 admissions remains the goal, but we'll just have to wait and see: it could go higher, but it could also fail to get there. The long-delayed 'Midway' didn't make any waves and has few chances of staying afloat, what with it being bombarded by 'Star Wars 9' this Thursday. Other openers were of no interest. As for holdovers, 'The Addams Family' and 'Abominable' remain in a close race, with the prior leading in weekend admissions, while the latter leads in cumulative admissions. I'd give the latter a slight edge. 'Knives Out' and 'Last Christmas' remain relatively popular, but probbaly not for long. Next week, we will witness the one-two punch of 'Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker' and 'Eftyhia' (literally, "happiness"), another one of those perfectly-timed Greek historical dramas that come out just before Christmas. This one focuses on the life of the most important Greek female lyricist of the 20th century, Eftyhia Papagiannopoulou. It will undoubtedly get talked about a lot, but whether it can get people to sit down in a movie theater is a completely different question. I think 'Star Wars 9' will open bigger, but 'Eftyhia' could easily overtake it, by the time everything is done and dusted. In any case, neither is expected to reach the heights of 'Endgame' (540,000 admissions), let alone 'Joker' (900,000 admissions). TTFN – ta ta for now!

Weekend 5th–8th December 2019 Ranking Title Weekend admissions % change from last weekend Total admissions Week 1 Frozen II 54,986 -22.1% 144,739 2 2 Knives Out 25,717 – 30,275 1 3 Last Christmas 11,298 -14.9% 88,709 4 4 21 Bridges 8,443 – 8,443 1 5 The Addams Family 5,301 -14.3% 77,956 5 6 Motherless Brooklyn 3,870 -56.6% 17,971 2 7 Abominable 2,551 -0.1% 81,378 7 8 Dronningen [Danish–Swedish] 2,275 – 2,275 1 9 Φαντασία (Fantasia) [GR] 1,533 -78.6% 13,472 2 10 Playing with Fire 1,492 – 1,492 1 Source: http://www.grandmagazine.gr/ngine/article/4943/box-office-i-eispraktikh-psuxra-sunexizetai https://flix.gr/news/box-office-051219.html With cumulative admissions (126,136 admissions) staying level compared to last weekend, 'Frozen II' achieved the third-biggest sophomore frame for an animated film, only behind 'Ice Age 2' (est. 68,100 admissions) and 'Minions' (63,470 admissions). 'Inside Out's' second weekend is close behind (52,231 admissions). This was expected and I believe that these good holds will continue throughout the holiday period. It is still has a long way to go if it wants to reach 300,000 admissions but 200,000 admissoins is guaranteed at this point. Meanwhile, 'Knives Out' was the only newcomer worth mentioning. It does have the potential, if it holds well, to reach the 100K-admission milestone, which, by the way, the 'Last Christmas' is days away from crossing. As for other hooldovers, the animated films once again registered the strongest holds, with 'The Addams Family' hot on 'Abominable's' heels. All in all, I doubt either film will reach 100K admissions, but they will come close. In other news, 'Joker' reached 900,000 admissions, which is its final milestone. Below follows a list of Greece's all-time Top 15 biggest films: GREECE ALL-TIME TOP 15 Ranking Title Admissions Year 1 Titanic 1,900,000 1997 2 Πολίτικη Κουζίνα (A Touch of Spice) [GR] 1,277,902 2003 3 Λούφα και Παραλλαγή: Σειρήνες στο Αιγαίο (Loufa kai Parallagi: Seirines sto Aigaio) [GR] 1,230,512 2005 4 300 1,210,022 2007 5 Safe Sex [GR] 1,200,000 1999 6 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 955,000 2003 7 Gladiator 950,000 2000 8 Avatar 939,804 2009 9 Troy 916,170 2004 10 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 905,000 2002 11 Joker 901,449 2019 12 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 830,000 2002 13 My Big Fat Greek Wedding 810,000 2001 14 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone 777,366 2001 15 El Greco [GR] 767,179 2007 NOTES: FreeCinema puts 'Titanic's' total at 1,208,373 admissions, which sounds outrageous to me. If the real number isn't 1.9 million, it should still be above 1.5 million admissions. For positions 2-5, FreeCinema has slightly lower estimates for all four films, but the order remains the same. Cine.gr says that 'Troy' reached 950,000 admissions, but FreeCinema's number (916K) seems more plausible. 'Gladiator' and 'LOTR2' are nowhere to be found on FreeCinema's list. 'Big Fat Greek Wedding's' number has been reported by at least two other reliable sources (ethnos.gr and CINEMA magazine). FreeCinema puts it at 857,926 admissions. FreeCinema says 'LOTR1' sold 782,709 admissions. I feel that this is the best I could do to get numbers that are closest to the truth. This chart will never be perfect, but if there are any glaring omissions or mistakes, let me know what you think. Depending on whether or not one includes 'Gladiator' in this list and whether 'Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers' actually grossed 905,000 admissions or slightly less, 'Joker' may or may not be in the All-Time Top 10. Regardless, 'Joker's' performance is something unparalleled. All films above 'Joker' on the list are either Greek films, Hollywood films directly related to Greek culture, James Cameron films or 'Lord of the Rings' films. For 'Joker' to get that high, it was a remarkable result. I have allso update the charts on the first page.

Weekend 28th November–1st December 2019 Ranking Title Weekend admissions % change from last weekend Total admissions Week 1 Frozen II 70,587 – 70,587 1 2 Last Christmas 13,282 -29.6% 69,498 3 3 Motherless Brooklyn 8,915 – 8,915 1 4 Φαντασία (Fantasia) [GR] 7,158 – 7,158 1 5 The Addams Family 6,188 -53.1% 72,519 4 6 Ford v Ferrari (aka Le Mans ‘66) 3,199 -57.1% 40,900 3 7 Abominable 2,553 -57.4% 78,241 6 8 Joker 2,514 -63.4% 899,187 9 9 Parasites 2,323 -45.9% 69,117 8 10 Dolor y gloria [Spanish] 1,672 -58.0% 57,871 5 Source: https://flix.gr/news/box-office-28-11-2019.html http://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-frozen-ii-rocks-fantasia-bombs/ http://www.grandmagazine.gr/ngine/article/4924/box-office-psuxra-nai-anapoda-ka8olou http://www.filmboy.gr/2019/12/box-office-frozen-2-animation.html 'Frozen II' brought a storm to the box office, but this weekend still managed to be the second lowest-grossing late-November weekend of the last decade (126,000 admissions). The icy spectacle did not manage to break any records, but this is understandable since most other animated films with bigger openings were released during the Christmas holidays or during the lucrative late-August/early-September period. 'Frozen II' actually only managed the 9th-biggest animated opening on record: Biggest animated openings (since 2003) Ranking Title Opening weekend Release date Total Multiple 1 Ice Age: The Meltdown 93,000 Thu 6 Apr 06 346,500 3.73 2 Minions 91,770 Thu 24 Sep 15 290,513 3.17 3 Finding Dory 90,356 Thu 1 Sep 16 295,338 3.27 4 Despicable Me 3 82,418 Thu 31 Aug 17 308,997 3.75 5 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs 80,337 Mon 29 Jun 09 384,829 4.79 6 Tangled 77,247 Thu 6 Jan 11 232,500 3.01 7 A Christmas Carol 72,323 Thu 24 Dec 09 175,456 2.43 8 The Smurfs 71,600 Thu 8 Sep 11 283,010 3.95 9 Frozen II 70,587 Thu 28 Nov 19 – – 10 Ratatouille 68,000-70,000 Thu 27 Sep 07 312,019 4.52 11 Ice Age: Continental Drift 67,836 Thu 5 Jul 12 305,445 4.50 12 Inside Out 62,766 Thu 3 Sep 15 310,104 4.94 13 Ice Age: Collision Course 60,312 Thu 14 Jul 16 214,994 3.56 However, I would expect it to have a much higher multiplier than other animated films, with the holidays approaching. I think 300,000 admissions are more likely than not; whether it can claim the animated record from 'Ice Age 3' remains to be seen. All other films except 'Last Christmas' were obliterated with the arrival of the snow queen. For the record, there is a slight issue with the film 'Richard Says Goodbye'. Two sites are reporting a weekend figure of 2,528 admissions, placing it at #8, while one is reporting 628 admissions and another one (which only reports the Top 10) does not include in the list. I won't spend any time trying to find out the truth, since it is a rather inconsequential issue. 2019's 11-month total is running 2.1% ahead of 2018, which finished with 9.36 million admissions. However, it is 5-8% behind 2015, 2016 and 2017, all which finished between 9.8-10.1 millin admissions. Based on these comaprisons, it seems that 2019 is headed for 9.3-9.5 million admissions.

Weekend: 21st–24th November 2019 Ranking Title Weekend admissions % change from last weekend Total admissions Week 1 Last Christmas 18,871 +23.7% 44,675 2 2 The Addams Family 13,197 -35.1% 63,503 3 3 Ford v Ferrari (aka Le Mans ‘66) 7,454 -49.5% 33,861 2 4 Joker 6,871 -46.1% 893,567 8 5 Charlie’s Angels 6,185 – 6,185 1 6 Abominable 5,994 -25.9% 75,924 5 7 Parasites 4,291 -32.4% 64,825 7 8 Dolor y gloria [Spanish] 3,980 -40.2% 54,646 4 9 Trouble 3,569 -27.0% 9,113 2 10 Sorry We Missed You 3,092 -37.3% 19,253 3 Source: https://flix.gr/news/box-office-21-11-2019.html In an unexpected twist of events, thanks to 'Charlie's Angels's' epic fail and an expansion from 45 to 71 screens for 'Last Christmas', the latter surged to the top of the box office, displacing 'The Addams Family'. The rom-com is far from being a hit though – this will depend on the drops it will have in the next couple of weeks. Meanwhile, 'The Addams Family' has been catching up with 'Abominable', but both animated films are about to be demolished by 'Frozen II'. It is also important to note that Netflix's 'The Irishman' expanded to a wide release this weekend, but the devious media company has declined to publicise the ticket count. It might even be in first place but we wouldn't know. 'Parasites' was shown on the same number of screens, but didn't hold well enough to maintain momentum. I think its chances of reaching 100K admissions are now minimal. Not that it hasn't done well already though. 'Joker' will soon reach 900,000 admissions. It will be interesting to observe how many weekends it will spend in the Top 10. 'Frozen II' will certainly create many waves. Could we see the first animated opening above 100,000 admissions? The record is currently 'Ice Age 2's' 93,000 admissions, back in April 2006. This has been a year that many long-standing records fell. Let's hope it adds another broken record to the list.

Weekend: 14th–17th November 2019 Ranking Title Weekend admissions % change from last weekend Total admissions Week 1 The Addams Family 20,328 -15.6% 48,474 2 2 Last Christmas 15,251 – 15,251 1 3 Ford v Ferrari (aka Le Mans ‘66) 14,770 – 14,770 1 4 Joker 12,739 -42.4% 880,354 7 5 The Good Liar 8,826 – 8,826 1 6 Abominable 8,092 -37.3% 68,787 4 7 Dolor y gloria [Spanish] 6,658 -42.3% 47,817 3 8 Parasites 6,348 -10.0% 57,408 6 9 Sorry We Missed You 4,931 -23.5% 14,048 2 10 Trouble 4,887 – 4,887 1 Source: http://flix.gr/news/box-office-14-11-2019.html With 'Joker' reaching its eventual end, the box office has calmed down significantly and, with 125,000 cumulative admissions, this weekend was the least-attended mid-November weekend of the last decade. This year has been full of highs and lows, hasn't it? Thanks to holdovers like 'The Addams Family', the weekend actually was on par with least weekend. The supernatural animated film managed to stay on top for a second week thanks to a strong hold and weak openers. It could be on course for 100K admissions if it doesn't get obliterated by 'Frozen II' in two weeks' time. 'Joker's' late legs haven't been as strong as its early ones. They certainly aren't terrible – the uber-blockbuster is yet to see a 50%+ drop – but reaching one million admissions is now off the table. In fact, even reaching 'Avatar's' 940,000 admissions is not guaranteed at this point and I would bet against it, based on the film's current momentum. 'Abominable' is doing well but it seems like it won't reach 100,000 admissions after all. 'Parasites', on the other hand, has seen a steadier rise over the past weeks. This marked the first week that its screen count dropped (from 30 to 26), yet its per-screen average increased. It will only have a chance at 100,000 admissions if it manages to hold on to at least 20 screens for the next few weeks. As for newcomers, there's hardly anything to say. It was a close race between 'Last Christmas' and 'Ford v Ferrari', despite the latter playing on more than double the number of screens (95 vs 45). Next week, 'Charlie's Angels' will probably finish on top, although I think it's possible that total admissions will drop below 100,000.

Weekend: 7th–10th November 2019 Ranking Title Weekend admissions % change from last weekend Total admissions Week 1 The Addams Family 24,080 – 23,548 1 2 Joker 22,125 -46.5% 856,579 6 3 Abominable 12,910 -28.1% 59,392 3 4 Doctor Sleep 11,668 – 11,668 1 5 Dolor y gloria [Spanish] 11,546 -34.3% 37,137 2 6 Terminator: Dark Fate 7,232 -60.2% 35,235 2 7 Parasites 7,050 -25.0% 47,858 5 8 Maleficent: Mistress of Evil 6,889 -39.3% 99,710 4 9 Sorry We Missed You 6,446 – 6,446 1 10 Richard Says Goodbye 3,803 – 3,803 1 Source: http://flix.gr/news/box-office-7-11-2019.html http://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-the-addams-family-beats-joker/ http://www.grandmagazine.gr/ngine/article/4891/box-office-mia-oikogeneia-erixe-ton-joker-apo-tin-korufh-omos Having reached its pinnacle, 'Joker' has now started receding gradually. It nevertheless fought hard for a 6th first-place finish which it barely missed. The market has otherwise been very quiet. 'Doctor Sleep' did not meet expectations, similarly to what happened in other countries. It was animated flick 'The Addams Family' that made it to the top whille 'Abominable' also held its ground. The latter is vying for the 100K-admission milestone and given its small drops, it is in good shape to reach it. 'Maleficent 2' is already there by the time these lines are being written. It is still way behind its predecessor's 164,394-admission total though. 'Parasites' achieved the best weekend hold after expanding to 8 more screens for a total of 30. The film has been doing quite well, but will need a significant expnasion to get anywhere near 100K admissions. According to FreeCinema, 'Joker' has reached the All-Time Top 10, although not all sources agree on these rankings. Nevertheless, I will try and create a comprehensive list in due course.

Weekend: 31/10–03/11/2019 Ranking Title Weekend admissions % change from last weekend Total admissions Week 1 Joker 41,342 -44.8% 815,410 5 2 Terminator: Dark Fate 18,174 – 18,174 1 3 Abominable 17,953 -2.0% 44,367 2 4 Dolor y gloria [Spanish] 17,578 – 17,578 1 5 Maleficent: Mistress of Evil 11,358 -42.7% 88,736 3 6 Parasites 9,403 -3.7% 36,271 4 7 Mia and the White Lion [French–German–South-African] 2,888 – 2,888 1 8 Countdown 2,677 -54.5% 12,496 2 9 Ternet Ninja [Danish] 2,199 – 2,199 1 10 Hustlers 2,085 -57.4% 29,567 3 Source: http://flix.gr/news/box-office-311019.html 'Joker' easily achieved a fifth weekend at the top, making it the only film that has achieved this during the current decade. The last film to have topped the box office for five weekends (consecutive or not) is 'The Hangover', during July and August 2009. This decade's box office has been decimated by the financial crisis, but it reserved its biggest surprise for the very end. The uber-blockbuster did drop slightly more than previous weeks but of course it was coming off a holiday weekend. It is still fighting for 1 million admissions, although I sense it will probably finish around Avatar's 940K admissions. Meanwhile, Greek audiences didn't understand why a sixth 'Terminator' film was necessary. It managed to do slightly better than its immediate predecessor. Although no numbers are available for the first two films, it is pretty clear that the franchise has run its course: Terminator Title National OW Release date Total admissions Multiple Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines 78,269 Fri 22 Aug 03 283,000 3.62 Terminator Salvation 53,800 Thu 4 Jun 09 124,170 2.31 Terminator Genisys 17,358 Thu 25 Jun 15 59,690 3.44 Terminator: Dark Fate 18,174 Thu 31 Oct 19 – – 'Abominable' behaved just like we'd expect an animated film to behave. It does have chances of reaching 100K admissions, which is a given for 'Maleficent 2'. 'Parasites' added 5 more screens (for a total of 22) and posted a superb hold. We probably have not seen the last of this film. Cumulative admissions for 2019 are running 5% ahead of 2018, despite being far behind at the start of the year (thank you, 'Endgame' and 'Joker'). The current year is also on par with 2015, 2% behind 2017 and 8% behind 2016. Although there is potential for the 2019 to catch up with 2016 and 2017, which scored about 10.0-10.1 million admissions each, that depends a lot on the performance of individual films like 'Frozen' and 'Star Wars 9'.

Holiday weekend: 24th–28th October 2019 Ranking Title Weekend admissions % change from last weekend Total admissions (by Sunday) Monday admissions Week 1 Joker 74,937 -17.3% 730,563 15,622 4 2 Maleficent: Mistress of Evil 19,819 -38.4% 66,178 5,178 2 3 Abominable 18,318 – 18,318 5,800 1 4 Parasites 9,766 +73.7% 20,536 2,719 3 5 Countdown 5,879 – 5,879 894 1 6 The Current War 5,692 – 5,692 1,079 1 7 Hustlers 4,900 -55.5% 24,369 983 2 8 Official Secrets 4,369 – 4,369 1,101 1 9 The Secret Life of Pets 2 2,646 -42.2% 158,093 857 9 10 Adults in the Room [French-Greek] 2,390 -60.9% 69,257 736 4 Source: http://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-joker-still-conquers/ One can safely say that for the first time in three years, the 28th-October national holiday actally boosted the box office. Total tickets sold reached 160,814 for the 4-day weekend and 199,335 when including the Monday holiday. The 'Joker' did it again. Without showing any signs of a sudden slow-down, it dropped by a small amount that allowed it to stay at the top spot for a 4th consecutive weekend. It is actually the second time this year that this feat has been achieved, the first one being the Greek-directed Oscar nom 'The Favourite'. However, chances are the 'Joker' will hold the weekend crown for another weekend. In that case, it will be the only film to have achieved five first-place finishes since 2011 (I haven't found any other five-times first-place finisher, but a lot of weekend data for pre-2011 nationwide weekend numbers are missing). Including the Monday holiday, the 'Joker' sold 90,559 admissions, which is virtually identical to its 4th weekend. 'Joker' has now surpassed 'Worlds Apart' (668,892 admissions) to become the biggest film of the last decade. Due to the industry's inaccurate and incomplete data, it is hard to say where exactly it stands on the all-time charts at the moment. It is probably in the Top 20 by now. Within days, it should top 'El Greco' (767,179 admissions). I've managed to create a rough estimate of the Top 15 films on the first page. I'll give an updated overview of the all-time chart later on... 'Maleficent' just about managed to stay in second place, as it was threatened by the 'Abominable' Himalayan yeti. With more than 70,000 admissions, 'Maleficent' has serious chances of reaching the 100K-admission milestone. The same cannot be said for 'Abominable', which will require strong holds, although this is not uncommon for animated films. 'Parasite' expanded from 3 to 17 screens and saw a big jump. It could evolve into a medium-size hit if it continues to expand and fare so well. The rest of the Top 10 bunch was quite mediocre. Nothing much to talk about. All eyes are on 'Joker' and whether it will reach 1 million admissions. Although it has done very well until now, it would still need a 4.4x multiplier from now on, which is far from guaranteed. That means 23% drops per weekend on average. Fingers crossed...

The guy who owns the site has made wildly inaccurate predictions in the past. Hardly a box-office analyst, imo. That being said, of course, 1M admissions is a possibility but I wouldn't say it is (atm) the most likely outcome. Let's wait til Tuesday for the 4th weekend's results (Monday is a national holiday). This weekend will be decisive.

Horrible. Dreadful. Disgusting. Appalling. Calamitous. Outrageous. Hideous. Abhorrent. Despicable. Abominable. Repulsive. Heinous. Ignominious. Disdainful. Beyond contempt. It's been a great 10 years. I first visited BOM in January 2010 just out of curiosity to find out how much money Avatar was making. I got sucked in ever since. But all good things come to an end. Goodbye, Box Office Mojo. It was great for as long as it lasted.

I disagree

In Greece, Joker has surpassed Endgame to become the biggest comic-book adaptation of all time. In a 'mature' market like Greece, this is truly rermarkable. Before Endgame, the record had been held for 15 years by Spider-Man 2.

Weekend: 17th–20th October 2019 Ranking Title Weekend admissions % change from last weekend Total admissions Week 1 Joker 90,571 -37.7% 591,871 3 2 Maleficent: Mistress of Evil 32,179 – 32,179 1 3 Hustlers 11,016 – 11,016 1 4 Adults in the Room [French-Greek] 6,109 -56.7% 64,005 3 5 Hodja fra Pjort [Danish] 5,873 -20.8% 35,835 4 6 Parasites 5,623 +632.2% 6,919 2 7 The Secret Life of Pets 2 4,577 -24.7% 154,553 8 8 A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon 3,600 -45.3% 11,074 2 9 Gemini Man 2,433 -68.8% 15,085 2 10 Portrait de la jeune fille en feu [French] 2,412 -42.2% 8,727 2 Source: http://flix.gr/news/box-office-17-10-2019.html 'Joker' had a respectable drop after the craze of its first couple of weeks. As @Joel M has mentioned, the events that occurred over the weekend lead to two conclusions. Firstly, 'Joker' is a film only for the... Adults in the Room. Secondly, the headlines have been dominated by the film for the last 24 hours, which can only translate into more tickets, I presume. It will, without doubt, top 'Worlds Apart', which remains the best-selling film of the decade. 'Joker' is already the biggest Hollywood (and non-local) film of the decade and will get to 700,000 admissions. It has also eclipsed 'Avengers: Endgame' to become the biggest comic-book film of all time. Could it reach 1 million? To answer @Steven's question, I would say probably not. It would certainly be nice if it did. If the film had posted another weekend above 100K admissions, I would have said that 1 million admissions is a feasible outcome. However, next weekend is a 3-day holiday (Monday is a national holiday). It is supposed to be a busy period for cinemas, but it hasn't been for the last two years. It was indeed very busy in 2016, though. If 'Joker' does well enough to receive a boost or stay steady next weekend, then I would say 1 million would become a possibility again. 'El Greco' (2007) scored a higher third weekend (103,524 admissions). That Greek film had reached 505K admissions by its third Sunday and 767K admissions in total. 'Avatar' sold 82,332 admissions on its third weekend and had only 442,322 admissions by its third Sunday. That one reached 940K admissions in total. Based on Athenian admissions, I've estimated that 'A Touch of Spice' is estimated to have sold about 92,000 admissions nationwide on its third weekend (in total, it had reached 390K admissions by its third Sunday). Using a similar method, my estimate for 'Troy' is 150,000 admissions, for '300' it 139,600 admissions and for 'Lord of the Rings: Return of the King' it's 103,500 admissions. All films earned north of 950,000 admissions in total. We'll have to wait and see... Meanwhile, there were very few adults watching 'Adults in the Room'. Also, Disney's latest live-action film achieved a middling result. Was 'Maleficent 2' actually necessary? Just like most of the countless Disney live-action films that came out over the last five years, the answer is a resounding "no". However, I'm sure no one cares that this hasn't fared well. Disney has far better things happening. 'SLOP 2' has surpassed 150K admissions, but is still way behind its predecessor (208K admissions). 'Parasites' had an impressive 1,800-admission per-screen average (fromonly 3 screens). Worth keeping an eye on it.

Daily admissions for Joker Day Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Daily admissions 22,508 26,150 28,237 44,419 * ** – – +16.18% – +7.98% – +57.31% – Cumulative admissions 22,508 48,658 76,895 121,314 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 36,929 25,247 32,534 54,150 29,614 30,992 47,418 -16.86% – -31.63% – +28.86% – +66.44% +140.58% -45.31% +13.25% +4.65% +9.76% +53.00% +6.75% 158,243 183,490 216,024 270,174 299,788 330,780 378,198 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday 37,313 18,862 22,253 44,641 -21.31% +1.04% -49.45% -25.29% +17.98% -31.60% +100.61% -17.56% 415,511 434,373 456,626 501,267 * % change since yesterday ** % change since same day last week Previews: 22,508 Week 1: 247,569 admissions Week 2: 231,088 admissions (-6.7%) Comments: Wednesdays are discount days, which justifies the huge jumps from Tuesday. A 20% drop this weekend would result in a 109,000-admission 3rd weekend and a 610,000-admission total by Sunday. Reaching 'Worlds Apart's' (669,000 admissions) total would be a foregone conclusion by then, becoming the biggest film of the decade (2010-2019). Sources: http://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-joker-is-killing-it/ http://freecinema.gr/greek-audience-goes-nuts-over-joker-movie/ http://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-joker-just-got-bigger/ http://freecinema.gr/joker-admissions-keep-shocking-greek-market/

Weekend 10th–13th October 2019 Ranking Title Weekend admissions % change from last weekend Total admissions Week 1 Joker 145,337 +7.1% 415,473 2 2 Adults in the Room [French-Greek] 14,098 -39.8% 50,991 2 3 Gemini Man 7,795 – 7,795 1 4 Hodja fra Pjort [Danish] 7,413 -29.6% 29,267 3 5 A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon 6,578 – 6,578 1 6 The Secret Life of Pets 2 6,081 -17.0% 149,177 7 7 Portrait de la jeune fille en feu [French] 4,172 – 4,389 1 8 Rambo: Last Blood 3,937 -42.9% 42,979 3 9 Nomis 2,700 – 2,700 1 10 Werk ohne Autor [German] 2,458 – 2,458 1 Sources: http://www.grandmagazine.gr/ngine/article/4824/box-office-magemeno-apo-ton-joker-surreei-kata-xiliades-to-elliniko-koino http://flix.gr/news/box-office-10-10-2019.html In what was indubitably the most seismic result of the last decade, 'Joker' INCREASED from its already huge opening, to post what is (probably) the biggest second weekend of the last decade. '300' holds the all-time record, with a 285,000-admission sophomore frame, which represents an 11% drop from its record 320,000-admission opening (still a record). 'Joker' has already eclipsed all superhero films except 'Endgame', which will soon be overtaken, since it stands at 538,000 admissions. 'Joker' seems poised to get there by next Sunday. This is a result beyond any imagination. Word-of-mouth has worked wonders for this film and the timing of its release is ideal for Greek cinemagoing habits. All major summer releases had opened by early September, leaving enough breathing space for 'Joker' and there is little else of interest in the coming weeks. Of course, the content seems to be the major driver here, rather than the absence of competition. Once 'Joker' obliterates 'Endgame' and 'Skyfall' (579,681 admissions), it will become the biggest Hollywood film of the last decade (2010-2019). Whne inlcuding Greek films, it only trails 'Worlds Apart', which was released during the 2015 Christmas period and reached 669,000 admissions. Even that number is within reach if this insane holding power continues. However, there does exist a trend of certain big films achieving a small drop on their second weekend, before dropping hard on subsequent weekends. I wonder if this will be the case for 'Joker', although it is rather an unlikely. Here is a list of second weekends that sold more than 100K admissions. I have managed to collect the data over the years (plus some of my own estimates). It is in no way exhaustive and there may be many missing films, since my search has not been very extensive and a lot of data have not been reported. Ranking Title 2nd-weekend admissions Release date Comments 1 300 285,000 Thu 8 Mar 07 2 Troy 151,600 Fri 14 May 04 1 3 Λούφα και Παραλλαγή: Σειρήνες στο Αιγαίο (Loufa kai Parallagi: Seirines sto Aigaio) [GR] 150,300 Tue 5 Dec 06 1 4 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 149,500 Wed 17 Dec 03 1 5 The Da Vinci Code 146,400 Thu 18 May 06 1 6 Joker 145,337 Thu 3 Oct 19 7 El Greco [GR] 128,163 Thu 18 Oct 07 8 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest 117,900 Thu 24 Aug 06 1 9 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End 117,400 Thu 24 May 07 1 10 Μόλις Χώρισα (Molis Horisa) [GR] 115,000 Thu 14 Feb 08 11 Clash of the Titans 114,484 Sun 4 Apr 10 12 Avatar 108,500 Thu 17 Dec 09 13 Avengers: Endgame 107,133 Wed 24 Apr 19 14 2012 105,000 Thu 12 Nov 09 1 15 Skyfall 104,530 Thu 1 Nov 12 16 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 102,200 Thu 24 Nov 05 1 1: National estimate based on Athenian second-weekend admissions 'Adults in the Room' did not achieve a respectable hold for the genre. Other films were of, frankly, no interest at all. Cumulative admissions reached 210,190, which is the biggest number of the last two-and-a-half years and the biggest outside the Christmas holiday period since 'Finding Dory' opened (214,692 admissions).

Weekend: 3rd–6th October 2019 Ranking Title Weekend admissions % change from last weekend Total admissions Week 1 Joker 135,735 – 158,243 1 2 Adults in the Room [French-Greek] 23,429 – 23,429 1 3 Hodja fra Pjort [Danish] 10,536 +13.1% 20,888 2 4 The Secret Life of Pets 2 7,330 -11.2% 142,041 6 5 Rambo: Last Blood 6,894 -59.1% 32,972 2 6 Ad Astra 3,491 -62.6% 49,210 3 7 Angry Birds 2 3,404 -8.7% 43,023 5 8 It Chapter Two 2,819 -47.2% 150,715 5 9 Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw 1,508 -44.7% 137,907 6 10 Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark 1,434 -76.1% 11,487 2 Source: http://flix.gr/news/box-office-3-10-2019.html http://www.grandmagazine.gr/ngine/article/4806/box-office-to-fainomeno-joker With cumulative admissions reaching 205,752, we hadn't seen such numbers (outside the Christmas holiday period) since November 2017, when another DC film, 'Justice League', and 'Murder on the Orient Express' boosted the weekend to 206,306 admissions. 'Joker' has confirmed once again that DC's fanbase in Greece is far wider and more loyal than Marvel. The MCU has evolved into a cultural phenomenon worldwide but its box-office performance is very variable in Greece, with opening weekends ranging from 18,674 admissions ('Ant-Man') to 129,549 admissions ('Infinity War'). On the other hand, DC has scored opening weekends quite consistently above 50,000 admissions. In this case, 'Joker' scored the second-biggest superhero opening weekend ever, only behind 'Spider-Man 3'. If we take into account previews, it is in third place, behind 'Spider-Man 3' and 'Endgame' (171,478 admissions from Wednesday to Sunday) (Reminder: 'Endgame' opened on Wednesday before Easter, with most cinemas closed on Good Friday and Saturday, which is probably why it doesn't hold the OW record.) Superhero openings (since 2003) Rank Title Opening weekend Total Release date Multiple 1 Spider-Man 3 159,000 366,987 03/05/07 2.31 2 Joker 135,735 158,243 03/10/19 1.17 3 Avengers: Infinity War 129,549 363,487 26/04/18 2.81 4 Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice 122,428 276,311 24/03/16 2.26 5 Captain America: Civil War 101,800 215,155 05/05/16 2.11 6 The Dark Knight 100,000 339,520 17/07/08 3.40 7 Avengers: Age of Ultron 94,250 224,334 30/04/15 2.38 8 Avengers: Endgame 93,217 537,690 24/04/19 5.77 9 Deadpool 2 82,773 221,697 17/05/18 2.68 10 Spider-Man 2 82,300 385,700 07/07/04 3.86 11 Deadpool 77,774 217,832 18/02/16 2.80 12 The Avengers 75,755 242,565 26/04/12 3.20 13 The Dark Knight Rises 74,530 346,585 21/08/12 4.65 14 Venom 66,795 206,763 04/10/18 3.10 15 Iron Man 3 66,278 206,006 25/04/13 3.11 How far will 'Joker' reach? Well, if it follows the precipitous trajectory of 'Batman v Superman', it would still get to 330,000 admissions. If it followed the trajectory of 'Infinity War', which still had quite harsh drops during its first few weekends, it would reach 380,000 admissions. It only needs to get to 386,000 admissions in order to out-gross 'Spider-Man 2', to become the second-biggest superhero film of all time, behind 'Endgame'. The numbers and the ongoing controversy surrounding it suggest that it could make it. It is in no case guaranteed. It would however be quite impressive if the superhero all-time record, a record that was held by 'Spider-Man 2' since 2004, was broken twice in the same year, fifteen years later. 'Adults in the Room' did not manage to get many adults into the room. Despite the controversy surrounding it, it was probably drowned by the far more appealing entertainment offered by the 'Joker'. Maybe a better release date would have suited it. Maybe the negative comments did indeed have a negative effect, instead of increasing curiosity. It was otherwise business as usual, with animated films and the occasional arthouse production scoring good holds, while the rest dropped the usual 50% or more.

Weekend: 19th–22nd September 2019 Ranking Title Weekend admissions % change from last weekend Total admissions Week 1 Ad Astra 20,272 – 20,272 1 2 It Chapter Two 11,978 -46.1% 133,646 3 3 The Secret Life of Pets 2 10,638 -21.8% 123,046 4 4 Angel Has Fallen 7,780 -52.7% 32,817 2 5 Goldfinch 5,426 – 5,426 1 6 Angry Birds 2 5,392 -21.4% 35,030 3 7 Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw 5,308 -42.9% 129,677 4 8 Downton Abbey 4,077 -75.2% 28,095 2 9 Once Upon a Time in Hollywood 3,001 -58.6% 226,488 5 10 The Lion King 2,685 47.0% 288,097 10 Source: http://www.grandmagazine.gr/ngine/article/4785/box-office-o-mprant-pit-stin-korufh-alla-ta-astra-tou-8ampa-kai-makrina Weekend: 26th–29nd September 2019 Ranking Title Weekend admissions % change from last weekend Total admissions Week 1 Rambo: Last Blood 16,869 – 16,869 1 2 Ad Astra 9,345 -53.9% 42,071 2 3 Hodja fra Pjort [Danish] 9,317 – 9,317 1 4 The Secret Life of Pets 2 8,258 -22.4% 133,797 5 5 Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark 5,989 – 5,989 1 6 It Chapter Two 5,337 -55.4% 145,867 4 7 El amor menos pensado [Argentinian] 4,161 – 4,161 1 8 Angel Has Fallen 4,003 -48.5% 42,554 3 9 Angry Birds 2 3,730 -30.8% 39,329 4 10 The Lion King 2,909 +8.3% 291,219 11 Source: http://www.grandmagazine.gr/ngine/article/4793/box-office-i-epistrofh-tou-rambo Two weekends with virtually the same number of total tickets (86,506 for the prior and 86,386 for the latter) finished off the month of September with extremely unimpressive mediocrity. 'Ad Astra' and 'Rambo 5' had nothing to say and audiences were not willing to pay. 'The Lion King' has now been in the Top 10 for 10 weekends in total (8 consecutive). After the comeback of the last two weekends, all bets are off: the 300,000-admission milestone is back in the game. Just to keep things in perspective, it still the best live-action film produced by Disney, outside the 'Pirates of the Caibbean' franchise (all five have made more than 310,000 admissions). 'Pets 2' is trying to save face. 'It 2' had no chances anyway of getting close to its predecessor's total, but it has had better holds so far. Despite opening to 50% less, it is now running 43% behind. Not an eye-popping recovery but not bad either. 'Once Upon a Time' has made it to 230K admissions, but will not get much farther. Leo can't be disappointed about this one. Next weekend will witness the arrival of 'Joker'. As a DC film, it has the potential to do well in Greece. Nothing more can be said, as I have no idea about presales. Furthermore, this weekend is the premiere of 'Adults in the Room'. Directed by Greek-turned-French Costas Gavras and based on former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis' homonymous book, this is meant to be a big-screen version of the author's experiences during the eventful five-month negotiation period between Greece and its international creditors in early 2015. A topic that few of you know about and fewer care; nevertheless, Varoufakis had earned the biggest number of votes among all members of parliament, during the January 2015 national election, and many Greeks still see him as heroic figure who refused to capitulate to the creditors' demands. Many others see him as a traitor or a lunatic or an incompetent person who just wanted his claim to fame. In any case, there has been a lot of controversy, which escalated to the point that people started rating the movie on IMDb without having seen it. All you could see was reviews scoring it with a 10/10 and other reviews scoring it with a 1/10 (annoyingly for them, 0/10 was not an option). Yes, this is the image Greeks like to promote internationally. We are so polarised that we cannot even handle a movie about someone we dislike. And if we like him, we cannot handle a speck of criticism. Anyway, to be fair, it does sound a lot like what's happening with Donald Trump in the US. So, in comparison, it's maybe not that bad. Nevertheless, as the saying goes, 'bad advertising is still advertisement'. Whether this will translate into many tickets, I don't know. Sorry for the looooong digression and see you next week.

Weekend 12th–15th September 2019 Ranking Title Weekend admissions % change from last weekend Total admissions Week 1 It Chapter Two 22,203 -57.0% 109,102 2 2 Angel Has Fallen 16,448 – 16,448 1 3 Downton Abbey 16,413 – 16,413 1 4 The Secret Life of Pets 2 13,598 -36.4% 109,984 3 5 Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw 9,296 -53.4% 119,698 3 6 Once Upon a Time in Hollywood 7,248 -56.0% 219,645 4 7 Angry Birds 2 6,859 -56.8% 28,693 2 8 A Rainy Day in New York 5,130 -36.8% 90,557 4 9 Ready or Not 4,171 – 4,171 1 10 Where'd You Go, Bernadette 2,372 -78.1% 17,829 2 Source: http://flix.gr/news/box-office-12-9-2019.html http://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-it-still-counts/ The weekend was met by another packed movie schedule that fewer and fewer people seem to care about. The 109,103 people who honored Greece's cinemas were as much as last year, but with so many high-profile releases this year, we should be seeing bigger numbers. With the exception of 'Secret Life of Pets 2', the rest of the last week's Top 5 dropped more than 50%. Even 'Pets', however, is not having a good time, since it has fallen behind its predecessor at the same point in its run, despite its larger opening. The original sold 15,190 admissions on its 3rd weekend, for a 127,888-admission total. 'It 2' had a drop in the same league as its predecessor's (-54%) but has only sold about half the number of tickets, at the same point in its run (202K vs 109K admissions). 'Hobbs & Shaw' has already registered a higher multiplier than most other 'Fast & Furious' films but its total is only ahead of 'Tokyo Drift'. Perhaps the only truly positive achievement is 'Once Upon a Time's' total, which has reached the average number for a Leonardo DiCaprio film. Even so, the initial enthusiasm from 3 weeks ago, fueled by 'Once Upon a Time's' opening-weekend numbers and by expectations of a busy September, has quickly dissipated. New openers were as pathetic as usual. 'Angel Has Fallen' is supposedly the threequel of the 'Fallen' franchise, in case you hadn't noticed... It started with a smaller opening than its predecessors – 25,557 admissions for 'London Has Fallen' and 19,266 admissions for 'Olympus Has Fallen'. In total, the prior, which is the second film of the franchise, sold 122,529 admissions, while the original only got to 74,345 admissions. 'Downton Abbey' was close behind but hardly a success compared to the TV series. Last but not least, I wanted to mention Woody Allen's 'Rainy Day', which is about to beat 'Irrational Man' and will probably finish near 'Café Society' and 'Magic in the Moonlight', among recent Allen films. These may not be huge numbers but it is a feat in itself to have such consistent and loyal followers.

Weekend: 5th–8th September 2019 Ranking Title Weekend admissions % change from last weekend Total admissions Week 1 It Chapter Two 51,634 – 51,634 1 2 The Secret Life of Pets 2 21,382 -49.2% 88,481 2 3 Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw 19,942 -53.5% 96,689 2 4 Once Upon a Time in Hollywood 16,484 -55.1% 203,933 3 5 Angry Birds 2 15,865 – 15,865 1 6 Where'd You Go, Bernadette 10,807 – 10,807 1 7 A Rainy Day in New York 8,117 -54.4% 81,876 3 8 Une Intime Conviction [French] 2,876 – 2,876 1 9 The Lion King 2,154 -46.7% 282,273 8 10 Les Rivières Pourpres (2000) [French re-release] 719 – 719 1 Source: http://www.grandmagazine.gr/ngine/article/4760/box-office-to-auto-epistrefei-gia-ti-rebans Admittedly, I found this past weekend's box office traffic extremely disappointing. The tickets sold across Greece were only 151,818. This was the same as last weekened and the same time last year, when 'The Nun' opened to a strong 76,026 admissions. Despite 5 high-profile releases featuring in the Top 5, this weekend wasn't even close to beating, for example, the weekend when 'Thor: Ragnarok' was released (170,987 admissions). Or 'Despicable Me 3' (161,832 admissions). Or 'Maze Runner 3'... Oh well. 'It Chapter Two' opened with a tad more than half of its predecessor's opening-weekend admissions. Despite opening on par to 'It' everywhere else, Greeks were peculiarly unimpressed by the return of the clowns. Meanwhile, both 'SLOP 2' and 'Hobbs & Shaw' had big drops, but at least it was expected for the latter. The prior may have been affected by the arrival of 'Angry Birds 2', although that is a cheap excuse. This very promising franchise (I mean, 'Pets') seems to have missed its chance to become the next big success story for Illumination Entertainment (after of course the 'Despicable' franchise). Speaking of which, 'Angry Birds 2' also opened to about half of its predecessor's opening. When I recall claims that this franchise would allow Rovio to set up its own movie studio that would antagonise Disney, I can't help but laugh. Hard. 'Once Upon a Time' continued its rather steep decline but has made it to the blockbuster level of 200K admissions. DiCaprio's average over the last 15 years is about 220K admissions, which the film will easily reach. Otherwise, there is not much news. How desperate could Greek distributors be if they have resorted to re-releasing films from the year 2000?

Weekend: 29th August–1st September 2019 Ranking Title Weekend admissions % change from last weekend Total admissions Week 1 Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw 42,858 – 42,858 1 2 The Secret Life of Pets 2 42,074 – 42,074 1 3 Once Upon a Time in Hollywood 36,682 -48.8% 164,023 2 4 A Rainy Day in New York 17,802 -40.6% 64,240 2 5 The Lion King 4,043 -36.3% 276,972 7 6 Duelles [French–Belgian] 2,494 – 2,494 1 7 Spider-Man: Far from Home 844 -30.4% 188,791 9 8 Midsommar [American–Swedish] 527 -79.5% 5,857 2 9 Toy Story 4 511 -71.3% 175,276 11 10 Escape Plan: The Extractors 394 -20.7% 9,852 5 Source: http://www.grandmagazine.gr/ngine/article/4745/box-office-ena-fast-furious-didumo-odigei-tin-koursa-ton-tameion In what was an interestingly close call, car enthusiasts and pet lovers fought for seats this weekend, as two established franchises vied for the top spot. 'Once Upon a Time' came in at a (safely) distant third with a sizeable but dignified drop. 200K admissions are guaranteed at this point and if it continues on the same trajectory, it should reach 240K admissions by the end of tis run. Fast and Furious series Title Opening weekend Release date Total Multiple Furious 7 137,711 Thu 2 Apr 15 370,599 2.69 Fast Five 93,377 Thu 5 May 11 222,232 2.38 Fast and Furious 90,900 Thu 2 Apr 09 230,007 2.53 Fast & Furious 6 62,021 Thu 23 May 13 181,682 2.93 The Fate of the Furious 54,454 Thu 13 Apr 17** 304,891 5.60 Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw 42,858 Thu 29 Aug 19 – – The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift 35,600 Thu 13 Jul 06 115,400* 3.24 2 Fast 2 Furious 26,000 Fri 18 Jul 03 152,000* 5.85 *Total when they left the Top 10 **Easter weekend In contrast to 'Hobbs & Shaw's' mediocre performance, 'The Secret Life of Pets 2' topped its predecessor, which had opened to 37,254 admissions back in August 2016. However, a 5.6x multiplier and a 207K-admission total is a lot to live up to. Greece is one of the only countries where this film out-grossed its predecessor (mainly due to the strategic release date) and I doubt that word of mouth will be at all exceptional, judging from its trajectory elsewhere. Nevertheless, it is pretty clear that, although the 'Fast & Furious' prequel won the weekend, 'SLOP 2' will beat it when all is done and dusted. Meanwhile, Woody Allen's 'Rainy Day' had a solid hold and reaching 100K admissions should be a breeze. 'The Lion King' continues its stroll. 'Far From Home' had another small drop, despite the arrival of 'Hobbs & Shaw'. The same cannot be said for 'Toy Story 4' which fell sharply due to the arrival of 'Pets 2'. The best drop of the Top 10 was achieved by 'Escape Plan 3', which has so far fared slightly better than the miserable second part of the trilogy (8,018 admissions). Both, however, pale to utter insigificance compared to the original's 65,185-admission total. With 'It: Chapter Two' and 'Angry Birds 2' coming out next week, it's gonna be a bloodbath, albeit one we will certainly enjoy.