UK Box Office Thread

[Avatree]

12 hours ago, SnokesLegs said:

The IMAX screens are all maintained by IMAX themselves with frequent engineer visits to check that the quality is being kept up, that’s why their screens are always reliably high quality. I remember we once blew a speaker at the Cineworld where I worked, and an IMAX engineer was on site within 12 hours. The rest of the normal screens varied from passable to shocking though, one of the screens had a broken subwoofer for at least 6 months, and another was so dim that we literally couldn’t play 3D on it because it made it unwatchable. Engineers were notified, but generally wouldn’t show up until multiple issues arose.

 

Out of the UK cinemas, the best I’ve been to for presentation and comfort are The Light and Everyman, although Odeon are doing their best to improve things with their Luxe cinemas.

out of curiosity, which Light cinema have you been to, and what did you think of it?

 

5 hours ago, wildphantom said:

not surprised to hear IMAX branded screens are well serviced. 
 

Also interesting to hear equivalent Cineworld problems with your local to mine. After 19 years of being a member i think I’m done with them. I won’t miss the fear of the presentation being compromised every time I go. Sometimes it’s good and sometimes I have to walk out. Unacceptable. 

I agree with you, love the value for money at Cineworld, but it pisses me off how poorly maintained the screens are. I use mainly two cineworlds, one is pretty new but the other one is right shite. screens have been dirty for years and never cleaned. One of the screens actually tore, there was a big chunk missing, it was like that for a full year before they fixed/replaced it.

 

Other things annoy me like loud air con. Yes obviously auditoriums need to be air conditioned but there are ways of doing it quietly.

Fire exit signs placed right next to the screen so they reflect green on to the screen.

Doors placed in full view of screen so light and shadows beam onto the picture whenever someone goes to the loo.

 

[cdsacken]

5 hours ago, Krissykins said:

Ah I’m lucky here again, my Cineworld is a new one (mid 2015) so I’ve never had any issues. 

Do you have the cineworld unlimited? I enjoyed that when I went to cineworld in Ely back in 2013.

[Avatree]

went to Ely Cineworld the other day, surprisingly decent cineworld. It's one of the few which has ability to play HFR movies (saw gemini man).

[Krissykins]

2 hours ago, cdsacken said:

Do you have the cineworld unlimited? I enjoyed that when I went to cineworld in Ely back in 2013.

Yes! I’ve had one since they started it, it’s such a great deal. 

[wildphantom]

6 hours ago, Avatree said:

out of curiosity, which Light cinema have you been to, and what did you think of it?

 

I agree with you, love the value for money at Cineworld, but it pisses me off how poorly maintained the screens are. I use mainly two cineworlds, one is pretty new but the other one is right shite. screens have been dirty for years and never cleaned. One of the screens actually tore, there was a big chunk missing, it was like that for a full year before they fixed/replaced it.

 

Other things annoy me like loud air con. Yes obviously auditoriums need to be air conditioned but there are ways of doing it quietly.

Fire exit signs placed right next to the screen so they reflect green on to the screen.

Doors placed in full view of screen so light and shadows beam onto the picture whenever someone goes to the loo.

 

You’ve said it tree, the place is a joke. 
Corner cutting to the extreme. They don’t even check everything is set up right in my local on a Friday morning when a new schedule is set and new/existing films have moved screens. 
I called them out on it and they said it’s policy. I’m like “don’t you think the paramount thing to check is that the movies are playing correctly before you heat up the hotdogs to sell?”

Truth is they have staff being paid pittance and the top brass just don’t care. 
 

it’s all automated now and run at the lowest possible cost. 
 

I don’t understand why someone like Empire magazine doesn’t do an article on it. Testing screens all over the country out as a regular feature, or letting readers write in and having a regular name and shame column. 
 

 

[wildphantom]

11 hours ago, Krissykins said:

Ah I’m lucky here again, my Cineworld is a new one (mid 2015) so I’ve never had any issues. 

I might need to move to your neck of the woods 😂

[Avatree]

57 minutes ago, wildphantom said:

You’ve said it tree, the place is a joke. 
Corner cutting to the extreme. They don’t even check everything is set up right in my local on a Friday morning when a new schedule is set and new/existing films have moved screens. 
I called them out on it and they said it’s policy. I’m like “don’t you think the paramount thing to check is that the movies are playing correctly before you heat up the hotdogs to sell?”

Truth is they have staff being paid pittance and the top brass just don’t care. 
 

it’s all automated now and run at the lowest possible cost. 
 

I don’t understand why someone like Empire magazine doesn’t do an article on it. Testing screens all over the country out as a regular feature, or letting readers write in and having a regular name and shame column. 
 

 

You're right. They just don't care, The floor staff don't care because it's not part of their job and they get paid shit all. The managers are still on fairly poor salaries and they'll only step in if people are kicking up a fuss. Correct projection just is not part of the way the multiplex companies do business - which is why like others said a dedicated company like IMAX does have projection as part of its business model.

 

I worked in a cinema a few years ago, i worked in The Light in Cambridge. 90% of the staff don't care, because it's a shite job with shite hours and shite pay. You pay someone £5 an hour to clean floors and sell fizzy drinks in the middle of the night, you can be sure as shit they don't give two flying fucks about the movie people are watching.

They will try to do their best with the service they provide, but it's not a part of their job role to make sure the actual product works correctly. They just sell stuff at a counter.

 

When I was working in the cinema, the only time it was obvious for staff to do anything, would be things like - the sound is turned off; the lights haven't switched off; the image does not display. Then someone would fix it. But "little" issues, nope doesn't matter.

It doesn't help that the "projectionist" job has disappeared. In my cinema, there was 1 person who was a proper projectionist and he was the one who'd set everything up each week. There were a couple of us (me and another) who got projection-trained so when the main guy was off, we could still do start-up and shutdown and fix certain issues during the day. But that was it. Your film isn't quite showing correctly, and the projectionist has his day off today? Oh that's too bad, sucker.

 

And because a lot of it is digital and automated, there is not always much you can do, depending on what the issue is.

 

I am not old enough to know what it used to be like in the good ol' days of real celluloid, but I believe it used to be much better maintained.

Which is really strikingly odd to me, as the cinema chains are moving their business strategies away from the "general audience" who go to the movies once a month and don't really care if their experience is sub-par.

They all are focusing their efforts on their subscription services; their repeat customers. You know, the kind of customers who actually CARE about movies being projected right and auditoriums being maintained.

 

Sorry to go off on a bit of a rant lol but it really frustrates me because the cinema takes up such a large portion of my life and my money.

[wildphantom]

 

10 hours ago, Avatree said:

You're right. They just don't care, The floor staff don't care because it's not part of their job and they get paid shit all. The managers are still on fairly poor salaries and they'll only step in if people are kicking up a fuss. Correct projection just is not part of the way the multiplex companies do business - which is why like others said a dedicated company like IMAX does have projection as part of its business model.

 

I worked in a cinema a few years ago, i worked in The Light in Cambridge. 90% of the staff don't care, because it's a shite job with shite hours and shite pay. You pay someone £5 an hour to clean floors and sell fizzy drinks in the middle of the night, you can be sure as shit they don't give two flying fucks about the movie people are watching.

They will try to do their best with the service they provide, but it's not a part of their job role to make sure the actual product works correctly. They just sell stuff at a counter.

 

When I was working in the cinema, the only time it was obvious for staff to do anything, would be things like - the sound is turned off; the lights haven't switched off; the image does not display. Then someone would fix it. But "little" issues, nope doesn't matter.

It doesn't help that the "projectionist" job has disappeared. In my cinema, there was 1 person who was a proper projectionist and he was the one who'd set everything up each week. There were a couple of us (me and another) who got projection-trained so when the main guy was off, we could still do start-up and shutdown and fix certain issues during the day. But that was it. Your film isn't quite showing correctly, and the projectionist has his day off today? Oh that's too bad, sucker.

 

And because a lot of it is digital and automated, there is not always much you can do, depending on what the issue is.

 

I am not old enough to know what it used to be like in the good ol' days of real celluloid, but I believe it used to be much better maintained.

Which is really strikingly odd to me, as the cinema chains are moving their business strategies away from the "general audience" who go to the movies once a month and don't really care if their experience is sub-par.

They all are focusing their efforts on their subscription services; their repeat customers. You know, the kind of customers who actually CARE about movies being projected right and auditoriums being maintained.

 

Sorry to go off on a bit of a rant lol but it really frustrates me because the cinema takes up such a large portion of my life and my money.

Great rant as everything you’ve said is true. 
Projectionists would take pride in the presentation of what they were putting on the screen. Paid for their expertise and delivering the experience. 
Considering the staggered showtimes at multiplexes today, why they can’t employ one or two projectionists to jump from screen to screen at the start of a show to check everything is in order I’ve no idea. 
It’s irrefutable that the rise in success of indie cinemas is partly a direct result from movie fans saying enough is enough. 
 

Everyman is going to have me shelling out more than I’ve been used to in recent years, but I feel like I’m getting value for my money. At near £18 a month Cineworld unlimited sounds great on paper, but when the reality is more often than not sub-par viewings - maybe that’s the trade off?

I’m happy to hear others here that say their local Cineworlds are better than ours, but I also believe too many are accepting of mediocrity now. 100% bulbs in Everyman (outside liemax) was a revelation to me last week...and it shouldn’t have been!! 

[SnokesLegs]

22 hours ago, Avatree said:

out of curiosity, which Light cinema have you been to, and what did you think of it?

It’s the Sheffield branch that I occasionally go to, it’s been open for just under 3 years. Personally I’ve never had an issue there, the projection and sound have always been high quality and the seats are by far the comfiest cinema seats I’ve sat in, particularly if you sit closer to the front and use the foot rests. The staff, generally speaking, seem pleasant, and they’re always doing screen checks along with an announcement to stay quiet and put away your phones before the start of each film which is nice to see. Their membership card is also cheaper than Cineworld’s at £16.95 per month.

But most importantly for me, The Light seems to attract a better type of customer. Not to sound snobbish, but the Cineworld in Sheffield always seems to be full of people who talk constantly, check their phones on full brightness every 5 seconds and put their feet up on the back of chairs. If it weren’t for the IMAX, I’d never go there.

Comparatively, 99% of the time at The Light people have been respectful of the film and the people around them and stay quiet/off their phones. The leg room also makes feet on the back of chairs a non-issue unless you’re sat in front of the BFG, and even then you can just adjust your seat back to make it obvious that you don’t appreciate their feet being inches from your head. Last night I went to watch 1917 and in quieter moments you could hear a pin drop, compare that to Cineworld and you’d probably hear chatting and popcorn bag rustling.

 

I’m not a fan of Cineworld at all in case you can’t tell! Haha.

[Heretic]

Incredible 2nd weekend for 1917 with a 13% drop. Looks like this is turning into a massive hit and Oscar buzz is also increasing. 
 

Great opening for Bad Boys too with $5m.

[charlie Jatinder]

Was watching Brexit, it started well but ended up feeling nothing. Anyways, the reason I am posting here is because, Brexit cost EG $20-25mn and would have cleared Avatar without expansion 😛

 

or also $2.8Bn. fuck you Right Wing.

Edited January 23, 2020 by Jedi Jat

[Krissykins]

3 hours ago, Jedi Jat said:

Was watching Brexit, it started well but ended up feeling nothing. Anyways, the reason I am posting here is because, Brexit cost EG $20-25mn and would have cleared Avatar without expansion 😛

 

or also $2.8Bn. fuck you Right Wing.

Yeh exchange rate is at 1.31 just now, highest it’s been in years. Handy for me going to Vegas next month lol

[cdsacken]

3 hours ago, Jedi Jat said:

Was watching Brexit, it started well but ended up feeling nothing. Anyways, the reason I am posting here is because, Brexit cost EG $20-25mn and would have cleared Avatar without expansion 😛

 

or also $2.8Bn. fuck you Right Wing.

Curious to see what actually happens now. Next year is gonna be a pain in the ass in regards to UK/USA. Hoping for the best, whatever that is.

[Krissykins]

Top 10 films, Jan 24–26

1917, £4,518,270 from 742 sites. Total: £26,297,179 (3 weeks)
 

Bad Boys for Life, £2,744,313 from 559 sites. Total: £8,276,495 (2 weeks)

 

The Personal History of David Copperfield, £1,524,147 from 656 sites (new)

 

Little Women, £1,004,904 from 643 sites. Total: £18,498,695 (5 weeks)

 

Jumanji: The Next Level, £921,225 from 547 sites. Total: £33,592,531 (7 weeks)

 

The Gentlemen, £883,621 from 448 sites. Total: £9,327,683 (4 weeks)

 

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, £541,886 from 488 sites. Total: £57,375,552 (5 weeks)

 

Spies in Disguise, £508,588 from 518 sites. Total: £6,340,164 (5 weeks)

 

Jojo Rabbit, £502,851 from 392 sites. Total: £6,319,296 (4 weeks)

 

Paw Patrol: Ready, Race, Recue, £483,886 from 524 sites (new)

 

Other openers

The Grudge, £461,921 from 390 sites

Psy 3: W Imie Zasad, £407,435 from 172 sites

Giselle – Bolshoi Ballet, £172,515 from 181 sites

The Turning, £104,459 from 249 sites

[Krissykins]

1917: £2.8m from Friday to Sunday, a drop of 38% on its previous session, to take it to £31.4m overall.

 

Queen And Slim starring Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith opened to £507,327 from 357 locations, a reasonable £1,421 average.

 

The Turning added £4,584 on its second weekend - a 95.6% drop - and has £171,516 in total.

 

Bad Boys For Life, which fell just 33% on its third session with £1.9m taking it to £11.3m total. It is now the highest-grossing of the Bad Boys films, beyond the £8.7m of 2003’s Bad Boys II.

 

Little Women held well again on its sixth session, falling 34.9% with £651,000 bringing it to £19.9m; it will pass the £20m barrier in the next couple of days.

 

Jumanji: The Next Level dropped 36% on its eighth weekend, with £593,000 taking it to £34.3m. It will most likely end slightly short of 2017 release Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle but is still providing a strong result for Sony.

 

Marielle Heller’s A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood brought in £471,000 from 467 locations on opening for a £1,009 average. With special preview screenings, it has £491,000.

 

Horror The Grudge dropped 61% on its second weekend, with £180,000 taking it to £884,000.

 

The Personal History Of David Copperfield fell a slim 30% on its second weekend, with £1m taking it to £3.7m total.

 

Bombshell added £123,771 for £1.9m after three weekends; while Knives Output on £48,544 for £12.9m after 10 sessions.

 

The Gentlemen added £597,494 to its total, a 32.9% drop, which brings it to £10.4m after five weekends.

 

Polish crime drama Psy 3: W Imie Zasadmade an excellent start this weekend, taking £407,435 from 172 locations for a £2,369 average. Its result is all the more impressive given its 15 rating and the presence of other Polish-language fare in cinemas.
 

The event release of Met Opera: Porgy & Bess  grossed £360,200 in the UK on Saturday, February 1. Encores on Sunday brought it to £368,103, while the total takings including Ireland are £400,508.
 

Paw Patrol: Ready Race Rescue dropped just 27% on its first session, with £353,000 taking it to £929,000 in total.
 

Reed Morano’s drama The Rhythm Section starring Blake Lively disappointed with £172,000 from 406 locations, an average of just £424.

 

Playing With Fire dropped 52.4% on its sixth session, with £58,000 taking it to £2.8m total.

 

Spies In Disguise was the highest-grossing of Disney’s holdovers, falling 36% on its sixth session with £326,044 taking it to £6.7m cume.
 

On the weekend when Taika Waititi won the Bafta for best adapted screenplay, Jojo Rabbit added £296,896 on its fifth weekend, a 41% fall which took it to £6.8m total.

 

Frozen II was Disney’s best performer, falling 34% with £264,837 taking it to £52.7m after 11 weekends.

 

Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker dropped 55% on its seventh session, with £244,141 bringing it to £57.8m total. It will finish as the fourth highest-grossing Star Wars title, behind The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi and Rogue One.

 

Panga dropped 80% with £8,397 taking it to £66,903.

 

Robert Eggers’ black and white psychological horror The Lighthouse garnered £309,373 on its opening weekend from just 83 locations for a £3,727 location average. With previews, the film grossed £382,243. This is not far behind the £436,598 opening of Eggers’ debut The Witch in 2016, which debuted in more than double the number of sites (180) for a £2,490 average.
 

Cats, the subject of several jokes from cast member Rebel Wilson at last night’s Baftas, is up to £11.9m after seven weekends.

 

Jak Zostalem Gangsterem opened to £224,687 from 255 locations, an £881 location average.

 

Clint Eastwood’s Richard Jewell opened to £134,000 from 321 locations, bringing in a low £417 per site. With previews, the film has £158,000. 
 

Just Mercy dropped 63.6% on its third weekend, with £94,000 taking it to £1.1m.

 

Makoto Shinkai’s Weathering With You grossed £19,907 on its third weekend and now has £506,830. Barring a resurgence in coming days, it will fall slightly short of Shinkai’s 2016 global hit Your Name, which made £610,975.
 

Source: Screen Daily 

[Boxofficerules]

Universal UK are having a bad time recently. Black Christmas also had a +90% drop.

[charlie Jatinder]

Damn. WTF. What a FLOP TRoS is under 60mn GBP. 

Edited February 4, 2020 by Jedi Jat

[PhilipJ2001]

Birds of Prey is flopping massively at my cinema. Wasn't too bad last night but today is awful

[Bart Allen]

On 2/4/2020 at 12:55 PM, charlie Jatinder said:

Damn. WTF. What a FLOP TRoS is under 60mn GBP. 

Yeah, it should be interesting to see if The Rise of Skywalker can surpass Fellowship of the Ring, or what influence Joker's re-release will have on the #19-#22 rankings in a few months (but The Numbers spoke to me and stated it's all dependant on whether Warner Bros. publishes those numbers for the live concert.)

Edited February 8, 2020 by Bart Allen

[Jiffy]

How is Parasite doing?