The winner #1: Darkest Hour
When it comes to the annual awards-season movie glut, in which Oscar-bait dramas are launched every week from the start of the year until the middle of February, most would agree that the second weekend of January is the plum release date. That’s traditionally the Friday after the Golden Globes ceremony and the Bafta film awards nominations, so it’s a great date if you expect to perform well with those awards-giving bodies, while also giving your film plenty of play up to the Baftas and Oscars ceremonies. It was the date nabbed by La La Land last year, by The Revenant in 2016 and 12 Years a Slave in 2014.
This year, Joe Wright’s Darkest Hour always looked likely to be the most appealing film for British audiences among the awards titles releasing in January and February, so it was no surprise when Universal grabbed the January 12 date for its Churchill drama. With Gary Oldman dominating the best actor conversation with a transformative lead performance, the film has a strong selling point: and there has been proven success for stories with British historical subject matter, notably The King’s Speech.
The outcome is a chart-topping £4.06m for Darkest Hour – the biggest ever opening for Oldman in a lead role, ahead of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) with £2.81m. (Oldman has opened bigger with supporting parts, including the Harry Potter and Dark Knight franchises.) Darkest Hour has also opened bigger than The King’s Speech (2011), which kicked off with £3.52m including £227,000 in previews, albeit not adjusted for inflation.
The winner #2: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Although Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards was clearly eclipsed by Darkest Hour, and had to settle for third place behind a still buoyant Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, distributor Fox has plenty to celebrate. A UK opening of £2.17m, or £2.36m including previews, is by far the biggest achieved by the director. His previous best debut was Seven Psychopaths, with £1.12m including £302,000 in previews.
Cinema bookers are also delighted. The 2018 awards-bait titles always appeared to lack an equivalent to La La Land, which debuted with £6.60m including £944,000 in previews and eventually passed £30m. But Darkest Hour and Three Billboards have collectively opened bigger than La La Land, and do not appear to be hurting each other. If Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water can perform at the level of 2017’s Lion (and throw in the likes of The Post, Lady Bird and I, Tonya), this year’s awards corridor could end up matching last year’s stellar performance.
The tumbler: Star Wars: The Last Jedi
It’s absurd to talk of Star Wars: The Last Jedi as a commercial disappointment when it has grossed just shy of £80m in the UK – the fifth biggest film of all time. However, it’s a surprise to see the film already out of the Top 5 in its fifth week. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story spent six weeks in the Top 5, and The Force Awakens managed seven weeks.
The Force Awakens reached a record-breaking £123m at the UK box office, and The Last Jedi will fall well short of that total. Disney’s strategy of serving audiences with a Star Wars film every year appears to be butting up against the challenge of finite audience appetites.
The market
Thanks to the arrival of Darkest Hour and Three Billboards – as well as Insidious: The Last Key – the market overall is a handy 12% up on the equivalent weekend from 2017, which greeted the arrival of La La Land and Manchester By the Sea. Awards season continues this Friday with Steven Spielberg’s The Post, but it’s not just prestige dramas that distributors are positioning for audiences. Disney has new Pixar animation Coco, which has already grossed $623m worldwide,and The Commuter sees Liam Neeson yet again manfully responding to a crisis situation, this time on a New York commuter train. Coco already grossed just shy of £2m in Saturday/Sunday previews, which will be added in to its total next week.
Top 10 films, 12-14 January
1. Darkest Hour, £4,058,356 from 605 sites (new)
2. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, £2,435,626 from 570 sites. Total: £29,912,422 (four weeks)
3. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, £2,361,782 from 484 sites (new)
4. The Greatest Showman, £2,142,337 from 608 sites. Total: £13,537,211 (three weeks)
5. Insidious: The Last Key, £1,840,992 from 413 sites (new)
6. Star Wars: The Last Jedi, £1,717,106 from 582 sites. Total: £79,867,006 (five weeks)
7. Pitch Perfect 3, £840,059 from 487 sites. Total: £14,147,058 (four weeks)
8. All the Money in the World, £539,706 from 458 sites. Total: £2,417,003 (two weeks)
9. Molly’s Game, £522,456 from 473 sites. Total: £3,378,232 (two weeks)
10. Paddington 2, £401,521 from 531 sites. Total: £41,056,106 (10 weeks)
Other openers
Eric Clapton: A Life in 12 Bars, £183,051 (including £171,743 previews) from 15 sites
Thaana Serndha Kootam, £90,582 from 30 sites
Gotowi Na Wszystko. Exterminator, £35,099 from 48 sites
Mukkabaaz (The Brawler), £12,291 from 32 sites
A Woman’s Life, £11,556 from six sites
Sketch, £9,180 from 12 sites
Agnyaathavaasi, £5,255 from four sites
Ang Panday, £4,709 from three sites
Amazon Obhijaan, £2,519 from seven sites
1921, £1,593 from seven sites
• Thanks to comScore. All figures relate to takings in UK and Ireland cinemas.
