A New Number 1: UK Box Office Report Jan 19th-21st 2018

Posted on by Joseph Wade

Disney hit the box office this past weekend for their first major release of 2018, Pixar’s Coco. The film, released in 2017 in North America, has been nominated for the Best Animation (Feature) category by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for the 2018 Oscars, and seems to be an instant hit with British audiences. It’s at the very top of this week’s top 5 chart…

Coco accumulated a strong (for January) £5.2million in its opening weekend, which will make for good reading for Disney, who have already broken the all-time box office record for a US produced film in Mexico and have so far accumulated $657million (£462million) worldwide from a $175-200million budget. In terms of UK Pixar releases, Coco seems to have fared a little stronger than some of its contemporaries too, posting in the mid-range for a debut weekend when compared to the Pixar releases of the past 3 years:

  1. Finding Dory (2016) – £8.1million
  2. Inside Out (2015) – £7.4million
  3. Coco (2018) – £5.2million
  4. The Good Dinosaur (2015) – £2.9million
  5. Cars 3 (2017) – £2.6million

Even better news for Disney is the staying power of their animated releases, especially here in the UK. Cars 3, for example, opened low for a Pixar film yet survived in the top 15 chart for 10 weeks, accumulating £11.5million across its entire run; over 4 times that of its opening weekend. Should Disney see similar results for Coco, the likelihood is that the film will be looking at a £20-25million run, though expectations may be even higher given Coco’s much more positive critical reception and awards season buzz. This particular Pixar release may well be the first true box office hit of the calendar year.

Seemingly just as beloved is The Greatest Showman, which took a 0% drop from last weekend’s figures, an incredible feat for a movie in weekend 4 of its run. To put things in perspective, the best performer of this year’s box office (despite being released in 2017) is Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, which took a 36% hit in its 4th weekend, itself a strong box office performance. Star Wars: The Last Jedi posted a 55% drop-off during weekend 4.

The musical, starring Hugh Jackman and Zac Efron, has performed just as remarkably in the US, making 12 times its opening weekend’s total to date, owing much of this success to strong word of mouth and the musical chart success of its biggest songs. This makes it the 2nd most successful film in North American box office history in this regard, and it’s still chasing Titanic’s accumulation of 20 times its opening weekend box office gross, the best of all time. The Greatest Showman has now made $234million worldwide from an $84million budget and is showing no signs of slowing down. In the UK, the movie is closing in on £17million, around the same mark as Justice League, Blade Runner 2049 and Pirates 5 made in their entire run in 2017.

Similarly as boundary breaking is the aforementioned Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, which grabbed an extra £1.8million this weekend to take its overall total to £32,478,009, placing it above Thor: Ragnarok, IT, Spider-Man: Homecoming and The Fate of the Furious in terms of 2017 releases, and still going strong. Next in the sights of The Rock and company… Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (£39million).

Worldwide, Jumanji has also set records, becoming the 5th highest grossing Sony Pictures release of all time, surpassing Skyfall and only being out-grossed by 4 separate Spider-Man releases (the original trilogy and Homecoming), on its way to a $771million total.



Here is the complete chart for the top 15 box office films of this past weekend (January 19th-21st 2018):

  1. Coco – weeks on release: 1 – weekend: £5,209,214 – total: £5,209,214
  2. Darkest Hour – 2 – £3,295,716 – £10,155,286
  3. The Post – 1 – £2,152,977 – £2,152,977
  4. The Greatest Showman – 4 – £2,103,605 – £16,865,309
  5. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle – 5 – £1,840,248 – £32,478,009
  6. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – 2 – £1,621,878 – £5,232,135
  7. The Commuter – 1 – £1,602,680 – £1,602,680
  8. Insidious: The Last Key – 2 – £1,025,740 – £3,663,623
  9. Star Wars: The Last Jedi – 6 – £861,320 – £81,447,605
  10. Pitch Perfect 3 – 5 – £374,386 – £14,883,218
  11. Paddington 2 – 11 – £271,836 – £41,406,603
  12. Ferdinand – 6 – £220,385 – £9,075,110
  13. All the Money in the World – 3 – £182,087 – £2,910,436
  14. Event Cinema: Romeo and Juliet Bolshoi 2018 – 1 – £181,834 – £181,834
  15. Molly’s Game – 3 – £130,670 – £3,788,031

The biggest news outside of the top 5 this week is that Star Wars: The Last Jedi has finally surpassed Titanic on the all-time UK box office grosses list, making it the 5th highest grossing movie of all time in the region. The table is as follows:

  1. Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) – Walt Disney – £123.2million
  2. Skyfall (2012) – Sony Pictures – £103.2million
  3. SPECTRE (2015) – Sony Pictures – £95.2million
  4. Avatar (2009) – 20th Century Fox – £94million
  5. Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) – Walt Disney – £81.5million
  6. Titanic (1998 & 2012) – 20th Century Fox – £80.3million

Despite still having legs, it seems that The Last Jedi will not surpass its current position in the all-time charts given its diminishing returns, which seems to consolidate the fact that less people were pleased with the content of the film than had been the case with the earlier release of The Force Awakens. In the house of Disney, there’s likely to be even more concern from the North American numbers, as The Last Jedi has featured the biggest box office drop-off in the history of the franchise (including the disliked prequels and spin-off Rogue One). This fact could have Lucasfilm and Disney re-thinking their choice to give The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson his own trilogy, and will make the success (or lack thereof) of Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) more important than any of the previous releases.

Elsewhere, it seems that a lack of awards attention has scuppered the chances of Molly’s Game and All the Money in the World making any real splashes at the box office, with both set to fall out of the charts altogether after posting £3.8million and £2.9million respectively. In contrast, the performance of Three Billboards – currently £5.2million – could take a boost throughout the coming weeks and months as a result of its large tally of Oscar nominations, as could Darkest Hour, which is currently on £10.1million.

Liam Neeson’s The Commuter was the most noteworthy debut outside the top 5 this weekend, posting a respectable £1.6million to land in 7th. Whether the film has the longevity needed for it to be a success remains to be seen, but the movie has already made $37million worldwide from a $30million budget so it isn’t in trouble of posting a loss.

Finally, it seems that Paddington 2 is about to gracefully bow out of the box office chart after 11 straight weeks and £41million of takings. The Studiocanal film is currently the 5th highest grossing movie released in 2017, putting it above every Marvel Studios release and much more, to make it the breakout hit of 2017.

This coming weekend the UK will welcome Downsizing starring Matt Damon and 12 Strong starring Chris Hemsworth, with both looking to take on the top 5 but each unlikely to make a real push for the number 1 spot. The box office report will be back next Wednesday with updates on these developments, as well as more news on whether Three Billboards and Darkest Hour are given a boost by their Oscar nominations and whether Coco looks set to dominate in the long-term. For now, make sure to subscribe to us on YouTube to make sure you’re the first to access our weekly box office chart videos (released every Tuesday), and be sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook for all of our latest updates.



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