A New Chart Topper: UK Box Office Report Jan 5-7th 2018

Posted on by Joseph Wade

Following news of a record breaking year for the UK box office in 2017, the first full weekend of the 2018 calendar year featured a huge momentum shift at the very top of the UK box office chart as Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle dethroned Star Wars: The Last Jedi from the top spot, welcoming the new year with a brand new look. Here are this past weekend’s top 5 movies…

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle has been somewhat of a surprise box office hit in the UK and the international markets, with its current UK total gross of £26,272,798 helping the movie on its way to a $500million worldwide total, with a release in China still to come. Much like here in the UK, North America’s box office has seen the film dethrone Star Wars: The Last Jedi from the top of the region’s box office chart, maintaining 75% of its box office gross in its 2nd weekend in the US to earn $37,233,653 across the Friday to Sunday period. Even with the likes of Dwayne Johnson, a hugely profitable star through whom to promote the movie, Jumanji was never expected to surpass mediocre action movie numbers ($300-400million) given its relatively inexpensive $100million budget. Now, with a half a billion already accumulated, the film could be aiming as high as $800million worldwide once China – a region that Dwayne Johnson movies typically perform supremely well in – has its say on the picture’s overall gross. Here in the UK, Jumanji may well surpass the £39million earned by Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 which was the 5th highest grossing movie released in 2017 before this weekend. Whether it can surpass new number 5 Paddington 2, which earned £1,034,372 this weekend (its 9th weekend overall) and now sits on £40,415,771 with few signs of it slowing down, is another question.

Elsewhere in the top 5, Star Wars: The Last Jedi continues to push its way up the all-time UK box office charts, hitting 6th overall (not adjusted for inflation) with a total of £76,723,930, surpassing the gross of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II (£73.1million) and Toy Story 3 (£74million), and closing on the £80.3million gross of Titanic. Here are the all-time highest grossing movies at the UK box office:

  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. Titanic (1998 & 2012) – 20th Century Fox – £80.3million
  6. Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) – Walt Disney – £76.7million

With at least 3 weeks left in the legs of the Rian Johnson Star Wars movie, it’s inevitable that the film will surpass Titanic (perhaps as early as this week), with a push on Avatar and SPECTRE to come soon after. It seems that The Last Jedi will, however, not surpass the £100million mark nor mount a serious challenge to its franchise predecessor’s incredible £123.2million accumulation.

Worldwide, The Last Jedi currently sits at number 12 in the all-time charts and number 3 for 2017, on approximately $1.25billion.



Here are the UK box office chart’s top 15:

  1. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle – weeks on release: 3 – weekend: £3,895,450 – total: £26,272,798
  2. Star Wars: The Last Jedi – 4 – £3,543,117 – £76,723,930
  3. The Greatest Showman – 2 – £2,409,143 – £9,998,783
  4. Molly’s Game – 1 – £2,283,420 – £2,283,420
  5. Pitch Perfect 3 – 3 – £1,635,203 – £12,671,391
  6. All the Money in the World – 1 – £1,161,475 – £1,161,475
  7. Paddington 2 – 9 – £1,034,372 – £40,415,771
  8. Ferdinand – 4 – £842,364 – £8,392,318
  9. Hostiles – 1 – £380,718 – £380,718
  10. Daddy’s Home 2 – 7 – £205,909 – £14,179,196
  11. Wonder – 6 – £167,054 – £4,630,123
  12. Tiger Zinda Hai – 3 – £115,648 – £1,607,595
  13. My Little Pony – 12 – £49,441 – £3,593,040
  14. The Lego Ninjago Movie – 13 – £49,004 – £9,619,242
  15. Walk With Me – 1 – £45,248 – £45,248

The debuting films of the week were headlined by awards show front-runners All the Money in the World and Molly’s Game, with the latter landing in the top 5 with just under £2.3million and the former sitting just outside the top 5 on just under £1.2million.

All the Money in the World was the Ridley Scott film re-shot across two weeks to replace outed abuser Kevin Spacey with Christopher Plummer in one of the central roles, but having cost approximately $50million to make and having earned only $20.5million at the North American box office, it seems that the £1,161,475 earned thus far in the UK shan’t be enough for the film to turn a profit without a significant Oscars push, the likelihood of which seems small given the film’s lack of representation in the list of 2018 BAFTA nominees.

Molly’s Game, which cost a comparatively low $30million to make, seems to have benefited from a sexier promotional campaign that seemed to be more heavily featured across British television in recent weeks, earning almost double that of its counterpart in its opening weekend. In North America, the film seems to have had slightly more success too, spreading from a limited release to a wide release over this past weekend, surpassing $14million overall. The film has therefore earned $17.1million in North America and the UK in one weekend, 57% of its budget, while All the Money in the World has earned slightly less (55.8%) despite being on wide release for a week longer in the North American market.

That about does it for this week’s UK box office report. If you haven’t already, make sure to check out our story on the 2017 calendar year breaking the all-time box office record for more information on the region’s top grossing films and the importance of particular releases (and studios) to the box office economy. Next week will see Golden Globe winners and leading BAFTA nominees Darkest Hour and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri hit cinemas, as well as the US box office’s 2nd highest grossing movie this week Insidious: The Last Key ($29.5million). With three releases as huge as these, some big names will have to take a hit. Will Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle hold on to the top spot? We’ll be sure to cover it in next week’s report. Until then, make sure to subscribe to us on YouTube to gain first access to our weekly Box Office Top 5 videos (posted each Tuesday), like us on Facebook for our store offers and most recent updates, and follow us on Twitter for the very best content updates and interaction.

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