While April is usually a strong month for the UK Box Office, even in the post-pandemic era, April 2024 is quieter than usual, with no mass market movies like 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie. There are some big hitters like Civil War, Back To Black, Challengers, and The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. Horror is also all the rage, with Sting and The First Omen. So while there is no lack of films out in April, it’s not expected that they will attract huge audiences
This comparison will show the pre-pandemic box office average (2015-2019, the red line), the post-pandemic box office average (2021-2023, the yellow line), and the current 2024 box office (the blue line). Numbers aren’t adjusted for inflation and are from the British Film Institute.
Weekend 15 – April 12-14 2024
April 12-14, 2024
- Weekend 15 saw a slight uptick in box office gross, despite both Back To Black and Civil War releasing in cinemas.
- The box office grew to £10,321,325 but couldn’t pass the box office totals for either the pre-pandemic or the post-pandemic.
- April has had a lackluster box office for the first half compared to past years.
- Weekend 16’s major opening is Abigail, a horror film from Universal.
Weekend 15 only saw a slight uptick in box office business, rising 7% to £10,321,325. The two new openers Back To Black and Civil War had muted openings. Back To Black opened at number one with a total of £2,772,698. Both films will need strong holds in the following weekends if they want to stick around in the box office charts. Back To Black is better positioned in this regard, as the older audiences it’s targeting don’t usually rush out to cinemas but instead come once a film has been out.
There’s nothing new to say about this compared to the pre-pandemic period, as it’s once again lower. Weekend 15 in the pre-pandemic period saw the box office stand at £14,942,987.20, meaning 2024’s box office is 31% lower than this total. The highest-performing film on this weekend in the pre-pandemic era was the opening weekend of The Fate of the Furious at £14,026,301 in 2018. The top-performing Weekend 15 of this era was also in 2018 at £24,194,226.
Things are similarly bad when compared to the post-pandemic era, which at Weekend 15 pulled in £12,316,334.50, making 2024’s total 16% lower. This regression will no doubt disappoint cinema owners and studio executives. The top-performing film for Weekend 15 in the post-pandemic era was the second weekend of The Super Mario Bros. Movie in 2023 coming in at £7,568,523. The top-performing Weekend 15 of this era was also 2023 and is £12,753,858.
April is usually the month when a big, flashy blockbuster film opens huge, as indicated by both 2018 and 2023, but 2024 doesn’t have one that cinemas can look forward to. Civil War was perhaps the closest thing to this, but it hasn’t caught the audience’s attention like a big blockbuster would. Weekend 16 sees the opening of the horror film Abigail, but nothing else of note.
#uk #BoxOffice update
Weekend 15 total for 2024 is£10,321,325 with a muted opening for #BackToBlack and #CivilWar.
Weekend 15 in the pre-pandemic era was £14,942,987.20 and was £12,316,334.50 in the post-pandemic era.
2024 is still a bad box office year.
Numbers from @BFI pic.twitter.com/RjOteObCV9
— Kieran (@KieranDavidBurt) April 20, 2024
Weekend 14 – April 05-07 2024
April 5-7, 2024
- April’s first weekend showed a significant decline compared to the pre-pandemic and post-pandemic era, with the weekend box office total falling to £9,628,279.
- This was despite two new releases, Monkey Man and The First Omen.
- Films released in March – Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire, Dune: Part Two, Kung Fu Panda 4, and Ghostbusters: The Frozen Empire held alright, but still couldn’t push the box office to the heights of previous years.
- Weekend 15 sees the release of Civil War and Back To Black.
Weekend 14 was an OK office weekend for 2024, dropping 36% from Weekend 13 to £9,628,279, though it should have been higher with the healthy marketplace. The two openers, Monkey Man and The First Omen didn’t attract huge audiences, coming in at number five and six respectively. The Weekend 14 total also fell below the weekly box office rolling average, which sits at £10,968,235.86.
When compared to the pre-pandemic period, Weekend 14 couldn’t match the £16,063,471.40 box office total for the same weekend in that era. 2024’s total is 40% lower than this, which is disappointing, though not the biggest drop of the year so far. The top-performing film from this period was the opening of Fast and Furious 7 at £12,765,033 in 2015, which also was the top-performing weekend in the pre-pandemic era with a total of £22,569,537.
Comparisons to the post-pandemic era are also unfavorable, as Weekend 14 in this period grossed £16,664,385. 2024’s total is 42% lower than this, the biggest drop so far this year. The top-performing film of this era was the opening weekend of The Super Mario Bros. Movie in 2023, which was also the top-performing weekend in the post-pandemic era with a total of £21,433,371.
So this weekend is a disappointment when compared to previous years, despite the strong marketplace. Early April is usually when big blockbusters are released to ravenous audiences, but this year there was no such big offering, despite the strong number of films in the marketplace. Weekend 15 sees two new films open, Civil War and Back To Black, and hopefully they can help the 2024 box office reach the heights of previous years.
#uk #BoxOffice update!
Weekend 14 was an OK weekend overall, turning in £9,628,279. It’s OK, but disappointing with the films in the marketplace.
It’s poor when compared to the same weekend in the pre and post-pandemic era, £16,063,471.40 and £16,664,385.
Numbers from @BFI pic.twitter.com/oS4fPnzJ7A
— Kieran (@KieranDavidBurt) April 13, 2024
For more analysis of the UK Box Office, you can check out our breakdowns of January 2024, February 2024, and March 2024.
