Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy is having fun with greater advance gross sales per week forward of launch in UK and Eire than was the case in summer time 2023 with Barbie, in response to two cinema chains that shared knowledge with Display.
At Odeon, by yesterday morning – one week forward of the movie’s February 13 UK and Eire launch – the multiplex chain stated it had bought round 70,000 tickets, outselling Barbie within the comparative pre-sale interval. Round 20% of tickets had been bought for the Thursday preview day, and round a 3rd for Valentine’s Day (February 14).
At boutique chain Curzon, advance gross sales of the Common Footage Worldwide movie had been 20% forward of Barbie this morning – on a like-for-like date comparability.
“We’re seeing a constructive bias as a result of sensible scheduling of a Valentine’s Day launch,” commented Damian Spandley, managing director of programming and gross sales at Curzon.
Up to now, no one is suggesting that Mad About The Boy will obtain the identical UK and Eire complete field workplace as Barbie (£95.7m), and neither is the movie prone to open as huge as Barbie did (£18.4m). Forecasts for UK and Eire opening weekend field workplace are near the £8.1m achieved by Bridget Jones’s Child in 2016.
The sturdy advance gross sales for Mad About The Boy will be defined by the dedicated fanbase desirous to see the primary Bridget Jones movie in 9 years, and by Valentine’s relationship creating a particular demand for the movie on opening weekend – each for the relationship market and the so-called “Galentine” viewers of feminine friendship teams.
At Digital Cinema Media, content material enterprise director Tom Linay is projecting Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy to at the least match Bridget Jones’s Child on the UK and Eire field workplace (£48.1m) – and probably surpass it. “It’s doubtlessly £50m-plus,” stated Linay.
DCM initiatives the movie to rank third on the UK and Eire field workplace this 12 months, behind solely Disney’s Avatar: Fireplace And Ash and Common’s Depraved: For Good – that are dated for December 19 and November 21 respectively.
Linay’s projection is according to the Vue cinema chain, the place group regional director of display screen content material Eduardo Leal is forecasting Mad About The Boy to be “the largest ever Bridget Jones movie” in UK and Eire, and the place “presales are even larger than blockbusters like Barbie per week forward of its opening”.
If these £48m-plus projections maintain good, the fourth Bridget Jones movie will give UK cinemas a lift in a month that isn’t historically sturdy. Final 12 months, the largest February titles had been Common’s household animation Migration (£21.5m) and Paramount’s music biopic Bob Marley: One Love (£17.2m). The final February launch to hit £50m in UK and Eire was Disney’s Black Panther in 2018, with £50.7m.
This month’s field workplace also needs to obtain a lift from Disney’s newest Marvel title, Captain America: Courageous New World. The movie promotes Antony Mackie’s character into the title function (changing Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers) and is a continuation of Disney+ miniseries The Falcon And The Winter Soldier.
Captain America: Courageous New World releases February 14, and one trade forecast initiatives complete UK and Eire field workplace round £20m.
March dip
The draw back is that the UK launch calendar seems comparatively sparse within the rapid wake of Mad About The Boy and Courageous New World. March’s largest movie seems prone to be Disney’s Snow White, releasing on March 21, suggests Linay.
Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy seems set to profit all UK cinemas, however maybe some greater than others. The movie seems a very sturdy match at Everyman, which has an upscale model positioning, but additionally comparatively mainstream programming. It additionally seems doubtlessly sturdy on the UK’s extra mainstream impartial websites, and upscale venues with older-skewing audiences.
For instance, impartial cinema Image Home Uckfield stories £27,000 of advance ticket gross sales for Mad About The Boy per week forward of launch, which compares with £8,500 for Barbie on the identical stage and £13,000 for Paddington In Peru – the venue’s top-grossing movie of 2024.
“The caveat is that though Barbie was very talked-about, Bridget is correct in our goal demo,” commented Uckfield cinema proprietor Kevin Markwick.
At bijou indie Jam Jar Whitley Bay, Mad About The Boy has already achieved 94% capability for opening weekend, with advance gross sales monitoring forward of Depraved on the identical stage.
Whereas UK cinemas are anticipating a uncommon February field workplace hit, an extra anticipated upside is the chance in meals and beverage, particularly on Valentine’s weekend. Everyman is providing a particular Flirtini cocktail, whereas Odeon is on the same monitor with its Flirty Fizz cocktail. Cineworld is providing ticket-and-beverage Bridget Jones bundles together with a selection of white and pink prosecco.
UK cinemas are leaning into the themes of the Bridget character in different methods: Vue is selling “Come as you might be” to clients, and providing a free deal with (pouch of Galaxy Minstrels candies or Popworks popped crisps) to patrons carrying pyjamas over opening weekend.
International rollout
Regardless of the anticipated success of Mad About The Boy within the Bridget Jones franchise’s house market, the movie is bypassing US cinemas and can as a substitute premiere on Peacock on Valentine’s Day. Earlier entry Bridget Jones’s Child grossed simply $24.3m in North American cinemas in 2016.
Mad About The Boy will, nonetheless, roll out internationally, starting February 12. The franchise has historically carried out strongly in markets together with Australia, France, Netherlands and Germany.
Bridget Jones’s Diary grossed £42.1m at UK and Eire cinemas in 2001; sequel Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Cause dipped with £36.0m in 2004.
Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy is produced by Working Title Movies and launched by Common Footage Worldwide. Renée Zellweger stars alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor, Leo Woodall and Hugh Grant. Michael Morris (To Leslie) directs.