As is well documents the COVID-19 pandemic and its devastating effect on the world has been the story of the summer, and in fact the year, and it has had the biggest impact on the box office ever.
Cinemas across the globe started closing down in the middle of March and didn't open again in the UK until early July, so the summer box office period of May till early September has been greatly effected.
Most of the Spring and Summer potential blockbusters got their release dates moved, at least once, including Mulan, A Quiet Place Part II, Tenet and Ghostbusters: Afterlife and some of them got a direct to VOD release, including Mulan!
Tenet did finally get a cinema release at the tale end of August and was just about the biggest film of the summer and when the movie theatres finally opened the box office continued where it left off with the Pixar movie Onward still at the top.
What you will also see in the list of top 10 movies for the summer is evidence that movie theatres used old catalogue titles to try and entice movie goers back hence Jurassic Park and Dirty Dancing showing up.
Here is a breakdown of the top 5 film of the summer box office 2020.
Christopher Nolan potential big summer blockbuster had its difficulties on its way to the box office but it finally got a release on 28th August and was hailed as the saviour of the cinema.
The movie had a good start to its box office career and took £5.3 Million on its debut and took £10 Million over the Summer period.
In comparison the top film of summer 2019 was the The Lion King remake which took over £71 Million.
Disney's Pixar movie Onward was the top film on weekend of 13th March when cinemas closed and when they came back it was still the top movie, it has remained in the top 3 for every UK box office since.
Over the summer the movie took was has tuned out to be quite an impressive £1.6 Million.
After the top 2 potential blockbusters we start to get movies which would not have been big movies, but due to the lack of big blockbusters they got a lot of exposure, maybe still not taking as much as they would have done but having good box office runs.
This Russell Crowe movie was the first new movie to get released after the closures and benefitted from that, it has a big star name and got a decent amount of hype and exposure.
The movie took £1.4 Million over the summer period.
Another movie which has had a decent box office run that would not have without the lack of blockbusters is director Alexs Stadermann likeable animation which took just over a Million pound over the summer.
Perhaps the most controversial movie of the summer, the sequel movie was at the start of the summer the biggest movie to go direct to VOD that would have had a good box office run.
The cinema chains, especially the American company AMC which owns the ODEON chain in the UK objected to this move, this was at a time when the world didn't know how long the closures would last.
Despite the release onto VOD the movie still took a very respectable £745K at the UK box office, this is no where near tens of million it has taken on digital.
Last week saw Unhinged at the top of the UK box office, can any of this weeks new releases do enough to top the chart this weekend?
First up at cinemas this week is An American Pickle, from director Brandon Trost who is directing for the first time.
Next on this weeks new release schedule is Spinster.
Check back on Monday to see if these new releases enter the UK Weekend Box Office Chart.
There are 2 new releases. -
The Joker holds onto the top spot in quite spectacular style leaving Abominable comes in at 2 and quite disappointingly Will Smith's new film Gemini Man has to settle for a debut at 3.
Todd Phillips film about the psychotic Batman villain holds onto the box office charts this week in style only dropping 22% from last week for a $9.8 Million weekend gross.
This puts the Joaquin Phoenix starring movie at £30 Million after 2 weeks of release, the movie is already the 7th top grossing movie of the year.
Dreamworks new animated tale is the top new film of the week and makes its debut at number 2.
The debut gross of the film is £2.1 Million, in comparison their last film, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, from earlier this year made its debut with £5.3 Million.
The new Will Smith movie directed by Ang Lee disappoints this week and makes its debut at number 3.
After a lot of hype promoting the action and the special effects the debut gross should have been a lot better, but the film makes its debut with £1.7 Million.
Smiths last film to hit the chart was Disney's Aladdin so its an unfair comparison but that film debuted to £7 Million in May of this year.
Despite a lot of critical praise the Ren�e Zellweger starring true life drama falls to 4 this week with a weekend gross of £1.1 Million.
This takes the films total gross after 2 weeks of release to £4.7 Million.
The ITV drama on its feature film debut falls to 5 this week with £949 Thousand for a £24.4 Million after 5 weeks of release.
Disneys animated remake is still the top total grossing movie on the box office with a gross that is now £75.5 Million after 13 weeks of release.
It looks like the other Disney animation is simply not going to leave the box office charts as it racks up a 17th weekend, the films gross is now £65.9 Million.
The Joker keeps its lead on the US box office this week with smaller than expected drop over last weekend while animated movie The Addams Family and Will Smith in Gemini Man are the highest new films.
Todd Phillips much praised movie stays at the top of the US box office for a second weekend with a gross of $55 Million.
This pushes the movies total gross to a very respectable $192.7 Million after 2 weeks of release.
Highest new film of the weekend is the new take on the ever popular 60's television series that also had a couple of live action movies in the early 90's.
The spooky, kookie family landed at number 2 with a weekend take of $30.2 Million on its debit.
Directed by Ang Lee this new action films stars Will Smith in a dual role as an older and younger self, the film didn't sit well with critics which could be why it lands at 3 this week with $20.5 Million.
The animated tale from Dreamworks falls to 4 this week with $6.1 Million for a $47.9 Million after 3 weeks of release.
The British movie about a big house falls to 5 this week with $4.9 Million which takes its total gross to $82.6 Million after 4 weeks.
The $100 Million American milestone might be a bit out of reach for the film now.
Disneys animated remake remains on the box office for another week, the film is now 13 weeks in and has taken $542.2 Million.
Todd Phillips directed Joked makes its box office debut at the top of the chart as it removes Downton Abbey after a 3 weeke spell while Judy manages a number 2 debut.
Starring Joaquin Phoenix the new villain movie from the DC Universe hits the top of the box office on its debut with an excellent £12.5 Million weekend.
This meakes the film the 57th top opening film in the UK ever, beating The Inbetweeners 2 and coming in behind The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1.
With such a big opening expect the films gross to be one of DC's better grosses and with good reviews and Oscar potential this movie could run well into next year.
Renée Zellweger gives what critics are calling an Oscar worthy performance in the bio-pic movie of Judy Garland which opens at number 2 with a very respectable £2 Million.
Again with good reviews and mentions of Oscars this Rupert Goold directed movie could have a very good run in the UK.
The British high class movie falls from the top to number 3 on its 4th weekend of release with £1.4 Million giving the film a £23.1 Million total, the film is now the 10th highest grossing of 2019.
The surprise film of the autumn falls to number 4 this weekend with £590,645 but the Lorene Scafaria directed movie had taken £6.1 Million in the UK.
The Brad Pitt starring space drama falls to number 5 this weekend with £467,983 after 3 weeks of release, but the films £5.5 Million total is very respectable.
The British public can't get enough of Disney's animated remake and this week if the top total grossing movie on the box office with £75 Million, after 12 weeks of release it is still at number 6!
Also from Disney is the longest run on this weeks box office as the Pixar film notches up a 16th weekend, the film has taken £65 Million so far.