October 2024 recorded £63.0m, 17% behind last year when the likes of “Trolls Band Together” and “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” were on release. With a year-to-date total of £799.1m, we are currently 11% behind the equivalent date range last year, with a strong November and December still to come.

“Joker: Folie A Deux” was the No.1 film in October with £10.2m, after opening with £5.6m at the beginning of the month. This is the eleventh film directed by Todd Phillips, and his seventh-highest grossing release with his best performing titles being “Joker” (£58.3m) and “The Hangover Part II” (£32.8m). Warner’s next DC Comics release will be in July 2025: James Gunn’s “Superman” starring David Corenswet.

DreamWorks Animation’s “The Wild Robot” is at No.2 with £9.5m, the best-performing animated title of the month. Chris Sanders’ literary adaptation opened with £3.2m, and is currently the fifth-highest grossing film in the genre this year behind only “Migration” (£21.4m), “Kung Fu Panda 4” (£22.1m), “Despicable Me 4” (£48.5m) and “Inside Out 2” (£59.1m).

“Venom: The Last Dance” is No.3 for the month with £6.9m, opening last weekend with £4.2m. Kelly Marcel’s trilogy-closer has already overtaken the lifetimes of the two previous releases in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, “Morbius” (£6.4m) and “Madame Web” (£4.2m), with “Kraven The Hunter” next in December. “Venom” had a lifetime cume of £20.2m, and “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” made £18.1m.

At No.4 is “Smile 2” with £4.8m, opening with £1.9m, 7% ahead of “Smile” (£1.8m). Parker Finn’s horror sequel is the fifth-best performing release in the genre this year after “Speak No Evil” (£5.5m), “Longlegs” (£8.0m), “A Quiet Place: Day One” (£9.9m) and “Alien: Romulus” (£13.3m).

“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” follows at No.5, adding £4.2m to bring its running total to £25.9m. Tim Burton’s comedy sequel is currently the fifth-biggest release of 2024, and is the director’s third-highest title of all time, with only “Charlie And The Chocolate Factory” (£37.7m) and “Alice In Wonderland” (£42.6m) above his latest.

“Transformers One” is No.6 with £3.9m, opening with £1.6m. Josh Cooley’s addition to the “Transformers” franchise is the ninth theatrical release, with a combined box office of over £130m. “Transformers: Dark Of The Moon” (£28.1m) and “Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen” (£27.0m) remain the best-performing titles in the series.

Damien Leone’s “Terrifier 3” is next at No.7 with £3.0m, becoming the highest-grossing release of all time from Signature Entertainment. Art the Clown’s latest outing overtakes “Orphan: First Kill” (£2.3m) to be the distributor’s most successful title to date.

Ali Abbasi’s “The Apprentice” is at No.8 for the month with £1.8m. This is the latest in a varied slate from Studiocanal, with upcoming releases including threequel “Paddington In Peru” this month, along with John Crowley’s “We Live In Time,” Pablo Larraín’s “Maria” and Mike Leigh’s “Hard Truths” all releasing in January.

At No.9 is “The Substance” with £1.8m, and a current cume of £3.6m. Coralie Fargeat’s horror film overtakes “Priscilla” (£3.2m) to become the biggest release for distributor MUBI.

Closing the chart this month is “The Outrun” at No.10 with £1.3m and a cume of £2.1m. Nora Fingscheidt’s drama starring Saoirse Ronan is the sixth-highest grossing British title of 2024 so far, with another Studiocanal release currently at the top: Sam Taylor-Johnson’s “Back To Black” (£12.3m).

November Preview

Sean Baker’s “Anora” (Universal) and the Hugh Grant-starring horror title “Heretic” (Entertainment) begin the month, both released today (1st). “Paddington In Peru” (Studiocanal), Morgan Neville’s “Piece By Piece” (Universal) and Jake Kasdan’s “Red One” (Warner) are next on 8th November, followed by Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator II” (Paramount) on the 15th. Jon M. Chu’s musical “Wicked” (Universal) releases on 22nd November, and the month closes with Edward Berger’s “Conclave” (Black Bear) and “Moana 2” (Disney) on the 29th.