Carl Roberts 
This week – the Official Film Chart gets a fresh start with The New Mutants, The Witches, Spider-Man Far From Home, and TENET all vying for the top spot
New year, new Official Film Chart!
Happy New Year and welcome, 2021! Not that too much has changed sadly but there appears to be light at the end of a very long tunnel. Just as long as it isn’t a fast-moving freight train that will either run us over or derail, then things could be looking up finally. But until we reach the end of the tunnel and the light, then we will have to continue to do what we have been doing for almost a year now and grab our entertainment at home.
The First Chart Of 2021
Welcome everybody to the very first chart rundown of 2021. Well, Christmas wasn’t the same, was it? Instead of being with our families, we spent it in our own homes, locked down. Thank god for home entertainment, streaming, and such. Otherwise, I think many of us would have gone stir crazy.
The final chart of 2020 featured mainly Christmas movies to keep us entertained. It will come as no surprise that many of those titles have now dropped out of the chart. They have been replaced by a single new entry, a re-entry, and four titles that have shot back up the chart.
Departing Titles
To make room for these titles, we have to vacate seven spots inside the top ten. And so, tucking themselves away once again until next Christmas, we wish a happy New Year and goodbye to Jim Carrey’s ‘The Grinch‘, ‘Elf‘, ‘Home Alone‘, ‘The Polar Express‘, ‘The Muppet Christmas Carol‘ and ‘The Grinch‘ animated version.
But what has replaced them in their positions? What is the first number one of 2021? Grab the last of the Egg Nog, wrap up warm and join me as we journey through the first top ten of 2021.
Nolan Nailed It!
The final chart-topper of 2020 is the first chart-topper of 2021 as Christopher Nolan’s sublime time-bending thriller ‘Tenet‘ retains the number one position. The film was one of only a handful of titles to open at the cinema after restrictions were lifted back in August and suffered somewhat with the socially distanced seating arrangements it had to contend with, dragging down its box office earning potential.
It was looked at as possibly the marker that determined if the multiplexes were right to reopen after the lockdown. It managed to make a decent amount of cashback for Warner Bros. Pictures but wasn’t the big success it was needed to be. However, with its box office totals combined around the world and its selling prowess on home entertainment, the film could yet be heading towards making a profit. And it deserves to be as the film is a mind-bending, exciting, visually brilliant effort from a masterful director.
New Entry
The one new entry this week arrives in the second-placed position on downloads alone. ‘The New Mutants‘ is a superhero horror movie that is set within the ‘X-Men‘ universe. Starring Maisie Williams, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Alice Braga, the film sat on the shelves within 20th Century Fox for two years before finally being allowed to make its cinematic bow. The film was roundly derided by the critics but managed to gain enough cash at the truncated box offices to be declared a minor hit.
The film was eyed to tie-in with the ‘X-Men‘ film series before it was left on the shelf and is almost certainly going to be a one and done experience before the characters make their debuts in a rebooted ‘X-Men‘ movie from the new owners of the franchise, Disney.
Dropping a place to take the third spot in the chart is the remake of the Roald Dahl novel ‘The Witches‘. Directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Anne Hathaway, the film was one that bypassed cinemas and made its debut in the United States on HBO MAX and PVOD around the world instead. The film hasn’t been as widely cheered as the original 1990 version of the film but is described as a faithful and fairly decent adaptation of the material.
Holding onto a place and once again refusing to move from the fourth place is classic Christmas comedy/drama ‘Love Actually‘. Despite being over a decade old now, the film has managed to cling on ahead of more recent fare despite being available on TV over the festive period.
The Top Five
Rounding out this week’s top five places, we welcome our only re-entry into the chart as once more, Tom Holland swings into the top five as our friendly neighborhood web-crawler as ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home‘ returns.
The film, co-starring Samuel L. Jackson was the film that ended the last phase of Marvel movies back in 2019. But with the pandemic denying us the chance to see the awaited ‘Black Widow‘ standalone movie, the home audience has returned to an old favorite for their fix of the Marvel Universe.
Coming Soon
We pause our look at the chart now to welcome back Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter after almost thirty years in ‘Bill And Ted Face The Music‘, which hits download and keep from January 9th. The sequel has long been gestating and has been on and off again many times over the years. But finally, the two characters did manage to make their return last year, despite seeing their cinematic run severely hampered by the pandemic.
But thanks to the box office cash it did manage to make and the PVOD market, the film was a success. This time around, our two heroes are joined on yet another adventure through time by their daughters, catching up with many old friends along the way including Death who is again played by actor William Sadler. If this bodacious sequel seems like your kind of fun, then grab it when it becomes available.
Back In Action
Our break is over as we return to the chart once more, starting with the sixth-placed film in the countdown. Even though it premiered on Sky Movies on New Years Day, ‘Bad Boys For Life‘ decides it wants to return to the top ten, racing and shooting its way up by nineteen places.
The threequel, once again starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence is the best-reviewed of the trilogy and was the number one box office draw in the United States for 2020. The film was so successful and so well embraced by the audience that a fourth film featuring the two characters is currently being written.
Greta Gerwig’s criminally overlooked at the awards time version of the classic ‘Little Women‘ once again decides it wants to occupy a place inside the top ten by rising eleven places to grab itself the seventh spot on the chart.
Emilia Clarke’s charming and highly enjoyable romantic comedy ‘Last Christmas‘ manages to retain a place in the top ten even though it takes a tumble of two places to grab hold of the eighth-place this week. Now the festive season is over, the film will possibly drop out of the chart next week.
Jumping back into the chart by an incredible thirty-one places this week, the second highest-selling title of 2020, ‘Jumanji: The Next Level‘ swings back into action and the chart in the ninth position.
Last Call
And finally, taking the tenth and final spot on the first chart of 2021 is my favorite movie of 2020 as Margot Robbie and ‘Birds Of Prey: And The Fantabulous Emancipation Of One Harley Quinn‘ rises fourteen places after its digital price dropped to £6.99.
Summary
And that is all he wrote for this first week of the new year. Thank you once more for joining me on our weekly tour of what is selling best on home entertainment. No question to be asked this week. Instead, I will bring to your attention that ‘Wonder Woman 1984‘ will be hitting PVOD on January 13th as its box office chances in the U.K have been completely wiped out thanks to the lockdown, meaning all cinemas are currently closed.
There is no word as yet as to its price or if it is a rental only or a buy and keep title but I’d expect it to be a 48-hour rental only for around £15.99. I have yet to see the film but I have heard mixed reviews of it. No matter though, I intend to get it regardless and watch it several times over.
Until next time, whatever you decide, whatever you buy, stay safe, be kind, look after each other, PLEASE obey the lockdown rules, and happy viewing!
Anyone wishing to buy any of the titles featured in The Official Film Chart can do so via FindAnyFilm.com. All videos and information have been supplied by Find Any Film and used under authorization.
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