| Date | |
|---|---|
| Author | Mia Blakeney |
Box Office Round-up
A Complete Unknown, James Mangold’s biopic of Bob Dylan, made it three weekends in the top spot, adding £1.2m, down just 26% from last week. That takes its total after 17 days in cinemas to £8.3m, and it is well on the way to surpassing Mangold’s previous music-biopic, Walk The Line, which finished its run with £10.4m. With every other Oscar Best Picture nominated film seemingly shooting itself in the foot, A Complete Unknown could easily swoop in and take the top prize. If so, there’ll be plenty more box office to come.
Mufasa: The Lion King stayed in second, adding £1.1m, down just 18% from last weekend. That takes its total after seven weekends in cinemas to £29.4m and it has now overtaken the final total of 2023’s The Little Mermaid (£27.4m) and it’s now less than £8m behind the final total of 2019’s Aladdin (£37.2m).
This week’s highest new entry is the thriller Companion, which opened with £740k, which includes £67k from previews. That’s a bit better than the £654k that Wolf Man opened with two weeks ago, and Companion has much better audience scores (4-stars and an 86% Total Positive score from PostTrak) so hopefully Companion will hold up well next week.
Sonic The Hedgehog 3 added £708k in fourth, down just 19% from last weekend, which takes its total to £24.1m. It’s now just £2.9m behind the £27m Sonic The Hedgehog 2 finished on, and with half term on the horizon, it’s going to get pretty close.
The Brutalist rounded out the top five adding £609k, which is down just 14% from last weekend. That takes its total after two weekends in cinemas to £1.8m. A good comparison for this title is TÁR, starring Cate Blanchett as one of the greatest living composer-conductors. That film opened was epic in length and opened in January 2023. It finished its run with £2.5m, so The Brutalist looks like finishing comfortably north of that.
Outside of the top five, event cinema came in sixth, as Les Miserables: The Staged Concert opened with £550k this weekend. Mike Leigh’s Hard Truths opened in ninth with £328k, and with lead actor Marianne Jean-Baptiste looking like a good bet to win the Best Actress BAFTA, it could be around for a little while.
Next Weekend
Dog Man is a new animation based on the popular character found in Dave Pilkey’s graphic novel series. Dog Man is half dog and half man, and is sworn to protect and serve as he doggedly pursues the feline supervillain Petey the Cat.
September 5 is a true story. During the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, an American sports broadcasting team must adapt to live coverage of the Israeli athletes being held hostage by a terrorist group.
The Seed Of The Sacred Fig is a drama set in Tehran. Investigating judge Iman grapples with paranoia amid political unrest. When his gun vanishes, he suspects his wife and daughters, imposing draconian measures that strain family ties as societal rules crumble.
Love Hurts stars Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan as a realtor who is pulled back into the life he left behind, after his former partner-in-crime resurfaces with an ominous message. With his crime-lord brother also on his trail, he must confront his past and the history he never fully buried.
Bring Them Down is a drama starring Christopher Abbott and Barry Keoghan. An Irish shepherding family is thrust into battle on several fronts: internal strife, hostility within the family, rivalry with another farmer.
The Last Showgirl stars Pamela Anderson as a seasoned showgirl who must plan for her future when her show abruptly closes after a 30-year run.
The Buzz
The Ballad Of Wallis Island is a gentle comedy starring Tim Key and Tom Basden. Key plays Charles, a strange lottery winner, who lives alone on a secluded island and tries to make his fantasies come true by getting his favourite singer, Herb McGwyer, to perform at a special, private event. Carey Mulligan is in the supporting cast, and the film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival last week. Tomris Laffly, writing for Variety, loved the film saying ‘live with plenty of droll British humor and with a music-filled, picturesque finale that is sincerely earned, The Ballad of Wallis Island is the best kind of crowd-pleaser: disarming, joyful and full of compassion for its oddball characters. This Sundance charmer doesn’t hit a false note.’ It’s one of the best films for an older, ABC1 audience when it hits cinemas on 9 May.
Across The Pond
Dog Man opened in the top spot with an impressive $36m. Companion opened in second with $9.5m. Mufasa: The Lion King posted a great hold in third, falling just 29% to $6.1m, taking its total to $229.5m, while One Of Them Days posted a similar hold, falling 25% to $6m in fourth, which takes its total to $34.5m. Flight Risk rounded out the top five, adding $5.6m for a new total of $20.9m.