| Date | |
|---|---|
| Author | Mia Blakeney |
Box Office Round-up
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever held on to the top spot this weekend, falling 50% to £6.2m. In terms of recent Marvel films, that’s comfortably better than the second weekend holds of Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness, which fell 62% on its second weekend, and Thor: Love And Thunder which fell 56% on its second weekend. After 10 days in cinemas Wakanda Forever has grossed £22.7m and is now the eleventh biggest film released in 2022 to date, having just overtaken Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore.
The Menu opened in second with £932k, which includes £13k from previews. Last Night In Soho also starred Anya Taylor-Joy and opened with £727k and finished with £2.3m, so it's likely that The Menu will be looking to finish well above that.
Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile posted another strong hold in third, falling 20% to £522k, which takes its total to £12.2m. It faces competition for the family audience this week from Disney’s Strange World and Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical but it’s been a solid performance from the singing croc.
Black Adam posted a solid hold in fourth, falling 37% to £497k, which takes its total to £19.3m. It’s well clear of Shazam, which finished on £13.4m and I think we can thank Dwayne Johnson for that uplift.
After a terrific second week where it fell just 11% from its first week, Living came in fifth, adding £338k for a new total of £2.6m. It has now overtaken the final total of The Father, which finished on £2.1m. Anthony Hopkins won the Best Actor Oscar for that film, will Bill Nighy get a nomination for his work in Living?
Outside of the top five, The Banshees Of Inisherin crossed the £8m mark in sixth, while MUBI continued their strong year as British drama Aftersun opened with £230k, which includes £54k from previews. Polish title Listy Do M. 5 opened in eighth with £206k, while Hindi-title Drishyam 2 opened in ninth with £147k.
The box office is down 37% from last weekend and up 4% from the same weekend last year.
Next Weekend
Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical is an adaptation of the Tony and Olivier award-winning musical. Matilda tells the story of an extraordinary girl who, armed with a sharp mind and a vivid imagination, dares to take a stand to change her story with miraculous results. Emma Thompson, Lashana Lynch and Alisha Weir star.
Strange World is a brand new animation from Walt Disney Animation. The legendary Clades are a family of explorers whose differences threaten to topple their latest and most crucial mission. Jake Gyllenhaal leads the voice cast and it’s in cinemas from Wednesday.
She Said is the true story of New York Times reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor who broke one of the most important stories in a generation - a story that helped ignite a movement and shattered decades of silence around the subject of sexual assault in Hollywood. Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan star.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is the second film starring Daniel Craig as enigmatic detective Benoit Blanc. This time around he’s in Greece and joined by a cast including Janelle Monae, Kate Hudson, Kathryn Hahn, Edward Norton, Dave Bautista and more! It’s in cinemas on Wednesday for one week and is the first major Netflix title to play at the major multiplex chain.
Bones And All is a dark romance starring Timothee Chalamet and Taylor Russell. Love blossoms between a young woman on the margins of society and a disenfranchised drifter as they embark on a 3,000-mile odyssey through the backroads of America. However, despite their best efforts, all roads lead back to their terrifying pasts and a final stand that will determine whether their love can survive their differences.
The Buzz
Babylon is the last of the big 2023 awards contenders to premiere and has been screened to critics in the US. It’s Oscar-winner Damien Chazelle’s (Whiplash, La La Land) latest film and stars Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt, and Diego Calva in a tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess. It traces the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood.
Early responses suggests that it’s hugely ambitious with Variety writer Courtney Howard tweeting ‘a dazzling, dizzying cacophony of demented depravity. ❤️d! A rebellious, outrageous portrait of golden-era hedonistic Hollywood’.
Clayton Davis, also from Variety tweeted ‘Babylon feels like if someone read Damien Chazelle the story of Sodom and Gomorrah and then he said, "hold my beer!" High octane, cocaine-inducing trip. First half is great. Likely the internet's new favorite movie of all-time.’
Gregory Ellwood from The Playlist tweeted ‘Babylon is a fever dream of a movie that’s best when it’s being a straight out comedy.’
A few critics weren’t quite so kind but it’s undoubtedly going to be one of the most talked about films of awards season and you can make your own mind up from 20 January.
Across The Pond
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever held on to the top spot, adding $67.3m, which is down 63% from last weekend. That takes its total after 10 days in cinemas to $288m. The Menu opened in second with $9m, which is Searchlight’s biggest opening since Slumdog Millionaire in 2008. Third spot was taken by The Chosen Season 3: Episode 1 & 2 which opened with $8.2m. Black Adam fell to fourth, adding $4.5m for a new total of $157m. Ticket to Paradise rounded out the top five, adding $3.2m for a new total of $61.6m.