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| Author | Mia Blakeney |
The Weekend Box Office Round-up
After a barnstorming opening last weekend, Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness stayed in the top spot and looks on course to become the biggest film of 2022 to date. The Marvel blockbuster added £5.7m, a drop of 62% once previews are removed. Shang Chi, and Eternals both dropped 38% and 47% respectively on their second weekends, though both from a much smaller opening weekend than Doctor Strange. More recently, The Batman fell 45% on its second weekend. After 11 days in cinemas Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness is now up to £30.4m and is already the third highest grossing film of 2022 to date, behind The Batman and Sing 2. It needs another £10.5m to overtake the caped crusader to be the biggest film of 2022 so far.
Downton Abbey: A New Era came in second again and posted a solid hold, falling 38% to £972k. That takes its total after three weekends in cinemas to £10.4m and while it's now in the top 10 biggest films of 2022, it’s still some way off the total of the first Downton Abbey (£28.3m).
This weekend’s highest new entry is the US indie sensation, Everything Everywhere All At Once, which opened in limited release to £681k. That includes £123k from previews, after it had IMAX only previews on 4 May. This film has been holding up brilliantly in the US and it’s expected to expand to more screens from next Friday, so expect it to perform similarly on this side of the pond.
Sonic The Hedgehog 2 again came in fourth, posting a great hold, falling just 18% to £520k. That takes its total to an impressive £24.2m, almost £5m more than the first film and with no major family film released for May half term, it should extend that gap some way further. In fifth this week is the event cinema release of Little Mix Live – The Final Show (For Now…) which played on Saturday and Sunday bringing in £362k.
Outside of the top 5, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore has now crossed the £20m mark in eighth, while Stephen King's adaptation Firestarter opened in ninght with £250k. Stephen King adaptations have had some success in cinemas recently, most notably It Chapter One and Two, and Pet Sematary, but sadly Firestarter failed to catch alight.
Overall, the box office was down 58% from last weekend.
Next Weekend
Benediction is the latest film from Terence Davies (Distant Voices Still Lives, The House Of Mirth) and is about legendary 20th Century war poet Siegfried Sassoon. Decorated for bravery during World War I, British soldier Sassoon returns from service and becomes a vocal critic of the government's continuation of the war. Adored by the aristocracy and the stars of London's literary and stage world, Sassoon's experiences inspire him to write poetry about the horrors of battle.
The Season of Horror
Men is the latest film from Alex Garland (Ex Machina, Annihilation) and is another sci-fi-horror. Jessie Buckley stars as a young woman who goes on a solo vacation to the English countryside following the death of her ex-husband. Whilst on vacation she encounters a number of men, all of whom are played by Rory Kinnear. It has been screened in both the US and UK and people are posting their reactions on twitter. Collider’s Perri Nemiroff tweeted ‘Can confirm I've never seen anything quite like Alex Garland's Men. A deeply enthralling and chilling exploration of grief, guilt and gender dynamics - a bold approach that requires powerhouses like Jessie Buckley and Rory Kinnear." Robbie Collin gave it the full five stars in The Telegraph, calling it ‘astonishing’. It’s in cinemas on Wednesday, 1 June.
Across The Pond
After a huge opening last weekend, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness predictably held on to the top spot, falling 68% to $61m and a new total of $291.9m. It has already surpassed the $232.6m that the first Doctor Strange finished with. The Bad Guys once again came in second, adding $6.9m for a new total of $66.3m. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 stayed in third, adding $4.6m which takes its total to $175.7m. This week’s highest new entry is Firestarter in fourth, which opened with a disappointing $3.8m. This is a title that was available to watch at home on Peacock at the same time. Completing the top five is Everything Everywhere All at Once, which continues to be one of the success stories of recent years, adding $3.3m for a new total of $47.1m.