| Date | |
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| Author | Tom Linay |
The Weekend Round-up
- 2019 is a huge year for Disney’s big live-action adaptations of their classic animated films and first off the blocks is Dumbo. Tim Burton’s lavish fantasy opened with £6.1m, which is the second biggest opening weekend of 2019 to date, behind only Captain Marvel. While recent Disney live-action remakes, Beauty And The Beast (£19.7m) and The Jungle Book (£9.9m) have opened bigger, Dumbo surpassed the opening of Cinderella (£3.8m) and had to contend with the first sunny Saturday of the year, something which was highlighted in Sunday (not-so-sunny) outperforming Saturday (sunny). The good news for Dumbo is that the Easter school holidays kick off next Friday so weeks two and three should see strong holds. Cinderella finished on £21.3m so Dumbo will be looking to finish well north of that.
- Disney made it a one-two as Captain Marvel came in second after three weeks in the top spot. The Marvel blockbuster added £1.8m, a drop of 48%, which takes it to £32.5m. It has now overtaken the final total of Thor: Ragnarok (£31.1m) and is closing in on Captain America: Civil War, which finished on £37m.
- Jordan Peele’s horror Us had a solid second weekend, falling 40% to £1.7m. On its second weekend Get Out fell 37%, so held up slightly better but Us is still on course to finish on a similar total to Get Out’s £10.4m.
- Fisherman’s Friends had another decent hold, falling 35%, the best hold in the top 10, to £629k. That takes its total to £4.8m and it looks like it will surpass last year’s Finding Your Feet’s final total of £5.9m.
- What Men Want completed the top five, falling 42% to £301k. After three weekends in cinemas the Taraji P. Henson comedy is now up to £2.4m.
- Outside of the top five, two new entries landed in the lower reaches of the top 10. The Met Opera’s Die Walkure opened in seventh with £176k, while Bollywood title, Lucifer, opened in eighth with £148k.
Overall the box office is up 14% from last weekend and down 37% from the same weekend last year when the top films were Peter Rabbit, Ready Player One, Isle Of Dogs and Blockers. This weekend last year was also the Easter weekend.
Next Weekend
- Shazam! is the latest superhero adventure from DC Comics. Asher Angel plays Billy Batson, a streetwise fourteen-year-old foster kid who turns into the adult superhero Shazam when he shouts out the word ‘SHAZAM!’
- Pet Sematary is an adaptation of Stephen King’s novel. Dr. Louis Creed and his wife, Rachel, relocate from Boston to rural Maine with their two young children. The couple soon discover a mysterious burial ground hidden deep in the woods near their new home.
- Missing Link is the latest film from stop-motion animation wizards Laika. Mr. Link (Zach Galifianakis) recruits explorer Sir Lionel Frost (Hugh Jackman) to help find his long-lost relatives in the fabled valley of Shangri-La. Along with adventurer Adelina Fortnight (Zoe Saldana), this trio of explorers travel the world to help their new friend.
- Peppa Pig Festival Of Fun is the latest big screen outing for the popular children’s character.
- The Sisters Brothers is the English language debut for Palme d’Or winning director Jacques Audiard. In 1850s Oregon, the infamous duo of assassins, Eli and Charlie Sisters, chase a gold prospector and his unexpected ally. Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reilly star.
The Buzz
Late Night is a comedy drama written by Mindy Kaling and starring Emma Thompson as a late-night talk show who host suspects that she may soon be losing her long-running show. It premiered at Sundance to strong reviews, with IndieWire saying ‘Late Night smartly sends up not just the cloistered world of late night television, but a current cultural climate struggling to evolve in a changing world.’ Screen International were also impressed praising Thompson’s performance, saying ‘Thompson delivers a memorable performance as the abrasive “cold witch,” as someone describes her, perhaps even outdoing Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wars Prada as a delightfully wicked woman of power.’ It’s in UK cinemas on 7 June.
Across The Pond
Dumbo topped box office in the US the weekend box office too but the story wasn’t quite as positive as in the UK, opening with $45m. Last week’s top film, Us fell 53% in its second weekend, adding $33.6m for a new total of $128.2m. Captain Marvel landed in third, falling 40% to $20.5m, which takes its total to $353.8m making it the eighth largest US release in the MCU. Five Feet Apart came in fourth, adding $6.3m, a drop of 27%, taking its total to $35.9m. Anti-abortion drama, Unplanned, opened in fifth with $6.1m.