| Date | |
|---|---|
| Author | Mia Blakeney |
Box Office Round-up
Dune: Part II has been long-awaited, and when it finally arrived it didn’t disappoint. Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi blockbuster opened with a huge £9.3m, almost double the opening weekend of the first film. That’s also the biggest opening weekend since Barbenheimer weekend back in July last year. Dune: Part I opened with £5.9m in October 2021 but that included £1.1m from Thursday previews, so the Friday to Sunday total was £4.8m. The first film finished on £22.5m but this sequel looks set for a total well above that. A rare recent live-action sequel that is significantly improving on the total of the first film. In Comscore’s PostTrak exit polling, it scored 4.5 stars and a 91% Total Positive rating, rising to 94% among male cinemagoers, so word-of-mouth should be good.
Bob Marley: One Love continued its terrific box office run, falling to second with £1.4m, a drop of 43% from last weekend, which is pretty impressive in the face of Dune: Part II. That takes its total after 17 days in cinemas to £13.7m and it has now overtaken the final total of Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody.
Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley comedy-drama Wicked Little Letters fell to third but posted a terrific hold, falling just 24% to £1.2m, which takes its total after 10 days in cinemas to £4.3m. Around this time last year, British comedy-drama Allelujah opened with £717k on its way to £3.7m, so Wicked Little Letters has already surpassed that. It performed particularly strongly in midweek showings last week, which suggests that the older audience are turning out for it.
On its fifth weekend, Migration added £962k, a drop of 36% from last weekend. It’s now up to £17.6m and should have the legs to cross £20m before Kung Fu Panda 4 opens in four weekends time.
Completing the top five is Madame Web, which added £247k for a new total of £3.9m. Sadly, it’s not going to match Morbius’ final total of £6.5m.
Outside of the top five, South Asian comedy Manjummel Boys posted a terrific hold, falling just 3% from last weekend and has now banked £392k.
Next Weekend
Imaginary is the latest Blumhouse horror. A woman returns to her childhood home to discover that the imaginary friend she left behind is very real and unhappy that she abandoned him.
Soul is the first big screen re-release of the much-loved Pixar film. Joe is a middle-school band teacher whose life hasn't quite gone the way he expected. His true passion is jazz. But when he travels to another realm to help someone find their passion, he soon discovers what it means to have soul.
The Buzz
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is the second film uniting the two outsized frenemies, coming three years after Godzilla vs Kong. This latest entry in the Monsterverse franchise pits the almighty Kong and the fearsome Godzilla against a colossal undiscovered threat hidden within our world, challenging their very existence - and our own. The epic new film will delve further into the histories of these Titans, their origins, and the mysteries of Skull Island and beyond, while uncovering the mythic battle that helped forge these extraordinary beings and tied them to humankind forever. The last film featuring King Kong to hit cinemas was Kong: Skull Island which grossed £15.9m in 2017, so there’s scope for this to hit hard over Easter. Its cinemas on 29 March.
Across The Pond
Dune: Part II opened in the top spot with $81.5m, by far the biggest opening of the year to date and double the opening of Dune: Part I. Bob Marley: One Love fell to second adding $7.4m, a drop of 45% from last weekend, which takes its total to $82.8m. Ordinary Angels stayed in third adding $3.9m which takes its total to $12.6m. Madame Web in fourth added $3.2m which takes its total to $40.4m. The Chosen Season 4 Episode 7 – 8 completed the top five, opening with $3.2m.