| Date | |
|---|---|
| Author | Mia Blakeney |
Box Office Round-up
The big screen version of the broadway musical adaptation of the 2004 hit comedy Mean Girls was the film to finally knock Wonka from its six week run in the top spot. Mean Girls opened on Wednesday and to date has banked £3.3m, with £744k of that coming from Wednesday and Thursday. The original film, whilst a 21st century comedy classic, was not a big box office hit, only grossing £5.7m in the UK & Ireland, and this musical version should sail past that over the next week or so.
After six weeks in the top spot, Wonka fell to second adding £1.7m, a drop of just 24% from last weekend. That takes its total to a huge £58.4m. It is now the 27th biggest film in UK & Ireland history, and over the next week it will overtake Oppenheimer (£58.5m) and climb one place higher. The latest Film Monitor data suggests that Wonka has to date delivered 15 16-34 adult TVRs across the industry.
After it received 11 BAFTA nomination last week, Poor Things posted a strong hold, falling just 29% to £1.1m. That takes its total to £3.7m, and with the Oscar nominations announced on Thursday, it should have a decent hold next weekend too. It has already overtaken the final total of last January’s big awards contenders, Empire Of Light and The Fabelsmans, and over the next few days it will surpass Babylon (£3.9m).
Romantic comedy Anyone But You continued its terrific run, adding £1.1m, a drop of just 14% from last weekend. It opened on Boxing Day and banked £51k on its opening day, but since then has gone from strength to strength. It is now up to £7m and has a real shot of overtaking Ticket To Paradise’s £9.9m final total. The new kids on the block are giving the old guard a run for their money.
Rounding out the top five is One Life, which is still having a great run, adding £858k for a new total of £7.5m. Films for a similar, older audience over the last year haven’t got close to a total like this, with The Great Escaper finishing on £5.3m and The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry finishing on £3.4m, making One Life one of the best performing films for the older audience since cinemas re-opened.
Outside of the top five, The Holdovers is a new entry in sixth with £690k, including £91k from previews. This critically lauded film received a BAFTA Best Picture nomination last week and is expected to receive an Oscar Best Picture nomination this week. While it hasn’t opened that strongly, it should be around for a while yet with the Oscars announced on 10 March. Disney animation Wish cracked the £12m mark at the weekend after dropping just 3% week-on-week.
Next Weekend
The Colour Purple is an adaptation of the hit Broadway musical. A woman faces many hardships in her life, but ultimately finds extraordinary strength and hope in the unbreakable bonds of sisterhood. It stars Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Fantasia Barrino and Halle Bailey. It’s been nominated for two BAFTAs (Best Actress for Barrino and Best Supporting Actress for Brooks).
All Of Us Strangers stars Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal. Scott plays a screenwriter who is drawn back to his childhood home and enters into a fledgling relationship with a mysterious neighbour. He then discovers that his parents appear to be living in the house, just as they were on the day they died, 30 years before. Claire Foy and Jamie Bell co-star.
Baghead is a horror about a young woman who inherits a run-down pub and discovers a dark secret within its basement - Baghead - a shape-shifting creature that will let you speak to lost loved ones, but not without consequence.
Fighter is the latest film from Siddarth Anand (the record-breaking Pathaan) and stars Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone as Top IAF aviators who come together in the face of imminent danger, to form Air Dragons. Anil Kapoor co-stars.
Jackdaw is a British drama starring Oliver Jackson-Cohen and Jenna Coleman. A former motocross champion and army veteran is now caring for his younger brother. Broke, he agrees to do an open water pick up of a mysterious illegal package in the North Sea.
The Buzz
Back To Black is a biopic of the beloved British singer Amy Winehouse. Back To Black is also the name of the second and final studio album released by Winehouse and is one of the best-selling albums in UK history. The album is reported to have sold over 4m copies and in a 2019 poll of music writers conducted by The Guardian, and it placed first in a ranking of the best albums of the 21st Century. The film clearly has a lot to live up to, but Marisa Abela and Jack O’Connell look to be well cast as Winehouse and Blake Fielder-Civil, and Lesley Manville and Eddie Marsan will provide strong support as Cynthia and Mitch Winehouse. Directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson (Nowhere Boy, Fifty Shades Of Grey), Back To Black should be one of the best films for ABC1 women when it hits cinemas on 12 April.
Across The Pond
Mean Girls held on to the top spot with $11.7m, down 59% from last weekend. That takes its total after two weekends in cinemas to $50m. The Beekeeper stayed in second adding $8.5m, a drop of 49% from last weekend and after 10 days has grossed $31.1m. Wonka is now up to $187.2m after adding $6.4m over the weekend. Anyone But You added $5.4m for a new total of $64.2m, while Migration completed the top five, adding $5.3m for a new total of $94.7m.