| Date | |
|---|---|
| Author | DCM |
| Categories | cinema |
The Weekend Round-up
Gone Girl stayed put this weekend, topping the box office for the second consecutive week. David Fincher’s thriller had a terrific hold, falling just 15%, once previews are removed, to £3.1m and now has a cume of £9.8m. It’s the second 18-cert film this year, after The Wolf Of Wall Street, to top the box office for two successive weeks and it should overhaul The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’s final total of £12.3m in the next week.
The latest young-adult fiction adaptation hit cinemas on Friday and The Maze Runner has already been a significant hit in the US, grossing $83.8m to date and the sequel has been dated for less next September. Young adult adaptations have seen mixed results, with The Mortal Instruments and Beautiful Creatures looking unlikely to get a sequel but The Maze Runner’s £2m debut, including £112k from previews, puts it well above these films and it compares favourably to April’s Divergent, which kicked off with £1.8m. With half term in two weeks, it should have legs too.
The Conjuring spin-off, Annabelle was in third with £1.9m, which although not as impressive as The Conjuring’s £2.2m opening weekend, it’s still a great result. Event cinema was once again represented as One Direction: Where We Are – The Concert Film came in fourth, earning £1m from just Saturday and Sunday performances. Dracula Untold completed the top five, falling a chunky 51% to £848k and a cume of £3.5m.
A couple of other new entries landed in the lower reaches of the top 15, Hugh Grant comedy, The Rewrite is his fourth collaboration with American writer-director, Marc Lawrence and its debut of £325k (including £68k from previews) is by far their lowest start yet. Of their other films, Two Weeks Notice opened with £2.6m in 2003, Music And Lyrics opened with £1.9m in 2007 and Did You Hear About The Morgans kicked off with £1.2m in 2010. Finally, ’71, starring rising-star Jack O’Connell, opened with £205k in twelfth.
On the strongest weekend since August, the box office was up 4% from last weekend and up a huge 103% from the same weekend last year when no film grossed over £1m and The Fifth Estate was the highest new entry in fifth place.
Next Weekend
The heroes in a half shell land on Friday as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is released. It’s made almost $200m in the US and it previewed over the weekend to the tune of £1.3m, so it looks like it’s going to be a big success on this side of the Atlantic too. The latest Nicholas Sparks novel to get the big screen treatment is The Best Of Me and it’s out on Wednesday. If you’re a Nicholas Sparks fan, you’ll probably love it, everyone else won’t. Robert Downey Jr is back with courtroom drama, The Judge and it has just opened fairly quietly in the US (see below).
The Buzz
The Drop premiered at the London Film Festival over the weekend and DCM’s Zoe Aresti and Peter Troiano were in attendance. Zoe said “it’s a dark crime drama that is captivating from the outset, elevated by extraordinary performances from a faultlessly chosen cast. The plot is original and more than just a stereotyped gangster film and Tom Hardy’s performance as a socially awkward bar man is enchanting and reason alone to go and see the movie.” Peter was equally effusive: “James Gandolfini’s final screen appearance as Cousin Marv is a fitting end to his triumphant career. The film results in a thrilling climax, showing how everyone in the town is trying to get ahead no matter the cost.” It’s out on 14 November.
Across The Pond
Gone Girl held on to the top spot, falling 29% to $26.8m and after ten days in cinemas has banked $78.3m. Dracula Untold was the highest new entry in second with $23.5m, which is more than the $16.3m Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter opened with and over double I, Frankenstein’s $8.6m debut. Disney’s Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day was in third with $19.1m and Annabelle had a decent hold for a supernatural horror, falling 56% to $16.3m and a cume of $62.2m. Robert Downey Jr’s The Judge was in fifth with $13.3m.