| Date | |
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| Author | Tom Linay |
The Weekend Round-up
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 has looked like one of the summer’s biggest films for quite some time and after it opened on Friday, it duly proved to be.
A Friday to Sunday total of £13.1m is the second highest opening weekend of the year, behind Beauty and the Beast, and Marvel’s fourth highest Friday to Sunday opening weekend, behind Avengers Assemble (£13.2m), Avengers: Age of Ultron (£14.4m) and Captain America: Civil War (£14.5m).
Two of those films cleared £40m, so hopefully Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 can get close to matching them. It also added £4.7m on bank holiday Monday, so after four days sits on £17.9m, making it already the ninth biggest film of 2017.
Fast & Furious 8 added £1.8m from Friday to Sunday and another £626k on Monday, which brings its total to £26.8m. It has now overtaken Fast & Furious 6’s final total of £25.3m, but is still some way behind the seventh instalment’s final total of £38.6m.
The Boss Baby had another decent weekend, adding £1.3m from Friday to Sunday and an impressive £892k on Monday, to take it to £24.8m. This week it will overtake Trolls’ current total of £24.9m.
Beauty and the Beast fell to fourth, adding £835k for the three-day weekend, and another £430k on Monday. That was enough to take it past the £70m mark, a remarkable result.
Their Finest rounded out the top five and had a great hold, falling 26% from Friday to Sunday to £631k. It also added £234k on Monday and has now grossed £2.5m.
Outside of the top five, there was a high-profile Bollywood release in Baahubali: The Conclusion, which unusually, took up two places in the top 10, a result of it being released in both Hindi and Tamil versions. The Hindi version grossed £221k from Friday to Sunday, which was enough for sixth and the Tamil version grossed £195k from Friday to Sunday, which was enough for ninth. Including Monday, they’ve grossed £312k (Hindi) and 248k (Tamil).
Two other new entries landed in the lower end of the top 15, with historical drama The Promise opening in tenth with £178k (which included £9k from previews). Including Monday it has now grossed £238k. Lady Macbeth opened in 12th with £175k, including £22k from previews. Add on Monday and it’s now up to £253k.
Overall the box office was up 89% from last weekend and down 17% from the same weekend last year, when the top four films were Captain America: Civil War, The Jungle Book, Eye In The Sky and Zootropolis.
Next Weekend
A Dog’s Purpose is a gentle family drama about a dog that looks to discover his purpose in life over the course of several lifetimes and owners. It stars Josh Gad and Dennis Quaid, alongside a host of cute pooches. After opening in the US in January it has so far grossed over $64m.
Mindhorn is a British comedy starring The Mighty Boosh’s Julian Barratt. He stars as a has-been actor best known for playing the title character in the 1980s detective series, Mindhorn, who must work with the police when a serial killer says that he will only speak with Detective Mindhorn, whom he believes to be a real person.
Unlocked is a thriller from one-time Bond director Michael Apted (The World Is Not Enough). Noomi Rapace stars as a CIA interrogator who is lured into a ruse that puts London at risk of a biological attack. The cast includes Michael Douglas, Toni Collette and John Malkovich.
Sleepless stars Jamie Foxx as a cop with a connection to the criminal underworld who scours a nightclub in search of his kidnapped son. It opened in the US in January and grossed $20.8m.
The Buzz
The Big Sick is a very highly rated romantic comedy that is one of the big UK premieres at this year’s Sundance London festival in June. Kumail Nanjiani and Zoe Kazan star as a couple who deal with their cultural differences as their relationship grows. It has received some glowing reviews, with Time Out going the full five stars, calling it ‘a dynamite romantic comedy of intimate proportions’. Variety were also very keen on it, saying it’s ‘a film that’s by turns romantic, rueful, and hilarious.’ It’s out in the UK on 28 July.
Across The Pond
Fate of the Furious topped the box office for a third straight week, adding $19.9m, which takes its total to $193.3m. Second place was taken by new entry, How to be a Latin Lover, which opened with $12.3m. In third was Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, which opened with a sensational $10.4m from just 425 cinemas. The Boss Baby added $9.4m for a new cume of $148.9m and tech-based thriller, The Circle, completed the top five, opening with $9m.