| Date | |
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| Author | DCM |
| Categories | cinemabox OfficeupfrontsFilm FocusFilm NewsNews |
The Inbetweeners 2 comfortably held on to the top spot this weekend, falling 46% once previews are removed, to £4.3m and a terrific total of £22.3m. In its second weekend in 2011, the first Inbetweeners film managed £5.7m and was up to £25.9m, so the second film is falling away a bit sharper but it should comfortably cross the £30m mark. The biggest film of the year so far is still The Lego Movie, released all the way back in February, with £34.3m, so that’s the target for The Inbetweeners 2.
Guardians of the Galaxy held on to second spot with a decent hold, falling just 37% to £2.1m and a cume of £18.8m. By the end of this week it will have overtaken Captain America: The Winter Soldier’s final total of £19.4m, which seemed an unlikely occurrence at the start of the year.
This week’s highest new entry was geriatric action-pic, The Expendables 3 with £1.7m, which included £379k from previews. Sadly for Sly and co, that’s the lowest debut in the franchise, with the first Expendables opening with £3.9m (including £1.8m from previews) and The Expendables 2 opening with £2m (including £435k in previews). This third film was the first in the series to be given a 12A cert by the BBFC, which may have put off older fans who expect a certain level of violence in the action scenes.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes was in fourth after adding £1.1m for a cume of £30m. Only The Lego Movie has grossed more this year. How To Train Your Dragon completed the top five with yet another decent hold, falling 28% to £647k and a cume of £21.2m. There was one other notable new release in the top 15, in Simon Pegg comedy, Hector and the Search For Happiness in ninth place with £240k. One older title made a reappearance too. Frozen may have opened on December 5, 2013 but it is still going and added £92k for now a huge cume of £40.3m.
Overall the box office was down 44% from last weekend and down 12% from the same weekend last year when Kick-Ass 2 and Planes opened.
Next Weekend
Lucy is the big new release this week, hitting cinemas on Friday. It's an admirably loopy sci-fi action tale. Scarlett Johansson continues her terrific 2014, after Her, Under The Skin, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Chef. Also in cinemas on Friday, Marion Cotillard stars in Two Days One Night, from the revered Dardennes brothers. Three films hit cinemas on Wednesday, all with modest expectations. Into The Storm and Deliver Us From Evil have already opened in the US and neither has set the box office ablaze, grossing $31.3m and $30.5m to date respectively. Daniel Radcliffe rom-com, What If also opens.
The Buzz
The Guest opens on 5 September and DCM’s Adam Reynolds was lucky enough to see a preview last week. In his own words it is ‘an unexpectedly humorous paint-by-numbers thriller. With bags of energy and great turns by Dan ‘Downton’ Stevens and Maika Monroe this is fun for all the [adult] family.”
Across The Pond
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles topped the box office for the second weekend in succession, falling 57% to $28.4m and has so far grossed $117.6m. In its third weekend, Guardians of the Galaxy fell 41% to $24.7m for a cume of $222.3m and it’s now almost certain to be the biggest film of the summer. Raucous comedy Let's Be Cops opened on Wednesday and grossed £17.7m over the weekend. Adding in Wednesday and Thursday it has already grossed $26.1m. The audience was 56% male and 54% under the age of 25. The Expendables 3 opened in fourth place with £16.2m, which is comfortably the lowest start in the franchise. Another new entry, The Giver completed the top five with $12.8m.
