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| Author | Zoe Aresti |
The Weekend Round-up
After a terrific opening last week, La La Land had a great second weekend, falling just 23% to £4.4m, which brings its total to £14.9m. With the Oscar nominations announced this afternoon, and La La Land expected to receive the most of any film, it should hold up strongly this week too.
James McAvoy thriller, Split, opened in second with a terrific £2.5m. Director M. Night Shyamalan has had an up and down time at the UK box office, with his first film, The Sixth Sense, grossing £25.8m, and his most recent film, The Visit, grossing £2.9m. Split’s strong start means it should be his biggest since 2004’s The Village (£10.3m).
xXx: The Return of Xander Cage opened in third with £1.6m, which included £220k from previews. The last xXx film in, xXx 2: The Next Level in 2005, which must be said didn’t star Vin Diesel, opened with £921k, so this is a solid start. It’s some way short of the £3.4m the first xXx opened with in 2002 though.
Moving drama, Lion, opened in fourth with £1.3m. Of the films currently in cinemas, this is the one most suitable to an older audience, so hopefully it will perform strongly during the week.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story completed the top five, adding £881k for a new cume of £64.3m. It will shortly be in the top 10 films of all time in the UK, overtaking Jurassic World’s final total of £64.5m.
Outside of the top five, Jackie opened in sixth, with £663k. It will be hoping for a boost when the Oscar nominations are announced.
Overall the box office was down 11% from last weekend and down 5% from the same weekend last year, when the top four films were The Revenant, Ride Along 2, Star Wars: The Force Awakens and The Big Short.
Next Weekend
T2 Trainspotting is the long-awaited sequel to Danny Boyle’s classic British film from 1996. Renton, Sick Boy, Spud and Begbie all return and it has been receiving strong reviews from the critics, with The Independent and The Sun giving it five stars, and The Guardian, The Times, Time Out, Total Film, Metro and The Daily Mirror giving it four stars.
Hacksaw Ridge is Mel Gibson’s return to directing, 10 years after Apocalypto. Andrew Garfield plays WWII American Army Medic Desmond T. Doss, who served during the Battle of Okinawa. Doss refused to kill people, and became the first man in American history to receive the Medal of Honor without firing a shot. It is nominated for five BAFTAs and is currently #97 on IMDb’s top 250. It’s in cinemas on Thursday.
Sing is the latest animation from Illumination Entertainment (Despicable Me). In a city of humanoid animals, a hustling theatre impresario's attempt to save his theatre with a singing competition becomes grander than he anticipates even as its finalists' find that their lives will never be the same. It previewed over the weekend and delivered the biggest ever preview figures for an original animation, eclipsing The Secret Life of Pets. It should be a big hit.
Denial is a British drama starring Rachel Weisz as acclaimed writer and historian Deborah E. Lipstadt who must battle for historical truth to prove the Holocaust actually occurred when David Irving, a renowned denier, sues her for libel. It co-stars Timothy Spall and Tom Wilkinson and has been BAFTA nominated for Best British Film.
The Buzz
In The Founder, Michael Keaton stars as Ray Kroc, a salesman who turned two brothers' innovative fast food eatery, McDonald's, into one of the biggest restaurant businesses in the world with a combination of ambition, persistence, and ruthlessness. While it hasn’t received the awards recognition it was hoping for, it has still had some strong reviews. Screen International said ‘the extent of Kroc's greed is The Founder's unique playing card, and John Lee Hancock delivers it with a depressingly special sauce.’ The Los Angeles time said it ‘turns the unlikely subject of a fast-food chain into a quasi-religious satire, a parable of American striving and, ultimately, a study of artisanal integrity gradually caving in to commercial compromise.’ It’s out in the UK on 17 February.
Across The Pond
Split opened in the top spot with $40m, the fourth largest January opening of all-time. xXx: The Return of Xander Cage opened in second with $20.1m. Last week’s number one, Hidden Figures, fell to third but added $15.7m and now sits on a terrific $83.7m. Sing added another $9m in fourth and has now banked a huge $249.3m. La La Land completed the top five, adding $8.4m, for a new cume of $89.7m.