| Date | |
|---|---|
| Author | Mia Blakeney |
Box Office Round-up
Napoleon took on Beyonce and won, as Ridley Scott’s historical epic stayed in the top spot for a second weekend. It added £1.9m, which is a drop of 50% from last weekend and takes its total after 10 days in cinemas to a strong £9.3m. It will soon overtake House Of Gucci, Scott’s 2021 film, which finished on £10m. In the battle of epic Q4 2023 films from elder statesmen of cinema, Napoleon will this week overtake Martin Scorsese’s Killers Of The Flower Moon, which is currently on £9.96m.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes stayed in second on its third weekend, adding £1.7m, a healthy drop of 37% drop from last weekend. After 17 days in cinemas it has banked a solid £13m, and while it looks like being the lowest performing film in The Hunger Games series (the first film finished with £24.1m), it should be in cinemas across the Christmas period which will see it get comfortably past £15m.
Disney’s Wish added £1.4m on its second weekend, a drop of 41% from last weekend. That takes its total to £4.4m. It has already overtaken the final total of Disney’s animation from this time last year Strange World, which finished on £4.1m. Encanto, from Christmas 2021, finished on £8.6m, so Wish will surpass that over the next few weeks.
The second big concert film of Q4, Renaissance: A Film By Beyonce was this weekend’s highest new entry, opening with £1.1m. While it’s not a patch on the £5.7m Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour opened with, it’s still a decent performance and further proof that the concert film has a place in cinemas.
Another event cinema title made it into the top five, as Andre Rieu’s White Christmas opened with £1m. This is the third release of a Rieu concert in cinemas in 2023, with January’s concert in Dublin grossing £853k and his Maastricht concert grossing £857k in August, so White Christmas is the biggest this year and his biggest since pre-covid.
Outside of the top five, south Asian release Animal opened with £719k which was enough for sixth place. This is the sixth-biggest opening for an Indian film this year and continues a terrific year for south Asian releases.
Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn posted an incredible hold, increasing on last weekend’s total by 3% to £561k. This is a title that is generating serious buzz, and after three weekends in cinemas has grossed £3.2m. Despite opening well behind 2022’s The Menu, Saltburn now looks like it will surpass its final total of £4.1m.
The 20th anniversary re-release of Christmas classic Elf opened in 8th with £345k. Hopefully this will be around until Christmas but it’s likely to face stiff competition from Wonka from Friday.
Next Weekend
Wonka is the latest film from Paul King (Paddington 1 & 2). With dreams of opening a shop in a city renowned for its chocolate, a young and poor Willy Wonka (Timothée Chalamet) discovers that the industry is run by a cartel of greedy chocolatiers. Also in the cast is Olivia Colman, Rowan Atkinson and Hugh Grant.
The Buzz
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is a prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road, which saw Charlize Theron star as Imperator Furiosa. This time around Anya Taylor-Joy stars as the renegade warrior Furiosa as we discover her origin story before she teamed up with Mad Max. George Miller returns to direct his fifth film in the Mad Max universe and the cast also includes Chris Hemsworth and Tom Burke. Fury Road was nominated for 10 Oscars, winning six and since its release has only grown in stature, with Time Out naming it the second best film of the decade and The AV Club going one better and naming it the best film of the 2010s. This sequel is in cinemas on 24 May and is one of the best ways to reach ABC1 men in Q2.
Across The Pond
Renaissance: A Film By Beyonce opened at the top of the North American box office with $21m. The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes fell to second, adding $14.5m, down 50% from last weekend, which takes its total after 17 days in cinemas to $121.2m. Godzilla Minus One opened in third with a terrific $11m. Trolls Band Together added $7.6m in fourth for a new total of $74.8m and Wish completed the top five, adding $7.4m for a new total of $42m.