| Date | |
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| Author | Mia Blakeney |
Box Office Round-up
National Cinema Day took place on Saturday 2 September, with over 600 cinemas across the UK offering cinema tickets from just £3. The aim of the day was to encourage and enable as wide an audience of cinema-goers as possible to enjoy the big screen experience, and it certainly did!
One of the world’s great movie stars, Denzel Washington, once again confirmed his box office appeal as The Equalizer 3 opened at the top of the UK box office. It opened with £2.8m, which includes £820k from previews after opening on Wednesday. The Equalizer 2 opened with a Friday to Sunday total of £1.9m, so this third instalment has topped that and set a series best which is a terrific result.
Greta Gerwig’s Barbie continues its incredible run and on its seventh weekend added £1.6m, a drop of just 16% from last weekend. That takes its total to £92.6m, and it is now the 7th biggest film of all-time and looks to have the legs to climb at least a couple of places higher by the end of its run.
Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer came in third, adding £961k, a drop of 41% from last weekend. That takes its total to £55.4m and it has now overtaken The Super Mario Bros. Movie (£54.4m) to become the second biggest film of 2023. Over the next week or so it should overtake The Dark Knight Rises (£56.4m) and Dunkirk (£56.7m) to become Christopher Nolan’s biggest film. Remarkable!
It’s been a sensation in North America but Sound Of Freedom hasn’t replicated that in the UK as it opened with £760k, which includes £171k from previews after opening on Thursday. In North America it has grossed $182m, more than Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One and Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny, but it is not proving such a hit with UK audiences.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem rounded out the top five adding £619k, an increase of 29% from last weekend. After five weekends in cinemas it’s up to £9.1m and should still get to £10m and beyond.
Outside of the top five, Elemental in ninth posted the kind of hold a family film in late-summer can post, increasing 64% from last weekend to £559k, which takes it to a shade under £18m.
Spooky horror Cobweb opened in 10th with £325k which includes £23k from previews.
The box office was up 13% from last weekend and up 47% from the same weekend last year, which also featured National Cinema Day.
Next Weekend
The Nun 2 is a sequel to the 2018 horror hit. Set in 1956 France, a priest is murdered and an evil is spreading. The sequel follows Sister Irene as she once again comes face-to-face with Valak, the demon nun.
Past Lives is one of the best reviewed films of 2023 to date. Celine Song’s drama tells the story of Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends who are wrested apart after Nora's family emigrates from South Korea. Twenty years later, they are reunited for one fateful week as they confront notions of love and destiny. It’s in cinemas on Thursday.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 is a third film in the comedy series. Nia Vardalos once again writes and stars and this time she directs too. After travelling to Greece for a family reunion, a woman attempts to locate her deceased father's childhood friends.
The Buzz
Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on Friday and has instantly become one of the main contenders in every major awards ceremony next year. It’s an adaptation of Alasdair Grey’s novel and it’s the incredible tale about the fantastical evolution of Bella Baxter, a young woman brought back to life by the brilliant and unorthodox scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter. Emma Stone stars as Bella and the critics are unanimous in their praise of her performance. The film itself has been lavished with praise by almost every outlet (five stars in The Guardian, Time Out, The Telegraph), and next year’s awards season is shaping up to be the highest quality in years with Oppenheimer, Barbie, Killers Of The Flower Moon and Poor Things already looking like fighting for the biggest prizes. Poor Things hits UK & Irish cinemas on 12 January.
Across The Pond
On the Labor Day holiday weekend, The Equalizer 3 opened in the top spot with $34.5m. Barbie added $10.6m in second, which takes its total to a huge $609.5m. Blue Beetle added $7.3m in third and is now up to $56.6m. Gran Turismo added $6.6m in fourth for a new total of $28.6m. Oppenheimer rounds out the top five, adding $5.5m for a new total of $308.6m.