| Date | |
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| Author | Zoe Aresti |
The Weekend Box Office Round-up
Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings only went and delivered comfortably the biggest Friday to Sunday opening since January 2020. The latest Marvel blockbuster opened with £5.8m, which is well ahead of Fast & Furious 9, which opened with £4.9m and until this weekend was the biggest debut in the pandemic era. Shang-Chi’s opening is also £1m more than the debut of Black Widow, a Marvel film about a much more well-known character and it’s also worth noting that Black Widow had a day-and-date release on Disney+ as part of their Premier Access, which Shang-Chi does not.
What’s also hugely encouraging is that every other film in the top 10 held up well in the face of the Marvel blockbuster, and on a weekend of good weather too. Free Guy fell just 41% in second, to £956k and has now banked an impressive £13.2m. Third spot was taken by Candyman, which fell 32% to £754k - a strong hold for a horror title – and after 10 days in cinemas has grossed £2.9m.
The award for best hold in the top 10, which is an award I’ve just made up, this week goes to The Paw Patrol Movie. The family animation fell just 17% to £465k and a new total of £6.9m. Just a friendly reminder that the last Paw Patrol film in cinemas, January 2020’s Ready Race Rescue finished its run with £1.9m, which until this new movie was a high benchmark for the series.
Jungle Cruise completed the top five, adding £266k for a new total of £11.8m. It’s now the seventh biggest film of 2021, having just overtaken A Quiet Place Part II. Outside of the top five, brutal British gangster series Rise of the Footsoldier impressively posted its biggest opening weekend yet with its fifth instalment. Rise Of The Footsoldier: Origins opened with £123k. The previous best was the first instalment’s £86k in 2007.
Overall the box office was up a chunky 55% from last weekend.
Next Weekend
Respect is a biopic of the legendary singer Aretha Franklin, starring Jennifer Hudson. The film follows the rise of Franklin's career from a child singing in her father's church's choir to her international superstardom.
Malignant is the latest horror from James Wan (The Conjuring, Insidious). Madison (Annabelle Wallis) is paralyzed by shocking visions of grisly murders, and her torment worsens as she discovers that these waking dreams are in fact terrifying realities.
Copshop is an action thriller starring Gerard Butler and Frank Grillo. On the run from a lethal assassin, a wily con artist devises a scheme to hide out inside a small-town police station-but when the hitman turns up at the precinct, an unsuspecting rookie cop finds herself caught in the crosshairs.
Across The Pond
Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings was a big hit in the US too, topping the box office with $75.5m over the three day weekend, and it’s expected to take $85m over the four day Labor Day weekend. This is in stark contrast to the last comic book film to hit US cinemas, The Suicide Squad, which opened with $26m, a total that Shang-Chi surpassed on its opening day. It’s worth remembering that The Suicide Squad was available to watch at home too. Candyman came in second, adding $10.6m from Friday to Sunday and is now up to $39.1m. Free Guy had another good hold, falling 34% to $8.7m, which takes its total to $91.9m. PAW Patrol: The Movie came in fourth, adding $4m for a new total of $30.3m, and Jungle Cruise completed the top five, adding $4m for a new total of $105.6m.