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| Author | Zoe Aresti |
The Weekend Round-up
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel held on to the top spot for the third weekend in a row, falling 29% to £1.4m, and it now has a cume of £11.7m. While it’s clear it’s going to fall short of the first film’s final total of £20.4m, it’s still an impressive performance from the ensemble comedy.
Run All Night was the highest new entry in second, opening with £823k.
Focus fell 39% to £805k and to date has grossed £5.6m. It’s almost certain to overtake After Earth’s final total of £6.3m.
Suite Francaise opened in fourth with £504k (including £2k from previews). The film has been marketed very similarly to January’s Testament Of Youth, but that film could only open with £417k, on its way to £2m to date.
Fifty Shades Of Grey completed the top five adding a further £488k, for a huge cume of £33.8m.
Outside of the top five, Still Alice’s screen count went up, and so did its box office, increasing on last weekend by 4% with £419k. After ten days in cinemas it has now grossed £1.1m.
On the 51st quietest weekend of the last 52, the box office was down 28% from last weekend and down 25% from the same weekend last year, when the biggest films were The Grand Budapest Hotel, Need For Speed, The Lego Movie and 300: Rise Of An Empire.
Next Weekend
Home is in cinemas on Friday. The first of the big Easter films to be released, it was feared that it may suffer next to Disney’s Cinderella, however it previewed on Saturday and Sunday and banked a strong £2.5m, so it’s a dead cert to perform strongly over the holiday period.
The Divergent Series: Insurgent is in cinemas on Thursday. The first film was a modest hit, grossing £6.7m, and with a 3D element added for the first time, expect the sequel to outperform the first film.
The Gunmen is from the director of Taken and stars Sean Penn as Liam Neeson, I mean former special forces soldier, Jim Terrier.
Finally, Jason Statham returns in Wild Card. Statham is all set for a great 2015 but it’s more likely to be kickstarted by Fast & Furious 7 in two weeks, rather than this generic looking action film from Con Air director, Simon West.
The Buzz
South By South West (SXSW) is currently taking place in Austin, Texas and three high profile summer films had their premiere last night. Responses from the Fast & Furious 7 world premiere suggest that fans will not be disappointed, with The Hollywood Reporter reporting that the ‘nuance-free franchise crafts an honorable exit for its departed star (Paul Walker)’. Judd Apatow showcased a ‘work in progress’ version of his latest comedy, Trainwreck and the response was fairly ecstatic, with The Hollywood Reporter saying that it’s a return to form ‘with the kind of big-hearted, broad-appeal comedy that made his name.’ Perhaps most excitingly Melissa McCarthy's comedy, Spy premiered and the reviews are hugely positive. Variety said that ‘Melissa McCarthy gets the funniest, most versatile and sustained comic showcase of her movie career in this deliriously entertaining action-comedy’ and Screen International said that ‘Spy is plenty of cheery fun, much of the joy coming from watching McCarthy in a blockbuster comedy for once not just be funny but also incredibly charismatic, vulnerable and sexy.’ HOORAY!
Across The Pond
Disney’s live-action Cinderella opened in the top spot with $67.9m, which is about on par with last year’s Maleficent ($69.4m). Unsurprisingly the audience was 66% female and 66% families. Liam Neeson's Run All Night opened in second with $11m. Kingsman: The Secret Service fell 25% to $6.2m and now has a cume of $107.4m. Focus fell to fourth, adding $5.7m for a cume of $44m. Chappie completed the top five, adding $5.7m and after ten days has a cume of $23.3m.
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