| Date | |
|---|---|
| Author | Mia Blakeney |
Box Office Round-up
The Wild Robot is the best reviewed animated film of the year and is set to be a big hit with UK audiences as it opened at the top of the box office this weekend with £3.3m, which includes £182k from previews. Migration opened similarly ahead of February half-term with £3.6m, and finished its run with over £21m, so The Wild Robot will be looking at getting pretty close to £20m by the end of its run. With some schools on holiday this week and the full half-term week next week, it should have a pretty bumper couple of weeks ahead. Comscore’s PostTrak exit poll scored the film the full 5 stars.
Horror sequel Smile 2 opened in second with £2m, which includes £301k from Thursday previews. This is a slightly disappointing opening, considering the first film finished its run with £11.7m, a total that currently looks out of reach for this well-received second instalment. With Halloween taking place next week, hopefully Smile 2 can see a boost across that period.
The US election takes place in a couple of weeks and Donald Trump biopic The Apprentice has been timed to take advantage of the talk around the election. It opened with £749k, which includes £103k from previews.
Last weekend’s top film, Transformers One fell to fourth adding £640k which takes its total to £2.7m. Whilst it should have a solid half-term period, it looks like it may not be able to reach the final total of the previous Transformers film, Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts, which finished on £8.2m.
Terrifier 3 continued its excellent run, adding £563k, which is down 46% from last weekend. That takes its total after 10 days in cinemas to £2.3m and with Halloween next week, it should be around for a little while longer.
Outside of the top five, Mubi’s The Substance is showing terrific staying power, adding £223k this weekend which takes its total to £3.2m. Mubi’s biggest film to date is Priscilla with £3.3m but The Substance should be able to overtake that this week to set a new benchmark. Anime is back in the top 10 as My Hero Academia: You’re Next opened in ninth with £217k.
In mildly momentous news, Despicable Me 4 has crossed the £48m mark and is the first film in the series to do so, with Despicable Me 2, Despicable Me 3, Minions, and Minions: The Rise Of Gru all finishing their run between £47m and £48m.
Next Weekend
Venom: The Last Dance is the third and reportedly final film in Tom Hardy’s anti-hero trilogy. Eddie and Venom are on the run. Hunted by both of their worlds and with the net closing in, the duo are forced into a devastating decision that will bring the curtains down on Venom and Eddie's last dance.
The Room Next Door is the first English-language film from legendary Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar. Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore star as Ingrid and Martha, who were close friends in their youth when they worked together at the same magazine. After years of being out of touch, they meet again in an extreme but strangely sweet situation.
The Front Room is a thriller starring Brandy (Top Of The World, I Wanna Be Down). It tells the story of a newly pregnant couple who are forced to take in an ailing, estranged stepmother.
A Nightmare On Elm Street is a 40th anniversary re-release of Wes Craven’s classic horror.
The Buzz
Queer is the latest film from the hugely prolific Luca Guadagnino, and his second this year after Challengers. Daniel Craig stars as Lee, who recounts his life in Mexico City among American expatriate college students and bar owners, surviving on part-time jobs and GI Bill benefits. He is driven to pursue a young man named Allerton, who is based on Adelbert Lewis Marker. It received its UK premiere at the BFI London Film Festival last week and it has been very warmly received. Robbie Collin in The Telegraph gave it the full five stars calling it ‘a beautiful film about male loneliness, and the way a solitary life can so easily shade into a life sentence’. The Hollywood Reported called it ‘mesmerising’, while The Guardian praised Daniel Craig’s performance, calling him ‘strangely magnificent’. It hits cinemas on 13 December.
Across The Pond
Smile 2 opened in the top spot with $23m, which is just above the opening of the first Smile ($22.6m) in 2022. The Wild Robot added $10.1m in second, which takes its total to $101.7m Last weekend’s top film Terrifier 3 fell to third but had a solid hold, adding $9.3m for a new total of $36.2m. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice came in fourth, adding $5m for a new total of $284m. We Live In Time rounded out the top five, opening with $4.2m.