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| Author | Zoe Aresti |
The Weekend Box Office Round-up
Ghostbusters: Afterlife opened in the top spot with £4.3m, which includes £550k from previews after opening on Thursday. The 2016 version of Ghostbusters opened with £4.4m, which included £1.7m from previews after opening on a Monday, so this new version has had a stronger Friday to Sunday weekend. The 2016 version finished its run with £10.8m, which is a total that looks eminently achievable for Afterlife after the weekend.
After topping the box office for the last two weekends, Eternals fell to second, adding £1.2m a drop of 58% from last weekend. That takes its total to £12.8m and it is still £6m away from reaching Black Widow’s final total of £18.8m. That £6m currently feels insurmountable and Eternals is likely to finish the year as the lowest performing Marvel title.
No Time To Die added £940k over the weekend, which takes its total to £94.5m and it has now overtaken Avatar to become the fourth highest grossing film in UK & Ireland history. This week it will overtake SPECTRE to become the third highest grossing film in history. What a result. Dune also continues its impressive run, adding £635k for a new total of £20.2m, making it only the fourth film this year to cross the £20m mark, behind Bond, Shang-Chi, and Peter Rabbit 2.
King Richard may be picking up Oscars next year but it started quietly at the box office as it opened with £570k, which includes £29k from previews. The last high profile tennis biopic, Battle Of The Sexes, opened with £519k on its way to a final total of £1.5m. King Richard, with Will Smith in the lead, will be hoping for more than that.
Outside of the top 10, The Addams Family 2 added £173k in 10th, which was enough to take it over the £10m mark and it has now surpassed the final total of the first film, which finished on £9.9m in 2019. A terrific result for the sequel.
Overall the box office was up 4% from last weekend.
Next Weekend
Encanto is a new Disney animation from the makers of Zootropolis. Stephanie Beatriz voices a young Colombian girl who has to face the frustration of being the only member of her family without magical powers. Lin Manuel Miranda has provided original songs. Again.
House Of Gucci stars Lady Gaga as Patrizia Reggiani who marries into the Gucci family and her unbridled ambition begins to unravel their legacy and triggers a reckless spiral of betrayal, decadence, revenge, and ultimately...murder. It’s directed by Ridley Scott and also stars Adam Driver, Salma Hayek, Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons and Jared Leto.
Pirates is the directorial debut of Reggie Yates who also wrote the film. It follows three eighteen-year-old friends on their journey from North to south London on New Year's Eve 1999. It stars Elliot Edusah, Jordan Peters, and Reda Elazouar.
A Boy Called Christmas is the origin story of Father Christmas, as an ordinary boy (with a loyal pet mouse and a reindeer at his side) sets out on an extraordinary adventure to find his father who is on a quest to discover the fabled village of Elfhelm. It stars Maggie Smith, Kristen Wiig, and Jim Broadbent. It’s a Sky Cinema title so will also be available to watch at home soon.
Across The Pond
Ghostbusters: Afterlife topped the box office in the US too, opening with $44m, which is just slightly less than the 2016 version. Eternals fell to second, adding $10.8m for a new total of $135.8m. Clifford the Big Red Dog came in third, adding $8.1m, a drop of 51% from last weekend, for a new total of $33.5m. King Richard opened in fourth with a disappointing $5.7m, but the film was also available to watch at home on HBO Max. Finally, Dune completed the top five, adding $3.1m for a new total of $98.2m.