| Date | |
|---|---|
| Author | Tom Linay |
| Categories | box Office |
The Weekend Round-up
- Sonic The Hedgehog raced to the top of the box office, opening with an impressive £4.7m. This is one of the strongest openings ever for a video game adaptation and is just behind the £5m opening for Pokemon Detective Pikachu last May. That film finished its run on £13.8m, which Sonic should be looking to match with a strong half-term period. It’s also a terrific result for the film, considering when the first trailer was released the initial backlash was so great that the filmmakers took the unusual decision to go back and completely redesign the main character. The UK box office and US result (see below) means their decision has been vindicated.
- In a truly momentous result Parasite came in second, adding £2.7m for a new total of £5.1m. That’s an increase of 132% from last weekend, thanks to a vastly increased screen count. For context of how impressive its total box office to date is, the biggest foreign language title of 2019 was Pain & Glory, which finished its run with £1.5m. It’s rare for a foreign language title to gross over £1m in the UK but Parasite managed that in just one day on Saturday! In terms of all-time highest grossing foreign language titles in the UK, it is already third having just overtaken Amelie (£5m). Next on the list are Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (£9.4m) and The Passion Of The Christ (£11.1m), both of which are within reach. What a story for cinema!
- Last weekend’s top film, Dolittle fell to third. The Robert Downey Jr adventure added £2.1m, a drop of 32% from last weekend, and has now banked £8.2m. With the schools out for half term this week, like Sonic, it should add a decent amount during the week too.
- It’s been the story for most of 2020 to date, but 1917 had yet another great weekend, falling just 14% to £2m. That takes its total to £39.2m and it will overtake Les Miserables final total of £40.8m by this time next week. Then it will aim for The King Speech’s final total of £45.7m and with a few more similar holds to this weekend, it could get there.
- After a quieter than expected opening last week, Birds Of Prey: And The Fantabulous Emancipation Of One Harley Quinn fell to fifth but posted a solid hold, falling 36% to £1.8m. To give you a bit of context, last year Shazam! fell 45% on its second weekend. Birds Of Prey… is now up to £5.8m, and while the 15 cert will be a hinderance to the majority of the half-term audience, it will hopefully post strong figures midweek too.
- Outside of the top five, Jane Austen adaptation Emma opened in sixth with £1.6m. The last Jane Austen adaptation in UK cinemas was Love And Friendship (based on the novella Lazy Susan), which finished its run on £1.8m.
Overall the box office is up 10% from last weekend and up 42% from the same weekend last year when the top films were The LEGO Movie 2, Instant Family, How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World and Alita: Battle Angel.
Next Weekend
- The Call Of The Wild is a family adventure starring Harrison Ford about a sled dog (not Ford) who struggles for survival in the wilds of the Yukon. It’s in cinemas on Wednesday
- Like A Boss is a comedy about two friends with very different ideals who start a beauty company together. One is more practical while the other wants to earn her fortune and live a lavish lifestyle. Tiffany Haddish, Rose Byrne and Salma Hayek star.
- Greed is a satire from Michael Winterbottom (The Trip, 24 Hour Party People) and stars Steve Coogan as a retail billionaire who throws a party for his 60th birthday on the Greek island of Mykonos. Isla Fisher and David Mitchell also star.
- Brahms: The Boy II is a sequel to the 2016 horror. After a family moves into the Heelshire Mansion, their young son soon makes friends with a life-like doll called Brahms.
The Buzz
The Photograph is a romantic drama starring Issa Rae and LaKeith Stanfield. The plot is a series of intertwining love stories set in the past and in the present and has been receiving favourable reviews. It opened in the US this past weekend to strong box office (see below) and opens in the UK on 6 March
Across The Pond
Sonic The Hedgehog topped the box office in the US too, opening with an impressive $57m, which tops Pokemon Detective Pikachu’s opening last May to become the largest three-day opening ever for a video game adaptation. Birds of Prey fell to second, adding $17.1, which takes its total after 10 days in cinemas to $59.3m. Fantasy Island opened in third with $12.4m and The Photograph opened in fourth with $12.4m. Bad Boys for Life completed the top five, falling 6% to $11.3m, which takes its total to $181.3m.