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The Weekend Round-up
Trolls lived up to its billing as the big half-term film, topping the box office with £5.4m. That figure includes £2.4m from previews and bodes very well for the rest of the week with all the kids off school. Last year’s big half-term animation, Hotel Transylvania 2, opened with £6.3m, but that figure included £3.5m from two weekends of previews, so Trolls’ Friday to Sunday debut of £3m is bigger. Hotel Transylvania 2 managed to crack the £20m mark, which is something Trolls will be aiming to do.
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back opened with £2.7m, which included £268k from Thursday previews. That compares favourably with the first film, which opened in 2012 with £3.6m, which included £1.2m from previews. It’s not a straightforward comparison though as the first film opened on Boxing Day so took advantage of the post-Christmas crowd.
The Girl on the Train fell to third, adding £2m, which brings its total to £17.7m. It’s still tracking ahead of Gone Girl, which was on £14.2m after its third weekend, but The Girl on the Train is now falling more sharply.
Inferno fell to fourth, and had a pretty sharp drop, down 56% to £1.3m. After 10 days in cinemas it has banked £5.8m and is going to fall well short of Angels & Demons’ final total of £18.8m.
Bridget Jones’s Baby completed the top five and for the sixth straight weekend grossed over £1m, with £1.1m. It now sits on £44.5m and has overtaken Finding Dory to become the second biggest film of the year to date.
Ouija: Origin of Evil opened in sixth with £780k, which is down on the £1.4m the first film opened with. As Halloween is next weekend and it’s the highest profile horror film on release, there’s hope that it will hold up well.
The Palme d’Or winning I, Daniel Blake opened in ninth with £445k (including £41k from previews), which is the best opening in Ken Loach’s 50-year career. The film only opened at 94 sites and is expanding to more than 150 next weekend, so hopefully a long and successful run is in store.
Keeping Up with the Joneses couldn’t really keep up with the rest of the top 10, as it kicked off its run with £271k from 296 sites.
Overall the box office was up 5% from last weekend and down 38% from the same weekend last year, when the top four films were Hotel Transylvania 2, The Martian, Paranormal Activity: Ghost Dimension and Suffragette.
Next Weekend
Doctor Strange is the latest comic book blockbuster from the Marvel production line. Benedict Cumberbatch plays a former neurosurgeon who embarks on a journey of healing only to be drawn into the world of the mystic arts. It’s in cinemas as of today (Tuesday).
Train to Busan is an action-horror from South Korea. While a zombie-virus breaks out, a couple of passengers struggle to survive on the train from Seoul to Busan. It’s only getting a limited release but it’s just about the most fun you’ll have in the cinema this month, so if you get the chance to see it, don’t miss out.
The Buzz
The Accountant sees Ben Affleck star as a maths savant who uncooks the books for unscrupulous clients. As the Treasury Department closes in on his activities, the body count starts to rise. It opened in the US a couple of weeks ago to some positive reviews. Variety called it “a three-dimensional brain teaser that gets deeper and stranger with each new revelation.” The Hollywood Reporter said: “this sleek action thriller ends up delivering standard shoot-'em-up goods after initially suggesting it might provide something rather different.” It opens in the UK on Friday 4 November.
Across The Pond
Tyler Perry's Boo! A Madea Halloween came out on top with $28.5m, the largest opening for a Madea branded feature since 2009's Madea Goes to Jail. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back opened in second with $22.8m. Ouija: Origin of Evil is in third with $14m, while The Accountant fell to fourth with $13.6m. After 10 days in cinemas, the Ben Affleck thriller has banked $47.5m. Completing the top five, The Girl on the Train added $7.2m, which brings its total to $58.8m.