| Date | |
|---|---|
| Author | DCM |
| Categories | cinemabox OfficeExhibitor News |
As expected, One Direction dominated the box office this weekend like a ten legged, skinny jean wearing, pop colossus. One Direction: This Is Us opened with £3.5m (including £1.3m from previews), which is far greater than the opening weekends of Justin Bieber: Never Say Never (£821k) and Katy Perry: Part Of Me (£449k) but still not enough to top Michael Jackson’s This Is It, which opened with £4.7m (including £2m from previews) in 2009. Over 75% of One Direction: This Is Us’ box office was from 3D presentations, the highest percentage for a major release since Hansel And Gretel: Witch Hunters.
Last week’s number one, Elysium, dropped to second after easing 44% to £1.2m and a cume of £5.9m. The strongest hold of the weekend belonged to We’re The Millers, falling just 26% to £1.1m and a cume of £4.1m. Perhaps the weekend’s one disappointment was Pain & Gain, in fourth with £1m, and £350k of that was from previews last weekend. With the star power of Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson and Michael Bay (Transformers) directing, it’s fair to assume more was expected of the darkly comic crime drama but the crowds failed to turn out for it. Planes rounded out the top five, after falling 32% to £797k and a very respectable cume of £5.9m.
Two other new entries made it into the top 15; The Way, Way Back in sixth with £532k finishing just above You’re Next in seventh (£523k).
Overall the box office was down 8% from last weekend and down just 3% from the same weekend last year when Total Recall and The Watch went on general release.
One Direction: This is Us also topped the box office in the US, opening with $17m. Unsurprisingly, the audience was 87% female and 65% under the age of 17. The Butler continued to perform strongly in second spot, adding $14.7m for a cume of $74m.
Once again, We're the Millers had a decent hold, delivering another $12.6m for a new cume of $109.6m. Planes took fourth place this weekend, with $7.8m and now has a healthy cume of $70.8m. This week’s surprise performer was the Spanish-language comedy Instructions Not Included in fifth with $7.5m.