| Date | |
|---|---|
| Author | DCM |
| Categories | cinemabox OfficeExhibitor NewsFilm News |
Rio 2 flew to the top of the box office this weekend with £2.9m. That figure was boosted by preview figures of 703k but it was still comfortably more than the first Rio managed in April 2011 (£1.5m). Over 35% of Rio 2’s box office was from 3D presentations. Just behind with £2.8m, Captain America: The Winter Soldier grossed the highest from Friday to Sunday and with a cume of £10.9m, it has already overtaken the first film’s final total (£10.4m).
Noah sailed into third with £2.5m, which is the second highest opening for director Darren Aronofsky, just behind 2011’s Black Swan (£2.8m). Divergent took fourth with £1.8m and although that’s not quite as impressive as its huge US opening, the book isn’t quite as well known in the UK so it’s still a strong performance and its status as the new young adult franchise is assured.
Muppets Most Wanted completed the top five with a strong hold, falling 24% to £897k and a cume of £3.5m. With the Easter holidays starting today, the film will see a boost over the next two weeks.
One other notable new entry landed in eighth, Richard Ayoade’s The Double with £282k, which includes £59k from previews. Ayoade’s last film, Submarine, opened with £244k in March 2011 and ended its run with £1.5m, which is what The Double will be aiming for.
Overall the box office was up 15% from last weekend and up a whopping 48% from the same weekend last year when Dark Skies was the highest new entry on a quiet weekend.
Next Weekend
Expect the current releases to hold on to the top places with The Quiet Ones and The Raid 2 likely to be the highest new entries. Irish comedy-drama Calvary has been getting five star reviews all over the press and will be hoping that translates into strong box office. It’s almost the calm before the storm though as one of the biggest films of the year is released on 14 April, The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
The Buzz
After The Amazing Spider-Man 2 hits cinemas, there are some intriguing prospects in April. As Locke’s poster attests, it has been receiving great reviews from just about everywhere but with the set-up consisting solely of Tom Hardy in a car travelling on the motorway, it may not be to all tastes. The Other Woman had its UK premiere last week and although the reviews were embargoed, the winner of the DCM competition for tickets said the ‘film was sooo funny’.
Across The Pond
Captain America: The Winter Soldier broke the April opening weekend record in the US with a huge $96.2m. That comfortably beat the previous record held by Fast Five ($86.2m) and is a huge 48% increase on the first Captain America’s opening. The audience was unsurprisingly 64% male. In second, Noah fell a chunky 61% to $17m and to date has grossed $72.3m. Divergent took second with $13m and after three weekends has grossed $114m. God's Not Dead continued to perform well, grossing a further $7.7m for a cume of $32.5m. Finally, The Grand Budapest Hotel completed the top five with $6.3m and a cume of $33.4m.
