UK Box Office 9 - 11 August 2013

After last weekend saw seven films in the top 15 crack the £1m barrier, this weekend went ahead and matched it and the top 11 all grossed over £900k.

The top two were also the closest since December 2007, when just £6.2k separated Enchanted and The Golden Compass. This weekend Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa just managed to come out on top with £2.2m, including £744k from previews, beating Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, in second place by just £38k. The fantasy adventure grossed £2.1m, with £861k from previews. Check out what Mr. Partridge had to say on the Norwich premiere here.

Grown Ups 2 came in third, also with £2.1m (including £421k from previews) but actually had the best Friday to Sunday gross. That’s an improvement on the first Grown Ups’ £2m start, although that was from just three days so included no previews.

The Conjuring continued its strong performance falling just 25% to £1.6m and a cume of £5.9m. This is a terrific performance for a horror and £10m looks very achievable.

The Lone Ranger rounded out the top five with £1.3m. The performance of the film in the US has been much discussed in the press and the film has received something of a backlash to the backlash, with the UK critics being more positive than their US counterparts. However, it hasn’t helped the epic western and £1.3m will be considered a disappointing performance for a film that reportedly cost $250m.

The other two £1m-plus performers this weekend were Monsters University in sixth place with £1.2m and The Smurfs 2 in seventh place with £1.1m.

One particularly notable performer was Despicable Me 2 in eleventh with £922k. That was enough to take it past Les Misérables’ final total of £40.7m and it is now the biggest grossing film of 2013 so far. It’s difficult to see anything other than The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, in December, topping it.

Overall the box office was up 3% from last weekend and up 89% from the same weekend last year.

In the US, Neill Blomkamp’s eagerly awaited follow-up to District 9, Elysium opened with $30.4m. That’s lower than District 9 ($37.4m), which featured no recognised names and Elysium benefits from having Matt Damon and Jodie Foster headlining. The audience was 61% male and 48% were over 30.

In second place was comedy We're the Millers with $26.6m and after opening on Wednesday, the Jennifer Aniston comedy has a five day total of $38m. Disney animation Planes opened in third with $22.5m, which is the highest start ever for an animated film in August.

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters grossed $14.6m in fourth and after a Wednesday start has a five day total of $23.5m.

Last week’s number one, 2 Guns, rounded out the top five with $11.1m and a cume of $48.5m.