| Date | |
|---|---|
| Author | Mia Blakeney |
Box Office Round-up
Now You See Me: Now You Don’t opened in first place at the UK box office and posted the best Friday to Sunday total of £2m. Including previews, it opened with £2.4m. The previous instalment opened with £3m in 2016, but that included £1.4m from previews after a Monday opening, so this sequel is in a similar place. Now You See Me 2 finished on £6.4m so that has to be the target for this third film.
The Running Man opened in second with £2.4m, which includes £600k from previews after opening on Tuesday, and a Friday to Sunday total of £1.7m. The Running Man is the fourth Stephen King adaptation to hit cinemas this year, with the most recent being September’s The Long Walk, also a dystopian sci-fi, which opened with £1.2m, but held up well on subsequent weeks and is currently on £4.7m. The Running Man is aiming for a total north of that.
With three new entries for a similar audience, Predator: Badlands took something of a tumble in third, falling 61% to £919k for a new total of £4.3m. 2018’s The Predator finished on £4.8m so this new instalment is going to finish a healthy amount above that.
Nuremberg opened in fifth with £857k. This is the second war-time drama released in the last two weeks, with The Choral opening with £917k last weekend. The Choral had a strong midweek last week and is currently up to £2.6m, so hopefully Nuremberg can perform similarly.
Anime is back in the top five as JUJUTSU KAISEN: Execution opened with a healthy £838k. This is the third anime film in the last two months to crack the top five, with Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle in September and Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc last month. It’s been a terrific year for anime and hopefully that will continue in 2026.
Outside of the top five, Christmas Karma opened in seventh with £488k. Whilst this is a slow start, if it can hold onto screens in the run up to Christmas, it should perform strongly, as it’s the only major Christmas themed film to be released.
Next Weekend
Wicked: For Good is the sequel to the biggest film released in 2024. It stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande and it’s going to be huge.
Sisu: Road To Revenge is a sequel to the cult Finnish action film. A man returns to dismantle his family's house, where they were murdered in war, to rebuild it elsewhere. When the killer, a Red Army commander, tracks him down, a brutal cross-country pursuit begins.
The Buzz
Wuthering Heights is Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of Emily Brontë’s classic novel, and it’s a passionate and tumultuous love story set against the backdrop of the Yorkshire moors, exploring the intense and destructive relationship between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw. Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi star and it looks striking and sensuous. It should be one of the best films for ABC1 women when it hits cinemas on 13 February.
Across The Pond
Now You See Me: Now You Don’t opened in the top spot with $21.3m. The Running Man opened in second with $17m, while Predator: Badlands took a hefty drop in third, adding $13m, a drop of 68% from last weekend. Regretting You added $4m in fourth, which is down 40% from last weekend and takes its total to $45m. Black Phone 2 rounded out the top five, adding $2.7m for a new total of $74.7m.