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| Author | Zoe Aresti |
The Weekend Round-up
After kicking off with the biggest opening weekend of the year last week, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them followed it up with the biggest second weekend of the year, falling just 42% to £8.9m. For comparison, the two other biggest opening films of the year, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Captain America: Civil War, fell 68% and 67% respectively on their second weekends. In just 10 days, the J.K. Rowling-penned adventure has banked £30.1m and is already the 11th biggest film of 2016.
Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard’s war drama, Allied, opened in second with £1.3m, which included £33k from previews. That’s only just behind the £1.5m Friday to Sunday weekend that Bridge of Spies launched with on the same weekend last year.
Trolls had another strong hold, falling 33% to £834k. That brings its total to £21.8m, and it’s now the 17th biggest film of 2016.
Bad Santa 2 opened in fourth with £799k, and after opening on Tuesday, that figure included £206k from previews. The first film opened with £474k in 2004 on its way to grossing £2.5m.
Arrival completed the top five, falling 48% to £778k. That brings its total to £7.3m and it will very shortly overtake Prisoners (also £7.3m, but just £82 ahead) to become director Denis Villeneuve’s best performing film in the UK.
Outside of the top five, Amma Asante’s London Film Festival opening film, A United Kingdom, opened in sixth with £619k, which includes £54k from previews. Asante’s last film, Belle, opened with £407k on its way to £1.9m.
Jim Jarmusch’s Paterson, which stars Adam Driver as a bus driver in New Jersey who writes poetry in his spare time, opened in 10th with £170k, which includes £42k from previews.
Overall the box office was down 32% from last weekend and down 1% from the same weekend last year, when the top four films were The Hunger Games: Mockingkjay Part 2, The Good Dinosaur, SPECTRE and Bridge of Spies.
Next Weekend
Moana is the big Christmas animation from Disney. In Ancient Polynesia, when a terrible curse incurred by Maui (Dwayne Johnson) reaches an impetuous Chieftain's daughter's island, Moana answers the Ocean's call to seek out the demigod to set things right. It opened in the US to great results this past weekend (see below) and after Zootropolis, it completes a terrific year for Disney Animation.
Sully: Miracle on the Hudson is the latest film from 86-year-old Clint Eastwood. Tom Hanks stars as Chesley Sullenberger, the American pilot who became a hero after landing his damaged plane on the Hudson River in order to save the flight's passengers and crew. It has proved a hit in the US, where it’s grossed $124.2m to date.
The Edge of Seventeen stars Hailee Steinfeld and Woody Harrelson and has been acclaimed as the best teen movie for years. Steinfeld plays Nadine, for whom high-school life gets even more unbearable when her best friend, Krista, starts dating her older brother. It opens in the UK on Wednesday 30 November.
Bleed for This is the inspirational story of World Champion Boxer Vinny Pazienza who, after a near fatal car crash which left him not knowing if he'd ever walk again, made one of sport's most incredible comebacks. Miles Teller stars as Pazienza and Aaron Eckhart plays his trainer.
The Buzz
Fences is the third film directed by Denzel Washington. Based on the play by August Wilson, Washington stars, alongside Viola Davis, who both starred in the play on Broadway, as a father who struggles with race relations in the United States while trying to raise his family in the 1950s. It is a major contender for acting awards and has been receiving rave reviews for its performances. The Guardian said it ‘is conceived as a showcase for its performers, and, as that, it is immaculate’, while Screen International called it a ‘deeply affecting treatise on marriage, poverty and the struggles of sons to confront the long shadow of the man who brought them into this world.’ It’s out in the UK on 10 February.
Across The Pond
On the five-day Thanksgiving weekend, with most films opening on Wednesday, Disney's Moana topped the box office delivering $82m for the five days. That’s the second largest Thanksgiving opening, after Frozen ($93.6m). Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them fell to second but had a strong holiday weekend, adding $45m, which brings its total to $156.2m. Doctor Strange took third, adding $13.7m across the five days, which takes its total over the $200m mark. It now stands at $205m. Robert Zemeckis’ Allied opened in fourth with $17.7m for the five days and Arrival completed the top five, adding $11.4m for the five days, bringing its cume to $62.5m.