| Date | |
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| Author | Zoe Aresti |
The Weekend Round-up
X-Men: Apocalypse opened in the top spot with £7.4m, which included £2m from Wednesday and Thursday previews. That £5.3m Friday to Sunday total is the fifth highest of the year to date, behind The Jungle Book and just ahead of The Revenant. While that’s some way down on the £9.1m (including £1.6m from previews) that X-Men: Days Of Future Past opened with in 2014, with half term starting next week, it should have a strong second week.
Angry Birds had a great second weekend, falling a measly 6% to £2m and after ten days in cinemas has now grossed £4.6m. It’s another film that will be hoping to add a hefty chunk to that total during half term week.
The Jungle Book continued its remarkable run and extended its lead as the biggest film of 2016 to date. It fell just 11% to £1.4m and has now banked a terrific £41.3m. It too will be looking forward to a strong half term week that could see it get up towards £45m.
After three weeks on top, Captain America: Civil War fell to fourth, adding £1.3m for a new total of £34.5m. It’s still over £2m behind Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice (£36.6m) but it should have the legs to just get past it.
Bad Neighbours 2 completed the top five, but a shallow drop of 30% to £766k suggests that word of mouth is strong for this title. It has now banked £5.1m.
Outside of the top five, Tom Hanks’ drama, A Hologram for the King opened in sixth with £379k. Last time Hanks and director, Tom Tykwer, collaborated it was for Cloud Atlas, and that film opened with £545k in 2013.
Irish comedy drama, Sing Street, opened in the UK on Friday, having been on wide release in Ireland since mid-March. It added £126k to the £860k it had already banked in the emerald isle.
Overall the box office was up 54% from last weekend and up 35% from the same weekend last year, when the top four films were Pitch Perfect 2, Mad Max: Fury Road, Tomorrowland: A World Beyond and Poltergeist.
Next Weekend
Alice Through The Looking Glass is the sequel to Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland, which grossed a huge £42.6m in 2010. This time around Alice returns to the whimsical world of Wonderland and travels back in time to save the Mad Hatter. Muppets director, James Bobin, directs and the most of the high-profile cast members from the first film return.
Money Monster is the Jodie Foster-directed thriller starring George Clooney as financial TV host, Lee Gates, and Julia Roberts as his producer, Patty, who are put in an extreme situation when an irate investor takes over their studio. It has so far grossed $27.1m in the US after two weekends on release.
Top Cat Begins is the latest vehicle for the popular cartoon character. It's an origin story showing how Top Cat became the character we all know.
Love And Friendship is an adaptation of Jane Austen’s novella, Lady Susan. It stars Kate Beckinsale as Lady Susan Vernon, who takes up temporary residence at her in-laws' estate and, while there, is determined to be a matchmaker for her daughter Frederica. It has been rapturously received by critics and has a terrific score of 86 on Metacritic.
Minuscule: Valley Of The Lost Ants is a charming looking animation where animation is used over real backdrops. In a peaceful little clearing, the remains of a picnic hastily abandoned spark warfare between two tribes of ants. A bold young ladybug finds himself caught in the middle of the battle.
The Buzz
Steven Spielberg’s The BFG looks like one of the summer’s biggest films and it had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday 14 May. Thankfully, it has been warmly received by the nation’s critics, with The Telegraph’s Robbie Collin being the most effusive, adopting The BFG’s speaking style when he said ‘Spielberg’s adaptation of Dahl’s novel also be about as good as cinema can do these days.’ Time Out said ‘Flaws aside, this is a superior, inventive kids' film, and one that's bound to make Rylance's giant a favourite with younger audiences.’ Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian said ‘a typically distinctive, eccentric and seductive star performance from Mark Rylance absolutely makes this movie what it is.’ It’s out in the UK on 22 July.
Across The Pond
Angry Birds had a much stronger opening in the US, than it did in the UK, kicking off its run with $39m. After two weeks in the top spot, Captain America: Civil War fell to second with $33.1m, bringing its total to $347.3m. Neighbors 2 (Bad Neighbours 2 in the UK) opened with $21.8m in third, which is way down on the $49m the first film opened with back in 2014. The Nice Guys opened in fourth with $11.2m and The Jungle Book completed the top five, adding $11m for a new total of $327.5m.
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