News

Warner Bros. and Legendary’s “A Minecraft Movie” held onto the top spot at the U.K. and Ireland box office for a second straight weekend, building on its record-breaking debut with another £7.2 million ($9.3 million), according to Comscore.

The film has now amassed $40.1 million, cementing its place as the year’s box office behemoth so far.

Disney’s espionage thriller “The Amateur” was the strongest new opener of the weekend, landing at No. 2 with $1.4 million. Universal’s “Six the Musical” continued its chart-topping stage-to-screen success, earning $1.1 million in its second weekend and has a running total of $5 million.

One of the weekend’s standout performances came from “Andre Rieu’s 75th Birthday Celebration: The Dream Continues,” from Piece Of Magic Entertainment. The two-day-only concert film waltzed into fourth place with $771,116, a robust showing for an event cinema release celebrating the beloved Dutch violinist and conductor’s milestone year.

Disney’s...

RankFilm (origin)DistributorApr 11-13 grossTotalWeek 1 A Minecraft Movie (US) Warner Bros £7.2m £31m 2 2 The Amateur (US) Disney £1.1m £1.1m 1 3 Six: The Musical (US) Universal £915,149 £3.9m 2 4 Andre Rieu’s 75th Birthday Celebration: The Dream Continues (Neth)

Piece Of Magic £595,168 £595,168 1 5 Snow White (US) Disney £411,079 £9.1m 4

Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.32

A Minecraft Movie has built a sturdy £31m total at the UK-Ireland box office, after adding £7.2m on its second weekend for Warner Bros.

The film fell 52% from its stellar opening session; but still put in a strong performance to become the second-highest-grossing release of the year after fewer than 10 days in cinemas.

Disney’s The Amateur and Universal’s Drop lead the new releases in UK and Ireland cinemas this weekend as the two thrillers aim to appeal to those not tempted by Warner Bros mega-hit A Minecraft Movie.

James Hawes’The Amateuropens in 622 locations.Rami Malek stars as a grief-stricken CIA analyst who seeks revenge after his wife is killed in a terrorist attack. Laurence Fishburne, Jon Bernthal and Rachel Brosnahan are also among the cast.

Hawes’ last feature One Life opened on £1.7m in January 2024, going on to gross over £10m for Warner Bros. Malek has been attached to major...

Warner Bros. and Legendary mined box office gold this weekend with the spectacular debut of “A Minecraft Movie,” which towered over the competition with £15 million ($19.1 million), according to Comscore.

The film, based on the beloved video game franchise, delivered the highest opening of 2025 so far in the U.K. and Ireland.

Landing in second place was Universal Pictures’ “Six The Musical” – the stage-to-screen adaptation of the West End hit that reimagines the six wives of Henry VIII as pop queens – which also posted a robust debut with $2.7 million.

Disney’s “Snow White” dropped to third place in its third weekend, earning $853,612 and bringing its cumulative total to $10.1 million. A new entry at No. 4, dark comedy “Death of a Unicorn,” distributed by Entertainment Film Distributors, opened with $621,275.

Warner Bros.’ Jason Statham vehicle “A Working Man” landed in fifth place with $422,325 in its second weekend, bringing its total to $1.7 million.

Rounding out...

Screenis listing the 2024 release dates for films in the UK and Ireland in the calendar below.

For distributors who wish to add/amend a date on the calendar, please get in touch withScreenhere.Screenis also running a calendar for festival and market dates throughout 2025here.

January

Wednesday, January 1

Nosferatu(Universal),2073(Altitude),Vanangaan(DJ Tech),Game Changer(Dreamz),We Live In Time(Studiocanal)

Friday, January 3

Nickel Boys(Curzon),Rocco And His Brothers(BFI),Diabel(Magnetes)

Wednesday, January 8

A Real Pain(Disney)

Friday, January 10

Babygirl(Efd),The Girl With The Needle(Mubi),Maria(Studiocanal),The Damned(Vertical/Miracle),It’s Raining Men...

Disney’s “Moana 2” stayed atop the U.K. and Ireland box office with £6.9 million ($8.8 million) in its second weekend, bringing its cumulative total to £21.5 million ($27.4 million), per numbers from Comscore.

Universal’s “Wicked” continued to perform steadily in its third frame, adding £5.3 million for a running total of £37.7 million. Paramount’s “Gladiator II” secured third place with £1.6 million in its fourth weekend, pushing its total to £26.6 million. Studiocanal’s “Paddington In Peru” maintained audience interest in its fifth week with £1.2 million, accumulating £29 million to date.

Indian import “Pushpa 2 – The Rule,” starring Allu Arjun, from AA Films U.K., debuted at fifth place with £1.1 million, while the seasonal “Andre Rieu’s Christmas Concert: Gold And Silver” from Piece of Magic Entertainment opened at sixth with £931,024.

Black Bear’s “Conclave” earned £779,764 in its second weekend for a £2.7 million total, while Warner Bros.’ “Red One” added £454,458 in its fifth frame, reaching £7.2 million overall.

Rank Film (distributor) Three-day gross (Dec 6-8) Total gross to date Week 1. Moana 2(Disney) £6.9m £21.5m 2 2. Wicked(Universal) £5.3m £37.7m 3 3. Gladiator II(Paramount) £1.6m £26.6m 4 4. Paddington In Peru(Studiocanal) £1.2m £29m 5 5. André Rieu’s 2024 Christmas Concert: Gold and Silver(Piece of Magic) £1m £1m 1

Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.28

Tentpoles continued to dominate the UK and Ireland box office this weekend with Moana 2 leading the charge while Andre Rieu’s latest event release cracked the top five.

Moana 2dropped 43% in its second weekend with £6.9m, meaning the Disney sequel has so far taken £21.5m. Despite opening ahead ofInside...

Rank Film (distributor) Three-day gross (Dec 6-8) Total gross to date Week 1. Moana 2(Disney) £6.9m £21.5m 2 2. Wicked(Universal) £5.3m £37.7m 3 3. Gladiator II(Paramount) £1.6m £26.6m 4 4. Paddington In Peru(Studiocanal) £1.2m £29m 5 5. André Rieu’s 2024 Christmas Concert: Gold and Silver(Piece of Magic) £1m £1m 1

Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.28

Tentpoles continued to dominate the UK and Ireland box office this weekend with Moana 2 leading the charge while Andre Rieu’s latest event release cracked the top five.

Moana 2dropped 43% in its second weekend with £6.9m, meaning the Disney sequel has so far taken £21.5m. Despite opening ahead ofInside...

With major titles still dominating the UK and Ireland box office, it is a quiet weekend for new releases as event cinema leads the way while Nightbitch and Rumours also launch.

Andre Rieu’s 2024 Christmas Concert: Gold And Silver lands in 642 cinemas for A Piece Of Magic. The Dutch conductor’s last release opened with £700,000 while his 2023 Christmas concert scored £1.2m.

Indian actionPushpa 2 is screening in 230 venuesvia AA Films. The Telugu-language sequel follows Pushpa as his sandalwood smuggling business faces strong opposition from the police.

CinemaLive is playing music documentary Rm: Right People, Wrong Place in 109 sites this weekend after opening on Thursday.

Disney’s “Moana 2” dominated the U.K. and Ireland box office with a £12 million ($15.2 million) debut, according to numbers from Comscore, marking a strong start for the animated sequel.

The film led a robust weekend that saw Universal’s “Wicked” holding strong in its second frame with £8.3 million, bringing its cumulative total to £28.5 million.

Paramount’s “Gladiator II” continued to perform in its third week, adding £2.5 million for a total of £23.5 million. Studiocanal’s “Paddington In Peru” demonstrated staying power in its fourth week, collecting £1.8 million and pushing its total to £27.3 million.

Black Bear’s new entry “Conclave” opened with £1.1 million, while Warner Bros.’ “Red One” rounded out its fourth week with £425,853, bringing its cume to £6.6 million.

BFI Distribution’s “All We Imagine As Light” debuted with £111,033, while Entertainment Film Distributors’ “Heretic” added £96,583 in its fifth week for a £5.7 million total. Park Circus’s 20th Anniversary 4K restoration of...

Though numbers were down from last year, the U.K. and Ireland box office saw a boost from National Cinema Day on Aug. 31 with cinemas reporting 1 million admissions for the promotional event, according to Comscore.

Boosted by lower ticket prices, Universal’s “Despicable Me 4” narrowly reclaimed the top spot for the weekend, grossing £1.24 million ($1.6 million) in its eighth week of release for a cumulative total of £44.5 million ($58.4 million).

Disney’s “Deadpool & Wolverine” followed closely in second place with £1.22 million, pushing its six-week total to £54.6 million. Sony’s “It Ends With Us” rounded out the top three with £1.1 million in its fourth frame, reaching £18.6 million overall.

Sci-fi horror “Alien: Romulus” from Disney landed in fourth with £1.07 million, bringing its three-week tally to £10.8 million. Newcomer, “Andre Rieu’s 2024 Maastricht Concert: Power Of Love,” from Piece of Magic Entertainment, debuted in fifth place with £629,652.

Disney’s “Inside Out 2” continued to...

The UK’s National Cinema Day saw admissions drop by a third from 2023, with one million admissions from cinemas taking part in the event, according to figures from box office analyst Comscore.

In 2023, 1.56 million admissions were recorded.

Total box office takings in the UK on Saturday stood at £4m, 13% down on the 2023 figure of £4.7m. In 2022, 1.46 million admissions were achieved in a single day, bringing in £4.4m at the box office.

This year’s National Cinema Day saw tickets start at £4, compared to £3 in the two previous iterations.

Last year benefitted from a strong summer release schedule, with Warner Bros’ Barbie,...

Rank Film (distributor) Three-day gross (August 30-Sep 1) Total gross to date Week 1. Despicable Me 4 (Universal) £1.24m £44.6m 8 2. Deadpool & Wolverine (Disney) £1.22m £54.7m 6 3. It Ends With Us (Sony) £1.1m £18.6m 4 4. Alien: Romulus (Disney) £1.08m £10.8m 3 5. Andre Rieu’s 2024 Maastricht Concert: Power Of Love (Piece Of Magic) £700,000 £700,000 1

Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.31

Universal animation Despicable Me 4 rose back to the top of the UK-Ireland box office chart on its eighth weekend in cinemas, boosted by National Cinema Day on Saturday, August 31.

Despicable Me 4 fell a slim 12% across the weekend, with its Saturday takings up 23% compared to the previous Saturday.

Horror Afraid leads the new titles at the UK and Ireland box office this weekend, launching in 450 locations for Sony.

Directed by Chris Weitz, Afraid stars John Cho and Katherine Waterston as devoted parents who get selected to try a new smart home AI device. The device quickly becomes overprotective of the family and begins interfering in their lives.

It is the latest feature from horror juggernaut Blumhouse, this year’s titles of which include Imaginary (£2m) and Night Swim (£1.4m). The film will have stiff competition from Disney’s fellow horror Alien: Romulus which was up to £8.8m at the end of last weekend.

Disney’s “Alien: Romulus” maintained its grip on the U.K. and Ireland box office, earning a shade over £2 million ($2.6 million) in its second week of release for a cumulative total of £8.2 million ($10.8 million), per numbers from Comscore.

The sci-fi horror entry scared off strong competition over the Bank Holiday long weekend in the territory from holdovers and new releases alike. Sony’s “It Ends With Us” remained in second place with £1.8 million in its third week, bringing its total to £15.8 million. Walt Disney’s “Deadpool & Wolverine” continued to draw audiences in its fifth week, landing at No. 3 with £1.7 million and pushing its total to more than £52 million.

Universal’s “Despicable Me 4” held steady at fourth place, adding £1.4 million in its seventh week for a £41.9 million cume. Curzon’s “Kneecap” made a strong debut at No. 5 with just over £1 million while Warner Bros.’ “Blink Twice” opened at No.

Bookmark this page for the latest updates in the territory.

Screen is listing the 2023 release dates for films in the UK and Ireland in the calendar below.

For distributors who wish to add/amend a date on the calendar, please get in touch with Screen here. Screen is also running a calendar for festival and market dates throughout 2023 here.

December

December 31

Berliner Philharmoniker Live: New Year’s Eve Concert 2023 (Trafalgar - event cinema)

Previous releases January

January 6

Piggy (Vertigo), The Enforcer (Vertigo), Alcarràs (Mubi), A Man Called Otto (Sony), Rashomon (BFI), Till (Universal)

January 7

Andre Rieu In Dublin 2023 (Piece of...

Paul King’s origin musical starring Timothee Chalamet opened in over 700 locations

RankFilm (distributor)Three-day grossTotal gross to dateWeek 1. Wonka (Warner Bros) £8.9m £8.9m 1 2. Wish (Disney) £1.1m £5.8m 3 3. The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes (Lionsgate) £960,535 £14.8m 4 4. Napoleon (Sony) £950,261 £11.4m 3 5. Saltburn (Amazon/Warner Bros) £417,477 £4.1m 4

Audiences feasted on Warner Bros’ Wonka at the UK and Ireland box office this weekend as the family musical debuted with a sweet £8.9m.

Paul King’s chocolatier origin story opened in 701 venues, making for a solid £12,693 location average. It is one of the stronger openings of the year, narrowly beating out Universal’s Super Mario Bros: The Movie...

’The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes’ ,‘Wish’ and ’André Rieu’s White Christmas’ also secured top five spots.

Rank Film (distributor) Three-day gross Total gross to date Week 1. Napoleon (Sony) £1.9m £9.3m 2 2. The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes (Lionsgate) £1.7m £13m 3 3. Wish (Disney) £1.4m £4.4m 2 4. Renaissance: A Film By Beyonce (Trafalgar Releasing) £1.1m £1.1m 1 5. André Rieu’s White Christmas (Piece Of Magic Entertainment) £1m £1m 1

Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.27

Holdovers and concert films dominated the top of the UK-Ireland box office this weekend, led by Ridley Scott’s Napoleon, alongside strong debuts from...

Renaissance: A Film By Beyonce debuts in 568 cinemas while André Rieu’s White Christmas is the widest opener.

Concert films and anniversary screenings dominate the UK and Ireland box office this weekend as Renaissance: A Film By Beyonce opens in 568 cinemas for Trafalgar Releasing.

It is not quite as many locations as Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour which debuted in 651 venues back in October. Swift’s film opened on £5.7m and broke the record for the highest-grossing concert film in the UK, currently standing at around £12m.

Renaissance is directed and produced by Beyonce, through her company Parkwood Entertainment, and...

Renaissance: A Film By Beyonce debuts in 568 cinemas while André Rieu’s White Christmas is the widest opener.

Concert films and anniversary screenings dominate the UK and Ireland box office this weekend as Renaissance: A Film By Beyonce opens in 568 cinemas for Trafalgar Releasing.

It is not quite as many locations as Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour which debuted in 651 venues back in October. Swift’s film opened on £5.7m and broke the record for the highest-grossing concert film in the UK, currently standing at around £12m.

Renaissance is directed and produced by Beyonce, through her company Parkwood Entertainment, and...

The latest take on the classic monster franchise will open across Europe on December 1.

Amsterdam-based Piece Of Magic Entertainment (Pom) has secured European distribution rights to monster feature Godzilla Minus One from Japanese studio Toho and will release theatrically from December 1.

Pom have acquired rights to the film in 38 territories including France, Italy, Spain, Benelux, the Nordics, and Poland. It will be exhibited in Imax and 4Dx in select territories. The deal does not include the UK and Ireland, where distribution will be handled by Anime Ltd, or German-speaking territories.

The latest in Toho Studios’ iconic monster franchise received its...

The “Barbenheimer” phenomenon continued at the U.K. and Ireland box office, occupying the top two positions for the sixth consecutive weekend.

Warner Bros.’ “Barbie” collected £1.9 million ($2.4 million) in top spot and now has a total of £89.02 million ($112 million), per numbers from Comscore. The film has now surpassed “Avengers: Endgame” to occupy seventh position in the territory’s all-time chart and sits behind James Bond film “Spectre,” which has £95.2 million.

In second place, Universal’s “Oppenheimer” grossed £1.6 million for a total of £53.1 million. The film has climbed to 39th position in the all-time chart, overtaking “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1” and sits just behind “Frozen II,” which has £53.5 million.

In third position, in its fourth weekend, Warner Bros.’ “The Meg 2” earned £776,085 for a total of £11.2 million. In fourth place, in its second weekend, another Warner title, “Blue Beetle,” took in £767,790 for a total of £2.8 million.

Piece of...

Charlotte Regan’s debut took more than £1,000 per cinema.

RankFilm (distributor)Three-day gross (Aug 25-27)Total gross to date Week 1. Barbie (Warner Bros) £1.9m £89.6m 6 2. Oppenheimer (Universal) £1.6m £53.7m 6 3. Meg 2: The Trench (Warner Bros) £776,085 £11.5m 4 4. Andre Rieu’s 2023 Maastricht Concert: Love Is All Around (Piece of Magic) £770,000 £770,000 1 5. Blue Beetle (Warner Bros) £767,682 £3.1m 2

Scrapper, the debut feature from 2020 Screen Star of Tomorrow Charlotte Regan, made a strong start at the UK-Ireland box office, recording the best location average of any new title this weekend (August 25-27).

The film, about a young girl living alone who is forced to confront reality when her estranged father returns,...

UK Sundance title ‘Scrapper’ starts out for Picturehouse Entertainment.

Disney’s performing arts comedy Theater Camp and Universal comedy-horror The Blackening will look to end the five-week run of Barbie atop the UK-Ireland box office, with Oppenheimer also threatening to take top spot following strong holds.

Opening in 352 cinemas, Theater Camp is a comedy about the eccentric staff of a rundown theatre camp in upstate New York, who must band with the founder’s son to keep the facility afloat.

Directed by Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman in their feature directorial debuts, it debuted at Sundance Film Festival in January,...

Company has acquired Japanese hit ‘The First Slam Dunk’ for 35 territories.

Europe-based theatrical-only distributor Piece of Magic Entertainment (Pom) has launched Pom Anime, and has acquired the strand’s first title, Japanese hit The First Slam Dunk.

Pom Anime will distribute The First Slam Dunk in 35 territories, with plans to release the film in late summer 2023 across Scandinavia, Poland, the Baltic region, Greece and the central European region.

Directed by Takehiko Inoue and Yasuyuki Ebara, The First Slam Dunk follows a team of high-school basketball players who challenge the inter-city champions. It has grossed over $260m in Asian markets alone to date,...

Company has acquired Japanese hit ‘The First Slam Dunk’ for 35 territories.

Europe-based theatrical-only distributor Piece of Magic Entertainment (Pom) has launched Pom Anime, a subsidiary for anime titles; and has acquired the strand’s first title, Japanese hit The First Slam Dunk.

Pom Anime will distribute The First Slam Dunk in 35 territories, with plans to release the film in late summer 2023 across Scandinavia, Poland, the Baltics, Greece and the central European region.

Directed by Takehiko Inoue and Yasuyuki Ebara, The First Slam Dunk follows a team of high-school basketball players who challenge the inter-city champions. It has grossed over $260m...

‘Aftersun’ sees huge 107 increase; ‘Corsage’ has best day yet.

Rank Film (distributor) Three-day gross (Jan 6-8) Total gross to date Week 1. Avatar: The Way Of Water (Disney) £5.9m £57.3m 4 2. Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Sony) £1.4m £6.3m 2 3. Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical (Sony) £1.2m £23.9m 7 4. A Man Called Otto (Sony) £1.1m £1.1m 1 5. Andre Rieu In Dublin 2023 (Piece Of Magic) £775,000 £775,000 1

Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.22

Avatar: The Way Of Water topped the UK-Ireland box office for a fourth successive weekend, as indie titles Aftersun and Corsage held well as counter-programming options.

The Way Of Water dropped 23 on its previous weekend,...

Mubi is opening Berlinale Golden Bear winner ‘Alcarràs’.

A new cinema year gets underway this weekend with Chinonye Chukwu’s historical race drama Till, and Tom Hanks comedy A Man Called Otto opening across the UK and Ireland.

Released by Universal in 424 cinemas, Till tells the true story of Mamie Till-Mobley, the mother of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old American boy who was murdered in a racially-motivated attack in 1955. In the film, Mamie vows to expose the racism behind the attack while working to have those involved brought to justice.

Till launched at New York Film Festival in October last year,...

The 2023 Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Liverpool.

The winner was selected from a shortlist of seven U.K. cities. The news comes after months of uncertainty over where the contest would be held.

https://t.co/Lrs7Fnqqoq

— Eurovision Song Contest (@Eurovision) October 7, 2022

Liverpool’s win was announced on BBC’s “The One Show” on Friday evening (Oct. 7). The exact dates of the contest have not yet been revealed although it is always held in May.

It is likely the event will be hosted in the city’s biggest arena, the M&s Bank Arena, which has a capacity of 11,000. Currently there are two acts scheduled to perform there in May: Olly Murs on May 6 and violinist Andre Rieu on May 12.

Because the contest usually takes over an arena for two weeks in order for preparations followed by qualifying heats to take place, the contest may take place later in May.

The host city for next year’s Eurovision Song Contest, which will be held in the U.K., is one step closer to being announced.

Last month the shortlist was unveiled, with Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield all in the mix.

Cardiff was also in the running to host but withdrew, citing the fact that their largest venue, the Principality Stadium, would have had to cancel a “significant number” of events.

Today, it was revealed that Glasgow and Liverpool will be the two cities to duke it out in a bid to host the contest, which takes place annually in May.

And then there were two…

We can now reveal that #Eurovision 2023 will be hosted in either Glasgow or Liverpool...

’The Forgiven’ and ‘Fall’ are also out this weekend.

After last weekend’s UK-Ireland box office results proved rather muted – no film reached the £1m mark for the first time since December 2020 – exhibitors and distributors will be anticipating a boost from this Saturday’s National Cinema Day (September 3), in which 560 venues across the UK will be offering tickets at just £3, for all screenings.

This weekend’s widest release comes from Entertainment Film Distributors’ Three Thousand Years Of Longing, playing in 545 cinemas. The Cannes 2022 premiere unites Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba and is George Miller’s first feature since 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road.

Documentary specialist distributor Piece of Magic Entertainment’s “Andre Rieu’s 2022 Maastricht Summer Concert,” a concert film featuring Dutch violinist and conductor Andre Rieu, led a sluggish weekend at the U.K. and Ireland box office.

The film collected £799,474 in a weekend when no film crossed the £1 million mark, according to numbers provided by Comscore. It was a three-day bank holiday weekend in the U.K. Ten previous Rieu concerts have grossed more in their opening weekend, but none managed to top the charts, per Comscore.

The last event film to top the charts in the territory was “Michael Ball and Alfie Boe: Back Together” in Oct. 2020.

Universal’s “Beast,” featuring Idris Elba, debuted in second position with £600,259. In its fifth weekend, Warner Bros.’ “DC League Of Super-Pets” collected £598,985 in third place and now has a total of £12.2 million.

In fourth place, in its fourth weekend, Sony’s Brad Pitt...

Bill Kramer discussed the Oscars’ international expansion and the importance of Venice.

The theatrical requirement for films to qualify for the Oscars “will not go away”, according to new Academy CEO Bill Kramer.

Speaking on a panel about ‘The values of cinema in global society’, Kramer said, “The theatrical eligibility requirement will not go away, I believe – the theatrical experience is very important to us.”

However, Kramer was equally effusive about streaming, saying that “Netflix is making incredible movies” and that the Academy has “great respect for Ted Sarandos, Reed Hastings [co-chief executives] and Scott [Stuber, head of global film, all at Netflix].”

“Theatrical and streaming will continue to coexist – that’s a good thing,...

Takings remain low across the board with no release topping £1m for the first time since December 2020.

Rank Film (distributor) Three-day gross (Aug 26-28) Total gross to date Week 1. Andre Rieu’s 2022 Maastricht Summer Concert (Piece Of Magic) £798,706 £816,375 1 2. Beast (Universal) £600,259 £781,947 1 3. DC League Of Super-Pets (Warner Bros) £598,941 £12.5m 5 4. Bullet Train (Sony) £593,000 £8.2m 4 5. Nope (Universal) £576,643 £6.2m 3

Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.17

Dutch violinist and event cinema favourite Andre Rieu topped the UK-Ireland box office this weekend with his latest concert film, Andre Rieu’s 2022 Maastricht Summer Concert; as no film reached the £1m mark for the first time since December 2020.

Andre Rieu...

’André Rieu’s 2022 Maastricht Summer Concert: Happy Days Are Here Again’ plays widely this weekend.

Universal’s survival thriller Beast is the widest release among the features debuting at this weekend’s UK-Ireland box office, however event cinema André Rieu’s 2022 Maastricht Summer Concert: Happy Days Are Here Again boasts the overall largest figure.

Beast is directed by Icelandic filmmaker Baltasar Kormakur. The survival thriller stars Idris Elba as a grieving widower, who must protect his daughters from a voracious lion. It is set to play at 601 sites this weekend.

Kormakur’s best known for 2015 real-life disaster thriller, Everest, which opened to £2.4m from 567 sites.

The film will play in 350 sites over the weekend.

National Theatre Live’s release of Prima Facie, Suzie Miller’s play starring Jodie Comer, was the highest-grossing title at UK-Ireland cinemas yesterday (July 22), taking £1.4m with 76 sites still to report.

That figure made it the highest-grossing event cinema release since cinemas closed at the start of the Covid pandemic in March 2020, and the first to cross the £1m mark in this time. NTLive is estimating the final Thursday total to be close to £1.5m once all sites have reported.

The film played in 662 locations on Thursday, bringing in a single-day...

Ridley Scott’s “House of Gucci,” starring Lady Gaga and Adam Driver, continued atop the U.K. and Ireland box office in its second weekend.

The Universal release collected £1.5 million ($2 million) and now has £5.5 million at the box office, according to numbers released by Comscore.

Disney release “Encanto,” took £1.2 million in its second weekend and has a total of £3.3 million.

Sony’s “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” was in third place with £1.06 million and has amassed £9.1 million after three weekends.

Piece of Magic Entertainment’s seasonal release, Christmas concert film “Christmas With Andre,” featuring Dutch violinist and conductor André Rieu, debuted in fourth position with £693,676.

Rounding off the top five was Disney release “Eternals” with £318,718 in its fifth weekend for a total of £14.4 million.

In its tenth weekend, James Bond film “No Time to Die” collected £270,149 in sixth position and now has £96.1 million at the box office.

There were three other new entries...

Holdovers dominate the top five, with ‘Boxing Day’ the best-performing new release.

Rank Film (Distributor) Three-day gross (Dec 3-5) Total gross to date Week 1 House Of Gucci (Universal) £1.5m £5.6m 2 2 Encanto (Disney)

£1.3m £3.3m 2 3 Ghostbusters: Afterlife (Sony) £1.1m £9.2m 3 4 Eternals (Disney) £318,602 £14.5m 5 5 No Time To Die (Universal) £270,076 £96m 10

Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.33

Holdovers dominated at this weekend’s UK-Ireland box office, with Aml Ameen’s Boxing Day just missing out on breaking into the top five, but leading the new releases.

Universal’s House Of Gucci, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Lady Gaga, Adam Driver and Jared Leto,...

Restorations of ‘The Kid’ and ‘The Great Dictator’ among titles set for theatrical release.

Distributor Piece of Magic has joined forces with Paris-based mk2 to release restorations of Charlie Chaplin classics in theatres around the world.

The partnership will see Piece of Magic release a 4K restoration of Chaplin’s 1921 classic The Kid this autumn, working with their global network of exhibitors in around 50 territories, while collaborating with existing mk2 distribution partners.

These territories include Benelux, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand, China and Hong Kong, Cis territories including Russia, the Czech Republic, Greece, Portugal, UAE and South Africa.

mk...

Charlie Kemball previously worked on titles include ‘Diego Maradona’ and ‘Rocks’.

Documentary distributor Piece of Magic Entertainment has expanded its international operations with the hire of former Altitude executive Charlie Kemball, who will establish a UK presence for the firm.

As head of acquisitions and business development, Kemball will develop opportunities with international partners as part of Piece of Magic’s expansion in worldwide theatrical distribution. Based in London, he reports to CEO Caspar Nadaud.

Kemball joins from Altitude Film Sales, where he had worked since January 2014 as international sales director on titles including Asif Kapadia’s Diego Maradona, Sarah...

‘City of Lies.’

Last weekend’s broad new releases in Australian cinemas included a US crime thriller that was completed in 2018, a political satire that went straight to digital in the US and a melancholy UK drama about a marriage breakdown.

Not surprisingly, ticket sales languished as André Rieu’s Magical Maastricht – Together In Music was the only new title to post a decent per screen average.

Through Sunday, the national box office for the year to date stands at $330 million – a catastrophic 67 per cent decline on the $1.01 billion racked up in the same period in 2019.

Tellingly, the highest-grosser at the Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace last weekend was the Netflix-commissioned Rebecca, a remake of a 1940 Alfred Hitchcock classic adapted from Daphne du Maurier’s Gothic novel.

Directed by Ben Wheatley, the romantic thriller starring Lily James and Armie Hammer follows a young newlywed who arrives at her widower husband...

Christopher Nolan’s thriller stays top for 4th weekend.

Rank Film (Distributor) Three-day gross (Sep 18-20) Total gross to date Week 1 Tenet (Warner Bros) £780,000 £13.9m 4 2 After We Collided (Shear Entertainment) £597,979 £1.7m 3 3 Bill And Ted Face The Music (Warner Bros) £319,000 £460,000 1 4 André Rieu’s Magical Maastricht: Together In Music (Piece Of Magic) £124,455 £124,455 1 5 The New Mutants (Disney) £106,209 £1.3m 2

Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.29

The romantic drama After We Collided recorded the best per-location average at the UK & Ireland box office this weekend, bringing in £1,359 for each cinema it played in.

The film scored a second successive weekend increase, going up 35% on its previous...

‘Babyteeth.’

Universal Pictures’ dramedy The King of Staten Island continued its reign at Australian cinemas last weekend as ticket sales slumped, starved of new releases.

Given the depressed state of the market, Shannon Murphy’s Babyteeth, the bittersweet comedy adapted by Rita Kalnejais from her play, launched reasonably well on 46 screens, making $65,000.

The Universal release starring Eliza Scanlen, Toby Wallace, Ben Mendelsohn and Essie Davis registered the second highest per-screen average – $1,419 – among the top 10 titles, behind the market leader’s $1,766.

With 33 per cent of the nation’s cinemas closed and most that are still operating charging half price, the top 20 titles generated a mere $1.7 million, down 27 per cent on the previous frame, according to Numero.

The weekend takings were down 90 per cent on the same weekend last year, when The Lion King, Spider-Man: Far From Home, André Rieu’s Maastricht Concert and Toy Story 4 were raking in millions.

Sony Pictures launched The Burnt Orange Heresy,...

‘Birds of Prey’ (Photo credit: WB).

After flying high with Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Joker, the Warner Bros DC Comics universe has plummeted to earth with Birds of Prey.

The Suicide Squad spin-off starring Margot Robbie as the ass-kicking Harley Quinn opened in the lower realms for the superhero genre last weekend.

Even so, the top 20 takings generated $13.5 million, up 7 per cent on the previous frame, according to the Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia.

André Rieu fans turned out en masse for his latest film and specialised titles The Lighthouse and For Sama opened strongly.

To give it the complete, mouthful of a title, the Cathy Yan-directed Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn rang up $3.8 million on 528 screens. Pro-rata, that is a bit more respectable than the $33.2 million Us launch, which was well below the pre-release estimates of $50 million-$55 million.

The...

New openers include The Gentlemen and Jojo Rabbit.

RankFilm (Distributor)Three-day gross (Jan 3-5)Total gross to date Week 1 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Disney) £4.4m £51.3m 3 2 Jumanji: The Next Level (Sony) £3.1m £28.4m 4 3 Little Women (Universal) £2.6m £9.1m 2 4 The Gentlemen (Entertainment Film Distributors) £2.18m £3m 1 5 André Rieu: 70 Years Of Young (Piece of Magic Entertainment) £1.7m £1.7m 1 Disney

Disney’s Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker continued to be a force to be reckoned with at the UK box office, holding the top slot on its third week of release. The concluding episode of the Skywalker saga generated...

‘Defend, Conserve, Protect.’

Disney’s The Lion King roared through its second weekend in Australia as the studio smashed its own annual global box office record set in 2016 last weekend.

Meanwhile Defend, Conserve, Protect, Stephen Amis’ feature doc which examines the long-running campaign to stop Japanese fishermen killing whales in the Southern Ocean, opened on seven screens in limited sessions.

Narrated by Dan Aykroyd and produced by Amis, Sea Shepherd Australia MD Jeff Hansen and Sea Shepherd colleague Omar Todd, the film fetched an estimated $7,200 but had already netted $37,000 from about 40 advance screenings and festivals.

The executive producer, Label Distribution’s Tait Brady, is happy with the reviews and media coverage and says the film will play through the end of the year with screenings for activists and community groups, after which he will negotiate ancillary deals.

He offered the film to several sales agents but they were wary of the anti-whaling stance.

‘Aladdin’ stays top for third week.

Today’s Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.27

Full screen Rank Film (Distributor) Three-day gross (June 5-June 7) Total gross to date Week 1 Aladdin (Disney) £3.9m £26.1m 3 2 X-Men: Dark Phoenix (20th Century Fox) £2.7m £3.8m 1 3 Rocketman (Paramount) £2.2m £16.1m 3 4 The Secret Life Of Pets 2 (Universal) £2m £14.9m 1 5 Take That - Greatest Hits Live (CinemaLive) £1.8m £1.8m 1 Disney

Live action remake Aladdin marked a third session at the top of the UK box office, falling just 20% on its previous session with a £3.9m weekend, beating X-Men: Dark Phoenix into second place.

The film scored the highest location...

Alamode Film has acquired German and Austrian rights from HanWay Films to Lone Scherfig’s drama The Kindness of Strangers, which will open the Berlin International Film Festival next month. Zoe Kazan, Andrea Riseborough, Tahar Rahim, Caleb Landry Jones, Jay Baruchel and Bill Nighy star. The deal was negotiated by Nicole Mackey on behalf of HanWay Films with Alamode Film, with whom HanWay has recently worked on The White Crow, Swimming With Men and The Killing Of A Sacred Deer.

U.S. animation specialist Gkids has picked up Denis Do’s debut Funan, based on his own family story. The film, which which won the top prizes at the Annecy Int’l Animated Film Festival, will be released this spring. Funan follows Chou, a young woman living in the chaos of 1975 Cambodia, amid the arrival of the brutal Khmer Rouge regime. When she and her husband are separated from their four-year-old...

Disney feature puts on £4.6m.

Today’s Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.28.

Rank Film (Distributor) Three-day gross (Jan 4-Jan 6) Total gross to date Week 1 Mary Poppins Returns (Disney) £4.6m £34.3m 3 2 The Favourite (20th Century Fox) £2.2m £4m 1 3 Aquaman (Warner Bros) £1.9m £18.3m 4 4 André Rieu’s 2019 New Year Concert In Sydney (Piece Of Magic) £1.7m £1.7m 1 5. Bumblebee (Paramount) £1.7m £9.1m 2 Disney

Mary Poppins Returns has surged to a third straight weekend on top of the UK box office, after engaging audiences all through the Christmas/New Year holiday.

The fantasy feature took £4.6m over the weekend - a drop of 40% on...

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Photo: Sony Pictures Animation).

Sony Animation’s Spider-Man reboot swung into Australian cinemas last weekend but trailed Universal/Illumination’s powerhouse The Grinch, which ruled again in its third frame.

Andre Rieu fans turned out for his concert filmed at Sydney Town Hall while Fox’s M-rated Once Upon a Deadpool had a middling start, in line with its Us debut.

Meanwhile Peter Jackson, Universal Pictures and co-financiers Media Rights Capital and Perfect World Pictures are facing a write-off of $100 million or more on Mortal Engines, which bombed in the Us.

Bruce Beresford’s Ladies in Black is winding down after 13 weeks, having generated $11.9 million for Sony.

Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma, which chronicles a turbulent year in the lives of a middle-class family in 1970s Mexico City, is having a brief run in a handful of cinemas including the Ritz, Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace Cremorne and...