X-Men: First Class tops the UK box office

UK box office top ten and analysis for the weekend of Friday 4th - Sunday 6th June 2011...



The latest installment in Fox's X-Men franchise debuts in first place at the UK box office, but a weekend haul of £5.4m has to be considered less than 'First Class' considering that the figure - which includes over £2m from two days of preview screenings - is just over half the £10.4m opening enjoyed by The Hangover Part II. Discounting previews it's the weakest opening for the franchise but nevertheless, it's good enough to put X-Men: First Class in pole position as Todd Phillips' comedy sequel slips down to second place with another £3.8m, while Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides also falls one spot to third and remains the highest earner in the top ten with a cumulative gross of £26.7m.



Along with X-Men: First Class, there are another three newcomers in the chart this week, the highest of which is the 3D concert movie JLS: Eyes Wide Open, which debuts in fifth (one place behind family comedy Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules), with acclaimed racing documentary Senna and Bollywood comedy Ready opening in seventh and eighth respectively. Meanwhile, heading towards the foot of the chart is animated comedy Rio (down to places to eighth) and Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist (down four two ninth), but the biggest drop of the week is reserved for Thor, which plummets to the bottom of the chart after finishing up in fourth last time out.



Number one this time last year: Sex and the City 2

Pos.	Film	Weekend Gross	Week	Total UK Gross
1	X-Men: First Class	£5,438,386	1	£5,438,386
2	The Hangover Part II	£3,826,158	2	£21,055,272
3	Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides	£2,144,179	3	£26,693,930
4	Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules	£645,196	2	£3,622,991
5	JLS: Eyes Wide Open	£463,914	1	£463,914
6	Senna	£375,173	1	£375,173
7	Ready	£236,868	1	£236,868
8	Rio	£94,127	8	£12,890,750
9	Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist	£77,874	7	£18,368,657
10	Thor	£59,994	6	£13,849,095

Incoming...



DreamWorks Animation sequel Kung Fu Panda 2 (cert. PG) will likely flying kick its way to the top of the box office this coming Friday and features an all-star voice cast including Jack Black, Seth Rogan, Angelina Jolie, Gary Oldman, Jackie Chan, Dustin Hoffman, Lucy Liu, Michelle Yeoh and Jean-Claude Van Damme. Meanwhile other films looking to make an impact include dance flick Honey 2 (cert. PG), thriller Point Blank (cert. 15) and horror Mother's Day (cert. 18).

U.K. Box Office Archive

Rango takes the UK box office crown ahead of The Adjustment Bureau and Unknown

UK box office top ten and analysis for the weekend of Friday 4th - Sunday 6th March 2011.



Three newcomers occupy the top positions in the UK chart this week, although none can really be said to have set the box office alight with their debuts. Leading the way is Gore Verbinski's CG-animated Western Rango, which of course features the voice talents of Pirates of the Caribbean star Johnny Depp. Rango banks £1.6m to take the crown, with Matt Damon narrowly fending off competition from Liam Neeson as Philip K. Dick adaptation The Adjustment Bureau takes second place ahead of Unknown.



Turning to the familiar faces, Simon Pegg / Nick Frost comedy Paul slips two places to fourth but adds another £1.1m to its haul, while Tom Hooper's Academy Award-winner The King's Speech climbs one place to fifth of the back of its Oscar success, a feat also matched by True Grit and West is West in eighth and ninth respectively. The King's Speech is yet to fall below seven figures during its nine week run although that streak looks to be in jeopardy next time out.



Less fortunate is the sci-fi actioner I Am Number Four, which falls four places to seventh, while last week's top film Gnomeo and Juliet manages to go one better as it slips five spots to finish sixth in its fourth weekend. However, the steepest decline is reserved for Yogi Bear, with the live-action/CG hybrid plummeting six places to prop up the chart in tenth.



Number one this time last year: Alice in Wonderland

Pos.	Film	Weekend Gross	Week
1	Rango	£1,638,613	1
2	The Adjustment Bureau	£1,395,715	1
3	Unknown	£1,356,345	1
4	Paul	£1,109,766	3
5	The King's Speech	£1,076,381	9
6	Gnomeo and Juliet	£842,278	4
7	I Am Number Four	£498,822	2
8	True Grit	£463,320	4
9	West is West	£452,076	2
10	Yogi Bear	£435,564	4

Incoming...



Turning to the new releases this coming Friday, sci-fi and action fans need look no further than Battle: Los Angeles (cert. 12A), which sees a platoon of Marines fighting alien invaders in downtown L.A. If it's laughs you're after then the Farrelly brothers' new comedy Hall Pass (cert. 15) could be worth a shot, while Hammer Films' new thriller The Resident (cert. 15) will look to send chills down the spine. Meanwhile on the drama front there's a choice between The Company Men (cert. TBC) starring Ben Affleck, Chris Cooper and Tommy Lee Jones, and Fair Game (cert. 12A), which is headlined by Sean Penn and Naomi Watts.

U.K. Box Office Archive

Gnomeo and Juliet reclaims the UK box office crown

UK box office top ten and analysis for the weekend of Friday 25th - Sunday 27th February 2011.



The half-term school holidays meant that it was a bumper weekend for family films at the UK box office; leading the way was CG-animation Gnomeo and Juliet, which leapfrogged the Simon Pegg / Nick Frost comedy Paul to reclaim the number one spot in its third weekend, banking £2.5m to push its cumulative gross to £12.9m. Meanwhile Paul dropped over 60% from last weekend's hefty opening, adding another £2.1m to take second place ahead of D.J. Caruso's I Am Number Four, the highest-placed newcomer in third with £1.6m (including two days of preview screenings).



Along with I Am Number Four two other new releases placed in the chart, the highest of which was rom-com No Strings Attached, which only manages to claim eighth despite a decent return of £978k. Brit comedy sequel West is West also enjoyed a solid opening of £758k in tenth, but less fortunate was Drive Angry 3D, with the Nicolas Cage actioner placing outside of the top ten with takings of £651k.



This week's chart also saw a couple of films moving up the table with Yogi Bear and Tangled climbing two places apiece to fourth and fifth, while Best Picture winner The King's Speech fell three places but could rebound well next time out in the wake of its Oscar glory. Other films looking less likely to halt their declines are Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son (down two to seventh) and the Coen brothers' True Grit (tumbling five to ninth).



Number one this time last year: Avatar

Pos.	Film	Weekend Gross	Week	Total UK Gross
1	Gnomeo and Juliet	£2,502,806	3	£12,901,447
2	Paul	£2,073,462	2	£10,110,433
3	I Am Number Four	£1,682,523	1	£1,682,523
4	Yogi Bear	£1,465,863	3	£7,635,574
5	Tangled	£1,352,104	5	£19,130,723
6	The King's Speech	£1,207,963	8	£39,850,419
7	Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son	£993,485	2	£4,080,907
8	No Strings Attached	£978,974	1	£978,974
9	True Grit	£862,260	3	£6,426,424
10	West is West	£758,226	1	£758,226

Incoming...



The big release this coming Friday is Gore Verbinski's Rango (cert. PG), the first CG-animation from Industrial Light & Magic which features the voice talents of Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher and Bill Nighy. Meanwhile alternatives include Philip K. Dick adaptation The Adjustment Bureau (cert. 12A) starring Matt Damon and Emily Blunt, action-thriller Unknown (cert. 12A) with Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger and January Jones, and Ironclad (cert. 15), a medieval actioner featuring James Purefoy, Paul Giamatti, Brian Cox and Jason Flemyng.

U.K. Box Office Archive

Justin Bieber bombs at the UK box office as Paul enjoys an out-of-this-world opening

UK box office top ten and analysis for the weekend of Friday 18th - Sunday 20th February 2011.



Justin Bieber may be a worldwide pop phenomenon but he was no match for the comic pairing of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost at the UK box office as Superbad director Gregg Mottola's sci-fi comedy Paul opened at the top of the chart with £5.5m, giving it the largest UK opening so far this year (although that figure was boosted by four days of preview screenings, which accounts for £2.3m of the 'weekend' haul). Meanwhile Bieber documentary Never Say Never amassed just £820k to settle for a rather disappointing ninth place, with fellow newcomer Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son fairing a little better in fifth with £1.4m.



As a result of Paul's first-placed debut, last week's top two films - animation Gnomeo and Juliet and Oscar hopeful The King's Speech - both fall one place apiece, with The King's Speech still yet to slip below the top three as it pushes its cumulative gross to £37.1m in its seventh weekend. The Coen brothers' Western remake True Grit holds firm in fourth, while live-action / CG-hybrid Yogi Bear drops one place to sixth. Also on the decline are Just Go With It (down two to eighth) and Black Swan (down three to tenth), but the steepest slide is reserved for Disney animation Tangled, which plunges four places to seventh but manages to push its total gross beyond the £15m mark.



Number one this time last year: Avatar

Pos.	Film	Weekend Gross	Week	Total UK Gross
1	Paul	£5,517,121	1	£5,517,121
2	Gnomeo and Juliet	£2,223,978	2	£6,373,301
3	The King's Speech	£1,685,180	7	£37,127,599
4	True Grit	£1,466,979	2	£4,558,297
5	Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son	£1,433,778	1	£1,433,778
6	Yogi Bear	£1,370,585	2	£3,862,364
7	Tangled	£1,295,709	4	£15,347,419
8	Just Go With It	£984,355	2	£3,766,707
9	Justin Bieber: Never Say Never	£820,592	1	£820,592
10	Black Swan	£693,332	5	£14,277,599

Incoming...



Competition for the top spot could be fierce this weekend as the latest sci-fi actioner from Disturbia and Eagle Eye director D.J. Caruso, I Am Number Four (cert. 12A) arrives on Wednesday, giving it two days of previews to help mount a challenge to Paul. Also looking to get in on the act is over-the-top Nicolas Cage actioner Drive Angry 3D (cert. 18), Austrialian crime drama Animal Kingdom (cert. 15) and supernatural thriller The Rite (cert. 15), along with East is East sequel West is West (cert. 15).

U.K. Box Office Archive

UK Box Office Top Ten - weekend commencing 14/08/09

UK box office top ten and analysis for the weekend of Friday 14th - Sunday 16th August 2009.

Once again two new releases occupy first and second place in the chart but in truth it was another slow weekend for the UK box office with The Time Traveler's Wife's opening haul of £1,410,333 proving to be the lowest gross for a number one film in almost a year. In second place family comedy Aliens in the Attic was the only other film to break the seven-figure barrier (although its £1.3m weekend was enhanced by £500k from preview screenings on Wednesday and Thursday) while 3D rodent actioner G-Force continued to impress after three weeks on release and actually managed to hold on to its position from last weekend.

Fantasy blockbuster Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince falls one position to fourth and the year's biggest hit continues to creep towards the £50m mark, although it is looking increasingly unlikely that the film will overtake Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and break into the all-time UK top ten. Last week's top two movies were both in for difficult times with G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra - Stephen Sommer's big-screen take on the popular Hasbro toyline - slipping three places to fifth for a paltry total gross of £3,867,004 (and making Terminator Salvation look like The Dark Knight in the process) while rom-com The Ugly Truth fell five places from top spot to sixth.

Vanessa Hudgens' attempts to recreate the success of the Disney phenomenon High School Musical failed miserably as her latest effort Bandslam opened in seventh despite two days of previews to boost its gross (with all of the controversy around her latest home-made snaps, perhaps parents are starting to feel she might not be the ideal role model for their young daughters after all). Meanwhile Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs continues to demonstrate legs after seven weeks dropping just one place to eighth, but less fortunate is rom-com The Proposal, falling four places to ninth ahead of new release A Perfect Getaway.

Pos.	Film	Weekend Gross	Week	Total UK Gross
1	The Time Traveler's Wife	£1,410,333	1	£1,410,333
2	Aliens in the Attic	£1,323,575	1	£1,323,575
3	G-Force	£941,848	3	£8,904,247
4	Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince	£932,745	5	£46,766,825
5	GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra	£827,389	2	£3,867,004
6	The Ugly Truth	£809,390	2	£809,390
7	Bandslam	£628,957	1	£628,957
8	Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs	£508,915	7	£32,415,015
9	The Proposal	£445,689	4	£10,367,556
10	A Perfect Getaway	£418,703	1	£418,703

Incoming...

Aided by advance screenings last weekend (along with this coming Wednesday and Thursday), director Quentin Tarantino's long-gestating WW2 epic Inglourious Basterds is a dead-cert to top the box office when it opens officially this Friday.

Also released is the latest by-the-numbers spoof Dance Flick, Robert Rodriguez' family-adventure film Shorts, and Christopher Columbus' new comedy I Love You, Beth Cooper.

U.K. Box Office Archive

UK Box Office Top Ten - weekend commencing 07/08/09

UK box office top ten and analysis for the weekend of Friday 7th - Sunday 9th August 2009.

With the recent hot weather and parents' wallets already aching throughout the summer holidays, a slow weekend at the box office was well and truly overdue. Pulling in just under £2m in takings, romantic comedy The Ugly Truth (starring Gerard Butler and Katherine Heigl) managed to pip Stephen Sommers' action ensemble GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra to top spot, albeit aided by advance screenings on Wednesday and Thursday. This marks the lowest haul for a number one film since the back end of April when crime thriller State of Play opened with £1.5m.

In second, the takings for GI Joe must also be considered disappointing and despite opening at number one across the Atlantic, the Joes set to challenge Terminator Salvation for biggest flop of the summer on this side of the pond. On the opposite end of the scale, fantasy hit Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince added another £4m to its total gross (which now stands close to £45m) and could yet sneak into the all time UK box office top ten. Needless to say, Potter is far and away the biggest hit of the year.

3D gerbil action comedy G-Force drops two spots from its second-placed opening last week, while Sandra Bullock / Ryan Reynolds rom-com The Proposal slips one place to fifth. The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 leads the bottom half of the chart, while Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs continues to impress, having grossed over £30m in six weeks and putting it in second place behind Potter for the highest grossing movies of the year.

Supernatural thriller Orphan was another new entry down in eighth, while The Hangover manages to hang on in the top ten after nine long weeks on release. French biopic Coco Before Chanel rounds out the top ten, which means we say goodbye to comedies Land of the Lost and Bruno, along with Bollywood drama Love Aaj Kal.

Pos.	Film	Weekend Gross	Week	Total UK Gross
1	The Ugly Truth	£1,976,043	1	£1,976,043
2	GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra	£1,708,760	1	£1,708,760
3	Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince	£1,349,113	4	£44,376,816
4	G-Force	£1,223,891	2	£6,271,330
5	The Proposal	£755,242	3	£9,056,654
6	The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3	£661,334	2	£3,452,172
7	Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs	£612,570	6	£31,024,152
8	Orphan	£570,146	1	£570,146
9	The Hangover	£279,531	9	£21,260,366
10	Coco Before Chanel	£249,732	2	£1,057,612

Incoming...

This Wednesday sees the release of a pair of family films looking to capitalise on the stars of High School Musical - Aliens in the Attic featuring Ashley Tisdale and Bandslam with Vanessa Hudgens. Also looking to capture the family audience on Friday is Eddie Murphy's latest Imagine That, while those looking for something different can choose between horror A Perfect Getaway or romantic drama The Time Traveler's Wife.

U.K. Box Office Archive

Uk Box Office Top Ten - weekend commencing 31/07/09

UK box office top ten and analysis for the weekend of Friday 31st July - Sunday 2nd August 2009.

The U.K. chart enjoyed a healthy shake-up with five new releases debuting in the top ten this past weekend but Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince continues to dominate after three weeks on release. Having banked over £40m so far, the sixth installment in the popular wizarding franchise is the clear front-runner for the highest grossing film of the year and should also crack the all-time U.K. top ten in the next week or two.

Two new entries - 3D gerbil action comedy G-Force and crime thriller remake The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 - opened in second and third respectively, pushing last week’s second-placed picture The Proposal down two places to fourth. Also dropping two places to fifth is the animated hit Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, which now stands just short of £30m in receipts after five weeks on U.K. screens but seems to have lost a big chunk of the 3D market to G-Force.

Three other new releases occupy spaces in the bottom half of the chart - Will Ferrell comedy adventure Land of the Lost (in sixth place with £643k, giving Ferrell his lowest opening since 2006’s Stranger Than Fiction), French biopic Coco Before Chanel (in ninth with £423k), and Bollywood release Love Aaj Kal (in tenth, but with the highest screen average of the weekend after collecting £406k from just 52 screens).

Meanwhile, hit comedies Bruno and The Hangover both managed to cling on to spots in the chart despite falling three places apiece, but there was no room for Antichrist, Moon, My Sister’s Keeper, Public Enemies, and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, all of which disappeared as a result of the new releases.

Pos.	Film	Weekend Gross	Week	Total UK Gross
1	Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince	£2,917,786	3	£40,537,578
2	G-Force	£2,478,524	1	£2,478,524
3	The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3	£1,784,719	1	£1,784,719
4	The Proposal	£1,489,268	2	£6,886,749
5	Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs	£1,143,211	5	£29,154,739
6	Land of the Lost	£642,553	1	£642,553
7	Bruno	£612,577	4	£14,729,716
8	The Hangover	£517,895	8	£20,603,489
9	Coco Before Chanel	£423,268	1	£423,268
10	Love Aaj Kal	£405,673	1	£405,673

Incoming...

Paramount and Hasbro release their second live-action big screen adaptation this coming Friday with the Stephen Sommers directed G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. Rather surprisingly the film has generated quite a few positive reviews and will look to challenge Harry Potter for the prestigious top spot in the chart.

Also released is romantic comedy The Ugly Truth, starring Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler, alongside thriller The Orphan and Irish drama W.C.

U.K. Box Office Archive

UK Box Office Top Ten - weekend commencing 24/07/09

UK box office top ten and analysis for the weekend of Friday 24th - Sunday 26th July 2009.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince continued its meteoric performance at the UK box office with second weekend takings in excess of £5m to remain firmly in control at the top of the chart. The David Yates directed sequel has took an astonishing £33m in just two weeks, making it clear front runner for highest grossing film of the year, and could manage to break into the all time U.K. top ten (with tenth place currently occupied by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest on £51,735,498).

Disney rom-com The Proposal (starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds) opened in second place with £3.25m, while Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs slips into third but pushes its overall tally past the £25m mark after four weeks on release. There was little other movement in the chart, with The Proposal also pushing Bruno, The Hangover, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Public Enemies, My Sister’s Keeper, and Moon down once place each from last week, while another new entry – Lars von Trier’s controversial horror Antichrist – propping up the chart in tenth.

The Hangover has now spent the most amount of time in the top ten (seven weeks), while Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs looks set to overtake Transformers’ total gross in the coming days to become the second biggest movie of the year behind Potter.

Pos.	Film	Weekend Gross	Week	Total UK Gross
1	Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince	£5,176,950	2	£33,070,181
2	The Proposal	£3,249,640	1	£3,249,640
3	Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs	£2,151,251	4	£25,257,783
4	Bruno	£1,212,641	3	£13,153,625
5	The Hangover	£687,772	7	£19,485,350
6	Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen	£416,579	6	£25,885,419
7	Public Enemies	£277,353	4	£6,353,498
8	My Sister's Keeper	£224,320	5	£5,602,199
9	Moon	£137,963	2	£448,838
10	Antichrist	£99,092	1	£99,092

Incoming...

The studios look to capitalise on the summer holidays with two family releases this weekend, but can Land of the Lost or G-Force manage to dethrone Harry Potter at the top of the chart? The gerbil action comedy G-Force did so across the Atlantic when it opened in top spot this past weekend, and with several family films splitting the audience Tony Scott's remake of The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (with Denzel Washington and John Travolta) could also make an impact.

Also released is the biography Coco Before Chanel starring Audrey Tautou and illegal immigration drama Crossing Over with Harrison Ford and Ray Liotta.