Despite figures down on last year, UK and Irish box office receipts saw a boost from National Cinema Day on August 31, with cinemas reporting one million admissions for the promotional event, according to Comscore.
Thanks to lower ticket prices, Universal's “Despicable Me 4” narrowly reclaimed the top spot over the weekend, taking in £1.24 million ($1.6 million) in its eighth week of release for a total of £44.5 million ($58.4 million).
Disney's Deadpool & Wolverine came in second with £1.22m, taking its six-week total to £54.6m. Sony's It Ends With Us came in third with £1.1m in its fourth week, taking its total to £18.6m.
Disney's sci-fi horror film Alien: Romulus came in fourth with £1.07m, taking its three-week total to £10.8m. Piece of Magic Entertainment's new film Andre Rieu's 2024 Maastricht Concert: Power Of Love came in fifth with £629,652.
Disney's Inside Out 2 continued its success in its 12th week, adding £614,501 to sixth place for a total of £58.1 million.
Trafalgar Releasing's 15th anniversary re-release of Coraline also benefited from National Cinema Day promotion, taking £267,646 in its third week at number nine for a total of £3.02m. Sony's new Afrid rounded out the top ten with £216,620.
Next week will see a slew of new releases hitting theaters. Workbus is set to release British political thriller The Whip, directed by Christopher Bracewell and starring Sian Denovan, on Wednesday, September 4.
Friday, September 6, sees a variety of films hit theaters. Warner Bros. releases the highly anticipated sequel to Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice. While Oasis fans are desperate for tickets to their upcoming concerts, fans of their rivals can look forward to Altitude’s concert film Blur: Live at Wembley Stadium. Superhero fans will get a chance to revisit Sony’s Spider-Man: Homecoming in a week-long re-release.
Elysian Film Group Distribution's Rob Peace, which will premiere at Sundance, marks the return of acclaimed British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor to the director's chair.
BFI Distribution presents Starve Acre, a folk horror film directed by Daniel Kokotajlou, starring Matt Smith and Morfydd Clark, which premiered at the BFI London Film Festival last year. Kaleidoscope Entertainment presents Knock Out Blonde: The Kellie Maloney Story, the accredited documentary about Kellie Maloney, the famous British transgender boxing manager.
Other noteworthy releases include Karim Aïnouz’s historical drama “Firebrand,” starring Jude Law and Alicia Vikander, Vertigo’s blockbuster thriller “Red Rooms,” and Studiocanal’s 75th anniversary re-release of the cult classic “The Third Man.” The 85th anniversary celebrations of Batman continue with a re-release of Park Circus’ “Batman Forever.”
