Pirates of the Caribbean enjoys the biggest UK box office opening of 2011

UK box office top ten and analysis for the weekend of Friday 20th - Sunday 22nd May 2011...



With a phenomenal global opening weekend of $346.5m, the latest instalment in Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean series jumps straight in at number one on these shores with a mighty five-day haul of £11.6m, more than doubling the sci-fi comedy Paul's £5.5m debut to claim the biggest UK opening of the year so far. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides also broke records at the international box-office with $256.3m in receipts, overtaking the previous champ Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.



With On Stranger Tides sucking the life out of the competition, no other film managed to cross the seven-figure mark, with nearest rival Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist pulling in just £587k to retain second. Marvel's Thor slips two places to third, a fate shared by Attack the Block in fifth and Water for Elephants down in eighth. Meanwhile Hanna falls one place to sixth as both Insidious and Rio hold firm in fourth and seventh respectively and finally, at the bottom of the chart we have a couple of new entries - Jason Statham cop thriller Blitz (in ninth with £266k) and Thomas McCarthy comedy Win Win (propping up the top ten with an opening of £155k).



Number one this time last year: StreetDance 3D

Pos.	Film	Weekend Gross	Week	Total UK Gross
1	Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides	£11,634,860	1	£11,634,860
2	Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist	£587,617	5	£17,399,224
3	Thor	£528,701	4	£12,869,718
4	Insidious	£451,139	4	£6,386,799
5	Attack the Block	£355,232	3	£1,925,419
6	Hanna	£286,997	2	£3,182,700
7	Rio	£284,085	6	£12,064,570
8	Water for Elephants	£266,345	3	£3,202,936
9	Blitz	£266,148	1	£266,148
10	Win Win	£155,463	1	£155,463

Incoming...



A pair of comedy sequels arrive this coming Friday with Todd Phillips' The Hangover Part II (cert. 15) likely to put up a strong challenge for top spot, while Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Roderick Rules (cert. U) will look to cater to the family market. Also hitting screens on Friday is a re-release of Francis Ford Coppola's classic Apocalypse Now (cert. 15), while X-Men: First Class (cert. TBC) will enjoy a number of preview screenings on Bank Holiday Monday.

U.K. Box Office Archive

Thor tops the UK box office for the third week in a row

UK box office top ten and analysis for the weekend of Friday 13th - Sunday 15th May 2011...



Marvel's latest superhero adventure Thor tops the UK box office for the third consecutive weekend as it banks another £1.36m to keep it in pole position ahead of Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist. The Vin Diesel / Paul Walker actioner continues to perform well in its fourth week and narrowly holds onto second ahead of competition from newcomer Attack the Block, with Joe Cornish's urban sci-fi comedy enjoying the highest-per-screen averange of any film in the chart and just falling short of Fast & Furious with an opening hail of £1.13m.



Moving on and horror Insidious drops one place to fourth, while Hanna rounds out the top five for the second weekend in a row. Romantic drama Water for Elephants slips two places to sixth, a fate shared by rom-com Something Borrowed down in eighth. Rio holds firm in seventh and has now spent the most weeks in the top ten of all the film's in the chart, while down at the bottom both Priest and Arthur fall one place apiece to ninth and tenth respectively.



Number one this time last year: Robin Hood

Pos.	Film	Weekend Gross	Week
1	Thor	£1,360,418	3
2	Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist	£1,155,540	4
3	Attack the Block	£1,133,859	2
4	Insidious	£963,963	3
5	Hanna	£821,081	1
6	Water for Elephants	£695,631	2
7	Rio	£592,142	5
8	Something Borrowed	£489,848	2
9	Priest	£202,483	2
10	Arthur	£151,755	4

Incoming...



Johnny Depp returns as Captain Jack Sparrow for more adventures on the high seas alongside newcomers Penelope Cruz and Ian McShane in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (cert. 12A), which gets a two-day head start on the competition when it hits cinemas tomorrow. Meanwhile Friday sees the release of Jason Statham cop thriller Blitz (cert. TBC), along with the Guillermo del Toro-produced Julia's Eyes (cert. 15) and Thomas McCarthy comedy Win Win (cert. 15).

U.K. Box Office Archive

Thor and Fast & Furious 5 continue to lead the UK box office

UK box office top ten and analysis for the weekend of Friday 6th to Sunday 8th May 2011...



It's an unchanged top three at the UK box office as Thor, Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist and Insidious all hold on to their positions from last week, with Marvel's Thor retaining the crown with £1.95m to push its two-week total to £9.5m. Meanwhile the latest installment in the street racer-turned-heist flick series Fast & Furious adds £1.61m to give it a cumulative gross of £14.3m (making it the highest earner in the top ten) with Insidious dropping just 9% in its second weekend and banking £3.87m to date.



Moving on to the newcomers and the Robert Pattinson / Reese Witherspoon romantic drama Water for Elephants takes fourth with £1.27m, one place ahead of Saoirse Ronan action thriller Hanna, which debuts with £1.14m. Rom-com Something Borrowed enjoys a decent opening with £707k in sixth, while a £396k return and eighth-placed debut for Korean comic adaptation Priest has to be considered a disappointment.



Finally there are some familiar faces in the bottom half of the chart, with Rio and Hop falling three apiece to seventh and tenth respectively, while the Russell Brand comedy remake Arthur suffers the steepest decline as it slips four places to ninth.



Number one this time last year: Iron Man 2

Pos.	Film	Weekend Gross	Week	Total UK Gross
1	Thor	£1,946,695	2	£9,523,268
2	Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist	£1,608,463	3	£14,393,127
3	Insidious	£1,315,358	2	£3,872,900
4	Water for Elephants	£1,270,483	1	£1,270,483
5	Hanna	£1,135,782	1	£1,135,782
6	Something Borrowed	£707,863	1	£707,863
7	Rio	£702,493	5	£11,051,328
8	Priest	£396,038	1	£396,038
9	Arthur	£309,683	3	£3,033,830
10	Hop	£214,364	6	£7,147,746

Incoming...



Aliens invade a South London council estate tomorrow with the release of Attack the Block (cert. 15) from British comedian turned writer-director Joe Cornish. Meanwhile newcomers on Friday include the Emilio Estevez / Martin Sheen collaboration The Way (cert. 12A) and 80s-set comedy Take Me Home Tonight (cert. 15).

U.K. Box Office Archive

Thor hammers the competition at the UK box office

UK box office top ten and analysis for the weekend of Friday 29th April to Sunday 1st May 2011...



Kenneth Branagh kicked the 2011 superhero season off with a bang with the release of Marvel Studios' Thor this past weekend, with the Chris Hemsworth-starrer thundering to the top of the UK box office chart with £5.4m including £2.3m from midweek preview screenings. Thor claims the crown exactly one year after the release of Marvel's last superhero effort Iron Man 2, which opened with £7.66m including previews.



Dropping down to second place is Justin Lin's Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist, which adds another £2.6m to give it a hefty two-week haul of £11.1m, making it the highest grossing film currently in the chart. Meanwhile the latest James Wan / Leigh Whannell horror Insidious is the only other newcomer in the top ten and debuts in third with £1.4m, with CG-animated adventure Rio and Russell Brand comedy remake Arthur slipping two spots apiece to fourth and fifth respectively.



Shifting to the bottom half of the chart and slasher sequel Scream 4 crosses the £5m mark in total but slips another two places to sixth in its third week of release, while family comedy Hop drops one spot to seventh. Also falling one place is Source Code in ninth, while both Beastly and Red Riding Hood slide three spaces each to eighth and tenth.



Number one this time last year: Iron Man 2

Pos.	Film	Weekend Gross	Week	Total UK Gross
1	Thor	£5,449,300	1	£5,449,300
2	Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist	£2,609,244	2	£11,163,953
3	Insidious	£1,441,292	1	£1,441,292
4	Rio	£801,102	4	£9,779,770
5	Arthur	£682,187	2	£2,477,285
6	Scream 4	£396,190	3	£5,096,897
7	Hop	£314,829	5	£6,727,678
8	Beastly	£210,974	2	£1,071,105
9	Source Code	£196,978	5	£5,707,782
10	Red Riding Hood	£169,325	3	£2,469,669

Incoming...



There are quite a few new releases arriving on Friday, although only a handful look capable of making much of an impact in next week's chart; Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon team up for the romantic drama Water for Elephants (cert. 12A) and Saoirse Ronan stars as teenage assassin Hanna (cert. 12A). If neither of those take your fancy then alternatives include rom-com Something Borrowed (cert. 12A) and coming-of-age drama Everywhere and Nowhere (cert. 15).

U.K. Box Office Archive

Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist revs up the UK box office

UK box office top ten and analysis for the weekend of Friday 22nd to Sunday 24th April 2011...



Director Justin Lin and stars Vin Diesel and Paul Walker prove that there's plenty of life left in The Fast and The Furious franchise as the fifth installment, Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist (or Fast Five to those outside the UK), jumps straight in at the top of the box office with an impressive £5.3m including one day of preview screenings. Meanwhile, could it be that British audiences are finally tiring of Russell Brand? His new movie, the comedy remake Arthur, opens in with a less-than-stellar £764k and has to settle for third place behind the CGI adventure Rio, while Easter adventure Hop falls out of the top half of the chart and finishes in sixth with £466k.



Elsewhere and after a decent opening pushed it to first place last weekend, Wes Craven's slasher sequel Scream 4 begins to slide down the chart and takes fourth while new release Beastly rounds out the top five with a debut haul of £553k. Also on the decline are Red Riding Hood and Limitless, both falling three to sixth and tenth respectively, with Duncan Jones' Source Code slipping two spots to eighth. Finally documentary TT3D: Closer to the Edge opens in ninth place, pulling in £312k to give it the second-highest screen average of the weekend behind Fast & Furious.



Number one this time last year: Date Night

Pos.	Film	Weekend Gross	Week	Total UK Gross
1	Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist	£5,332,096	1	£5,332,096
2	Rio	£886,669	3	£8,017,662
3	Arthur	£764,468	1	£764,468
4	Scream 4	£730,963	2	£4,046,069
5	Beastly	£553,069	1	£553,069
6	Hop	£466,676	4	£5,940,142
7	Red Riding Hood	£345,421	2	£1,901,603
8	Source Code	£331,988	4	£5,276,549
9	TT3D: Closer to the Edge	£312,998	1	£312,998
10	Limitless	£282,879	5	£7,685,395

Incoming...



Marvel Studios release the first superhero film of 2011 this coming Friday as Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman and Anthony Hopkins star in Thor (cert. 12A), which will surely take the box office crown against comedy Cedar Rapids (cert. 15), supernatural chiller Insidious (cert. 15) and Korean thriller I Saw The Devil (cert. 18).

U.K. Box Office Archive

Scream 4 tops another lacklustre weekend at the UK box office

UK box office top ten and analysis for the weekend of Friday 15th - Sunday 17th April 2011...



11 years after we last saw Ghostface in cinemas Wes Craven returns to the top of the box office with Scream 4 banking £2.06m to give it the biggest opening here in the UK since the sci-fi comedy Paul topped the chart back in February. However, looking down the rest of the top ten and it's another disappointing return for cinemas, with only Scream and last week's number one Rio managing to break seven figures, the CG-animation slipping to second with £1.6m to give it £5.5m overall.



In third and fourth are two more new releases - medieval comedy Your Highness pulling in £926K (with £344k of that coming from preview screenings) and Catherine Hardwicke's Red Riding Hood banking £842k - while CG / live-action hybrid Hop rounds out the top five with a three-week haul of £4.6m. Meanwhile further down the chart Walt Disney's Winnie the Pooh suffers from a total lack of promotion and manages just £159k to open in eighth place, with French comedy drama Little White Lies also a new entry down in tenth.



Rounding out the rest of the chart and techno-thrillers Source Code and Limitless both fall four places to sixth and seventh respectively, a feat matched by Zack Snyder's Sucker Punch in ninth.



Number one this time last year: Dear John

Pos.	Film	Weekend Gross	Week	Total UK Gross
1	Scream 4	£2,061,885	1	£2,061,885
2	Rio	£1,695,927	2	£5,515,691
3	Your Highness	£926,338	1	£926,338
4	Red Riding Hood	£842,398	1	£842,398
5	Hop	£788,809	3	£4,622,392
6	Source Code	£674,202	3	£4,496,468
7	Limitless	£603,963	4	£7,043,285
8	Winnie the Pooh	£159,369	1	£159,369
9	Sucker Punch	£144,612	3	£2,105,480
10	Little White Lies	£125,273	1	£125,273

Incoming...



With a number of new films opening this Friday, competition for top spot is likely to come down to either Fast & Furious 5 (cert. TBC) featuring Paul Walker, Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson, or the Russell Brand-starring remake of Arthur (cert. 12A). If neither of those take your fancy then options include fantasy romance Beastly (cert. 12A) with Vanessa Hudgens and Alex Pettyfer, Luc Besson fantasy The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec (cert. 12A) and 3D racing documentary, TT3D: Closer to the Edge (cert. 15).

U.K. Box Office Archive

Mars Needs Moms bombs as Rio leads a dismal UK box office chart

UK box office top ten and analysis for the weekend of Friday 8th - Sunday 10th April 2011...



The 3D animated family adventure Rio takes the UK box office crown in its opening weekend, but the first sunny weather of the year left cinemas reeling as the top ten posted the lowest combined takings since June of last year. Rio tops the chart with just over £1.5m including £109k in previews, while Duncan Jones' techno-thriller Source Code holds onto its second and adds another £848k for a two-week haul a shade below £3m.



Along with Rio, three other newcomers make an appearance in the chart this week. In seventh with £160k is the Bollywood romantic comedy Thank You, while college thriller The Roommate takes ninth with £120k. Lastly, the $150m Robert Zemeckis-produced mo-cap flop Mars Needs Moms (sorry, I mean Mums) continues its dismal showing and just about manages to place in the top ten with a rather feeble £113k, of which £70k was from last weekend's preview screenings.



Turning to the familiar faces and the Bradley Cooper / Robert De Niro thriller Limitless retains third place with £737k, one spot ahead of previous number one Hop (which suffers the steepest decline of the week, falling three in its second week of release). Also on the slide are Sucker Punch and The Eagle, both of which slip one place apiece to fifth and sixth, while Liam Neeson actioner Unknown holds onto eighth after a strong six-week showing in the chart.



Number one this time last year: Clash of the Titans

Pos.	Film	Weekend Gross	Week	Total UK Gross
1	Rio	£1,515,853	1	£1,515,853
2	Source Code	£848,366	2	£2,990,826
3	Limitless	£737,417	3	£5,744,993
4	Hop	£611,367	2	£2,623,612
5	Sucker Punch	£346,399	2	£1,633,285
6	The Eagle	£181,823	3	£2,504,508
7	Thank You	£160,191	1	£160,191
8	Unknown	£135,025	6	£6,225,112
9	The Roommate	£120,365	1	£120,365
10	Mars Needs Moms	£113,559	1	£113,559

Incoming...



Wes Craven, Neve Campbell, David Arquette and Courteney Cox return to the Scream franchise this coming Friday for the fourth installment in the revisionist slasher series, entitled - you've guessed it - Scream 4 (cert. TBC). Meanwhile Amanda Seyfried and Gary Oldman headline Catherine Hardwicke's romantic reimagining of the classic fairy tale Red Riding Hood (cert. 12A), Pineapple Express director David Gordon Green delivers the comedy adventure Your Highness (cert. 15) and Walt Disney unleash their latest traditional animation, Winnie the Pooh (cert. U).

U.K. Box Office Archive

Hop sucker punches the competition at the UK box office

UK box office top ten and analysis for the weekend of Friday 1st - Sunday 3rd April 2011...



Easter arrives early at the box office this year as family adventure Hop narrowly fends off competition from fellow newcomer Source Code to take top spot in its opening weekend here in the UK (and the States, for that matter). The CG-animation / live-action hybrid, which features British comedian Russell Brand as the voice of the Easter Bunny alongside James Marsden and Katie Cuoco, managed to pull in £1.39m, with Duncan Jones' sci-fi thriller banking a shade less to claim second with £1.3m.



Meanwhile the disappointment continues for Zack Snyder as Sucker Punch makes even less of an impact here in the UK than it did across the pond, debuting in fourth place with just £814k. Last week's number one film Limitless slips two places to third, a fate shared by historical actioner The Eagle in fifth, but the biggest drop of the week is reserved for the Belgian CG-animation A Turtle's Tale: Sammy's Adventures, which sinks four places to sixth in its second weekend.



Shifting down into the bottom half of the chart, the animated Western Rango and Liam Neeson action thriller Unknown both fall three places apiece to seventh and eighth respectively, while urban comedy Anuvahood drops two places and The Lincoln Lawyer slips one to prop up the chart in tenth.



Number one this time last year: Clash of the Titans

Pos.	Film	Weekend Gross	Week
1	Hop	£1,392,740	1
2	Source Code	£1,306,661	1
3	Limitless	£1,206,219	2
4	Sucker Punch	£814,976	1
5	The Eagle	£472,357	2
6	A Turtle's Tale: Sammy's Adventures	£365,258	2
7	Rango	£289,021	5
8	Unknown	£276,657	5
9	Anuvahood	£219,688	3
10	The Lincoln Lawyer	£146,962	3

Incoming...



This coming Friday sees a heavy focus on 3D animation with Rio (cert. U) squaring off against the Robert Zemeckis-produced motion-capture bomb Mars Needs Moms (cert. PG). Other films hitting UK screens this week include the 'single-shot' horror The Silent House (cert. 15), teen invasion flick Tomorrow, When The War Began (cert. 12A) and psychological thriller The Roommate (cert. 15).

U.K. Box Office Archive

Limitless tops the UK box office ahead of A Turtle's Tale and The Eagle

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



It's all change at the top of the UK box office chart this week as three new faces occupy the top positions; leading the way with just over £2m is Neil Burger's thriller Limitless, starring Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro, while Belgian CG-animation A Turtle's Tale: Sammy's Adventures takes second with £1.1m and is closely followed by Kevin Macdonald's Roman epic The Eagle, which banks £1m to round out the top three.



Last week's number one film Rango falls three places to fourth, with the Johnny Depp-voiced animated Western enjoying a four-week cumulative gross just shy of £6m, while the Liam Neeson actioner Unknown slips two places to round out the top five and is hot on Rango's heels with £5.3m overall from the same time-frame.



Heading into the bottom half of the chart and sci-fi invasion flick Battle: Los Angeles falls four places to sixth, while Brit 'urban comedy' Anuvahood holds firm in seventh and pushes its two-week gross to a decent £1.2m. Less fortunate however are Chalet Girl, The Lincoln Lawyer and Hall Pass, all of which suffer a similar fate to Battle: Los Angeles and slip four places to occupy eighth, ninth and tenth respectively.



And on a final note, Tom Hooper's Best Picture winner The King's Speech finally falls out of the top ten after an incredible 11-week run which has seen the period drama pull in almost £45m.



Number one this time last year: Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang

Pos.	Film	Weekend Gross	Week	Total UK Gross
1	Limitless	£2,087,363	1	£2,087,363
2	A Turtle's Tale: Sammy's Adventures	£1,122,066	1	£1,122,066
3	The Eagle	£1,021,160	1	£1,021,160
4	Rango	£653,691	4	£5,916,632
5	Unknown	£477,530	4	£5,366,573
6	Battle: Los Angeles	£425,952	3	£4,269,950
7	Anuvahood	£392,212	2	£1,207,876
8	Chalet Girl	£339,947	2	£1,306,023
9	The Lincoln Lawyer	£324,145	2	£1,274,674
10	Hall Pass	£304,571	3	£2,610,694

Incoming...



Easter comes early this April with Hop (cert. U), a family comedy that sees Russell Brand voicing the Easter Bunny alongside live-action stars including James Marsden, Kaley Cuoco, David Hasselhoff and Mel Brooks. Hop will likely duke it out for top spot against Superman: Man of Steel director Zack Snyder's action fantasy Sucker Punch (cert. 12A), which features Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Vanessa Hudgens and Jamie Chung, while alternatives include Duncan Jones' latest Source Code (cert. 12A), rock'n'roll comedy Killing Bono (cert. 15), drama Oranges and Sunshine (cert. 15) and Bollywood thriller Game (cert. TBC).

U.K. Box Office Archive

Rango leads a slow weekend at the UK box office

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



Gore Verbinski's CG-animated Western Rango returns to the top of the UK box office in its third week of release, leading a poor weekend for UK cinemas. Rango, which features the voice talents of Johnny Depp, is the only film to cross the seven figure mark (and just barely) with £1,045,326. This pushes it ahead of last week's number one Battle: Los Angeles, while Liam Neeson actioner Unknown rounds out the top three for the third week in a row.



Turning to the new releases, Brit rom-com Chalet Girl is the highest new entry in the chart, taking £677k to finish up fourth, which includes £128k of preview screenings from Wednesday and Thursday. Matthew McConaughey courtroom thriller The Lincoln Lawyer is close on its heels in sixth with £571k, while 'urban comedy' Anuvahood pulls in a decent £536k to claim seventh place behind the Farrelly brothers comedy Hall Pass.



Moving down the chart, Matt Damon thriller The Adjustment Bureau slips four places to eighth while Best Picture winner The King's Speech continues its decline, dropping three places to ninth after a stellar 11 week run that has seen the period drama bank an astonishing £44m. Finally, CG-animated family adventure Gnomeo and Juliet pushes its cumulative gross beyond the £15m mark but slips to tenth place after six weeks on screens.



One other new release slipped under the radar this week as Richard Ayoade's directorial debut Submarine landed outside of the top ten, but with £244k from just 60 screens the coming of age tale claimed the weekend's highest screen average with £4075.



Number one this time last year: Alice in Wonderland

Pos.	Film	Weekend Gross	Week	Total UK Gross
1	Rango	£1,045,326	3	£5,020,745
2	Battle: Los Angeles	£874,265	2	£3,454,350
3	Unknown	£775,576	3	£4,496,496
4	Chalet Girl	£677,716	1	£677,716
5	The Lincoln Lawyer	£571,836	1	£571,836
6	Hall Pass	£556,292	2	£1,993,683
7	Anuvahood	£536,818	1	£536,818
8	The Adjustment Bureau	£532,325	5	£4,096,043
9	The King's Speech	£350,417	11	£44,011,810
10	Gnomeo and Juliet	£295,023	6	£15,127,116

Incoming...



The last weekend of March plays host to a number of releases, although nothing really stands out as likely to light up the multiplexes...



British director Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland) turns his hand to historical epics with The Eagle (cert. 12A), featuring Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell and Mark Strong, while Gwyneth Paltrow headlines the music drama Country Strong (cert. 12A). Meanwhile Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro star in the mindbending thriller Limitless (cert.15) and The Rock, a.k.a. Dwayne Johnson, is out for revenge for the murder of his brother in Faster (cert. 15).



Family audiences have the option of Belgian CG-animation A Turtle's Tale: Sammy's Adventures (cert. U), while there's also limited releases for Werner Herzog's 3D documentary Cave of Forgotten Dreams (cert. U) and Polish director Cezary Pazura's gangster comedy Weekend (cert. 15), along with Irish horror Wake Wood (cert. 18) from Hammer Films.

U.K. Box Office Archive