Today’s GBP to USD conversion rate: 1.27
| Rank | Film (Distributor) | Three-day gross (May 24-26) | Total gross to date | Week |
| 1 | Aladdin (Disney) | £5.7m | £9.6m | 1 |
| 2 | Rocketman (Paramount) | £4m | £6.8m | 1 |
| 3 | The Secret Life Of Pets 2 (Universal) | £3.5m | £5.1m | 1 |
| 4 | John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (Lionsgate) | £1.4m | £6.7m | 2 |
| 5 | Pokémon Detective Pikachu (Warner Bros) | £1m | £11m | 3 |
Disney
Aladdin, the live action remake of the classic Disney animation, fought its way to the top of the UK box office table this weekend, seeing off challenges from Rocketman and The Secret Life Of Pets 2 with a £5.7m Fri-Sun session.
The film opened last Wednesday (May 22) and two days of previews added £1.3m, while the bank holiday Monday took it to £9.6m cume to date. It played in 644 venues and recorded the best screen average on the chart with £8,940 per cinema.
In the realm of recent Disney live-action remakes, the result falls short of the goliath opening posted by Beauty And The Beast, which started with a huge £19.7m Fri-Sun on its way to a £72.4m total, making it the tenth highest-grossing film of all time in the UK.
The Aladdin result compares more favourably with Dumbo, which opened with £6.1m in April this year and is up to £24.9m to date, and The Jungle Book, which started with £9.9m in April 2016 on its way to £46.2m.
Aladdin should benefit from the school holiday in the UK this week, when it will compete with Universal’s The Secret Life Of Pets 2 for the family audience.
Avengers: Endgame took £1.2m over the weekend and the bank holiday and is up to £85.9m to date; it’s the fifth highest-grossing film of all time in the UK but still has a way to go to reach number four, Avatar (£94m).
As listed above, Dumbo is now on £24.9m in the UK after adding £37,000 over the four-day.
Paramount
Rocketman, starring Taron Egerton as British music icon Elton John, commenced its UK run with a £4m Fri-Sun. Adding £1.4m in previews and a £1.4m bank holiday Monday, the film is up to £6.8m to date. It’s site average over the weekend was £5,652.
That looks a positive debut for the musical biopic, comparable with the likes of A Star Is Born (£3.1m opening Fri-Sun) and The Greatest Showman (£4.8m), though those two titles both showed excellent legs on their way to £31m and £47m respectively.
The inevitable comparison is recent Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, which opened with £6.4m in October last year and stuck around for a mighty 20 weeks on its way to £54.9m. Whether Rocketman has the stamina to match those titles is yet to be seen, though its 15 certificate may restrict its potential; Bohemian Rhapsody carried a 12A, which opened it up to the wider family audience.
Elsewhere for Paramount, Paw Patrol Mighty Pups added £168,000 over the weekend and a further £86,000 on the bank holiday for £868,000 to date. Wonder Park added £19,000 over the four-day for £4.5m so far.
Universal
Family animation The Secret Life Of Pets 2 opened this weekend in 620 locations, taking £3.5m Fri-Sun for an average of £5,657. Including the bank holiday, the film stands at £5.1m.
The original film opened with a £6m weekend, plus £3.6m in previews, meaning the sequel’s gross looks underwhelming in comparison. The film did open against Disney’s Aladdin, which may have taken some of its family audience, and the school holiday this week should help to boost takings. The previous film ended on £36.6m in the UK.
Elsewhere, The Hustle added £288,386 for £3m so far.
Lionsgate
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum performed the best of the holdovers this weekend, taking £1.4m to place it fourth on the chart. Including the bank holiday, the film is up to £6.7m and has surpassed the lifetime grosses of John Wick (£1.6m) and John Wick: Chapter Two (£6m).
Long Shot added £33,709 for £2.4m to date, while Red Joan is up to £2.6m and Missing Link is on £3.2m.
Warner Bros
Pokemon: Detective Pikachu added £1m in its third weekend, taking it to £11m to date. The Lego Movie 2 is up to £18.6m in the UK, while The Curse Of La Llorona is up to £1.5m and Shazam! is now on £13.3m.
Studiocanal
Aretha Franklin doc Amazing Grace added a further £61,311 this weekend and is up to £524,282 including the bank holiday.
Trafalgar Releasing
The event cinema release of music documentary Asbury Park: Riots, Redemption, Rock & Roll on Wednesday (May 22) took £43,489 from 178 sites.
20th Century Fox
Hindi action thriller India’s Most Wanted opened in 48 sites this weekend, taking £31,174. Tolkien added £21,392 and is up to £1.7m so far.
Entertainment One
A Dog’s Journey is up to £1.4m while Wild Rose is at £2.8m.
Curzon
Birds Of Passage added £24,212 over the weekend, and then £7,411 on Monday, to take it to £101,873.
Picturehouse Entertainment
Woman At War added £15,817 Fri-Sun, plus £5,650 for the Monday, bringing it to £280,250 to date.
Thunderbird
High Life is up to £214,668 from its UK run.
New Wave Films
French drama Memoir Of War opened to £3,845 from five screens.
Modern Films
In The Realm Of Perfection, the artistic documentary focused on the final of the 1984 French Open between John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl at a time when McEnroe was the world’s top-ranked player, grossed £4,313 from seven sites this weekend. With previews, the film has taken £9,389.
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