American Sniper shoots down Taken 3 to top UK box office

Boosted by growing awards expectation, American Sniper has topped the UK box office in its second week.

Warner Bros’ war drama didn’t drop at all on its way to a $3.8m (£2.5m) second weekend for $9.9m (£6.6m) after ten days in play. It’s now outgrossed every Clint Eastwood directorial outing in the UK, barring Gran Torino’s $12.5m (£8.3m) which it will likely overtake by the end of next weekend at the latest.

The arrival of Big Hero 6 and Kingsman means it faces a challenge to retain top spot, but it will enjoy a solid run up to and including the Oscars, pushing it beyond £10m.

Also for Warner Bros, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies has now journeyed to $61.4m (£40.9m) following a $497,000 (£331,000) seventh weekend.

FOX

Last week’s champion Taken 3 fell to second with a $2.7m (£1.8m) third weekend. Fox’s threequel is now up to $22.8m (£15.2m) and is well-set for a £20m result, even if it will likely fall short of Taken 2’s $35.3m (£23.5m) UK result.

Also for Fox, awards contenders Birdman and Wild stand at $7m (£4.7m) and $1.6m (£1.1m), respectively, following $570,000 (£379,931) and $353,000 (£235,001) weekends.

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb has now amassed $17.4m (£11.6m) after six weeks in play.

UNIVERSAL

The Theory of Everything continued its excellent run in the UK with a $2.4m (£1.6m) fourth weekend. Universal’s biopic is now up to $22.1m (£14.7m) and, barring a dramatic collapse, is all-but guaranteed for a £20m result.

Also for Universal, Ex Machina was the week’s highest new entry with a sturdy $1.7m (£1.1m) bow, including $284,000 (£189,000) in previews, at a healthy site average of over $3,000 (£2,000). Strong reviews should see it avoid the usual fast-burn nature of genre films this coming weekend.

DISNEY

A slim 33% drop in its third weekend saw Disney’s Into the Woods sing its way to an additional $2m (£1.34m) to climb to $10.9m (£7.3m). It still stands a good chance of surpassing the $16.5m (£10.97m) result of previous Stephen Sondheim film adaptation, Sweeney Todd.

STUDIOCANAL

Falling just 22% in its ninth weekend, StudioCanal’s Paddington travelled to $1.1m (£746,693) for a terrific $52.5m (£34.97m) to date. As expected, the film is now the second highest grossing 2014 release at the UK box office and it will cross £35m shortly.

Also for StudioCanal, The Imitation Game is now up to $23.3m (£15.5m) after a $279,000 (£185,621) eleventh weekend.

LIONSGATE

With little expectation on its opening following poor reviews, Mortdecai got off to a solid, if unspectacular, start with $728,000 (£484,878) from its 350 sites through Lionsgate.

That’s a debut ahead of the entire gross of director David Koepp’s previous outing, Premium Rush’s $305,000 (£203,000), but less than half Koepp’s best-ever UK bow, Ghost Town’s $2m (£1.3m) from 343 sites.

Also for Lionsgate, Testament of Youth grossed $345,000 (£229,872) for $1.5m (£1m) after ten days in play, while The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 has reached $46.6m (£31m).

PARAMOUNT

Arriving in eighth was Paramount’s The Gambler with $572,000 (£381,000) UK bow from its 346 sites.

Understandably, the opening pales in comparison to director Rupert Wyatt’s best-ever debut, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, but it has already outgrossed the final $234,000 (£156,000) result of Wyatt’s The Escapist. It’s worth noting though that the latter’s widest release window was 67 sites.

SONY

Falling 30% (excluding previews) in its second weekend was Sony’s Whiplash which drummed up a further $563,000 (£375,000) for $2m (£1.3m).

Also for Sony, Annie is still holding well with a 23% drop seeing it to a $482,000 (£321,000) fifth weekend for $10.8m (£7.2m) to date.

ICON FILM DISTRIBUTION

Opening in 180 sites through Icon Film Distribution, A Most Violent Year landed with $324,000 (£216,075) on its UK debut.

That’s narrowly behind director JC Chandor’s best-ever UK bow, All is Lost’s $348,000 (£231,595) from 89 sites, but the crime drama will have hopes of becoming his highest grossing outing in the UK, also belonging to All is Lost’s $1.2m (£767,000) tally.

EONE

Scaring up an extra $206,000 (£137,019) was eOne’s The Woman in Black: Angel of Death which has now grossed $7.4m (£4.9m) after four weeks in play.

Also for eOne, Foxcatcher fell a hefty 70% in its third weekend to add $173,000 (£115,364) for $3m (£2m) to date.

BEYOND CLUELESS

Self-distributed teen movie documentary Beyond Clueless posted a $26,000 (£17,012) UK bow, including $16,000 (£10,556) from 11 one-off preview events with either a live score or a Q&A.

Its opening weekend saw it play throughout Fri-Sun at the Glasgow Film Theatre and London’s ICA, as well as a one-off live score event at Manchester’s The Dancehouse and a one-off Q&A event at the Dublin’s Light House Cinema.

Tomorrow sees Beyond Clueless expand to 17 sites for one night only as part of Picturehouse’s Discover Tuesday strand.

Read more about the self-distributing of Beyond Clueless from producer Catherine Bray here.

CURZON FILM WORLD

Radio France documentary La Maison De La Radio tuned into a $2,000 (£1,322) debut from its two sites through Curzon Film World.

UPCOMING RELEASES

This week sees saturation releases for Fox’s Kingsman: The Secret Service (opens Jan 29), Disney’s Big Hero 6 and Universal’s Trash.

Warner Bros’ Inherent Vice and Koch Media’s Son of a Gun both receive wide releases, while Sky Vision’s Tales of a Grim Sleeper and Axiom Films’ Pelo Malo (Bad Hair) are among the films receiving a limited release.