| Rank | Film (distributor) | Three-day gross (Apr 26-28) | Total gross to date | Week |
| 1. | Challengers (Warner Bros) | £1.5m | £1.5m | 1 |
| 2. | Back To Black (Studiocanal) | £1.4m | £9m | 3 |
| 3. | Kung Fu Panda 4 (Universal) | £948,033 | £19.7m | 5 |
| 4. | Civil War (Entertainment Film Distributors) | £755,426 | £5.2m | 3 |
| 5. | Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire (Warner Bros) | £597,522 | £13.7m | 5 |
GBP to USD conversion rate: 1.25
Luca Guadagnino’s tennis drama Challengers scored a number one ranking on its opening weekend at the UK-Ireland box office, with a £1.5m first session.
Warner Bros title Challengers took a £2,197 site average from over 700 cinemas, and has £1.6m including previews.
The figure is a new record opening in the territory for Guadagnino, topping the £347,682 start of 2016’s A Bigger Splash.
It knocked Studiocanal’s Amy Winehouse biopic Back To Black into second spot, although that film held well, dropping just 24.9% with £1.4m. It is now up to almost £9m, and should break into eight-figure territory within the next week.
Universal’s family animation Kung Fu Panda 4 saw a 5% increase on last time out, with £948,033. The film now has £19.7m from five weekends in cinemas, and should pass the £20.4m of 2008’s Kung Fu Panda within the next week to become the highest-grossing title of the series.
Alex Garland’s Civil War posted another decent session on its third weekend, dropping just 29% with £755,426. The photojournalism thriller is now up to almost £5.2m for Entertainment Film Distributors – more than the combined total of Garland’s three previous directorial efforts Ex Machina (£2.9m), Annihilation (Netflix release) and Men (£1m).
Warner Bros’ Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire rounded out the top five with a £597,522 fifth weekend – a drop of just 8%. The monster mash has £13.7m in total, and could still just about catch the £16m of 1998’s Godzilla.
The arrival of Challengers saw takings for the top five increase 3.5%, to almost £5.3m. However this is still down a worrying 14.5% on the equivalent weekend from last year, with the market slowing down after a decent first quarter to 2024. Universal’s The Fall Guy starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt offers the best chance of redemption next weekend.
Irish Rising Sun shines
Horror Abigail dropped 37% on its second weekend, with £378,317 taking it to a £1.3m cume for Universal.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire leads Sony’s slate, with £332,594 on its sixth weekend – a 15.8% drop that brought it to £15.1m.
Anime Ltd’s Spy X Family Code: White kicked off with a decent £280,729 weekend, at a £1,076 average – a healthy start for an anime title.
Former number one Dune: Part Two added £253,813 on its ninth session – a 23.4% drop that brought it to £39.2m total for Warner Bros. It remains the highest-grossing 2024 release to date, and will overtake Inside Out (£39.4m) and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge Of The Sith (£39.4m) within the next week.
Dev Patel’s Monkey Man added £124,849 on its fourth weekend for Universal – a 42% drop that takes it to £2.4m total.
Irish drama That They May Face The Rising Sun began with a decent £97,160 from 117 sites at an £830 site average, released by Conic in England, Scotland and Wales and Break Out Pictures in Ireland and Northern Ireland. The film has £120,171 in total.
Signature Entertainment’s action thriller Boy Kills World starring Bill Skarsgard opened to £81,797 including previews.
Italian box office hit There’s Still Tomorrow opened to £79,644 from 142 sites at a £561 site average, distributed by Vue; and has £93,533 including previews.
Still in cinemas after 13 weekends, Universal animation Migration rose 31% compared to its previous session, with £66,842 adding up to a strong £21.1m total.
Vertigo Releasing’s Australian animation Scarygirl opened to £61,319 at a £147 location average.
Trafalgar Releasing’s event cinema title Aespa: World Tour took £16,422 on Wednesday, April 24 and £39, 477 on Saturday for a £55,899 total to date.
Animation Butterfly Tale took £53,341 at the weekend for Signature Entertainment, and has £128,419 from two sessions.
Disney’s main box office hope this month has been horror The First Omen, which added £49,000 on its fourth weekend for a £1.5m total. The studio’s next major new release is Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes on May 9.
Sony drama Ordinary Angels starring Hilary Swank started with a low £41,931 at the weekend, and has £51,719 including previews.
An event release of National Theatre Live’s Nye, a fantasia starring Michael Sheen about Nye Bevan’s dream of the National Health Service, took £781,782 on Tuesday, April 23 with an additional £36,588 at the weekend for a £818,370 total.
Gabriella Cowperthwaite’s sci-fi thriller I.S.S. failed to soar for Universal, taking £25,004 from 123 sites for a £187 average.
Marco Bellocchio’s Cannes 2023 title Kidnapped began with £18,833 for Curzon, and has £32,609 including previews.
Still in cinemas after 10 weekends, Mubi’s Wim Wenders title Perfect Days added £16,655 to hit a near-£1.3m box office – an excellent result for the Oscar-nominated film.
Studiocanal’s Wicked Little Letters is signing off with £14,848 on its 10th session in cinemas, bringing it to a £9.5m total.
Sundance 2024 title The American Society Of Magical Negroes brought in just £12,473 from 97 sites on opening for Universal, at a £112 average.
Curzon’s Oscar-nominated The Teachers’ Lounge added £9,663 on its third weekend, and has £106,799 in total.
Vertigo Releasing’s Sometimes I Think About Dying starring Daisy Ridley added £5,972 on its second session and is up to £63,555.
Modern Films is conducting a staggered release across the coming months for Melanie Manchot’s hybrid documentary Stephen. The film started with £3,422 from a single screening this weekend, and has £4,498 including previews.
The Book Of Clarence added £1,112 on its second weekend for Sony, and is up to £57,888.
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