| Rank | Film (distributor) | Three-day gross (Mar 29-31) | Total gross to date | Week |
| 1. | Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (Warner Bros) | £4.1m | £5m | 1 |
| 2. | Kung Fu Panda 4 (Universal) | £3.9m | £6.2m | 1 |
| 3. | Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (Sony) | £2.1m | £8.9m | 2 |
| 4. | Dune: Part Two (Warner Bros) | £1.7m | £34.5m | 5 |
| 5. | Mothers’ Instinct (Studiocanal) | £267,741 | £406,434 | 1 |
Warner Bros’ blockbuster Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire outmuscled Universal’s Kung Fu Panda 4 at this weekend’s UK-Ireland box office, with a £4.1m Friday-to-Sunday start.
Playing in 607 sites, The New Empire took a £6,819 location average. Including previews and Bank Holiday Monday, the film is up to almost £5m.
Its impressive start is ahead of industry projections both in the UK and Ireland and internationally. The £4.1m weekend figure beats the £2.7m total of 2021’s pandemic-afflicted Godzilla Vs. Kong, also from director Adam Wingard; and the £3.9m start of 2019’s Godzilla: King Of The Monsters. It is down on the £5.2m start of 2014’s Godzilla, which came at a sizeable £9,454 site average.
Final figures for Bank Holiday Monday are still to come for all films, with a delay on reporting from Odeon sites.
Godzilla’s stomp was enough to see off Universal’s Kung Fu Panda 4, which took £3.9m from Friday to Sunday from 716 sites at a £5,462 average.
Its opening was behind those of franchise precedents Kung Fu Panda (£6.1m) from 2008, and 2011’s number 2 (£6.5m), but ahead of the £3.2m of 2016’s number 3.
A further £1.2m on Monday plus previews took Kung Fu Panda 4 to a £6.2m total.
Last weekend’s number one Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire added £2.1m on its second weekend – a 47.5% drop, that brought it to a £8.9m total for Sony. It stands a good chance of overtaking the £11.5m of 2021’s franchise reboot Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and the £10.8m of 2016’s Ghostbusters.
Warner Bros’ Dune: Part Two put on a further £1.7m on its fifth weekend in cinemas. Its 36.6% drop took it to £34.5m total – long beyond the £22.1m of 2021’s Dune; and it is currently the highest-grossing 2024 release.
Studiocanal’s Mothers’ Instinct starring Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain made it three new titles in the top five, opening to £267,741 from 464 sites at a £577 average. Including previews and Monday, the film is up to £406,434.
Takings for the top five shot up 52.9% to £12.1m – the highest level since Dune: Part Two opened at the start of March. However they are down 7.5% compared to the Bank Holiday weekend from last year; exhibitors will look to Dev Patel’s Monkey Man and Disney horror The First Omen to keep things moving next weekend.
Immaculate form
Black Bear’s Immaculate starring Sydney Sweeney added £258,489 on its second weekend – a 47% drop. It has £1.2m in total with Odeon figures still to come.
Despite dropping out of the top five on its sixth weekend, Studiocanal’s Wicked Little Letters put in another decent performance, with £200,348 taking it to £8.7m total by the end of Sunday.
Anatine animation Migration added £183,640 on its ninth weekend in cinemas, and has a decent £20.1m for Universal.
Vertigo Releasing’s horror Late Night With The Devil dropped just 21.4% on its second weekend, adding £127,827 to hit a £498,479 total up to Sunday.
Former number one Bob Marley: One Love added £114,000 on its seventh weekend for Paramount. With select figures for Monday still to come, the music biopic is up to £16.9m.
Mubi’s Perfect Days directed by Wim Wenders added £75,233 on its sixth weekend to cross the £1m mark.
Still in cinemas after 17 weekends, Warner Bros’ chocolate musical Wonka added £47,155 – a 1.8% increase – to hit £63.3m as the 24th -highest-grossing film of all time in the UK and Ireland.
Curzon’s animation Robot Dreams increased its takings 4% on last time out, with £43,848 at the weekend. It has £154,599 from two weekends through to Monday.
Hong Kong crime drama We 12 opened to £38,741 for Trinity/CineAsia, and has £50,305 through to Monday.
Mexican animation Little Eggs: A Frozen Rescue opened to £38,560 for Miracle/Dazzler, with over 60 sites still to report.
Park Circus’ re-release of classic 1964 musical Mary Poppins took £31,922 from Friday to Sunday.
National Theatre Live’s The Motive And The Cue starring Mark Rylance and Johnny Flynn added £30,050 on its second weekend; and has £860,283 through to Monday.
A £26,927 Saturday plus £36,354 on Wednesday, March 27 gave Trafalgar Releasing’s event cinema title Hate To Love: Nickelback a £63,281 cume from two days’ play.
Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Cannes 2023 title Monster added £25,000 on its third weekend for Picturehouse Entertainment, hitting a £335,000 total including Monday.
Canadian thriller The Origin Of Evil made £17,505 for Blue Finch Films, including Friday-to-Sunday and previews.
Ethan Coen’s Drive-Away Dolls dropped another 75% on its third weekend in cinemas, with £16,346 taking it to £668,366 for Universal.
Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer may finally be departing cinemas after 37 consecutive weekends for Universal. The Oscar-winning historical drama added £7,202 to reach a £59.2m total; although it has previously bounced back from sub-£20,000 weekends, so should not be counted out yet.
Giacomo Abbruzzese’s Berlin 2023 title Disco Boy took £5,959 from Friday to Sunday for Conic, with £14,790 from previews and Monday.
Studiocanal’s re-release of 1951 crime comedy The Lavender Hill Mob took £3,398.
Sacha Polak’s Silver Haze starring 2019 Screen Star of Tomorrow Vicky Knight made £3,365 from Friday to Sunday for BFI Distribution, and has £12,987 including previews.
A further £2,079 on its second weekend for Anime Ltd’s Mobile Suit Gundam SEED FREEDOM took the anime title to £44,701 total.
Iranian-American drama The Persian Version added £1,787 on its second weekend for Sony to hit £60,386.
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