Gone Girl tops UK chart

Repeating its domestic success, Gone Girl has been found at the top of the UK box office on debut.

Fox’s adaptation scored a superb $6.6m (£4.1m) opening from its 549 sites to become only the second 18-rated film to hit number one this year. Its debut included $827,000 (£516,529) from Thursday [Oct 2], but it’s worth noting that its Fri-Sun tally of $5.8m (£3.6m) would have seen it top the chart as well.

Technically, it won’t go down as David Fincher’s best-ever UK opening as that will remain the $6.9m (£4.3m) debut of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. However, that included a hefty $4.5m (£2.8m) in previews from a seven-day opening, so Gone Girl is Fincher’s best-ever Fri-Sun result.

Seven is currently the director’s best-ever UK performer at $31.2m (£19.5m), a tricky target for Gone Girl to match. That being said, The Wolf of Wall Street started with $7.4m (£4.66m) in January and went on to take $35.6m (£22.3m), so it is possible.

Also for Fox, Bang Bang recorded the year’s highest debut for a Bollywood film at $963,000 (£602,193) from its 125 sites, including $160,000 (£99,570) in previews. Jai Ho previously held this year’s best bow at $394,000 (£246,242) from 86 sites, according to figures from Rentrak. Bang Bang also marks director Siddharth Anand’s best-ever UK bow.

Pride and Let’s Be Cops stand at $5.2m (£3.3m) and $8.3m (£5.2m), respectively.

UNIVERSAL

Dracula Untold fought off middling reviews to bite into a sturdy $2.7m (£1.7m) on its UK bow to chart second.

Universal’s prequel posted a site average of $6,110 (£3,824) over the weekend and the debut compares favourably to that of 2014’s other delve into historical fantasy literature, I, Frankenstein, which took $1.3m (£811,365) including $261,000 (£163,158) in previews.

Also for Universal, The Boxtrolls fell a slim 14% in its fourth weekend to add $1.6m (£981,000). Laika’s latest animation has now stacked up $9.7m (£6.1m) and will overtake ParaNorman’s $10.1m (£6.3m) by this weekend at the latest.

After receiving encore screenings due to its record-breaking (and potentially game-changing) number one bow last weekend, Billy Elliot the Musical - Live danced to an extra $182,000 (£114,000) for $3.4m (£2.14m).

Lucy stands at $22.6m (£14.12m) after seven weeks in play.

SONY

Having been pipped to the top spot last week by Billy Elliot, Sony’s The Equalizer held well in its second weekend to add $2m (£1.2m) with a 35% drop. Antoine Fuqua’s latest film is now up to $6.9m (£4.3m) as it attempts to track down King Arthur’s $11.3m (£7.1m) result to become the director’s best-ever UK performer.

LIONSGATE

With a terrific hold, dropping just 8%, What We Did on Our Holiday enjoyed a $1.2m (£728,228) second weekend from its 462 sites. Lionsgate’s comedy has now grossed $3.3m (£2.1m) and has so far proven to be savvy counter-programming from the distributor.

WARNER BROS

Dolphin Tale 2 swum to a $857,000 (£536,000) UK debut from its 421 sites through Warner Bros. That’s up on the $686,000 (£429,140) bow of its predecessor from 384 sites, on its way to $3.8m (£2.4m) overall.

Also for Warner Bros, Magic in the Moonlight is up to $1.2m (£763,000) following a $88,000 (£55,000) third weekend.

EONE

Now in its third weekend, eOne’s A Walk Among the Tombstones shot to an additional $495,000 (£310,000) for $5.4m (£3.4m) to date.

Also for eOne, Maps to the Stars fell over 50% in its second weekend to take $95,000 (£59,502) for $447,000 (£280,000), while A Most Wanted Man has reached $3m (£1.9m) after four weeks in play.

METRODOME

Soul Boys of the Western World struck gold at the UK box office for Metrodome with a $426,000 (£266,820) debut. The majority of its opening came from a live event on Tuesday night [Sept 30] which played in 193 sites, with the documentary playing across four sites over Fri-Sun.

DISNEY

Continuing its excellent run at the box office, Disney’s Guardians of the Galaxy fell just 19% in its tenth weekend to take a further $443,000 (£277,000) for $45m (£28.17m) to date.

PRASLIN PICTURES

Boosted by nine town hall previews last month grossing $55,000 (£34,340), Praslin Pictures’ Will & Testament recorded a healthy overall UK debut of $121,000 (£75,773). It played on 21 sites over Fri-Sun, but also had a satellite link up screening yesterday [Oct 5] on 77 screens.

CURZON FILM WORLD

Pawel Pawlikowski’s Ida enjoyed a 35% boost in its second weekend to gross $102,000 (£63,556) from its 31 sites through Curzon Film World.

Poland’s entry for Best Foreign Language Film is now up to $250,000 (£156,393) and could overtake My Summer of Love’s $475,000 (£297,000) to become Pawlikowski’s best-ever UK performer.

ARROW FILMS

Arrow’s re-issue of Withnail & I took $4,000 (£2,515) across its six sites where the film didn’t screen throughout the weekend, instead playing nine times in a mix of sold-out matinees and late shows.

PECCADILLO PICTURES

Yann Gonzalez’s feature debut You and the Night grossed $1,400 (£895) from its one-site release through Peccadillo Pictures.

UPCOMING RELEASES

This week sees saturation releases for Fox’s The Maze Runner, Warner Bros’ Annabelle and Lionsgate’s The Rewrite, as Paramount’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles holds previews over Oct 11-12 before its saturation release on Oct 17.

StudioCanal’s ‘71 and Metrodome’s Effie Gray both receive wide releases and Disney’s Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day opens in Scotland, while Sony’s The Calling and Vertigo’s Gold are among the films receiving limited releases.