‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ holds UK-Ireland box office lead; ‘Lightyear’ opens third

Universal blockbuster Jurassic World: Dominion held top spot at the UK-Ireland box office this weekend, as Disney’s franchise title Lightyear opened in third place below Top Gun: Maverick.

With large parts of the territory recording annual high temperatures on Friday and Saturday, Jurassic World: Dominion added £5.7m on its second weekend, a drop of 52.7%. It now has £21.8m total.

While a significant figure from just two weekends, it is down on the £11.1m second weekend of 2015’s Jurassic World, which had £38.5m total by this point; and on the £7.2m second session of 2018 sequel Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, which was up to £25.6m.

For 2022 comparisons, Top Gun: Maverick scored £10.3m on its second weekend to take it to £30.6m; while Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness also added £5.7m, to reach £30.4m.

Paramount’s Tom Cruise title held second spot on what is now its fourth weekend; its drop of just 24% saw it outperform most competitors, with £4.2m bringing it to a huge £57.4m to date.

It has now entered the top 30 highest-grossing films of all time in the UK and Ireland, with the £57.6m of Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers next in its sights. It was already Paramount’s highest-grossing release in the territory as of last weekend, topping the £40.3m of 2008’s Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull.

Disney’s Lightyear opened to just over £3.7m from 654 sites, for an average of £5,685. While more than most films make across their full runs, this is still a moderate result for the studio, in comparison to the £11.5m and £13.3m starts of franchise companions Toy Story 3  and 4 in 2010 and 2019.

Lionsgate’s comedy-drama Good Luck To You, Leo Grande scored over £1,000 per location on opening, taking £189,597 from 172 locations across the weekend for a £1,102 average. Sophie Hyde’s film, starring Emma Thompson and Screen Star of Tomorrow Daryl McCormack, is up to £239,000 including previews. 

Disney’s Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness added £169,578 on its seventh weekend, falling 57% on its previous session to reach £41.9m total. It will finish as the seventh-highest-grossing Marvel Cinematic Universe title to date, from 28 releases.

Everything replicates US success

Having proved a box office hit in the US, A24’s Everything Everywhere All At Once is replicating that success in the UK and Ireland, adding £123,817 on its sixth weekend with a 39.7% drop. It is now up to £4.7m – a strong result for an independent title, even one from a larger company.

Sonic The Hedgehog 2 dropped 51% for Paramount on the 12^th weekend of a lengthy run, adding £89,000 to reach £26.6m – now an impressive 37.5% up on the £19.3m of the first film.

Animation The Bad Guys put on £52,964 for Universal, and is up to £13.3m from 12 weekends – a strong result for a non-franchise animation title.

Fellow Universal release Downton Abbey: A New Era added £40,503 on its eighth weekend, and has £14.8m total – just over half of the £28.3m of the 2018 first film.

Entertainment Film Distributors has Alex Garland’s Cannes 2022 title Men still playing, adding £24,852 on a third session to reach £941,187.

Paramount’s The Lost City  is closing out, with £13,000 bringing it to £10.6m from 10 weekends.

The Bob’s Burgers Movie dropped 75% for Disney, adding £10,767 from its fourth session to reach £1.1m.

BFI Distribution’s indie title All My Friends Hate Me added £9,955 on a second session in cinemas to reach £79,765.

Curzon opened Francois Ozon’s Everything Went Fine starring Sophie Marceau to £6,118, with £8,852 including previews.

Nina Thyberg’s Sundance 2021 title Pleasure took £7,710 including previews on a limited release through Mubi.

• UK sales agents upbeat as international buyers head to London Screenings