'Jurassic World' retains UK box office lead

UNIVERSAL

Jurassic World continued to shake up the UK box office record book in its second weekend at the top of the chart.

Universal’s sequel scored a monstrous $17.6m (£11.1m) second weekend, a drop of just 32% (excluding previews), for a tremendous 11-day tally of $60.9m (£38.5m). By comparison, 2015’s current leader Avengers: Age of Ultron stood at $51.1m (£32.3m).

The weekend performance marks the second biggest ever second weekend at the UK box office, behind Skyfall’s $25.5m (£16.1m) performance, and means it’s guaranteed to become the first film since The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey to hit the £50m mark in the UK.

Jurassic World’s first targets will be to overhaul Jurassic Park’s $75.8m (£47.9m) run (excluding re-releases) as the best in the series and Avengers: Age of Ultron’s $76.3m (£48.2m) to become the year’s best.

Stablemate Minions will provide stiff competition this weekend for the top spot but given Jurassic World’s run so far, you wouldn’t bet against it overhauling both records by the end of this weekend.

Also for Universal, Pitch Perfect 2 stands at $27.2m (£17.2m) after six weeks in play.

SCREENLIVE ENTERTAINMENT

Defying the usual Event Cinema strategy by playing on Friday [June 19], ScreenLive Entertainment’s Take That Live posted a new record for the biggest one-night-only concert event in the UK.

The cinecast of Take That’s final concert at London’s O2 Arena grossed a terrific non-final $1.49m (£943,100) from over 500 screens at more than 420 venues. Figures are still to be reported from its limited encore screenings yesterday [June 21], with further encores planned for next Sunday [June 28].

Friday’s performance saw Take That Live chart second in the market only behind Jurassic World, and also means the concert event is this week’s highest new entry.

“UK cinemas have previously been reticent about event cinema programming on a Friday night with it being prime real-estate due to new movie releases,” Philip Solomons, CEO of ScreenLive Entertainment, told Screen.

“However, we determined that a blockbuster act like Take That would be able to take on the blockbusters and play more like a movie opening than just another event cinema release. Cinemas gave us great support and the public reaction was overwhelming, in terms of ticket sales and social media feedback.”

FOX

Falling a respectable 36% in its third weekend, Spy charted third with $1.46m (£922,052).

Fox’s action comedy is proving savvy counter-programming and has now reached $11.7m (£7.4m), meaning it has now surpassed The Heat’s $11.1m (£7m) result in the UK.

Also for Fox, The Longest Ride started its UK journey with $662,000 (£418,086) from its 397 sites. In terms of Nicholas Sparks adaptations, that’s ahead of The Notebook’s $490,000 (£309,507) from 256 sites, but behind Message in a Bottle’s $919,000 (£579,997) from 285.

Secret Cinema’s production of The Empire Strikes Back has now crossed the £1m mark in the UK as a $451,000 (£284,950) third weekend saw it reach $1.7m (£1.05m), while Home has now amassed $38.8m (£24.5m).

EONE

Charting fourth on debut was eOne’s Mr. Holmes with a $1.2m (£741,000) debut from its 489 sites, including previews.

The opening marks director Bill Condon’s second biggest in the UK, outside of the Twilight Breaking Dawn two-parter. Dreamgirls landed with $2.1m (£1.3m) from its 270 sites.

Also for eOne, Insidious Chapter 3 has scared up $5.6m (£3.5m) after three weeks in play.

WARNER BROS

Rounding off this week’s top five was Entourage which landed with an unspectacular UK bow of $955,000 (£603,000) from its 400 sites.

Warner Bros’ big screen outing for HBO’s comedy could well struggle to sustain a run, given TV adaptations are usually front-loaded.

Also for Warner Bros, San Andreas took an extra $700,000 (£442,000) for $17m (£10.7m) after four weeks in play, while Mad Max: Fury Road added $340,000 (£215,000) for $26.8m (£17m) after six weeks.

ARROW FILMS

The long-delayed Accidental Love posted a $50,000 (£31,518) UK debut from its 20 sites through Arrow Films.

Also for Arrow Films, the re-release of The Long Good Friday grossed $14,000 (£9,029) from three sites on Fri/Sat and 21 on Sunday, while The Burning recorded a non-final UK bow of $5,700 (£3,613) from its seven sites (six on Saturday).

PICTUREHOUSE ENTERTAINMENT / NATIONAL THEATRE

In its second weekend of release, Picturehouse Entertainment’s adaptation of National Theatre’s musical London Road added $37,000 (£23,122) for $444,000 (£279,899) to date.

DOGWOOF

Currently playing in 29 sites, Dogwoof’s The Look of Silence took a further $18,000 (£11,176) for $128,000 (£80,607) to date.

CURZON FILM WORLD

Directors’ Fortnight 2014 title Les Combattants posted a UK bow of $18,000 (£11,106) from its 18 sites through Curzon Film World.

Also for Curzon Film World, Queen and Country has taken $90,000 (£56,549) after two weeks in play.

SODA PICTURES

Playing three matinee shows at London’s ICA, Soda Pictures’ documentary Natural Resistance grossed $628 (£396) on its UK opening.

UPCOMING RELEASES

This week sees saturation releases for Universal’s Minions and Entertainment’s Knock Knock, while Lionsgate’s Slow West and Metrodome’s The Overnight both receive wide releases.

Lionsgate’s She’s Funny That Way, Dogwoof’s Station to Station, eOne’s Everly and Soda Pictures’ That Sugar Film are among the films receiving limited releases.