‘Kneecap’ breaks £1m at UK-Ireland box office as ‘Alien: Romulus’ holds lead with £2m

Rank	Film (distributor)	Three-day gross (August 23-25)	Total gross to date	Week
1.	Alien: Romulus  (Disney)	£2m	£8.8m	2
2.	It Ends With Us  (Sony)	£1.8m	£16.3m	3
3.	Deadpool & Wolverine  (Disney)	£1.78m	£52.6m	5
4.	Despicable Me 4  (Universal)	£1.4m	£42.4m	7
5.	Blink Twice  (Warner Bros)	£746,332	£955,863	1

GBP to USD conversion rate: 1.32

Rich Peppiatt’s Kneecap has grossed  £1.1m at the UK-Ireland box office, after opening to £136,909 in England, Scotland and Wales this weekend for Curzon as Disney’s Alien: Romulus held top spot on the chart for a second weekend.

Adding just over £2m from Friday to Sunday – a 46% drop – Alien: Romulus is up to £8.8m, including Bank Holiday Monday. This gives it a good chance of overtaking the £12.9m of 2017’s Alien: Covenant to become the highest-grossing title in the franchise.

Sony’s It Ends With Us starring Blake Lively held second place, falling 34.8% with £1.8m on its third weekend. The domestic abuse drama is now up to an impressive £16.3m.

Disney’sDeadpool & Wolverine was another impressive holdover performer, falling just 25.6% with £1.78m on its fifth session. The Disney release is up to a sizeable £52.6m as the second-highest-grossing film of 2024 behind Inside Out 2.

Despicable Me 4 shot up 19% on its seventh weekend in cinemas, with £1.4m bringing it to £42.4m for Universal.

New Warner Bros title Blink Twice from Zoe Kravitz rounded out the top five, opening to £746,332 from Friday to Sunday, with £955,863 including Monday.

Top five takings came in at £7.8m – a 28.4% drop on last weekend, and the lowest level since early June. The presence of several strong holdover titles is good for cinemas, but exhibitors will really be looking for a strong wide release in the coming weeks, with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (September 6) and a Batman film series re-release on the horizon. 

Inside Out 2 rises

With an increase of 19.2%, Disney animation sequel Inside Out 2 rose a place at the box office, adding £604,000 to hit £57.1m. It has overtaken Pixar stablemate Incredibles 2  (£56.2m), and is now the fourth-highest-grossing fully-animated feature of all time in the UK and Ireland, after The Lion King  (£76m), Toy Story 3 (£74.1m) and Toy Story 4  (£66.2m).

Trafalgar Releasing’s release of a remastered version of Henry Selick’s Coraline continues to draw new audiences. The stop-motion animation added £397,701 – a 28.8% drop on its opening – to hit £2.4m, in addition to the £8.7m made by the original 2009 release through Universal.

Twisters spun a further £280,756 on its sixth weekend – a slim 12.2% drop that brought it to £13.7m total for Warner Bros.

Warner Bros stablemate Trap added £265,835 on its third session – a 52.4% drop – and has £3.3m in total, overtaking M. Night Shyamalan’s last film Knock At The Cabin  (£3.2m) and closing in on the one before, Old (£3.4m).

The Irish and English-language title Kneecap  took £251,657 this weekend, comprised of £136,909 from its opening in England, Scotland and Wales, and Wildcard Distribution’s third weekend of the Irish release.

Its screen average in England, Scotland and Wales was £575 from 238 screens. Its total UK-Ireland box office is now up to £1.1m, which will provide a boost ahead of a potential awards run, with the film already selected as Ireland’s entry to the international feature Oscar.

Indian titles continue to thrive at this summer’s box office, led by Bakrania Media’s Stree 2. The comedy-horror held well on its second weekend, falling just 25.8% with £178,083 contributing to a £688,271 total through Monday.

Harold And The Purple Crayon saw takings increase 32.5% for Sony, with £177,918 on its fourth session bringing it to a £2.5m cume.

The Amazing Spider-Man, the latest Spider-Man release from Sony, brought in £146,633 across the three days and has £160,061 including Monday, after taking £26m on its original 2012 run.

Eco-conscious animation Ozi: Voice Of The Forest added £66,451 on its second session for Signature Entertainment, and is up to a healthy £357,289.

Universal’s Berlin horror Cuckoo started with £62,831 at the weekend, at a £292 site average. Including Monday and previews, the film – starring Hunter Schafer and Dan Stevens – has £125,156.

Pop music release Seventeen Tour ‘Follow’ Again To Cinemas opened to £59,401 through Trafalgar Releasing, with a £114,406 total after an event cinema opening on Wednesday August 21.

Black Bear horror Longlegs is still in cinemas after seven sessions, dropping 45.5% this time out with £48,000 across the four days taking it to £9.8m.

Family animation Noah’s Ark brought in £38,037 across the four days for Miracle Comms.

AA Films UK’s comedy Khel Khel Mein, released by Bakrania Media, took £30,160 on its second session and has £138,647 to date.

Sony opened Sundance comedy Between The Temples to £22,622 across three days, with £36,386 including Monday.

Chinese crime drama Only The River Flows posted a decent second weekend for Picturehouse Entertainment, falling 38.5% with £19,397 taking it to £108,687 total.

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