The Lego Movie builds up lead at UK box office

Despite a busy Valentine’s Day-fuelled release window, The Lego Movie recorded the UK’s biggest debut of 2014 to top the chart.

Having built up $3.6m (£2.16m) in previews last week, Warner Bros’ 3D animation towered over the competition with a $13.5m (£8.05m) debut. The result means it’s already surpassed the entire $10.9m (£6.5m) UK run of co-directors Phil Lord & Christopher Miller’s previous foray into animation, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

This coming week will also see The Lego Movie become Lord & Miller’s best-ever UK performer, surpassing 21 Jump Street’s $16.9m (£10.1m).

Even without its previews, the Fri-Sun takings of $9.9m (£5.9m) would have comfortably seen the film land the top spot.

As debuts for non-sequel animation offerings go, The Lego Movie is comparable to the debuts of Up ($10.7m/£6.4m) and Finding Nemo ($12.3m/£7.4m) on their way to $57.9m (£34.6m) and $62.5m (£37.4m), respectively.

Also for Warner Bros, multiple BAFTA winner Gravity added $199,000 (£118,819) for $50.9m (£30.4m).

FOX

Landing second behind The Lego Movie was another new entry in the form of Fox’s The Monuments Men.

George Clooney’s latest directorial outing recorded a healthy non-final $2.7m (£1.6m) UK debut at a site average of $5,531 (£3,304). That marks Clooney’s strongest debut, ahead of The Ides of March’s $1.1m (£665,387) from 213 sites.

It also puts the based on real life drama in a great position to become Clooney’s best-ever UK performer, currently The Ides of March’s $5.2m (£3.1m) result.

Also for Fox, last week’s champion Mr. Peabody & Sherman fell to fourth as it dropped 44% week-on-week, discounting previews. The 3D animation added $2.3m (£1.4m) to climb to $9.7m (£5.8m), ahead of what should be a fruitful half term week.

STUDIOCANAL

Dropping just 37% in its second weekend, RoboCop charted third with $2.5m (£1.5m).

StudioCanal’s reboot is now up to a strong $8.2m (£4.92m) ten-day total and will shortly overtake Total Recall’s $9.5m (£5.7m) UK result. £10m is a possibility if it holds well this week.

Also for StudioCanal, Cuban Fury danced its way to a respectable $1.6m (£964,630) UK bow from 362 sites. That puts it as the leading romantic offering from the Valentine’s Day releases at seventh.

UNIVERSAL

Rounding off this week’s top five and falling just 30% in its fifth week was The Wolf of Wall Street with $1.9m (£1.1m) through Universal.

Martin Scorsese’s latest is now up to an excellent $32.8m (£19.6m) and, barring a major collapse, is all-but guaranteed to end its run as the UK’s highest grossing 18-rated film of all time ahead of Hannibal’s $35.5m (£21.6m).

Universal’s entry into the Valentine’s Day crowd came in the form of Endless Love, which started its UK run with a sturdy $1.2m (£741,000) at a site average of $3,468 (£2,071). That’s already director Shana Feste’s best-ever UK performer, ahead of Country Strong’s $74,000 (£43,912).

Lone Survivor stands at $3.3m (£2m) after three weeks in play.

DISNEY

Despite family competition from The Lego Movie and Mr. Peabody & Sherman, Tinker Bell and the Pirate Fairy sailed to a solid $1.6m (£966,920) debut from 405 sites through Disney, with 90.26% of its weekend gross coming from 2D screenings.

That’s ahead of Tinker Bell and the Secret of the Wings’ UK bow of $855,000 (£528,820), with the film going on an excellent run to take $7.4m (£4.4m). Were the Pirate Fairy to emulate that run, it should be looking at a UK result of over £5m.

Also for Disney, BAFTA winner Frozen looks to be losing its battle to hit £40m in the UK as it dropped 43% to add $457,000 (£272,790) for $62.7m (£37.5m).

EONE

Holding well from its strong UK bow last week, Dallas Buyers Club posted a $1.2m (£713,729) second weekend. eOne’s drama is now up to a ten-day tally of $4.1m (£2.42m), continuing the distributor’s strong start to 2014.

Also for eOne, BAFTA Best Film winner 12 Years a Slave added $893,000 (£533,666) in its sixth weekend to climb to a hugely impressive $27.6m (£16.5m) to date.

That Awkward Moment is up to $4m (£2.39m) after three weeks in play.

ENTERTAINMENT

Released on 200 screens through Entertainment, Her posted a UK bow of $752,000 (£449,307) for a decent $3,759 (£2,247) site average given its somewhat niche appeal.

The debut marks director Spike Jonze’s second-best UK bow, behind Where the Wild Things Are’s $1.5m (£883,990) from 491 sites. Being John Malkovich previously provided Jonze’s best debut for an adult-orientated film with $496,000 (£296,282) from 55 sites.

Also for Entertainment, American Hustle (winner of BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress and Best Makeup and Hair) is up to $21.9m (£13.1m) following a $234,000 (£139,779) weekend.

LIONSGATE

Ahead of its expansion from this Friday [Feb 21], The Invisible Woman added $105,000 (£62,737) from its 37 London cinemas to stand at $508,000 (£303,934) through Lionsgate.

PARAMOUNT

Now up to $5.6m (£3.33m) in the UK following a $100,000 (£60,000) weekend through Paramount, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit will end its UK run as one of the lowest grossing outings in the franchise, behind The Sum of All Fears’ $7.5m (£4.5m).

ARTIFICIAL EYE

Released in ten sites through Artificial Eye, Claire Denis’ Bastards posted a UK debut of $19,400 (£11,574) including previews. Denis’ last UK outing, White Material, bowed with $53,000 (£31,763) from 21 sites back in 2010.

UPCOMING RELEASES

This week sees saturation releases for Warner Bros’ A New York Winter’s Tale, while Soda’s Only Lovers Left Alive and Sony’s Stalingrad both receive wide releases and Lionsgate’s The Invisible Woman expands wide.

Artificial Eye’s Nymphomaniac, Volume I and II receives a one-off event release at cinemas across the UK on Feb 22, while Peccadillo’s Stranger by the Lake is among the films receiving a limited release.