| Rank | Film (distributor) | Three-day gross (Jan 13-15) | Total gross to date | Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Avatar: The Way Of Water (Disney) | £4.2m | £63.5m | 5 |
| 2. | M3GAN (Universal) | £2.4m | £2.4m | 1 |
| 3. | Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Sony) | £1.1m | £8.2m | 3 |
| 4. | Empire Of Light (Disney) | £965,512 | £1.7m | 1 |
| 5. | Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical (Sony) | £855,791 | £25m | 8 |
GBP to USD conversion rate: 1.22
Viral horror sensation M3GAN scored the second-highest opening total for a horror film since the pandemic at this weekend’s UK-Ireland box office; as Avatar: The Way Of Water topped the charts for a fifth consecutive weekend.
The Way Of Water added £4.2m, a 29% drop on its previous session, and is now up to £63.5m. It is still tracking well ahead of the first Avatar film, which was at £49.4m after five weekends; although the latter’s fifth weekend takings were higher at £5.5m.
The Way Of Water is now the 22nd -highest-grossing film of all time in the UK and Ireland; it will look to at least break into the top 10 before the end of its run (Titanic is currently 10th with £80.3m).
M3GAN’s £2.4m came from 556 locations at an excellent average of £4,192 per cinema for Universal. The film took £810,080 on Friday, bettering that with £968,078 on the Saturday alone. Its three-day opening tops those of post-pandemic horror titles A Quiet Place Part II (£2.2m), The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (£1.9m) and Smile (£1.5m); and is only beaten by franchise title Scream’s £2.5m start from January last year.
Those films all ended with totals between £7m and £12m; M3GAN will be aiming to reach the £10m barrier after an impressive start. The horror, about a life-like doll that takes a life of its own, has benefitted from marketing including performances at sporting events and a TikTok campaign.
Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody scored a third consecutive weekend over £1m, with £1.1m – a fall of just 20.7% - taking it to an £8.2m total for Sony.
Sam Mendes’ Empire Of Light opened in fourth spot, with £965,512 over the weekend at an average of £1,399 per cinema. Having opened on Monday, January 9, the film is now up to a £1.7m total for Disney, through its Searchlight Pictures label.
Sony’s Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical dropped 27.6% on its eighth weekend, with £855,791 taking it beyond £25m, as one of the 15 highest-grossing films since the pandemic.
Top five takings dipped by 8.6% to £9.4m – a small drop, but one that the exhibition sector will hope to level out after four consecutive weekends of decline. Paramount’s Babylon starring Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie is the major release that could boost takings next weekend.
TÁR, Enys Men make strong starts
A Man Called Otto added £795,254 for Sony – a 26.9% drop – and is up to £2.6m from two weekends.
Todd Field’s TÁR starring Cate Blanchett made a fast start with £394,632 from just 135 sites at a £2,902 average for Universal – a great figure for a mid-range release.
Disney’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever added £143,400 on its tenth weekend in cinemas, dropping 47%. It is now up to £34.1m, and is the 14th -highest-grossing of 30 Marvel Cinematic Universe titles to date – where it will likely finish, with Iron Man 3 next ahead on £37m.
Strange World added £128,768 for Disney – a drop of just 10% - and is up to £3.7m from eight weekends.
Till fell 58% on its second weekend for Universal, adding £119,957 to reach £630,616
The Menu is still in cinemas after nine weekends for Disney, dropping 36% on its previous session with £86,802 bringing it past the £4m mark.
In event cinema, Trafalgar Releasing played Fedora – Met Opera 2023 on Saturday 14, bringing in £80,228 with venues still to report.
Mark Jenkin’s Cornish folk horror Enys Men made an excellent start for BFI Distribution, bringing in £70,002 from just 49 sites at a £1,428 average. Including previews the film has £103,250. This puts it well ahead of the £48,382 opening of Jenkin’s Bait in 2019; that film went on to a £536,532 total, which bodes well for Enys Men.
Buzz continues for Mubi’s UK-US indie title Aftersun, which added £54,360 – a 40.4% drop – to reach almost £1.4m in total, and a strong nine-weekend-and counting cinema run, even after the film has launched on Mubi’s online platform.
Disney’s Searchlight Pictures title The Banshees Of Inisherin scored a 19% increase on the weekend following its Golden Globes wins. It put on £50,633 on a 13th weekend in cinemas to reach a strong £9.3m total; further awards success could still push it past the £10m mark.
Picturehouse Entertainment’s Corsage added £22,000 on its third session and is up to £462,000. This week it will pass the £472,904 of 2021’s The Nest to become the distributor’s biggest hit since the pandemic.
Vertigo Releasing’s Antonio Banderas thriller The Enforcer added £14,038 on its second weekend to reach a total of £123,926.
Mubi’s Berlinale 2022 Golden Bear winner Alcarràs added £12,155 on its second weekend and is up to £79,396.
The re-release of Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon added £9,740 on its second weekend for BFI Distribution, for a £56,135 total.
Universal’s Minions: The Rise Of Gru may finally be leaving cinemas after 29 weekends, having added £7,076 to reach just shy of £47m. It has ended close to Minions’ £47.8m from 2015 – a strong result on a sequel.
Violent Night added £2,482 on its seventh weekend, also for Universal, and closes out with a £3.8m gross.
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