UK box office: 'Sing' retains UK lead

UK TOP FIVE

(Note - Dollar conversions are based on today’s rates)

UNIVERSAL

Despite a fall of around 40% (excluding previews), Sing managed to comfortably retain the top spot at the UK box office.

Universal’s latest Illumination Entertainment hit danced to a $4.7m (£3.8m) second weekend for $19m (£15.28m) to date, and it could overtake Despicable Me’s $24.8m (£19.9m) by the end of this coming weekend.

As it did this weekend, The Lego Batman Movie will provide some family competition, but with the upcoming school holidays, there’s more than enough room for the two of them.

Also for Universal, Split held well for a $1.55m (£1.24m) third weekend for $10.3m (£8.26m) so far, having avoided the usual fast-burn nature of genre films at the UK box office.

Loving opened with a somewhat soft $292,000 (£234,183) from its 189 sites, behind both Midnight Special and Mud in terms of Jeff Nichols’ openings. It will hope to rebound midweek, but it’s a busy market for older-skewing films at the moment.

SONY

Following its strong opening, T2 Trainspotting fell 43% as it journeyed to a $3.65m (£2.93m) second weekend.

Sony’s long-awaited sequel has crossed the £10m mark to stand at $13.3m (£10.63m) and should have overtaken Trainspotting’s $15.5m (£12.43m) by the end of this weekend. However, that total is not adjusted for inflation.

Also for Sony, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter disappointed with a UK bow of $578,000 (£463,000) from its 270 sites, marking the lowest opening of the series to date.

Chinese box office hit Journey To The West: The Demons Strike Back grossed $72,000 (£58,000) from only 18 sites, a site average of $4,019 (£3,222).

WARNER BROS

Though it won’t be officially counted until next week, Warner Bros’ The Lego Batman Movie assembled $3.05m (£2.44m) from its two days of previews.

That’s just ahead of The Lego Movie’s $2.74m (£2.2m) previews in 2014 which were added into its overall bow of $10m (£8.05m) from 547 sites. Lego Batman will hope for a similar total, although Sing is formidable competition.

LIONSGATE

La La Land is now Lionsgate’s fourth highest-grossing release of all time in the UK, behind the three Hunger Games sequels.

The Oscar favourite recorded a $2.25m (£1.81m) fourth weekend for a dazzling $30.6m (£24.52m) to date, and likely isn’t anywhere near done yet if it picks up its expected awards wins over the coming weeks.

Also for Lionsgate, Hacksaw Ridge fell only 35% (excluding previews) with a $1.03m (£826,313) second weekend for $4m (£3.2m) after 11 days in play. It should soon overtake Apocalypto’s $5.12m (£4.11m) UK result.

ENTERTAINMENT

Lion continued its healthy UK run by dropping only 21% as it travelled to a $1.09m (£870,870) third weekend as it rose to fifth.

Entertainment’s Best Picture nominee is now up to $6.23m (£5m) after adding more than $1m (£800,000) across its second Mon-Thurs session, despite the competition from other awards contenders.

PARAMOUNT

Rings creeped into the UK box office with a non-final $1.01m (£810,000) debut from its 392 sites.

Paramount’s threequel did at least win the battle of the new horrors by some distance ahead of Resident Evil, but its opening is less than half that of the previous two Ring outings in the UK.

Also for Paramount, xXx: The Final Chapter fell over 65% with a $267,000 (£214,000) third weekend for $4.17m (£3.34m) to date.

PICTUREHOUSE ENTERTAINMENT

Event cinema fans had two releases to enjoy this weekend thanks to Picturehouse Entertainment.

NT Live: Amadeus grossed $891,000 (£714,940) from its 531 sites on Thursday (February 2), while Bolshoi Ballet: Swan Lake took $228,000 (£183,040) from its 199 sites on Sunday (February 5).

STUDIOCANAL

With no awards buzz, Studiocanal’s Gold only dug up $507,000 (£406,399) from its 331 sites on its UK debut.

Director Stephen Gaghan’s previous outing, Syriana, posted a UK bow of $1.08m (£863,175) from its 236 sites, but did benefit from the heavyweight presence of George Clooney and Matt Damon.

Also for Studiocanal, Best Picture contender Manchester By The Sea took $166,000 (£133,388) for $3.3m (£2.65m) after four weeks in play.

EONE

Falling more than 40%, eOne’s Jackie posted a $397,000 (£318,264) third weekend from its 277 sites for a decent $3.19m (£2.56m) to date.

Also for eOne, Denial stands at $584,000 (£468,013) following a $112,000 (£89,731) second weekend.

DISNEY

In its eighth week, Disney’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story added $248,000 (£199,000) for a stellar $82m (£65.7m) to date, making it the ninth biggest film of all time at the UK box office.

Also for Disney, Moana sailed to a further $208,000 (£167,000) for $23.5m (£18.8m) and receives one final boost with a Sing Along version releasing on February 10.

SODA PICTURES

Oscar Best Foreign Language Film favourite Toni Erdmann is off to a strong start at the UK box office.

Soda Pictures’ comedy posted a debut of $196,000 (£157,438) from its 41 sites, including $44,000 (£34,969) in previews, marking a healthy site average of $4,790 (£3,840).

Critical acclaim and awards recognition should see the film enjoy sturdy holds over the coming weeks.

UPCOMING RELEASES

This week sees saturation releases for Warner Bros’ The Lego Batman Movie, Universal’s Fifty Shades Darker and Entertainment’s The Space Between Us.

eOne’s 20th Century Women and Paramount’s Fences both receive wide releases, while Sony’s Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, Kaleidoscope’s Prevenge and Dogwoof’s LoveTrue are among the films receiving a limited release.