UK-Ireland box office preview: ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ let loose in 717 cinemas

It’s Showtime for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice as the Warner Bros sequel releases into 717 cinemas across the UK and Ireland this weekend.

Tim Burton’s follow-up to his 1988 cult hit sees Michael Keaton return as the titular ghoul alongside Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara. New faces include Jenna Ortega, Willem Dafoe, Justin Theroux and Monica Bellucci.

The original Beetlejuice made nearly $75m at the box office (numbers not adjusted for inflation) with the sequel expected to exorcise that number within its opening weekend.

Burton’s last theatrical release was in 2019 with the Disney live-action Dumbo opening on £6.1m from 661 sites. His most successful launch was 2010’s Alice In Wonderland (also Disney) which debuted with £10.6m and grossed £45.6m in total.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice appears to have scared away its competition this weekend with the only other major openings - Sony’s re-release of Spider-Man: Homecoming in 488 cinemas; and Altitude’s event title Blur: Live At Wembley Stadium in 340.

Jude Law takes on Henry VIII

Also out in cinemas is Karim Aïnouz’s Firebrand starring Jude Law and Alicia Vikander as Henry VIII and his sixth wife Katherine Parr. MetFilm Distribution releases the period drama, which first premiered at Cannes 2023 in Competition, in 192 venues. 

UK horror Starve Acre  opens in 58 locations for BFI Distribution. Daniel Kokotajlo’s feature stars Matt Smith and Morfydd Clark as a couple thrown into turmoil when their son starts behaving strangely.

Studiocanal has a 75^th anniversary reissue of The Third Man in 42 cinemas. The detective thriller stars Orson Welles and Joseph Cotten.

Fantasia award-winner Red Rooms lands in 12 venues for Vertigo Releasing. The Canadian cyber thriller had its world premiere at Karlovy Vary and follows a tech-savvy overachiever who becomes obsessed with the high-profile trial of a serial killer 

British political thriller The Whip begins rolling out in three locations for Workbus.

Other releases include documentary Knock Out Blonde: The Kellie Maloney Story for Kaleidoscope and Park Circus re-release of 1995’s Batman Forever.

Deadpool & Wolverine, It Ends With Us and Despicable Me 4 remain key holdovers.

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