Nia DaCosta’s The Marvels heads the new films in UK-Ireland cinemas this weekend, looking to boost the fortunes of the long-running superhero franchise.
The Marvels opens in 665 cinemas through Disney. This is slightly fewer than recent Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) titles Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 (708), Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania (680) and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (704); the last MCU film to open on fewer screens was Chloe Zhao’s Eternals in 2021 (646).
Running for 15 years and counting, the MCU is still the highest-grossing film franchise both in UK-Ireland and worldwide. Twelve of the 100 highest-grossing films of all time in the UK and Ireland are among the 33 MCU titles to date, including the number four film, 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home (£97.2m).
Takings this year – while still sizeable - have not quite reached the heights of pre-pandemic, from two MCU entries: Guardians Vol. 3 (£36.7m) and Quantumania (£19.3m).
The Marvels sees Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers (alias: Captain Marvel) have her powers entangled with those of two other superheroines, Kamala Khan and Monica Rambeau, forcing them to work together to save the universe. It is the fourth MCU film to feature Danvers, and second to focus on her character, acting as a sequel to 2019’s Captain Marvel (opened: £12.7m; closed: £39.5m).
The film shot across 2021 and 2022, including at Pinewood and Longcross Studios in the UK. It is a third feature for US filmmaker DaCosta, who started her career with 2018 Tribeca crime drama Little Woods. She then made 2021 horror Candyman, produced by Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw for Universal Pictures, which took a decent £5.2m.
Picturehouse Entertainment is opening 2023 Palme d’Or winner Anatomy Of A Fall by Justine Triet in 160 cinemas, released in partnership with Lionsgate. Sandra Huller has received plaudits for her role as a woman suspected of her husband’s murder, who must balance the court case and caring for her blind son – the main witness. With a best international independent film nomination at the Bifas already under its belt, the film will compete in best picture and international categories across awards season – although it was overlooked for France’s Oscar submission in favour of Anh Hung Tran’s The Taste Of Things.
Recent Palme d’Or winners have had differing success at the UK-Ireland box office. 2019 winner Parasite took an astonishing £12.1m in February of the following year – and may have done even more were it not for the pandemic – while Ruben Ostlund’s 2022 winner Triangle Of Sadness made it to seven figures, with £1.7m; as did 2016’s I, Daniel Blake, with £3.5m. Takings are lower for the more arthouse winners, such as 2021’s Titane (£268,173) and 2015’s Dheepan (£412,331) – but still at a level that shows the advantage of winning the prize.
Dream wakes up
Entertainment Film Distributors is debuting A24 production Dream Scenario, from Norwegian filmmaker Kristoffer Borgli, on 460 screens. The Toronto premiere stars Nicolas Cage as a hapless family man whose life is turned upside down when millions of strangers start seeing him in their dreams. Producers include Ari Aster and Lars Knudsen through their US company Square Peg. Dream Scenario is a third feature for Borgli, after 2017 debut Drib and last year’s Sick Of Myself, which launched in Un Certain Regard at Cannes.
Sunday 12 sees a 269-site launch of Maneesh Sharma’s Indian action thriller Tiger 3, through Yash Raj Films. The fifth instalment in the YRF Spy Universe, it is a sequel to 2017’s Tiger Zinda Hai, which took £1.8m – a strong result for a non-English language film. Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif star as two agents framed as traitors by a revenge-seeking terrorist, who must go on a crusade to clear their names. 2023 has been a strong year for Indian films in the UK and Ireland, from Pathaan in January (£4.4m total) to last month’s Leo (£1.3m).
Films not in the English language make up six of the 12 new titles in UK-Ireland cinemas this week. Trinity Film/CineAsia is opening Sen-I Yu’s Taiwanese drama My Heavenly City, depicting three interconnected stories about the lives of Taiwanese people in New York City, on 20 screens. Sovereign Films has Laurent Negre’s historical drama A Forgotten Man, about the Swiss ambassador to Berlin returning home after the Second World War to face his past decisions.
Event cinema titles include Callas – Paris, 1958 - a performance from opera icon Maria Callas - in 133 sites on Saturday, November 11 through Piece of Magic Entertainment.
Tull Stories is starting Jens Meurer’s documentary Seaside Special, in which a north Norfolk town prepares for its annual end-of-the-pier variety show, in 16 sites across its first week.
Miracle/Dazzler is starting Colin Krawchuk’s US horror The Jester, about a malevolent being terrorizing a small town on Halloween night, in 26 sites; while Bulldog Film Distribution is starting a rollout for comedy-thriller Give Me Pity! in three cinemas this weekend, with further bookings in the weeks to come.
Further new releases include Dogwoof’s Alzheimer’s disease documentary The Eternal Memory, by Maite Alberdi, whose The Mole Agent was nominated for best documentary at the 2021 Oscars; and animation Thomas & Friends: Tale Of The Brave through National Amusements.
Among the holdovers, Universal’s Trolls Band Together and Five Nights At Freddy’s will continue their battle near the top of the chart; while Molly Manning Walker’s Mubi title How To Have Sex will look to benefit from good word-of-mouth after a decent start last weekend.
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