Studiocanal’s Paddington In Peru ventures into 732 UK and Ireland cinemas this weekend in the year’s widest opening so far.
The bear’s latest adventure beats out Joker: Folie A Deux which recently opened in 725 cinemas and is Studiocanal’s widest opening of all time. It is also significantly ahead of 2014’s Paddington (520 venues) and 2017’s Paddington 2 (606 venues). Those films opened on £5.1m and £8.3m, respectively.
Dougal Wilson takes the reins from Paul King for the third instalment which sees Paddington and the Brown family travel to Peru to find Aunt Lucy. Ben Whishaw returns to voice Paddington alongside Hugh Bonneville, Julie Walters and Jim Broadbent. Emily Mortimer takes over from Sally Phillips as Mary Brown while Olivia Colman and Antonio Banderas also join the cast.
The Paddington films have grossed over £80m collectively in the UK and Ireland, with the sequel landing in the territory’s top 40 highest-grossing films. Paddington In Peru has not quite matched the critical acclaim of its predecessors and will have to fend off upcoming juggernaut releases—Gladiator II and Wicked— if it is to reach the same heights.
Christmas comes early
Also out this weekend is Warner Bros’ festive title Red One, opening in 556 cinemas. Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans, JK Simmons and Lucy Liu star in the family comedy about a bounty hunter who is drafted in to help find Santa Claus. Jake Kasdan directs. The title will be in direct competition with Paddington In Peru for audiences but may benefit from its starry cast and the upcoming festivities in the long run.
Universal launches Pharrell Williams Lego biopic Piece By Piece in 356 venues. The animation, which closed BFI London Film Festival last month, recounts the story of the musician and producer through Lego animation.
Previous iterations of Lego films have built big numbers at the box office. The LEGO Movie opened with £8.1m back in 2019 from 547 sites, followed by The LEGO Batman Movie in 2017 which debuted on £7.9m from 602 locations. 2019’s The LEGO Movie 2 took a dip with a £4m opening from 572 venues.
Sony is opening Japanese anime title Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom in 183 locations. Set in the future, the films are primarily based within a video game.
Exhibition On Screen: Van Gogh: Poets & Lovers 2024 is screening in 80 sites this weekend via Seventh Art Distribution. The film takes audiences through the National Gallery exhibition of the famous artist.
Andrea Arnold’s Bird launches in 61 cinemas via Mubi. The Cannes premiere stars Barry Keoghan as a single father who spends little time with his daughter, leading her to seek adventure elsewhere. Arnold’s last fiction feature was 2016’s American Honey which opened with £176,072 and went on to make £477,661.
BFI Distribution is screening a 4K version of Kathryn Bigelow’s 1991 film Point Break in 61 sites. Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves star in the action about an FBI agent who goes undercover with a surfer gang.
Dreamz Entertainment is opening Indian crime comedy Appudo Ippudo Eppudo in 16 cinemas. Directed by Sudheer Varma, the film follows a man looking for love who finds himself caught at the centre of a criminal conspiracy.
Palestinian-Israeli documentary No Other Land opens in 15 venues for Dogwoof. The Berlinale double award-winner centres around the destruction of the occupied West Bank’s Masafer Yatta and the subsequent alliance that is formed between a Palestinian activist and an Israeli journalist.
Other releases include awards contender The Piano Lesson for Netflix; Swan Lake Filmed For Imax via Pathe; and Irish-set comedy The Problem With People for Kaleidoscope. The Wild Robot and Venom: The Last Dance will be the key holdover titles.
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