| Rank | Film (distributor) | Three-day gross (Nov 22-24) | Total gross to date | Week |
| 1. | Wicked (Universal) | £13.7m | £13.7m | 1 |
| 2. | Gladiator II (Paramount) | £4.7m | £18.4m | 2 |
| 3. | Paddington In Peru (Studiocanal) | £4.2m | £24.4m | 3 |
| 4. | Red One (Warner Bros) | £822,000 | £5.8m | 3 |
| 5. | Heretic (EFD) | £205,457 | £205,457 | 4 |
GBP to USD conversion rate: 1.26
Wicked cast its spell on UK-Ireland audiences this weekend, bringing in £13.7m in its debut – the best-performing opening weekend for a stage-to-screen adaptation in the territory, and the biggest opening weekend of 2024.
The musical was released at 701 sites, for a site average of £19,543 for Universal. It beat previous stage-to-screen record holder Les Misérables, with £8.1m in 2013. Wicked also knocked Deadpool & Wolverine off its 2024 opening weekend top spot, bringing in £12.6m for Disney in July.
It is also the third-highest opening for a musical ever in the UK and Ireland, behind Beauty And The Beast (£19.7m, March 2017) and Frozen 2 (£15.1m, November 2019) and the third-highest opening weekend for a PG certificate film, behind Beauty And The Beast and The Lion King (£16.7m, July 2019). It is also Universal’s third-highest opening weekend of all time.
Wicked is the first of a two-part adaptation of the stage musical of the same name, starring Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum, with Jon M Chu directing. Elphaba (Erivo), misunderstood because of her green skin, and Glinda (Grande), a more conventional and popular girl, become friends at Shiz University in the Land of Oz. Their friendship is tested after crossing paths with the Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II, starring Paul Mescal and Denzel Washington, dropped 46% in its second weekend, taking £4.7m, for an overall figure of £18.4m for Paramount.
Paddington In Peru added £4.2m in its third weekend. Its total after three weekends on release for Studiocanal is £24.4m.
Warner Bros Christmas action comedy Red One cheered up £822,000 for Warner Bros, for a £5.8m total after three sessions.
Entertainment Film Distributors horror Heretic, starring Hugh Grant, scared up £205,457 in its fourth weekend in release, for a total to-date of £5.4m.
On its sixth session, animation The Wild Robot brought in £181,573 for Universal, down 53% on its previous session, for a cumulative total of £13.5m.
Small Things Like These, starring Cillian Murphy, continues to hold admirably with £161,813 in its fourth weekend for Lionsgate, for a total of £3.5m.
Venom: The Last Dance added £122,166 for a total of £12.2m after five weekends for Sony.
In event releases, Tosca - Met Opera 2024 took in £120,544 from 95 venues across the UK only, for a site average of £1,269, with more still to report for Trafalgar Releasing. CinemaLive’s screenings of Girl From The North Country, recorded at the Belasco Theatre in New York, brought in £52,677 from 134 sites on Sunday only, for a site average of £393.
Sean Baker’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner Anora added £89,698 for Universal, on its fourth weekend, for a total of £1.6m.
Trinity CineAsia’s Hong Kong family drama The Last Dance brought in £66,010 in its second weekend, for an overall figure of £388,334. It is currently the fifth best performing Hong Kong film in the UK-Ireland, behind Stephen Chow’s Kung FuHustle, which took £1.3m in 2005, and John Woo’s Red Cliff, which took £395,619 in June 2009.
Modern Films’ CBeebies Panto 2024: Beauty And The Beast conjured up £37,115 in its debut weekend from 143 sites, for a site average of £256. With £1,970 from previews, its total to date is £39,085.
Smile 2 drummed up £28,000 for Paramount, for a total of £6.5m after six weekends.
Indian horror comedy Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3’s fourth weekend added £20,619, for a cumulative figure of £855,914, released by AA Films UK.
The debut feature of Screen Star of Tomorrow Amrou Al-Kadhi, Layla, about a British-Palestinian drag queen, opened to £17,424 for Curzon from 21 cinemas, for a site average of £830. With previews of £18,449, the cume is £35,873.
Andrea Arnold’s Mubi-released Bird added £8,200 on its fourth weekend, bringing its total up to £237,000. Mubi also took £8,900 on its 10th weekend for The Substance, which now stands at £3.9m.
Documentary The Flight Of Bryan brought in £617 from one site for Altitude in its debut weekend. James Erskine directs the story of an unemployed amateur cyclist, heavily in-debt father and team of neuro-diverse outliers, who set out on a quest to untangle the mystery of human-powered flight.
Indian Hindi-language action film Singham Again crossed the £700,000 mark, adding £8,689 in its fourth weekend, for a £707,010 total.
Also new on release this weekend: The Magic Reindeer: Saving Santa’s Sleigh for Kaleidoscope; Spellbound for Netflix; Bread And Roses for Apple; Liverpool Story for Shut Out The Light; and Snow Leopard for Day For Night; Hey Siri Ve Siri for Zee Studios; Letters To Santa 6 for Magnetes Pictures; Mediha for Together Films; Silent Men for Cosmic Cat and The Man With A Thousand Faces for Sovereign Film Distribution.
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