| Rank | Film (distributor) | Three-day gross (Dec 29-31) | Total gross to date | Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Wonka (Warner Bros) | £6.6m | £45m | 4 |
| 2. | Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom (Warner Bros) | £1.7m | £6.3m | 2 |
| 3. | Wish (Disney) | £1m | £10m | 6 |
| 4. | Ferrari (Black Bear) | £1m | £2.2m | 1 |
| 5. | Anyone But You (Sony) | £733,416 | £1.4m | 1 |
GBP to USD conversion rate: 1.26
Wonka recorded an outstanding £6.6m weekend on the final session of the year at the UK-Ireland box office, topping the charts on its fourth session in cinemas and reaching a huge £45m total.
The £6.6m figure for Wonka was up 3.7% on the weekend from December 15-17.
Its £45m total makes it the fourth-highest-grossing release of 2023, behind Barbie (£94.2m), Oppenheimer (£58.8m) and The Super Mario Bros. Movie (£53.7m). A long tail could see it finish as high as second in the 2023 chart.
Wonka is already in the top 70 highest-grossing films of all time in the UK and Ireland. It has passed the £42.6m of 2017’s Paddington 2 and the £38m of 2014’s Paddington, both also directed by Paul King.
In a strong final weekend of the year, Warner Bros’ Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom added a further £1.7m. The final title in the DC Extended Universe opened on Thursday, December 21 and is up to £6.3m from 12 days in cinemas for Warner Bros. It will finish below the £22.5m of the 2018 first Aquaman film.
Animation Wish leads the way for Disney, putting on just over £1m on its sixth session – an impressive 73.4% increase on the weekend of December 15-17. The film is just shy of £10m in total – likely to finish below the £16.2m of fellow 2023 Disney animation Elemental, but recovering well from a slow start.
Michael Mann’s Ferrari revved to a £1m opening session, making it the highest-grossing new title of the final weekend of the year. Having opened on December 26, the film took just shy of £2m across its first six days, putting it second for its full opening; and has £2.2m including January 1 – a decent start for distributor Black Bear Pictures.
Romantic comedy Anyone But You starring Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney started with £733,416 at the weekend for Sony, and has £1.4m in total to date.
Takings for the top five came in at £11.4m. This was the highest figure since the third weekend of Barbenheimer in early August; although a slight 2.7% drop on the same weekend from the previous year.
Heron soars for Ghibli
Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy And The Heron has smashed records after just seven days in cinemas, through Elysian Film Distribution. The animated film had the highest screen average in the market on its December 26 opening day; and surpassed the £1.18m total of Spirited Away within four days to become Studio Ghibli’s highest-grossing film ever in the UK and Ireland.
A £687,169 opening weekend from 159 sites saw it land fifth in the chart, with a site average of £4,322 as the second-highest across the weekend behind Wonka. It is also the second-highest opening of all time for a Japanese film, behind only the £2.8m of Pokemon: The First Movie in 2000.
A further £153,805 on January 1 brought the film to £1.8m, marking a hit for Elysian and Studio Ghibli already.
Taika Waititi’s football drama Next Goal Wins started with £425,981 at the weekend for Disney, and has £935,382 in total having opened on December 26.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes continues to play well after seven weekends in cinemas. The prequel, starring Rachel Zegler and Tom Blyth, added £408,649 on December 29-31 – down just 33.3% on its fifth session. It has £17.5m total.
Sony’s Napoleon continues its charge, adding £267,029 on its sixth session in cinemas to reach a £13.7m total – topping the £12.9m of director Ridley Scott’s 2017 Alien: Covenant, and becoming his highest-grossing film since the £23.7m of 2015’s The Martian.
A strong weekend for Japanese films saw All The Anime’s Godzilla Minus One add a further £258,095, taking its total to just shy of £2m from 18 days in cinemas.
Rajkumar Hirani’s Indian comedy Dunki added a further £217,139 on its second weekend – a 58.3% drop from its strong pre-Christmas opening weekend. It has £1.4m in total for Yash Raj Films – an excellent amount for a film not in the English language.
Despite launching on Amazon Prime Video on December 22, Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn took a further £103,000 in cinemas on the final weekend of the year, and is up to a decent £5.3m total for Warner Bros. It is a first theatrical release in most territories for Fennell, with her first film Promising Young Woman having debuted online in many locations during the pandemic.
Including takings from Monday, January 1, Russian animation Cats In The Museum started with £72,251 for Miracle/Dazzler, and has £113,132 including previews.
Trolls Band Together remains Universal’s primary title on release. The family animation increased 101% on its 11th weekend in cinemas, with £34,061; it has £15.5m in total including January 1.
In event cinema, Trafalgar Releasing’s Berliner Philharmoniker Live: New Year’s Eve Concert2023 took £32,976 from screenings on Sunday, December 31.
Justine Triet’s Palme d’Or-winning Anatomy Of A Fall is still in cinemas after eight weekends. The Lionsgate title added £23,379 on its latest session, and is up to £1.5m total.
Concert film Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé added a further £6,604 on its fifth session, and is up to £1.7m total.
Aki Kaurismaki’s Fallen Leaves put on a further £5,210 on its fifth weekend, and is up to £288,722 total. This is beyond the £280,083 of the director’s previous film, 2017’s The Other Side Of Hope – a strong result for Mubi, topping a pre-pandemic figure.
Paris Zarcilla’s Bifa-nominated Raging Grace opened to £2,876 from five cinemas this weekend through Modern Films, and is up to £9,675 in total.
Leo Leigh’s UK debut Sweet Sue added a further £1,804 on its second weekend in cinemas, and is up to £9,644 for Curzon.
Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla officially opened with £131,417 on January 1 through Mubi. Including previews, the film has £321,055 in total.
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