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Source: Paramount Pictures

‘Gladiator II’

RankFilm (distributor)Three-day gross (Nov 15-17)Total gross to dateWeek
 1. Gladiator II  (Paramount) £8.8m £9.1m 1
 2. Paddington In Peru  (Studiocanal) £6.8m £18.9m 2
 3. Red One  (Warner Bros) £1.4m £4.6m 2
 4. Heretic  (EFD) £505,119 £4.9m 3
 5. Venom: The Last Dance  (Sony) £398,202 £11.8m 4

GBP to USD conversion rate: 1.26

Gladiator II posted a strong £8.8m start at the UK-Ireland box office, for the biggest opening weekend of director Ridley Scott’s career.

The Paramount blockbuster comfortably bested the £6.6m start of Scott’s The Martian from 2015. It also took a 146.4% increase on the £3.6m opening of Gladiator from 2000.

Playing in 722 cinemas, Gladiator II  took a £12,134 site average. Its £9.1m total is the fourth biggest of the year, behind Deadpool & Wolverine (£12.6m), Inside Out 2 (£11.3m) and Paddington In Peru (£9.7m).

Paddington In Peru posted a decent second weekend hold in the context of another blockbuster title. The Studiocanal family film fell just 29.4% with £6.8m, which brought it to an £18.9m total – currently the ninth-highest-grossing film of the year after just 10 days in cinemas.

This was a slightly bigger drop than the 20% fall of 2017’s Paddington 2, although that film only had £16.9m at the same stage.

Warner Bros Red One posted a decent hold on its second weekend, falling just 29.7% with £1.4m. The Christmas action comedy is up to £4.6m, and will look to build on that total as the festive centrepiece approaches.

Hugh Grant-starring horror Heretic added £505,119, after a 50.2% drop across its third weekend. The Entertainment Film Distributors title is up to £4.9m in the UK and Ireland alone – a strong result given its reported budget of £8m.

On its fourth weekend in cinemas, Sony comic book adaptation Venom: The Last Dance dropped 58.7% with £398,202 taking it to £11.8m, and will end down on the £20.2m of 2018’s Venom and £18.1m of 2021’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage.

Takings for the top five rose again, by 25.1% to £17.9m – the highest mark since £19.1m in late July for the opening weekend of Deadpool & Wolverine. The numbers are also 106.4% up on the equivalent weekend from last year, in a positive sign for cinemas looking to claw back some of the overall deficit to 2023.

Last Dance impresses

The Wild Robot added £386,653 on its fifth weekend – a 42% fall – and is up to £13.2m, falling behind the £21.5m total of fellow 2024 Universal animation Migration although still performing well for an original film.

Despite a 50.6% drop on its third session, Tim Mielants’ Small Things Like These starring Cillian Murphy still made £324,665, and has crossed the £3m mark in a strong result for Lionsgate.

Playing only on Sunday, November 17,Kiss Me, Kate: The Musical drummed up £258,966 for Trafalgar Releasing, at a £462 site average.

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Source: Emperor Motion Pictures

‘The Last Dance’

Hong Kong family drama The Last Dance started with an excellent £187,204 from just 63 locations, at a site average of £2,971 for Trinity CineAsia.

Palme d’Or-winner Anora added £127,209 on its third weekend in cinemas – a 48% drop that brought it to £1.4m for Universal. It will likely finish slightly down on the £2.1m of 2023 Palme winner Anatomy Of A Fall, but has long passed the £268,173 of 2021’s Titane and could still catch the £1.7m of 2022’s Triangle Of Sadness.

A further £113,000 on its fifth weekend took Paramount’s Smile 2 to £6.4m, still well down on the £11.7m of 2022’s Smile.

Juror #2  added £53,000 on its third weekend for Warner Bros, falling 60.6% to reach £885,000.

AA Films UK’s Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 added £49,663 on its third weekend in cinemas. The Indian comedy-horror is up to £812,362, released into cinemas by Bakrania Media.

Transformers One put on £30,000 on its sixth weekend for Paramount, and is up to almost £4.6m.

Bollywood action title Singham Again added £29,468 on its third weekend for Moviegoers Entertainment, and is up to a healthy £682,891.

Pharrell Williams Lego biopic Piece By Piece saw an 80% drop on its second weekend in cinemas, with £23,285 taking it to £262,641 for Universal.

On its third weekend in cinemas, Andrea Arnold’s Bird added £23,183 and is up to £204,000 for Mubi.

Pedro Almodovar’s The Room Next Door starring Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore added £19,000 on its fourth weekend in cinemas. The drama is up to £714,000 for Warner Bros – down on his recent films Parallel Mothers (£1.3m), Pain And Glory (£1.5m) and Julieta (£1.3m).

The Substance is still playing after nine weekends in cinemas, adding £18,177 on its latest outing to hit £3.8m for Mubi.

Studiocanal’s The Apprentice added £14,898 on its fifth weekend, and is up to £2.2m.

The second weekend of BFI Distribution’s Point Break re-release brought in £11,448, with the film now up to £90,062.

Low-budget horror hit Terrifier 3 increased its tally by £11,071 for Signature Entertainment. With £3.4m after six weekends, it is comfortably the distributor’s highest-grossing release of all time.

Modern Films opened jazz documentary Soundtrack To A Coup d’Etat to £8,939 from 11 sites at a decent £813 average. The film has £15,642 including previews, with further screenings booked for the coming weeks.

Exhibition On Screen: Van Gogh: Poets & Lovers added £7,055 on a second session for Seventh Art Distribution, with a decent £246,129 total.

Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is finally shaking out of cinemas after an impressive 11-weekend run for Warner Bros. It added £3,500 on its latest session to hit £26.3m, currently the fifth-highest-grossing film of the year.

Japanese anime Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom added a further £1,090 for Sony, and is up to £52,301 from two weekends.

Bakrania Media’s Tumbbad took £571 from 17 sites.

Antonella Sudasassi’s Spanish-Costa Rican drama Memories Of A Burning Body took £401 from three sites for Metis Films.

Three screenings of Tyler Taormina’s seasonal comedy Christmas Eve In Miller’s Point brought in £325 for Vertigo Releasing.

National Theatre Live’s re-release of Prima Facie starring Jodie Comer has crossed the £3m mark – in addition to the £5.5m from its 2022 original run, marking a success story from the event cinema space.

Trafalgar Releasing also took £25,675 from Thursday screenings only of concert film Shawn Mendes: For Friends And Family Only.