‘The Outrun’ opens in UK-Ireland box office top five; ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ hits £21m

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Nora Fingscheidt’s The Outrun scored a top five spot on its opening weekend at the UK-Ireland box office; as Beetlejuice Beetlejuice held top spot for a fourth successive weekend, and Megalopolis opened outside the top five.

Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice added £1.8m – a slim drop of just 27.2%, that brings it to just shy of £21m. It is now the eighth-highest-grossing 2024 release, and should move up to fifth place before the end of its run for Warner Bros.

Universal thriller Speak No Evil also posted a good hold on its third session, falling just 21% with £641,119. The James McAvoy-starring film is just below £4m, outperforming several recent Blumhouse Productions films in the territory, including Afraid (£450,000), Imaginary (£2m) and Night Swim (£1.4m).

Mubi’s The Substance posted the best hold for a non-family title in the top 20, dropping just 19% on its second weekend with £420,495 and moving up to third place. Coralie Fargeat’s Cannes 2024 Competition entry is up to almost £1.5m from two sessions, shaping up to be an independent hit for the autumn. 

Ellen Kuras’ Lee Miller biopic Lee starring Kate Winslet added £400,612 on its third session for Studiocanal – a 27.9% drop that brought it to a £2.8m cume.

Studiocanal also opened Fingscheidt’s The Outrun to £397,526 from 300 sites, at a strong £1,325 site average. Including previews the film, starring Saoirse Ronan and produced by 2014 Screen Star of Tomorrow Sarah Brocklehurst’s Brock Media with Arcade Pictures’ Dominic Norris, Ronan and Jack Lowden, has a healthy £449,025 start.

While the presence of new titles such as The Outrun is a good sign, top five takings are down 48.2% on two weeks ago, to just £3.7m – the lowest mark in the past two years. The market is relying on Joker: Folie A Deux, released next Friday, October 4, being a significant hit, after the first film grossed £58.3m in 2019.

Megalopolis misses top five

Francis Ford Coppola’s epic Megalopolis opened just outside the top five, taking £357,047.

Finally dropping out of the top five but still in cinemas after 12 weekends, Universal’s Despicable Me 4 posted the best holdover in the top 20, dropping just six percent with £350,376. The Illumination animation is now up to £47.1m, overtaking Minions: The Rise Of Gru (£47m) and soon to catch Despicable Me 2 (£47.5m) and 3 (£47.9m) and Minions (£47.8m).

Universal’s 20^th-anniversary re-release of Edgar Wright’s zombie comedy-horror Shaun Of The Dead made £314,288 from 536 sites at a £626 average; in addition to the £6.8m made by the film on its original release.

Alexandre Aja’s horror Never Let Go started with £256,410 for Lionsgate, at a £570 site average; and has £306,181 including previews.

Indian action title Devara Part 1 started with a strong £214,542 for Dreamz Entertainment, at a £692 average. A sequel is already in production for the action title, which stars N.T. Rama Rao Jr. and Saif Ali Khan.

Animation 200% Wolf followed up its strong start with a drop of just 24.1% for Signature Entertainment. The film added £179,916 to hit a strong £450,898.

A second weekend of £149,045 propelled Warner Bros’ Interstellar re-release to £907,405, plus an original £21.8m from 2014. It has outperformed several other re-releases this year relative to its original run, suggesting a swell of appreciation for Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi blockbuster.

Deadpool & Wolverine leads Disney’s slate across its 10^th weekend in cinemas. The Marvel Cinematic Universe title dropped just 34%, holding better than most MCU films, with £147,945 taking it to a huge £57.4m total. It is the second-highest-grossing 2024 release, and fourth-highest-grossing of 34 MCU titles.

Spanish-Chinese animation Dragonkeeper opened to £126,442 from 450 locations for Vertigo Releasing, at a £281 site average.

The Critic starring Ian McKellan added £109,086 on its third session, and is up to £1.2m for Lionsgate. 

Justin Baldoni’s domestic abuse drama It Ends With Us added £98,247 on an impressive eighth week of play. The Sony title is up to £21.5m, as the sixth-highest-grossing release of 2024 to date.

A double bill of Terrifier and Terrifier 2 made £91,215 for Signature Entertainment.

Matthew Bourne’s dance production of Edward Scissorhands made £85,751 at the weekend for Trafalgar Releasing, and has £179,641 including its Wednesday 25 event release 

Disney’s Alien: Romulus added £78,535 on its seventh weekend in cinemas – a 46% drop that brought it to £13.3m, already the second-highest-grossing film of the series ahead of Alien: Covenant (£12.9m) and behind Prometheus (£25m).

Concert title Paul McCartney And Wings – One Hand Clapping took £69,621 at the weekend for Trafalgar, and is up to £136,113 including its Thursday 26 event rollout.

Disney’s Inside Out 2 extended its theatrical run across a 16^th weekend, adding £69,146 to hit £59.1m. It will likely finish as the 28^th-highest-grossing film of all time in the territory, behind last year’s Oppenheimer (£59.8m).

Curzon opened Megan Park’s Sundance title My Old Ass starring Maisy Stella and Aubrey Plaza to £54,314. With previews, the coming-of-age comedy has £66,845.

Indian religious drama Ardaas Sarbat De Bhalle Di added £40,607 on its third session for Shree distributed by Bakrania Media, and is up to £285,216.

Childrens’ animation Bing & Friends: Birthday Celebration opened to £39,036 fom 318 sites for Vue, at a £123 site average.

Japanese animation Detective Conan: The Million-Dollar Pentagram started with £35,165 for Trinity/CineAsia, at a £338 location average.

Zoe Kravitz’s Blink Twice added £30,6966 on its sixth weekend for Warner Bros, and is up to £3.2m.

Having crossed the £2m barrier shortly before the weekend, Rich Peppiatt’s Kneecap added a further £29,563 through Curzon and Wildcard Distribution, to hit a total just over £2m on its sixth weekend in England, Scotland and Wales and eighth in Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Twisters spins on through an 11^th weekend for Warner Bros, adding £22,567 to reach £14.5m.

Entertainment Film Distributors’ The Count Of Monte Cristo saw a 31% uptick on its previous session, adding £21,450 on its fifth weekend to hit £393,804.

Farah Nabulsi’s Palestinian drama The Teacher opened to £20,041 through Miracle/Dazzler, and has £23,978 including previews.

A 20^th-anniversary re-release of Mark Waters’ hit comedy Mean Girls brought in £22,385 for Park Circus, with the majority of sites booked across the coming weeks and £5.7m already in the bank from its original run.

On its ninth weekend in cinemas, family title Harold And The Purple Crayon added £12,972 to hit £3.1m for Sony.

Iranian romantic drama My Favourite Cake added £12,438 on its third session for Curzon, and is up to £124,278.

BFI Distribution’s 70^th anniversary re-release of Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai took £10,581 from five sites.

Karim Ainouz’s Cannes 2023 title Firebrand starring Alicia Vikander and Jude Law added £7,699 on its fourth weekend for MetFilm, and is up to £342,267. The distributor has also taken nature documentary beyond the £600,000 mark in a strong non-fiction result.

Sony’s event cinema release of Japanese concert film Kenshi Yonezu 2023 Tour / Fantasy brought in £1,049 for Sony; while Indian comedy-musical Petta Rap took £1,047 from eight screens via Dreamz Entertainment.