UK box office top ten and analysis for the weekend of Friday 27th to Sunday 29th July 2012...
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The Olympics may have sucked the life out of much of the UK box office chart (with weekend takings down 17% from this time last year), but they didn't stop The Dark Knight Rises from posting a solid £7,275,558 in its second weekend, which was obviously more than enough to retain first place. Christopher Nolan's final Batman film has got off to a spectacular start here in the UK, crossing the £30m mark in just ten days - five days less than it took The Dark Knight back in 2008, and two days less than it took Earth's Mightiest Heroes earlier this year. With the school holidays now in full swing, The Dark Knight Rises appears to have every chance of overtaking The Avengers' £51.8m haul to become the highest grossing film of the year on these shores.
In second place is the CG animation Dr Seuss' The Lorax, which opens with £1,853,294, of which £609k came from preview screenings - a disappointing return, considering the previous animated Dr Seuss adaptation Horton Hears a Who! pulled in just short of £3m when it opened back in 2008. Hot on The Lorax's heels was another animated offering, Ice Age: Continental Drift, which added another £1.54m and has now amassed a solid £21.2m from its UK run, while The Amazing Spider-Man pushed its overall gross to £23.8m, taking fourth place ahead of Magic Mike.
Outside of the top five, the remaining films were left fighting for scraps, with The Five-Year Engagement slipping one place to sixth with £75k and documentary Searching for Sugar Man pulling in an opening weekend take of £68,857, which wasn't a bad result considering it was showing on just 28 screens. Meanwhile, Aardman Animations' The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists was thrust back into the multiplexes and reentered the chart in eighth position eighteen weeks after it first hit UK screens, while Punjabi rom-com Carry On Jatta opened in ninth with £36,760 and sci-fi comedy sequel Men in Black III dropped two places to round out the chart in tenth.
Number one this time last year: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
1. The Dark Knight Rises, £7,275,558 weekend; £30,551,765 total (2 weeks)
2. Dr Seuss' The Lorax, £1,853,294 weekend (New)
3. Ice Age: Continental Drift, £1,544,322 weekend; £21,222,522 total (5 weeks)
4. The Amazing Spider-Man, £686,952 weekend; £23,816,960 total (4 weeks)
5. Magic Mike, £536,749 weekend; £6,697,323 total (3 weeks)
6. The Five-Year Engagement, £75,134 weekend; £4,865,174 (6 weeks)
7. Searching for Sugar Man, £68,857 weekend (New)
8. The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists, £44,389 weekend; £16,446,344 total (18 weeks)
9. Carry on Jatta, £36,760 weekend (New)
10. Men in Black III, £34,497 weekend; £21,839,375 (10 weeks)
Incoming...
And so comes the latest round of challengers to The Dark Knight Rises... can Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane's potty-mouthed bear Ted (cert. 15) [read our review here] be the one to end Batman's reign? It enjoyed a solid opening across the Pond, and with two days of preview screenings and a built in audience, Ted should enjoy a firm start on these shores. Meanwhile Pixar's Brave (cert. PG) [read our review here] enjoys an early opening in Scotland on Friday ahead of its full UK release on August 17th, while Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dogs Days (cert. U) will also be looking to take advantage of the summer holidays.![]()
The Olympics may have sucked the life out of much of the UK box office chart (with weekend takings down 17% from this time last year), but they didn't stop The Dark Knight Rises from posting a solid £7,275,558 in its second weekend, which was obviously more than enough to retain first place. Christopher Nolan's final Batman film has got off to a spectacular start here in the UK, crossing the £30m mark in just ten days - five days less than it took The Dark Knight back in 2008, and two days less than it took Earth's Mightiest Heroes earlier this year. With the school holidays now in full swing, The Dark Knight Rises appears to have every chance of overtaking The Avengers' £51.8m haul to become the highest grossing film of the year on these shores.In second place is the CG animation Dr Seuss' The Lorax, which opens with £1,853,294, of which £609k came from preview screenings - a disappointing return, considering the previous animated Dr Seuss adaptation Horton Hears a Who! pulled in just short of £3m when it opened back in 2008. Hot on The Lorax's heels was another animated offering, Ice Age: Continental Drift, which added another £1.54m and has now amassed a solid £21.2m from its UK run, while The Amazing Spider-Man pushed its overall gross to £23.8m, taking fourth place ahead of Magic Mike.
Outside of the top five, the remaining films were left fighting for scraps, with The Five-Year Engagement slipping one place to sixth with £75k and documentary Searching for Sugar Man pulling in an opening weekend take of £68,857, which wasn't a bad result considering it was showing on just 28 screens. Meanwhile, Aardman Animations' The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists was thrust back into the multiplexes and reentered the chart in eighth position eighteen weeks after it first hit UK screens, while Punjabi rom-com Carry On Jatta opened in ninth with £36,760 and sci-fi comedy sequel Men in Black III dropped two places to round out the chart in tenth.
Number one this time last year: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
1. The Dark Knight Rises, £7,275,558 weekend; £30,551,765 total (2 weeks)
2. Dr Seuss' The Lorax, £1,853,294 weekend (New)
3. Ice Age: Continental Drift, £1,544,322 weekend; £21,222,522 total (5 weeks)
4. The Amazing Spider-Man, £686,952 weekend; £23,816,960 total (4 weeks)
5. Magic Mike, £536,749 weekend; £6,697,323 total (3 weeks)
6. The Five-Year Engagement, £75,134 weekend; £4,865,174 (6 weeks)
7. Searching for Sugar Man, £68,857 weekend (New)
8. The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists, £44,389 weekend; £16,446,344 total (18 weeks)
9. Carry on Jatta, £36,760 weekend (New)
10. Men in Black III, £34,497 weekend; £21,839,375 (10 weeks)
Incoming...
And so comes the latest round of challengers to The Dark Knight Rises... can Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane's potty-mouthed bear Ted (cert. 15) [read our review here] be the one to end Batman's reign? It enjoyed a solid opening across the Pond, and with two days of preview screenings and a built in audience, Ted should enjoy a firm start on these shores. Meanwhile Pixar's Brave (cert. PG) [read our review here] enjoys an early opening in Scotland on Friday ahead of its full UK release on August 17th, while Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dogs Days (cert. U) will also be looking to take advantage of the summer holidays.
