UK Box Office 21-23 May

The hottest weekend of the year kept audiences away from cinemas, but the few that did show up seemed to go ga-ga for STREETDANCE 3D, boding well for Universal's release later in the year of STEP UP 3D...the final STREETDANCE figures include a whole week of previews. PRINCE OF PERSIA opened to a disappointing third place, probably dashing any hopes Disney had of a PIRATES repeat. And Lionsgate can't be happy with the result for BAD LIEUTENANT, which presents a tough marketing conundrum: too arthouse for the mainstream, too Nic Cage for the arthouse.

1- STREETDANCE 3D (£2,412,326)
2- ROBIN HOOD (£1,357,214)
3- PRINCE OF PERSIA (£1,296,407)
4- IRON MAN 2 (£522,030)
5- KITES (£233,470)
6- FOUR LIONS (£194,437)
7- NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (£194,317)
8- HOT TUN TIME MACHINE (£192,135)
9- BAD LIEUTENANT (£167,843)
10- THE BACK UP PLAN (£158,483)

Cannes Round-Up

The Cannes Film Festival is over, and although I was neither there nor did I follow the news (as I was on a well-deserved holiday in Barcelona), I have walked into work today to find that the Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul won the coveted Palm D'Or, beating top notch world-class filmmakers Abbas Kiarostami, Ken Loach and Mike Leigh. His film, UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES, should now find a distributor in the UK (an unlikely event for a film with a title like that).
Juliette Binoche won best actress for Kiarostami's CERTIFIED COPY and Javier Bardem best actor for Inarritu's BIUTIFUL. The Grand Jury prize went to OF GODS AND MEN.
Next year I promise that the reports from Cannes will be much more exciting, as I will be there....

Box Office 14-16 May

Sorry for the late Box Office post - half the industry in Cannes, I'm in Barcelona, etc etc

To the relief of the good folk at Universal, ROBIN HOOD debuted at number one, despite Russell Crowe's best efforts to undermine the entire campaign with grumpy interviews. No other new entries crack the Top 10 apart from previews for STREET DANCE 3D, which will be added up on to next week's figures. IRON MAN 2 falls dramatically, showing that these tentpoles have little life in them beyond opening weekends. Chris Morris' excellent FOUR LIONS on the other hand shows some legs with an additional half million added to its coffers.

1- ROBIN HOOD (£6,175,586)
2-IRON MAN 2 (£1,644,704)
3-NIGHTMARE OF ELM STREET (£727,270)
4-HOT TUB TIME MACHINE (£645,246)
5-FURRY VENGEANCE (£573,788)
6-FOUR LIONS (£562,166)
7-THE BACK-UP PLAN (£529,387)
8-HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (£267,034)
9-THE LAST SONG (£195,597)
10-DATE NIGHT (£142,993)

The Excuses Post

Lately the frequency of my posting has decreased due to my dissertation work and cinema work intensifying. I will always post the Monday Box office figures and keep my posts limited to stories and ideas I am really excited about. I'm off to Barcelona on Sunday, and will try and have a peek at some nice cinemas there. So this is probably my last non box office post for over a week! See you on the other side.

Uk Box Office 7-9 May

This week IRON MAN 2 continues to reign, albeit with a 70% drop. NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET won't find much legs with such a weak opening, given that horror fans tend to come out on the first weekend. The nice surprise in the pack is Chris Morris' FOUR LIONS, which took a £5,146 screen average, not bad for a homegrown comedy from a TV writer/director.

1- IRON MAN 2 (£3,203,051)
2- NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (£1,340,704)
3- HOT TUB TIME MACHINE (£889,660)
4- FURRY VENGEANCE (£795,122)
5- BACK UP PLAN (£707,131)
6- FOUR LIONS (£591,838)
7- HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (£516,327)
8- THE LAST SONG (£364,575)
9- DATE NIGHT (£333,164)
10- THE CLASH OF THE TITANS (£290,342)

New Splendor Cinema Podcast

New Splendor Cinema Podcast over at Obsessed With Film (also up on iTunes and shortly on the Picturehouse website), where Rob & I discuss PRINCE OF PERSIA and our experience at the Walt Disney trade show.

Listen here.

UK Box Office 30 Apr - 3 May

This week there is only one film dominating the box office: IRON MAN 2. It took nearly £10 million over the extended weekend, including previews and IMAX takings. That's more than the entire Top 10 combined and then some. Screen average was an astonishing £19,102.

1-IRON MAN 2 (£9,894,858)
2-HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (£1,305,670)
3-DATE NIGHT (£1,022,366)
4-THE LAST SONG (£954,513)
5-FURRY VENGEANCE (£892,335)
6-CLASH OF THE TITANS (£891,636)
7-THE GHOST (£709,937)
8-NANNY MCPHEE 2 (£601,606)
9-KICK ASS (£532,814)
10-HOUSEFULL (£352,430)