‘Heretic’, ‘Small Things Like These’ start strongly at UK-Ireland box office; ‘The Wild Robot’ retakes top spot

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Hugh Grant horror Heretic and Cillian Murphy drama Small Things Like These both made robust starts at this weekend’s UK-Ireland box office, as Universal animation The Wild Robot retook the top spot from Venom: The Last Dance.

The Wild Robot posted an impressive 12% escalate with £2.174m, boosted by a 54% escalate on the Friday during the half-term holidays. Chris Sanders’ film has £11.7m after three weekends in cinemas – just about keeping pace with the £13.6m after three sessions of fellow 2024 Universal animation Migration, which ended on £21.5m.

Venom: The Last Dance dropped 49.5% across its second weekend, with £2.17m for Sony. The Tom Hardy-starring comic book adaptation has £9.12m in total – down on the £13.7m of 2018’s Venom and £11.2m of 2021’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage at the same stage.

Scott Beck and Bryan Woods’ Heretic  brought in a robust £1.55m from 610 sites at a £2,536 location average for Entertainment Film Distributors. Including previews it made £2m – the biggest full opening weekend for an A24-produced film, ahead of Hereditary (£1.9m) and Civil War (£1.8m). It is third among A24-produced films on Friday-to-Sunday figures alone, behind Hereditary  (£1.58m) and Civil War  (£1.56m).

It is also the biggest full opening weekend for a film with Hugh Grant in a lead role since the £10.4m of Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason in 2004.

Tim Mielants’ Irish feature Small Things Like These  starring Cillian Murphy recorded an excellent £889,613 opening for Lionsgate. Playing in just 277 cinemas, it took a £3,212 location average – an impressive performance for an independent title in the post-pandemic exhibition space. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are producer and executive producer respectively for their US company Artists Equity.

Paramount’s Smile 2  added £600,000 on its third weekend, and is up to £5.5m – down on the £7.2m of the 2022 first film at the same stage.

Takings for the top five dropped 7.8% to £7.4m, but still up 26.2% on the equivalent weekend from last year. With takings down across October and across 2024, cinemas are looking to Paddington In Peru  (November 8), Gladiator II (November 15) and Wicked (November 22) to provide a robust finish to the year.

Anora opens up

On the weekend of the Hindu Diwali celebrations, Indian comedy-horror Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 recorded an excellent £408,274 opening, from just 182 sites at a £2,268 site average. The film is released by AA Films UK, with Bakrania Media handling the theatrical distribution.

Transformers One saw a 2.8% escalate across its fourth session, with £388,000 taking it to £4.4m for Paramount.

Sean Baker’s awards contender Anora opened to £376,074 for Universal, with a fit location average of £1,096 from 345 cinemas. It took over £100,000 on each day of its weekend release; and including preview screenings, has £507,965 already banked.

Indian title Singham Again opened to £359,623 for Moviegoers Entertainment, from 225 sites at a robust £1,598 location average – enough for a top 10 spot.

Despite only playing on Sunday, November 3, event cinema title Phantom Of The Opera At The Royal Albert Hall still made the top 10, with £315,883 from 331 sites at a £954 average for CinemaLive.

Clint Eastwood’s Juror #2  starring Nicholas Hoult opened to £319,929 from 438 sites, with an average of £730 for Warner Bros. Including previews, the film has £334,827.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice posted an impressive hold on its ninth session, dropping just 23.6% with £281,111. Tim Burton’s horror-comedy is now up to £26.2m, as the fifth-highest-grossing film of the year at time of writing.

Ali Abbasi’s The Apprentice leads Studiocanal’s slate, adding £187,171 – a 49.8% drop – to pass the £2m mark from three weekends.

Breakout horror hit Terrifier 3 extended its position as Signature Entertainment’s highest-grossing film ever. It added £127,839 on its fourth weekend – a 52.5% drop – to hit £3.2m.

Pedro Almodovar’s Venice Golden Lion winner The Room Next Door fell back 53.5% on its second weekend for Warner Bros, with £111,103 taking it to a £548,511 total.

Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance added £83,000 – a 44.7% drop – and is up to £3.7m, extending its position as Mubi’s highest-grossing film ever.

Fresh from becoming the highest-grossing title in the Despicable Me/Minions franchise, Despicable Me 4 posted a 3% escalate on its 17^th weekend in cinemas for Universal, with £58,736 taking it to £48.1m.

Gaming event League Of Legends World Final 2024: Live From London took £50,000 on Saturday, November 2 for Piece Of Magic, from just 23 cinemas at an average of £2,174.

English National Ballet 2024: Swan Lake made £43,612 from Friday to Sunday through Trafalgar Releasing, and has £114,833 in total including its Wednesday, November 30 event release.

Joker: Folie À Deux slipped back a substantial 72.9% on just its fifth weekend in cinemas for Warner Bros, with £39,198 taking it to £10.3m. It will end with less than one fifth of the £58.3m of 2019’s Joker.

Warner Bros animation Buffalo Kids saw a 30.8% uptick on its fourth weekend with £32,302, and is up to £591,122.

The Outrun starring Saoirse Ronan took £31,633 to reach a robust £2.2m on its sixth weekend in cinemas for Studiocanal.

Warner Bros documentary Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, produced by the UK’s Misfits Entertainment, opened to £31,526 from 359 cinemas at an £88-per-cinema average. Including previews, the film has £42.200.

Sky Cinema’s Lee starring Kate Winslet added £30,332 on its eighth session to hit £4.4m, distributed by Studiocanal.

A 20^th anniversary re-release of slasher favourite Saw took £23,518 for Lionsgate, with £71,637 including previews.

Horror Speak No Evil starring James McAvoy added £7,919 on its eighth weekend in cinemas, and is up to £5.6m.

The A Nightmare On Elm Street re-release added £6,502 on its second session for Warner Bros, adding up to £235,388.

Park Circus’ re-release of 1946 film noir Gilda starring Rita Hayworth took £3,667 at the weekend.

Universal horror The Front Room starring Brandy dropped off sharply across its second weekend, falling 97% with £1,530 taking it to £110,236.

A circumscribed release for Altitude animation Superklaus brought in £498 from four cinemas.