UK-Ireland box office preview: ‘Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale’ bows out in 760 cinemas as ‘The Long Walk’, ‘Spinal Tap II’ also open

Universal’s Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale is this weekend’s lead opening title in 760 cinemas as Liongate’s The Long Walk and Sony’s Spinal Tap II: The End Continues also launch. 

The Grand Finale has the widest opening of the series, ahead of 2022’s A New Area (746) and 2019’s original (732). Those films opened on £3.1m and £5.2m respectively. 

Simon Curtis directs The Grand Finale which sees many familiar faces return including Joanne Froggatt, Dominic West, Hugh Bonneville and Paul Giamatti. The story centres around a public scandal which sees the Downton Abbey household grapple with the threat of financial troubles and social disgrace.

Stephen King horror The Long Walk marches into 541 cinemas for Lionsgate. Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson and Mark Hamill are among the cast of this dystopian feature about a group of teenage boys who participate in a walking contest with deadly consequences. It is directed by Francis Lawrence who has had previous success in the genre with the last three films in The Hunger Games franchise all opening on over £10m. He also directed the prequel The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes which opened in £5.4m in 2023.

Hit anime title Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle opens in 472 locations for Sony. The first in Haruo Sotozaki’s trilogy, adapted from the popular manga series, has already grossed nearly $300m worldwide.

Also for Sony, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues launches in 405 sites. The mockumentary sequel, about a fictional British rock band, comes 40 years after the original which grossed $43,532 in the UK (according to figures from Box Office Mojo).

Further releases 

Russian animation Dogs At The Opera opens in 182 locations Miracle Comms and Dazzler.

In Indian cinema, romantic comedy Aabeer Gulaal and sci-fi action Mirari open in 95 and 70 cinemas, respectively, for Bakraina Media. Horror film Kishkindhapuri is out in 35 locations for Dreamz Entertainment. 

Curzon is opening Eva Libertad’s Spanish feature Deaf in 30 venues. The debut, about a relationship between a deaf woman and her hearing boyfriend, won the audience award in the Berlinale Panorama strand. 

Jan-Ole Gerster’s German drama Islands launches in 27 sites for BFI Distribution.

Disney is launching horror title The Man In My Basement in 19 locations. Willem Dafoe and Corey Hawkins star in the Toronto premiere about an African American man who lets a strange white businessman rent his basement for the summer.

Berlinale documentary award-winner Holding Liat is rolling out across four cinemas for Met Film Distribution.

Further releases include Australian documentary The Golden Spurtle via Dogwoof; music documentary To Be Frank via MusicFilmNetwork; Oscar shortlisted documentary From Ground Zero via Cosmic Cat; and Indian-Vietnamese romance Love In Vietnam via Reliance Entertainment.