Rank Film (distributor) Three-day gross (Dec 20-22) Total gross to date Week 1. Mufasa: The Lion King (Disney) £4.4m £4.4m
| Rank | Film (distributor) | Three-day gross (Dec 20-22) | Total gross to date | Week |
| 1. | Mufasa: The Lion King (Disney) | £4.4m | £4.4m | 1 |
| 2. | Wicked (Universal) | £2.5m | £48.2m | 5 |
| 3. | Moana 2 (Disney) | £2.1m | £29.8m | 4 |
| 4. | Paddington In Peru (Studiocanal) | £649,278 | £31.3m | 7 |
| 5. | Gladiator II (Paramount) | £495,000 | £29.6m | 6 |
GBP to USD conversion rate: 1.26
Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King hit the top spot in its first weekend on release at the UK-Ireland box office, bringing in £4.4m from 663 venues, for a site average of £6,637, with a few sites still to report.
The result does not match up to the film’s predecessor, 2019’s The Lion King, which opened on £16.7m, the second highest-opening weekend for PG-rated title in the territory on record, behind Beauty And The Beast (£19.7m, March 2017). It ended on £76m and is the 13th highest-grossing film of all time in the UK and Ireland.
Moonlight filmmaker Barry Jenkins directs the prequel story of Mufasa, with a voice cast including Beyonce, Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, Donald Glover, Mads Mikkelsen, Thandiwe Newton and Blue Ivy Carter.
The rest of the weekend’s box office was dominated by holdovers. Universal’s Wicked dropped 29% in its fifth session, still taking a very respectable £2.5m. It’s now at a £48.2m total.
Disney’s other animated sequel Moana 2 brought in £2.1m in its fourth weekend, down 43% on its previous session, for a total of £29.8m.
Studiocanal’s Paddington In Peru added £649,278 on its seventh weekend, for an overall figure of £31.3m.
Gladiator II’s sixth weekend wrangled £495,000, for a cumulative figure of £29.6m for Paramount Pictures.
Black Bear’s Conclave added £331,000 in its fourth weekend on release, pushing its total close to the £5m mark.
In event cinema, Trafalgar Releasing’s Ivanov/Wright The Nutcracker brought in £224,127 across its first weekend, for a site average from 260 venues of £862. It first showing as-live on Tuesday (December 17), and including the pre-weekend showings, its total is £832,418.
Warner Bros Christmas comedy Red One added £129,400 in its seventh weekend, hitting the £8m mark across its run.
Sony’s superhero film Kraven: The Hunter starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the Spider-Man villain, added £171,724 in its second weekend, for a £1.2m total – a modest result for a Spider-Man Universe film.
Anime film The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim took £93,400 in its second weekend for Warner Bros, for an overall figure of £832,300.
Indian action title Marco opened to £80,607 for Dreamz Entertainment, from 38 sites, for a mighty location average of £2,121.
Mubi’s Queer brought in £77,897 in its second session, boosting its total up to £553,619.
Universal’s awards hopeful Anora added £23,018 in its eighth weekend, for an overall figure of £1.9m.
BFI Distribution’s All We Imagine As Light landed £14,630. Its total after four sessions is £272,532.
Also fresh on in cinemas this weekend was an awards-qualifying release of Wallace And Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl in select cinemas ahead of its Christmas Day broadcast on BBC One; Russian animation Dolphin Boy for Miracle Comms/Dazzler, and Indian family drama Vanaas for Zee Studios.
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