Warner Bros’ A Minecraft Movie leads recent titles in UK and Ireland cinemas this weekend as the video game adaptation opens in 675 locations. Th
Warner Bros’ A Minecraft Movie leads recent titles in UK and Ireland cinemas this weekend as the video game adaptation opens in 675 locations.
This is slightly fewer screens than Universal’s fellow videogame adaptation The Super Mario Bros which launched in 721 cinemas in 2023. That scored £8.7m in its opening weekend and went on to gross a mega £55m.
A Minecraft Movie is based on the multibillion-dollar sandbox game Minecraft in which players are free to build, create and form communities. Films based on video games have proved successful in the territory – all three Sonic The Hedgehog titles opened above £4m while 2019’s Pokemon Detective Pikachu debuted with £4.9m.
Jared Hess directs A Minecraft Movie, which stars Jack Black, Jason Momoa, Danielle Brooks and Emma Myers. The film follows four misfits who get pulled into the cubic world of Minecraft and must embark on a quest.
Divorce, beheaded, a unicorn died
Also out this weekend is Death Of A Unicorn which Entertainment Film Distributors is screening in 560 cinemas. Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega star as a father and daughter who hit a unicorn with their car and bring it to retreat run by a millionaire pharmaceutical CEO. Further cast include Will Poulter, Richard E Grant and Tea Leoni while Alex Scharfman directs. The horror comedy premiered at SXSW.
In event cinema, Universal is launching Six The Musical in 699 sites on Sunday (April 6). It is the second widest opening for an event title, behind only Dear England (716) from National Theatre Live. The filmed production of the stage musical centres around the six wives of Henry VIII. Meanwhile, Trafalgar Releasing is screening K-Pop concert Seventeen [Right Here] World Tour In Cinemas in 71 sites.
In re-releases, Altitude has the 1994 comedy Muriel’s Wedding in 208 cinemas.
Irish comedy Four Mothers opens in 117 locations via BFI Distribution (UK) and Breakout Pictures (NI and ROI). Darren Thornton’s film centres on a struggling novelist who spends a weekend looking after four elderly women, including his own mother. It won the audience award at BFI London Film Festival last year.
Jed Hart’s UK thriller Restless is launching in 107 sites via Metis Films. The Tribeca and Glasgow title centres around a woman who finds her sanity pushed to the edge after a disruptive group of newborn men move in next door.
UK drama Last Swim opens in 36 venues via Vertigo Releasing. Sasha Nathwani’s debut feature premiered in Berlinale and follows an Iranian teenager in London on A-Level results day.
Studiocanal opens Michel Hazanavicius’s animated drama The Most Precious Of Cargoes in 28 sites The war-set title premiered in Cannes competition last year and was nominated for three Cesar awards.
Mr Burton is also out in cinemas via Icon Film Distribution. Harry Lawtey stars as the iconic Richard Burton alongside Toby Jones as the schoolteacher who transformed the Welsh actor. Marc Evans directs.
Further releases include India family drama All The Best Pandya via Dreamz Entertainment; documentary About Light And Shadows via Ideas Agitadas; horror comedy Screamboat via Vue Entertainment; and Mikko Mäkelä’s Sebastian via Peccadillo Pictures.
Disney’s Snow White is the key holdover title.
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