Universal’s romantic comedy scores $2.76m (£1.76m), including previews, to dethrone One Direction; eOne’s Riddick records $2.2m (£1.4m) debut, including previews, to land second.

Reportedly Richard Curtis’ last film as director, About Time has ensured he’ll go out of the directing game with a number one.

Universal’s romantic comedy scored an confirmed $2.76m (£1.76m) debut from its 555 sites, including $604,000 (£384,649) in previews.

That marks Curtis’ lowest-ever debut as a director, behind Curtis’ previous outing as director The Boat That Rocked which sailed to a $2.8m (£1.804m) debut, including $739,000 (£471,203) in previews, from 462 sites.

It’s worth noting though that without previews and based solely on Fri-Sun, About Time’s $2.16m (£1.37m) is a shade ahead of The Boat That Rocked’s $2.09m (£1.33m).

However, it’s some way behind Love Actually’s $10.4m (£6.7m) UK bow, including $1.6m (£1m) in previews, from 477 sites.

The main target for About Time will be The Boat That Rocked’s $9.8m (£6.23m) result to avoid being Curtis’ lowest-ever UK grosser as director.

Also for Universal, Despicable Me 2 is now the third biggest animation of all time in the UK at $69.1M (£45.4M), surpassing Toy Story 2’s $71.1m (£45.3m). Shrek 2’s $75.4m (£48.1m) is potentially a bridge too far.

EONE

The week’s second highest new entry came in the form of eOne’s Riddick, which fought its way to a $2.2m (£1.4m) from its 400 sites at a healthy average of $5,533 (£3,530).

That marks a series high for the trilogy, topping the $1.6m (£1.04m) achieved by The Chronicles of Riddick. It’s worth noting though that Chronicles opening came from slightly less sites (380) and without previews, whereas Riddick was boosted by $697,000 (£444,417) from Wed-Thurs previews.

Without those previews, Riddick’s Fri-Sun tally of $1.5m (£967,715) would have seen it chart third, instead of second.

Also for eOne, 2 Guns is up to $6.5m (£4.2m) following a $294,000 (£187,330) fourth weekend.

SONY

Last week’s champion, One Direction: This is Us fell to third as a result of Riddick’s previews.

Sony’s concert documentary dropped 49% on its way to a $1.8m (£1.12m) second weekend but held particularly well week-on-week on Saturday with just a 31% drop.

It’s now up to $9.1m (£5.8m) in the UK as it aims to catch Michael Jackson’s This is It’s $15.3m (£9.8m) result to become the biggest concert documentary of all time in the UK.

Rounding off this week’s top five, Sony’s Elysium grossed a further $1.2m (£775,000) for $11.6m (£7.4m) to date. It’s now less than £2m away from overtaking District 9’s $14m (£9m) UK tally.

Also for Sony, Grown Ups 2 is up to $12.4m (£7.9m) surpassing Grown Ups’ $12.2m (£7.8m) in the process.

The Smurfs 2 added $390,000 (£249,000) for $17.7m (£11.3m) to date.

WARNER BROS

We’re the Millers is holding firm in the UK with a minimal drop seeing it record a $1.4m (£917,000) as it charted fourth.

Warner Bros’ comedy is now up to $9.1m (£5.8m) after three weeks in play and with $2.8m (£1.7m) added over the past seven days, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story’s $15.6m (£10.03m) is a feasible target if it posts a similarly solid hold next week.

After becoming the biggest hit of August with $15.5m (£9.9m) banked, The Conjuring scared up a further $230,000 (£147,000) this weekend as it climbed to $16m (£10.2m) through Warner Bros.

DISNEY

Planes added $975,000 (£620,814) in its fourth weekend through Disney as it fell to sixth.

The Cars spin-off is now up to $10.9m (£6.9m) in the UK and with schools back, is showing its best business over Sat-Sun.

Also for Disney, Monsters University is up to $45.6m (£29.1m) following a $463,000 (£294,762) weekend. Given its start was affected by the weather, reaching £30m would be a tremendous achievement.

PARAMOUNT

In its second weekend of release, Pain & Gain pumped a further $632,000 (£401,920) from its 385 sites for a total-to-date of $3m (£1.9m).

FOX

Falling 38% in its second weekend, Fox’s The Way, Way Back crossed the £1m mark after grossing a further $380,000 (£242,321).

The coming-of-age comedy-drama is now up to $1.7m (£1.1m) in the UK.

Also for Fox, fantasy sequel Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters added $344,000 (£219,763) for $10.5m (£6.7m) to date as it edges closer to Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief’s $11.6m (£7.4m) UK result.

LIONSGATE

Also hitting the £1m mark in its second weekend of release was Lionsgate’s You’re Next as it grossed $278,000 (£177,000) from its 279 sites, falling to 15th in the chart.

ARTIFICIAL EYE

Released in 25 screens through Artificial Eye, The Great Beauty recorded a strong $185,000 (£118,299) debut at an average of $7,416 (£4,732).

That’s an opening well ahead of director Pablo Sorrentino’s previous UK outing, This Must Be The Place, which took $66,000 (£42,287) from 18.

CURZON FILM WORLD

In its third weekend of release, Curzon Film World’s What Maisie Knew added a non-final $37,000 (£23,847) for $459,000 (£292,956).

METRODOME

Shane Carruth’s Upstream Colour is up to $84,000 (£53,739) in the UK through Metrodome, following a $15,000 (£9,816) weekend.

PECCADILLO

Any Day Now underperformed on its UK bow, achieving a soft $14,000 (£8,814) from its 17 sites through Peccadillo.

STUDIOCANAL

Released in three sites through StudioCanal, Venice 2012 Golden Lion winner Pieta recorded a $1,752 (£1,118) debut.

Meanwhile, Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa is up to $9.3m (£5.95m) and should hit £6m by next weekend.

UPCOMING RELEASES

This week sees saturation releases for Sony’s White House Down, eOne’s Insidious: Chapter 2 and StudioCanal’s Rush which will mark the distributor’s biggest-ever UK release.

eOne’s Justin and the Knights of Valour, Kaleidoscope’s Sir Billi, Sony’s In A World… and Warner Bros’ 42 are among the films receiving a limited release.