Fast & Furious 6 revs into top spot at UK box office

Showing no signs on stalling on its sixth outing, Fast & Furious 6 recorded an excellent debut in the UK to dethrone Star Trek Into Darkness after just one week.

The latest instalment in the popular racing action franchise grossed $13.2m (£8.7m) from its 461 sites to record Universal’s biggest-ever three-day opening in the UK, topping Les Misérables’ $12.3m (£8.1m) debut earlier this year.

Unsurprisingly, it’s also the biggest opening weekend for a Fast & Furious instalment, topping the $7.6m (£5m) of Fast & Furious and the $6.2m (£4.1m) weekend of Fast Five. The latter is the best performer of the series to date at $28.3m (£18.5m) but there’s a strong chance that won’t remain the case for much longer.

Whatever way you look at it, it’s an sensational opening, especially given the strong blockbuster competition already out there.

Also opening in style was Warner Bros’ The Great Gatsby with its preview-boosted debut seeing it chart second.

Baz Luhrmann’s 3D adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s much-loved novel grossed $6.2m (£4.1m) from its 513 sites, with $1m (£676,000) coming from its opening day on Thursday [May 16]. It’s worth noting that without these previews, Gatsby would have found itself third.

Either way, it marks Luhrmann’s biggest ever UK debut which previously belonged to Moulin Rouge!’s $3.7m (£2.4m) debut in 2001.

Falling to third due to Gatsby, Paramount’s Star Trek Into Darkness still enjoyed a sturdy second weekend, phasing its way to a non-final $5.6m (£3.7m).

The sequel has now grossed $23.6m (£15.5m) and is around £6m off overtaking its predecessor which took $32.5m (£21.4m) in 2009. Expect the sequel to top that in the coming weeks.

Despite showing some signs of slowing down in its fourth weekend, Disney’s Iron Man 3 still managed to gross $2.1m (£1.4m) as it fell to fourth.

That puts the latest Marvel outing - and the first of Phase Two - at $51.3m (£33.8m) to date in the UK, setting a tough benchmark for both Man of Steel and stablemate Thor: The Dark World to follow.

Also for Disney, Finding Nemo 3D has grossed $1.8m (£1.2m), while Wreck-It Ralph has smashed its way to $35.8m (£23.6m).

Rounding off this week’s top five was Vertigo’s All Stars, which added $299,000 (£196,579) for $2.5m (£1.6m) to date.

eOne’s Mud is now up to $770,000 (£506,218) after a $196,000 (£129,149) second weekend, while 21 and Over laughed its way to an additional $166,000 (£108,920) for $3.5m (£2.3m) to date.

This week sees saturation releases for Fox’s Epic (opens May 22) following its previews this past weekend and Warner Bros’ The Hangover Part III (opens May 23). Artificial Eye’s Something in the Air and Lionsgate’s The Moth Diaries are among the films receiving a limited release.