James Hawes’ Nicholas Winton biopic One Life and Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla Presley story Priscilla lead the new films on the first weekend of 2024 at the UK-Ireland box office.
Distributed by Warner Bros and opening in a sizeable 699 sites, One Life tells the story of Nicholas Winton, a London broker who rescued 669 children – predominantly Jewish – from the Nazis leading up to the Second World War. The film has £1.6m already, having opened for previews on Monday, January 1.
Johnny Flynn, a 2005 Screen Star of Tomorrow, plays the younger Winton; with Anthony Hopkins playing him in the 1980s, when he made his famous appearance on BBC TV programme That’s Life! and was reunited with dozens of the people he had saved.
The film premiered as a Special Presentation at Toronto International Film Festival in September 2023, going on to an international premiere at the BFI London Film Festival, where director Hawes orchestrated a recreation of the That’s Life! moment.
It is in contention for the 2024 awards season, particularly for the performance by awards darling Hopkins; the actor won his second best actor Oscar in 2021 for The Father and has three best actor Baftas across his career.
It is a debut feature for British director Hawes, who has worked extensively in television since the 1980s, directing for shows including Doctor Who, Penny Dreadful, Black Mirror, Snowpiercer and Slow Horses. His past work also includes 2009 TV movie Enid, starring Helena Bonham Carter, who also has a supporting role in One Life.
Priscilla expands to 295 cinemas this weekend, having started previews on January 1 and with £682,550 in the bank already. The Mubi release is another awards contender, for Coppola’s direction and adaptation of Priscilla Presley and Sandra Harmon’s book Elvis And Me; and for Cailee Spaeny’s breakout performance as the title character.
US actress Spaeny won the Volpi Cup for best actress at Venice Film Festival where the film debuted in September 2023; the award is a decent indicator of an Oscar nomination, with Olivia Colman (The Favourite in 2018), Emma Stone (La La Land in 2016) and Helen Mirren (The Queen in 2006) having won both prizes in recent years.
Priscilla tells the story of teenage Priscilla Beaulieu, who meets rock-and-roll superstar Elvis Presley, leading to a relationship between the two across 14 years. Jacob Elordi, who also stars in awards contender Saltburn, takes on the role of Elvis.
The film presents a different perspective on the iconic music star from Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 biopic Elvis, which scored eight Oscar nominations and won four Baftas including best actor for Austin Butler. That film was a major hit in the UK and Ireland, opening to a moderate £4m but rolling on to £27.8m total as the 11th -highest-grossing release of the year.
Priscilla is Coppola’s eighth feature as director, and her first since 2020’sOn The Rocks, which took £458,802 during the pandemic. Her highest-grossing film by a distance is 2004’s Lost In Translation, which opened to £796,933 and ended on an impressive £10.1m.
Blumhouse latest
Universal is starting its first Blumhouse Productions film of the year, Bryce McGuire’s Night Swim, in 431 cinemas. The horror follows a woman swimming in her pool at night who is terrorised by an evil spirit.
The film is produced by James Wan through his US company Atomic Monster. It is the first Blumhouse release since confirmation of a merger between the company and Atomic Monster on Tuesday, January 2; both companies will maintain creative autonomy and brand identity.
The prolific Blumhouse had four films in UK-Ireland cinemas last year: M3GAN (£7.3m total), number one titles The Exorcist: Believer (£5.9m) and Five Nights At Freddy’s (£10.1m), and Insidious: The Red Door (£7.9m).
BFI Distribution is starting documentary Scala!!! in 18 cinemas. The film tells the story of the famous London repertory cinema, which showed a diverse range of titles and became a home for famous creatives during the Margaret Thatcher years.
Directed by Jane Giles and Ali Catterall, Scala!!! features cinema stalwarts including Stephen Woolley, Ben Wheatley, Ralph Brown and Mary Harron. It debuted at Il Cinema Ritrovato in Bologna, Italy in June 2023, before a festival run across the rest of the year.
Trinty CineAsia is opening Felix Chong’s Hong Kong crime title The Goldfinger, which re-teams Infernal Affairs duo Tony Leung and Andy Lau, in 47 cinemas. In event cinema, Trafalgar Releasing is playing Nabucco from its Met Opera series in 115 cinemas on Saturday, January 6.
Holdovers will hold sway near the top of the chart, with Warner Bros’ Wonka showing few signs of slowing down; while Black Bear’s Ferrari, Sony’s Anyone But You and Elysian Film Distribution’s The Boy And The Heron will all look to capitalise on decent starts over Christmas.
No comments yet