Critically acclaimed documentary grosses £345,279 over four-day Bank Holiday weekend.

Bart Layton’s The Imposter has recorded a highly impressive opening bow at the UK box office.

Layton’s critically acclaimed documentary took $546,488 (£345,279), including previews, from just 49 sites over the four-day weekend at a strong average of $11,153 (£7,047), one of the best-ever debuts for a documentary in the UK.

Top site across the UK belonged to the Curzon Soho with a three-day total of $22,725 (£14,359), a success repeated across London with sold-out showings in the likes of the Clapham Picturehouse, The Ritzy in Brixton and Hackney Picturehouse. Elsewhere in the UK, The Imposter drew crowds in Cinema City in Norwich, the Duke of York’s in Brighton and The Little Theatre Cinema in Bath.

Picturehouse Cinemas enjoyed the biggest share of The Imposter’s box office at 36%, and the documentary was the highest-grossing film across the chain this weekend with a $11,770 (£7,437) average across its 15 sites.

Clare Binns, Programming and Acquisitions Director at Picturehouse Entertainment, and Justin Marciano, CEO of Revolver Entertainment, said in a joint statement: “With a bold marketing campaign positioning this film as a psychological thriller, and fully supported by the BFI P&A Fund, we are delighted with the result and are looking forward to securing some more hits together in Toronto.”