Disney leads UK box office with ‘Onward’, ‘Star Wars’

GBP to USD conversion rate: 1.26.

Disney has continued to lead the post-lockdown box office in the UK and Ireland with Pixar animation Onward and a re-release of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back taking the top two slots.

In the absence of any new major releases, Onward returned to the top of the box office with £48,142 across 128 locations from Friday to Sunday (July 17-19) – an average of £376.

It means the animated adventure, which was initially released on March 6 and played for three weekends prior to the closure of cinemas nationwide on March 20, has grossed £5.43m to date.

Disney’s 40th anniversary re-release of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back dipped to second place, having led last week’s chart. It took £32,556 from 125 locations, with a £260 average. Last weekend, the fantasy classic took more than £50,000 from 94 locations.

Cinemas are now allowed to reopen in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, with Covid-19 safety measures in place, while cinemas in Wales can unlock their doors from July 27.

Universal held third position with animated sequel Trolls World Tour, which took £23,586 from 94 locations for a £268 average and running total of £115,437.

Altitude thriller Black Water: Abyss also held last week’s position in fourth place, taking £16,093 from 86 locations for an average of £187 and £60,000 cume. This was a dip of just 18% on its previous opening weekend.

Lionsgate’s re-release of Dirty Dancing rounded out the top five, taking £14,498 over the three-day weekend.

New releases

Signature Entertainment’s family animation Dreambuilders led the new titles, taking £12,120 from 52 locations, averaging £233 and ranking sixth overall. The fantasy adventure is from the animation team behind Big Hero 6 and follows a young girl who discovers the ability to create and control other people’s dreams.

Figures have yet to come in for Chinonye Chukwu’s Clemency, on which Phil Hunt and Lucy Fenton’s new distributor Bohemia Media has teamed with Modern Films; and Richard Wong’s Come As You Are, released by Studio Soho Distribution.

However, Studiocanal has reported that a 4K restoration of Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure took £6,867 from 27 locations for a £264 average and £7,759 cume. It comes ahead of an anticipated August 28 release of Bill & Ted Face The Music, which marks the third instalment in the comedy franchise.

With major releases such as Tenet and Mulan pushed back, this weekend’s new releases include Marco Bellocchio’s Mafia drama The Traitor from Modern Films and Latvian war film The Rifleman from Parkland Entertainment.

Meanwhile, Parkland’s comedy-drama Love Sarah took £4,284 on its second outing to record a running total of £15,995.

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