‘Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie’ tops UK-Ireland box office with £1.7m, ahead of ‘Black Phone 2’

GBP to USD conversion rate: 1.34

Universal’s Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie saw off The Black Phone 2 at this weekend’s UK-Ireland box office, with a £1.7m opening for the family-friendly title.

Playing in 606 locations, Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie took a £2,882 average, and has £1.9m including previews. The film is based on the animated Netflix series about a young girl and her feline friends; with Gloria Estefan and Kristen Wiig among the cast for the live-action feature.

Horror sequel Black Phone 2 started with £1.1m from 556 sites at a £1,991 average, also for Universal. This was ahead of the £922,150 opening from 498 sites at a £1,852 average of 2022’s The Black Phone.

That first film finished on £4.7m; Universal will hope to cross the £5m mark if the sequel has a similarly strong tail.

UK independent comedy-drama I Swear posted a strong hold on its second weekend, dropping just 18%. The Studiocanal title, about the life of a young man with Tourette’s Syndrome, added £866,877 and is up to a decent £2.9m already.

Disney sci-fi Tron: Ares added £837,797 on its second weekend – a 52% drop that brought it to £3.3m total. It will finish down on the £10.5m total of 2010’s Tron Legacy.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another added £790,668 on its fourth weekend – a 36% drop that brought it to £9.7m for Warner Bros. The revolutionary drama will cross the £10m mark this week, signalling a strong result for the film.

Despite a tough weekend for most holdovers, the arrival of new titles Gabby’s Dollhouse and Black Phone 2 meant takings for the top five were up 9%, to £5.3m. However, takings are down 19% on the equivalent weekend from last year. Next weekend’s major release is Bruce Springsteen biopic Springsteen, through Disney.

Roofman, Hunt open

Derek Cianfrance crime drama Roofman starring Channing Tatum opened to £616,000 from 540 sites at a £1,141 average; and has £678,000 including previews for Paramount.

Lionsgate opened Good Fortune to £306,127 from 462 sites at a £663 average. The US comedy is directed by Aziz Ansari, who stars alongside Seth Rogen and Keanu Reeves.

Despite being available to stream as of last Monday, October 13, Universal’s Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale added a further £230,235 on its sixth weekend in cinemas – a 51% drop that brought it to £17.6m. 

Luca Guadagnino’s college scandal title After The Hunt opened to £207,686. The Sony release – produced by Amazon MGM Studios – played in 345 cinemas, and took a £602 average.

Kazoo Films’ animation Night Of The Zoopocalypse posted a solid hold on its second session by the rates of this weekend, dropping 38%. It added £164,000 and is up to £490,000 total.

Now through a seventh weekend in cinemas, Warner Bros horror The Conjuring: Last Rites added £121,238 on its latest session – a 60% drop that brought it to an excellent £18.1m total.

Universal animation The Bad Guys 2 put on £101,606 on its 13^th session in cinemas, and is now up to a strong £14.1m – clear of the £13.8m of the 2022 first film.

Entertainment Film Distributors’ The Smashing Machine starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt added £86,581 on its third weekend – a 75% drop that brought it to £1.9m total.

Lionsgate’s re-issue of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse brought in £76,108 this weekend, bringing the total for the film to £29.8m including its original 2010 run.

UK comedy The Roses dropped 55% on its eighth weekend in cinemas for Disney with £56,053, and is up to £10.2m.

Trafalgar Releasing’s latest Met Opera title La Sonnambula made £55,601 from just two days at 47 cinemas, at a healthy £1,183 average.

The Long Walk starring Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson added £48,155 on its sixth weekend – a 67% drop that brought it to £4.6m for Lionsgate.

Ghost dog horror Good Boy dropped 77% on its second weekend for Vertigo Releasing, with £39,030 contributing towards a £378,987 total to date.

Sony anime Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle added £35,992 on its sixth weekend in cinemas, and is up to £6.9m – a healthy total for a film not in the English language.

Elysian Film Distribution’s latest re-release of Hayao Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke made £32,708 at the weekend, with the 4K re-issue of the film now at £421,661 across the year.

Park Circus’s re-release of 2005 horror Constantine opened to £19,982; the film made £6.7m on its original run through Warner Bros.

Paramount animation Dora: Magic Mermaid Adventures added £17,000 on its third weekend – a 62% drop that brought it to £198,000 total.

Boris Lojkine’s Paris-set asylum drama Souleymane’s Story opened to £16,007 for Conic, from 23 sites at a £696 average. The film has £23,843 including previews.

The re-release of Japanese psychological thriller Perfect Blue added £15,410 on its second weekend for Anime Ltd, and is up to £134,683, almost three times the £45,714 of a 20^th anniversary re-release from 2017.

Park Circus’s Corpse Bride re-release added £14,009 on its second session, and has £183,851 in total.

Indian romantic comedy Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari added £11,246 on its third weekend for Moviegoers Entertainment, and is up to £201,866 total.

Curzon’s re-release of Milos Forman’s One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest took £9,412 at the weekend, and has £9,755 in total.

On its third weekend, Universal horror Him fell back 88%, with £9,334 taking it to a £549,333 cume.

Curzon romantic thriller Plainclothes starring Tom Blyth and Russell Tovey added £8,961 on its second session, and has £73,013 in total.

The Strangers: Chapter 2 is closing out for Lionsgate, adding £3,347 on its fourth weekend to hit £822,734, behind the £1.9m of the 2024 first film.

Nina Conti’s UK-US comedy Sunlight started with £1,332 from two screens for Miracle Comms.

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