‘One Battle After Another’ tops UK-Ireland box office with strong £2.4m opening; ‘Hamilton’ 10th anniversary release lands second

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Warner Bros’ One Battle After Another topped the UK-Ireland box office this weekend with a strong £2.4m – comfortably a new record opening for writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson.

The film surpassed the £794,295 opening of Anderson’s Boogie Nights from 1998. One Battle After Another opened in 650 sites, at a £3,768 site average.

With £2.5m including previews, it has already topped the totals of all Anderson films except Boogie Nights (£4.5m), There Will Be Blood (£5m), Phantom Thread  (£2.8m) and Licorice Pizza  (£2.6m) – most of which it should overtake within the next week.

Warner Bros will hope this good start will see the film reach beyond £10m across its run.

A one-weekend release of musical Hamilton for its 10^th anniversary grossed an impressive £1.8m for Disney, from 738 sites at a £2,395 location average.

Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale leads Universal’s slate, and posted £1.3m on its third weekend – a 43% drop. The closing title to the Downton Abbey story is up to £13.4m – closing in on the £15.1m total of 2022 second film A New Era, but falling behind 2019’s Downton Abbey  (£19.4m at this stage, and £28.5m total).

The Conjuring: Last Rites is playing well for Warner Bros, adding £834,053 – a 44% drop – on its fourth weekend. The horror is up to £16.4m, now £5m ahead of the next highest-grossing title from the nine-film Conjuring universe – 2018’s The Nun  (£11.4m).

Stephen King adaptation The Long Walk held a top five spot for a third weekend. The Lionsgate release dropped 43% with £466,628, and is up to a decent £3.6m.

Takings for the top five came to £6.8m – a 12% increase on last weekend, and 85% up on the equivalent weekend from last year, as the box office seems to have rebounded from a tough August with a better September. Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party Of A Showgirl will aim to keep the good feeling going next weekend, with presales on the event release looking strong.

Bad Guys come good

The Roses starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman added £344,991 on its fifth weekend – a 44% drop that brought it to a decent £9.2m total.

Horror sequel The Strangers: Chapter 2 started with £331,535 from 427 sites at a £776 average for Lionsgate. It was down on the £453,152 start of Chapter 1 from May 2024.

Anime Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle added £322,370 on its third weekend for Sony – a 64% drop that brought it to £6.2m.

The Bad Guys 2 continues a trend of long tails on Universal animations, increasing its weekend-on-weekend takings by 1% on its 10^th session in cinemas. The film added £234,508, and is up to £13.5m; it now stands a good chance of overtaking the £13.8m of 2022 first title The Bad Guys.

Sony romance A Big Bold Beautiful Journey added £161,314 on its second weekend – a 70% drop that brought it just over the £1m mark.

Suzie Miller’s filmed play Inter Alia starring Rosamund Pike added £101,001 on its fourth weekend in cinemas, and is up to £1.8m for National Theatre Live.

An extended cut of Spider-Man 2, titled Spider-Man 2.1, brought in £97,993 for Park Circus.

Freakier Friday ran through an eighth weekend in cinemas for Disney, adding £82,793 – a 40% drop that brought it to £8.8m total.

Brian Kirk’s action thriller The Dead Of Winter starring Emma Thompson opened to £77,996 for Vertigo Releasing, from 170 sites at a £459 average. Including previews it has £83,577.

Smurfs is holding on well for Paramount, adding £75,000 – a 92% increase on its previous session, that takes it to almost £5.8m total.

Universal’s live-action How To Train Your Dragon added £51,826 on its 16^th weekend in cinemas – a 57% drop, that brought it to £23.1m. It is behind only How To Train Your Dragon 2  (£25.6m) from the three preceding animated titles.

European animation Diplo: The Mighty Dinosaur added £32,291 on its second weekend for Signature Entertainment, and has £91,659 in total.

Indian legal comedy Jolly LLB 3 added £32,066 on its second weekend in cinemas – a 72% drop that brought it to £191,890 total for Bakrania Media, down on the £312,540 of 2017’s Jolly LLB 2.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps dropped 46% on its 10^th weekend, with £30,556 taking it to £23.9m total for Disney.

Weapons is still in cinemas after eight weekends, adding £23,442 on its latest session for Warner Bros and reaching a strong £11.8m.

Universal’s 25^th anniversary re-release of Stephen Daldry’s Billy Elliot took £22,163 across the weekend, and has £24,606 in total; in addition to the £18.4m from the film’s original release.

Nadia Fall’s Brides, backed by the BFI and Ffilm Cymru Wales, started with £20,238 for Vue Lumiere, and has £35,369 including previews.

Jurassic World Rebirth is starting to go extinct after 13 weekends in cinemas, dropping 54% on its latest session with £17,015 taking it to £35.9m for Universal.

BTS 2017 The Wings Tour The Final Remastered took £16,585 at the weekend for Trafalgar Releasing, and has £33,678 including previous screenings.

Comedy sequel Spinal Tap: The End Continues added £15,498 on its third weekend for Sony – a 74% drop that brought it to £477,706.

Indian Oscar entry Homebound started with £15,340 for Moviegoers Entertainment.

CinemaLive’s release of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies added £13,738 on its second session, and is up to £160,232.

Darren Aronofsky’s Caught Stealing added £13,734 on its fifth weekend for Sony – a 73% drop that brought it to £1.7m.

A second BTS concert film, BTS 2016 Live The Most Beautiful Moment In Life On Stage: Epilogue Remastered made £10,732 at the weekend for Trafalgar Releasing, and has £28,890 in total.

Justin Kurzel’s documentary Ellis Park started with £6,172 at the weekend for Conic, and has £8,576 including previews.

Polish comedy Tesciowie 3 is up to £175,946 through two weekends for Magnetes Pictures.

Gay romance A Night Like This opened to £2,820 through Verve Pictures.

The Sound Of Music re-release closed out last week on £273,851 for Trafalgar Releasing.

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