‘Project Hail Mary’ tops UK-Ireland box office with £4.6m; ‘Dhurandhar 2’ breaks Indian film records in second place

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Sci-fi thriller Project Hail Mary topped the UK-Ireland box office with a £4.6m opening weekend; as Indian sequel Dhurandhar: The Revenge broke records in second place.

Amazon MGM Studios title Project Hail Mary, with Sony handling distribution, took its £4.6m from 701 sites, at a £6,601 site average. The £4.6m figure is a record opening for an Amazon MGM Studios-produced title, with more than double the £2m start of 2024 Christmas comedy Red One.

Having started previews the previous weekend, Project Hail Mary is off to a strong overall start with £7.4m already, and should overtake Red One  (£8.2m) to become the highest-grossing Amazon MGM Studios-produced film ever in the territory by next weekend.

Dhurandhar: The Revenge recorded the highest opening ever for an Indian film at the UK-Ireland box office. It started with an excellent £1.6m from Friday to Sunday for Moviegoers Entertainment, ahead of the likes of 2023’s Pathaan (£1.4m).

A mid-range release in 287 cinemas, The Revenge took a strong £5,709 location average. Its £643,180 on Saturday, March 21 was the biggest single day for a Hindi-language film ever at the UK-Ireland box office.

The film also took £425,793 on Thursday, March 19 – the biggest opening day for a Hindi film and giving The Revenge a £2.1m total. This made it the fastest Indian film ever to £2m at UK-Ireland cinemas, in just four days. It is now targeting Pathaan’s £4.4m total to become the highest-grossing Indian film ever.

Written and directed by Aditya Dhar, The Revenge is the second and final instalment about an Indian intelligence agent who infiltrates Pakistani criminal syndicates while avenging the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks. The first Dhurandhar film opened to £306,678 in December last year, ending on a strong £3m total as the third highest-grossing Indian film ever behind Pathaan and 2023’s Jawan (£3.3m).

Former number one Hoppers put on £1.2m on its third session for Disney – a drop of 46%, that brought it to £9.5m total. It will pass £10m in the next week; and should see a boost in the UK school Easter holidays, starting from March 28.

Colleen Hoover adaptation Reminders Of Him added £675,230 on its second weekend for Universal – a 38% drop that brought it to just shy of £2.5m. It is down on the breakout success of 2024 Hoover adaptation It Ends With Us, which was at £11.4m at this stage; but closer to last year’s Regretting You, which was up to £3.9m after two weekends.

Horror sequel Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come opened to £597,414 for Disney, from 468 sites at a £1,277 average. This was down on the £697,488 opening of the 2019 first film, from 425 sites at a £1,641 average. Including previews, Here I Come has £615,448.

Takings for the top five titles increased 33% on last weekend, up to £8.8m and going in a positive direction for the first time in five weeks. The figures are also up 35% on the equivalent weekend from last year. Aiming to continue the momentum next weekend is Entertainment Film Distributors’ The Magic Faraway Tree with Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy.

Good Boy, Apnas, Midwinter Break start

Studiocanal’s How To Make A Killing added £255,014 on its second weekend – a 58% drop that brought it to £1.5m total.

Paramount horror Scream 7 added £199,000 on its fourth weekend in cinemas – a drop of 59%. The franchise title is up to £7.6m, closing in on the higher £7.6m of 2022’s Scream  to become the fourth highest-grossing title in the franchise.

Now through a sixth weekend in cinemas, Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights leads Warner Bros’ slate, adding £191,522 – a 64% drop. It is up to £24.8m and is still the highest-grossing release of 2026 to date.

Sony animation GOAT added £125,587 on its sixth weekend, with £125,587 taking it to £12.9m total.

Jan Komasa’s psychological thriller The Good Boy opened to £122,595 from 241 sites at a £509 average for Signature Entertainment. The film, starring Stephen Graham, Andrea Riseborough and Anson Boon, is up to £191,862 including previews.

Ashley Chin’s British-Asian drama Apnas began with £55,582 for Munro Film, from 95 cinemas at a £585 location average, with select screenings and days in many venues.

UK-produced drama Midwinter Break starring Lesley Manville and Ciaran Hinds started with £54,859 for Universal, from 204 sites at a low £273 average. Including previews, the film has £61,060.

Paolo Sorrentino’s Venice Film Festival 2025 opening film La Grazia started with £48,064 for Mubi, slightly down on the director’s Parthenope  (£61,559 opening) from last year but with a slightly higher screen average of £1,045. La Grazia has £89,400 including previews.

Baz Luhrmann’s EPiC: Elvis Presley In Concert added £42,549 on its fourth weekend – a 76% drop that brought it to £3.6m for Universal.

Park Circus’s 25^th anniversary re-release of Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge! brought in £38,938 from 279 sites at a £140 average.

Kleber Mendonça Filho’s The Secret Agent starring Wagner Moura is up to £1.2m for Mubi, having added £30,791 on its fifth weekend in cinemas.

Despite awards season now in the rearview mirror, Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet is still finding an audience through its 11^th weekend in cinemas. The Universal release added £30,310 on its latest session, with a 44% drop better than the market average; and is up to £18.9m total.

Venice 2025 title Dead Man’s Wire started with £22,196 for Vertigo Releasing, from 84 sites at a £264 average. The film, starring Dacre Montgomery and Bill Skarsgard, has £36,621 in total.

Scottish activism documentary Everybody To Kenmure Street  added £18,634 on its second weekend – a drop of just 27%, despite fewer sites and screenings. The film is now up to £96,163 for Conic, having launched at Sundance Film Festival earlier this year before opening Glasgow Film Festival.

Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride! is exiting cinemas after just three weekends. The gothic romance dropped a sizeable 91% on its third session, with £16,132; and is up to £1.4m for Warner Bros, having struggled across its box office run.

Oliver Laxe’s Oscar-nominated Sirat is up to £396,964 from four weekends for Altitude, having added £16,030 on its latest session.

On its sixth weekend in cinemas, Amazon MGM Studios’ Crime 101  put on £9,940, and is up to £4.3m, distributed by Sony.

Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard’s music documentary Broken English about Marianne Faithfull started with £8,770 for Vue Lumière, and has £118,074 including previews.

Hlynur Palmason’s Cannes 2025 Icelandic title The Love That Remains added £7,541 on its second weekend for Curzon, and is up to £65,288.

Trafalgar Releasing’s Othello added £4,426 from just four screenings on a third weekend in cinemas; and is up to £420,923.

Open water swimming documentary Don’t Be Prey started with £1,497 for Munro Film, from nine locations at a £166 average with final figures still coming in. The film has £10,466 including previews.

Mauro Borelli’s religious drama The Last Supper started with £602 for Miracle/Dazzler, from limited shows in 14 sites.

Met Opera Live – Tristaan Und Isolde is up to £100,333 for Trafalgar Releasing, from screenings across the past week.

• Janet Yang predicts major changes in film distribution process