‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ scores £9.4m, propelling UK-Ireland box office to best 2026 weekend; ‘The Drama’ opens in third

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The Super Mario Galaxy Movie  fuelled a strong weekend at the UK-Ireland box office, as The Drama broke records and key holdovers performed well in the busy market.

Universal’s The Super Mario Galaxy Movie started with £9.4m from Friday to Sunday, opening in 714 sites for a £13,227 average. This is the biggest opening of 2026, ahead of the £7.6m of Wuthering Heights, and is 8% up on the £8.7m three-day start of 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

In addition, Galaxy took a huge £2.7m on the Bank Holiday Monday, for a £12.2m four-day weekend; and having opened for previews on Wednesday, April 1, it is up to an excellent £17.7m cume from six days in cinemas.

The first film closed out on £54.9m as the fourth highest-grossing release of 2023, so Galaxy has lofty targets to aim for. It has made an excellent start, reaching almost a third of its predecessor’s total from its first six days.

Amazon MGM Studios’ own blockbuster Project Hail Mary held well in the face of stiff competition, adding £3.4m on its third session. This was a modest drop of just 28% and brought the title to a strong £22.9m total. Sony handles distribution on the film.

Kristoffer Borgli’s The Drama starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson has scored the biggest opening weekend ever in UK-Ireland for an A24-produced film. Released by Entertainment Film Distributors, the title opened to £2.1m at 640 sites on the three-day weekend, for a £3,342 average.

This three-day start is ahead of the openings of Civil War  (£1.6m), Heretic  (£1.6m) and Marty Supreme (£1.4m). Including Monday, The Drama is up to £2.8m already; it is attempting to chase down Marty Supreme’s £16.4m as the highest-grossing A24-produced film ever in the territory.

It finished less than £25,000 ahead of another EFD title in fourth place, UK family adventure The Magic Faraway Tree. That film added £2.1m on its second weekend – a drop of just 25%, which took its cume to £8.3m after 11 days in cinemas.

Disney/Pixar’s Hoppers added £542,843 on its fifth weekend, a 47% drop that brought it to £12.6m including Monday.

Takings for the top five came in at an excellent £17.7m – the biggest total of the year so far, and up a significant 80% on last weekend’s top five amount. The figures were down 5% on the £18.6m equivalent weekend from last year, when A Minecraft Movie posted a huge £15m opening on its own.

However, a separate comparison to 2025’s Easter weekend has 2026 up 76%. Holdovers will hold sway next weekend, with new titles looking for space including Universal romantic comedy You, Me & Tuscany, and James McAvoy’s directorial debut California Schemin’   via Studiocanal.

Fuze lights up; Dhurandhar neads record

David Mackenzie’s crime thriller Fuze starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Theo James and Sam Worthington opened to £299,306 from Friday-to-Sunday, from 424 sites at a £706 average. The film has £376,844 in total through Studiocanal.

Indian crime thriller Dhurandhar: The Revenge still brought in decent takings despite the presence of big new titles as competition. The film added £279,626 – a 58% drop that took it to nearly £4.1m total. It is the second-highest-grossing Indian film release ever in the UK & Ireland, and could still catch the £4.4m of 2023’s Pathaan before the end of its run.

Romantic drama Reminders Of Him added £203,221 on its fourth weekend for Universal – a 61% drop that brought it to £4.1m total. Among Colleen Hoover adaptations, it is down on the £21.9m of 2024’s It Ends With Us; but closer to the £6.2m of last year’s Regretting You.

On its third weekend in cinemas, slasher sequel Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come added £162,836 – a 59% drop. It is up to £1.9m total, and should overtake the £2m of the 2019 first film within the next week for Disney.

Bluey At The Cinema: Playdates With Friends, the latest children’s animation compliation from Vue Lumière, added £98,646 on its second weekend – a 47% drop that brought it to £448,681 total, chasing the £680,326 of last year’s Bluey At The Cinema: Let’s Play Chef Collection.

Curzon’s 25^th anniversary re-release of Amelie took £69,659 from Friday to Sunday, with a cumulative total of £97,396. The French favourite made £5m through its initial 2001 release.

Comedy horror They Will Kill You leads Warner Bros’ slate, adding £46,442 on its second weekend having fallen 84% from its opening. It is up to £604,739 in total.

UK pub comedy Mother’s Pride added £45,781 on its fifth weekend for Entertainment Film Distributors – a 69% drop that topped up its takings to £3.5m.

Scream 7 put on £45,000 on its sixth weekend for Paramount, dropping 59% on its previous session and landing just shy of £8m in total.

Studiocanal’s How To Make A Killing starring Glen Powell added £35,091 on its fourth weekend, and is up to just shy of £2m.

UK-Asian crime drama Apnas added £35,000 on its third weekend for Munro Film – another decent hold, falling just 30% and reaching £228,654 in total.

UK-Polish horror The Good Boy added £29,300 on its third weekend for Signature Entertainment – a 68% drop that brought it to a £482,777 lifetime figure.

Sony animation GOAT put on £22,712 on its eighth weekend in cinemas, and is up to £13.2m after a good run.

UK-Irish crime thriller No Ordinary Heist added £22,680 on its second weekend for Wildcard Distribution, and is up to £116,297 total.

Paolo Sorrentino’s Venice 2025 opener La Grazia added £18,206 on its third weekend for Mubi – a 57% drop that brought it to £234,392 total, ahead of the £207,809 of Sorrentino’s previous film Parthenope.

Sergei Loznitsa’s Cannes 2025 title Two Prosecutors added £15,149 on its second weekend for Curzon, and is up to £83,737 in total, as comfortably the Ukrainian director’s highest-grossing film in the territory.

UK-produced drama Midwinter Break added £14,852 on its third weekend – a 67% drop that brought it to £261,245 for Universal.

Universal stablemate EPIC: Elvis Presley In Concert added £14,561 on its sixth weekend in cinemas – a 54% drop that brought it to £3.7m total, a strong result for a concert film.

Orwell: 2+2=5 added £13,781 on its second weekend for Altitude, and is up to £79,920 total.

Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights clings on to its title as the highest-grossing 2026 release for one more weekend. It added £11,285 on its eighth session to hit £25.2m total for Warner Bros; and is likely to be passed by Project Hail Mary and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie by next Monday.

Oscar-nominated The Secret Agent is closing its file for Mubi, with £10,966 on its seventh weekend in cinemas contributing towards a strong £1.3m total.

Public sex fetish thriller Night Stage opened to £6,200 at the weekend for Peccadillo Pictures. The film is up to £7,250 in total.

Universal’s awards contender Hamnet is finally taking its bow, with £5,316 on its 13^th weekend in cinemas contributing towards an excellent total that should cross £19m with additional screenings in the next fortnight.

Music documentary McCartney: The Hunt For The Lost Bass started with a £4,638 weekend for Dartmouth Films, from 30 sites at a £155 average. The film has £18,286 in total.

Comedy-drama Splitsville added £2,270 on its second weekend for Universal, after a 94% drop that takes it to £74,347 total.

BFI Distribution opened documentary D Is For Distance to £1,097 at the weekend, with £3,371 to date including previews.

Trafalgar Releasing’s latest Royal Opera House title Siegfried is up to £207,383, having made £164,989 on its Tuesday, March 31 event day.

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