It is a weekend of scant new releases at the UK box office, with holdovers including Ralph Breaks The Internet and Creed II likely to dominate the chart.
Universal’s Sorry To Bother You is a new opener this weekend. The film, a satire on race and greed, premiered at Sundance this year to strong write-ups. Writer-director Boots Riley, making his feature debut, is a bigger name in the US (where the film grossed $17.5m) than the UK, which could temper its box office prospects.
20th Century Fox’s The Old Man & The Gun, starring Robert Redford as a prison escapee in the 1970s who pulls off a string of heists, is also opening this weekend. The film played at Telluride and Toronto and should find an audience in the UK among Redford fans. Redford has also snagged a Golden Globe nomination for his performance in the film. Director David Lowery’s previous film, A Ghost Story, struggled in the UK, taking just £481,298.
Sony Pictures’ White Boy Rick also enters UK cinemas today (Dec 7). Directed by Yann Demange, the film is a crime drama starring Matthew McConaughey set during the ‘war on drugs’ in the US in the 1980s. Middling reviews could impact its box office prospects. McConaughey has delivered mixed fortunes in the UK, The Dark Tower underperformed with £2.8m, and Gold was a flop with just £743,851, though the well-reviewed Dallas Buyers Club fared better with £5.3m.
Also playing in UK cinemas this weekend, though unofficially, is Sony Pictures’ animated superhero film Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse. The film isn’t technically released until December 12, but is previewing in many venues over the weekend so should make an impact on the chart.
Also screening early this weekend is Universal’s big-budget Mortal Engines, based on Philip Reeve’s novel of the same name. The film is officially released next week (December 14) but will be in UK cinemas from tomorrow (Dec 8).
Further new-openers this weekend include Justin Chadwick’s Tulip Fever, starring Alicia Vikander, Dean DeHaan and Jack O’Connell, via Entertainment Film Distributors, the film having been long-delayed due to the collapse of its rights holder, the Weinstein company, Malgorzata Szumowska’s Berlin Silver Bear-winner Mug via Bulldog, Entertainment One’s 10th anniversary re-release of Twilight, and Park Circus’ Christmas themed duo Die Hard and Home Alone.
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