Original sci-fi blockbuster The Creator leads the new titles at this weekend’s UK-Ireland box office, opening in 655 cinemas through Disney.
Directed by UK filmmaker Gareth Edwards, who wrote the screenplay with Chris Weitz, The Creator is set in a future where humans are at war with artificial intelligence, and a former soldier finds a secret robot weapon in the form of a young child.
The Creator is Edwards’ fourth feature film. His debut Monsters, also a sci-fi in which humans are battling for survival, opened to £348,577 in 2010, finishing on £952,963. He has since directed 2014’s Godzilla (opened: £6.4m; closed: £17.2m) and scored a big hit with 2016 franchise title Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (£17m; £66m).
As a sci-fi studio blockbuster not based on pre-existing material, The Creator is a rarity in the current theatrical market; but there are examples of such titles making good money at UK-Ireland cinemas. Avatar was the highest-grossing film of all time when released in 2009, totalling £94m (it has since spawned the first of several sequels); while Christopher Nolan’s Inception made £35.8m in 2010.
The last original sci-fi to make a significant mark at the box office was another Nolan title: Tenet, which opened to £5.3m and ended on £17.6m – a strong result in the midst of cinema closures and restrictions during the pandemic in 2020.
That film starred John David Washington, who also leads The Creator, alongside Madeleine Yuna Voyles, Gemma Chan, Allison Janney and Ken Watanabe.
Lionsgate is setting a new widest-release record for the Saw franchise, opening 10th title Saw X in 558 cinemas - ahead of the 462-site opening of 2017’s eighth title Jigsaw, which opened to £1.9m and ended on £5m.
Kevin Greutert returns to direct on the franchise, having previously helmed Saw VI (£5.4m total) and following title Saw 3D (£8.6m, the highest-grossing title of the franchise).
The 10th film sees John Kramer – the jigsaw killer – travel to Mexico for a risky experimental procedure to cure his cancer, only to discover a scam for defrauding the most vulnerable.
Each of the first eight Saw films crossed the £5m mark, displaying a consistent audience – although, partly through their 18 ratings, none of them reached £10m. There was a significant drop-off with 2021’s Spiral: From The Book Of Saw, which totalled £1.6m – although it was released in the week that cinemas reopened following the pandemic in May 2021, significantly restricting its total.
Loach returns to cinemas
Studiocanal is starting The Old Oak, the latest and reportedly final film from UK luminary Ken Loach, in 226 cinemas – a second-widest opening ever for Loach, after 2009’s Looking For Eric in 239 cinemas.
When it launched in Cannes Competition this year, The Old Oak became Loach’s 15th film to debut in the section, and 18th at the festival overall. He won the Palme d’Or for The Wind That Shakes The Barley in 2006 – which went on to £3.9m in the UK and Ireland – and for I, Daniel Blake in 2016 – which grossed £3.5m.
His most recent film Sorry We Missed You, another Cannes Competition entry, took £1.3m in 2019.
Filmed and set in a village in Northeast England, The Old Oak depicts the uncertain future for the village’s last remaining pub, in an area where people are leaving as the mines are closed.
Central City Media is starting Philip Yung’s Hong Kong thriller Where The Wind Blows, starring Asian superstars Aaron Kwok, Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Michael Hui, in 30 cinemas.
Back catalogue releases this weekend include Jonathan Demme’s Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense through A24, following iMax previews over the past week; Hocus Pocus through Park Circus; and The Exorcist, the 1973 horror classic from the late William Friedkin, in 436 cinemas through Warner Bros, ahead of new title The Exorcist: Believer on October 6.
Netflix, which does not share location numbers, is opening Chloe Domont’s Sundance thriller Fair Play starring Phoebe Dynevor and Alden Ehrenreich.
Key holdovers this weekend include Disney’s two-time number one A Haunting In Venice, Lionsgate’s action franchise title Expend4bles, and Warner Bros’ horror The Nun II. This may also be the weekend when Oppenheimer overtakes Barbie’s weekend-on-weekend takings, having been just £34,000 behind last time out.
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