Australian horror film Talk To Me is the major new title at UK-Ireland cinemas this weekend, following on from a record-breaking Barbenheimer week.
Released in 431 cinemas by Altitude, Talk To Me is a possession horror film about a group of friends who discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand.
The film, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival in January, is the debut feature of Australian brothers Danny Philippou and Michael Philippou.
The duo had film set experience prior to making Talk To Me, including as electrician and production runner on Jennifer Kent’s 2014 Australian horror hit The Babadook.
However, the Philippou brothers’ primary screen success has been through their YouTube channel RackaRacka, which has 6.74m subscribers at time of writing, and posts a range of predominantly comic content.
Although many have tried, few YouTubers have successfully made the jump to feature films. Talk To Me’s major festival premiere and global distribution deals already mark the Philippou brothers out as an exception, alongside Dan Trachtenberg, who moved from a YouTube channel reviewing video games and films, to directing 2016’s 10 Cloverfield Lane (opened: £1.6m; closed: £5.5m).
Miracle/Dazzler is opening Ukrainian animation Mavka: The Forest Song in 258 cinemas. Produced by Ukraine’s Animagrad Animation Studio and Film.UA group, the story follows a young and naïve forest spirit who develops feelings for a human musician; and must then choose between her love and her duty as a guardian of the forest.
Tull Stories is opening Lucas Millard’s documentary Baato in five cinemas: Garden Cinema London, Home Manchester, Showroom Sheffield, Keswick Alhambra and Newcastle’s Tyneside Cinema.
Baato, which has played at festivals dating back to Big Sky Documentary Festival in February 2020, depicts a family who travel from their Himalayan village to sell medicial plants at urban markets; but find their routine disrupted by the construction of a new highway to China.
In repertory releases, Park Circus has Sophia Coppola’s debut feature The Virgin Suicides starring Kirsten Dunst in 77 cinemas, including Cineworld venues. The film grossed £656,448 on its original release in spring 2000 through Pathe Distribution, having opened with £141,888 in 74 locations at a £1,917 average. Coppola’s next film Priscilla, a drama about the wife of Elvis Presley, was confirmed for a Venice Film Festival world premiere in competition earlier this week.
Elvis lives in cinemas this weekend too, with an event cinema release of John Scheinfeld’s music documentary Reinventing Elvis: The ’68 Comeback through National Amusements.
Apple, which does not share location numbers, has Kristin Gore and Damian Kulash’s The Beanie Bubble starring Zach Galifianakis, Elizabeth Banks, Sarah Snook and Geraldine Viswanathan; while Moviegoers Entertainment is opening Bollywood family comedy Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani.
UK-Ireland cinemas are riding high on the back of a best-ever week due to Barbenheimer. Greta Gerwig’s Warner Bros title Barbie is up to £34.7m from its first week, and expands to 759 cinemas this session; while Christopher Nolan’s Universal powerhouse Oppenheimer has £19.4m – already closing in on the £20.9m lifetime total of Interstellar – and goes up to 697 sites for its week two.
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