Maggie Gyllenhaal’s horror romance The Bride!, Pixar animation Hoppers and UK pub comedy Mother’s Pride headline a packed weekend at UK-Ireland cinemas.
Released by Warner Bros in 639 cinemas, The Bride! is inspired by James Whale’s 1935 horror Bride of Frankenstein, itself rooted in a subplot to Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein.
Set in 1930s Chicago, it sees the monster Frank ask a scientist to create a companion for him; and this reanimated murdered woman, named The Bride, brings romance, police interest and radical social change.
Jessie Buckley plays the titular role opposite Christian Bale, with Annette Bening and Penelope Cruz in the cast, as well as Gyllenhaal’s brother Jake Gyllenhaal and husband Peter Sarsgaard.
A previous 1985 film titled The Bride, directed by Franc Roddam, focused on the Bride character; while a version of the Bride role appeared in Kenneth Branagh’s Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, which made £6m in 1994.
The Bride! is Gyllenhaal’s second directorial feature, after 2021 Netflix drama The Lost Daughter, in which Buckley co-starred. Speaking at a promotional event for The Bride! in London last month, Gyllenhaal said she is glad that acting is no longer her main job, and that she intends to focus on filmmaking.
Buckley has swept up best actress prizes at awards ceremonies for playing Agnes Shakespeare in Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet, which was at £18.4m at the box office as of last weekend; while Bale, who starred opposite Gyllenhaal in 2008’s The Dark Knight, makes his first on-screen appearance since 2022 Netflix mystery The Pale Blue Eye.
Disney is starting Daniel Chong’s animated adventure comedy Hoppers in 632 cinemas. It follows an animal lover whose mind is transferred into a lifelike robotic beaver in order to communicate with animals and save their habitat from destruction – only for the beaver to inadvertently start an uprising.
Piper Curda leads the voice cast, alongside Bobby Moynihan, Jon Hamm, Kathy Najimy and Dave Franco. The script is by Jesse Andrews, who previously wrote Pixar’s Luca (£255,727) as well as the novel and screenplay for Sundance winner Me And Earl And The Dying Girl (£853,612).
Entertainment Film Distributors is opening Mother’s Pride in 515 sites. The UK comedy is set around a failing pub, divided community and grieving family, all of which are changed by brewing real ale and entering the Great British Beer Awards.
Jonno Davies – who played the monkey in Robbie Williams biopic Better Man (£7m) – heads up the cast alongside The Inbetweeners star James Buckley, The Full Monty’s Mark Addy, Gabriella Wilde, and Martin Clunes, currently in cinemas in Wuthering Heights (£21.7m as of Wednesday, March 4).
The film is directed by Nick Moorcroft, who has written popular UK-set features including St Trinian’s (£12.3m) and its sequel (£7.1m), Finding Your Feet (£5.9m), Fisherman’s Friends (£7.4m) and Fisherman’s Friends: One And All (£3.2m), the latter of which he also directed.
Peak practice
Netflix is releasing Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, a feature film addition to the Peaky Blinders TV series. Netflix does not share site numbers; the Film Distributors Association lists the film as playing in over 100 locations. Boutique chains including Picturehouse, Curzon and Everyman are playing the title, as well as chains such as Showcase and The Light, and many independent venues.
However Vue, Cineworld and Odeon – the largest three chains in the territory by number of venues – are not playing the film (with the exception of Cineworld’s Dublin venue), due to its short two-week window before landing on Netflix on March 20.
The Immortal Man moves the Peaky Blinders narrative to the 1940s, and sees crime gang leader Tommy Shelby returning from a self-imposed exile to face his most destructive reckoning to date, amid the chaos of the Second World War.
Cillian Murphy leads the cast, alongside Rebecca Ferguson, Tim Roth, Sophie Rundle, Barry Keoghan and Stephen Graham. It is a seventh feature film for director Tom Harper, whose highest-grossing title to date is 2015 horror sequel The Woman In Black: Angel Of Death (£5m).
Vertigo Releasing is opening US independent horror Dolly in 100 cinemas. Directed by Rod Blackhurst and written by Blackhurst with Brandon Weavil, it follows a young woman abducted by a monstrous figure intent on raising her as their own child.
Mascha Schilinski’s second feature Sound Of Falling starts in 25 cinemas this weekend through Mubi. The drama, showing four women on a remote German farm separated by decades but united by trauma, won the Jury Prize in Competition at Cannes last year. Other new titles not in the English language this weekend are Bollywood thriller Mrithyunjay through Dreamz Entertainment; and two Sony anime titles, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: A Lonely Dragon Wants To Be Loved, and a re-release of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle.
Further limited releases include Jan Hang-jun’s historical drama The King’s Warden in 30 cinemas through Central City Media; protest documentary Breaking Social in three cinemas through Tull Stories; and select screenings of East End London musical La Bohème through Munro Film.
Event cinema titles this weekend include CinemaLive’s James Acaster: Cinemagoers Welcome, showing stand-up comedy footage from the eponymous performer, in 388 cinemas; and four titles from Trafalgar Releasing: a filmed production of Othello starring David Harewood and Toby Jones in 376 cinemas; Bolshoi Ballet performance Giselle in 182 cinemas; Aurora: What Happened To The Earth, a concert film by the Norwegian pop artist, in 38 cinemas; and the latest K-pop concert film Enhypen: [Walk The Line Summer Edition].
Re-releases this weekend include John Woo’s crime thriller Hard Boiled in 27 venues through Arrow Films, and Denis Sanders music documentary Soul To Soul through MusicFilmNetwork.
Paramount’s Scream 7 leads the holdovers after a strong £3.3m opening weekend last time out; with Wuthering Heights on a decent run for Warner Bros.
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