It’s a tale of two underdogs at this weekend’s UK-Ireland box office. Roger Michell’s The Duke goes up against Joe Wright’s Cyrano as both make their debuts.
The Duke is Michell’s final feature – the Notting Hill and Venus director passed away in September of last year – and is based on the true story of Kempton Bunton, the Newcastle cab driver who in 1965 appeared at the Old Bailey for stealing Goya’s portrait of the Duke of Wellington from London’s National Gallery in an attempt to get free TV licences for pensioners. The comedy, which premiered at Venice in 2020, stars Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren.
Pathé will release the feature in a hefty 659 locations. The distributor will be hoping to continue its successful run of late, following Pedro Almodovar’s Parallel Mothers passing the £1m mark just 25 days after its release at the UK-Ireland box office, a rare milestone for a foreign-language film.
Anna Karenina director Wright has put a musical twist on the classic 1897 Edmond Rostand play Cyrano de Bergerac with his feature Cyrano, which stars Peter Dinklage in the title role, alongside Haley Bennett, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Ben Mendelsohn, Bashir Salahuddin and Monica Dolan.
The Telluride premiere follows a gallant solider in an unspecified time around the 17th or 18th century in Italy, with a secret adoration for his friend Roxanne, who has fallen for another man. Universal is distributing in 623 locations.
Sony’s horror comedy Studio 666, directed by BJ McDonnell and starring the Foo Fighters as fictionalised versions of themselves preparing to record their new album in a haunted mansion, debuts in 256 sites.
Paramount will mark the 50th anniversary of Francis Ford Coppola’s gangster classic by releasing The Godfather in 485 locations – this week’s third widest release. Paramount will also be putting Hindi-language crime drama Gangubai Kathiawadi in 152 locations.
Kinostar’s Milosc Jest Blisko opens in 96 locations. The Polish romantic comedy, directed by Radosław Dunaszewski, follows a mild-mannered soul whose life is turned upside-down when he falls for a wild-spirited adventurer. Another Polish feature out this weekend is Krime Story. Love Story – a crime comedy about a small-time criminal who falls in love with the daughter of a crime boss, directed by Michal Wegrzyn, and released by Magnetes Pictures in 91 sites.
Hope Dickson Leach’s theatrical adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Victorian gothic novella, The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde, will be broadcast as-live from the Leith Theatre in Edinburgh to around 50 locations on Sunday (February 27), thanks to Glasgow-based distributor Cosmic Cat. Encore screenings will take place on Monday (February 28), bringing the total to over 80 bookings.
F@ck This Job is a timely documentary following Russian independent TV channel Dozhd, led by Natalya Sindeyeva, and a target of Putin’s presidency. It’s directed by Vera Krichevskaya and being released by Journeyman Pictures in under 25 locations.
Swiss title La Mif (The Fam) took the top prize in Berlin’s Generation 14plus sidebar in 2021. Fred Baillif’s drama is set in a residential home for at-risk teenagers. The BFI is putting it out in 21 sites.
Peccadillo Pictures has placed Rurangi in four locations. Maz Currie directs the New Zealand-set tale, about a man who returns to the remote and conservative town he was raised in for the first time since transitioning.
CMC Pictures distributes Chinese anthology drama My Country, My Parents – the third in a trilogy following My People, My Country and My People, My Homeland.
Key holdovers include Uncharted, Sing 2, Death On The Nile, Dog and Belfast.
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