Studiocanal’s The Life Of Chuck leads new releases in UK and Ireland cinemas this weekend as Ari Aster’s Eddington also launches.
Mike Flanagan directs his latest Stephen King adaptation with The Life Of Chuck, which hits 622 venues after previewing from Wednesday (August 20). Tom Hiddleston, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan and Mark Hamill are among the cast of this life-affirming tale split into three genre-bending chapters. The film won the people’s choice award at Toronto Film Festival in 2024 and closed SXSW London earlier this summer.
Flanagan is best known for Netflix miniseries The Haunting Of Hill and The Haunting Of Bly Manor while his feature efforts include 2019’s Doctor Sleep which opened on £1.1m for a £3.6m total.
Ari Aster’s Covid-set Western Eddington is launching in 422 locations via Universal. The film proved divisive when it premiered in Cannes earlier this year and scored just 1.5 on Screen’s jury grid. It centres on a fictional town in the US during the pandemic where a mayoral election spurs political and social turmoil. Pedro Pascal, Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone and Austin Butler are among the stacked cast.
Aster’s last film Beau Is Afraid struggled at the box office with a £202,254 opening in 2023 while 2018’s Hereditary debuted on £1.9m (closed £5.7m) and was followed by 2019’s Midsommar (£810,680; £2.8m).
Further releases
In re-releases, Disney has the 50th anniversary of The Rocky Horror Picture Show in 515 locations across the weekend. Elsewhere, Sony is screening the 1984 mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap ahead of the sequel release next month and BFI Distribution has the 1925 war drama Battleship Potemkin in 38.
In event releases, Universal is screening Six The Musical again in 470 cinemas while Trafalgar Releasing has concert film Yungblud. Are You Ready, Boy? out in 185 on Sunday.
Trinity CineAsia is launching Chinese drama Dongji Rescue across 66 venues. Guan Hu’s $80m-budget Chinese war epic tells the story of the 1942 sinking of the Lisbon Maru, in which prisoners of war were rescued by Chinese fishermen after it was torpedoed by a US submarine.
Picturehouse Entertainment is opening Eva Victor’s directorial debut Sorry, Baby in 65 sites. The film, which also stars Naomi Ackie and Lucas Hedges, won the screenwriting award at Sundance in January and recently opened Edinburgh Film Festival.
Dag Johan Haugerud’s Oslo Storis Trilogy: Sex is screening in 18 sites via Modern Film. It is the third film in the Norwegian director’s trilogy exploring intimacy through three different character studies.
Tull Stories is rolling out Edinburgh award-winner The Ceremony in 10 venues. Jack King’s drama follows two migrant workers working at a car wash in Bradford.
Fil Freitas’s The Regulars is out three cinemas for Munro Films. The comedy is set in London’s iconic Prince Charles Cinema and follows a day in the life of its hapless employees.
Further releases include Netflix’s The Thursday Murder Club; Underground Slate’s A Road To A Village; Kazoo Films’s Grand Prix Of Europe; and Dogwoof’s Put Your Soul On Your Hand And Walk.
Key holdovers include Weapons and Freakier Friday.
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