Vertigo Releasing’s The Surfer leads the new releases in UK and Ireland cinemas this weekend as Universal’s The Wedding Banquet and Altitude’s Ocean With David Attenborough are also out.
Nicolas Cage stars in Lorcan Finnegan’s psychological thriller The Surfer which rides into 388 locations. The acclaimed actor plays a father who returns to his childhood beach in Australia and conflicts with the locals. The film premiered in Cannes Midnight Screenings last year.
Cage’s recent openings include Longlegs (2024, £1.4m); Dream Scenario (2023, £346,452) and Renfield (2023, £680,661).
Also out is The Wedding Banquet in 254 locations for Universal. A remake of the 1993 film of the same name, Bowen Yang and Lily Gladstone star as a gay man and his lesbian friend who make a deal. It premiered at Sundance earlier this year and opened BFI Flare. Andrew Ahn directs.
In event cinema, Ocean With David Attenborough is playing in 580 sites across the week for Altitude, having opened on Thursday (May 8) on over £250,000. The release marks the broadcaster’s 99th birthday and is reportedly his final documentary.
Docs, Destino and more
Further releases include Nadia Conners’s The Uninvited out in 87 locations for Foton Distribution. Pedro Pascal, Walton Goggins, Rufus Sewell, Elizabeth Reaser and more star in the comedy drama about a stranger who crashes a party.
Hong Kong psychological thriller Peg O’ My Heart debuts in 49 cinemas for Central City Media. Nick Cheung’s feature follows a taxi driver suffering from insomnia who seeks help from a psychiatrist.
Documentary Riefenstahl launches in 29 venues for Dogwoof. Directed by Andres Veiel, the Venice premiere explores the German filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl who made propaganda films for the Nazi regime.
Karim Ainouz’s Cannes 2024 premiere Motel Destino lands in 27 locations for Curzon. The erotic thriller centres on a love motel that sees desire, power and violence collide.
BFI Distribution is releasing musical documentary The Extraordinary Miss Flower in 18 venues. Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard’s feature depicts the story of Geraldine Flower and the discovery of a suitcase of love letters sent to her in the 60s and 70s.
Australian thriller Birdeater flies into six cinemas for Blue Finch Films. Jack Clark and Jim Weir’s debut centres around a bachelor party where an abusive relationship is revealed.
Documentary Seeking Miss Beacon opens in six sites for T A P E Collective. The Sundance premiere, from Jazmin Jones, follows the search for the real-life woman behind the widely used typing software Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing.
Further releases include documentary Backlash: The Murder Of George Floyd via Dartmouth Films; Nepali romance Rangi via Bikram Joshi; and documentary The Last Musician Of Auschwitz via Cosmic Cat Film.
Thunderbolts*, Sinners and A Minecraft Movie are the key holdovers.
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