UK-Ireland box office preview: ‘Wicked’ aims to cast its spell in 698 sites

Musical Wicked is hoping to bewitch audiences this weekend, coming out in 698 sites for Universal.

The first of a two-part adaptation of the stage musical stars Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum, with Jon M Chu directing.

Elphaba (Erivo), a misunderstood young woman because of her green skin, and Glinda (Grande), a more conventional and popular girl, become friends at Shiz University in the Land of Oz. Their friendship is taken in a new direction after they cross paths with the Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Wicked is the third in a trio of blockbuster November releases that exhibitors have been anxiously waiting to hit screens all year. Paddington In Peru was the widest release of the year, hitting 732 venues upon its release on November 8 for Studiocanal, and grossing £9.7m in its opening weekend. Paramount’s Gladiator II drummed up £8.8m from 722 sites in its first weekend (November 15).

While the supernatural feature is out in fewer venues, at 698, Vue CEO Tim Richards said the cinema chain’s Wicked pre-sales are tracking in line with Barbie’s last year, and noted, “it looks like Wicked could be the biggest film of 2024.”

Christmas programming is getting underway, with the next instalment in cult Polish festive franchise, Letters To Santa 6, in 151 sites across the UK and Ireland, for Magnetes Pictures. CBeebies Panto 2024: Beauty And The Beast is in 147 sites across the UK and Ireland for Modern Films. Also out this weekend is family animation The Magic Reindeer: Saving Santa’s Sleigh, for Kaleidoscope.

Another family animation released this weekend is Spellbound, for Netflix. Vicky Jenson directs, with a voice cast including Rachel Zegler, John Lithgow, Javier Bardem and Nicole Kidman.

In event releases this weekend, Tosca - Met Opera 2024 is playing at 161 venues over its live and encore run, for Trafalgar Releasing. Conor McPherson’s Tony award-winning Girl From The North Country, featuring the songs of Bob Dylan and recorded at the Belasco Theatre in New York, is screening in 134 cinemas on Sunday only. 

Curzon has Sundance premiere Layla in 21 sites. It is the debut feature of Screen Star of Tomorrow Amrou Al-Kadhi, about a struggling British-Palestinian drag queen and an unexpected romance.

French filmmaker Sonia Kronlund’s documentary The Man With A Thousand Faces is out in six sites for Sovereign, and examines the story of a womanising fraudster.

Dogwoof has Telluride doc Blink in five sites. A family embarks on a journey to show three siblings with an incurable eye condition the beauty of the world, before their vision vanishes. Daniel Roher and Edmund Stenson direct. 

Documentary The Flight Of Bryan playing in one site for Altitude. Copa 71 co-director James Erskine directs the story of an unemployed amateur cyclist, heavily in debt father and team of neuro diverse outliers, who set out on a quest to untangle the mystery of human powered flight.

Further docs out this weekend include Sheffield Doc Fest prize winner, Duncan Cowles’ debut feature Silent Men, released by Cosmic Cat in partnership with the mental health charity Andy’s Man Club. The film shows Cowles asking men how they open up in order to directly address his own difficulties in being intimate and open with his loved ones.

Daniel Draper’s Liverpool Story from Daniel Draper follows a year in the life of the city, mirroring the ebbs and flows of the River Mersey, and is out throughShut Out The Light Films. Apple releases Cannes premiere Bread & Roses, a window into the impact that the fall of Kabul to the Taliban in 2021 had on Afghan women’s rights and livelihoods, directed by Sahra Mani, with Jennifer Lawrence among producers; and Mediha is in cinemas for Together Films, directed by Hasan Oswald, about a teenage Yazidi girl recently returned from ISIS captivity.

Also new this weekend: Day For Night has the last film completed by late Tibetan auteur Pema Tseden, Snow Leopard, at three venues. Zee Studios has culture clash comedy Hey Siri Ve Siri, about a UK family that brings their Punjabi workers to live with them in Birgminham from India. 

Key holdovers from last week include Gladiator II (Paramount); Paddington In Peru (Studiocanal); Red One (Warner Bros); and Heretic (Entertainment Film Distributors).

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