Warner Bros.’ “Weapons” held the No. 1 position at the U.K. and Ireland box office for a second weekend, adding £1.5 million ($2.1 million) and bringing its total to £6.2 million ($8.4 million), according to Comscore.
Sony Pictures launched Celine Song’s romantic drama “Materialists,” starring Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans and Pedro Pascal, straight into second place with $1.7 million. Indian release “Coolie,” with superstar Rajinikanth leading a galaxy of pan-India stars, distributed by Lights On Entertainment, followed closely at No. 3 with $1.27 million.
Disney’s body-swap comedy “Freakier Friday” dropped to No. 4 in its sophomore frame, grossing $1.24 million for a running total of $5.4 million. Rounding out the top five was Disney’s Marvel film “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” which earned $930,095 and now stands at $28.1 million after four weeks on release.
Outside the top five, Universal’s “The Bad Guys 2” was at No. 6 with $733,648, lifting its cume to $11.9 million. Paramount’s “The Naked Gun” remake held seventh place with $700,593, for a total of $7.6 million. Miracle Comms’ “Together” was at No. 8 with $681,293.
Yash Raj Films’ action sequel “War 2” bowed at No. 9 with $680,025, while Universal’s “Nobody 2” rounded out the top 10, debuting with $642,716.
Among upcoming releases, on Wednesday, Paul Dugdale’s documentary “Yungblud. Are You Ready, Boy?” opens on 100-plus screens. It sees the British musician performing live tracks from his June 20 album Idols at the historic venue, Berlin’s Hansa Studios. Wednesday also sees the release of Studiocanal’s Stephen King adaptation “The Life of Chuck,” starring Tom Hiddleston.
Friday sees a wide launch for “Dongji Rescue,” a large-scale wartime drama co-directed by Guan Hu and Fei Zhenxiang. Starring Zhu Yilong, Wu Lei, Ni Ni and William Franklyn-Miller, the film recounts the harrowing 1942 Lisbon Maru incident, when Chinese fishermen saved hundreds of British prisoners of war.
Munro Film Services Ltd is opening “The Regulars,” a comedy set in and following the employees of London’s iconic Prince Charles cinema, while Dogwoof is bowing acclaimed Gaza documentary “Put Your Soul On Your Hand And Walk.”
Also new this week is “The Thursday Murder Club,” Chris Columbus’ adaptation of Richard Osman’s bestselling crime novel. Headlined by Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley and Celia Imrie, the Netflix-backed title reaches 25-plus locations. For art-house audiences, Nabin Subba’s acclaimed Nepalese drama “A Road to a Village” rolls out via Underground Slate, while Dag Johan Haugerud continues his Oslo cycle with “Oslo Stories Trilogy: Sex.” Jack King’s Edinburgh-winning drama “Ceremony” and Eva Victor’s Cannes-debuting dark comedy “Sorry, Baby,” featuring Victor alongside Naomi Ackie and Lucas Hedges, are also opening.
From Kazoo Films comes animation “Grand Prix of Europe,” and Universal is opening Ari Aster’s contemporary western “Eddington,” starring Joaquin Phoenix, Deirdre O’Connell, Emma Stone and Pedro Pascal. Bakrania Media is releasing Vietnamese drama “Leaving Mom.”
Classic cinema returns in the form of Sergei Eisenstein’s “Battleship Potemkin” from BFI Distribution and the 50th anniversary of cult favorite “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” Meanwhile, Park Circus brings back “Spinal Tap” for a one-off reissue.
Saturday delivers Netflix’s “KPop Demon Hunters: A Sing-Along Event,” directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans and voiced by Arden Cho, Ahn Hyo-seop, Daniel Dae Kim, Lee Byung-hun and others.
