UK BOX OFFICE 12th-14th Sept: Pineapple Express triumphs whilst Eden Lake performs more modestly...
Judd Apatow can apparently do no wrong. Despite a luke warm reception to his latest offering, Pineapple Express has gone in at number 1 in its opening weekend, taking just under £1.4m. Whilst this may not sound that great, it's only a couple of hundred thousand shy of Knocked Up's opening, and bearing in mind that film was better reviewed, it seems like the charms of Seth Rogan and his cronies have worn off on UK audiences. Coupled with the relatively conservative budgets comedies demand (and obviously strong takings in the US), this is a good result. However, I suspect that Apatow may have to pick up his game for the next outing if he really wants to keep the party in full swing.
Also opening this week was the afore-reviewed Eden Lake, weighing in with... £192k. OK, so not huge figures and this does put it outside the top 10, but with minimal marketing exposure and too savage for the broad Final Destination teen crowd, it's actually a fair result. And, as with many other horror pics, it will almost certainly turn a reasonable profit when it hits DVD.
British director, Mark Herman's (Little Voice, Hope Springs) family friendly holocaust drama, The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas, launched on a mediocre half a million, lacking strong marketing push or particularly good word of mouth.
Elsewhere of note is the karaoke lover's Mamma Mia, still taking over a million at the weekend and holding onto number 2, with a whopping £60m total. That's £5m more than the entire lifetime b/o of Brit favourite Casino Royale...and over £12m more than The Dark Knight's current total. Now I know I'm not the target audience for this 'extravaganza', but really.
Full top 10 below the break.
Friday 12 - Sunday 14 Sept.......................2008 Weekend Total (£)...........Cumulative Total (£)
1......Pineapple Express............................1,372,911..............................1,372,911
2......Mamma Mia!.....................................1,059,100..............................60,141,174
3......RocknRolla.......................................910,485.................................3,366,079
4......The Women......................................865,310.................................865,310
5......The Duchess....................................844,020.................................3,454,610
6......Step Brothers...................................625,575.................................5,245,671
7......Disaster Movie..................................589,012.................................1,768,706
8......The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.........513,653..................................513,653
9......The Strangers.................................. 407,301.................................3,634,258
10....The Dark Knight...............................355,239..................................47,641,230
Source: Nielsen EDI.
