It was a three way battle at the U.K. and Ireland the past weekend with Paramount’s “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” edging past Warner Bros.’ “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore” and another Paramount release “The Lost City” to top the box office.
In its fourth weekend, “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” moved up from third place the previous week to claim the top spot with £1.63 million ($2 million), according to numbers released by Comscore. The animated sequel now has a total of £20.2 million.
Not far behind in its third weekend was “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore,” retaining its second placing from the previous week with £1.59 million for a total of £16.4 million.
Last week’s topper “The Lost City” moved down to third position in its second weekend with £1.3 million for a total of £5.6 million. Also in its second weekend, Warner Bros.’ “Operation Mincemeat” collected £758,698 in fourth place for a total of £2.6 million.
Rounding off the top five was Universal’s “The Bad Guys,” which took £738,011 in its fourth weekend and now has a total of £9.3 million. Universal’s “The Northman” slid down two places to sixth in its second weekend for a total of £2.3 million.
Lionsgate’s “The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent,” starring Nicolas Cage, Pedro Pascal and Sharon Horgan, debuted in seventh position with £516,697.
The wide release coming up this weekend is for “Downton Abbey: A New Era,” which Universal is opening across more than 300 locations.
Lightbulb Film Distribution is giving a limited release to Sundance title, the horror “We’re All Going to the World’s Fair.” Curzon is releasing Cannes title “Casablanca Beats” and Modern Films is bowing another Cannes title “The Velvet Queen: Snow Leopard.”
The big release from the South Indian film industry is “Acharya,” starring megastar Chiranjeevi and his son Ram Charan, from Dreamz Entertainment, while Bollywood has “Heropanti 2,” starring Tiger Shroff, from Cinestaan AA Distributors.