The latest in the Downton saga, Universal’s “Downton Abbey: A New Era” topped the U.K. and Ireland box office with £3.07 million ($3.8 million), according to numbers released by Comscore.
Paramount’s “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” continued its golden run with £1.3 million in second place, in its fifth weekend, and now has a total of £21.8 million. Another Paramount release, “The Lost City,” collected £1.2 million for third position in its third weekend for a total of £7.4 million.
Warner Bros.’ “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore” took £1.1 million for fourth place in its fourth weekend for a total of £18.3 million.
Rounding off the top five was Universal’s “The Bad Guys” with £723,039 in its fifth weekend for a total of £10.1 million.
Dreamz Entertainment’s Telugu-language “Acharya,” starring popular Indian actors Chiranjeevi and Ram Charan was the lone debut with £92,624 in 10th place.
The massive release this weekend is Disney’s “Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness,” with Benedict Cumberbatch reprising his role as the doctor.
There are plenty of limited independent releases for those looking beyond MCU fare. Tull Stories is bowing acclaimed documentary “Arica,” which has awards from CineEco – Festival Internacional de Cinema Ambiental da Serra da Estrela, Solidarity – Tel Aviv Human Rights Film Festival and Verzio International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival amongst many others.
Peccadillo Pictures is opening Jerusalem Film Festival winner “The Swimmer,” while Republic Film is releasing documentary “Wake Up Punk,” starring Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren as themselves. Blue Finch Film Releasing is opening Reykjavik International Film Festival winner “Wild Men” and Revolution Cinema is bowing documentary “Eleven Days in May,” featuring Kate Winslet.
Meanwhile, “Cabaret” is celebrating its 50th anniversary and Park Circus is re-releasing the film to commemorate it.