Universal’s keenly anticipated animation “Minions: The Rise Of Gru” debuted atop the U.K. and Ireland box office with £10.4 million ($12.5 million), according to numbers released by Comscore.
Warner Bros,’ “Elvis,” which had debuted in pole position last week, slid down a place to second with £2.9 million for a total of £10.1 million. Paramount’s Tom Cruise vehicle “Top Gun: Maverick” continued its strong flight at the U.K. box office with £2.6 million in third place and now has a total of £67.9 million after six weekends.
In fourth place, Universal’s “Jurassic World: Dominion” collected £1.8 million in its fourth weekend for a total of £30.4 million. Rounding off the top five was Disney’s “Lightyear” with £864,035 in its third weekend for a total of £8.5 million.
Picturehouse Entertainment’s Cannes and multiple Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards winner “Nitram” debuted in 10th place with £41,909.
In another reminder of the territory’s continuing appetite for documentaries, Dartmouth Films’ “Eric Ravilious: Drawn to War” debuted in 11th position with £30,266.
The big release this week is Taika Waititi’s “Thor: Love And Thunder,” starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson and Christian Bale, which Disney is opening across more than 300 locations on July 7.
On July 8, Universal is providing a wide release for Jim Archer’s Sundance title “Brian and Charles.”
Netflix is giving a limited theatrical release to Jane Austen adaptation “Persuasion,” starring Dakota Johnson, Cosmo Jarvis, Henry Golding, Nikki Amuka-Bird and Richard E. Grant.
Dartmouth has another documentary release with Ben Lawrence’s award-winning “Ithaka,” while Modern Films is bowing Pietro Marcello, Francesco Munzi and Alice Rohrwacher’s Cannes title “Ithaka.”
On the speciality side, Trinity is releasing Wuhan-set, pandemic themed Chinese film “Ode to the Spring,” by Nan Zhou, Chi Zhang, Yusheng Tian, Yue Dong and Xiaozhi Rao, starring Dongyu Zhou, Fang Yin, Jingchun Wang, Jinmai Zhao, Xiaoming Huang, Jia Song and Yanshu Wu; and Zee Studios International is debuting Punjabi-language “Sohreyan Da Pind Aa Gaya.”