Sony’s “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” debuted atop the U.K. and Ireland box office with £4 million ($5.1 million), according to numbers from Comscore.
In the process, the band of ectoplasm hunters ended the three-week reign of Warner Bros.’ “Dune: Part II” in pole position. The Timothée Chalamet-starring film collected £2.6 million in its fourth weekend in second place for a total of £30.7 million.
Black Bear’s “Immaculate,” starring Sydney Sweeney, scared up £522,583 in a third place debut. In fourth place, in its fifth weekend, Studiocanal’s “Wicked Little Letters” earned £373,505 and now has a total of £8.1 million.
Rounding off the top five was Universal’s “Migration” that collected £370,464 in its eighth weekend for a total of £19.5 million.
There were two more debuts in the top 10 – Vertigo’s “Late Night With The Devil” in seventh place with £220,436 and Trafalgar’s “Romeo Et Juliette – Met Opera 2023/24” in 10th with £81,880.
With the Easter holidays imminent, the week is packed with new releases. Wednesday, March 27 sees the release of Trafalgar Releasing’s music documentary “Hate To Love: Nickelback” and drama-thriller “Mother’s Instinct,” starring Jessica Chastain and Anne Hathaway, which Studiocanal is giving a wide release to. Also getting a wide release is Universal’s “Kung Fu Panda 4,” starring Jack Black, Awkwafina, Viola Davis, Dustin Hoffman, James Hong, Bryan Cranston, Ian McShane and Ke Huy Quan, which releases on the Thursday and Warner Bros.’ “Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire” that bows on the Friday.
There’s plenty of festival fare on offer as well. Metfilm Distribution is opening Singapore auteur Anthony Chen’s Sundance title “Drift,” Conic Giacomo Abbruzzese’s Berlinale winner “Disco Boy,” Utopia Sean Price Williams’ Deauville winner “The Sweet East” and ICA Berlin title “Cidade Rabat.”
Modern Films is releasing “Opus,” featuring late maestro Ryuichi Sakamoto, Blue Finch Film Releasing Venice title “The Origin of Evil,” BFI Distribution Berlin winner “Silver Haze,” Trinity “We 12,” featuring Hong Kong Cantopop boy band Mirror and Mirace/Dazzler animation “Little Eggs: A Frozen Rescue.”
Aficionados of classic cinema will thrill to Studiocanal’s 4K restoration of “The Lavender Hill Mob” and Park Circus’ 60th anniversary re-release of “Mary Poppins.”