THE TOP TEN
1. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Weekend/Total: £1,119,117 Screens: 460 (New)
2. Men In Black 3. Weekend/Total: £1,072,033 / £19,062,351 Screens: 500 (2)
3. The Five-Year Engagement. Weekend/Total: £1,058,897 Screens: 457 (New)
4. Prometheus. Weekend/Total: £1,029,758 / £21,641,986 Screens 436 (1)
5. Snow White And The Huntsman. Weekend/Total: £870,402 / £13,413,970 Screens: 470 (3)
6. Rock Of Ages. Weekend/Total: £501,095 / £2,015,192 Screens: 474 (4)
7. Chernobyl Diaries. Weekend/Total: £495,875 Screens: 289 (New)
8. Avengers Assemble. Weekend/Total: £248,695 / £51,344,770 Screens: 215 (7)
9. Teri Meri Kahaani. Weekend/Total: £190,230 Screens: 53 (New)
10. Top Cat. Weekend/Total: £179,427 / £2,479,427 Screens: 406 (10)
(Previous week's placement in parentheses)
ABE SLAYS THE COMPETITION, WHAT LITTLE THERE IS
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, I have been vocally opposed to the entire genre mash-up trend, but the end result was a remarkable oddity with all the hallmarks of a genre favourite.
The historical action-horror won the weekend but only due to a very un-Summery turnout, with only £1.12m, which includes Wednesday and Thursday previews. That's not great. A mix of bad rain and major Euro 2012 fixtures affected every movie.
Men in Black 3 held onto the most business from last week, with 31% drop, retaining its number 2 position. The sci-fi comedy sequel has likely crossed the £20m total mark and if word of mouth continues to work in its favour, that figure could continue to rise.
Rom-com, The Five Year Engagement pulled in a debut of :£1.06m, while former number 1, Prometheus, fell by 49% to number 4 with £1.03m. The contentious sci-fi movie has grossed £21.64m so far and crossing the line with a £25+m lifetime gross is not out of the question at this stage.
Rounding out the Top 5 is Snow White And The Huntsman, with a weekend performance falling short of a million, at just £870k.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
Hair rock musical, Rock of Ages, dropped by an above average 50%, totaling £2.02m after two weekends of 'gigs'.
Chernobyl Diaries performed weaker than I expected, with a debut of £495k from just 289 screens. Horror movies generally do well, but the release was quite narrow and the per screen average of £1,716 struggled to make a significant dent in the chart.
Avengers Assemble continues its gradual slide out of the charts with a meager £248k weekend take. The Marvel monster has now grossed £51.34m.
A surprising new entry in the charts is Hindi romance drama, Teri Meri Kahaani, which made £190,230 from just 53 screens, producing the best per screen average of the weekend with a massive £3,590.
Top Cat, the animated movie that just won't die, retains its number 10 position with £179k and a £2.48m lifetime, boosted by its unreasonably high screen count of 406.
SOMETHING FOR THE WEEKEND
This is a slow weekend with the only wide releases being unconventional rom-com Friends With Kids and well-received Brit horror Storage 24. Of the two, I will always bet on the horror to perform but with Euro 2012 and Wimbledon (not to mention the potential for more terrible weather), who knows how well the new releases will fare.
A lot of limited releases which could sneak into the charts, due to a lack of fresh competition, including Todd Solondz's Dark Horse, a re-release of Luis Bunuel's The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, Emily Blunt/Mark Duplass dramedy Your Sister's Sister, and William Friedkin's critically acclaimed Killer Joe. Of the four, I would expect Killer Joe to win the weekend with the greater star power to back it up.
