UK box office top ten and analysis for the weekend of Friday 16th – Sunday 18th November 2012…
After three fantastic weeks atop the UK box office, it was inevitable that Skyfall’s reign would come to an end this past weekend as The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 (read our reviews here and here) arrived in cinemas, bringing the curtain down on the lucrative vampire romance series with a franchise high of £15,850,825. This was also the second-biggest opening weekend of 2012 behind 007’s latest adventure (£20.2m), besting the likes of The Avengers (£15.8m), The Dark Knight Rises (£14.3m) and The Amazing Spider-Man (£11m).
Despite slipping to second, Skyfall pulled in another £5.57m (a record fourth weekend figure) to take its current gross to £82.8m, overtaking Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (£73.1m), Toy Story 3 (£73.9m) and Titanic (80.1m) to become the second-biggest film of all-time here in the UK; Bond now looks set to take aim at the number one spot, which is held by Avatar on £94m. Meanwhile Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted also slipped one place to third, crossing the £20m mark in its fifth weekend on screens.
Apart from Breaking Dawn – Part 2, three other newcomers debuted in the top ten in the trio of Bollywood offerings Jab Tak Hai Jaan (in fourth with £893,953), Son of Sardaar (eighth with £214,296) and Thuppakki (tenth with £134,280). Elsewhere, Argo dropped two spots to fifth ahead of Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master, which marked its arrival in the top ten with a sixth-placed finish after expanding to cinemas nationwide. Hotel Transylvania followed in seventh, while Taken 2 finally fell from the top half of the chart, the action sequel slipping to ninth and now looking about ready for the count after pulling in a solid £23m+ during its run.
Number one this time last year: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1
1. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, £15,850,825 weekend (New)
2. Skyfall, £5,566,537 weekend; £82,836,559 total (4 weeks)
3. Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted, £966,116 weekend; £20,631,608 total (5 weeks)
4. Jab Tak Hai Jaan, £893,953 weekend (New)
5. Argo, £807,457 weekend; £2,828,888 total (2 weeks)
6. The Master, £372,360 weekend; £553,521 total (3 weeks)
7. Hotel Transylvania, £233,959 weekend; £7,580,744 total (6 weeks)
8. Son of Sardaar, £214,296 weekend (New)
9. Taken 2, £136,495 weekend; £23,335,974 total (7 weeks)
10. Thuppakki, £134,280 weekend (New)
Incoming…
Wednesday’s new releases include David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook (cert. 15) [review here] and Michael Hoffman’s Gambit (cert. 12A) open on Wednesday, while Friday’s newcomers include police thriller End of Watch (cert. 15) [review here] and festive comedy Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger! (cert. U), along with re-releases for David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia (cert. PG) and the anime classic Ninja Scroll (cert. 18).
