’28 Years Later’ Scares Up #1 UK/Ireland Box Office with £4.7M

Sony’s highly anticipated horror sequel, ’28 Years Later’, didn’t just open in the U.K. and Ireland over the weekend – it surged straight to the top of the box office charts. The chilling follow-up to Danny Boyle’s groundbreaking film scared up a commanding £4.7 million (approximately $6.4 million) in its debut, according to Comscore figures.

Directed once again by Boyle, the film features a compelling cast led by Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Ralph Fiennes. Its strong opening immediately positioned it as the dominant force in the market for the weekend.

While ’28 Years Later’ took the crown, Universal’s animated adventure ‘How To Train Your Dragon’ showed strong legs in its second weekend. After debuting at number one the previous week with an impressive £8.1 million ($11 million), the film added another $3.8 million, bringing its cumulative total to a healthy $17.1 million and securing the second spot.

Disney saw two films land in the top five. ‘Elio’ premiered in third place, collecting $1.3 million over its first weekend. Meanwhile, Disney’s live-action ‘Lilo & Stitch’, now in its fifth weekend, continued its robust performance. The film added $908,062, pushing its significant cumulative total to $46.4 million. Its continued success follows a powerful run, including a $1.9 million take last weekend and an impressive $12.9 million opening in the UK/Ireland just a few weeks prior, contributing to a massive global debut that placed it as Disney’s third-biggest live-action opening ever.

Paramount’s action-packed ‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’ secured fifth place. In its fifth week, it earned $811,385, bringing its overall gross to $33.5 million. This follows a strong start that included a $1.6 million earning last weekend and a UK/Ireland opening few weeks ago that contributed to a franchise-record global debut for the eighth installment.

Rounding Out the Top 10:

The rest of the top ten featured a diverse mix of films:

‘The Salt Path’ (Black Bear) took sixth place, adding $362,939 for a cumulative total of $9.2 million.
Bollywood release ‘Sitaare Zameen Par’ (AA Films U.K.) debuted in seventh with $306,576.
Lionsgate U.K.’s ‘From The World of John Wick: Ballerina’ added $263,134 in its third frame, reaching a $4.2 million total in eighth.
Sony’s ‘Karate Kid: Legends’ held ninth place with $239,827, pushing its four-week haul to $7 million.

Rounding out the chart, Universal’s ‘The Ballad Of Wallis Island’ earned $178,765, bringing its cumulative earnings to $1.6 million.

Looking Ahead: Big Screen Buzz

The upcoming week promises a rich slate of new releases for U.K. and Ireland cinema-goers. Warner Bros. is set to launch one of the summer’s major titles on Wednesday with ‘F1’, directed by Joseph Kosinski and starring Brad Pitt, rolling out across more than 300 locations.

Universal counters on Friday with the release of the highly anticipated sequel ‘M3GAN 2.0’. Also opening wide is Paramount’s 30th anniversary 4K reissue of Amy Heckerling’s beloved teen classic ‘Clueless’, bringing Alicia Silverstone’s Cher Horowitz back to over 300 cinemas.

Other notable releases include the comedy ‘Chicken Town’ (Verve Pictures) and the German-language wartime romance ‘From Hilde, With Love’ (Picturehouse Entertainment). Documentary fans can look forward to titles like ‘The Line We Crossed’ (U.K. civil resistance) and ‘Words Of War’ (dramatization of journalist Anna Politkovskaya’s story), among others including ‘Fighters’ (boxing), ‘The Road To Patagonia’ (surfing), and ‘Love & Trouble’ (relationships).

Classic film lovers can revisit Akira Kurosawa’s epic ‘Ran’ with a 40th anniversary re-release. Musical content arrives with ‘Miley Cyrus: Something Beautiful’, while Indian cinema contributes with the Telugu fantasy ‘Kannappa’ and horror film ‘Maa’.

Overall, the U.K. and Ireland box office remains vibrant, with a mix of major franchise entries, family favorites holding strong, and a diverse array of new films arriving to capture audience attention following the powerful debut of ’28 Years Later’.