DRIVEN TO DISTRACTION

Audiences geared up in droves for inevitable sequel FAST AND FURIOUS 5 this sunny bank holiday weekend. The franchise shows no signs of slowing down, as the film pulled in an impressive haul of over £5m and a great screen average of £2424, reigning supreme at the UK box office. Clearly the prospect of a bevy of toned men driving cars really fast and shooting people still appeals ten years on from the original. The same could not be said for high profile remake, and US box office disaster ARTHUR, which also opened. Screening on an almost identical number of prints to FAST 5, the Russell Brand caper nevertheless struggled to hit the £1m mark, pulling in a poor screen average of just £595. The same went for the two other high profile openers of the weekend – modern fantasy BEASTLY and 3D motorbike racing doc TT3D: CLOSER TO THE EDGE.

Holdovers were also a mixed bag. Kids’ flicks predictably fared well, with anthropomorphised parrot flick RIO still performing at number 3 in its third week, and winsome Easter Bunny adventure HOP at number 5 in its fourth. The films raked in well over a million, and half a million respectively. Less impressive was a predicted second week slump for postmodern slasher sequel SCREAM 4, which clocked in a poor screen average of £481 and saw its profits slashed by more than two thirds of its first week figures. Brooding teen flick RED RIDING HOOD similarly appeared to be dropping off the radar swiftly in its second week, clocking in a dreadful screen average of just £251 on close to 400 prints. By contrast, slow burning success stories SOURCE CODE and LIMITLESS both still trundled along nicely in their fourth and fifth weeks respectively, proving the market for solid, high concept thrillers is still strong.

For arthouse audiences, two high profile films opened to mixed results. Critically adored 3D ballet film PINA pulled in a respectable weekend figure of £87,597. But Wim Wenders’ film may have suffered, like so many other titles, from the lovely weather, failing to make a hefty splash. Considerably more disappointing was French adventure ADELE BLANC SEC, which, despite the involvement of Luc Besson and an enchanting lead performance from Louis Bourgoin, flopped badly, pulling in an underwhelming figure of under £40k and a screen average of just £292 on a reasonably wide release of 29 prints.

Stateside, HOP still dominated in its second week. However, Tyler Perry’s comedy drama MADEA’S BIG FAMILY, and upmarket novel adaptation WATER FOR ELEPHANTS also made impressive openings, raking in just over $25m and $17m respectively. Perry has quite a following in the US, although this sequel failed to make as big an opening pile as his previous two MADEA flicks, 2006’s MADEA’S FAMILY REUNION ($30m) and 2009’s MADEA GOES TO JAIL ($41m). WATER FOR ELEPHANTS meanwhile benefited from a strong cast, popular source material and the unrelenting teen pulling power of R-Patz, to score its healthy figure.

On the independent side of things, Morgan Spurlock’s satirical doc THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER SOLD delivered a mediocre debut, bowing in 18 cinemas with $118,294 for a moderate $6,752 average, whilst romantic comedy WHEN HARRY TRIES TO MARRY took a solid $23,790 from just four New York sites with a good $5,948 average.

Next week will see wide releases for Kenneth Branagh’s first foray into helming superhero flicks, Norse god caper THOR, as well as US sleeper smash, supernatural horror INSIDIOUS. Arthouse fans meanwhile will enjoy stylish Cold War thriller FAREWELL – which features stand out acting performances from legendary director Emir Kusturica and French golden boy Guillaume Canet – as well as a high profile re-release of Soviet classic BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN, which, in its newly re-mastered form, has never looked better.