HITS AND MISSES 22-24 JUNE: HERE COME THE MEN IN BLACK, AGAIN

Bit of a damp squib all around this weekend, with football a clear distraction for swathes of punters. Fifth week threequel hold MEN IN BLACK 3 clawed its way back to the top spot; there was a decent, but far from explosive opening for romcom THE FIVE YEAR ENGAGEMENT at second place; and Ridley Scott’s prequel PROMETHEUS drifted down to third position in week four. With £19M to date MIB3 took just over £1M and an average of £2,142, a pretty uninspiring top figure, nevertheless edging the flick closer to MIB2’s final gross of £22.3M back in 2002, though still nowhere near the original film’s £35.8M spree back in 1997. With previous Nicholas Stoller/Jason Segel romcom collaboration FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL at £2.1M in March 2008, THE FIVE YEAR ENGAGEMENT‘s launch similarly counts as comparatively soft at £1.1M and an average of £2,318. And finally with PROMETHEUS at £21.6M to date, the ALIEN prequel finally seemed to be slowing down, with a £1M total.

At fourth place, resilient fairytale hold SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN took £869KK to make a healthy £13M to date, while at fifth, violent vampire opener ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER scored a bloodless £743K and an average of £1,616. At sixth, rock musical misfire ROCK OF AGES edged swiftly towards old age obscurity in only its second week at £500K, while at seventh, grungy horror opener THE CHERNOBYL DIARIES clocked £495 in a very soft launch, promising less than devastating fallout in the coming weeks. At eighth, WESTLIFE: THE FINAL CONCERT, yes that’s WESTLIFE: THE FINAL CONCERT took £447K in a one off screening across 210 sites, while finally at ninth, MARVEL AVENGERS ASSEMBLE edged towards a top ten exit in its eighth week with £248K to add to a whopping £51M total to date, and at tenth, Bollywood epic TERI MERI KAHANI took £19K in a 53 site launch. The film averaged a fantastic £3,547, interestingly the highest of all the players in the top ten.

Of the remaining openers, Stephen Frears-helmed gambling tart with heart caper LAY THE FAVOURITE took miserable winnings at £112K from a very wide 283 screen launch, averaging an abysmal £396. While in 53 sites, US sleeper smash THINK LIKE A MAN failed to live up to its stateside sparkle with an underwhelming £80K and workmanlike £1,549 average.

Over in the states, Scottish-set Pixar caper BRAVE launched very strong with a $67M total, and a very healthy average of $16K. Rival kids fare MADAGASCAR 3 clocked second place in third week to take $20M and raise its running total to a stalwart $157M so far. At third place meanwhile ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER aped its UK misfire to clock $16.6M and a decidedly underwhelming $5,309 average, lacking bite. Steve Carell/Keira Knightley caper SEEKING A FRIEND FOR THE END OF THE WORLD got off to a similarly apocalyptic start with a very disappointing $3.8M debut and an average of just $2,361 from a mid-level 1,625 site launch. More encouraging however was a five screen opening for Woody Allen’s latest European love letter TO ROME WITH LOVE which debuted to $379K, averaging a fantastic $76K ahead of aggressive expansion most likely in the MIDNIGHT IN PARIS vein.

From this Friday expect wide releases for charming ensemble romcom FRIENDS WITH KIDS, Kentucky fried noir KILLER JOE from New Hollywood legend, William Friedkin, a weekend of previews for kid friendly fourquel ICE AGE: CONTINENTAL DRIFT, and shonky choir comedy JOYFUL NOISE, featuring the much anticipated showdown of Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah. On the more independent end of the scale also look out for limited launches for charming romcom breakout from the mumblecore stable YOUR SISTER’S SISTER, nihilistic vengeance B picture GOD BLESS AMERICA, HAPPINESS helmer Todd Solonz’s latest DARK HORSE and powerhouse Norwegian prison drama KING OF DEVIL’S ISLAND. But there’s also French physical comedy THE FAIRY, a re-release for Bunuel’s bizarre masterpiece THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE and edgy horror LOVELY MOLLY from BLAIR WITCH helmer Eduardo Sanchez. Quantity is certainly the order of the weekend…

PR.