The slight recovery: Solo: A Star Wars Story

Despite slumping by 65% in its second session in the US, Solo: A Star Wars Story showed stronger resolve in the UK, declining by a lesser 35% for its second weekend of play. Takings of £3.15m push the total after 11 days to £13.9m. While that’s far behind the pace of recent Star Wars films, Disney will take comfort that the film is not in freefall.

Most UK schools were on holiday last week, benefiting family films. Solo added a robust £7.85m over the seven days. With kids now back at school, Solo faces a tougher challenge. And from 6 June, it faces competition from Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

After two weekends of play, previous spinoff Rogue One: A Star Wars Story had reached £33.9m on its way to a lifetime total of £66m. If Solo follows a similar trajectory, it would max out at around £27m.

The runner-up: Deadpool 2

Watch the trailer for Deadpool 2

Declining at a slightly gentler rate than Solo – 33% – Deadpool 2 posted third-weekend takings of £2.53m, to make a total after 20 days of £26.7m. Over the past seven days, the total increased by just over £6m – a healthy amount, suggesting that the 15-certificate film benefited from the school holiday, pulling in older teens.

Avengers: Infinity War achieved an even stronger hold, falling only 13% from the previous session. The total after six weeks is £68.8m, pushing it to 10th place in the all-time UK rankings, ahead of Mamma Mia! The Movie. The all-time box office table is not adjusted for inflation.

The grey-pound comedy: Book Club

Watch the trailer for Book Club

The weekend after Solo and before Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom was a relatively quiet one for new releases. The only new arrival launched into more than 100 cinemas was Book Club, starring Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen as four women of mature years revitalising their sex lives. The campaign was launched squarely at the older female demographic.

Book Club debuted with an OK £721,000 from 517 cinemas, including £25,000 in previews. Distributor Paramount will have noted that this number is better than the launch of Hampstead just under a year ago (£454,000 from 485 sites) – the romcom starring Keaton, who revitalises her life with shack-dweller Brendan Gleeson.

The family film surge



Watch the trailer for Duck Duck Goose

The half-term holiday provided the biggest boost to films with the clearest family positioning. Sherlock Gnomes increased by 36% and added £2.77m over the seven-day period ending last Sunday. Total after four weeks is £7.12m. Show Dogs went up 10% and is now at £2.21m. Duck Duck Goose went up 114% in its 10th week of release, and is now at £3.79m.

The market

Data gatherer comScore has crunched the numbers for May, and they show a healthy 32% revenue uptick on the same month in 2017. This means that, whereas 2018 box office was overall 5% down on 2017 for the year to the end of April, the 2018 total is now only 1% down on 2017 for the year to the end of May. Hits including Avengers: Infinity War and Deadpool 2 have proved vital in closing the gap.

The challenge for cinemas is now the Fifa World Cup, starting 14 June: the release calendar looks rather thin on blockbuster hits for the subsequent few weeks. Before that date, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, out this week, should keep the box office afloat.

Top 10 films 1-3 June

1. Solo: A Star Wars Story, £3,147,338 from 684 sites. Total: £13,907,406 (2 weeks)

2. Deadpool 2, £2,530,069 from 603 sites. Total: £26,701,776 (3 weeks)

3. Avengers: Infinity War, £1,058,425 from 509 sites. Total: £68,824,457 (6 weeks)

4. Sherlock Gnomes, £938,672 from 627 sites. Total: £7,116,136 (4 weeks)

5. Book Club, £720,858 from 518 sites (new)

6. Show Dogs, £601,535 from 517 sites. Total: £2,214,857 (2 weeks)

7. I Feel Pretty, £255,587 from 313 sites. Total: £5,062,342 (5 weeks)

8. Blade Runner: The Final Cut – Secret Cinema, £213,737 from 1 site. Total: £3,732,557 (11 weeks)

9. Veere Di Wedding, £211,424 from 66 sites (new)

10. On Chesil Beach, £129,206 from 214 sites. Total: £623,127 (3 weeks)

Other openers

Carry on Jatta 2, £99,498 (including £5,479 previews) from 21 sites (new)

L’Amant Double, £59,525 from 25 sites

My Friend Dahmer, £37,940 from 33 sites

Ismael’s Ghosts, £9,048 from 16 sites

Bobby Robson: More Than a Manager, £8,887 from 3 sites

That Summer, £7,568 from 8 sites

Bhavesh Joshi Superhero, £5,133 from 17 sites

Pandora’s Box, £3,906 from 4 sites (reissue)

The Bromley Boys, £3,230 from 16 sites

The Public Image Is Rotten, £2,375 from 1 site