Third big-screen outing for Helen Fielding’s much-loved comic creation holds on to the top spot thanks to rapturous word of mouth, with Disney’s animation continued to get tills ringing

The winner: Bridget Jones’s Baby

The residual affection for endearingly self-sabotaging singleton Bridget Jones meant it was always likely that a large audience would show up on opening weekend, which it did, resulting in an impressive UK debut of £8.11m. What happened next was always going to be harder to call – word-of-mouth would play a big factor in Bridget Jones’s Baby’s continued fortunes.

On the evidence so far, that audience word is very warm. First, the film held up well in midweek, grossing a nifty £6.65m over the Monday-to-Thursday period, for a seven-day total of £14.77m. Next, Baby declined just 20% on its second weekend, earning another £6.45m for a 10-day tally of £21.22m.

While a few films so far this year in the UK have earned money quicker – notably Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Captain America: Civil War – cracking £20m in 10 days is phenomenal for a film that does not have the benefit of a top-tier superhero. And Baby is already ahead of the total gross of summer blockbusters such as X-Men: Apocalypse (£18.35m), Star Trek Beyond (£15.95m) and Independence Day: Resurgence (£12.10m). It will soon overtake Jason Bourne, which has reached £23.03m. Universal reports that Baby is already the highest grossing film ever released in September in the UK. Top September titles from recent years include Legend (£18.3m), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (£14.2m) and Looper (£10.2m).

In the US, takings for Bridget Jones’s Baby are a disappointing $16.6m, but foreign takings are surging ahead with $67.4m so far, boosted by big numbers in the UK and Australia. Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason grossed $40m in the US and $222m in foreign. Bridget Jones’s Diary saw less of a disparity, although foreign ($210m) far exceeded the US total ($72m).

The runner-up: The Magnificent Seven

Bridget Jones’s Baby in its second weekend grossed more than three times its nearest competitor, The Magnificent Seven, which debuted with a decent £2.13m. The western remake likewise opened in the US at the weekend, grossing $34.7m. By rule of thumb, based on the US result, you might expect a UK debut of about £3.5m. However, that yardstick was never likely to apply in the case of The Magnificent Seven. First, westerns are rarely as popular in the UK. And second, lead actor Denzel Washington has consistently proved a bigger star in the US.

In terms of recent comparisons, The Hateful Eight kicked off earlier this year with a more muscular £2.78m, while Django Unchained began with an almost identical £2.80m.

The family surge

While adult-skewing films typically decay each week at a rate of about 40-45%, that is not the case for virtually all the family titles in the marketplace. Finding Dory’s gentle dip of just 5% sees it back in the Top 5 in its ninth week of release. After an uncertain start, Kubo and the Two Strings is also holding well, with declines of 29% and 16%. It’s in third place, just above Finding Dory. The BFG, down just 3% from the previous weekend, is back in the Top 10, and with £29.8m so far looks certain to crack £30m. Lower down the chart, Pete’s Dragon, Ice Age: Collision Course and The Secret Life of Pets all posted very strong holds.

The soft debut: The Girl With All the Gifts

For a modestly budgeted, smart British indie genre film such as The Girl with All the Gifts, a UK debut of £433,000 (including £20,000 previews) sounds not so shabby. But a soft site average of only £1,175 tells a different story, and that’s because UK distributor Warners rolled the film out into a broad 368 cinemas.

It’s easy to criticise the strategy as likely to dilute the film’s target audience, and a focus on indie cinemas would have given the sector more ownership of the film, and thus boosted the average. But younger genre fans are more likely to be found in multiplex venues, and Warners had every reason to go after that audience.

Also in indieland, Taika Waititi’s comedy Hunt for the Wilderpeople posted an encouraging hold, down just 19% at the box office, albeit helped by a modest expansion from 63 to 76 cinemas. The film is performing particularly well in indie venues, and gross so far is £391,000.

Brotherhood sets franchise record

Noel Clarke’s Brotherhood fell another 50% at the weekend, is now down at number 18. But it’s the cumulative total that deserves attention: £3.53m, after less than four weeks’ play. In 2008, Adulthood stunned industry commentators when it grossed £3.35m in the UK, up from £454,000 for 2006’s Kidulthood. Few thought the audience would return in such strong numbers for a sequel arriving so long after the earlier hits.

The Irish hit: The Young Offenders

Irish distributor Wildcard had a hit on its hands when local comedy The Young Offenders began life with £118,000 from 65 cinemas, plus previews of £54,000. But the story is now even better, with second-weekend takings of £143,000 (up 20%), for a total so far of £415,000. The film stars newcomers Alex Murphy and Chris Walley as two teenage boys who cycle 100 miles on stolen bikes in search of a missing bale of cocaine worth €7m. A UK release is under discussion.

The future

The lack of major releases meant UK grosses overall were 13% down on the previous session. However, due to the continued powerful performance of Bridget Jones’s Baby, takings were 61% up on the late-September frame from 2015, when Everest, Legend and The Maze Runner: Scorch Trials held on to the chart’s top places. Overall, admissions for September look certain to post a rise on the same month last year.

For the final frame this month, commercial hopes are pinned on Tim Burton’s Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and Peter Berg’s oil-rig disaster movie Deepwater Horizon, starring Mark Wahlberg. Matthew McConaughey stars in American civil war drama Free State of Jones, while Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe share the screen in quirky US indie Swiss Army Man. Sunday sees a nationwide preview of Oasis documentary Supersonic, with a livestream Q&A with director Mat Whitecross and executive producer Liam Gallagher, ahead of the 7 October release. Also in the mix: Farsi-language horror Under the Shadow, which has been selected as the UK’s foreign language picture Oscar submission, and US indie Southside With You, about Barack and Michelle Obama’s first date.

Top 10 films, 23-25 September

1. Bridget Jones’s Baby, £6,453,799 from 648 sites. Total: £21,219,529

2. The Magnificent Seven, £2,132,609 from 543 sites (new)

3. Kubo and the Two Strings, £506,120 from 511 sites. Total: £2,332,783

4. Finding Dory, £461,285 from 489 sites. Total: £41,276,476

5. The Girl with all the Gifts, £432,529 from 368 sites (new)

6. Don’t Breathe, £370,645 from 320 sites. Total: £2,950,354

7. Blair Witch, £368,685 from 442 sites. Total: £1,785,648

8. Sausage Party, £348,844 from 346 sites. Total: £7,259,540

9. Bad Moms, £328,313 from 308 sites. Total: £7,557,850

10. The BFG, £244,689 from 369 sites. Total: £29,790,697

Other openers

Michael Bublé: Tour Stop 148, £145,151 from 327 sites (Sunday)

The Rolling Stones: Havana Moon Concert, £56,666 from 110 sites (Friday)

Little Men, £56,289 from 36 sites

Oppam, £45,371 from 74 sites

Dare to Be Wild, £18,028 from 90 sites

Smolensk, £14,492 from 24 sites

Thodari, £6,488 from seven sites

The Lovers and the Despot, £5,555 from six sites

Mungaru Male 2, £4,664 from nine sites

A Good American, £2,285 from two sites

Baden Baden, £2,245 from one site

De Palma, £2,165 from four sites

Gangsters Gamblers Geezers, £2,053 from one site

Imperium, £1,999 from 13 sites

Aloys, £403 from two sites

Yarn, £92 from one site

• Thanks to comScore. All figures relate to takings in UK and Ireland cinemas.