The Will Ferrell sequel exploits previews to top the charts, while George Clooney’s Suburbicon is outperformed by Polish film Letters to Santa 3

The winner: Daddy’s Home 2

With an official debut total of £4.92m, festive comedy Daddy’s Home 2 lands at the top of the UK box office. The number is a big improvement on the £1.63m opening result of the first Daddy’s Home nearly two years ago.

However, these numbers are misleading. Back in 2015, Daddy’s Home opened over the Christmas Day weekend (25-27 December). It didn’t play on Christmas Day, so its opening number was earned from just two days of business.

As for Daddy’s Home 2, Paramount released the film with an aggressive previews strategy, contributing a hefty £2.15m to the opening tally. Strip them out, and Daddy’s Home 2 debuted with a less remarkable £2.77m.

The original Daddy’s Home was powered by strong word of mouth to a stunning £17.4m. Paramount will be hoping the sequel can play to audiences all the way to Christmas. Word of mouth will be a crucial factor.

The real winner: Paddington 2

Given its £4.55m haul over the weekend, Paddington 2 is the real box-office champion. The lovable bear declined a slim 32% from the previous session – the smallest fall of any film in the Top 10. Its total after 17 days is a splendid £23m, which compares with £14.3m for the original Paddington movie at the same stage of its run. If Paddington 2 remains – as it is now – 60% ahead of the pace set by Paddington, it could end up with an amazing £60.7m. While the film is clearly set for a powerful total, it’s hard to imagine it could reach those giddy heights.

The loser: Justice League

Dropping 60%, the biggest fall of any film in the Top 10, Justice League managed a poor £2.99m in its second weekend, and has reached £12.9m after 10 days. The number is in line with the 62% decline of Suicide Squad in its second weekend, but that Warner DC title had already reached £22.2m after 10 days (on its way to a total of £33.6m). Justice League is more than £9m behind the pace set by Suicide Squad, and it now looks a tough road for it to reach even £20m in the UK.

The challengers: Battle of the Sexes and Suburbicon

Two films, both enjoying impressive talent credentials, debuted disappointingly. In the blue corner, slice of tennis history Battle of the Sexes boasts Emma Stone and Steve Carell at the head of its cast, and Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy among its producer/screenwriter lineup. In the red corner, Suburbicon stars Matt Damon and Julianne Moore, with George Clooney and the Coen brothers among the film-maker talent.

Fox opened Battle of the Sexes in a fairly aggressive 464 cinemas, coming up short with £457,000 for the weekend, and £553,000 including previews. That outcome is a triumph next to Suburbicon, however, which began with a lacklustre £211,000 from 364 venues, or £231,000 including previews. A couple of months ago, Borg vs McEnroe reached a poor UK lifetime total of £420,000. It’s hard to envisage further tennis-themed stories finding favour with film financiers any time soon.

The family favourite: Frozen

Returned to cinemas on Saturday and Sunday only, Disney’s Frozen stunned with a £1.12m gross, earning fifth place in the weekend box-office chart and boosting its total after four years to £43m. With Frozen, Disney has a catalogue title that can be pushed back into cinemas every Christmas, joining the likes of White Christmas and It’s a Wonderful Life: the gifts that keep on giving.

Frozen’s success is humiliating for new Sony animation The Star, which debuted in 11th place with £205,000 from 421 sites – less than a fifth of the Frozen number.

The Polish hit: Letters to Santa 3

The latest hit Polish movie, Listy Do M3 (aka Letters to Santa 3), has opened with a nifty £398,000 from 253 cinemas. The original Letters to Santa was a huge hit in Poland in 2011, as was the sequel Letters to Santa 2 in 2015. Neither made it to UK cinemas. In Poland, Listy Do M3 has already grossed $9.4m (£7.07m), making it the third-biggest hit of the year, behind local production Botoks and Despicable Me 3. Botoks arrived in the UK in October, quickly becoming the first Polish film to crack £1m here.

The market

Overall, box office is down 8% on the previous weekend, but also 18% up on the equivalent session from 2016, when Allied and Bad Santa 2 were the top new releases. The next two weekends look very quiet for UK cinemas, with distributors evidently giving a wide berth to Disney’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi, arriving on 14 December. The only significant wide release on Friday is Wonder, starring Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson and Jacob Tremblay.

Top 10 films, 24-26 November

1. Daddy’s Home 2, £4,919,051 from 505 sites (new)

2. Paddington 2, £4,545,218 from 638 sites. Total: £22,990,836 (three weeks)

3. Justice League, £2,990,474 from 584 sites. Total: £12,917,287 (two weeks)

4. Murder on the Orient Express, £1,373,756 from 599 sites. Total: £20,442,641 (four weeks)

5. Frozen, £1,115,689 from 611 sites. Total: £42,996,289 (208 weeks)

6. Thor: Ragnarok, £596,034 from 373 sites. Total: £29,306,199 (five weeks)

7. Battle of the Sexes, £552,521 from 464 sites (new)

8. A Bad Moms Christmas, £398,450 from 325 sites. Total: £6,756,130 (four weeks)

9. Listy Do M3 (Letters to Santa 3), £397,738 from 253 sites

10. Suburbicon, £231,412 from 364 sites (new)

Other openers

The Star, £204,497 from 421 sites

Jane, £18,059 from six sites

Beach Rats, £9,635 from eight sites

Lost in Paris, £7,071 from three sites

In a Lonely Place, £6,298 from four sites (reissue)

Brakes, £5,512 from two sites

The Big Heat, £4,741 from eight sites (reissue)

Kardesim Benim 2, £2,907 from three sites

Indrajith, £2,721 from seven sites

#Starvecrow, £596 from one site

Alter Ego, £460 from four sites

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