Con Artists Steal the Top Spot

A good cast, good style and a good director take American Hustle into first place.

The draw of Jennifer Lawrence doesn’t seem to be diminishing with the Oscar winning actress, along with her bankable co-stars, managing to keep the top spot away from December’s top earner The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. With a limited UK release two weeks ago, it’s not surprising to see the takings increase by a phenomenal 7401% and taking close to £3.5m after American Hustle‘s general release, beating its nearest rival by over a quarter of a million pounds.

Read our review of American Hustle here and our review of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug here.

Morgan Freeman, Michael Douglas, Kevin Kline and Robert De Niro can all demand good audiences for their individual films, so when they combine for Jon Tureltaub’s reminiscing comedy Last Vegas it isn’t a surprise that that they make it into the top 5, cementing an impressive 4th spot with a weekend total of £1.8m.

However two films that won’t be impressed with their positions are Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones and Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. With the death of the former South African president, it seems that Justin Chadwick’s Bio-Drama got lost, taking just under £1.5m; hopefully word of mouth will allow it to maintain its midtable position for a few more weeks. Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones did better, even reaching the top 5 with just over £200k less than 4th placed Last Vegas, but after the box office success of its predecessors, 5th just isn’t as impressive.

Opening Next Week

Friday is a big day for releases with one possible table topper and two more that could trouble the top 5. Fighting for the top spot is 12 Years a Slave which tells the story of Solomon Northup who is kidnapped and sold into slavery. With a strong cast and moving story, this could be a draw for many and should definitely get into the top 3 – but its goal will certainly be the number 1 spot. Competing for the same audience is The Railwayman, starring Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman, and with all the notoriety around 12 Years a Slave it could turn The Railwayman into a flash in the pan at the cinema.

For those wanting something a little more light-hearted, this week sees the release of Vince Vaughn’s Delivery Man, about a guy who discovers he is the father of 533 children after donating to a fertility clinic. This middle of the road comedy could have enough of a draw to make it into the top 5, but a comfortable 7th would likely be a more realistic goal.

Click here to view the latest Box Office Table