Video Game Adaptation Races to First Place

Need for Speed tops the box office podium in a race for cinema dominance.

In its opening week, Need for Speed managed to top the UK and Ireland weekend box office, with a comfortable £2 million. The high octane action film is Aaron Paul’s first blockbuster since the beloved final series of Breaking Bad that went stratospheric, and it’s not his only film out this month. eOne will likely be incredibly happy with their premier weekend, especially with the first of the comparable Fast and Furious franchise only generating approximately £1.5 million on its opening weekend.

A little further down the table (£700k further down, to be precise) is The Grand Budapest Hotel in second place which, despite generating £200k less than last week, has moved up and above 300: Rise of an Empire. While 20th Century Fox will be delighted with the consistent comedy-drama, Warner will be bitterly disappointed with the 300 sequel only generating around 44% of last week’s takings.

The other new entry into the top 10 is Under the Skin, which is currently clinging on to 10th place with around £238k. While many people might be more enticed with Scarlett Johansson as the lead, it might be worth trying to catch this soon before it drops out of prime time cinema listings.

The longest runner in the table is currently Mr Peabody & Sherman, which has been in cinemas for six weeks but doesn’t seem to be building on its impressive start. Now in 9th place with £242k, it’ll likely be its final week in the top 10, with the majority of its audience likely to have flocked to The Lego Movie instead.

Coming Next Week

With a quiet week on the major blockbuster front, we do see quite a line-up for smaller films; the aforementioned Aaron Paul film, A Long Way Down, is likely to grab more attention, largely due to the lead’s recent success with Need for Speed and his previous work. However, fans of slightly dark dramas might also be tempted by Starred Up, which follows a violent teenager in prison. With the lasting magnitude of The Lego Movie and the recent table toppers, neither of these two will likely be challenging for the top spot.

We also see the UK arrival of the drama Labor Day and comedy About Last Night, and while neither are realistically likely to challenge the top five, we’ll hopefully be seeing them gain some success in next week’s top ten.

Have you seen Need for Speed yet? How does Aaron Paul's Tobey compare to his Jesse in Breaking bad? Comment away, my lovelies.

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