Universal’s “The Fall Guy” debuted atop the U.K. and Ireland box office with £3.5 million ($4.5 million), according to numbers from Comscore.
But the force was strong with Disney’s 25th anniversary rerelease of “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace,” as it debuted in second place with £1.1 million. This, when added to the £56.4 million grossed when it originally released in 1999, makes the film neck-and-neck with “Joker” at No. 30 on the all-time box office chart for the territory.
In its second weekend, Warner Bros.’ “Challengers,” headlined by Zendaya, moved down to third place with £986,885 for a total of £3.6 million. In fourth position, in its fourth weekend, Studiocanal’s “Back to Black” added £770,973 for a total of £10.5 million.
Rounding off the top five was Univeral’s “Kung Fu Panda 4,” which earned £562,704 in its sixth weekend for a total of £20.4 million.
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There were two more debuts in the Top 10. Sony’s “Tarot” bowed in sixth place with £509,181 and Lionsgate’s “Love Lies Bleeding” in eighth with £309,613.
Coming up, Disney is opening “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” the 10th film in the long-running franchise, on May 9.
There are several films releasing on the Friday. Picnik Entertainment is opening traumatic brain injury-focused “The Almond and the Seahorse,” starring Rebel Wilson, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Celyn Jones, which won a top prize at Dinard. Journeyman Pictures is bowing documentary “The Trust Fall: Julian Assange.” Altitude is releasing “Made in England: The Films of Powell & Pressburger” and Peccadillo Pictures Cannes winner “Our Mothers.” And from Curzon comes Cannes title “La Chimera.”
Rereleases this weekend include the restored version of 1998 film “Drylongso” from the Tape Collective, the 30th anniversary rerelease of Danny Boyle’s “Shallow Grave” from Park Circus and “Big Banana Feet,” the restored 1976 documentary about Billy Connolly’s 1975 live shows in Dublin and Belfast.
