Iron Man has always been potent at the UK box office, but would adding relative commercial weaklings Thor, Captain America and the Hulk to the formula increase or detract from the character's appeal? That question has now been answered in resounding fashion, as Avengers Assemble explodes at the UK box office with £15.78m, including Thursday previews of £2.55m. That's more than double the openings of Iron Man (£5.47m including previews of £667,000) and Iron Man 2 (£7.66m including previews of £877,000) from early May 2008 and late April 2010 respectively. The Avengers takings are also more than the entire runs of last year's franchise extensions Thor (£14.05m) and Captain America: The First Avenger (£9.48m) as well as both of the last decade's Hulk movies, which took £8.43m (Ang Lee's The Hulk, starring Eric Bana) and £8.28m (Louis Leterrier's The Incredible Hulk, starring Edward Norton).
Disney is trumpeting the result as the biggest superhero-movie opening of all time. The Dark Knight debuted with £11.19m including £2.50m in previews. Spider-Man 3 kicked off with £11.83m (all from the Friday-Sunday period, no previews) in May 2007. Disney is also celebrating it as the second-biggest four-day weekend ever (behind Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, with £16.49m). However, this achievement loses some of its lustre when you consider certain three-day opening results, notably Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (£18.32m) and Part 2 (£23.75m). Coming off the disappointment of the over-budgeted John Carter, which has failed to crack £5m in total in the UK, Disney will have regained some much-needed spring in its step. Positioning Avengers Assemble as the first major tentpole of summer (unless you count Battleship, which opened 11 April) has proved a smart move, with no major competition for fans of event-movie spectacle. The downside is that by opening outside of a school holiday, audiences are not so available on weekdays to see it, but with such a whopping opening weekend, the Avengers won't need much in the way of midweek grosses to achieve a huge total. Meanwhile, Battleship has fallen from first to sixth place, with a drop in takings of 61% from the previous weekend.
The word-of-mouth hit
With the smallest decline of any film in the top 10 (just 7%), Lasse Hallstrom's Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is proving a hit with its target market. It's not quite in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel league (John Madden's film opened significantly bigger and went up 5% in its second frame) but distributor Lionsgate will be more than happy. Rainy skies can't have hurt, although other films suffered much bigger drops. Principal competition came from middlebrow awards bait Albert Nobbs, featuring Oscar-nominated turns from Glenn Close and Janet McTeer; the period drama debuted with a so-so £107,000 from 75 locations.
The losers
While several films experienced gentle declines, space-prison actioner Lockout and kidnap thriller Gone both fell 72% from the previous weekend. Both lost screens and showtimes, and now look set to make relatively speedy exits from cinemas. That fate likewise surely awaits Outside Bet, a 1980s-set Britcom that didn't win much critical favour (0% Fresh at Rotten Tomatoes, with eight out of eight reviews falling into the negative camp) and opened with a dismal £8,440 from 34 cinemas. The cast includes Bob Hoskins, Phil Davis and Adam Deacon. Mind you, its screen average of £248 isn't so far behind the £309 earned by Disney documentary African Cats at each of its 134 locations.
The art-house market
Unless you count Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, top upscale contender was Kevin Macdonald documentary Marley, expanding its screen count a bit to help rein in its decline to a gentle 15%. The 10-day gross stands at a healthy £493,000. Best foreign language performer remains Headhunters, now with £1.19m under its belt. Whit Stillman's Damsels in Distress did OK in limited play, with £45,000 from 19 screens, including modest previews, and 17th place in the weekend chart. A screening of Russian satirical ballet Bolshoi Live: The Bright Stream competed for audiences on Sunday.
The future
Thanks to that stonking Avengers result, takings overall are a very handy 64% up on the equivalent weekend from 2011, when Thor debuted at the top with £5.45m. The current frame is the third best of the past year, behind the mid-July weekend when Deathly Hallows Part 2 opened, and the late-August one where The Inbetweeners Movie joined a crowded market of still-chugging summer blockbusters. The immediate future looks short on Avengers-size hits, but this weekend, franchise revival American Pie: Reunion presents the first major Hollywood comedy since March's 21 Jump Street, and Zac Efron fans should appreciate his turn in the latest Nicholas Sparks adaptation, The Lucky One. The action and horror boxes are ticked by Safe and Silent House, while Disney offers a 3D reissue of animated classic Beauty and the Beast.
Top 10 films
1. Avengers Assemble, £15,778,074 from 521 sites (New)
2. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, £1,085,687 from 417 sites. Total: £3,186,574
3. The Hunger Games, £744,079 from 398 sites. Total: £22,484,112
4. The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists, £663,775 from 511 sites. Total: £14,908,506
5. The Cabin in the Woods, £561,905 from 383 sites. Total: £4,632,981
6. Battleship, £501,283 from 436 sites. Total: £7,130,300
7. Mirror Mirror, £437,356 from 410 sites. Total: £6,627,586
8. Titanic 3D, £366,749 from 279 sites. Total: £10,774,824
9. 21 Jump Street, £205,514 from 201 sites. Total: £9,863,555
10. Lockout, £169,133 from 300 sites. Total: £1,075,002
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