Michael Jackson's This Is It Is UK's Biggest Concert Movie
Halloween may have dented the box-office takings of films on release, but the singer's farewell did well enough to snatch the crown from In Bed With Madonna after only five days. Chart-topping … Michael Jackson's This Is It The winner: Although it didn't live up to some of the more extravagant hype about its box-office prospects, Michael Jackson's This Is It opened with £4.88m including Wednesday and Thursday previews. After five days, it's already the second-biggest documentary of all time in the UK, behind the lifetime total of Fahrenheit 9/11 (£6.54m), and pushing March of the Penguins (£3.31m) into third place. This Is It has snatched In Bed With Madonna's long-held crown as the UK's biggest ever concert movie – that 1991 doc grossed £1.25m here. All in all, an impressive result for a film pieced together out of rehearsal footage. The Halloween factor: This Is It might have been even bigger had Halloween not fallen on a Saturday. Apart from exceptional cases such as horror sequels, movies usually take significantly more on Saturday than on Friday, and then edge down on Sunday. But in line with the rest of the market, This Is It dipped 23% from Friday to Saturday, before recovering on Sunday. The future: Despite the boost of This Is It, overall the market was 36% down on the equivalent weekend from 2008, when Quantum of Solace opened with a spectacular £15.38m. Next weekend should close the gap with the arrival of Disney's A Christmas Carol, which receives its worldwide premiere today with much attendant hoopla in London. Robert Zemeckis's motion-capture animation, starring Jim Carrey, seems well poised to appeal to families right up to the Christmas holiday, although its upscale literary origins may slightly limit its penetration. UK top 10, 30 October–1 November 1. Michael Jackson's This Is It, 498 sites, £4,877,255 (New) 2. Up, 540 sites, £3,443,130. Total: £29,156,179 3. Fantastic Mr Fox, 483 sites, £1,545,325. Total: £5,589,484 4. Saw VI, 381 sites, £940,505. Total: £3,777,930 5. Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant, 386 sites, £544,676. Total: £2,304,738 6. Couples Retreat, 359 sites, £500,258. Total: £4,876,825 7. 9, 300 sites, £468,455 (New) 8. An Education, 93 sites, £399,122 (New) 9. The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus, 256 sites, £323,294. Total: £2,891,670 10. Dead Man Running, 80 sites, £198,442 (New) MJSTAR / Guardian.co.uk / Thanks MJCool |