UK Box Office 4-6 July

There may have been plenty of people staying in on Sunday to watch the nail biting men’s Wimbledon final, but cinemas across the land sure weren’t hurting. Powered by openings of both Hancock and Kung Fu Panda, takings surged.

Hancock confirms Will Smith’s status as the world’s biggest movie star. One of the few summer blockbusters not based on an existing property such as a previous hit film (Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull), comic-book (Iron Man) or TV show (Sex and the City), Hancock relied solely on Smith’s star power, so its UK opening of £9.59 million, including Wednesday/Thursday previews of £2.96 million, is highly impressive. DreamWorks animation Kung Fu Panda picked up a tasty £6.07 million, including previous-weekend previews of £1.69 million. The two titles helped power the top 15 films to a collective £20.38 million, a nifty 78% up on the previous weekend, and 65% up on the same weekend from 2007, when Die Hard 4.0 and Shrek the Third managed just over £5 million apiece.

Frank Darabont’s The Mist earned mostly encouraging reviews, and boasted a strong pedigree in its source material (Stephen King story) and cast (including respected character actors such as Toby Jones and Marcia Gay Harden, as well as action hero Thomas Jane), but failed to connect with a wide audience. Opening on 188 screens, it took disappointing £157,000. Well-reviewed US indie flick The Visitor took a decent £49,000 from 19 screens, just behind Bollywood new release Love Story 2050, which managed £49,000 from exactly twice as many cinemas. Another Indian release, Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, landed a few places below, with £29,000 from 13 theatres.

Canadian film-maker Guy Maddin earned a strong screen average with his documentary hybrid My Winnipeg, picking up nearly £10,000 from just four screens. Tamil picture Muniyandi: Vilangiyal Moondraamaandu opened with just under £5,000 from three sites. French film Mes Amis, Mes Amours, largely targeting the London-based French expatriates depicted in it, picked up £2,300 from a single cinema. Japanese manga adaptation sequel Death Note: The Last Name took £1,100 from two venues. Among the newcomers, Bruce Weber documentary Chop Suey brought up the rear with less than £800 from its single location.

Among films previously released – “holdovers”, in cinema speak – most suffered steep drops: understandable, given the arrival of Hancock and Kung Fu Panda. Wanted declined 67%, although if previews are discounted from the previous weekend’s takings, as they should be for purposes of comparison, the fall is in fact 54%. Sex and the City, Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Adulthood all fell more than 50%. The Incredible Hulk dived by a whopping 82%, and will presumably struggle to hold on to screens and showtimes from this Friday, when Mamma Mia: The Movie arrives. Talking of which, the ABBA musical picked up nearly £120,000 just from London’s Odeon Leicester Square. For reasons best known to the data compilers, the film didn’t appear in the official chart, and all the takings from this platform release will be added into its upcoming first weekend of wide play. Cinema chains are reporting buoyant advance ticket sales on the title, and forecasts for total UK box office are optimistic.