The dancing penguins of “Happy Feet” knocked James Bond off the UK box office top spot in their debut weekend, while humiliating the only Bollywood release of the week.
The animated Warner Bros movie, which had kept “Casino Royale” from top spot in the U.S. when the two went head-to-head, took a relatively modest 2.76 million pounds, according to Screen International figures.Daniel Craig’s 007 was down in second place after three weeks at the top, having taken 2.74 million. In its first weekend, the critically acclaimed version of Ian Fleming’s first Bond novel had earned 11.37 million pounds and its total gross after a month now stands at 41.9 million.
That’s not all, the world’s biggest movie star Amitabh Bachchan, also suffered humiliation at the paws of the penguins. His big budget family drama Baabul entered the charts at a disappointing number 8. But there is good news for Bachchan, the film opened on only 45 screens - 90% fewer than Happy Feet - but earned a total of £290,000. This meant it brought in more money per screen than any other film in the top 10.
As widely predicted by Brit bookers, high-octane Bollywood actioner “Dhoom 2″ cleared the £1 million ($1.95 million) mark. The front-loaded Yash Raj release dipped 67% in its third frame for a $2,033,135 running cume.
This year has been a bumper year for Bollywood in the U.K. with four pics — “Fanaa,” “Don,” “Kabhi alvida naa kehna” and now “Dhoom 2″ — having passed the £1 million benchmark.
Third was another newcomer, romantic comedy “The Holiday” starring Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz trying to solve their man problems by swapping homes. Fourth down from second was “Flushed Away”, the animated story by the creators of Wallace and Gromit of an upper-crust rat having to learn a different way of life when he is flushed into the sewers of London. Fifth down from three was “The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause”, with “Deck the Halls” down one at six with its story of two neighbours falling out over Christmas decorations. Seventh was Sacha Baron Cohen’s Kazakh comedian “Borat”, which has so far made 23.3 million pounds during its six weeks in the charts. Horror thriller “The Covenant”, set in the 17th century Ipswich colony of Massachusetts, came at nine. Tenth, down one place, was director Guillermo del Toro’s “Pan’s Labyrinth” about a lonely child creating her own fantasy world in 1940s Spain.
UK & IRELAND FILM CHART
1. Happy Feet (£2.77m)
2. Casino Royale (£2.74m)
3. The Holiday (£2.3m)
4. Flushed Away (£1.2m)
5. The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (£734,000)
6. Deck the Halls (£370,000)
7. Borat (£336,000)
8. Baabul (£290,000)
9. The Covenant (£181,000)
10. Pan’s Labyrinth (£178,000)