Mrs. Brown’s Boys straight to the top spot in the UK

Entering straight at the top spot is comedy film Mrs. Brown’s Boys D’Movie, which is based on the sitcom Mrs. Brown’s Boys, which made £4,301,306 on its opening weekend, breaking records in Ireland for the highest box office gross on the opening day of an Irish-made film. It also surpassed its £3.6 million budget which is unusual for a film to make on its opening weekend. The plot revolves around a corrupt Russian businessman who tries to shut down Mrs. Brown’s fruit and veg stall in favour of a shopping centre. Despite its successful opening, the film was received poorly by critics and is one of the few films with a 0% rating on review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes and a scathing review from Archie Bland of The Independent stating that he found the film, ‘dreadful… slow, sentimental, and altogether cynical’, then concluding the review with, ‘I don’t see why anyone is obliged to like [the film] just because it does well at the box office… In any case, it doesn’t really matter. It is now absolutely clear that Mrs Brown is a slating-proof juggernaut.’

Stuck down to second place on its second weekend on release is romantic drama The Fault in Our Stars which made £1,699,690 last weekend in cinema ticket sales. The film is based on the novel of the same name by John Green and stars Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, and Nat Wolff, with Laura Dern, Sam Trammell, and Willem Dafoe in supporting roles. The plot centres on Hazel Lancaster (Woodley), a sixteen year old cancer patient who is forced by her parents to attend a support group, where she subsequently meets and falls in love with Augustus Waters (Elgort). The Fault in Our Stars has made a total of £6,697,519 in the UK so far.

In third place, comedy 22 Jump Street made £1,203,390 last weekend and with Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill starring the film has made £15,096,724 after four weeks on release.

Down another place to fourth is Disney’s Maleficent which made £819,504 last weekend, tallying up its gross in the UK to £16,564,412 after five weeks.

New in fifth place is American comedy Chef, which was directed, co-produced, written by and starring Jon Favreau, which made £605,976 on its opening weekend. The film also stars Robert Downey, Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Sofía Vergara, Dustin Hoffman, Oliver Platt and John Leguizamo and centres on a chef who loses his restaurant job and starts up a food truck in an effort to reclaim his creative promise, while piecing back together his estranged family. Chef received positive reviews with the consensus on Rotten Tomatoes stating, ‘Chef’s charming cast and sharp, funny script add enough spice to make this feel-good comedy a flavorful — if familiar — treat.’

New in sixth place is American computer-animated action film How to Train Your Dragon 2, which made £604,325 on its opening weekend. The film is loosely based on the book series of the same name by Cressida Cowell and is the sequel to the 2010 computer-animated film How to Train Your Dragon and the second in the trilogy. The film stars the voices of Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse,T.J. Miller and Kristen Wiig with the addition of Cate Blanchett, Djimon Hounsou and Kit Harington. How to Train Your Dragon 2 takes place five years after the first film, featuring Hiccup and his friends as young adults. At the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, Peter Debruge of Variety praised the film and its ambitions, stating, ‘The pressures to make a giant four-quadrant monstrosity must be enormous, and yet, like his unflappable hero Hiccup, How to Train Your Dragon 2 writer-director Dean DeBlois has prevailed, serving up DreamWorks Animation’s strongest sequel yet — one that breathes fresh fire into the franchise, instead of merely rehashing the original.’

New in seventh place is British musical romantic comedy Walking on Sunshine made £403,490 on its opening weekend. The film features covers of hit songs from the 1980s and a debut role for singer-songwriter Leona Lewis. After a whirlwind romance, Maddie is preparing to marry gorgeous Italian Raf, and has invited her sister Taylor to the wedding. Unbeknownst to Maddie, however, Raf is Taylor’s ex-holiday flame, and the love of her life. The film was received to mixed reviews with Rachel O’Brien of The Daily Mail stating, ‘Highbrow it’s not, and much of the plot is so predictable you can often guess what the cast are going to say before they break into song. But it’s lighthearted fun of the ‘Will-the-girl-get-the-guy-of-her-dreams?’ variety, and you’re sure to have the soundtrack stuck in your head for the rest of the week.’

Falling from fourth place to eighth is Marvel’s X-Men: Days of Future Past which made £319,270 last weekend and after six weeks on release has made £26,482,836 in the UK alone.

Ninth place sees science fiction film Edge of Tomorrow which made £315,900 contributing to its gross of £7,243,085 after five weeks on release.

Falling down four places to tenth place, on its second week, is biographical musical Jersey Boys which made £195,718 last weekend. Directed by Clint Eastwood, the film is based on the Tony Award winning musical of the same name and tells the story of four young men from the wrong side of the tracks in New Jersey who came together to form the iconic 1960s rock group The Four Seasons. Jersey Boys has made a total of £1,034,415 in the UK.

Look out for next week: The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window and Disappeared, Tammy and The Anomaly.