Turtles return to the top in the UK

Screen Shot 2014-11-06 at 22.02.36Returning to the top spot on its third week is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which made another £1,429,159 just ahead of horror flick Ouija, which entered at second.

This is the first time since January that six films have taken £1m at the UK box office.

The reboot of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film series, starring Megan Fox, Johnny Knoxville, Pete Ploszek, Noel Fisher, Jeremy Howard, Alan Ritchson, Danny Woodburn, Tony Shalhoub, William Fichtner and Will Arnett, has grossed £11,771,775.

Meanwhile, American supernatural horror Ouija, which earned £1,373,907 last weekend. The plot revolves around a group of friends who must confront their most terrifying fears when they awaken the dark powers of an ancient spirit board.

It received negative reviews from critics with the consensus on Rotten Tomatoes stating, “A mostly silly slab of horror with a cast of beautifully groomed American youths, which makes it look strikingly like High School Musical, only with screaming.”

Crashing down from the top to third place is Brad Pitt’s WW2 film Fury, which still made a decent £1,246,990 bringing its total to £5,609,870 after two weeks on release in the UK.

Fury is an American war film set during World War II in which a battle-hardened army sergeant named Wardaddy (played by Brad Pitt) commands a Sherman tank and his five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines and also stars Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman, Jon Bernthal, Michael Peña, Jason Isaacs, and Scott Eastwood. It is written and directed by David Ayer, best known for being the writer of Training Day.

Gone Girl has fallen to fourth place with £1,061,282, which brings its total in the UK to £19,330,235 so far. When looking at the 18-certificate chart, it is inches away from thriller Seven (£19.52m) and an arm’s length away from The Wolf of Wall Street (£22.70m).

Gone Girl follows a man (Affleck) as he sees the spotlight turned on him when his wife’s (Pike) disappearance becomes the focus of an intense media circus and it’s suspected that he may not be innocent.

Moving down to fifth place is computer-animated musical comedy The Book of Life with £1,056,274 on its second week.

The film features the voices of Diego Luna, Zoe Saldana, and Channing Tatum with supporting roles by Christina Applegate, Ice Cube, Ron Perlman, and Kate del Castillo and the story follows Manolo (Luna), a young man who is torn between fulfilling the expectations of his family and following his heart, as he embarks on an adventure that spans three fantastic worlds where he must face his greatest fears.

It has totalled £4,022,383 in the UK.

American crime thriller Nightcrawler has made £1,003,822 on its opening weekend.

The film was screened in the Special Presentations section of the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival and stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Riz Ahmed, and Bill Paxton.

It tells the story of a driven young man who stumbles upon the underground world of Los Angeles freelance crime journalism.

Nightcrawler has received acclaim from reviewers, with the majority praising Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance. Jason Korsner of UK Screen states, “But while the film is, at times, an exhilarating watch, there’s not much of an emotional core; the central character is a grotesque that few people would want to spend any time with – not least because most of the people who spend time with him are lying in a pool of blood.”

Mike Leigh’s latest British biographical drama Mr Turner debuted with £904,947 last weekend, taking it to seventh place.

The film stars Timothy Spall, Dorothy Atkinson, Paul Jesson, Marion Bailey and Ruth Sheen and concerns the life and career of British artist J. M. W. Turner (Spall).

It premiered in competition for the Palme d’Or at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, where Spall won the award for Best Actor and cinematographer Dick Pope received a special jury prize.

Critics praised the film and Jason Korsner of UK Screen states, “Mr Turner is long – the length, perhaps, driven by a lack of real direction in the story that had to be told. But it’s beautiful, enlightening and engrossing, thanks to the fine work of Pope, Spall, Leigh and his usual, well-picked handful of ensemble supporting actors.”

Falling to eighth place is dystopian film The Maze Runner, based on James Dashner’s 2009 young adult novel, which brought in £664,766 on its fourth weekend bringing its gross to £7,752,518.

It is the first instalment in The Maze Runner film series and stars Dylan O’Brien, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Ki Hong Lee and Will Poulter.

Down to ninth place is Walt Disney’s comedy Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day with £524,109.

The film is based on Judith Viorst’s 1972 children’s book and stars Steve Carell, Jennifer Garner, and Ed Oxenbould.

On its fourth week on release the film has made to date, £2,468,716.

Rounding off the top ten is supernatural horror Annabelle which took £457,026 last weekend, grossing £7,126,266 after four weeks on release.

Landing disappointingly in eleventh place is Daniel Radcliffe’s dark fantasy Horns which made £396,000. Similarly Shia LaBeouf’s new film, Charlie Countryman, proved a virtual wipe-out, with £12,100.

This Friday we see the releases of Christopher Nolan’s new sci-fi flick Interstellar; Keira Knightley in comedy romance Say When; Pierce Brosnan in spy action thriller November Man; Kristen Wiig in comedy drama The Skeleton Twins; and Elijah Wood in drama Set Fire to the Stars.