Dev Patel’s first feature film, Monkey Man, tops the list of new films at the UK and Irish box office this weekend, debuting in 592 Universal cinemas.
Directed and produced from a story and starring Patel, Monkey Man follows an anonymous young man who unleashes a crusade of violence against the corrupt leaders who murdered his mother and continues to systematically victimize the weak and powerless.
Filmed in early 2021, Netflix first bought the international rights to Monkey Man. After Jordan Peele ascended to the name as a producer through Monkeypaw Productions, Universal acquired him from Netflix earlier this year. He made his SXSW debut last month.
Patel began acting in 2006 with the television series E4 Skins, with her contemporaries including Nicholas Hoult and Daniel Kaluuya. Named Tomorrow’s Screen Star in 2008, he rose to foreign prominence that year playing the lead role in Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire, which opened at £1. 8 million and ended with a whopping £31. 6 million.
Subsequent roles come with 2011’s The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (£20. 4m) and its 2015 sequel (£16m); 2016’s Lion (£11. 9 million), for which he won the Bafta and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor; and The Personal History Of David Copperfield (2019) (£6. 4 million), for which he earned Bifas and Golden Globe nominations.
Peele’s Monkeypaw has a theatrical pedigree thanks to the director’s films Get Out (£10. 5 million), Us (£10. 1 million) and Nope (£8 million), as well as Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman (£6. 5 million) and Nia DaCosta’s Candyman (£5. 2 million). subway).
Disney premieres the horror film The First Omen, the first feature film by American filmmaker Arkasha Stevenson, on 472 websites. Nell Tiger Free, Tawfeek Barhom, Sonia Braga, Ralph Ineson and Bill Nighy star in the story of an American sent to paint in a church in Rome, who discovers a sinister conspiracy to bring about the birth of the Antichrist.
The film is a prequel to Richard Donner’s 1976 The Omen, the sixth film in the franchise overall and the first since 2006’s The Omen, which grossed £4. 4 million.
Curtis Vowell’s old comedy Take Advantage of Them! It is released in 375 seats by Entertainment Film Distributors, which also financed the title.
Set in the Middle Ages in Britain, the film sees Queen Dagan on the run in her own country and embarks on an adventure to reclaim her throne. Aimee Lou Wood, Nicola Coughlan, James Acaster, Nick Frost, Lolly Adefope, Paul Kaye and Jessica Hynes lead a cast of regular British comedians.
This is New Zealand filmmaker Vowell’s third feature film, following 2013’s Fantail and 2020’s Baby Done; the makers are Damian Jones and Matthew James Wilkinson.
Modern Films is releasing Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Evil Doesn’t Exist in 55 theaters, winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2023 Venice Film Festival. Written by Hamaguchi from a concept by himself and Eiko Ishibashi, the film revolves around the population of a village who are informed about a commission to build a campsite near their home.
The film has toured extensively at festivals since its premiere at the Lido, film festivals in Toronto, Vancouver, New York, Sao Paulo, Singapore, Rotterdam and Vilnius. It won Best Film in Official Competition at the BFI London Film Festival in October and Best Film in Official Competition at the BFI London Film Festival in October. Film at this year’s Asian Film Awards.
Parkland Entertainment releases Matt Winn’s British comedy The Trouble With Jessica, starring Shirley Henderson, Rufus Sewell, Olivia Williams, Indira Varma and Alan Tudyk; while Altitude presents in 73 theaters Io Capitano, by Matteo Garrone, nominated for an Oscar, a drama about two boys who travel from Senegal to Europe.
Sony launches Chinese sports comedy Yolo in 75 theaters; while Andrew Gallimore’s boxing documentary, One Night In Millstreet, airs in 20 Wildcard Distribution locations.
The titles in this weekend’s catalog come with the most recent theatrical release of Disney films released during the pandemic, featuring Luca’s animation in 585 venues in limited shows. Park Circus is betting on Elia Kazan’s 1954 vintage, On The Waterfront, which won 8 Academy Awards, adding Best Actor for Marlon. Brando.
Warner Bros. ‘ Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire and Universal’s Kung Fu Panda Four will continue to battle it out in the more sensible rankings, with Sony’s Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire and Warner Bros. ‘ Dune: Part Two also among the spin-offs.
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The BFI team, their neighbours on the other side of the fence and a WhatsApp organisation of elderly skaters tell the cultural visualisation of Ben Luxford, BFI’s UK audience director.
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