The BFG, Star Trek, Ghostbusters, The Secret Life of Pets dominate UK cinema screens.
A host of movies backed up by heavyweight licensing and merchandising programmes dominated the box office in the UK over the weekend, led by The BFG.
The Steven Spielberg big screen adaptation of the Roald Dahl classic – which opened on Friday July 22 – notched up $6.97 million (£5.3m), making it the third best three-day weekend for one of the director’s films, according to Screen Daily.
This is good news for eOne, which is currently overseeing a major licensing drive for The BFG.
Retailers including Amazon, Debenhams, Foyles, Hamleys, Harrods, John Lewis, Smyths and Toymaster are all backing the property. eOne is also working closely with Spanish licensing agent Planeta Junior and DRi Licensing, the UK licensing agent for Quentin Blake’s illustrations of The BFG, to maximise retail presence in-store and secure cross category FSDU displays.
A host of brand partnerships have also been secured including Bensons for Beds, Pizza Hut, Joe and Seph’s and Chiltern Railway.
Meanwhile, the latest film in the Star Trek franchise – Star Trek Beyond – took $6.21m (£4.74m).
A raft of activity is happening currently around the 50th anniversary of Star Trek. This includes a major celebration running in Blackpool and several key partnerships, such as the launch of a dedicated Mac make-up collection.
Ghostbusters was at number four in the UK over the weekend, having notched up a running total of $9.46m (£7.2m).
Strong activity by Sony Pictures and Rocket Licensing includes the experiential marketing at London’s Waterloo, which also boasts a Forbidden Planet pop-up shop on the concourse.
Meanwhile, The Secret Life of Pets makes up the top five, with a running total of $38.8m (£28m) and remaining the UK’s most popular animation.
According to Screen Daily, the NBCUniversal film could hit £30 million by the end of this coming weekend.
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