Dutchman's Blog

Steven Spielberg’s War Horse has held off competition from Haywire and Underworld: Awakening to top the UK box office.

The World War I drama, which stars Jeremy Irvine, Tom Hiddleston and Benedict Cumberbatch, pulls in £3.2 million in ticket sales to secure the number one spot for the second consecutive weekend.

Action movies Haywire and Underworld: Awakening battled it out for second place, with Steven Soderbergh’s espionage film taking £1.19 million against £1.11 million for Kate Beckinsale’s vampire sequel.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and Meryl Streep’s The Iron Lady complete the top five.

Jonah Hill comedy The Sitter debuts at number six with £910,382 from 355 screens.

Oscar-tipped black and white film The Artist continues its impressive run in the UK. Michel Hazanavicius’s ode to silent cinema boosts its box office takings from last week to bag £770,403 in ticket sales.

The Artist has now earned more than £3 million from UK cinemagoers.

Elsewhere, Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar and W.E. fail to dent the top ten as they debut at numbers 12 and 14 respectively. The latter, Madonna’s first major film as a director, grosses £182,914 from 172 screens.

The UK box office top ten in full:
1. (1) War Horse – £3,202,493
2. (-) Haywire – £1,197,866
3. (-) Underworld: Awakening – £1,114,327
4. (3) Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows – £956,434
5. (2) The Iron Lady – £949,517
6. (-) The Sitter – £910,382
7. (4) Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol – £815,330
8. (7) The Artist – £770,403
9. (8) Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked – £568,758
10. (9) Puss in Boots – £568,590

The Woman in Black has been cut by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) to secure a 12A certificate.

James Watkins’s adaptation of Susan Hill’s novel stars Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe in the lead role as lawyer Arthur Kipps.

The BBFC confirmed that six seconds of “strong violence” and “horror” had been cut and other scenes darkened and sound levels reduced to gain its 12A rating.

“This work was cut,” the board confirmed. “The cut(s) were made at the request of the distributor to achieve a particular category.

“To obtain this category cuts of 0m 6s were required. Distributor chose to reduce moments of strong violence / horror in order to achieve a ’12A’ classification.”

It added: “Cuts made in line with BBFC Guidelines and policy. A ’15’ classification without cuts was available.

“In addition to the six seconds of visual cuts, substitutions were also made by darkening some shots and by reducing the sound levels on others.”

The board also advised consumers that the 94m 47s cut of The Woman in Black “contains intense supernatural threat and horror”.

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Steven Spielberg’s War Horse has topped the UK box office on its debut weekend on release.

The World War I drama, which stars Jeremy Irvine and Benedict Cumberbatch, gallops past Meryl Streep’s Margaret Thatcher biopic The Iron Lady to secure first place with takings of £3.9 million.

War Horse ends Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol‘s three-week stint at number one, with Tom Cruise’s spy sequel falling to number four behind Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo completes the top five as it drops down a place with £1 million in ticket sales.

New releases The Darkest Hour and Shame chart at numbers six and ten respectively, while Golden Globe winner The Artist posts a steady box office increase from last week to climb a place to number seven.

The UK box office top ten in full:
1. (-) War Horse – £3,944,746
2. (3) The Iron Lady – £1,489,528
3. (2) Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows – £1,403,319
4. (1) Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol – £1,373,539
5. (4) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – £1,046,225
6. (-) The Darkest Hour – £740,773
7. (8) The Artist – £688,546
8. (5) Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked – £681,642
9. (6) Puss in Boots – £679,348
10. (-) Shame – £535,288

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol has held off competition from Meryl Streep’s The Iron Lady to stay on top of the UK box office.

Tom Cruise’s spy sequel pulls in £2.2 million to land in first place ahead of Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, which climbs a spot to number two, and the much-discussed Margaret Thatcher biopic. The Iron Lady earns £2.1 million from 439 locations across the UK.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked complete the top five.

Puss in Boots drops out of the top five to number six, while Seann William Scott comedy Goon debuts at number six.

The Artist expanded its cinema run nationwide over the weekend and climbed into the top ten. Michel Hazanavicius’s ode to silent cinema charts at number seven with box office takings of £629,495 from 106 locations.

The UK box office top ten in full:
1. (1) Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol – £2,223,200
2. (3) Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows – £2,163,718
3. (-) The Iron Lady – £2,151,368
4. (2) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – £1,649,100
5. (4) Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked – £922,103
6. (5) Puss in Boots – £917,161
7. (-) Goon – £728,286
8. (13) The Artist – £629,495
9. (6) New Year’s Eve – £339,685
10. (8) Hugo – £161,794