‘Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3’ on Top as U.K. May Box Office Lags 19% Behind 2022

The total U.K. and Ireland box office for May 2023 is £78.2 million ($97.7 million) which is 19% lower than May 2022, per numbers released by Comscore.

Year-to-date 2023 is currently running 1% behind the same period in 2022. This is in contrast to most other territories where 2023 is significantly higher than last year, Comscore said.

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“Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3” opened at the beginning of May and achieved the highest three-day opening of the year with £9.2 million. It is the highest-grossing film in May with £33.6 million. It is currently the 16th-biggest title in the MCU all-time chart in the territory, tracking just behind “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” which earned £34.4 million. “Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3” is also the second-biggest release of the year so far, behind Universal’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” (£52.9 million).

In second position for the month is Universal’s “Fast X,” grossing £12.2 million since its debut two weeks ago. Its £5.8 million three-day opening was ahead of the three-day grosses for 2021’s “Fast & Furious 9” (£4.9 million three-day, £6.1 million including Thursday previews) and 2019’s “Hobbs & Shaw” (£4.9 million three-day, £6.3 million including Thursday previews).

After a week on release, “The Little Mermaid” is in third position for the month with £11.9 million so far.

After eight weeks on release, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” is in fourth position and is now the fifth-highest animated film of all time in the territory, just behind “Frozen 2” (£53.7 million). eOne’s “The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry” claimed fifth place with £1.5 month for the month. The film now has a lifetime total of £3.2 million and ranks as the fourth-highest British title of the year, behind “Allelujah” (£3.6 million), “Empire Of Light” (£3.8 million) and “What’s Love Got To Do With It?” (£4.8 million).

Studiocanal’s “Evil Dead Rise” is at sixth position for the month with £1.5 million. The fifth instalment of the Evil Dead franchise now has a lifetime total of £5.4 million, and is the third-highest horror release of the year so far, behind “M3gan” (£7.2 million) and “Scream VI” (£7.7 million). In seventh place, Universal’s “Book Club: The Next Chapter” grossed £1 million. The first chapter opened in June 2018 and collected £4.1 million.

Lionsgate’s “Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret” charted at eighth position with £753,000, RFT Films’ Malayalam-language Indian blockbuster “2018” ninth with £745,000 and closing the charts in 10th, in its 10th week of release is Lionsgate’s “John Wick: Chapter 4” with £633,000. The film now has a lifetime total of £17.5 million and ranks at No. 6 for the year.

June is a month filled with potential blockbusters that could go some way towards redressing the box office gap with 2022. Highlights include “Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse” (Sony); “The Boogeyman” (Disney); “Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts” (Paramount); “Chevalier” (Disney); “The Flash” (Warner Bros.); “Greatest Days” (Elysian); “No Hard Feelings” (Sony); “Asteroid City” (Universal); “Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny” (Disney); and “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” (Universal).

U.K. & Ireland – Top 10 Titles of May 2023
(May 5 to June 1)

U.K. & Ireland – Top 10 Titles of the Year to Date
(Jan. 6 – June 1)

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