The Steven Spielberg remake of the same name, West Side Story has failed to perform at the box office this weekend, both in the UK and US. The classic musical fell beyond expectation taking only $10.5m ($7.9) in the US upon its opening weekend and will be hoping to gain momentum and legs across the festive period ahead.
In the UK, the release topped the UK box office, but only just with £1.3m against the also debuting Clifford: The Big Red Dog which took £1.28m. There’s a lot of discussions posted around the box office numbers being low especially in the UK due to the recent rise of the Omicron-variant but let’s look at that more closely.
West Side Story both sides at the Atlantic has proven to be an initial failure with audiences against expectation. Whilst widely received, it appears to be a remake nobody wanted, without a real twist on the original or a star to draw people in, on top of the run time it’s not really set up to be a winner.
West Side Story isn’t doing all that well at the UK box office
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West Side Story globally opened to £11.2m ($14.9m) which is well below the predicted $31m most were expecting. £3m, ($4.4m) came outside the US. The UK has the highest number outside the US, with France taking £0.83m ($1.1m), Germany £227k, ($300k) and Russia £151k ($200k).
However, Covid is certainly bringing some issues and will be in the weeks coming forward in the UK after Prime Minister Boris Johnston gave an address at the weekend. At number 3 in the UK sat House of Gucci with almost £800k, and Disney’s Encanto at number 4 with £634k.
Spider-Man: No Way Home opens on Wednesday 15th December, and The Matrix Resurrections will open on Wednesday 22nd December and be looked to give a huge boost to the December box office.
What do you make of the latest box office news? Have you seen any of the films listed? Will you be heading to the cinema this week or waiting? Let us know in the comments below, we’d love to hear from you!
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