Sheer muscle overpowered the UK box office this week, as the combined pumped-up forms of, er, Adam Sandler and a collection of brawny footballers and wrestlers knocked out Russell Crowe's Cinderella Man, as well as Steve Carell's weedy cyclist. Sandler's The Longest Yard took the top spot with £1.3 million, well ahead of the competition.
The prison / American football comedy remake always looked like being the big release of the week, despite lukewarm (at best) reviews. Steve Carell's The 40 Year-Old Virgin fell to second place with £999,000, a mere 15% drop on last week that brings its total to £3.6 million in two weeks, which isn't bad for a film with no major stars (although that's the last time anyone will be saying that about Carell).
Red Eye held third place with £626,000, a not-bad 30% drop on its opening week, while Cinderella Man landed in fourth place with £615,000. As with its US release, it seems that the summer just isn't the time for serious character dramas – even if everyone involved from producer to teaboy does have a shelf full of Oscars.
In fifth place, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory fell only 18% in its seventh week, with £542,000 to bring its total to a whopping £35.9 million so far. That means that it should overtake Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason in the all-time UK charts this week, and quite possibly overtake Die Another Day by next weekend to make it into the top twenty (not adjusted for inflation).
Another new release, Green Street, landed in sixth place with £446,000; a decent performance for an indie film about hooligans. A good screen average of £1,822 suggests that it should hold up for a few weeks to come.
Rounding out the top ten, Herbie: Fully Loaded, The Dukes of Hazzard and Crash posted £380,000, £353,000 and £339,000 respectively. That was a small 18% and 20% drop for Herbie and Crash, but a steeper 43% drop for Dukes, which looks set to repeat its US performance of a strong opening and swift disappearance here.
In the tenth spot, however, was Samuel L. Jackson / Eugene Levy buddy movie The Man, with £329,000. The film, which also opened low in the US, is likely to vanish from screens pretty quickly, so see it while you can – if you like that sort of thing.