It was corsets all the way this week at the UK box office, as Pride and Prejudice stormed to the top of the box office with an emphatic £2.5 million. That's the 5th best September opening ever in this country, which ain't bad for a film without a single alien / explosion / semi-nude scene by an A-list star.
That performance knocked The Longest Yard and The 40 Year Old Virgin into second and third place respectively, despite only dropping a measly 19% and 20% on last week. They took £839,000 and £794,000 respectively.
The next highest entry was Wolf Creek with £555,000 – not bad for a video nasty-type film with a cast of about four people lost in the Outback. Cinderella Man followed that with £424,000 in its second week, a 21% drop on a slightly disappointing opening and £1.3 million so far.
Red Eye is beginning to slip faster down the charts, with a 38% drop to £389,000 in its third week. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory finally fell out of the top 5, in seventh place this week with £352,000. Still, after eight weeks and £36 million in this country, we doubt that Tim Burton will be shedding too many tears.
Green Street, Herbie: Fully Loaded and Crash rounded out the top ten, and the only new entry further down the list was Must Love Dogs, in 15th place with £142,000 and a paltry screen average of £583 – as compared to Pride and Prejudice's £6,373. It's a sad day for John Cusack fans everywhere.