The zombie horror sequel 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple has made a solid debut at the UK-Ireland box office, taking in £2.4 million. The film, directed by Nia DaCosta, earned the second-highest opening for the franchise after 28 Years Later, which launched with £3.9 million last year. However, this year’s edition, showing at 666 sites, saw a lower site average of £3,633, a drop compared to its predecessor’s £5,483 average. Despite the difference, the film’s 18 certificate likely limited its audience reach in comparison to the previous film’s 15 rating.
Despite the newcomer’s strong performance, the top spot was held by The Housemaid, which added £2.8 million to its earnings in its fourth weekend. The film, which had a relatively modest drop of 20% from its previous weekend, continues to demonstrate impressive longevity. The thriller, distributed by Lionsgate, has now grossed £22.6 million, surpassing seven times its opening weekend tally. It is set to overtake the original The Hunger Games (£24.1 million) within the next week, solidifying its place as Lionsgate’s sixth-highest grossing film in the UK.
Other Notable Performances
Among other releases, Universal’s Hamnet posted the best hold among the top five, dipping only 15% on its second weekend, adding £2.6 million to bring its total to £8.4 million. The film has already outpaced fellow awards contenders Sinners, One Battle After Another, and Marty Supreme at the same stage. It also surpassed previous awards titles such as The Favourite and A Complete Unknown.
Meanwhile, the former box-office leader, Avatar: Fire and Ash, brought in £1.7 million in its fifth session, a 35% drop, pushing its total to £38.3 million. For comparison, The Way of Water remained at the top in its fifth weekend, earning £4.2 million and reaching a total of £63.5 million.
Finally, Marty Supreme, another film in the awards race, posted a solid performance with £1.5 million in its fourth week, bringing its total to £11.9 million. It is set to surpass the £12.4 million gross of last year’s A Complete Unknown, which also starred Timothée Chalamet.
The UK-Ireland box office showed resilience in January, with total earnings from the top five films reaching £11 million. This is down 11% from the previous week but still up 52% from the same weekend last year. The continued success of these films highlights the competitive nature of the market and the ability of well-performing titles to sustain their box-office momentum.
