Other Mommy Edges Verity to Top U.K. and Ireland Box Office
Universal's horror film Other Mommy took No. 1 at the U.K. and Ireland box office with £1.97 million ($2.66 million) in its opening weekend, according to figures reported by Variety.
Directed by Rob Savage and starring Jessica Chastain and Jay Duplass, it edged Sony's Verity by just £33,263 ($43,970). That is a tight margin. Fewer than two thousand tickets would separate them on a busy Saturday.
Verity, a psychological thriller from Sony based on the Colleen Hoover novel, finished second with £1.94 million ($2.62 million) in its second weekend. It had opened at No. 1 a week earlier with £3.3 million ($4.5 million), as reported by Variety, and its running total in the U.K. and Ireland now stands at £7.3 million ($9.8 million).
The close fight in Britain followed a clearer win in North America. Other Mommy opened at No. 1 domestically — domestic means the United States and Canada — with $27.5 million for the October 9-11 weekend, according to ABC News. It played on 3,365 screens and had taken $3.6 million from Thursday previews, as reported by Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter. Verity earned $11.5 million domestically that same weekend.
Paramount's Heart of the Beast, starring Brad Pitt and J.K. Simmons, held third place in the U.K. and Ireland in its third week with $1.1 million. Its total in the market stands at $7.3 million. Sony's Resident Evil was fourth in its fourth week with $1 million, lifting its total to $17.1 million.
Aaron Sorkin's political drama The Social Reckoning opened fifth in the U.K. and Ireland with $840,538. In North America it debuted with $5.5 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The rest of the U.K. and Ireland top 10 was crowded. Universal's Sense and Sensibility was sixth in its third weekend with $797,038 for a total of $6.8 million. The Uprising, directed by Paul Greengrass and starring Andrew Garfield, opened seventh with $732,547.
Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom was eighth in its fourth week with $665,849, taking its total to $5.1 million. Warner Bros.' Tom Cruise film Digger was ninth in its second week with $661,819 for a total of $3 million. Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey closed out the chart in tenth in its 13th week with $353,321, pushing its cumulative gross in the market to $118.3 million.
What makes this stand out is how differently the two leaders reached the line. Verity opened in 639 cinemas and averaged £5,316 per site, according to Screen Daily. Other Mommy opened in 526 cinemas and averaged £3,770 per site, according to Screen Daily. It also debuted with $2.2 million in Italy.
