UK Box Office Information 5th-7th October 2007

More exciting than hearing that The Spice Girls have released extra dates for their reunion tour is the news that The Farrelly Brothers' new film The Heartbreak Kid (Paramount) opened in 1st place over the weekend, taking £1.2m. A remake of the 1972 film of the same name, Ben Stiller stars as Eddie, a newlywed who believes he has found the woman of his dreams - Lila (played by Malin Akerman) - after only a few weeks. The honeymoon soon turns into a nightmare however when Lila starts to reveal some rather ghastly habits. Eddie ultimately ends up meeting his true soul mate Miranda (Michelle Monaghan) and has to try and keep his lover and his wife separate for the duration of the vacation.

Opening in 2nd place is director Peter Berg's politically charged The Kingdom (Universal), which took £920k over the weekend, including £84k from previews. After an American compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia is attacked and the investigative team is later targeted by much larger bomb, Mr 'Gold Digger' himself - Jamie Foxx - and three of his FBI colleagues (Jennifer Garner, Chris Cooper and Jason Bateman) hot-foot it over to Riyadh in an attempt to comb the scene for forensic clues. Foxx and his team face obstacles in the shape of local jurisdictions, protocol and their Saudi counterparts however who want to locate the terrorists on their home land, on their own terms.

David Schwimmer's Run, Fat Boy, Run (Entertainment) has moved down to the 3rd place spot, with a box office total of £8.9m, followed by Atonement (Universal) which has taken £9.7m to date. Lovebirds Adam Sandler and Kevin James are in 5th place with I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (Universal), with a box office of £3.3m, followed by Judd Apatow's gang in Superbad (Sony), which has taken £5.6m to date.

Sam Riley stars as Joy Division singer Ian Curtis in the film Control (Momentum) which opened in 10th place this weekend, with a box office of £252k (including £16k from previews). Having premiered at Cannes in May, Control is the biography of Ian Curtis. looking at the last years of his life up until his suicide at the age of 23 on the eve of his first US tour in 1980. Samantha Morton also stars.

Following the theme of biographies is And When Did You Last See Your Father? (BVI) which opened in 13th place taking £133k, and is an exploration of the relationship between Blake (Colin Firth) and his father Arthur Morrison (Jim Broadbent). When Arthur Morrison was diagnosed with terminal cancer, Blake travelled back to his hometown in Yorkshire where he wrote his memoirs looking back at the tumultuous relationship between them over the years.

The final new entry into the chart is the Russian speaking film Daywatch (20th Century Fox) from director Timur Bekmambetov. Taking £96k over the weekend and opening in 14th place, Daywatch is the follow up to the 2004 film Nightwatch and is the story of a man who serves in the war between the forces of Light and Dark, coming into possession of a device that can restore life to Moscow, which was nearly destroyed by an apocalyptic event.

Interesting film fact of the day: The Kingdom director Peter Berg plays a solider in the upcoming political film Lions for Lambs (20th Century Fox), directed by Robert Redford

CSA 9th October 2007