This weekend, Friday 5th January 2024, there are 4 new films released in North America and where available looking to hit the box office chart, but can they challenge last weekends top movie, Wonka, for the number 1 spot?

Check out other new releases from around the world.

• Night Swim
• Noryang: Deadly Sea
• Memory
• Shining For One Thing

Night Swim

• The movie is directed by Bryce McGuire, it is the directors 3rd movie.
• Bryce McGuire also directed Unfollowed in 2018.
• It stars Wyatt Russell who also starred in Table 19 (2017).
• The film also stars Kerry Condon who was last seen in The Banshees of Inisherin (2022).
• This movie is released in movie theatres.
• The MPAA age rating is

Noryang: Deadly Sea

• The movie is directed by Han-min Kim, it is the directors 6th movie.
• Han-min Kim also directed Paradise Murdered in 2007.
• It stars Jeong Jae-yeong who also starred in Noryang: Deadly Sea (2023).
• The film also stars Yeo Jin-goo who is making a feature film debut.
• This movie is released in movie theatres on limited release.

Memory

• The movie is directed by Michel Franco, it is the directors 3rd movie.
• Michel Franco also directed Chronic in 2016.
• It stars Jessica Chastain who also starred in IT Chapter Two (2019).
• The film also stars Peter Sarsgaard who was last seen in The Batman (2022).
• This movie is released in movie theatres on limited release.
• The MPAA age rating is

Shining For One Thing

• The movie is from director Xiaoming Chen and Pan Zhang.
• This movie is a directorial debut.
• It stars Yun-Lin Chiang who also starred in Shining For One Thing (2023).
• The film also stars Jing Fu who is making a feature film debut.
• This movie is released in movie theatres on limited release.

Check back on Monday to see what new movies made it onto the Weekend Box Office Chart.

Next week there are 5 new movies released

• The Book of Clarence - Friday, 12th January
• Her Seye Ragmen - Friday, 12th January
• Mean Girls - Friday, 12th January
• The Beekeeper - Friday, 12th January
• Mean Girls - Friday, 12th January

Last weekend Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was at the top of the UK box office, there are 5 new releases this weekend, will any of them top the UK box office this weekend?

Check out other new releases from around the world.

• The Flash
• Extraction 2
• No Hard Feelings
• Greatest Days
• Nobody Has to Know

The Flash

• The movie is directed by Andy Muschietti, it is the directors 5th movie.
• Andy Muschietti also directed IT Chapter Two in 2019 which grossed £18.9 Mil. in the UK and grossed $472.1 Mil. globally.
• It stars Ezra Miller who also starred in Trainwreck (2015).
• The film also stars Ben Affleck who was last seen in Hypnotic (2023).
• Ezra Miller and Ben Affleck have starred in 4 other movies together.
• They also appeared together in Suicide Squad in 2016, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice in 2016, Zack Snyder's Justice League in 2021 and Justice League in 2017.
• This movie is released in movie theatres.
• The BBFC UK age rating is

Extraction 2

• The movie is directed by Sam Hargrave, it is the directors 2nd movie.
• Sam Hargrave also directed Extraction in 2020.
• It stars Chris Hemsworth who also starred in A Perfect Getaway (2009).
• The film also stars Olga Kurylenko who was last seen in The Princess (2022).
• Sam Hargrave directed Chris Hemsworth in Extraction
• This movie is released in movie theatres.

No Hard Feelings

• The movie is directed by Gene Stupnitsky, it is the directors 2nd movie.
• Gene Stupnitsky also directed Good Boys in 2019 which grossed £3.2 Mil. in the UK.
• It stars Jennifer Lawrence who also starred in The Poker House (2008).
• The film also stars Natalie Morales who was last seen in The Little Things (2021).
• This movie is released in movie theatres.
• The BBFC UK age rating is

Greatest Days

• The movie is directed by Coky Giedroyc, it is the directors 8th movie.
• Coky Giedroyc also directed Women Talking Dirty in 1999.
• It stars Aisling Bea who also starred in Love Wedding Repeat (2020).
• The film also stars Alice Lowe who was last seen in Swede Caroline (2022).
• They also appeared together in Swede Caroline in 2022.
• This movie is released in movie theatres.

Nobody Has to Know

• The movie is from director Tim Mielants and Bouli Lanners.
• This movie is a directorial debut.
• It stars Michelle Fairley who also starred in To Provide All People (2018).
• The film also stars Bouli Lanners who was last seen in The Night of the 12th (2022).
• This movie is released in movie theatres.
• The BBFC UK age rating is

Check back on Monday to see what new movies made it onto the Weekend Box Office Chart.

Next week there is 1 new movie released

• Asteroid City - Friday, 23rd June

Each week we present a rundown of the UK box office chart headlines on this same week from last year to 1990.

A year ago (2019) -

Making its debut at the top was IT Chapter Two starring Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy and directed by Andy Muschietti

The film with the longest run was Casino Royale which had been on the box office for 27 weeks.

The top total grossing film of the week was The Lion King which had taken £73.1 Million after 8 weeks of release.

Five years ago (2015) -

The number one film was Straight Outta Compton which had been at the top for 2 weeks.

The top new film of the week was No Escape directed by John Erick Dowdle and starring Owen Wilson and Lake Bell which entered the box office at number 3.

The film with the longest run was Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back which had been on the box office for 36 weeks.

The top total grossing film of the week was Inside Out which had taken £36 Million after 7 weeks of release.

Ten years ago (2010) -

Another film making its debut at the top was The Last Exorcism starring Patrick Fabian and Ashley Bell and directed by Daniel Stamm

The longerst run on the box office and the top total grossing film was Avatar which had taken £93.4 Million over 18 weeks of release.

Fifteen years ago (2005) -

Making its debut at the top was The 40 Year Old Virgin starring Steve Carell and Catherine Keener and directed by Judd Apatow

The film with the longest run was Wedding Crashers which had been on the box office for 8 weeks.

The top total grossing film of the week was Charlie And The Chocolate Factory which had taken £35 Million after 6 weeks of release.

Twenty years ago (2000) -

Making its debut at the top was Snatch starring Jason Statham and Stephen Graham and directed by Guy Ritchie

The longerst run on the box office and the top total grossing film was Gladiator which had taken £30.5 Million over 17 weeks of release.

Twenty five years ago (1995) -

The number one film was Die Hard With A Vengeance which had been at the top for 2 weeks.

The top new film of the week was The City Of Lost Children directed by Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet and starring Ron Perlman and Daniel Emilfork which entered the box office at number 9.

The film with the longest run was Bad Boys which had been on the box office for 12 weeks.

The top total grossing film of the week was Batman Forever which had taken £18.1 Million after 8 weeks of release.

Thirty years ago (1990) -

Making its debut at the top was Memphis Belle starring Matthew Modine and Eric Stoltz and directed by Michael Caton-Jones

The film with the longest run was Dick Tracy which had been on the box office for 10 weeks.

The top total grossing film of the week was Days Of Thunder which had taken £8 Million after 7 weeks of release.

Cinemas closed back in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and since then many movies have had their release date changed or gone directly to VOD at a premium rate, the movie Tenet has for a long time been seen as the movie that will reopen cinemas and bring audiences back.

After a couple of release date changes the movie is here and with this event many more cinemas are re-opening, with safety precautions in place.

With the pandemic still an issue in the US the movie still has another couple of weeks before its release but cinemas are reopening far slower there.

Here is a rundown of this weeks movies, and I suspect one of them will replace one the current number one film, Unhinged, from the top of the box office chart.

Tenet

• The movie is directed by Christopher Nolan
• Christopher Nolan also directed Insomnia in 2002 which grossed £5.1 Million in the UK.
• It stars John David Washington who last starred in Monsters And Men (2019).
• The film also stars Robert Pattinson who last appeared in The Lighthouse (2020).

Ava

• This new release stars Jessica Chastain who's last film was IT Chapter Two (2019)
• It also stars Common who appeared in The Kitchen (2019).
• Jessica Chastain and Common appeared in Unity (2015) together.
• The film is brought to us by Tate Taylor.

Hope Gap

• The movie is directed by William Nicholson and is their directorial debut.
• It stars Annette Bening and Bill Nighy.

Away

• Also this week there is Away from director Gints Zilbalodis marking a directorial debut.

Savage

• The long list of new releases continues with Savage which is directed by Sam Kelly which is a directorial debut.
• It stars Jake Ryan and John Tui.

Check back on Monday to see if these new releases enter the UK Weekend Box Office Chart.

Next weeks there are 4 new movies

• Mulan, Friday, 4th September
• The New Mutants, Friday, 4th September
• Dream Horse, Friday, 4th September
• Les Misérables, Friday, 4th September

Disney's new film Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil makes its debut on the US box office at the top, but there is a cautionary take for the studio, Joker falls to number 2 and Zombieland 2 also makes a quiet entry.

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil

Directed by Joachim Rønning the sequel to the 2014 movie Maleficent makes its debut at the top, but whereas the first movie took a very respectable $70 Million on its release this movie takes $36 Million.

This could be seen as diminishing returns on a sequel, but when the likes of Toy Story 4 and Avengers: Endgame have brought in big bucks for the studio its more that this is a sequel no-one asked for.

Also not helping is the negative reviews from the critics, although the paying audiences have been far nicer about the movie.

Joker

After a couple of weeks at the top the Todd Phillips directed DC villain movie falls to number 2 this week with $29.2 Million.

This puts the films total gross in the US at a far better than expected $247.2 Million after just 3 weeks of release, the next milestone is $300 Million but the studio must be thinking $400 Million is not impossible.

Zombieland: Double Tap

Ruben Fleischer's sequel to his 2009 zombie movie hits the box office at number 3 this week with a debut gross of $26.7 Million.

This is in the same ball park at the original movie, and taking inflation into account is more or less the same which means that the audience for zombie comedies as not changed in 10 years!

The Addams Family

The animated version of the Kookie, Spookie family falls to number 4 this week with $16 Million pushing its total US gross to $56.8 Million after 2 weeks of release.

Gemini Man

The Will Smith vehicle falls to number 5 on its second weekend with a disastrous $8.5 Million taking its total to $36.5 Million.

IT Chapter Two

The sequel to the Stephen King book may not have been as well received as the original movie but this week its has the longest run on the box office at 7 weeks and has taken $209.6 Million so far, it could get a small boost over the coming weekends as Halloween is here.