London audiences peak 'Over the Hedge'

The animated comedy dominates box office figures in town.

Jul  4 2006

First things first, who in the name of great Zeus was going to the cinema at the weekend? London town was hotter than the sun, plus there was a footballing debacle that people should have been preparing for on Friday, watching on Saturday and reeling from on Sunday. So who had time to see 'Over the Hedge'?

Well quite a few of you it would seem, as the animated comedy, which features the vocal talents of Bruce Willis, William Shatner, Steve Carell and Garry Shandling, opened in the top spot with £85,633.

That was more than double its nearest rival, romantic drama 'The Lake House', which in turn narrowly out-grossed the likes of 'The Wind that Shakes the Barley', 'Thank You for Smoking' and 'Fearless'.

The only other new entry was teen 'comedy' 'Just My Luck' which, thanks to the presence of irritating purveyors of pop McFly, managed to take a respectable £20,096 from just nine screens.

And further down the chart 'The Da Vinci Code' and 'X-Men: The Last Stand' look like they might just be on their last legs.

Next week, with the World Cup closing down for another four years, the Hollywood conveyer belt re-opens for business, and 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest' will doubtless sink everything in its path.