'Volver' victorious in London

Pedro Almodóvar's wonderful comedy drama enters the box office chart at number one.

Aug 30 2006

'Volver' was the deserved victor atop the London box office chart over the weekend, taking an impressive £191,660 from 20 screens.

That already makes it one of the most successful films of Pedro Almodóvar's career thus far, and a slew of glowing reviews should see it continue to loiter around the top of the chart for the next few weeks.

At the other end of the spectrum, pointless slacker comedy 'You, Me & Dupree' came straight in at number two, proving that as long as Owen Wilson plays the same character over and over again, people will pay good money to watch him.

The over-hyped, under-performing 'Snakes on a Plane' drops from one to three, while the excellent 'Miami Vice' and 'A Scanner Darkly' drop to four and five respectively.

Below them, 'Superman Returns' fell just a single place, in spite of the fact that it was playing at just four cinemas (though one of them is the IMAX).

Brit flick 'Severance' was the only other new entry at seven, a modest debut for a fine survival horror that deserved better.

Further down the chart 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest', 'Nacho Libre' and 'Harsh Times' descended in dull, lifeless and unpalatable ways that I won't discuss here.

Next week, pap like 'The Sentinel' and 'Crank' will probably dent the chart, though expect little else to change.