'The Departed' batters 'The History Boys' at box office

'The Devil Wears Prada' is ousted from the top spot in London after one week.

Oct 17 2006

Now we're talking. After the shock defeat of 'The Departed' in London last week by a bunch of fashion designers, the tables have been turned and Martin Scorsese's gangster flick has taken its deserved place at the top of the chart.

Grossing £241,573 from 17 screens, 'The Departed' overtook last week's number one 'The Devil Wears Prada', a remarkable feat considering it is playing at five fewer cinemas.

Both films battered 'The History Boys' into submission at three, a surprisingly modest debut for a film that has been on every arts show and in every newspaper and magazine (including our own) over the past few weeks.

'The Queen' and 'Children of Men' drop to four and five respectively, while the deeply ugly and unpleasant 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning' is a new entry at six (hope you are all regretting seeing that one!).

The only other new entry is animated flick 'Open Season' at seven, while 'Volver' continues its slow, undeserving descent down the chart, dropping from eight to nine.

Next week, 'The Grudge 2', 'The Last Kiss' and 'Marie Antoinette' may dent the chart, though hopefully most of you will be attending some of the wonderful films screening at the London Film Festival (the best of which we recommend here).