'Revenge of the Sith' dominates the London box office

While George Lucas's little film smashes the competition to smithereens, the brilliant 'Mysterious Skin' manages to hold its own on just seven screens.

May 25 2005

This is the first of our weekly reports on the London box office and, unfortunately, it holds no surprises whatsoever, with 'Star Wars' being the dominant force from Friday to Sunday.

Raking in an astonishing three-day total of £779,114 over the weekend (not counting the huge pile of pounds it grossed on opening day Thursday), the film sliced through the competition like a lightsaber through butter, grossing ten times more than its nearest competitor.

With reviews positive and word of mouth better than either of the last two prequels, expect 'Revenge of the Sith' to remain at the top of the tree for some time yet.

Meanwhile 'Monster-in-Law' and 'Kingdom of Heaven' were practically neck and neck in positions two and three meanwhile, with only £16 worth of ticket sales placing the former above the latter.

Elsewhere, former Time Out Film of the Week 'Mysterious Skin' did brisk business, grossing a very respectable £26,545 on just seven screens, while World War II drama 'Downfall' continues to loiter around the lower reaches of the chart, having spent a whopping eight weeks in the top ten already.

The only real surprise is that the brilliant 'Ong-Bak' has fallen out of the chart after only one week on release. A barmy but hugely entertaining kung fu classic, Tony Jaa's remarkable fighting style is worthy of the admission price alone, so it's disappointing to see it depart so soon.

As for next week, expect little to change, with Danny Boyle's excellent 'Millions' the only candidate likely to make any kind of dent on the chart.