'Star Wars' remains atop the box office tree

'The Pacifier', 'House of Wax' and 'The Consequences of Love' open well, while 'Millions' disappoints.

May 31 2005

'Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith' continued to dominate the London box office at the weekend.

In spite of the bank holiday and some sweltering temperatures in town, the film still managed to gross more than £500,000, keeping it well ahead of the chasing pack.

'Kingdom of Heaven' and 'Monster-in-Law' remained second and third, although this week they swapped positions, with Orlando moving up to two while J-Lo brings up the rear.

Former Time Out film of the week 'The Consequences of Love' also made a strong show, grossing a hugely impressive £34,091 on just four screens.

Further down the chart it gets more confusing however, with deeply average horror 'House of Wax' and so-called Vin Diesel comedy 'The Pacifier' somehow managing to out-perform Danny Boyle's 'Millions'.

Boyle's enchanting film deserved better, so hopefully good word of mouth will ensure that it doesn't drop off too badly next week.

Elsewhere it's probably time to panic for 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' team, with the film nose-diving from four to nine, while Gregg Araki’s brilliant 'Mysterious Skin' continues to hold its own at ten.

As for next week, expect the comic book ultra-violence of 'Sin City' and sick, twisted vision of 'The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse' to shake things up a bit at the top.