'Crash' smashes its way to the top of the London box office

The LA drama finally knocks Willy Wonka from the top spot while 'Bewitched' opens just below.

Aug 23 2005

The London box office chart had a distinctly underwhelming appearance at the weekend, with three new entries making dents in the top ten and little else of note taking place.

Paul Haggis' tense Los Angeles set drama 'Crash' climbed to number one, having entered the chart at number two the week before.

Which was probably due to a combination of good word of mouth and practically everyone having already seen 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory', which finally dropped one place to number two.

Whatever the reason, it's nice to see a grown-up film hitting the top spot after a summer of big-budget blockbuster domination.

The highest new entry was Nora Ephron's 'Bewitched', which, in spite of star turns from Nicole Kidman, Will Ferrell and Michael Caine, failed to set the box office alight, much like 'The Island' the week before, which itself dropped a spot to number four.

Time Out favourite 'Me and You and Everyone We Know' was a popular new entry at number five, while the Jet Li actioner 'Unleashed' made its debut a little further down the chart at number seven.

Elsewhere, 'Wedding Crashers' and 'Madagascar' dropped down the chart, 'Herbie: Fully Loaded' disconcertingly climbed a place and Bollywood epic 'The Rising' failed to live up to its name, falling five places to number ten.

As for next week, expect the status quo of dumb blockbuster domination to be restored as 'The Dukes of Hazzard' will doubtless replace 'Crash' at the top and cause several of the Time Out staff to weep.