Kong is king at the London box office

Peter Jackson's big budget blockbuster blows the competition away in London cinemas.

Dec 21 2005

'King Kong' trampled all over the box office competition at the weekend, taking a colossal, gorilla-sized £451,268 haul.

Receiving great reviews across the board and with schools now out for Christmas, the big monkey should remain a fixture at the top of the charts for the next couple of weeks at least.

Kong's arrival meant 'The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' dropped to number two, although its £283,715 gross from 22 screens is still mighty impressive, while 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' also dropped a place, falling from two to three.

At number four 'The Polar Express' was a surprise re-entry, taking a whopping £51,381 from just four screens thanks to its IMAX re-release.

And way down at number ten, indie favourite 'The Beat that my Heart Skipped' also made a welcome return, having dropped out of the chart a couple of weeks ago.

Aside from that, the only other new entry was Sarah Jessica Parker chick-flick 'The Family Stone', which charted at number seven.

There won't be a box office report next week as the Time Out team will be off on our hols, but we confidently predict that, in spite of 'The Producers' opening big on Boxing Day, 'Kong' will remain king in London.