Spielberg finally topples 'Brokeback Mountain'

Steven Spielberg's 'Munich' is a new entry at number one at the London box office.

Jan 31 2006

Serious fare dominated the top of the London charts this week, with Steven Spielberg's 'Munich' coming straight in at number one and Michael Haneke's 'Hidden' a new entry at number three.

Spielberg's spellbinding account of the aftermath of the terrorist attack on the Munich Olympics grossed £178,235 over the weekend, an excellent haul following the film's disappointing performance in the States.

More impressive still was the achievement of Haneke's brilliant 'Hidden' which, while not being the most commercial of features, nevertheless managed to out-gross and out-perform more heavily hyped Hollywood pics like 'Fun With Dick and Jane' and 'Underworld: Evolution' to come straight in at number three.

Which means that 'Brokeback Mountain's three-week reign at number one has finally come to an end. Though with the film receiving a whopping eight Oscar nominations yesterday, it will probably loiter around the top spots for a while yet.

The only other new entry is the joke-free Kevin Costner/Jennifer Aniston rom com 'Rumour Has It' at number five, while further down the chart it looks like 'Jarhead' and 'Match Point' could be on their last legs, dropping to eight and nine respectively.

Next week, expect 'Walk the Line' and 'Grizzly Man' to open big, although in the light of those nominations, 'Brokeback Mountain' could surprise everyone by climbing back up to the top spot.