Verity Tops U.K. Box Office with £3.4M Opening Weekend

Sony Pictures scored the weekend’s biggest win as Verity, the psychological thriller adapted from Colleen Hoover‘s bestselling novel, claimed the top spot at the U.K. and Ireland box office. The film starring Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson opened with £3.4 million ($4.5 million) from 639 sites, averaging a respectable £5,316 per location. Directed by Michael Showalter and released theatrically by Sony on behalf of Amazon MGM Studios, the adaptation opened slightly below the £4.5 million debut of 2024’s fellow Hoover adaptation It Ends With Us, but significantly outperformed two other recent Hoover adaptations that opened with £1.2 million and £1.1 million respectively.

Industry observers expect Verity to follow a trajectory that targets the £10 million mark over its first few weeks in cinemas. The film benefits from Hoover‘s established fan base in the U.K. market, where her adaptations have demonstrated consistent commercial appeal despite varying levels of success.

Sony secured both the top two positions at the weekend box office, with the Resident Evil franchise reboot holding second place in its third frame. The horror action title added $1.8 million (approximately £1.3 million) to lift its running total to $15.2 million (approximately £11.2 million). The film posted a 40% decline from its previous weekend, representing an improved hold compared to earlier drops, and has now earned more than double the gross of the next highest-grossing title in the series, 2010’s Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D, which finished with £4.8 million.

Brad Pitt Thriller Holds Strong in Third Position

Paramount Pictures’ action thriller Heart of the Beast, starring Brad Pitt and J.K. Simmons, demonstrated solid staying power in its sophomore session. Directed by David Ayer, the film added $1.5 million (approximately £1.1 million) while falling just 26% from its opening weekend, a hold significantly better than the market average. The thriller maintained its third-place position with a cumulative gross of $5.5 million (approximately £4.1 million) for Paramount.

Warner Bros.’ Tom Cruise drama Digger opened in fourth position with $1.4 million (just shy of £1.1 million) from 660 sites, averaging a modest £1,640 per location. Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, the film replicated its international struggles with a low opening by Cruise standards compared to his blockbuster output. However, the opening aligns with the starts of his most recent original role, 2017’s American Made, which also opened with £1.1 million, and his last comic role, 2012’s Rock of Ages, which started with £1 million.

Universal’s Period Drama Maintains Top Five Position

Universal’s Sense and Sensibility rounded out the top five in its second frame, collecting $1.3 million (approximately £974,000) to advance its cumulative total to $7.9 million (approximately £3.7 million). Directed by Georgia Oakley, the period drama posted a 37% drop, which performed better than the market average and helped the film maintain its position among the weekend’s top earners.

Disney’s Avengers: Endgame Encore placed sixth in its sophomore session with $962,425, moving its running total to $9.5 million. Studiocanal’s animated release Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom took seventh position in its third week, adding $745,957 to lift its cumulative total to $4.3 million.

Zee Studios International‘s Bollywood release Drishyam: The Conclusion debuted in eighth place with an opening haul of $637,457. Warner Bros.’ Practical Magic 2 held ninth spot in its fourth week with $504,663, lifting its cumulative total to $10.6 million. Studiocanal’s thriller Pressure rounded out the top 10 in its fourth frame, generating $380,664 to take its total to $8.7 million.

Market Performance and Year-to-Date Trends

The top five titles brought in a cumulative £7.9 million, marking a 22% decline from the previous session but still representing a 3% increase over the equivalent weekend from last year. With total box office for the year nearing the £1 billion threshold, exhibitors are positioning themselves for upcoming releases expected to drive further attendance.

Rollouts for the week began on Monday with Park Circus‘ 20th anniversary restoration of Martin Campbell‘s Casino Royale, starring Daniel Craig, across 100+ locations. Mid-week event programming includes Wednesday screenings of Trafalgar Releasing‘s concert film Queen Budapest across 300+ locations.

Major New Releases Target Weekend Audiences

Wide commercial and platform openings on Friday are led by Sony Pictures’ drama The Social Reckoning, written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, releasing across 300+ locations. Entertainment Film Distributors‘ historical drama The Uprising, directed by Paul Greengrass and starring Andrew Garfield, also opens across 300+ sites. Universal will roll out Rob Savage‘s horror feature Other Mommy, starring Jessica Chastain and Jay Duplass, across 100+ locations.

Specialized, limited, and repertory debuts arriving Friday include Icon Film Distribution‘s drama The Yellow Tie, starring Ben Schnetzer, John Malkovich, and Sean Bean, across 25+ screens. The diverse slate of new releases aims to capitalize on audience demand across multiple genres and demographic segments as the market approaches the critical holiday season.