Ken Loach drama tops Indie Cinemas chart
StudioCanal has made a solid start with its new Ken Loach drama The Old Oak, topping BFI Indie Cinemas chart, and landing as the highest new entry in the Independent/Arthouse Films chart. The former chart tracks the success of all titles across a sample of 50 boutique and independent sites; the latter is based on weekend box office across all UK and Ireland cinemas – and includes films deemed relevant.
The Old Oak – which received production backing from National Lottery/BFI Filmmaking Fund – debuted at the weekend with £209,000 from 227 sites, and £233,000 including previews. North East England (where the film is set) accounted for 11% of the total UK and Ireland box office for the film – which compares with 3.4% typically for the region.
Top site for the film was Tyneside Cinema, ahead of BFI Southbank, Watershed Bristol, Broadway Nottingham and HOME Manchester. Next come Depot Lewes, Hyde Park Leeds, Glasgow Film Theatre, Cameo Edinburgh and Arts Picturehouse Cambridge – completing a top 10 venues list that reflects a rich regional spread for the film.
For BFI Indie Cinemas chart, The Old Oak delivered 8,156 admissions from the 36 participating sites that played it – topping the listing. In addition to sites mentioned above, performing well with the film were Jam Jar Whitley Bay, Phoenix Leicester, Chapter Cardiff and Showroom Sheffield – again, reflecting a pattern of regional strength.
Despite performing strongly in BFI charts, The Old Oak’s opening numbers are behind the pace of Loach’s previous film Sorry We Missed You, which debuted in pre-pandemic November 2019 with £312,000 from 178 UK and Ireland sites, and £365,000 including previews. The film went on to achieve a lifetime total of £1.33m.
For week two, The Old Oak adds 158 new sites, and will play in around 360-370 venues overall including holdovers. New starts include Storyhouse Chester, Barn Dartington, Kino Rye, Kino Hawkhurst, Ciné Lumière, Lexi Kensal Rise, Wells Film Centre, Galway Eye, Pictureville Bradford and Grosvenor Glasgow. The BFI Audience Projects Fund has supported distributor/promoter Cosmic Cat to deliver several word-of-mouth screenings of The Old Oak for target audiences.
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