Russell Crowe's Unhinged dominates UK, Ireland box office with a total of $229,000

_Unhinged_ , the road-rage thriller starring Russell Crowe, topped the UK and Ireland box office over the weekend collecting 175,263 pounds ($229,000), according to final numbers released by Comscore. According to Variety, the film, released by Altitude Film Distribution, played at 243 locations, marking a cautious return by audiences to cinemas, despite the territory being in the middle of a heatwave. [caption id=“attachment_8673931” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Still from Unhinged. Image from Twitter[/caption] Altitude, which last month released killer croc thriller Black Water: Abyss and Jacki Weaver and Lucy Liu comedy Stage Mother, said, “Over the past few months, we have shared the well-publicised concern about the state and future of cinema and the arts. Whilst this remains unclear as we all learn to cope with COVID-19, we’re encouraged by the support Unhinged received from cinemas and audiences in its opening weekend.” In the coming weeks, the distributor is set to release Ladj Ly’s Les Miserables. “It’s bittersweet to herald a number one film at the box office during such uncertainty and hardship, but as cinemas continue to reopen with social distancing measures in place we hope that audience excitement for watching films on the big screen and in safe environments, contribute to further confidence in the cinema experience.” Elsewhere, Disney holdover _Onward_ dropped 4%, earning 58,951 pounds ($77,000) from 239 sites. The title has grossed a total of 5.7 million pounds ($7.4 million) since it opened 6 March. In the third position is Vertigo’s Australian animation 100% Wolf with 33,130 pounds ($43,280) from 146 sites, and in the fourth position is rerelease Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back with 31,137 pounds ($40,673) from 157 sites. Variety reported that the other new releases include Vertigo’s supernatural film The Vigil at fifth position with 30,302 pounds ($39,500) from 97 sites and Picturehouse Entertainment’s astronaut training drama Proxima, starring Eva Green, sixth with 30,051 pounds ($39,250) from 135 sites. With the BFI Southbank set for a 1 September reopening, a third of the UK’s 919 sites have now reopened. Some Odeon sites have been open for a few weeks, while Cineworld opened several cinemas on 31 July. Vue pushed back it’s reopening last week from 31 July to 7 August. Warner Bros’ American Pickle, starring Seth Rogen, opens 7 August across more than 100 locations, while 606 Distribution’s Perfect 10 has a limited release on that date. The chief hurdle cinemas are set to face from 8 August is that audiences are required to wear face coverings, which might impact attendance. In addition, sunny weather across the UK will see a heatwave continuing through the upcoming weekend and into the following week.