21/09/2006

Stephen Frears’ critically acclaimed The Queen [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Andy Harries
interview: Stephen Frears
film profile], released by Pathé Distribution last Friday, has swept into the number one spot at the UK box office, taking a massive £1.25m from 347 screens, according to figures released yesterday .

Obviously carried by exceptional word of mouth, the UK/French/Italian co-production had by Tuesday overturned Sony’s adventure film Talladega Nights (£1,22m from 403 screens), which was on top until Sunday night. In third position is Brian De Palma’s The Black Dahlia, released last Friday by Entertainment Film Distributors, which has grossed £726,000 from 331 screens.

The Queen, featuring Queen Elizabeth II (Helen Mirren) and her relationship with UK Prime Minister Tony Blair (Michael Sheen) in the week between Lady Diana’s death and her funeral, was one of the most popular films at the last Venice Film Festival, where it won three major awards: Best Actress, Best Script (Peter Morgan) and the FIPRESCI/International Critics Prize for Best Film in competition.

Frears is currently touring the world to promote the film at various festivals, from Copenhagen on September 22 to New York on September 29. The French release through Pathe is scheduled for October 18.

French group Pathe, who produced the film with Granada Films and sold it internationally to over 30 territories, has another hit on its hands after Pedro Almodovar’s Volver [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Agustín Almodóvar
interview: Carmen Maura
interview: Pedro Almodóvar
interview: Pénélope Cruz
film profile] (over £2m) and Ken Loach’s The Wind That Shakes the Barley [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ken Loach
interview: Rebecca O’Brien
film profile] (£3.6m), two films by established European filmmakers that have broken the directors’ own records in the UK.