05/02/2003

UK art-house distributor Metro Tartan scored well at the UK box office last weekend with two European titles opening on 31 January:: Gaspar Noe’s controversial film, Irreversible and the re-release of Ingmar Bergman’s classic, Persona.
Passed uncut by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), Irreversible was released on 15 screens and grossed £32,494 (Euros48,000) over the weekend, with a screen average of £2,167 (Euros3,350). The film is now playing on 16 screens (8 in London) and has grossed £49,195 (Euros74,000) in five days. According a Metro Tartan spokesperson, this is a much better result than previous French films they released recently, including Claire Denis’ Trouble Every Day.
The re-release of Persona took £8,480 (Euros12,700 circa) from two cinemas, scoring the second-best per-screen average (£4,242 – Euros6,400) after Stephen Spielberg’s new release, Catch Me If You Can. Persona’s five-day gross now stands at £12,446 (Euros18,700) from two screens in London. The Swedish film is screening as part of the Ingmar Bergman season at the National Film Theatre which runs until 28 February.
Both Irreversible and Persona are ranked with the best five films of the week by daily newspaper, “The Independent” and by weekly magazine, “Time Out”.
Meanwhile the 2002 Palme d Or winner, The Pianist [+see also:
trailer
film profile] released by Metro Tartan is still playing on 64 screens and took £156,904 (Euros235,000) last weekend, down 20% on its previous opening weekend, for a ten-day gross of £478,592 (Euros718,000).

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