‘Barbenheimer’ rules U.K. box office for fifth weekend

The “Barbenheimer” juggernaut continued rolling on at the U.K. and Ireland box office, occupying the top two slots for the fifth consecutive weekend.

Warner Bros.’ “Barbie” took pole position yet again with £2.6 million ($3.4 million), per numbers released by Comscore. With £84.7 million, “Barbie” is the highest grossing film of the year in the territory above “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” (£54.5 million) and has sped past “Titanic,” “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” and “Top Gun: Maverick” to occupy eighth position on the all time charts. If its momentum continues, “Avengers: Endgame” is within striking distance.

Universal’s “Oppenheimer” remained in second place with £2.04 million for a total of £50.05 million, making it the third highest grosser of the year in the territory.

Warner Bros.’ superhero film “Blue Beetle” buzzed into the charts, debuting in third position with £1.1 million and in its third weekend, the studio’s “Meg 2: The Trench” remained steady in fourth place with £972,512 for a total of £9.7 million.

Universal’s “Strays” barked its way to £598,619 and a fifth position debut. There were no other debuts in the top 10.

Just below the top 10, a trio of Indian films remained solid. At No. 12, Moviegoers Entertainment’s “Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani” earned a further £186,725 for a total of £1.7 million after its fourth weekend; at 13, Big Picture Film Club’s “Jailer” collected £184,857 in its second weekend for a total of £1.1 million; and also in its second weekend, at 15, Zee Studios’ “Gadar 2” £116,546 for a total of £496,294.

The mid-week release this week is comedy-horror-thriller “The Blackening,” which Universal is opening wide on Aug. 23 across more than 300 locations. On Aug. 24, the big Onam festival frame release for Malayalam-language cinema aficionados is Zee Studios’ “King of Kotha,” starring Dulquer Salmaan.

Friday sees a raft of releases including Miracle/Dazzler’s dance-themed “The Red Shoes: Next Step”; Altitude’s John Travolta action-crime-thriller “Mob Land”; Metfilm Distribution’s Louis Garrel Cesar-winning comedy-crime-romance “The Innocent”; Picturehouse Entertainment’s Sundance-winning comedy-drama “Scrapper”; Disney comedy “Theater Camp”; Vertigo’s deep sea thriller “The Dive”; and Curzon’s Berlin winner “Afire.”

Park Circus is opening a 4K restoration of “Training Day,” starring Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke. Variety