South Africa’s box office: Dunkirk done did it

Christopher Nolan’s war epic Dunkirk met the praise of many a critic but now it has passed the ultimate test: the South African audience.

Kicking Despicable Me 3 down to second after it lost its school holiday mojo, Dunkirk soared right into first place (get it? Because there are planes in it? I’m a history buff).

The film — which will almost certainly be Oscar-nominated — has already doubled its budget, pulling in US$232-million worldwide.

But how did the other films fair this weekend (that’s another plane joke)? (28 to 30 July)

Last week’s top three all shifted down one spot to make room for Dunkirk: Spider-Man: Homecoming is now in third, and Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets slipped to fourth.

Dunkirk met the praise of many a critic but now it has passed the ultimate test: the South African audience

Unfortunately for Captain Underpants, the back-to-school time did not bode well for it either and it couldn’t compete with War for the Planet of the Apes which stood strong in fifth — though considering the former was made with only US$38-million and the latter with US$150-million, it’s difficult to see this as a complete loss.

Newcomer Viceroy’s House did surprisingly well for a niche period drama, debuting in ninth spot when most of its kind don’t even appear on the chart. The ostensibly high budget will need more than that to make a profit, though, and has only pulled in US$6-million from nine countries so far.

Another surprising newcomer is Bollywood family comedy Mubarakan. The film made a sneaky entrance into tenth spot, ahead of South African-made Van der Merwe which was unable to crack the chart.

Here are ten most-watched movies in SA this past weekend:

1. Dunkirk (Incl. IMAX)
2. Despicable Me 3 (Incl. 3D)
3. Spider-Man: Homecoming (Incl. 3D, 4DX & IMAX)
4. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (Incl. 3D, 4DX & IMAX)
5. War for the Planet of the Apes (Incl. 3D)
6. Captain Underpants (Incl. 3D)
7. Transformers: The Last Knight
8. Baywatch
9. Viceroy’s House
10. Mubarakan

The above list was provided by Ster Kinekor Entertainment.