Yahoo Movies Paddington 3 sets new record with huge UK opening
Paddington in Peru has set a new UK box office record after a successful opening weekend.
The third Paddington film arrived in cinemas across the UK and Ireland on Friday (November 8) and has raked in £9.7 million from opening weekend ticket sales.
According to Screen Daily, this officially makes the film 2024's biggest opening for a UK-produced film and the most successful opening weekend for the Paddington franchise, surpassing Paddington's £5.1 million and Paddington 2's £8.3 million opening weekends.
Related: Why isn't Sally Hawkins in Paddington 3?
Paddington 3's opening weekend also marked the third biggest at 2024's UK box office - just behind Deadpool & Wolverine (which profited £12.6 million) and Inside Out 2 (raking in £11.3 million).
It's also the biggest-ever opening for Studiocanal and notably beat recent family hits Despicable Me 4 (£8.9 million) and Wonka (£8.9 million).
Paddington's third outing saw new cast additions in the form of Olivia Colman and Antonio Banderas, with Emily Mortimer replacing Sally Hawkins in the role of Mary Brown.
Related: Paddington 3 credit scenes explained - how many are there?
In the film, the Brown family travel to Peru to reunite Paddington with his beloved Aunt Lucy (voiced by Imelda Staunton) - only to arrive and find that the elderly bear is missing somewhere in the Amazon rainforest.
Colman plays a Mother Superior, who heads up the Home for Retired Bears in Peru, meanwhile Puss in Boots star Banderas plays intrepid Amazon-based explorer Hunter Cabot.
Paddington in Peru debuted with an impressive Rotten Tomatoes rating of 92% and has been generally praised by critics.
Awarding the three-quel four stars, Digital Spy's Movies Editor Ian Sandwell said the movie "finds its paws and delivers everything you want, from inventive, witty visuals and quirky gags to a heartwarming message".
Paddington in Peru is in cinemas now.
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