UK box office up 354% with 'Tenet' driving takings

The UK box office saw receipts rocket by 354% last weekend, driven by the release of Christopher Nolan's new movie Tenet.

More than £6 million rolled into the UK cinema business coffers from August 28 to 30, according to Screen, up massively from the previous weekend's £1.39 million.

Locations open last weekend also increased from 516 to 641 UK-wide.

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Compared with the same weekend last year, before the coronavirus lockdown decimated the cinema business, takings were £10.1 million over 857 sites across the country.

Nolan's mind-bending new action movie, starring John David Washington and Robert Pattinson, brought in £5.33 million of the £6 million haul, having been released in cinemas last Wednesday.

Down the billing in second place was Disney's Onward, with £185,028, thought that was also up on the previous weekend.

High profile new movie releases remain thin on the ground for now, but this weekend should see a further boost, as UK cinema-goers tentatively return to the socially distanced multiplexes.

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Friday will see the long-awaited release of Disney's live-action remake of animation classic Mulan, directed by Niki Caro.

Also on general release will be The New Mutants, the troubled X-Men spin-off from The Fault In Our Stars helmsman Josh Boone.

However, the movie has tanked in the US, making just $7 million last weekend, a low-ball figure even when considering that many cinemas remain closed in key territories like California and New York.