Nobody has opened in the top spot at the UAE box office.
The action film, starring Bob Odenkirk as a man trying to save his wife and son much in the vain of Liam Neeson’s Taken, actually brought in more people than Raya and the Last Dragon did in its opening weekend three weeks ago, bringing in 22,162 people in its opening weekend.
Raya and the last Dragon, in comparison, opened with 19,000 admissions in its first weekend.
Monetarily, this equals roughly $250,000 for the Ilya Naishuller-directed film. Naishuller is a Russian director and musician who founded the indie band Biting Elbows in the country.
The opening cements Odenkirk as a leading man as he finishes up his run starring in Better Caul Saul as the titular character, itself a spinoff of the hugely popular Breaking Bad which first brought attention to Odenkirk as a dramatic player. Odenkirk first came to prominence in the 1990s in the HBO sketch show Mr. Show, itself the best show of its kind ever made.
Raya and the Last Dragon hung on at number two with 13,590 admissions and a total of 67,720, or almost $750,000. Tom & Jerry added another nearly 10,000 admissions for a 146,715 total tickets sold, or $1.6 million.
Cinemas in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain remain closed due to COVID-19, with cinemas in other emirates operating at a reduced capacity to prevent spread of the virus.
Raya and the Last Dragon, starring Kelly Marie Tran and Awkwafina, is set in a fictional kingdom called Kumandra, based on the culture of Southeast Asia, where humans and dragons once lived in harmony, before the world fell into disarray. The story follows young princess named Raya goes on a journey to find the last known dragon in existence and once again unite the kingdom.
The film has gotten a hugely positive reception from critics and audiences alike. The film currently holds a 96 percent critic’s score on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 7.6/10 on IMDb, which is fan-voted.
The Courier, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and directed by Dominic Cooke, opened at number 7 with 3000 admissions. The film tells the true story of a British businessman who helped stopped the Cuban Missle Crisis in the early 1960s.
Chaos Walking and the Mauritanian rounded out the top 10 with around 1,500 admissions each.
The Father, nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture, opened at number 12 with nearly 1000 admissions.
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King opened with 638 admissions, well behind the number brought in when the previous two films in the Lord of the Rings trilogy opened five and four weeks ago respectively.
