Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
The Empire really does strike back
Star Wars classic tops UK charts 40 years on
THE Empire Strikes Back has topped the box office chart 40 years on as reopening cinemas show classic films to lure back customers after lockdown.
The second Star Wars film, first released in 1980, has been re-released by Disney for the milestone anniversary.
It took over £50,000 from 101 cinemas on the second weekend that screens reopened.
Other old favourites in the top 10 included Dirty Dancing, Grease, The Shawshank Redemption and Harry Potter & The Philosopher’s Stone.
But the relatively low gross takings for each film reveal just how few screenings are being held. The total take for the top 10 at the
TOM Cruise’s Top Gun helmet, Leo Dicaprio’s Cadillac and Jennifer Lawrence’s Hunger Games jacket are among a trove of Hollywood treasures going under the hammer.
A Darth Vader costume and Will Ferrell’s Anchorman suit are also among more than 850 rare lots to be sold during Prop Store’s Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction in Los Angeles next month.
The helmet worn by Cruise in his role as pilot Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in 1986’s Top Gun is estimated to fetch £40,000 to £56,000.
The yellow 1966 Cadillac Deville belonging to Leonardo Dicaprio’s struggling actor Rick Dalton is estimated to fetch between £36,000-£44,000.
Also up for sale are items from films such The Godfather: Part II.
Brandon Alinger, the Prop Store’s chief operating officer, said the online sale, which is planned to be held on August 26 and 27, would be “an unforgettable experience” for a global audience of film fans. weekend was £215,108. It was £13.2million for the equivalent time last year.
Dirty Dancing, at number five in the top 10, grossed £15,134 from 25 cinemas. Grease, in seventh place, was screened at just 18 locations and took £14,416. The top new release was Australian crocodile horror film Black Water: Abyss, which made third place with £28,053 from 79 cinemas.
The figures, published by the British Film Institute, cover those cinemas that have reopened in England, together with a few in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.