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Bond is still top of the box office chart this weekend, having taken another £9.2m over the weekend alone, giving Quantum of Solace (Sony) a total to date of £31.5m after just two weeks. Meanwhile, the kids may have gone back to school but it is one big party for the students at East High as High School Musical 3: Senior Year (Walt Disney Intl.) remains in 2nd place with £20m to date. They say that blood is thicker than water but what happens when you discover your brother-in-law is at the heart of a corruption case you are investigating? This is the moral dilemma faced by Ray Tierny (Edward Norton) in Pride and Glory (Entertainment), which opened in 5th place this weekend with £397k. The story revolves around a family of cops - Norton, his father (Jon Voight), his brother Francis (Noah Emmerich) and his brother-in-law Jimmy (Colin Farrell) - whose lives erupt when four fellow cops are murdered and all signs start to point towards police corruption, forcing the once close family apart, and they all start going to extraordinary lengths to protect their own. Last week was undoubtedly one of the most closely watched political weeks in history, and with President-elect Barack Obama now measuring the walls in the Oval Office and looking at colour swatches for the Presidential bedroom, President George Bush Jr. is merely riding out the next few weeks before he can go home to his ranch in Texas. If you feel like you haven't had enough of Bush and the Republicans over the last few years however, then Oliver Stone's W. (Lionsgate) is for you! Opening in 6th place with £368k including previews, the film chronicles the life and presidency of George W. Bush, played by Josh Brolin. Other recognisable faces in this political satire include Elizabeth Banks as Laura Bush, Ellen Burstyn as Barbara Bush, Richard Dreyfuss as Dick Cheney, Thandie Newton as Condoleezza Rice and Ioan Gruffudd as our very own Tony Blair. Stephan Elliott - director of The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of The Desert - is back with something slightly different this time around as he travels back to the glamourous 1920s to adapt Noel Coward's play Easy Virtue (Pathe). Opening in 8th place with £341k, the film tells the story of a glamourous American woman - Larita Huntington (Jessica Biel) - who after marrying a young Englishman (Ben Barnes) is taken back to meet his slightly unconventional family, threatening their British stuffiness and way of life. The last new entry into the charts is Scar 3D (The Works Intl. UK) which opened in 12th place with £74k. Part of the growing trend for 3D films, Scar is the story of Joan Burrows who returns home for her niece's graduation only to be confronted by a serial killer she thought she had killed years before.
CHARITY SCREENINGS Not such a ‘Dark Knight' at RAF Aldergrove SSVC Forces Cinemas and RAF Aldergrove teamed up to raise money for the BFBS Big Salute on Thursday 24th July with a Charity Screening of the biggest ever grossing film on opening weekend, The Dark knight! Warner Bros who continue to support the British Forces gifted the film to SSVC for 1 night only in order to raise money for the 5 worthwhile charities being supported by the Big Salute - BLESMA, Combat Stress, Headley court, St Dunstan's and Veterans Aid. In keeping with the Superhero theme everyone was invited to come dressed as their favourite character, with a great turnout and prizes for best dressed. The Wessex Cinema Team worked hard on the gate in the morning, using their superhero powers to persuade people to reach into their pockets. A great day had by all and an impressive £800+ was raised!
RAF Halton SSVC Cinemas got together with RAF Halton to hold a special advance screening of Death Defying Acts at the Astra Cinema. Lionsgate kindly let us preview Catherine Zeta-Jones' latest offering a few days before its UK release, with all proceeds going to the Big Salute. VIP guests were invited to a reception at Halton House where the movie was actually filmed, and had a sneaky peak into the grand rooms that they later saw transformed onto the big screen. The cinema was full and by the end of a very enjoyable evening a total of £590 was raised.