Lionsgate U.K.’s “The Housemaid” climbed to the No. 1 position at the U.K. and Ireland box office in its third weekend, grossing £3.5 million ($4.7 million) and lifting its cumulative total to £17.8 million ($24.1 million), according to Comscore.
In a standout performance in the January awards corridor, Universal’s “Hamnet” delivered a $4.2 million opening across the U.K. and Ireland in second place, marking the strongest debut of the year so far among awards contenders. The launch topped openings for recent prestige titles including “A Complete Unknown,” “One Battle After Another” and “Sinners,” and “Marty Supreme.”
The result also places the film ahead of the initial U.K.-Ireland runs of acclaimed dramas such as “Little Women,” “The Favourite,” “Belfast” and “Poor Things,” while coming in at more than twice the opening of “Conclave.” The bow makes “Hamnet” the highest post-pandemic January opening for a drama, the fifth-biggest January drama debut of the past decade,…