1. ParaNorman (484 sites) W/E: £1,219,194 Total: £2,949,595

2. Killing Them Softly (375) W/E: £955,506 (NEW)

3. The House at the End of Street (370) W/E: £796,041 (NEW)

4. The Sweeney (416) W/E: £727,742 Total: £2,984,390

5. Hope Springs (439) W/E: £625,201 Total: £2,048,177

6. Anna Karenina (407) W/E: £509,196 Total: £3,942,747

7. Brave (494) W/E: £468,182 Total: £20,714,530

8. Lawless (344) W/E: £413,652 Total: £3,539,610

9. Dredd (322) W/E: £382,359 Total: £3,696,772

10. Savages (379) W/E: £379,898 (NEW)

Source: The Guardian

After opening well but not with a barnstorming performance last week, Universal’s ParaNorman makes the most of a raft of new entries fighting each other and shows that it’s always box office sense to have a kids film in the mix. Dropping around 13% week-on-week, the film has benefited from that lack of competition though this drop also points to solid word-of-mouth for what seems to be a critically well regarded animation which with around £3 million after a week and a bit is not too shabby indeed. Having nothing opening to challenge too much until Madagascar 3 in just under a month, Universal picked a decent time to release for this and seem to be reaping the rewards.

With an 18-rating but a big star in tow, Entertainment managed to get a solid opening weekend out of Andrew Dominik’s Killing Them Softly which hasn’t had universally positive reviews but did well from star-power anyway. The hold it has in future weeks is something I’d question, seeing it on Friday I had multiple walkouts, though the marketing did gauge the tone of the film pretty well, but this time of year is one of the best for strictly adult fare and this may thrive as long as it isn’t smothered by the ongoing raft of releases, with three WIDE this weekend alone.

Another new entry hits in third as House at the End of the Street hits better than it really should have but with the marketing for the film very much playing up the Jennifer Lawrence factor, we’ve got an opening which Momentum will be happy with though I’d expect the drop-off to be pretty severe on a film which no-one seemed to like all that much. With a drop of just over 50%, The Sweeney dives down a few places though with two additional days of previews last week, the figures are a little skewed. Still, the flick will handily beat its low budget to turn into an earner for E-One and Vertigo which will benefit from very healthy home video sales one would think.

After a disappointing opening last week, Hope Springs seems to have found its footing with it actually going up a place in the chart and also having a low drop of of less than 20% which shows that the difficult reach for an audience seems to be actually starting to work and with little out to challenge this demographic over the next few weeks, things could be looking up soon. The next few places see films with us for a while all making their drops as to be expected, particularly Lawless and Dredd which have lost screens and had a fair bit of adult aimed competition eating away at them, Dredd in particular already looking like a drop out when two weeks ago it was number one. With a new Resident Evil this week, it looks to have a challenge with screens.

Finishing off is a pretty brutal opening for Universal’s Savages which had a fair bit of promotion behind it but did barely anything. Appearing a bit too hardcore for those who might be wooed by the young cast and with reviews for the film generally being pretty sour, its looking like a quick exit from cinemas for Oliver Stone’s first non-politically motivated film for a while.

Another busy weekend unfolds for film fans from Friday with two new releases likely jostling for the top spot, the critical choice being Rian Johnson’s hotly anticipated Looper, which has had some very strong marketing from E-One in the UK, but the commercial choice may go to Sony’s Resident Evil: Retribution which is virtually critic proof and also has the extra help of 3D charges. Word of mouth on Looper should see it do better in the long run but the fight for the opening number one may be tight. Also coming up is the latest Will Ferrell starrer The Campaign which Warner will be helping will capture the “let’s see politicians make idiots of themselves” pound. Not much else new hits but its worth noting also that Entertainment’s Untouchable also expands far more widely after an impressive opening tally. One of the more buzzed films of the week, the incredibly ambitious looking Holy Motors also gets a limited release though its airing on Curzon On Demand means it won’t be getting picked up by the big chains, though at around a tenner a pop to stream, Artifical Eye will do just fine for profits, even if the film doesn’t appear anywhere near the Top Ten.