Momentum Pictures Takes Hammer’s THE WOMEN IN BLACK To Number 1 At UK Box Office

Hammer’s chilling ghost story The Woman in Black shattered UK box office expectations during its three day opening weekend (Fri-Sun), grossing an estimated £3.1million with a per screen average of £7500 for distributor Momentum Pictures.

This weekend’s three day gross makes The Woman in Black the highest opening ever for a Hammer film in the UK and the biggest British Independent opening of 2012 for Momenutm Pictures. Momentum also released The King’s Speech, the highest grossing British Independent film of 2011. The Woman in Black was released in 412 cinemas across the UK and Ireland on February 10.

The film’s UK success follows last weekend’s sensational US release, which opened at an outstanding $21 million.

The Woman in Black, starring Daniel Radcliffe, is directed by James Watkins and adapted by Jane Goldman from the classic novel by Susan Hill. Radcliffe has been a huge draw for audiences everywhere and delighted fans on Saturday by introducing public screenings at The Empire Leicester Square and Vue Westfield.

The film is a Hammer, Alliance Films, The UK Film Council presentation, in association with Cross Creek Pictures and is a Talisman production in association with Exclusive Media. Producers are Richard Jackson, Simon Oakes and Brian Oliver. Executive Producers are Guy East, Nigel Sinclair, Tobin Armbrust, Marc Schipper, Neil Dunn, Xavier Marchand, Roy Lee and Tyler Thompson.

Daniel Radcliffe who plays Arthur Kipps in The Woman in Black said: “The whole experience of working on The Woman in Black has been truly magical, eerie and amazing.  It’s been an honour to work with Hammer and continue to contribute to British film after ‘Harry Potter’.  I found Hammer’s legacy fascinating and it was great to be able to draw upon such a rich heritage as the influence for my role as Arthur Kipps.”

Commenting on the success of The Woman in Black, Simon Oakes, President & CEO of Hammer and Vice Chairman of Exclusive Media added: “We are delighted The Woman in Black has performed so well here and in the US.  This is Hammer’s first ghost story and we’re delighted UK audiences have embraced it with so much enthusiasm and shows that British audiences enjoy intelligent genre which are the types of films Hammer is known for.”

“This is a fantastic result. The buzz in cinemas and online suggests great word of mouth which bodes well for the half term week ahead.  Our congratulations  to James Watkins, Jane  Goldman, Daniel Radcliffe, and all those at Hammer,” said Xavier Marchand, Managing Director Momentum Pictures.

Nigel Sinclair, CEO and Co-Chairman of Exclusive Media, which is Hammer’s parent company, added: “This is a great result for Hammer in the UK and follows on from the film’s strong performance at the US box office. This project, like The Ides of March and Rush, further underlies Exclusive’s commitment to making great mainstream movies with top tier talent, and I’d like to congratulate our partners Momentum and of course Cross Creek Pictures on this success.”

Tobin Armbrust, President of Worldwide Production & Acquisitions of Exclusive Media added: “We are thrilled to share in the success of The Woman in Black with our close family, Daniel Radcliffe, Jane Goldman, James Watkins and the entire cast and crew who all worked incredibly hard on this great project. Hammer is one of our key production brands and to see it embraced in the US is a great show of support for its production philosophy.”

The Woman in Black director James Watkins said: “I’m thrilled that a British ghost story, made with a British cast, crew and investment, is playing so well with British audiences.”

Alliance Films, Inc. is one of the top five international independent filmed entertainment companies in the world. A leading multinational distributor, co-financier and producer of filmed entertainment, its member companies, Alliance Films and Alliance VivaFilm (Canada); Momentum Pictures (UK) and Aurum Productions (Spain), offer integrated delivery of content in all media.

Strategic partnerships includes exclusive distribution rights with Relativity Media in Canada and UK, Focus Features, The Weinstein Company, CBS Films and Newmarket Films in Canada, as well as ongoing relationships with Summit, FilmNation, Newmarket, Exclusive Media, IM Global, Mandate, Wild Bunch, Constantin Films, EuropaCorp and Nu Image in all 3 territories.

On the production front, strategic partnerships include: a feature film co-production and acquisitions deal with Italy’s Medusa Film; a first-look deal with Iain Canning and Emile Sherman’s See-Saw Films, which yielded the critically acclaimed THE KING’S SPEECH and SHAME by Steve McQueen; the production joint venture with IM Global, Automatik run by Brian Kavanaugh-Jones which is responsible for the upcoming WELCOME TO THE PUNCH; and a five-picture deal with PARANORMAL ACTIVITY producers Oren Peli, Jason Blum and Steven Schneider with titles that include the recent James Wan release INSIDIOUS and Barry Levinson’s upcoming THE BAY.