Yann Demange’s Northern Ireland set drama ’71 is proving a big draw at the box-office north and south of the border. After opening with the second highest per-location average of the weekend (October 11-13) the film experienced a 74% week on week increase in Northern Ireland and 47% increase in Republic of Ireland.
Bucking the norm of decreasing box-office returns week on week, strong word of mouth saw the film retain 80% of its per-location average. That coupled with the film expanding to cities outside of Dublin and Belfast propelled the film into the Irish box office top ten at number 8.
The film’s director Yann Demange, writer Gregory Burke and producer Angus Lamont were delighted to be in Dublin and Belfast supporting the film, in a series of Q&A’s. Demange said “It was an incredibly moving experience to present the film in Dublin and Belfast. The reaction was very humbling. It’s their film, their story. Their opinions matter the most to me and the team and we couldn’t be happier with the way it has been received. In a landscape of massive studio movies I hope people continue to seek the film out.”
The film starring Jack O’Connell, Killian Scott and Charlie Murphy, tells the story of a young British soldier accidentally abandoned by his unit following a terrifying riot on the streets of Belfast in 1971.
’71 is out in irish cinemas now, and is a Scannain recommendation.