Indie horror pic Talk To Me opened to £643,354 in UK and Irish cinemas, setting a new office box office record for Altitude Film Distribution.
The pic, directed by filmmaking duo Michael and Danny Philippou in their feature debut, was launched on 429 screens this past weekend. The total sees Talk To Me overtake Moonlight as Altitude’s biggest opener in the UK and Ireland. We understand the film will not be expanding.
Produced by Causeway Films (The Babadook) and acquired by Altitude from Bankside Films at Cannes in 2022, the pic follows a group of friends who, after discovering how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand, become hooked on the new thrill until one of them goes too far and unleashes terrifying supernatural forces.
Across the pond, Talk To Me blew past box office projections grossing over $10 million on 2,340 screens during its opening weekend. The breakout pic by the first-time filmmaker brothers and popular YouTubers from Australia was number six at the US box office. Talk To Me debuted in the Midnight section at Sundance, where it sparked huge buzz among industry and critics. A24 picked it up for the US. In his review of the film out of Sundance, Deadline’s Damon Wise called the pic “unnerving and highly effective.”
Discussing today’s UK record, Lia Devlin, Managing Director of Distribution at Altitude, said: “The audience response to Talk To Me across the UK and Ireland has been fantastic, and we’re over the moon for Danny and Michael with how it has connected here and around the world. Since picking up the film in Cannes last year, we’ve known how atmospheric, smart, and entertaining the film is, alongside the consistent 4-star reviews that are playing out in cinemas right now. We are excited to see where word-of-mouth will take it.”
