“Full Monty” follow-up flops in U.K.

Lucky Break, Peter Cataneo’s much-anticipated follow-up to his The Full Monty, has failed to attract audiences in Britain, earning only $506,000 in its opening, despite considerable hype that included a star-studded premiere last week at the Edinburgh film Festival, the London Independent observed today (Thursday). The film reached only number eight on the U.K. box-office chart. The disappointment follows numerous recent British film flops. “Some homegrown movies have seen takings drop to humiliating levels,” the newspaper commented. The downturn in the fortunes of U.K. product has been accompanied by a substantial drop in Hollywood films being shot in Britain. According to the Independent, only $109 million was spent on films made in the U.K. during the first six months of this year, versus $320 million during the same period a year ago. Only one British film has proved to be an unmitigated box-office hit this year — Bridget Jones’s Diary, which passed the $100-million mark on the international market last weekend.