Billy Elliot Beats The Equalizer

Live screening of stage musical scores at the UK box office

Denzel Washington might be a former Special Forces badass who takes on all comers in The Equalizer, but there’s one challenge he couldn’t handle – a ballet dancing boy. Yes, Billy Elliot The Musical – Live! bested Event Cinema records to score £1.9 million.

The live stream from Victoria Palace Theatre, which included a specially choreographed finale feature 25 former leads from the show on September 28 took first place ahead of previous theatre-based champion, the NT Live performance of War Horse, which galloped home with £1.6 million. It even beat out the hugely successful showing of Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary episode The Day Of The Doctor, which took in £1.82 million last year.

The Equalizer, meanwhile, took in £1.89 million from UK audiences. The success of Billy Elliot’s initial showing means that there will be encores in 250 cinemas across the UK running from October 2-5 before it hits Blu-ray and DVD on November 24.

from Empire News