“al-Shawq” (“The Passion”) Heads the Box Office

In the second week since its premier “al-Shawq”, champion of the Cairo International Film Festival, has succeeded in rising to the top of the Egyptian box office. The film has earned 940 thousand pounds in ticket sales this week alone and has so far earned a cumulative 1.445 million pounds thereby clearly dispelling the myth that titles which do well at the film festival do not earn high ticket sales nor attract audiences.“678” has retained second place in the box office this week after achieving returns worth 693 thousand pounds and cumulative returns of 6.415 million POUNDS in the fifth week since its launch. “al-Wattar” (“The Chord”) comes in third, a spot which it has kept since last week. The title has earned 604 thousand pounds in ticket sales this week bringing its total revenue to 1.786 million pounds in the third week since its release.Fourth place went to “Bulbul Hayyran”. The title earned 539 thousand pounds at the box office this week bringing its cumulative returns in the ninth week since its premier to 19.556 million pounds. In the meantime fifth place was occupied by “Ibn al-Qonsol” (“Consul’s Son”) which has achieved 503 thousand pounds in ticket sales this week bringing its cumulative total in the ten weeks since its premier to 15.492 million pounds. That title was followed by “Zahaymer” (“Alzheimer’s”) which came in sixth this week. The title has earned 418 thousand pounds in ticket sales this week bringing total revenue in its eleventh week of screening to 24.298 million pounds. “Bonne Soiree” has retreated from first place in the previous week to seventh. The title has earned 400 thousand pounds in ticket sales this week bringing its cumulative total in the fourth week since its first showing to 5.2 million pounds.Eighth place was held by “Muhtarram ila Rub’” (“Respectable Less One Quarter”) which earned 233 thousand pounds at the box office this week. This brings the title’s cumulative returns in the eleven week since its premier to 10.377 million pounds. Foreign titles were led at the Egyptian box office by “The Green Hornet” which is being screened in 3D. The film achieved returns of 131 thousand pounds in its first week of screening thereby placing the title at ninth place. “Life as We Know It” came in at number ten with 122 thousand pounds in ticket sales. The title has earned a cumulative 397 thousand pounds in box office returns in its third week in theaters.