The newly re-branded UK arm of European powerhouse STUDIOCANAL stormed out of the blocks this weekend as TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY, the first film to carry the company's new banner, debuted at number one at the UK and Irish Box Office, becoming the third biggest 3 day September opening on record.
The picture, a Working Title production, fully financed by STUDIOCANAL, delivered the latter's biggest ever three day UK & Ireland opening figure with £2.805m from 382 sites for a per screen average in excess of £7200 and crowned a mighty year for the company becoming its second number one movie of the past 12 months (after UNKNOWN) with box office takings in 2011 already making it the biggest in its 11 year history.
Set in the 1970s, TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY finds George Smiley (Gary Oldman), a recently retired MI6 agent, doing his best to adjust to a life outside the secret service. However, when a disgraced agent reappears with information concerning a mole at the heart of the Circus, Smiley is drawn back into the murky field of espionage. Tasked with investigating which of his trusted former colleagues has chosen to betray him and their country, Smiley narrows his search to four suspects - all experienced, urbane, successful agents - but past histories, rivalries and friendships make it far from easy to pinpoint the man who is eating away at the heart of the British establishment.
