Amy Winehouse documentary breaks UK box office records in opening weekend

 
Box office smash: A documentary about Amy Winehouse's life has broken records (Picture: AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
AP Photo/Matt Dunham,
Jennifer Ruby6 July 2015
The Weekender

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Asif Kapadia's documentary about the late Amy Winehouse has broken UK box office records during its opening weekend.

Amy has earned £519,000 since opening on Friday in the UK, the best ever opening for a British documentary film and the second best for any documentary film, discounting concert recordings.

The brand new film, which opened to rave reviews in Cannes back in May, has only been surpassed by Michael Moore’s 2004 hit Fahrenheit 9/11.

Opening in just 133 cinemas in the UK over the weekend, Amy is now set to be rolled out to more than 200 in the coming weeks.

Acclaimed: Amy received rave reviews when it opened at Cannes in May.

Over in the US, Amy made $222,015 across just six cinemas during its first weekend with a larger roll-out planned due to its initial success.

While the film has been critically acclaimed, members of the late singer's family have criticised the documentary for its 'unfair' portrayal of the last few years of her life.

Mitch Winehouse has been extremely vocal about his 'inaccurate' depiction, recently admitting that he's working on his own 'alternative' version.

Speaking to Sky News, he said: "It's incredibly misleading and it's unfair because we spent our whole time when necessary cajoling Amy into rehab, into detox, and into getting help for her mental situation.

"There was family intervention after family intervention but you can't force someone to do something they don't want to do. Amy was compliant sometimes and sometimes she wasn't."

Winehouse's friend and frequent producer Mark Ronson has given the film his backing.

He said: "The really respectful thing about the movie is you are reminded why she was famous in the first place – she was a genius, that’s the stuff even I can forget."

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