Gran Torino, which has attained the highest gross at the U.S. box office of any film in legendary actor/director Clint Eastwood‘s filmography, is also a career best in the UK with the biggest three-day opening of his career. Gran Torino made £1,351,278 in the UK this weekend. In Ireland, where after its second weekend the film remains at the top of the box office, Gran Torino has accrued £729,768, losing only 14% box office share week on week.
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Gran Torino has scored $138 million at the U.S. box office and is still growing. The film is directed by Eastwood, who stars as an iron-willed Korean War veteran who is forced by his immigrant neighbors to confront his own long-held prejudices.
The film’s U.S. gross tops the list of pictures directed by and/or starring Eastwood, including In the Line of Fire ($102m), the Oscar-winning Unforgiven ($101m) and Million Dollar Baby ($100m), Space Cowboys ($90m), Every Which Way But Loose ($85m), Mystic River ($90m) and The Bridges of Madison County ($71.5m).
In the U.S., Gran Torino opened for a three-week limited run, during which it landed on a number of year-end ten best lists, with Eastwood’s performance and the film’s screenplay winning awards from the National Board of review, among other accolades. The film expanded to general release on January 9 and raced to the top of the weekend box office, earning a record-breaking $29.5m and becoming the biggest-ever opening for an Eastwood film as well as the biggest-ever 3-day January opening.
Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with Village Roadshow Pictures, a Double Nickel Entertainment, a Malpaso Production, Gran Torino. The film is directed by Clint Eastwood from a screenplay by Nick Schenk, story by Dave Johannson & Nick Schenk. Eastwood, Robert Lorenz and Bill Gerber are the producers, with Jenette Kahn, Adam Richman, Tim Moore and Bruce Berman serving as executive producers. The film stars Clint Eastwood, Bee Vang, Ahney Her, Christopher Carley, John Carroll Lynch, Brian Haley, Geraldine Hughes, Brian Howe and William Hill.
The creative behind-the-scenes team is led by Eastwood’s longtime collaborators: director of photography Tom Stern, production designer James J. Murakami, editors Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach, and costume designer Deborah Hopper. The music is by Kyle Eastwood and Michael Stevens, orchestrated and conducted by Lennie Niehaus. The title song for “Gran Torino” is performed by British jazz singer/pianist Jamie Cullum and Don Runner. It was co-written by Eastwood; Cullum; the director’s son, Kyle Eastwood; and Kyle’s writing partner, Michael Stevens.
