Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie has scored the biggest UK film opening since Spectre, taking £4.4m over its debut weekend.
The film, which is marketed as an unchallenging and celebratory adult comedy, may also have been aided by current political uncertainty and national despondency.
However, it still falls some way short of the opening weekend totals for both Inbetweeners movies, as well as the most recent James Bond movie, which took £6.3m on its opening day alone.
The film made more than double the three-day total for the Dad’s Army movie, which took £2.1m in February; it also beat recent healthy homegrown performers such as Eddie the Eagle and The Lady in the Van.