DreamWorks Animation’s The Boss Baby posted £2.8m for the weekend period, just ahead of Beauty and the Beast’s £2.76m.
However, a very aggressive previews strategy meant that The Boss Baby added takings from the preceding six days (1-6 April), essentially creating a nine-day opening “weekend” figure of £8.03m.
Expect another big cash win for cinemas with the arrival on Wednesday 12 April of The Fate of the Furious.
Takings are also 33% up on the equivalent session from 2016, when The Huntsman: Winter’s War debuted at the top spot.