Oz the Great and Powerful continues to dominate the UK box office

Goodbye Kansas: James Franco charms the locals in Oz the Great and Powerful

(Disney Enterprises Inc)

Disney’s prequel to the Wizard of Oz continues to tread a charmed route up the yellow brick holding the top spot at the UK and Ireland box office for the second week in a row.

Oz the Great and Powerful, which stars James Franco as the young wizard, took £2.6 million from 539 cinemas this week.

However, it was a disappointing weekend at the box office overall with the top 15 films accruing just £6.4 million, a lot less than the previous week’s £9.2 million.

In second place to Oz was Steven Soderbergh’s Side Effects which took £759,363. It was closely followed by Welcome to the Punch (starring James McAvoy) which made its debut in third place by £460,250.

Another debut, Red Dawn, a remake of the 1984 film of the same name, went in at eighth place earning £255,448.

Critically tipped film Paperboy, starring Nicole Kidman and Zac Efron, failed to make the top ten on its debut weekend, coming in at 13 place with £141,881 across 82 screens.

Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph fell to fourth place six weeks after its release to fourth place.

Crime thriller Parker took fifth position, earning £308,335 in its second week in cinemas.

Figures from Rentrak