Pets keeps Absolutely Fabulous off top of UK box office

Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley head to the South of France in the movie version of the sitcom

Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie has been kept off the top of the UK box office by The Secret Life of Pets, which remained at number one in its second week of release.

The long-awaited big screen version of the TV sitcom took £4.04m, which is the biggest opening weekend for a British film this year.

It is the best opening weekend for a UK film since Spectre in 2015.

But the animated pet comedy took £4.73m in its second week.

It has now taken £16.61m in total in the UK box office.

Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley reprise their roles as Edina and Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie, which had opened to good reviews.

Cameron Saunders, the UK managing director of Twentieth Century Fox, which released the film, said they were "thrilled that audiences have embraced Edina and Patsy's big screen debut".

"It is a testament to Jennifer, Joanna and the talented team behind the film who really are absolutely fabulous," he said.

Kevin Hart, who voices a rabbit in The Secret Life of Pets, now has another film in the UK top 10.

Spy comedy Central Intelligence, in which he stars with Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, is in third place, with takings of £3.05m.

Independence Day: Resurgence has moved down to fourth place in its second week of release, taking £2.02m.

The Conjuring 2: The Enfield Case completes the top five.

The horror film has taken £0.82m in its third week of release.

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