Box office success for Irish animated film as Two by Two: Overboard! tops the UK box office, taking in €1 million in first two weeks of release
Posted: 4th November 2020
Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland is delighted to congratulate Moetion Films on the Galway-based animation company’s box office success for Two by Two: Overboard! The animated feature film, supported by Screen Ireland, topped the UK box office over the October half-term and Halloween weekend period, taking in a total of €1 million ($1.2 million) since its release on October 23rd. It achieved similar commercial success in Germany in September, where the film grossed €1.5 million ($1.7 million).
Annie Doona, Chair of Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland, commented: “In Screen Ireland’s January slate launch, this year was singled out as a particularly significant one for Irish animation - a prediction realised in recent successes for two distinct and original animated feature films. We are delighted to congratulate Moetion Films as Two by Two: Overboard! has topped the UK box office during the October midterm, a remarkable achievement for an Irish film. Coinciding with resounding critical acclaim for Cartoon Saloon’s Wolfwalkers ahead of its upcoming release, it underscores the extraordinary growth of Irish animation industry over the past decade. It seems particularly important that this year, of all years, audiences young and old can find entertainment, joy and inspiration in these beautifully made stories.”
The film’s box office performance is particularly significant in light of COVID-19 challenges, with the film’s sound and picture post-production completed under lockdown in Ireland. Due to cinema closures, planned theatrical releases for Two by Two: Overboard! had to be postponed in Ireland as well as Wales, and some parts of England. Subsequent box office figures for the film will likely be further diminished as all cinemas in England will close from Thursday, November 5th and cinemas in Scotland closed from Sunday, November 1st.
However, the strong results for the animated film play part of the continuing global success story of the Irish animation industry. The sector has experienced extraordinary growth in the past decade, with annual production activity quadrupling to a value of €180 million in 2019.
Two by Two: Overboard! is the sequel to 2015’s Two by Two: Ooops! Noah Is Gone (also known as All Creatures Great and Small in the United States). An adventure-filled retelling of Noah’s ark, its 2020 sequel picks up where the original left off – with many dangers facing Finny, Leah and the ark, including icebergs, food stocks running low, and the fragile truce between carnivores and herbivores liable to end at any time. All hopes are pinned on a dove dispatched into the wild in search of land, but life gets a whole lot tougher when the kids are washed overboard along with the last of the food.
Directed by Sean McCormack and Toby Genkel from a screenplay by Richie Conroy and Mark Hodkinson, Two by Two: Overboard! is an Ireland-Luxembourg co-production. Produced by Moe Honan for Moetion Films, Emely Christians for Ulysses Filmproduktion and Frédérique Vinel for Fabrique d’Images, financiers for the film include Screen Ireland, RTÉ, WRAP Fund, BAI, Telepool, Creative Europe, FFA, Filmfund Hamburg, DFFF, Film Fund Luxembourg and Eurimages.