Is anyone surprised? After a headline-making press run for Josh Safdies’ ping-pong caper, Timothée Chalamet has smashed A24 records at the U.K. box office.
Sources confirmed that Marty Supreme is now, officially, the studio’s highest-grossing release of all time across the Atlantic, having so far accrued $8.6 million as of Jan. 6.
The dramedy, also starring Odessa A’zion, Gwyneth Paltrow and Tyler, The Creator, surpassed the previous record-holder — Alex Garland’s 2024 thriller Civil War — in just less than two weeks. The story of the arrogant but assured New Yorker Marty Mauser hit theaters Dec. 26.
The film also reigned supreme by nabbing $4.38 million over its first weekend in around 130 locations, another new high for the indie studio and a stat that pips awards rival One Battle After Another to the post. Paul Thomas Anderson’s political thriller grossed around $3.3 million in its first weekend in U.K. cinemas.
Marty Supreme was distributed by Entertainment Film Distributors in Britain and its box office success was no doubt advantaged by Chalamet’s eyebrow-raising marketing tactics, which have included global pop-ups for Marty merch — London’s queue was made up of thousands of fans and resellers desperate to get their hands on anything orange ping-pong ball-adjacent — and listing Britain’s Got Talent singer Susan Boyle among his list of British heroes.
Chalamet’s character, loosely based on ’50s table tennis champion Marty Reisman, embarks on a self-destructive pursuit of greatness and has allowed the actor to run wild with the tagline “Dream Big.” When Chalamet told BBC News that Boyle “dreamt bigger than all of us” while taking to the BGT stage in 2009, thousands were surprised he even knew her name. “Who wasn’t moved by that?” asked the star. She was swiftly gifted the iconic Marty Supreme jacket, to the delight of nostalgic Brits.
In another unpredictable move, Chalamet put to bed the rampant online rumors that he’s moonlighting as British rapper EsDeeKid by jumping on a remixed version of “4 Raws” before Christmas. The accompanying video — showing an unmasked Chalamet beside an obscured EsDeeKid, dropping bars about Marty Supreme and girlfriend Kylie Jenner — went stratospherically viral.
As of Jan. 5, Marty Supreme has captivated critics and fans alike, grossing $57.5 million in the U.S. and Canada. Chalamet is currently one of the favorites for the best actor Academy Award for his performance and on Sunday, picked up the coveted Critics’ Choice Award.
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