May 26, 2010 12:22

'StreetDance 3D' beats 'Prince Of Persia' at UK cinemas

Brit-flick featuring Diversity and George Sampson bags UK No1

British dance film StreetDance 3D - featuring Britain's Got Talent winners Diversity and George Sampson, along with 2009 runners-up Flawless - has beaten out Hollywood blockbuster Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time to the UK box office Number One slot. The film - read a review on NME.COM/movies now - is billed as "Britain's first 3D dance movie", and took £1.79m over its opening weekend in the UK, comfortably beating Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, which took just £1.37m over the same period.

The action film, from Pirates of the Caribbean producer Jerry Bruckheimer, stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton and is adapted from the popular video game. It played on 50 more screens that its UK counterpart.

StreetDance 3D - which tells the tale of a street dance crew who team up with ballet students in order to win a dance competition - received £1 million of its relatively meagre £4.5m budget in Lottery funding from the UK Film Council.

The government-backed agency have said the film enjoyed the most successful opening weekend of any film it has supported in its 10-year history.

Prince of Persia, meanwhile, had an estimated budget of $150m.

John Woodward, chief executive officer of the UK Film Council, said the film was "another shining example of how Lottery funding can make all the difference in discovering and nurturing new creative talent in the UK".

According to the UK Film Council, StreetDance 3D has now been sold in 30 territories worldwide including Spain and Australia.