'The Inbetweeners 2' Is Officially Biggest UK Box-Office Hit Of 2014

The Inbetweeners 2 has officially scored the biggest UK box-office opening of the year so far, pulling in £12.5 million at the UK and Irish cinemas since its release on Wednesday (August 6, 2014). More than 10% of that total came from its opening night - a new record for a comedy movie.

However, despite its success, the comedy sequel failed to beat the takings of the first movie, which opened with £13.2 million in 2011. That may come as a surprise to analysts, given the traditional box-office clout of anticipated sequels.

Previously, the biggest box-office opening of 2014 was Transformers: Age of Extinction, which took £11.7 million in previews and over its opening weekend in the UK in July.

More: James Buckley concedes, "I'd be up for The Inbetweeners 3"

Over the pond, it appeared that negative reviews did nothing to dissuade audiences from seeing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which took $65 million at the box-office to green-light an immediate sequel.

Paramount's Megan Colligan said the movie's success was down to those who remembered the original 1980s and 90s franchise and kids who watched the recent Nickelodeon cartoon series.

"It's odd when you have 25 to 35-year-olds and then seven to 12-year-olds really excited about the same film," she said.

"The teen audience was actually the one that wasn't as familiar with the property, so we put a lot of focus on teens."

More: Into The Storm: you'll be twisting straight outta the cinema

Elsewhere in the U.S, Guardians of the Galaxy dropped to second place with $41.5 million, while Into the Storm took third with $18 million.

Watch The Inbetweeners 2 trailer:

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 video.