Paradise found. That sums up not only the brand-new number one movie but also – finally – some movement in the charts. And proof that stars don’t have to be under the legal drinking age to drive audiences to the cinema.

It’s a good old rom-com with true star power: Julia Roberts and George Clooney found their Ticket ins Paradies (Ticket to Paradise) with a number one hit,190.000 fans flocking to the 606 theaters and spending € 1,8 million. Which makes it the only new release to reach six figures this week. Interestingly, the US-made film had its world premiere in Europe and won’t even be released in the States until the end of October. Clooney and Roberts play a long-since divorced couple who reluctantly gang up on their daughter (Kaitlyn Dever) who decides to give up a law career in favor of marrying a Balinese seaweed farmer. The bickering parents wreak havoc, and audiences wish they could join them on the beautiful island. The film, however, was shot in Queensland, Australia not Bali. It should not come as a surprise that Ticket to Paradise is at number one: in difficult times like these, it is the perfect movie to forget about war, inflation, and high energy costs. Just buy your popcorn, forget the world outside and have a lot of laughs.

The incorrigible Minions 2 – Auf der Suche nach dem Mini Boss (Minions 2 – In Search for the Mini-Boss) made way less money in second place – 75.000 tickets and € 585.000. Altogether and after 12 weeks, it is clearly this year’s biggest hit with 3,8 million visitors.

It’s nice to see a variety of genres in the top three. With a romantic comedy, an animated hit, and a true drama, movie fans get a real choice:

Gesang der Flusskrebse (Where the Crawdads Sing) still holds on to the third spot with 60.000 tickets sold and € 580.000 in its fifth week.

Number four is Top Gun: Maverick, followed by Die Känguru-Verschwörung (The Kangaroo Conspiracy)

After Forever (After Ever Happy) slipped into sixth place with the number seven belonging to the other big debut of the week, Chase – Nichts hält ihn auf (Last Seen Alive), starring Gerard Butler and Jamie Alexander as Will and Lisa, a couple in the midst of a marriage crisis. Lisa asks for a timeout and decides to go to her parent’s. When Will takes her there and decides to stop at a gas station, she disappears. Will is convinced she was abducted but her texts and emails tell another story. Regardless, Will notifies the local police. Detective Patterson (Russell Hornsby) is treating Will like a suspect, forcing the worried husband to take matters into his own hands. When he examines the security footage, he finds that his wife got into a car with another man (Ethan Embry). Abduction or a simple affair? Butler, who seems to have cornered the action thriller genre, succeeded in bringing 66.500 fans into 360 theaters with a total of € 335.000 in ticket sales.

Guglhupfgeschwader, Orphan: First Kill, and Bullet Train round out the German top ten. A special mention goes to the unusual and exciting David Bowie documentary Moonage Daydream by Brett Morgan which opened in only 248 theaters and nevertheless made € 180.000 at sold 16.000 tickets making it the 15^th most watched film in Germany. In Austria, the doc landed in number eight, with Ticket to Paradise leading the charts there, too.