Following its release on Friday, Bobby Sands 66 Days has achieved the highest ever opening weekend at the Irish box office for a home made documentary and now holds the second highest opening weekend of all time for documentaries, with Fahrenheit 9/11 in the top spot for documentaries overall and last year’s Amy Winehouse documentary Amy just behind in third place.
Director Brendan J. Byrne’s critically acclaimed and controversial documentary portrays Bobby Sands’ 66-day hunger strike while imprisoned at HM Prison Maze and has garnered much publicity and debate on both sides of the border. Numerous cinemas throughout the country reported sell-out screenings this weekend, leading to box office takings of some €50,933, with some sites still to report. This pushed the film past last year’s The Queen of Ireland to take the top spot at the box office for Irish documentaries. The film continues to screen in cinemas nationwide.