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Australian box office at record high in 2016

Disney's 'Finding Dory' topped the Australian box office in 2016. 

The Australian box office took a record $1,259,337,000 in 2016 – a 2.69 per cent increase on the previous year.

According to stats from the Motion Picture Distributor Association of Australia (MPDAA), the best performing film of the year was Disney’s Finding Dory, which closed the year on $48.56million, followed by Fox’s Deadpool on $43.27 million.

In third position was Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which closed 2016 on an impressive $36.39 million after only two weeks in cinemas. 

Overall, Australian films took $24 million, led by Mel Gibson’s Hacksaw Ridge, which earned $8.6 million. The Dressmaker earned an extra $1.72 million in 2016, taking its cume to $20.28 million.

Aussie documentaries did well, with three – Jen Peedom’s Sherpa ($1.2 million), Taryn Brumfitt’s Embrace ($1.1 million) and Eva Orner’s Chasing Asylum ($576K) – among the top grossing Australian documentaries of all time (excluding IMAX).

Red Dog: True Blue earned $1.59 million from Boxing Day to NYE, and now sits on $6.7 million.

Lion opened last week with boffo takings of $4,197,367 – the 5th biggest opening weekend for an Australian film.

"The year’s diverse line up has proven to be much stronger than any previous year and demonstrates that cinema continues to provide a great value out-of-home experience for a broad audience, even in the face of an ever-increasing choice of leisure options," said MPDAA chair and The Walt Disney Company Studios ANZ GM, Jo Bladen. 

"However, there are still a number of challenges to be faced, including the continuing battle with copyright theft which eats at the heart of the creative community." 

“We will continue to work with government, other industry sectors and legislative authorities in 2017 and beyond, to ensure the future of the cinema experience".

The top 10 films of 2016: 

Finding Dory, Disney, $48,558,612 

Deadpool, Fox, $43,266,237 

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Disney, $36,389,015 

Suicide Squad, Warner Bros, $34,274,186 

Captain America: Civil War, Disney, $33,733,539 

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Warner Bros, $31,203,292 

Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Disney, $31,147,948

The Jungle Book, Disney, $29,784,425

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, Warner Bros, $29,678,247 

The Secret Life of Pets, Universal, $29,557,247 

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