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BO Report: ‘The Disaster Artist’ goes wide as ‘Wonder’ remains on top

‘The Disaster Artist’. 

Stephen Chbosky’s Wonder held onto the top spot at the Australian box office last weekend, over what has been a quiet period for exhibitors ahead of the opening of Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Overall the top 20 titles amassed only $7.6 million, down a steep 28 per cent on the previous weekend, according to the Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia (MPDAA). The lull is unsurprising, with distributors releasing little new fare in the lead up to Last Jedi and the holiday period.

Roadshow’s Wonder, a drama about a boy who overcomes a craniofacial disorder, took home a tidy $1.7 million over its second weekend on 312 screens, bringing its overall tally to $6 million. In the US the film has just cracked $100 million, making it Liongate’s highest release of the year bar La La Land.

In its third orbit, Paramount’s Daddy’s Home 2 has overtaken Justice League for second spot, earning $1.4 million from 329 screens. The comedy, starring Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Mel Gibson and John Lithgow has totalled $9 million.

Warner Bros/DC’s Justice League took a 44 per cent tumble in its fourth week, earning $1.1 million from 329. Co-directed by Zack Snyder and Joss Whedon, the superhero flick has pulled in $18.3 million overall in Australia. In the US the film has made $212 million, and $613 million worldwide.

Murder on the Orient Express continues to chug along for Fox, earning $836,507 in its fifth weekend on 321; a fall of 38 per cent. Overall the film has made $14.2 million.

After initially opening on just 10 screens, Warner Bros’ The Disaster Artist – a comedy-drama about the making of Tommy Wiseau’s 2003 cult film The Room – has gone wide on 228, bringing in $680,672 to bring its tally up to $958,581. The critically-lauded film directed by and starring James Franco, who also produced with Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg, also bumped up its screens in the US over the weekend to collect $6.4 million.

Disney’s Thor: Ragnarok, directed by Kiwi Taika Waititi, is just shy of $34 million after seven weeks, collecting $668,524 over the weekend on 214 screens.

Nothing else cracked $500,000 over the weekend. Jon Lucas’ Bad Moms 2 earned seventh place with $185,203 on its seventh outing, taking its cume to $9.9 million.

Just behind was Sony’s The Star, an animated film based on the Jesus Nativity story. It dropped 21 per cent to bring in $161,188 over its second weekend on 57, taking its cume to $584,787.

A. A. Milne biopic Goodbye Christopher Robin, released by Fox, took home $150,363 on its third go-round on 208 screens, lifting its total to $1.3 million.

In its second week, StudioCanal’s Only the Brave plummeted 57 per cent to earn just $92,321 from 167, bringing its total to $401,126.

Forum Films’ Sat Shri Akaal England opened just shy of the top 10 on $90,418 from 32 screens, the highest earning limited release of the week.