By Adam Coleman
The stop-motion, puppet, animation film $9.99 has taken $15,847 at the Australian box office since opening last Thursday for a screen average of $1981.
An Australian-Israeli co-production, the film fared better overseas where it has taken $US615,762 at the combined box offices of France, Algeria, Monaco, Morocco and Tunisia. The film has also taken $US47,090 at the US box office and $US16,178 in Russia, according to Box Office Mojo.
Jane Campion’s new movie Bright Star was released in the US last week, taking $US190,000 in its opening weekend for a screen average of $US10,000. The film’s local distributors, Hopscotch Films, plan to release the film in Australia on Boxing Day.
Disgrace – a movie adaption of the nobel prize-winning novel by South African-born author J. M. Coetzee – has also been released in the US, taking $US12,615 across three screens.
Meanwhile, tough drama Blessed added a further $70,264 to its Australian box office haul in its second week, posting a solid $4392 screen average.
Charlie & Boots has continued its successful run at the local box office adding $402,671 over the weekend.
Robert Connolly’s political thriller Balibo is now the seventh local release to pass the $1 million mark this year taking $1,055,892 since its release on August 13.
The total box office taking for local 2009 releases is $15,097,895.
| Film | Budget | Distributor | Opening w/e | Weeks | Box Office |
| Samson and Delilah | $1.6m | Para/Trans/Footprint | $ 199,163 | 20 | $ 3,164,410 |
| Charlie & Boots | $9m est. | Paramount/Transmission | $ 809,279 | 3 | $ 2,420,065 |
| Mary and Max | $8m | Icon | $ 217,176 | 15 | $ 1,444,617 |
| Beautiful Kate | $6m | Roadshow | $ 273,582 | 7 | $ 1,384,022 |
| Disgrace | $10m | Icon | $ 209,014 | 13 | $ 1,157,646 |
| My Year Without Sex | $3.8m | Para/Trans/Footprint | $ 177,522 | 17 | $ 1,122,621 |
| Balibo | $4.5m | Para/Trans/Footprint | $ 206,290 | 6 | $ 1,055,892 |
| Love the Beast | Madman | $ 241,982 | 9 | $ 777,351 | |
| The Combination | $1.169m | AFS | $ 188,054 | 11 | $ 727,586 |
| Last Ride | $4m | Madman | $ 76,459 | 10 | $ 364,238 |
| Two Fists, One Heart | $8.5m | BVI | $ 96,999 | 2 | $ 295,500 |
| Wake in Fright | Madman | $ 25,446 | 14 | $ 292,450 | |
| Cedar Boys | $1.36m | Hoyts/Mushroom | $ 74,793 | 5 | $ 204,160 |
| Subdivision | $4m est. | BVI | $ 86,649 | 3 | $ 190,500 |
| Blessed | Icon | $ 67,186 | 2 | $ 185,423 | |
| Beautiful | $2m | Kojo/Jump Street | $ 22,406 | 6 | $ 55,619 |
| Closed for Winter | $2m | Omnilab Media | $ 19,449 | 6 | $ 53,370 |
| Shadows of the Past | $ 820,000 | Summer Night | $ 13,927 | 11 | $ 45,490 |
| Bastardy | $ 260,000 | Film Camp | $ 7,822 | 8 | $ 37,570 |
| Lake Mungo | Darclight films | $ 9,730 | 5 | $ 29,850 | |
| Lucky Country | $2m est. | Para/Trans/Footprint | $ 11,413 | 4 | $ 26,141 |
| The Burning Season | Gil Scrine/Freshwater | $ 3,848 | 5 | $ 21,017 | |
| The Chifleys of Busby St | Ronin | $ 3,760 | $ 13,658 | ||
| Crush | $2m | Filmscope/Odin’s Eye | $ 8,304 | 1 | $ 13,051 |
| Three Blind Mice | Odin’s Eye/Titan View | $ 2,988 | 3 | $ 7,416 | |
| Bad Bush | VVVF | $ 1,909 | $ 3,961 | ||
| Salvation | Hopscotch | $ 2,262 | 1 | $ 3,182 | |
| Prey | $4m | Damage Releasing | $ 1,089 | $ 1,089 |
Source: MPDAA