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Box Office: Charlie & Boots breaks $800K

By Brendan Swift

Road movie Charlie & Boots has posted the biggest opening weekend for an Australian film this year, taking $805,797 at the box office since last Thursday.

The Paramount Pictures-distributed film, starring Paul Hogan and Shane Jacobson as father and son, opened across 181 screens for a solid screen average of $4451.

Charlie & Boots box office take ranked it in fifth place among all releases, with Disney’s Up in top spot with $2.11 million across 218 screens, according to MPDAA data.

Paramount Pictures Australia’s managing director, Mike Selwyn said the film’s top 20 cinema locations included country and regional centres as well as major suburban multiplexes. "This is a pretty unusual mix and suggests the film is playing well right across Australia, which is obviously very pleasing,” he said in a statement.

Among other Australian fare, Rachel Ward’s incestuous feature Beautiful Kate posted a 40 per cent drop in takings, adding $66,910 to its box office total across 27 screens. It is now the third highest grossing local film at the box office this year.

Warwick Thornton’s debut feature Samson & Delilah added a further $24,046 in its 18th week at cinemas. Its $3,125,291 tally makes it the 61st highest grossing Australian film of all time behind 2006 comedy BoyTown.

Political drama Balibo added a further $84,984 across 35 screens as it prepares for a wider release.

Meanwhile, Ana Kokkinos’ tough drama Blessed, which opens this Thursday, took $8,396 in previews across 14 screens.

Film  Budget   Distributor   Opening w/e  Weeks  Box Office 
Samson and Delilah  $1.6m   Para/Trans/Footprint   $        199,163 18  $    3,125,291
Mary and Max  $8m   Icon   $          217,176 15  $      1,444,617
Beautiful Kate  $6m   Roadshow   $        273,582 4  $    1,253,478
Disgrace  $10m   Icon   $        209,014 12  $    1,151,013
My Year Without Sex  $3.8m   Para/Trans/Footprint   $        177,461 15  $    1,109,929
Charlie & Boots  $9m est.   Paramount/Transmission   $        800,460 1  $        805,797
Balibo  $4.5m   Para/Trans/Footprint   $        206,290 4  $        797,144
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  $        359,166
Two Fists, One Heart  $8.5m   BVI   $            96,999 2  $          295,500
Wake in Fright    Madman   $          25,446 11  $        284,382
Cedar Boys  $1.36m   Hoyts/Mushroom   $            74,793 5  $          204,160
Subdivision  $4m est.   BVI   $          86,649 3  $        190,500
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   $            2,390 5  $          29,850
Lucky Country  $2m est.   Para/Trans/Footprint   $            11,413 4  $            26,141
The Burning Season    Gil Scrine/Freshwater   $              4,865 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    3  $            5,511
Bad Bush    VVVF   $              1,909    $              3,961
Salvation    Hopscotch   $              2,262 1  $              3,182
Prey   $4m   Damage Releasing   $              1,089    $              1,089

bswift@www.if.com.au