By Brendan Swift
Australian animated feature Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole has posted a less-than-expected $US16.34 million opening weekend at the US box office.
The film was expected to gross $US18-20 million according to reports although its performance already ranks the film as Australia's twentieth best performer of all time in the US.
The film, an adaptation of the fantasy book written by American author Kathryn Lasky, was released across 3575 screens, resulting in a screen average of $US4569, according to Box Office Mojo.
The highest grossing film over the weekend was Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps ($US19 million) while Ben Affleck's The Town was ranked third after grossing $US16 million in its second weekend.
Three other Australian films are also currently being shown in US cinemas: Mao's Last Dancer, Animal Kingdom and Bran Nue Dae.
At the Australian box office, Tomorrow, When the War Began passed the $10 million mark, taking more than $833,000 (a drop of one-third) in its fourth weekend. The film was shown across 261 screens for a screen average of $3192.
Only 21other Australian films have taken more than $10 million at the local box office.
Australasian films at the box office 2010
|
Film
|
Budget
|
Distributor
|
Opening w/e
|
Box Office
|
|
Tomorrow …
|
$27m est.
|
Paramount
|
$3,862,193
|
$10,453,243
|
|
Bran Nue Dae
|
$6.5m
|
Roadshow
|
$1,612,102
|
$7,637,358
|
|
Animal Kingdom
|
$5m est.
|
Madman
|
$604,139
|
$4,879,642
|
|
Beneath Hill 60
|
$9.5m
|
Paramount/Transmission
|
$548,694
|
$3,209,471
|
|
Daybreakers
|
$20m est.
|
Hoyts
|
$1,064,244
|
$2,448,050
|
|
I Love You Too
|
$6m
|
Roadshow
|
$113,483
|
$2,361,411
|
|
Bright Star
|
$16.7m est.
|
Roadshow/Hopscotch
|
–
|
$2,157,601
|
|
Boy
|
–
|
Paramount/Transmission
|
$275,026
|
$1,386,766
|
|
Matching Jack
|
$5m est.
|
Fox
|
$258,011
|
$807,621
|
|
The Waiting City
|
$2m est.
|
Hopscotch
|
$136,892
|
$675,476
|
|
South Solitary
|
$6.5m
|
Icon
|
$132,240
|
$605,920
|
|
Accidents Happen
|
$6.5m est.
|
Hopscotch
|
$39,721
|
$157,131
|
|
Love, Lust & Lies
|
–
|
Beyond Entertainment
|
$20,674
|
$136,595
|
|
Second Hand Wedding
|
–
|
Potential/Arkles
|
$13,680
|
$79,967
|
|
Lou
|
–
|
Kojo Pictures
|
$27,371
|
$59,505
|
|
Girl Clock!
|
$1m
|
Self-distributed
|
$8,857
|
$43,434
|
|
Separation City
|
$4.8m
|
Hoyts
|
$15,278
|
$32,159
|
|
Triangle
|
$8m est.
|
Icon
|
$6,081
|
$11,282
|
|
Going Vertical
|
–
|
The Pack/Blue Sea Films
|
$3,879
|
$9,699
|
|
Savages Crossing
|
$3.5m
|
MediaKin/GAP
|
$4,432
|
$8,651
|
|
The Nothing Men
|
Anchor Bay Films
|
$4,518
|
$6,679
|
|
|
Playing For Charlie
|
$1.2m
|
The Pack
|
$2,665
|
$5,867
|
|
The Horseman
|
$500,000
|
Umbrella Entertainment
|
$2,270
|
$3,328
|
|
The Tumbler
|
–
|
The Pack
|
$203
|
$358
|
Source: MPDAA, INSIDEFILM. Separation City, Second Hand Wedding and Boy are NZ films. Bright Star released Dec 26, 2009; tally does not include 2009 box office.