Box-office takings slumped in Australia last weekend as audiences seemed to tire of the almost non-stop flood of male-skewed films released since May.
So it wasn' a propitious time for the arrivals of British sci-fi comedy The World's End or Australian black comedy/horror pic 100 Bloody Acres.
The World's End, the saga of a lads' night out which is ruined by crazy, robot-like aliens, opened with $1.1 million. That's less than the debut of Hot Fuzz, the previous collaboration by director Edgar Wright and stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, which took $1.3 million six years ago. The publicity tour by Wright and the two leads might have been expected to translate to a stronger entry.
The feature debut of the brothers Colin and Cameron Cairnes, 100 Bloody Acres launched at six cinemas, taking less than $7,000 at the weekend, after one-session previews in Melbourne, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.
The top title was The Wolverine, which tumbled by 47% to $3.2 million in its second weekend, bringing the total to $11 million. That's a better hold than in the US where the Hugh Jackman starrer plunged by 59% in its second outing, earning $US95 million so far.
James Wan's The Conjuring had another remarkably strong hold, off just 16%, taking $1.3 million in its third frame, boosting its tally to nearly $6 million.
The Way Way Back, a coming-of-age comedy starring Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Sam Rockwell and Liam James, opened with a fair $441,000 after earning $127,000 in previews.
Favourable word-of-mouth resulted in a sparkling second weekend for Behind the Candelabra, which raked in nearly $500,000 (down 18%), propelling its cumulative total to $1.4 million.
Greetings from Tim Buckley, which chronicles the days leading up to Jeff Buckley's performance at a 1991 concert that honoured his late musician father Tim Buckley, misfired, taking $13,258 at 13 screens.
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE Aug 1-4
|
|
Title |
Week/ Screens |
Box Office |
% +- |
Total
|
|
1 |
The Wolverine |
2/581 |
$3,261,365 |
-47 |
$11,060,614 |
|
2 |
The Conjuring |
3/170 |
1,364,543 |
-16 |
5,973,493 |
|
3 |
The Heat |
4/279 |
1,295,749 |
-27 |
12,856,198 |
|
4 |
This World’s End |
1/224 |
1,077,530 |
NA |
1,097,194 |
|
5 |
This is the End |
3/223 |
884,830 |
-34 |
6,510,467 |
|
6 |
Behind the Candelabra |
2/104 |
497,299 |
-18 |
1,435,124 |
|
7 |
Despicable Me 2 |
7/229 |
468,009 |
-32 |
34,382,145 |
|
8 |
Pacific Rim |
4/240 |
464,121 |
-33 |
7,644,321 |
|
9 |
The Way Way Back |
1/124 |
441,860 |
NA |
568,706 |
|
10 |
Man of Steel |
6/147 |
242,351 |
-50 |
24,069,675 |
Source: Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia