The collective star power of Johnny Depp, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ewan McGregor and Paul Bettany could not entice audiences to cinemas for the opening weekend of caper comedy Mortdecai.
Mortdecai follows Johnny Depp in the title lead, as a charismatic British aristocrat and part-time crooked art dealer who is hunting down a stolen Goya painting in a bid to restabilise his dwindling finances. However, an American heiress and a revolutionary are also after the same painting, for the artwork is believed to contain the code to access an account filled with Nazi gold.
The film, which currently has only an 11 per cent approval rating on ratings site Rotten Tomatoes, pulled in a dismal $556,289 over 198 screens at the Australian box office over the weekend, coming in at seventh place.
At the top of the box office this week sits American Sniper, Clint Eastwood’s biographical war drama about US Navy Seal Chris Kyle, played by Bradley Cooper. In its second week of release, the film amassed $3,393,431 at the Australian box office over 230 screens, taking its earnings up to $11,288,857. The film is distributed by Roadshow.
Universal’s The Theory of Everything was released on 215 screens and pulled in $1,362,105 on its opening weekend. A successful run of previews and other screenings takes its Aus box office total to $1,599,307.
The film stars Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones as famed physicist Stephen Hawking and his wife Jane as they fall in love at Cambridge University in the 1960s. During this time Hawking learns he has motor neuron disease and begins a study of time, breaking new ground in the fields of medicine and science while starting a family and battling against his deteriorating health.
Robert Connolly’s Australian family feature Paper Planes continues its successful run, scooping $862,949 across 269 screens in its third week of release. The film, which stars Aussie Ed Oxenbould, Sam Worthington and Deborah Mailman and is distributed by Roadshow, has a box office total of $7,060,125 so far.
The Imitation Game, also distributed by Roadshow, sat in fourth position with a weekend gross of $838,041 across 234 screens. The war biography, now in its fifth week of release, has proved popular with Australian audiences and has so far collected a total of $15,315,503.
Sony Pictures’ The Wedding Ringer raked in $636,616 across 183 screens in its second week of release, bringing its Aus box office total to $2,112,888 so far.
Following in sixth place was Taken 3, which, over 230 screens, amassed $563,289. According to Rentrak’s estimates, that is a 56 per cent drop from the previous week, suggesting the film might be losing steam in its fourth week of release. There appears to still be an audience appetite for Liam Neeson’s ex-covert operative Bryan Mills, however, with the film totalling at $13,960,242 so far.
Jumping past Mortdecai is Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken in eighth place. The Australian-shot war epic was shown over 252 screens and raked in $527,065 in its third week, taking its total so far to $5,438,860.
Disney’s Into the Woods followed, taking of $524,552 in its fourth week and boosting its overall Australian box office takings to $11,190,242.
Wild came in at spot number ten, pulling $480,697 over 176 screens in its second week of release. The drama, starring Reese Witherspoon, has amassed $1,955,571 at the Australian box office so far.
Russell Crowe’s The Water Diviner (which recently won Best Film at the AACTA Awards, in a tie with Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook) continues to draw Aussie audiences, despite being in its sixth week of release. The film took $365,103 at the box office over the weekend, taking its total to $14,822,760.