British action comedy Kingsman: The Secret Service has tickled the fancy of Australian audiences, taking $4,121,791 across 370 screens in its opening weekend. Not so lucky was Rupert Wyatt's The Gambler, also in its opening week, which came in at sixth place.
Distributed by Fox, Kingsman stars Colin Firth as an espionage agent who takes an unrefined protégé (Taron Egerton) under his wing.
Its success knocks biographical war drama American Sniper off the top spot (in a move that interestingly echoes the US box office with SpongeBob: Sponge out of Water also overtaking the film at number one) which, in its third week of Australian release, took $1,944,909 over 308 screens. The Roadshow-distributed film has so far amassed $14,504,854.
Universal’s The Theory of Everything raked in $964,930 across 232 screens in its third week of release, taking its Australian box office total to $3,101,471, while Roadshow’s The Imitation Game is still going strong in week six, taking $610,438 over 227 screens and thereby bringing its total to $16,435,688.
Robert Connolly’s family feature Paper Planes continues to delight audiences, taking $474,010 in its fourth week. So far the beloved Australian film has amassed $7,739,954.
A surprise flop was The Gambler, which only garnered $401,856 over 176 screens. Including previews, that takes its Aus box office total to $485,134. The film, distributed by Paramount, stars Mark Wahlberg as a teacher with a gambling problem.
Despite mostly unimpressive reviews, Sony’s The Wedding Ringer hangs in the top ten. In its third week, the comedy took $345,782 across 167 screens , bringing its total to $2,633,838.
Birdman is up three places from last week, no doubt buoyed by award buzz and positive reviews. The film took $285,027 over 146 screens in its fourth week of release, bumping its total Aus takings to $4,870,542.
In ninth place sat Wild, which took $282,570 in its third week. The Fox-distributed film has so far amassed $2,386,230 at the Australian box office.
Rounding out the top ten is Unbroken, the Angelina-Jolie-directed epic which brought in $231,896 in its fourth week. The film, most of which was shot in Australia, has so far amassed $5,877,181 and is distributed by Universal.