Turtle power saved the Australian box-office from experiencing another weak trading session last weekend while Boyhood and a Kiwi vampire spoof had handy debuts.
Action adventure/comedy Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles rustled up $2.1 million purely from previews, portending a sizable bow this Thursday.
The saga of a group of mutated warriors who face off against an evil kingpin who wants to take over New York, it stars Megan Fox and Will Arnett, who attended the premiere on Sunday at Hoyts Entertainment Quarter.
Paramount’s movie, which reportedly cost $125 million, seems to be resonating with older moviegoers who grew up with the Turtles in the 1980s and 90s and with kids who enjoy the Nickelodeon animated series.
Nationwide takings improved by 4% to $10 million, according to Rentrak’s estimates, although only three titles earned more than $1 million.
Director Steven Quale's tornado pic Into the Storm has raked in a mediocre $US44.5 million in the US, a bit better than the director’s Final Destination 5.
Village Roadshow Pictures co-produced the SFX-driven film set in a small Midwestern town so Roadshow spent plenty on the Australian launch, resulting in a decent $2 million opening. Word-of-mouth, however, is likely to blow an ill wind on ticket sales from now on.
Richard Linklater's Boyhood rang up $281,000 from 59 screens, taking its total to $472,000 including two weekends of sneaks. One Aussie exhibitor described the debut as very good but below the level he was expecting after rave reviews in the US for the coming-of-age film shot over 12 years, which features Ellar Coltrane, Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette.
What We Do In the Shadows, a mockumentary about the domestic life of a couple of Wellington vampires, written and directed by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi, drew $229,000 on 49 screens, $291,000 with previews.
Yet another limited-release dud is Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai’s The Grandmaster, a biopic of martial arts master Ip Man, who trained Bruce Lee, which took $6,100 at two cinemas, $23,000 with sneaks.
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE September 4-7
Title Week/ Screens Box Office % +- Total
1 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles PV/422 $2,099,441 NA $2,099,441
2 Into the Storm 1/336 1,979,643 NA 2,013,827
3 Guardians of the Galaxy 5/380 1,190,608 -37 23,214,699
4 The Hundred-Foot Journey 4/300 876,241 -33 9,179,837
5 The Inbetweeners 2 3/307 635,575 -59 6,747,221
6 If I Stay 2/201 577,736 -47 1,943,572
7 Magic in the Moonlight 2/130 518,691 -32 1,672,809
8 Lucy 6/179 505,679 -39 14,922,940
9 Boyhood 1/59 281,058 NA 472,525
10 What We Do in the Shadows 1/49 229,425 NA 291,207
Source: Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia