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A Few Best Men grosses another $1m; Sam Worthington’s Man on a Ledge opens

Local risqué comedy A Few Best Men has added a further $1.1 million to its box office tally, but has slipped 41 per cent in its second weekend.

The Stephan Elliott-directed film, distributed by Icon, was shown on 244 screens, netting a screen average of $4459 – however this was down on its impressive opening weekend when it raked in $1.83 million across 242 screens.

The film – an Aussie Hangover-esque comedy about a wedding that goes wrong – slipped down a position on the box office ladder and is currently in fourth place behind Chronicle, The Descendants and Underworld: Awakening.

Written by Death At A Funeral screenwriter Dean Craig, the film stars Xavier Samuel, Rebel Wilson, Kris Marshall, Kevin Bishop and Olivia Newton-John.

Chronicle and The Descendants gave Fox a double whammy, taking both first and second position at the box office, grossing $2.9 million (192 screens) and $1.3 million (229 screens) respectively. Chronicle – about a group of mates who gain powerful superhuman abilities – has received generally positive reviews and was made on a modest $US15 million budget.

Underworld: Awakening – the fourth in the franchise – grossed $1.1 million from 213 screens in its second weekend, however was down 59 per cent on its opening tally.

Sam Worthington’s latest film, Man on a Ledge opened at number 10 for Hoyts, grossing $469,838 across 149 screens (giving it a modest screen average of $3153). Worthington, who shot to fame in Tinseltown after landing James Cameron’s Avatar, will later this year appear in WA film Drift.

The Artist – the film many people have been talking about – opened at number 14 on just 39 screens. The Roadshow-distributed film grossed $372,306, giving it an impressive screen average of $9546. The black and white French comedy/drama received 10 Oscar nominations last month and recently won three International AACTA Awards.

Fox’s Martha Marcy May Marlene also debuted on Aussie screens late last week, and it took $86,092 from 35 screens over the weekend.

Australian 3D flick Happy Feet Two added just $51,267 on the weekend after opening on December 26 last year. It's now grossed $10.6 million at the local box office but is down to just 76 screens. The first film, which lasted 19 weeks at the box office in 2006, grossed $31.8 million.

In other box office news, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy raked in $708,678 (Universal, 128 screens, third weekend), Hugo made $688,314 (Paramount, 237 screens, fourth weekend) and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows grossed $644,966 (Roadshow, 245 screens, fifth weekend).

Agneepath, which last weekend grossed a phenomenal $279,001 from just 14 screens, had a massive 77 per cent slip in its second weekend, and made $64,743 from 14 screens.

Any Questions For Ben? – from the team behind The Castle and The Dish – opens this Thursday. Starring Josh Lawson, Rachael Taylor and Snowtown's Daniel Henshall, the trailer can be seen here. Shame, the latest from The King’s Speech producer Emile Sherman, also makes its debut after a controversial leadup. Full-frontal male nudity, plus scenes involving a self-harming woman, led to the strong rating in the US. As a result, it will be rated R Down Under. The R Rating has restricted marketing opportunities in local cinemas.

Other films opening across the nation this week are: Safe House (Universal), Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace (3D) (Fox) and The Vow (Sony Pictures).

Australian films at the box office 2012