By Brendan Swift
Crime thriller Animal Kingdom has posted a strong US opening weekend at the box office among limited releases.
The film was released on four screens in the US by Sony Pictures Classics and took $US52,500 for a healthy screen average of $US13,125.
Sunday matinee figures are still being counted however, including its tally on three screens in Canada (where it is being distributed by E1), the film has taken about $US64,100 in total, according to Box Office Mojo.
Producer Liz Watts said she was happy with the result. "We start expanding next week, week-by-week across the country, to about 140 cities," she said via email.
The film, which has been distributed in Australia by Madman Entertainment, has now almost surpassed Paramount/Transmission's The Kings of Mykonos: Wog Boy 2 as the second biggest Australian release of the year. Animal Kingdom peaked on 79 screens compared to The Kings of Mykonos' 203 screens.
Separately, Madman Entertainment's owner, Funtastic, released a trading update, stating that the strong performance of the film had helped bolster Madman's earnings.
Funtastic chief executive Stewart Downs said the distributor continues to perform well despite very tough retail conditions which have impacted the home entertainment side of the business.
"However, growth in ancillary sales and the very strong theatrical performance from Animal Kingdom have compensated for this," he said in a statement.
Australian films at the box office 2010
|
Film
|
Budget
|
Distributor
|
Opening w/e
|
Box Office
|
|
Bran Nue Dae
|
$6.5m
|
Roadshow
|
$1,612,102
|
$7,565,476
|
|
The Kings of Mykonos
|
$6m est.
|
Paramount/Transmission
|
$1,828,902
|
$4,894,250
|
|
Animal Kingdom
|
$5m est.
|
Madman
|
$604,139
|
$4,803,810
|
|
Beneath Hill 60
|
$9.5m
|
Paramount/Transmission
|
$548,694
|
$3,194,417
|
|
Daybreakers
|
$20m est.
|
Hoyts
|
$1,064,244
|
$2,448,050
|
|
I Love You Too
|
$6m
|
Roadshow
|
$113,483
|
$2,359,478
|
|
Bright Star
|
$16.7m est.
|
Roadshow/Hopscotch
|
–
|
$2,157,601
|
|
The Waiting City
|
$2m est.
|
Hopscotch
|
$136,892
|
$593,354
|
|
South Solitary
|
$7m est
|
Icon
|
$132,240
|
$401,564
|
|
Accidents Happen
|
$6.5m est.
|
Hopscotch
|
$39,721
|
$156,350
|
|
Love, Lust & Lies
|
–
|
Beyond Entertainment
|
$20,674
|
$136,595
|
|
Second Hand Wedding
|
–
|
Potential/Arkles
|
$13,680
|
$64,087
|
|
Lou
|
–
|
Kojo Pictures
|
$27,371
|
$59,292
|
|
Girl Clock!
|
$1m
|
Self-distributed
|
$8,857
|
$43,434
|
|
Separation City
|
$4.8m
|
Hoyts
|
$15,278
|
$32,159
|
|
Triangle
|
$8m est.
|
Icon
|
$6,081
|
$11,282
|
|
Going Vertical
|
–
|
The Pack/Blue Sea Films
|
$3,879
|
$9,699
|
|
Savages Crossing
|
$3.5m
|
MediaKin/GAP
|
$4,432
|
$8,651
|
|
Playing For Charlie
|
$1.2m
|
The Pack
|
$2,665
|
$5,867
|
|
The Nothing Men
|
Anchor Bay Films
|
$4,518
|
$4,518
|
|
|
The Horseman
|
$500,000
|
Umbrella Entertainment
|
$2,270
|
$2,895
|
Source: MPDAA, INSIDEFILM. Separation City and Second Hand Wedding are NZ films. Bright Star released Dec 26, 2009; tally does not include 2009 box office.