Zack Snyder’s reboot of the Superman franchise Man of Steel reigned at the Australian box-office last weekend, raking in $8.8 million plus about $600,000 in previews.
The four-day figure was below the opening weekend of Fast & Furious 6 and slightly below The Hangover Part 111’s debut. But that was rated as an excellent result by one exhibitor who observed the Superman character isn’t as strongly entrenched in Australian pop culture as it is in the US.
Given the man of steel’s invasion, zombie thriller World War Z held reasonably well in its second frame, down 48%.
The start of the school vacation ensured great turn-outs for the second weekends of Despicable Me 2 and Monster’s University.
But Blue Sky Studios’ Epic, a 3D animated adventure comedy set in a suburban forest voiced by Colin Farrell, Jason Sudeikis, Christoph Waltz and Amanda Seyfried, opened weakly. The distributor will be hoping kids discover the film after they’ve checked out the other two animated films.
In the specialty arena, François Ozon's In the House, a psychological comedy set in a French secondary school starring Fabrice Luchini, Kristin Scott Thomas, Emmanuelle Seigner and newcomer Ernst Umhauer, had a solid debut on 23 screens.
The erotic setting of Michael Winterbottom’s The Look of Love, which stars Steve Coogan as West End porn and strip club impresario Paul Raymond, aroused little interest.
Everybody Has a Plan, an Argentinian crime drama featuring Viggo Mortensen as a Buenos Aires doctor who decides to leave his wife and career and assume the identity of his twin brother after the latter dies, had a soft opening.
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE June 27-30
|
|
Title |
Week/ Screens |
Box Office |
% +- |
Total
|
|
1 |
Man of Steel |
1/560 |
$8,877,913 |
NA |
$9,493,949 |
|
2 |
Despicable Me 2 |
2/487 |
4,417,814 |
-12 |
13,642,032 |
|
3 |
Monster’s University |
2/494 |
3,342,390 |
-13 |
8,673,695 |
|
4 |
World War Z |
2/464 |
3,146,324 |
-48 |
11,229,030 |
|
5 |
The Great Gatsby |
5/257 |
1,147,169 |
-38 |
24,052,605 |
|
6 |
Fast & Furious 6 |
4/251 |
1,054,252 |
-51 |
25,213,169 |
|
7 |
The Internship |
3/230 |
909,955 |
-40 |
5,994,776 |
|
8 |
Epic |
1/372 |
731,147 |
NA |
2,970,614 |
|
9 |
After Earth |
3/201 |
278,530 |
-63 |
3,855,074 |
|
10 |
Jatt & Juliet 2 |
1/20 |
244,139 |
NA |
244,139 |
Source: Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia