Pundits who predicted The Great Gatsby would rake in at least $6 million in its first four days in Australian cinemas were right on the money.
Baz Luhrmann’s reinterpretation of the classic F. Scott Fitzgerald novel earned $6.78 million on 587 screens- a record opening weekend for an Australian film, boosted by the premium ticket price for 3D screenings.
That beat Happy Feet’s $6.6 million and Baz’s Australia which did $6.4 million. Australian exhibitors were delighted with the result and expect the film to hold strongly in its second weekend, buoyed by the June 10 public holiday.
One programmer noted the romantic drama is almost the only mainstream film pitched primarily at females in a sea of male-dominated titles such as The Hangover Part III, Iron Man 3 and the upcoming Fast & Furious 6. Gatsby’s worldwide total has topped $248 million, including $128.5 million in the US.
The final edition of The Hangover franchise pocketed $4.3 million in its second weekend in Oz, down 51%, bringing the total to $15.6 million, although tracking well below the predecessor.
Two genre movies opened last weekend and both were duds: horror spoof A Haunted House and Sinister, a supernatural horror movie starring Ethan Hawke as a true-crime writer who discovers a box of home movies that puts his family in danger.
On the art house circuit, Happiness Never Comes Alone, a French comedy featuring Gad Elmaleh and Sophie Marceau, fetched a ho-hum $67,000 on 19 screens.
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE May 30-June 2
|
|
Title |
Week/ Screens |
Box Office |
% +- |
Total
|
|
1 |
The Great Gatsby |
1/587 |
$6,789,897 |
NA |
$7,223,120 |
|
2 |
The Hangover Part 111 |
2/499 |
4,367,878 |
-51 |
15,663,131 |
|
3 |
Star Trek Into Darkness |
4/392 |
1,167,025 |
-36 |
14,448,264 |
|
4 |
Iron Man 3 |
6/180 |
847,472 |
-31 |
38,101,996 |
|
5 |
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani |
1/16 |
267,920 |
NA |
267,920 |
|
6 |
The Call |
3/159 |
254,596 |
-38 |
2,001,669 |
|
7 |
The Place Beyond the Pines |
4/67 |
193,702 |
-39 |
2,401,785 |
|
8 |
Snitch |
3/133 |
163,075 |
-48 |
1,552,496 |
|
9 |
The Croods |
10/126 |
134,922 |
+1 |
24,936,743 |
|
10 |
A Haunted House |
1/82 |
117,325 |
NA |
117,325 |
Source: Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia
|
AUSTRALIAN FILMS SCORECARD 2013
|
|||
|
|
Title |
Release Date |
Total |
|
1 |
The Great Gatsby |
May 30 |
$7,223,120
|
|
2 |
Goddess |
March 14 |
1,587,751
|
|
3 |
Return to Nim’s Island |
April 4 |
1,195,972
|
|
4 |
Drift |
May 2 |
857,821
|
|
5 |
Save Your Legs! |
Feb 28 |
379,883
|
|
6 |
Blinder |
March 7 |
101,027
|
Source: Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia