Playstation game adaptation Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story drew respectable crowds at the box office last weekend, but failed to hold a candle to heights of Barbie, Oppenheimer or even Meg 2: The Trench.
Meanwhile Indian actioners Jailer and Gadar 2 packed punches in limited release, Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City opened similarly to The French Dispatch, and Dracula: Voyage of the Demeter proved DOA.
Despite the flurry of new releases, it was a quieter weekend than the dizzying heights of the last few, with the top 20 titles dropping 27 per cent to $16.8 million, according to Numero.
It’s still very much Barbie‘s world, with the Warner Bros. title adding $6.9 million in its fourth outing to reach $70.2 million, making it the seventh highest grossing film ever released in Australia. Overtaking Spider-Man: No Way Home ($81.7 million) and Avengers: Endgame ($84.2 million) with a week or two seems inevitable.
Village Cinemas national programming manager Geoff Chard tells IF Barbie shows no signs of slowing down. “The demand for the film in Gold Class is remarkable, selling out sessions across many of our locations.”
Globally the Greta Gerwig film is now at $US1.2 billion, making it the highest grossing live-action movie from a female director, besting Captain Marvel, helmed by Anna Boden, Nia DaCosta and Ryan Fleck.
Oppenheimer easily held on to second place with a fourth weekend result just shy of $3 million, meaning the Christopher Nolan film has now reached $31.6 million for Universal.
WB’s Meg 2, maintaining third, dipped 46 per cent in its second frame to $1.7 million. The Jason Statham-starrer now stands at $5.6 million.
Sony opened Gran Turismo on 362 screens for a result of $1.3 million, or $1.6 million with previews. The film, directed by Neill Blomkamp, is based on the true story of Jann Mardenborough, a Gran Turismo player whose gaming skills won him a series of Nissan-sponsored video game competitions to become an actual professional race car driver. Australia is one of the first 30 international markets for the film, which will premiere in North America August 25 due to SAG-AFTRA strike related delays.
Exhibitors canvassed by IF suggested the result was softer than expectations, though Chard hopes good WOM on the film will keep momentum going.
Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace GM Alex Temesvari adds: “As enjoyable as the film is, Gran Turismo unfortunately didn’t connect with our audience.”
Tamil-language Jailer, released by MKS Retail, rang up $1 million from just 77 screens. That means, per screen, the Rajinikanth-starrer brought in on average $13,348, ahead of Barbie‘s $10,773. The film also hit the top 10 in North America, where it drew $US2.56 million. Chard says for Village Jailer was the standout of the weekend.
Anderson latest Asteroid City packs a typically starry cast, including Scarlett Johansson, Jason Schwartzman, Bryan Cranston, Steve Carrell, Jeffrey Wright, Tom Hanks, Jeff Goldblum and Ed Norton. Distributed by Universal, it bowed to $494,572, or $560,318 with previews.
That is slightly below Anderson’s previous effort The French Dispatch, which bowed to $674,633 with previews. One does not expect Asteroid City will reach anywhere near the heights of the film the director’s past work like 2014’s The Grand Budapest Hotel, which opened on $2.6 million and finished on $12 million.
While metro venues The Orpheum reported a respectable weekend with Asteroid City, its performance elsewhere Australia was mixed, with Majestic Cinemas CEO Kieren Dell telling IF: “Wes Anderson is an acquired taste which is not one that regional audiences are overly familiar with.” Australia is a late market for the film, which opened in North America June 16 in limited theatres before going wide June 23; it is already on Peacock in the US.
Local horror Talk to Me, directed by twin brothers Danny and Michael Philippou, continues to impress, with a third frame result of $447,760 pushing the film to $2.5 million. That means the Maslow Entertainment title has now overtaken Blueback to become the second highest grossing local film of the year behind John Farnham: Finding the Voice. Last week, US distributor A24 announced there will be a sequel.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One cracked the $20 million mark in its fifth weekend, having brought in an additional $388,714 for Paramount.
Indian title Gadar 2, starring Sunny Deol, took $317,895 from just 44 screens. In India, the period drama is the second highest opener of 2023 behind Pathaan.
Rounding out the top 10 was Dracula: Voyage of the Demeter, which gathered just $258,816 for Studiocanal from 193 screens, or $272,407 with previews. The period horror is produced by Amblin, Steven Spielberg’s production company. Pro-rata, that is worse than the North America debut, where the film (there titled The Last Voyage of the Demeter) bombed with an opening of $US6.5 million.
“Dracula was probably not that appealing to younger horror fans given the period nature of the film,” observes Dell.
Of the other Australian titles in release, Madman doco Rachel’s Farm, which follows Rachel Ward’s regenerative agriculture journey, drew $17,758 in its second to move to $133,820.
Warwick Thornton’s The New Boy has reached $804,255 after six weekends for Roadshow, having earned an extra $13,729.
Australian box office data is sourced via Numero.