By Simon de Bruyn
Baz Luhrmann’s saturation marketed Australia was easily and unsurprisingly the box office champ among Australian films released in 2008.
However, for a clearer picture of how well Australian films have been performing in cinemas it’s worth looking at the films in its wake.
Known budgets have been added following reader requests.
| FILM | BOX OFFICE | BUDGET |
| Australia | $37,232,340 | $150,000,000 |
| The Black Balloon | $2,258,163 | $4,000,000 |
| Children of the Silk Road (co-pro) | $1,165,962 | $18,000,000 |
| Unfinished Sky | $966,160 | $4,300,000 |
| Hey Hey It’s Esther Blueburger | $843,029 | $6,000,000 |
| Death Defying Acts (co-pro) | $713,741 | $20,000,000 |
| Dying Breed | $525,384 | $3,000,000 |
| The Square | $317,914 | |
| Newcastle | $213,563 | $3,000,000 |
| Cactus | $160,934 | $1,200,000 |
| Son of a Lion | $124,668 | $485,000 |
| Black Water | $111,989 | $1,200,000 |
| Men’s Group | $67,184 | $1,000,000 |
| The Tender Hook | $64,232 | $7,000,000 |
| Ten Empty | $49,015 | $1,000,000 |
| Crooked Business | $27,804 | $2,000,000 |
| Global Haywire | $21,926 | |
| Bitter & Twisted | $12,555 | $200,000 |
| The View From Greenhaven | $6,648 | $1,000,000 |
| Broken Sun | $5,089 | $50,000 |
| Monkey Puzzle | $3,236 | $1,000,000 |
| DOCUMENTARY | BOX OFFICE | BUDGET |
| Salute | $198,758 | $1,850,000 |
| Not Quite Hollywood | $186,986 | |
| Night | $94,196 | |
| Rock N Roll Nerd | $33,350 | |
| Glass: A Portrait of Philip in 12 Parts | $26,768 | |
| Celebrity: Dominick Dunne | $21,427 | $560,000 |
| Whatever Happened to Brenda Hean | $3,209 | |
| Lionel | $1,697 |
Note: We acknowledge box office returns do not equate to profit or cash return to the filmmakers, and could be considered an arbitrary measure of a film’s success. For example, Black Water is now a profitable film, based on sales to 85 or so territories rather than its local box office. However, its the best independent measure we have to assess a film’s financial success.
Sony Pictures has been reportedly circulating the list with their 2007 release Gabriel slotted into the table. This film is a 2007 release and should not be listed among these 2008 releases.
This list has been compiled over the course of 2008/09 by INSIDEFILM. All box office numbers are taken from MPDAA stats, current as of Monday 12 January, and apply to Australian films that had a theatrical release in 2008 – and reported their numbers. Budgets are based on previously reported figures. All figures are in Australian dollars.