The weekend box office chart describes the screenings of the highly-anticipated comedy Ted as previews yet the film grossed an impressive $4,383,129 over the four days up to Sunday night. That the film was shown on 243 screens accounted for this buoyant business, at least in part.
This is a particularly pleasing result for distributor Universal, and also the team at Iloura, the Victorian special effects company which, along with Tippet Studios in California, was responsible for animating the foul-mouthed bear at the heart of the film.
With this level of interest – the screen average was $18,038 — expect a big result when Ted officially launches this week.
Australia generally follows the enthusiasms of US audiences and Ted topped the box office chart in North America with US$54.1 million for the three days up to Sunday night. This is the biggest result for an original R-rated comedy, a box office record previously held by The Hangover.
Ted wasn’t the most popular film of the weekend however. That honour went to the Fox’s PG animation Ice Age 4: Continental Drift, which grossed $4,895,088 from 490 screens in its opening weekend. But Ted was clearly snapping at its heels.
Rounding out the top five were the first, second and third placegetters from last weekend: Univeral’s Snow White and the Huntsman with a gross of $3,488,968 (representing a fall of 44% on last weekend’s gross); Walt Disney’s animated film Brave with $1,901,231 (-24%); and Fox’s Prometheus with $865,931 (-43%).
Australian Films at the Box Office 2012