The charismatic Tom Hanks in the title role of high seas thriller Captain Phillips helped inject life into the flagging Australian box office last weekend.
The Paul Greengrass-directed saga based on the true story of the 2009 hijacking of a US container ship by Somali pirates fetched $2.16 million. That’s a sturdy figure for a film that appeals to mature audiences who don’t tend to rush out to see films on the opening weekend.
Captain Phillips ended the three-week reign by Gravity, which eased by just 20% to $1.9 million, boosting its takings to a stellar $15 million, en route to a probable final tally of around $20 million.
Richard Curtis’ time-travelling comedy/drama About Time held stoically, down by just 15% to $1.4 million, which brings its earnings to $4.3 million in 11 days.
In its second weekend the Hugh Jackman starrer Prisoners fell by 28% to $791,000, advancing to a decent $2.3 million.
Machete Kills, the sequel to Robert Rodriguez’ 2010 action comedy Machete, was dead-on-arrival, taking $106,000 on 65 screens. It seems audiences were uninterested in the tale featuring Danny Trejo as a Mexican secret agent.
The 91 films in current release collectively clocked up $9.2 million last weekend, just 2% up on the prior weekend, so business overall is far from robust.
Steve Coogan’s turn as a foot-in-mouth radio announcer in Alan Partridge: Alpha Male, fell flat as the spoof took $75,000 on 22 screens, and $101,000 including previews.
In the art house market, Renoir, the biopic of the French painter, opened with a dismal $22,000 on nine screens, $84,000 with previews, faring better than Blancanieves, the critically-acclaimed, silent black-and-white Spanish riff on Snow White, which made $18,000 on 15.
Tim Winton’s The Turning crossed the $1 million milestone, collecting $60,000, off 20%, in its fifth frame.
Ivan Sen’s Mystery Road rang up $50,000 in its second outing on 16 screens, a 17% drop indicating good word-of-mouth, propelling its total to $184,000.
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE Oct 24-27
|
|
Title |
Week/ Screens |
Box Office |
% +- |
Total
|
|
1 |
Captain Phillips |
1/339 |
$2,166,434 |
NA |
$2,212,761 |
|
2 |
Gravity |
4/488 |
1,920,909 |
-20 |
15,065,509 |
|
3 |
About Time |
2/206 |
1,429,837 |
-15 |
4,336,897 |
|
4 |
Prisoners |
2/204 |
791,258 |
-28 |
2,327,762 |
|
5 |
2 Guns |
3/234 |
631,147 |
-34 |
4,302,950 |
|
6 |
Grown Ups 2 |
5/192 |
374,885 |
-28 |
10,518,461 |
|
7 |
Rush |
4/174 |
295,284 |
-42 |
3,893,104 |
|
8 |
Turbo |
6/187 |
194,785 |
-30 |
12,505,527 |
|
9 |
The Family |
3/144 |
171,388 |
-41 |
1,289,609 |
|
10 |
Blue Jasmine |
7/102 |
156,869 |
-22 |
5,637,515 |
Source: Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia