The Marvel franchise in Australia is growing by leaps and bounds, judging by last weekend’s brawny debut of Thor: The Dark World.
The superhero adventure which stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins, Tom Hiddleston and Idris Elba, amassed $7.2 million from Thursday to Sunday, and $7.4 million including previews.
The 4-day figure was 34% bigger than the $5.3 million opening of Thor in 2011, prompting one exhibitor to observe, “After Captain America: The First Avenger and Iron Man 3, the Marvel franchise is getting bigger.”
The Marvel film virtually singlehandedly boosted the total B.O. by 46% to $13.5 million after a few flat weeks. In second spot, high seas drama Captain Phillips steamed ahead to $4.5 million after its second weekend, easing by 32%, taking $1.5 million.
Lee Daniels' The Butler opened with a mediocre $849,000 on 184 screens, perhaps not surprising for a drama with a very US-centric subject, the tale of a White House butler who served seven Presidents, starring Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey.
British time-travelling comedy/drama About Time rang up $915,000 in its third outing, tumbling by 36%, elevating its takings to a fair $5.8 million.
The latest Bollywood import, Krrish 3, a superhero sci-fi drama starring Hrithik Roshan, directed and produced by Rakesh Roshan, took a juicy $208,000 on 34 screens. That continues the successful results of the earlier two editions, Koi … Mil Gaya (I Found Someone) and Krrish.
In the art-house arena, French writer/director Ursula Meier¹s Sister, a drama about two siblings struggling to find a place in the world, starring Léa Seydoux, Kacey Mottet Klein and Gillian Anderson, launched with a modest $28,000 on seven screens. Including festival screenings, the total is $146,000.
Fly Me to the Moon, Pascal Chaumeil's French romantic comedy about a woman who tries to break the family curse of every first marriage ending in divorce by dashing to the altar with a random stranger before marrying her boyfriend, misfired, taking $12,000 on 10 screens.
Among the local titles, Ivan Sen’s Mystery Road fetched $38,000 in its third frame, advancing to $244,000, while Tim Winton's The Turning reached $1.1 million after pocketing $35,000 in its sixth weekend.
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE Oct 31-Nov 3
|
|
Title |
Week/ Screens |
Box Office |
% +- |
Total
|
|
1 |
Thor: The Dark World |
1/609 |
$7,209,749 |
NA |
$7,390,813 |
|
2 |
Captain Phillips |
2/338 |
1,468,637 |
-32 |
4,557,146 |
|
3 |
Gravity |
5/440 |
1,061,464 |
-45 |
16,794,168 |
|
4 |
About Time |
3/267 |
915,843 |
-36 |
5,810,674 |
|
5 |
The Butler |
1/184 |
848,940 |
NA |
848,940 |
|
6 |
Prisoners |
3/207 |
441,688 |
-44 |
3,056,701 |
|
7 |
2 Guns |
4/176 |
242,989 |
-62 |
4,763,127 |
|
8 |
Krrish 3 |
1/34 |
207,602 |
NA |
207,602 |
|
9 |
Grown Ups 2 |
6/141 |
157,325 |
-58 |
10,762,399 |
|
10 |
Rush |
5/64 |
106,845 |
-64 |
4,110,586 |
Source: Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia