Captain America: The Winter Soldier and The LEGO Movie squared off at Australian cinemas last weekend.
The Marvel superheroes triumphed but the 3D animated film wasn’t far behind. Arguably the big winners were cinema owners as the 4-day takings soared by 36% to $17 million, and the distributors, the Walt Disney Co. and Roadshow.
With school holidays starting in Victoria and Queensland today, The LEGO Movie could overtake the action-adventure later this week.
The superhero saga starring Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson and Robert Redford raked in $6 million in 4 days and $6.3 million including the prior weekend’s previews, according to Rentrak's estimates.
That’s well ahead of Captain America: The First Avenger, which opened with $4.6 million in 2011 and wound up with $10.6 million.
The Animal Logic-animated LEGO Movie featuring the voices of Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks and Will Arnett snared $5.7 million in 4 days and $6.1 million with previews.
Given the heavyweight competition, Darren Aronofsky’s Biblical epic Noah predictably took a hit in its second weekend, tumbling by 51% to $2.2 million, propelling its tally to just shy of $8.2 million.
The LEGO Movie took its toll on DreamWorks’ animated comedy Mr Peabody & Sherman, which fell by 57% to $1.06 million, making $5.2 million in 11 days. However the time-travelling caper about a super-smart canine and his young human protégé should trade well during the holidays, albeit as second-choice for kids behind the mini-figures.
All the other titles in the top 10 slumped with the exception of Wadjda. The first feature shot entirely in Saudi Arabia, the chronicle of a young girl who defies convention by trying to enough money to buy a bike earned $87,000 in its third weekend on 27 screens, off by 4%, advancing to $360,000.
John Curran’s Tracks made $72,000 in its fifth weekend, bringing its cume to $2.2 million.
New distributor Leap Frog Films' African-set drama Half of a Yellow Sun had a solid second weekend, earning $28,000, scoring $78,000 so far.
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE April 3-6
|
|
Title |
Week/ Screens |
Box Office |
% +- |
Total
|
|
1 |
Captain America 2 |
1/571 |
$6,058,676 |
NA |
$6,355,027 |
|
2 |
The LEGO Movie |
1/537 |
5,711,151 |
NA |
6,129,297 |
|
3 |
Noah |
2/387 |
2,232,347 |
-51 |
8,187,229 |
|
4 |
Mr Peabody & Sherman |
2/508 |
1,068,668 |
-57 |
5,204,958 |
|
5 |
The Monuments Men |
4/341 |
597,785 |
-50 |
7,927,272 |
|
6 |
Ride Along |
3/121 |
274,449 |
-55 |
2,238,825 |
|
7 |
Need for Speed |
4/120 |
181,193 |
-69 |
4,089,475 |
|
8 |
300: Rise of Empire |
5/89 |
101,565 |
-77 |
8,412,611 |
|
9 |
Dallas Buyers Club |
8/45 |
101,322 |
-29 |
2,836,825 |
|
10 |
Wadjda |
3/25 |
87,333 |
-4 |
359,909 |
Source: Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia