Brad Pitt was box-office gold in Inglourious Basterds but audiences don't seem to find his latest stab at playing a US soldier in the heat of battle in WW2 quite as compelling.
Fury, which stars Pitt as the leader of a tank crew fighting its way across Germany in the spring of 1945, captured nearly $2.6 million in its first four days in Australia.
That’s below the $3.05 million debut in 2009 of Quentin Tarantino’ brutal drama, which wound up earning a potent $13.8 million.
True, Fury’s writer-director David Ayer is no Tarantino. Ayer wrote Training Day and directed the action movies Sabotage, End of Watch and Street Kings.
And Fury’s ensemble cast of Pitt, Logan Lerman, Shia LaBeouf, Michael Peña and Jon Bernthal isn’t as stellar as Basterds’ Christoph Waltz, Mélanie Laurent, Michael Fassbender, Eli Roth and Diane Kruger.
The box-office remains in a trough as takings totalled $9.8 million, a smidgen up on the previous weekend. David Fincher’s Gone Girl continues to show great stamina, advancing to $19.3 million after pulling in $2.2 million in its fourth frame.
A marquee cast of Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Jane Fonda, Adam Driver and Rose Byrne didn’t draw many punters to Shawn Levy’s This is Where I Leave You as the dysfunctional comedy opened with $832,000 on 235 screens and $889,000 with previews.
Bollywood fans turned out for Farah Khan’s Happy New Year, a crime caper/romance/musical about an Indian diamond thief who plans a heist at Dubai’s glitziest resort during a massive dance contest, which rang up $380,000 on 30 screens.
Kaththi, a Tamil action film directed by AR Murugadoss, debuted with a sturdy $106,000 at nine cinemas and $161,000 with previews.
None of the other newcomers aroused much interest. The critics raved about Whiplash but the drama about a sadistic, demanding music teacher/jazz band leader and his 19-year-old drummer pupil, starring J.K. Simmons and Miles Teller, drummed up just $131,000 on 37 screens and $171,000 with sneaks.
David Trueba’s Living is Easy with Eyes Closed, the saga of a school teacher who vows to meet his hero John Lennon when the former Beatle arrived in Spain to shoot a film in 1966, took $67,000 on 14 screens but after festival screenings has raked in a lucrative $192,000.
Hector and the Search for Happiness, Peter Chelsom’s dramedy about a psychiatrist who embarks on a global quest in hopes of uncovering the elusive secret formula for true happiness, starring Simon Pegg, Toni Collette, Rosamund Pike, Stellan Skarsgård, Jean Reno and Christopher Plummer, took a joyless $65,000 on 42 screens.
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE October 23-26
|
|
Title |
Week/ Screens |
Box Office |
% +- |
Total
|
|
1 |
Fury |
1/336 |
$2,557,187 |
NA |
$2,602,887 |
|
2 |
Gone Girl |
4/411 |
2,186,244 |
-30 |
19,326,789 |
|
3 |
This Is Where I Leave You |
1/235 |
832,932 |
NA |
889,412 |
|
4 |
Tammy |
2/211 |
657,286 |
-40 |
2,081,144 |
|
5 |
A Walk Among the Tombstones |
2/238 |
535,885 |
-52 |
2,060,366 |
|
6 |
Happy New Year |
1/30 |
380,115 |
NA |
380,115 |
|
7 |
Annabelle |
4/170 |
353,503 |
-48 |
5,557,116 |
|
8 |
Dracula Untold |
4/163 |
309,977 |
-49 |
5,367,363 |
|
9 |
The Judge |
3/247 |
280,948 |
-58 |
2,710,499 |
|
10 |
The Maze Runner |
6/169 |
277,771 |
-45 |
15,737,806 |
Source: Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia