‘Jigsaw’.
Peter and Michael Spierig’s Saw reboot Jigsaw had a reasonably good debut for the genre in Australia last weekend, while those in search of escapist entertainment turned out for Bad Moms 2.
Ben Elton’s Western Australian-set romantic comedy Three Summers had a fair bit of momentum going into the weekend from festival premieres and Q&A screenings around Australia hosted by the writer-director.
While the opening weekend figure was modest, Transmission Films’ Andrew Mackie tells IF that audiences’ responses are very positive and with word of mouth, he hopes it will follow a similar trajectory to Ali’s Wedding, which is still playing after 10 weeks and has grossed $1.2 million.
None of the newcomers including My Little Pony: The Movie could catch the meteoric second weekend of Disney/Marvel Studios’ Thor: Ragnarok, which also conquered the US with an estimated $US121 million, by far the biggest debut in the three-pic franchise.
In Oz the top 20 titles harvested $14 million, a trifling 6 per cent drop on the previous weekend, according to Numero.
Directed by Taika Waititi, the Thor reboot rang up $6.7 million at 305 locations, down just 34 per cent, banking a lucrative $20.2 million in 11 days.
The worldwide cume for the superhero adventure starring Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Idris Elba, Jeff Goldblum, Tessa Thompson, Mark Ruffalo and Anthony Hopkins topped $427 million, boosted by China’s $55.6 million debut.
Starring Mila Kunis, Kathryn Hahn and Kristen Bell, the raunchy Bad Moms sequel from the original’s writers-directors Jon Lucas and Scott Moore yukked up $2.8 million at 285 cinemas and $3.5 million with previews for Roadshow. Pro-rata, that is better than the $17 million three-day opening in the US.
In five days in the US the slapstick comedy, which could have been titled Bad Moms and Grandmoms given the contributions from Christine Baranksi, Cheryl Hines and Susan Sarandon, has pocketed a moderate $21.5 million.
The eighth edition in the Saw franchise created by director James Wan and writer Leigh Whannell, Jigsaw conjured up $920,000 at 208 and $1.1 million with previews for StudioCanal.
The gruesome horror movie which features Tobin Bell, Matt Passmore, Clé Bennett, Hannah Emily Anderson, Laura Vandervoort, Mandela Van Peebles, Paul Braunstein and Brittany Allen top-scored with $16.6 million in its US debut, where it has raked in an estimated $28.8 million in 10 days. Not a big number but the production cost was an economical $10 million and the franchise has amassed more than $900 million globally, so the producers are still laughing.
Sony’s Blade Runner 2049 climbed to $12.1 million after drumming up $363,000 in its fifth outing at 174.
A spin-off from the TV series, animated comedy/adventure My Little Pony: The Movie, which features the voices of Emily Blunt, Kristin Chenoweth and Liev Schreiber, fetched just $359,000 at 215 and $496,000 with sneaks for Madman Entertainment. That was predictable as the film has earned a mere $20.9 million in the US for Lionsgate.
In its third weekend Warner Bros/Skydance’s disaster Geostorm, a suspense thriller starring Gerard Butler, Jim Sturgess, Abbie Cornish, Alexandra Maria Lara and Daniel Wu, mustered a feeble $264,000 at 220, staggering along to $2.8 million.
Fox’s survival thriller/romance The Mountain Between Us peaked at $4.6 million after collecting $250,000 in its fourth weekend at 241.
Three Summers whistled up $219,000 at 124 cinemas, which brings the total for the film starring Magda Szubanski, Michael Caton, Robert Sheehan, Rebecca Breeds and John Waters to $291,000. Given the setting at a Western Australian folk music festival, it’s no surprise that six of the top 10 grossing cinemas are in that state.
Loving Vincent, co-directors Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman’s portrait of Vincent Van Gogh in the world’s first full-length animated film composed entirely in oils, drew a fair $166,000 on 46 and $176,000 with previews for Madman.
Suburbicon, the George Clooney-directed black comedy starring Mat Damon, Julianne Moore and Noah Jupe, is fast losing screens and friends after its calamitous debut. The Roadshow release took a pitiful $163,000 in its second weekend at 178 and with $689,000 in the till may struggle to get to $1 million.