Aus box office: Big-budget ‘Furiosa’ underperforms; ‘The Way, My Way’ to become third local film to pass $1m

Animated family-friendly film Garfield opened strongly with $2.96 million at the box office over the weekend, consigning local blockbuster Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga into second place.

The post-apocalyptic Furiosa dropped 31 per cent to $2.29 million in its second weekend at local cinemas. It dropped 113 screens to 517 in total (screen average $4,431). Garfield was shown on 412 screens giving it a higher screen average of $7,198.

The fifth film in the Mad Max franchise – and the most expensive Australian film in history – also continues to post less-than-spectacular results internationally. Furiosa took $US10.7 million in North America over the weekend from 3,864 venues, behind Garfield ($US14 million from 4,108 cinemas) and kids fantasy film IF ($US10.8 million from 3,783 venues).

It is a disappointment to cinema owners who continue to struggle with increasing costs, shifting audience demand given the rise of popular streaming services, as well as fewer blockbusters to release in the wake of last year’s writer and actors’ strikes.

Meanwhile, IF took third place in Australia ($1.3 million), followed by the Australian-filmed duo of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes ($1.07 million) and The Fall Guy ($580,547).

But the surprise local standout performer was Bill Bennett’s The Way, My Way in its third weekend at cinemas. It added 64 screens, bringing the total to 165, in response to positive word-of-mouth. The result was a 20 per cent lift in box office takings to $195,397.

The result pushed The Way, My Way passed horror film Late Night With The Devil, which was also distributed by Maslow Entertainment.

“We’ve shared in some wonderful success around the country,” Maslow Entertainment’s managing director, Marc Wooldridge, told IF, “especially with the independent cinemas that identified and embraced the potential of this film early, and clearly their audiences are responding extremely well to its feel good and inspiring themes.  And the word-of-mouth is obviously very strong based on the bump in box office we just experienced over the past weekend .”

The Way, My Way tells the true story of a self-centered Australian man who decides to walk the famed 800-kilometre-long Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route through Spain, which changes his life.

The film has also performed strongly in New Zealand, where it has grossed around NZ$288,000 to date. It is set to surpass Force of Nature: The Dry 2 (NZ$295,000) within days.

A key part of the film’s appeal to audiences has been tapping into the wide community of Camino enthusiasts in Australia through a national Q&A screening tour. The response at the box office has prompted a new round of Q&A screening events over the next month with Bennett and producer-actor Jennifer Cluff.

It will include six special screenings, beginning at Sydney art-house venues Dendy Cinemas Newtown and the Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace; before shifting to the Blue Mountains-based Glenbrook Cinema; Perth’s Luna Palace Cinema; and wrapping up at the Mudgee Town Hall Cinema.

Australian films have struggled to find an audience in recent years. In 2023, only three other local films grossed more than the $1 million: Talk to Me, Blueback and John Farnham: Finding The Voice).

Australian box office data is sourced via Numero.

Australian films box office performance (2024)

Films shot in Australia box office performance (2024)