Australian films have raked in $14 million at the national box-office this year, a much stronger start than the first three months of 2013.
Jonathan Teplitzky’s The Railway Man has exceeded the industry’s expectations, making $5.5 million this calendar year and $7.2 million since its Boxing Day launch.
Greg Mclean’s Wolf Creek 2 has pocketed nearly $4.7 million, a solid number, although the sequel won’t match the original’s $6.1 million haul in 2005.
John Curran’s Tracks has taken nearly $2.1 million, a modest result given the mostly laudatory reviews, the extensive ad-pub campaign and Mia Wasikowska’s knock-out performance as the “camel girl” Robyn Davidson.
One school of thought is that the film was impacted by competition from Oscar-winner 12 Years a Slave and The Monuments Men.
Another theory holds that many people were familiar with the tale of the young woman’s 2,700 km trek across the Outback and wrongly expected the film to be slow-moving and uneventful; or perhaps the concept just didn’t resonate widely, particularly among the younger demographic.
The one major misfire is Stuart Beattie’s I, Frankenstein, whose fate was probably sealed after the action-horror film was pilloried by US critics in January and finished up with $US19 million, a poor return on the $65 million budget.
Hidden Universe 3D, Backyard Ashes, Lygon Street: Si Parla Italiano and Uncharted Waters: The Wayne Lynch Story continued their runs from last year, advancing to, in order, $637,000, $409,000, $266,000 and $113,000 respectively.
So, all told, that’s a much better performance than the first three months of 2013 when Save Your Legs!, Blinder and Goddess debuted and collectively ended up with $2.1 million.
The outlook is promising with Craig Monahan’s Healing, Sophie Hyde’s 52 Tuesdays, Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook, Aaron Wilson's Canopy and David Michôd's The Rover among the titles set to open in the next few months.
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AUSTRALIAN FILMS SCORECARD 2014
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Title |
Release Date |
Total |
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1 |
The Railway Man |
Dec 26 2013 |
$5,529,863*
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|
2 |
Wolf Creek 2 |
February 20 |
4,693,871
|
|
3 |
Tracks |
March 6 |
2,065,031
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|
4 |
I, Frankenstein |
March 20 |
343,988
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|
5 |
Hidden Universe 3D |
Sept 5 2013 |
176,199*
|
|
6 |
Backyard Ashes |
Nov 7 2013 |
167,347*
|
|
7
|
Lygon Street: Si Parla Italiano |
Nov 14 2013 |
102,386* |
|
8 |
Convict |
January 23 |
60,281 |
|
9 |
Uncharted Waters |
Nov 18 2013 |
23,422* |
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10 |
Antarctica |
1996 |
18,944* |
Source: Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia
*Calendar 2014 gross