Australian-Singapore shark thriller Bait 3D has continued its soft local box office performance, posting a near 50 per cent decline in its second weekend at cinemas.
The tongue-in-cheek horror film, about a group of people trapped in a flooded supermarket and car park where they are hunted by white pointer sharks, grossed $190,646 giving it a screen average of just $825 across 231 screens. The Paramount-distributed film has now grossed $776,457 in total.
Last week, director Kimble Rendall pointed to the film's international success in countries such as Italy, Thailand (where it opened in the number three position) and Malaysia (where it opened at number two). Bait 3D is also set to open in major territories Russia and China.
The $20 million film's mix of horror and humour is likely to play better internationally than to local audiences, who rarely support such fare. Australian cave diving thriller Sanctum grossed $3.87 million in early-2011 but found a much larger audience in countries such as Russia ($US8.64 million), Brazil ($US5.53 million) and Japan ($US4.75 million).
Meanwhile, upcoming Australian comedy-drama Mental posted $337,385 in preview screenings across 223 screens over the weekend. The PJ Hogan film marks a rare foray into Australian distribution for Universal, which is rolling out a major campaign to support the release. The film opens on October 4.
Contact this reporter at bswift@www.if.com.au or on Twitter at @bcswift.
Australian films at the box office 2012