Australian-Singapore horror film Bait 3D has bombed at the box office, grossing less than $370,000 in its opening weekend.
The film, about sharks attacking a group of people trapped in a supermarket and car park flooded by a tsunami, grossed just $365,187 across 283 screens for a screen average of $1290. It is one of the worst recent performances by an Australian film in wide release.
Distributor Paramount also had a poor result with teen drama Wasted on the Young, which grossed $52,907 across 54 screens in its opening weekend of March 2011 (for a screen average $979). Fox's Matching Jack opened with $261,505 across 186 screens (for a screen average of $1405) in September 2010 and back in 2008, Disney's $6 million teen drama Hey Hey It's Esther Blueburger took $302,033 across 134 screens (for a screen average of $2253).
The teen horror market is not a popular one in Australia with the exception of films such as the Paranormal Activity franchise and Wolf Creek. Bait 3D was pre-sold to all major territories and is expected to perform better in overseas markets.
Bait 3D's opening weekend result placed it in tenth position on the overall box office weekend chart. Local comedy Kath & Kimderella grossed another $558,184 in its third weekend at cinemas (placing it in sixth position) while feel-good film The Sapphires took another $441,029 in its seventh weekend (placing it in eighth position overall).
The Sapphires has now grossed more than $12.7 million, making it the sixteenth-best performing Australian film of all time (not adjusted for inflation) behind 1988 hit comedy Young Einstein ($13.38 million).
Meanwhile, local war drama Lore opened in limited release across 11 screens, grossing $64,521 (for a screen average of $5866). Feature documentary Storm Surfers 3D doubled last weekend's box office takings with $64,558: its $600,000-plus box office performance further cementing its place as one of the most successful Australian feature documentaries of all time.
Contact this reporter at bswift@www.if.com.au or on Twitter at @bcswift.
Australian films at the box office 2012