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Balibo posts solid opening weekend

By Brendan Swift

Political thriller Balibo has posted the third biggest opening weekend at the box office this year among local films while controversial drama Beautiful Kate continues to build momentum in its second week of release.

Balibo, released last Thursday across 23 screens, posted a solid $206,290 over its first weekend for a total of $246,940 at the box office. The $4.5 million film’s tale of the murder of five journalists in East Timor in 1975 has received solid press coverage in recent weeks.

Rachel Ward’s directorial debut Beautiful Kate posted $368,059 in its second week, well above last week’s $345,844 take (which was bolstered by sneak preview weekend results). The film, shown on 29 screens, is being distributed by Roadshow, which also counts several other local films among its local slate including the upcoming $25 million Mao’s Last Dancer.

Meanwhile, indigenous art house feature Samson and Delilah has become only the third Australian film to crack the $3 million mark at the local box office in the past three years.

The Cannes award winning film added $47,811 in its fifteenth week of release and maintains its position as the highest annual grossing local film behind Australia ($26.9 million in 2008) and Happy Feet ($20.7 million in 2007) of the past three years.

Film  Budget   Distributor   Opening w/e  Weeks  Box Office 
Samson and Delilah  $1.6m   Para/Trans/Footprint   $        199,163 15  $  3,001,525
Mary and Max  $8m   Icon   $          217,176 15  $    1,444,617
Disgrace  $10m   Icon   $        209,014 9  $  1,127,995
My Year Without Sex  $3.8m   Para/Trans/Footprint   $        177,461 12  $  1,077,992
Love the Beast    Madman   $          241,982 9  $       777,351
The Combination  $1.169m   AFS   $          188,054 11  $       727,586
Beautiful Kate  $6m est.   Roadshow   $        273,582 2  $     713,903
Last Ride  $4m   Madman   $          76,459 8  $     350,327
Two Fists, One Heart  $8.5m   BVI   $            96,999 2  $       295,500
Wake in Fright    Madman   $          25,446 8  $     266,976
Balibo  $4.5m   Para/Trans/Footprint   $        206,290 1  $     246,940
Cedar Boys  $1.36m   Hoyts/Mushroom   $          74,793 3  $     194,310
Beautiful  $2m   Kojo/Jump Street   $            22,406 6  $         55,619
Closed for Winter  $2m   Omnilab Media   $            19,449 6  $         53,370
Shadows of the Past  $    820,000  Summer Night   $            13,927 11  $         45,490
Bastardy  $  260,000  Film Camp   $            7,822 8  $       37,570
Lake Mungo    Darclight films   $            2,390 3  $       26,411
Lucky Country  $2m est.   Para/Trans/Footprint   $            11,413 4  $         26,141
The Burning Season    Gil Scrine/Freshwater   $            4,865 5  $       19,121
The Chifleys of Busby St    Ronin   $              3,760 1  $         13,123
Crush  $2m   Filmscope/Odin’s Eye   $              8,304 1  $         13,051
Bad Bush    VVVF   $              1,909    $           3,961
Salvation    Hopscotch   $              2,262 1  $           3,182
Prey   $4m   Damage Releasing   $              1,089 15  $           1,089
 $  10,482,500