Finally landing in Australia almost a month behind the US, Blue Beetle, Warner Bros.’ latest instalment in the DC Extended Universe, had a middling start at the box office and was unable to unseat stablemate The Nun II from the no. 1 position.
The Xolo Maridueña-starrer bowed to $1.12 million from 378 screens, outpaced by The Nun II‘s second weekend result of $1.4 million.
Pro-rata, the Australian opening result is even below that of North America, where it was released August 18 to $US25.4 million, DC’s second worst domestic weekend ever behind Wonder Woman 1984, which opened during the pandemic day and date with HBO Max. It has so far made $US120 million globally, with $US67.4 million earned in US/Canada.
While the local results were soft, they matched exhibitors’ predictions.
“Blue Beetle was in line with our slight expectations given that it’s a DC Film no one was asking for,” Wallis Cinemas programming manager David Simpson tells IF.
Last weekend proved the slowest for ticket sales since May, with Numero data putting the top 20 titles at $9.5 million, a dip of 30 per cent on the previous weekend. However, with school holidays starting this week in Victoria and Queensland and other states around the corner, numbers should lift.
“It was a very quiet weekend indeed, with a combination of averagely appealing movie offerings and early summer weather, and no school holidays yet, combining to ensure it,” Majestic Cinemas CEO Kieren Dell tells IF.
“A lot of the current movies including Turtles, Blue Beetle and Haunted Mansion, and a few new ones like Ruby Gillman and Paw Patrol, are very much geared towards the holidays. The holidays will be a feast of such choices for our patrons, and I expect all of them to pick up but hard to see any of them dominating (albeit Turtles has the best chance) and will likely spread the box office fairly evenly across a multitude of titles.”
The weekend’s other new major release, Disney’s A Haunting in Venice, also got off to a relatively slow start as well, drawing $949,872 ($1 million with previews) to land in fifth position behind My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.
Again, the local result is behind, pro-rata, that of US/Canada, where the Kenneth Branagh title generated $US14.5 million. Deadline posits the film, which boasts an ensemble cast of Branagh, Michelle Yeoh, Jamie Dornan and Tina Fey, has been hurt by the SAG-AFTRA strike, which prevents actors from promoting their films.
Dell found the film had a reasonable opening on his regional NSW and Queensland circuit, appealing to older audiences “despite the horror overtones and the title potentially turning them off”.
By screen average, the best performer in the top 20 – by far – at $11,385 was China Lion Films’ Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms, which took $535,087 from 47 screens. The Chinese film is based on a classical fantasy novel Fengshen Yanyi, and has been one of the most successful titles of the year in its home market, earning more than $US375 million.
Of the holdovers, The Nun II’s $1.4 million sophomore result is a 40 per cent drop on its opening, bringing the horror to $4.4 million overall.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 held well in its second for Universal, dropping only 37 per cent to $1.11 million, putting it just a hair behind Blue Beetle. Overall the title stands at $3.8 million.
Also in its second, Paramount’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem dropped 45 per cent to $1 million, moving to $3.6 million. However, as canvassed above, it is poised to benefit from the school holidays in the weekends ahead.
The Equalizer 3 rang up $917,905 in its third, bringing the Sony title to $7.6 million, while Bollywood blockbuster Jawan gathered $802,161 in its second, advancing to $3.6 million for Mindblowing Films.
WB’s Barbie now stands at $83.8 million after a ninth weekend result of $486,986, and Oppenheimer is at $39.8 million after taking $380,156.
Of the Australian titles in release, Maslow Entertainment’s Talk to Me remains in the top 20. Its eighth weekend result of $60,323 puts it just shy of cracking the $4 million mark. In the US, where it was released by A24, the horror has made just under $US47 million.
Antidote Films released doco Climate Changers, directed by Johan Gabrielsson, on 20 screens, bringing in $24,650. The distributor held a special screening on Sunday with a live streamed Q&A event featuring Professor Tim Flannery, Dr. Saul Griffith and Kavita Naidu will participate in the live streamed Q&A, moderated by actor and climate advocate Yael Stone.
After three weekends, Ego: The Michael Gudinski Story stands at $462,226, having pocketed another $20,004 for Mushroom.
Australian box office data is sourced via Numero.