In the US, M Night Shyamalan’s Knock at the Cabin finally dethroned Avatar: The Way of Water after seven weekends at the top of the box office. However, here in Australia, audiences continued to prefer adventures in Pandora, with the James Cameron sequel now edging towards $90 million gross.
Knock at the Cabin, distributed by Universal, bowed to $811,663 from 314 screens – in the no. 2 position but still well behind The Way of Water‘s weekend haul of $1.7 million.
Shyamalan’s latest psychological horror is adapted from a novel by Paul Tremblay, following a family who is suddenly held hostage by strangers who are trying to prevent the apocalypse.
In North America, the film premiered to $US14.2 million, which – while knocking Avatar off its perch – ranks as the lowest opening weekend of Shyamalan’s career. However, with just a reported $US20 million production budget, it is likely to comfortably recoup.
Village Cinemas national programming manager Geoff Chard had hoped for more for the film locally.
“The opening of Knock at the Cabin was softer than expected, and certainly under pro-rate when compared to the US,” he tells IF.
Wallis Cinemas programming manager David Simpson was similarly underwhelmed, noting: “Only one of our locations had any type of success with Knock at the Cabin – elsewhere it was one of our weakest opening’s for several weeks.”
Exhibitors were far more pleased with the results for two alternate content releases in Piece of Magic Entertainment’s Andre Rieu in Dublin and Trafalgar Releasing’s BTS: Yet to Come in Cinemas.
The former generated $765,312 from 160 screens, while the latter took $511,484 from 122 screens ($719,710 with previews).
Given the limited number of sessions, Chard regards each as a great success. “It certainly added to what would have otherwise been a relatively quiet weekend.”
Simpson adds: “Andre and BTS were by far our most outstanding releases this past week.”
The weekend’s other key new release was Madman’s The Whale, which bowed to $436,010 from 159 screens, and with previews, stands at $829,785. Directed by Darren Aronofsky, the film follows Brendan Fraser as a reclusive, morbidly obese English teacher attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter.
Fraser and co-star Hong Chau are each Oscar nominated, with the film also up for Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling.
Cinema Nova in Melbourne’s Carlton was the no. 1 site for the film nationally, but CEO Krsitian Connolly notes it was still fourth at the complex behind other Oscar nominees Tár, Banshees of Inisherin and Triangle of Sadness.
“Oscar contender The Whale opened respectably at Cinema Nova, if a little muted due to strong advance screening grosses the prior weekend as well as a relatively wide release for a specialised title,” he says.
Alex Temesvari, GM of the Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace in Sydney, found the film opened soft given the awards buzz around Fraser’s performance.
“Our result was right in line with the national theatre average. Hoping it picks up as we get closer to the Oscars,” he tells IF.
With school holidays ending the box office trended down last weekend; Numero data puts the top 20 titles at just shy of $9 million, down 36 per cent on the previous weekend.
After eight weekends, Disney’s Avatar: The Way of Water now stands at $88.8 million, with the film poised to soon overtake Top Gun: Maverick ($93.2 million) and Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($94 million) to become the second highest grossing title to be released in Australia; second only to the original film ($115.8 million).
Worldwide, the sequel has made $US2.174 billion, making it the fourth-highest grossing film ever released.
Of the other holdovers, Indian spy thriller Pathaan took home $696,305 in its sophomore weekend, moving to $4 million for Mind Blowing Films. Globally, the film has been smashing records, already ranking as the highest grossing Bollywood title ever worldwide (excluding China).
With kids back in the classroom, Uni’s Puss in Boots: The Last Wish took a 55 per cent tumble in its sixth weekend, generating $670,848 to move to $19.7 million.
Studiocanal rom-com What’s Love Got to Do With It dropped 39 per cent in its second frame to $536,881, with a cume just shy of $2 million, while Guy Ritchie’s Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre is now at $5.7 million for Roadshow after adding an extra $409,792 in its fourth.
Rounding out the top ten was Paramount’s Babylon, which collected $402,548 in its fourth weekend, advancing to $3.3 million.
Looking ahead, many exhibitors report strong pre-sales for Magic Mike’s Last Dance, which opens this Thursday.
“Sessions are selling out across the board which is rousing,” Simpson says.
At Cinema Nova, Connelly is enthused about the trajectory of the Oscar nominated titles in the weeks to come, noting that Tar is enjoying “exceptional” WOM since its opening weekend (the strongest for a film at the complex since Elvis), as is Triangle of Sadness, which was released on Boxing Day.
The cinema is also still playing Everything Everywhere All At Once, now 43 weekends in release.
“The Daniels’ comedy is less than $8k from surpassing Nova’s fourth biggest film of all time, Slumdog Millionaire, which it should achieve by mid-February. Anticipating the film will continue to draw audiences keen to enjoy its wonders on the cinema screen ahead of the March 13 Oscar ceremony, it seems destined to become Nova’s second biggest film of all time behind Parasite.”