With school holidays now underway in most of the country, PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie had a relatively straightforward path to no. 1 at the box office last weekend.
That said, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem earned a boost that meant it wasn’t too far behind, giving Paramount the top two titles.
Despite the holidays, the overall box office remained slow, with unseasonably warm weather in many parts of the country. Numero data puts the top 20 titles at $9.8 million, just 3 per cent up on the previous.
“At the risk of repeating myself from last week, the combination of summery weather and mediocre movie titles that are not must-see has combined for a slower than hoped weekend, albeit weekends in school holidays are often not as busy as the weekdays,” Majestic Cinemas CEO Kieren Dell tells IF.
Tickets are also down in North America, where it was worst the weekend of 2023, with no title clearing $US10 million and overall receipts tallyinng just $US49 million.
Here in Australia Paw Patrol 2 took just below $1.4 million from 293 screens, and stands at $1.7 million when previews are factored in. The opening for the sequel is naturally far ahead of the first film, given the latter debuted in 2021 amid lockdowns in New South Wales and Victoria. It has yet to open in the US/Canada.
The weekend’s other new family title was Universal’s Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken, which drew $525,335 from 284 screens to come in at eighth position. The animation stands at $1 million with previews.
The only other major new release was Studiocanal’s Retribution, a Liam Neeson action thriller, which landed at no. 10 with $398,050 from 209 screens. The film has been panned by critics, who have argued it is indistinguishable from Neeson’s other recent action fare.
Dell notes he opened the film at just two sites, but it “did not disgrace itself”. “Liam Neeson has a certain set of attractions for parts of our demographic, who know exactly what they get from his recent movies,” he says.
Of the holdovers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem generated $1.2 million in its third frame, advancing to $5.6 million.
Last weekend’s no. 1, The Nun II, now stands just shy of $6 million for Warner Bros. after earning $1.1 million over the weekend.
Despite a less than spectacular start, Blue Beetle held well in its sophomore frame – no doubt due to school holidays – dropping only 19 per cent to $914,789. Receipts for the DC/Warner Bros. film now stand at $2.5 million.
Universal’s My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 also continues to hold well, dipping only 20 per cent through its third weekend to earn $886,117, moving to $5.2 million.
A Haunting in Venice also had a strong sophomore showing for Disney, falling just 15 per cent to $808,887. The Kenneth Branagh film has reached $2.3 million so far.
Sony’s Equalizer 3 now stands at $8.6 million after earning $711,259 in its fourth frame, while WB’s Barbie is at $84.6 million after bringing in $455,726 in its tenth.
Of the Australian titles in release, Talk to Me remains in the top 20, now tallying $4.1 million for Maslow Entertainment after taking $65,661 in its ninth.
Ego: The Michael Gudinski Story is at $493,034 for Mushroom Pictures after four weekends, while Climate Changers, in limited release for Antidote, has reached $34,040 after two weekends.
Australian box office data is sourced via Numero.