Not only did S.S. Rajamouli’s RRR (Rise! Roar! Revolt!) set a new opening day record in India last weekend, Australian audiences embraced the film with gusto.
Distributed by Tolly Movies, the film – released in four languages – was the best performing new title at the Australian box office, coming in at no. 2 and earning $1.8 million from some 177 screens. On average, it earned $10,180 per screen – almost double that of the weekend’s overall highest grosser, The Batman.
Set in 1920, RRR follows two Indian revolutionaries who fought against the British Raj and the Nizam of Hyberabad respectively.
Village Cinemas national programing manager Geoff Chard tells IF the multi-language film was a close second to The Caped Crusader at many of its sites.
“The Telugu version of that film started out the strongest, but as of Sunday had been overtaken by the Hindi version,” he says.
The weekend’s other major release was Roadshow Films’ slasher film X, which opened in sixth position to $229,547 from 153 screens, or $264,380.
In terms of Aussie film, the weekend also saw the release of Jen Peedom and Joseph Nizeti’s feature documentary River, distributed by Madman. Made in collaboration with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, it is a follow up to 2017’s Mountain, the highest grossing Australian documentary of all time (excluding IMAX).
River bowed to $39,114 from 37 screens, and with previews and festival screenings tallies $68,764 so far.
Overall the top 20 titles grossed $8.1 million, down 12 per cent on the previous, according to Numero.
Exhibitors expect the business to pick up with earnest from this weekend, with school holidays starting around the country and three new major releases in Sony’s Moribus, Paramount’s Sony the Hedgehog 2 and Universal’s The Bad Guys, as well as Transmission’s British comedy The Duke, aimed at an older audience.
“We’re all very excited to see Morbius, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, The Bad Guys and The Duke all opening this weekend, as there haven’t been that many wide releases over the last six weeks or so (with the obvious exceptions of The Batman and Uncharted),” says Chard.
Majestic Cinemas CEO Kieren Dell has high hopes for not only this weekend but the whole of April.
“While Sonic and Morbius appear to be destined for great results, the surprise packet may be The Bad Guys, which had extraordinary crowds for a single Family Fun Day session on the weekend and was loved by families and kids alike,” he tells IF.
In terms of holdovers, Warner Bros.’ The Batman remains the no. 1 title for the fourth weekend running, grossing another $2.9 million.
Now at $33.1 million overall, Australia is the third highest grossing international territory for the film behind the UK and Mexico.
Roadshow’s Dog held strongly across its sophomore weekend, dropping on 23 per cent on its opening to make $1 million. The Channing Tatum canine buddy comedy has now reached $2.7 million in total.
Uncharted also continues to show staying power, dropping only 10 per cent in its seventh weekend to $773,787, moving to $17.5 million overall for Sony, while Madman anime Jujutsu Kaisen 0: The Movie fell 58 per cent in its second frame to $393,387, advancing to $1.6 million.
Belfast, which won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay yesterday, continues to hold well, dipping only 24 per cent in its eighth orbit to $180,089, bringing Universal’s pot to $4.8 million.
Zee Studios’ The Kashmir Files now sits on $1.1 million after making $147,328 in its third weekend, while Monster Family 2 has climbed to $1.2 million following a fourth weekend result of $143,355.
Rounding out the top 10 was Death on the Nile, reaching $6.3 million after collecting $128,796.