Sony’s Spider-Man: Homecoming retained the top spot at Australian cinemas last weekend while stablemate Baby Driver was a close second.
Among the other new releases, Universal’s The Beguiled posted impressive figures, benefitting from glowing reviews after Sofia Coppola won the best director prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
Bollywood musical-spy adventure Jagga Jasoos had a modest debut while first-time Irish writer-director Darren Thornton’s comedy-drama A Date for Mad Mary barely registered at its solo cinema.
The top 20 titles’ receipts fell by 19 per cent to $18.2 million, according to Numero, an inevitable decline with the end of school holidays.
The Spider-Man reboot starring Tom Holland, Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evans rang up $4.9 million on 293 locations in its second weekend, tumbling by 51 per cent after setting an opening record for the studio. The Marvel Studios / Pascal Pictures production directed by Jon Watts has earned nearly $19 million in Australia and a colossal $US469.3 million worldwide.
Writer-director Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver grabbed $4.47 million at 259 cinemas and $4.7 million including previews, hyped by a publicity tour by Wright and stars Ansel Elgort and Lily James.
The action comedy about a young getaway driver who is coerced into working for Kevin Spacey’s criminal mastermind is already the biggest hit for Wright, the director of Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead and Scott Pilgrim vs the World.
Universal/Illumination Entertainment’s Despicable Me 3 climbed to $29.5 million after collecting $3 million in its fifth weekend at 322 cinemas, easing by 27 per cent.
Disney/Pixar’s underperforming Cars 3 took $1.5 million in its fourth outing on 320, slipping by 23 per cent, banking $11.7 million so far in Australia and $140 million in the US.
Warner Bros’ blockbuster Wonder Woman ascended to $30.1 million after pocketing $809,000 in its seventh weekend on 226, down 36 per cent.
One of Fox’s lesser animated titles, director David Bowers’ Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul fetched $792,000 in its third frame of national release on 262, off by 14 per cent, to reach $5.3 million.
Paramount’s Transformers: The Last Knight is running out of gas, skidding by 46 per cent to $566,000 in its fourth lap on 250. Michael Bay’s action adventure has mustered a mediocre $11.5 million in Australia and $124.8 million in the US but a dandy $392.4 million internationally.
The Beguiled, the second screen adaptation of Thomas P. Cullinan’s novel set during the American Civil War (Don Siegel directed the first in 1971), raked in $423,000 from 57 cinemas for Universal Pictures. Including previews, the drama starring Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst and Elle Fanning has brought in $528,000.
The House, Andrew J. Cohen’s comedy starring Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler, plunged by 60 per cent to $363,000 in its third weekend. The Roadshow release has taken a tad under $4 million.
Mind Blowing Films launched director Anurag Basu’s Jagga Jasoos on 29 screens, generating $91,000. The saga of a teenager who stumbles upon an illegal arms trade while searching for his lost father stars Ranbir Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Saswata Chatterjee and Saurabh Shukla.
A coming-of-age comedy about a young Irish girl just out of prison who is determined to restore a lost friendship, A Date for Mad Mary took less than $2,200 at one cinema for distributor Rialto.
Updating the cumes of the Aussie titles still in release, Whiteley (Transmission) has grossed $251,000, Hounds of Love (Label) $194,000 and Hotel Coolgardie (Raw and Cooked Media) $81,000, according to ComScore.