Transformers: Rise of the Beasts easily rolled to no. 1 at the box office last weekend, as the previous top title, The Flash, had a dramatic tumble down to fourth position behind Spider-Man: Across The Universe and the debut of adult comedy No Hard Feelings.
As Wallis Cinemas programming manager David Simpson puts it: “The Flash fell to bits – fortunately Optimus Prime and Bumblebee were around to pick up the pieces.”
Rise of the Beasts debuted to $3.6 million for Paramount from 478 screens, or $4.2 million with previews. Pro-rata, that is behind film’s opening of $US61 million in North America three weekends ago.
The film is a standalone sequel to 2018’s Bumblebee, which ended up performing slightly better pro-rata in Australia than Stateside, and a prequel to 2007’s Transformers. It’s the second film in the modern Transformers franchise to not be directed by Michael Bay; it’s instead Steven Caple Jr at the helm, though Bay still producers.
Jennifer Lawrence sex comedy No Hard Feelings, directed by Gene Stupnitsky and distributed by Sony, opened at $1.7 million from 326 screens, or $1.9 million with previews. That’s slightly ahead, pro-rata, of the North American opening of $US15 million. Australia was the second highest grossing international market behind the UK.
Lawrence, who also produces the film, stars as a desperate 32-year old woman working as an Uber driver and bartender. On the brink of losing her childhood home, she agrees to date a wealthy couple’s introverted and awkward 19-year-old son (Andrew Barth Feldman). However, he proves to be more of a challenge than she expected.
For Sydney’s Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace, the film was the no. 1 title, with GM Alex Temesvari telling IF it reaffirms Lawrence’s long-standing appeal for its audience.
Kieren Dell, CEO of Majestic Cinemas in regional NSW and Queensland, says both Transformers and No Hard Feelings are getting good word of mouth, even if the overall weekend felt a little soft.
“Transformers opened reasonably well, although we expect it to pick up and hold well as we head into holidays in Queensland this week and NSW next week, while No Hard Feelings had a strong opening despite appealing to a demographic that is not core in regional areas,” he tells IF.
From across the ditch, Kiwi comedy Red, White and Brass landed at no. 9 for Madman with $143,568 from just 73 screens. When festival and preview screenings are added in, it stands at $205,110.
The comedy is the debut feature from Damon Fepulea’i, with Taika Waititi executive producer. Based on a true story, it follows Tongan rugby superfans who trick their way to the Rugby World Cup by volunteering to be the marching band, despite having never played. It stars John-Paul Foliaki, Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi and Hariata Moriarty.
Chard says it appears to be “the best result for a ‘proper’ New Zealand film since 2018’s The Breaker Upperers.”
Overall Numero figures put the top 20 titles at $12.5 million, just 1 per cent up on the previous weekend.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse held on to second position across its fourth weekend, climbing to $24.7 million after adding an extra $2.1 million.
The Sony animation soared past $US500 million worldwide early last week, with its overall tally now at $US560.3 million. In the US, the film returned to the no. 1 spot, outpacing the poor second weekend of The Flash. Australia is in the top five international markets for the film behind China, UK and Mexico.
Warner Bros./DC’s The Flash dropped 62 per cent in its second weekend, earning $1.5 million to bring its tally to $6.8 million. In the US, the decline was even more profound at 73 per cent. Globally, it stands at $US210.9 million.
Temesvari believes the poor results for The Flash are “truly baffling”.
“It’s a solid, well reviewed crowd pleaser with the return of Michael Keaton as Batman which should be a much bigger deal than it clearly is,” he says.
“The film had early buzz, mainly positive reviews and a great marketing campaign but has been almost completely rejected by general audiences. We’ll be all scratching our heads on this one for years to come.”
However, Dell says the heavy drop wasn’t entirely unexpected. “[WB] will be hoping it gets some holiday traction, but will lose smaller sites sooner rather than later if it does not pick up a bit soon.”
Despite a soft start, Disney/Pixar’s Elemental held well through its second frame, dropping only 12 per cent to $1.4 million, bringing it to $3.3 million. Globally, the animation stands at $US121 to date.
Exhibitors are positive about the outlook for the film going forward.
“With little competition for the upcoming school holidays Elemental looks set for a lengthy run,” Simpson says.
Dell adds: “Elemental held really well, and should have solid legs through the holidays and get a decent result over its lifetime – releasing these family movies a few weeks before school holidays usually plays out that way, with high multiples of opening week, and Disney will be hoping to get a double digit multiple over its life, which is possible.”
Disney stablemate The Little Mermaid has reached $19.1 million after six weekends, after adding an extra $927,397. The live-action remake of the ’90s classic has almost crossed the $US500 million mark worldwide.
Yet another Mouse House title, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, is at $31.7 million after eight laps, hauling in another $231,197.
Fast X took an additional 177,243 in its sixth, bringing its receipts for Universal to $16.7 million.
Rounding out the top 10 was Roadshow comedy You Hurt My Feelings, which brought in $114,868 in its second to move to $356,759.
Local powerhouse documentary John Farnham: Finding the Voice came in at no. 11, with a further $109,884 advancing the Sony film to $4.2 million.
Of the other Australian titles in release, Sweet As dropped out of the top 20 with a fourth weekend result of $11,607, advancing to $419,685 for Roadshow.
Doco The Last Daughter, on 15 screens for Bonsai, brought in $9,269 in its second, moving to $116,598.
Ivan Sen’s Limbo, still playing on 10 screens for Bonsai, brought in $4,974 in its sixth, moving to $248,129. The ABC, a key investor in the film, announced today it will broadcast it July 9 at 8.30pm as part of NAIDOC Week.
Madman doc The Giants is still on screens after 10 weekends, adding $4,478 to move to $562,915.