By Brendan Swift
Controversial feature film Beautiful Kate has climbed its way to the number four slot on the annual local box office chart after another solid week.
The debut feature by director Rachel Ward – a love story between a brother and sister – posted an 18 per cent drop in takings to $330,526 in its second week across 29 screens. Its screen average of $11,397 is second only to political drama Balibo in the limited release charts. Balibo posted a solid $282,166 in its opening week (not including $35,962 in previews) across 23 screens, according to MPDAA data.
Lebanese-Australian crime saga Cedar Boys posted a 66 per cent drop in weekly box office at $17,706, dropping 11 screens from its peak of 32. It now enters its last week at cinemas after opening on July 30.
Meanwhile, Not Quite Hollywood is continuing a limited theatre run in the US. The Australian documentary, which tracks the ‘Ozploitation’ era of filmmaking, has grossed $US14,156 since its US release on July 31, according to Box Office Mojo. The film took $186,986 at the Australian box office last year.
Animated feature Mary & Max is also preparing to open at limited venues in the US and on the new Sundance Selects VOD channel from October 14.
Another local stop-motion feature, $9.99, has already played in the US late last year taking $US44,556 and $US215,218 in other territories according to Box Office Mojo. The $4.5 million film is being distributed by Icon in Australia in theatres from September 17.
| Film | Budget | Distributor | Opening w/e | Weeks | Box Office |
| Samson and Delilah | $1.6m | Para/Trans/Footprint | $ 199,163 | 15 | $ 3,015,954 |
| Mary and Max | $8m | Icon | $ 217,176 | 15 | $ 1,444,617 |
| Disgrace | $10m | Icon | $ 209,014 | 9 | $ 1,130,352 |
| My Year Without Sex | $3.8m | Para/Trans/Footprint | $ 177,461 | 12 | $ 1,084,805 |
| Beautiful Kate | $6m | Roadshow | $ 273,582 | 2 | $ 805,976 |
| Love the Beast |
|
Madman |
$ 241,982 | 9 | $ 777,351 |
| The Combination | $1.169m | AFS |
$ 188,054 | 11 | $ 727,586 |
| Last Ride | $4m | Madman | $ 76,459 | 8 | $ 352,179 |
| Balibo | $4.5m | Para/Trans/Footprint |
$ 206,290 | 2 | $ 322,816 |
| Two Fists One Heart |
$8.5m | BVI |
$ 96,999 | 2 | $ 295,500 |
| Wake in Fright | |
Madman |
$ 25,446 | 8 | $ 271,183 |
| Cedar Boys | $1.36m | Hoyts/Mushroom | $ 74,793 | 3 | $ 199,910 |
| Beautiful | $2m | Kojo/Jump Street | $ 22,406 | 6 | $ 55,619 |
| Closed for Winter | $2m | Omnilab Media | $ 19,449 | 6 | $ 53,370 |
| Shadows of the Past | $ 820,000 | Summer Night | $ 13,927 | 11 | $ 45,490 |
| Bastardy | $ 260,000 | Film Camp | $ 7,822 | 8 | $ 37,570 |
| Lake Mungo | Darclight films | $ 2,390 | 3 | $ 27,934 | |
| Lucky Country | $2m est. | Para/Trans/Footprint | $ 11,413 | 4 | $ 26,141 |
| The Burning Season | Gil Scrine/Freshwater | $ 4,865 | 5 | $ 19,283 | |
| The Chifleys of Busby St | Ronin | $ 3,760 | 1 | $ 13,123 | |
| Crush | $2m | Filmscope/Odin’s Eye | $ 8,304 | 1 | $ 13,051 |
| Bad Bush | VVVF | $ 1,909 | $ 3,961 | ||
| Salvation | Hopscotch | $ 2,262 | 1 | $ 3,182 | |
| Prey | $4m | Damage Releasing | $ 1,089 | 15 | $ 1,089 |
| $ 10,728,042 |
Source: MPDAA