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Box Office: Potter dominates, Red Hill struggles

By Brendan Swift

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 has continued to dominate the local box office, passing the $31 million mark in just its third weekend at cinemas.

The Warner Bros film took $3.36 million – a 50 per cent drop on the previous weekend – across 599 screens. It is the penultimate film in the long-running series and features the special effects work of Australia’s Rising Sun Pictures.

The highest grossing instalment remains Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, which took more than $42.3 million in 2001-02.

Meanwhile, road movie Due Date maintained second spot, taking $1.79 million across 295 screens. The comedy posted a 33 per cent drop in its second weekend while Australian-thriller Red Hill – which was targeting a similar male audience aged 15 to 29 – continued to struggle.

The Sony-distributed film, which stars Ryan Kwanten, grossed just $64,553 – a 42 per cent drop in its second weekend. It was shown across 60 screens for an average of $1076.

Among other local fare, The Tree and New Zealand’s Boy added less than $2000 each across four screens.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which was shot on the Gold Coast, opens in cinemas on Thursday.

Check out the December-January issue of INSIDEFILM magazine for more on the special effects work behind the latest Harry Potter and Chronicles of Narnia films.