By Adam Coleman
Jonathan auf der Heide‘s dark gothic tale, Van Diemen’s Land, has taken $60,354 since opening at the box office last Thursday.
Based on the infamous confessions of notorious Australian convict Alexander Pearce, Van Diemen’s Land opened on nine screens over the weekend for a respectable screen average of $4,438.
Stone Bros. – Australia’s first indigenous comedy – also opened last Thursday across 24 screens, taking $22,702 on its opening weekend for a disappointing screen average of $946.
The film received $2.2 million in production funding from the Film Finance Corporation (now Screen Australia) and $600,000 from ScreenWest, according to those agency’s annual reports.
Writer/director of the stoner road movie, Richard Frankland has been heavily critical of the Classification Review Board’s decision to give Stone Bros. a MA15+ rating.
In its fourth week, road movie Charlie & Boots is fast approaching the $3 million mark and rapidly gaining on Samson and Delilah at the top of the box office.
Ana Kokkinos’ disturbing family drama, Blessed has taken $56,300 on its third weekend at the box office for a screen average of $3,345.
The total box office takings for local releases is $15,989,716.
| Film | Budget | Distributor | Opening w/e | Weeks | Box Office |
| Samson and Delilah | $1.6m | Para/Trans/Footprint | $ 199,163 | 21 | $ 3,170,217 |
| Charlie & Boots | $9m est. | Paramount/Transmission | $ 809,279 | 4 | $ 2,957,273 |
| Mary and Max | $8m | Icon | $ 217,176 | 15 | $ 1,444,617 |
| Beautiful Kate | $6m | Roadshow | $ 273,582 | 8 | $ 1,431,219 |
| Disgrace | $10m | Icon | $ 209,014 | 13 | $ 1,164,442 |
| Balibo | $4.5m | Para/Trans/Footprint | $ 206,290 | 7 | $ 1,131,759 |
| My Year Without Sex | $3.8m | Para/Trans/Footprint | $ 177,522 | 18 | $ 1,125,410 |
| 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 | 10 | $ 364,238 |
| Wake in Fright | $ 700,000 | Madman | $ 25,446 | 14 | $ 304,329 |
| Two Fists, One Heart | $8.5m | BVI | $ 96,999 | 2 | $ 295,500 |
| Blessed | $4m | Icon | $ 67,186 | 3 | $ 274,061 |
| Cedar Boys | $1.36m | Hoyts/Mushroom | $ 74,793 | 5 | $ 204,160 |
| Subdivision | $4m est. | BVI | $ 86,649 | 3 | $ 190,500 |
| Van Diemen’s Land | Madman | $ 39,939 | 1 | $ 60,354 | |
| 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 |
| The Marriage of Figaro | $ 400,000 | Figaro Films/ For Pete’s Sake Productions | $ 13,693 | 2 | $ 32,584 |
| Lake Mungo | Darclight films | $ 9,730 | 5 | $ 29,850 | |
| Lucky Country | $2m est. | Para/Trans/Footprint | $ 11,413 | 4 | $ 26,141 |
| Stone Bros. | Australian Film Syndicate | $ 22,702 | 1 | $ 22,702 | |
| The Burning Season | Gil Scrine/Freshwater | $ 3,848 | 5 | $ 21,017 | |
| The Chifleys of Busby St | Ronin | $ 3,760 | $ 13,658 | ||
| Crush | $2m | Filmscope/Odin’s Eye | $ 8,304 | 1 | $ 13,051 |
| Three Blind Mice | Odin’s Eye/Titan View | $ 2,988 | 3 | $ 7,416 | |