By Adam Coleman
Big budget Aussie Vampire flick, Daybreakers has taken more than $1 million on its opening weekend at the Australian box office.
Written and directed by Queensland’s Michael and Peter Spierig, aka The Spierig Brothers (Undead), Daybreakers has taken $1,064,244 across 135 screens since opening last Thursday.
With a budget estimated at about $20 million, Daybreakers features a large cast of Australians including Claudia Karvan (Long Weekend, Secret Life of Us), Sam Neil (Dirty Deeds, Little Fish) and Michael Dorman (Suburban Mayhem, Prime Mover) alongside Hollywood drawcards Ethan Hawke and Willem Dafoe.
Two of Australia’s screen agencies have banked on the success of the film – Screen Australia contributed $5 million of Daybreakers’ production budget, while Screen Queensland invested a little over $1 million.
The screen agencies will most likely be pleased with how Daybreakers has performed in the US, where it has taken nearly $US30 million since opening there on January 8.
In Australia, the Hoyts-distributed film took third spot overall at the weekend, just behind US release Edge of Darkness – the Martin Campbell thriller starring Mel Gibson.
Edge of Darkness took more than $1.4 million at the local box office over the weekend but couldn’t match the screen average of Daybreakers, having taken $6,994 per screen to the local film’s $7,883.
Indigenous musical Bran Nue Dae added a further $566,1009 to its tally, which now stands at just over $6 million.
Meanwhile, James Cameron’s Avatar looks to be firmly entrenched at the top of the Australian box office for now. The 3D epic took $3.9 million over the weekend, taking its local box office tally after eight weeks to more than $98 million.