Australian box office takings improved by a modest 8% to $10.7 million last weekend despite the launch of four films aimed at kids and teenagers.
However business should pick up for all four as the full effect of the school holidays kicks in during the week.
DreamWorks Animation’s Turbo led the field, nabbing $1.5 million and nearly $1.7 million with previews. That’s a fair start for the comedy about the turbo-charged snail that enters the Indy 500, considering that, in the US, the film posted the lowest debut for a DreamWorks movie since 2006's Flushed Away, and has since raked in about $US82 million.
Another under-performer in the US, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, the sequel to the superhero adventure featuring Logan Lerman as the half-human son of sea god Poseidon, raked in a so-so $1.4 million.
Evidently Justin Bieber has a lot more fans in Oz than One Direction, judging by the $881,000 debut for the musical biopic One Direction: This Is Us, which brings its total to $1.01 million. That compares with the $1.2 million opening weekend for the documentary Justin Bieber: Never Say Never.
Disney’s Planes took off in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland, earning $757,000. Intended originally as a direct-to-DVD release through Disney Toon Studios, the tale of the crop-duster plane (voiced by Dane Cook ) who aspires to become an air-racing globe-hopper rolls out in other States on Thursday.
Competition for the young audiences put a squeeze on The Smurfs 2, which dropped by 39% to $1.2 million in its second weekend, bringing its cumulative earnings to $3.8 million.
Strong word-of-mouth is paying off for Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine, which slipped by just 13% in its second outing, taking $929,000. Arguably the Cate Blanchett starrer is the only film in wide release pitched at adults. Its cume is $2.5 million.
Riddick plunged by 48%, typical for that genre, to $679,000 in its second lap, boosting its tally to $2.4 million.
A caning from some critics did no favours for I’m So Excited, Pedro Almodóvar’s camp cabaret comedy set on board an endangered passenger jet filled with anxious passengers and bitchy flight attendants, which fetched just $53,000 on 20 screens.
My Lucky Star, a Chinese caper starring Zhang Ziyi as a travel agent who gets mixed up in international intrigue when she falls for a secret agent in pursuit of a large diamond, opened with a tepid $23,000 at seven screens.
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE Sept 19-22
|
|
Title |
Week/ Screens |
Box Office |
% +- |
Total
|
|
1 |
Turbo |
1/394 |
$1,499,347 |
NA |
$1,679,477 |
|
2 |
Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters |
1/381 |
1,409,136 |
NA |
1,411,292 |
|
3 |
The Smurfs 2 |
2/413 |
1,237,578 |
-39 |
3,809,064 |
|
4 |
Blue Jasmine |
2/125 |
929,329 |
-13 |
2,562,016 |
|
5 |
White House Down |
3/267 |
926,044 |
-29 |
5,163,078 |
|
6 |
One Direction: This is Us |
1/367 |
881,305 |
NA |
1,018,282 |
|
7 |
Planes |
1/397 |
757,270 |
NA |
757,270 |
|
8 |
Riddick |
2/185 |
679,018 |
-48 |
2,400,738 |
|
9 |
Now You See Me |
7/145 |
538,923 |
-26 |
15,817,715 |
|
10 |
We’re the Millers |
6/148 |
370,506 |
-38 |
9,125,494 |
Source: Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia