In a lousy session for new releases, Nightcrawler was the best of a bad lot in Australian cinemas last weekend.
Jake Gyllenhaal’s chilling turn as a sociopath in writer-director Dan Gilroy’s biting satire of media exploitation and corruption delivered $576,000 on 96 screens.
That's a reasonable start for the indie thriller co-starring Riz Ahmed, Rene Russo and Bill Paxton, which has earned $US28.7 million in its first month in the US.
Nationwide takings plunged by 37% to $11.1 million, which was way below the corresponding week for the past two years, according to Rentrak’s estimates.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 raked in nearly $5.8 million, despite selling around half as many tickets as in the opening weekend, but has amassed a lucrative $20.8 million.
Chris Nolan’s Interstellar banked $1.6 million in its fourth orbit, down 25%, advancing to $15.6 million.
Paul Fenech's Fat Pizza vs Housos opened with a mediocre $296,000 on 121 screens, including previews (see separate story).
Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence are attractive leads but their pairing in director Susanne Bier's romantic drama Serena has been disastrous. After tanking in the UK in October, the Depression-era tale of a deteriorating marriage between a timber magnate and his fiercely independent wife after she suffers a miscarriage fetched $201,000 on 148 screens.
Just as catastrophic was the combination of Adam Sandler, Rosemarie DeWitt, Jennifer Garner, Ansel Elgort and Judy Greer in Men, Women and Children. Jason Reitman’s drama-comedy about how the internet has changed the way parents and teenagers interact bombed in the US in October so its $67,000 debut on 45 screens here is no surprise.
Chinese romantic comedy Women Who Flirt, directed by Pang Ho-cheung, launched with a respectable $55,000 on 10 screens.
The unforgiving art house market offered little solace for A Thousand Times Goodnight. The drama starring Juliette Binoche as one of the world's top war photo-journalists who is torn between her job and her husband and two daughters opened with $21,000 on 12 screens.
Particle Fever, Mark Levinson’s documentary that follows six brilliant scientists during the launch of the Large Hadron Collider, beamed up $7,300 on three screens, and $34,000 with festival screenings.
There was little love for The One I Love, a relationships comedy starring Mark Duplass and Elisabeth Moss, which picked up $3,800 at three cinemas.
Jimmy's Hall, Ken Loach’s drama set in 1930s Ireland about an activist who became public enemy number one for the Catholic Church and local land owners, scraped up $1,600 on three screens and $12,500 with festival screenings.
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE Nov 27-30
|
|
Title |
Week/ Screens |
Box Office |
% +- |
Total
|
|
1 |
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay |
2/574 |
$5,772,082 |
-51 |
$20,866,109 |
|
2 |
Interstellar |
4/419 |
1,651,094 |
-24 |
15,619,923 |
|
3 |
Nightcrawler |
1/96 |
572,424 |
NA |
575,789 |
|
4 |
Let’s Be Cops |
3/231 |
472,831 |
-38 |
3,676,956 |
|
5 |
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day |
PV/222 |
439,821 |
NA |
494,062 |
|
6 |
Gone Girl |
9/150 |
313,252 |
-35 |
27,112,391 |
|
7 |
My Old Lady |
3/116 |
312,178 |
-18 |
1,636,827 |
|
8 |
Fat Pizza vs Housos |
1/121 |
280,604 |
NA |
296,463 |
|
9 |
Fury |
6/125 |
204,311 |
-41 |
9,244,161 |
|
10 |
Serena |
1/148 |
198,603 |
NA |
200,977 |
Source: Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia