Australian cinemagoers turned out for André Rieu's annual Maastricht concert and Trainwreck sneaks last weekend while takings overall slumped by 21% after the school holidays.
Chinese animated film Monster Hunt had a monster opening on just eight screens but fellow rookies Self/Less and The Gallows were D.O.A.
Ruben Guthrie and Women He’s Undressed both fell sharply in their second weekends. Brendan Cowell’s dramedy fetched $55,000 on 33 screens, down 54 per cent, which brings its total to $312,000. Gillian Armstrong’s documentary earned $36,000 on 19 screens, off 37 per cent, taking its B.O. to $172,000.
Given the absence of heavyweight competition, Marvel/Disney’s Ant-Man easily retained the top spot, ringing up $3.2 million in its second frame (falling by 40 per cent), as it topped $10.1 million.
Distributed by CinemaLive, the “King of Waltz’s’” concert in his home town of Maastricht whistled up nearly $1.3 million on 101 screens on Saturday and Sunday, eclipsing last year’s event which raked in $820,000 on its opening weekend and $961,000 in total. That ranks as Australia’s highest grossing music concert in cinemas.
Universal’s Trainwreck had a high profile thanks to the publicity tour by star/writer Amy Schumer and co-star Bill Hader, paying off with $1.37 million. That's comparable to Bridesmaíds' previews which did $1.49 million. There will be more sneaks for the Judd Apatow-directed romantic comedy this weekend in the lead-up to the August 6 launch.
Directed by Hong Kong's Raman Hui (who co-directed Shrek the Third), Monster Hunt conjured up $265,000, a per-screen average of more than $33,000. The saga of a young man who accidentally creates a monster named Huba is already the highest earner of all time in China, making $US204 million in 10 days.
WB/Roadshow’s Magic Mike XXL reached $10.7 million after pocketing $1.1 million in its third outing while Fox’s Paper Towns collected $1 million in its second (down 46 per cent), scoring $3.5 million.
Roadshow’s Self/Less, a psychological sci-fi thriller starring Ryan Reynolds, Ben Kingsley, Derek Luke, Victor Garber and Matthew Goode, lucked out with $598,000 on 190 screens, no surprise after its US demise earlier this month.
Roadshow’s US horror film The Gallows met a similar fate, scraping up $421,000 on 128 screens.
Transmission’s Mr. Holmes, which stars Ian McKellen as the aging Sherlock Holmes who sets out to write an account of his last case, helped by his housekeeper’s son (Milo Parker), bowed with a solid $502,000 on 83 screens and $613,000 including previews.
Studiocanal's German thriller 13 Minutes was a bust, taking $32,000 on 19 screens.