Scarlett Johansson and Marvel’s comic book heroes gave the Australian B.O. a hefty one-two punch last weekend.
However it wasn’t a memorable frame for the more limited releases as A Most Wanted Man posted a middling screen average in its debut and The Keeper of Lost Causes and The Selfish Giant got lost.
And, as IF reported, Roadshow’s tactic of going wide with Zak Hilditch’s These Final Hours backfired.
Nationwide, takings improved by 7% to $14.2 million, according to Rentrak's estimates, but business fell away sharply beneath the top two titles. Johansson’s turn as a drug mule who develops superhuman mental powers worked a treat in Luc Besson’s Lucy, which raked in $4.6 million. Pro-rata, that’s even better than the sci-fi thriller’s $US43.9 million debut in the US the prior weekend.
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, cult filmmaker James Gunn’s intergalactic comedy-adventure, grabbed $2.2 million from limited previews. That sets the scene for a blockbuster opening this Thursday, particularly in view of its $US94.3 million US bow, the third biggest of the year behind Transformers: Age of Extinction's $97.5 million and Captain America: The Winter Soldier’s $95 million.
The heavyweight invaders sent Hercules tumbling by 58% to $1.4 million in its second weekend, scoring $6 million so far. Cross-dressing comedy Mrs Brown's Boys D ‘Movie is wearing out its welcome, plunging by 47% to $955,000, which brings its 11-day tally to $3.4 million.
Horror/thriller Deliver Us from Evil lost nearly half its audience in its second weekend, typical for the genre, making $538,000 as it advanced to nearly $1.9 million.
Anton Corbijn’s A Most Wanted Man, a spy drama about a suspected terrorist on the loose in Hamburg, adapted by Andrew Bovell from the John le Carré novel, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright, Rachel McAdams and Willem Dafoe, took $308,000 on 46 screens.
These Final Hours, the saga of a young guy who is en route to the party to end all parties on the last day on Earth when he meets a young girl searching for her father, fetched $207,000 at 164.
The Keeper of Lost Causes, a Danish thriller about a cop who investigates the cold case of a rising politician who's believed to have committed suicide while travelling on a ferry with her brain-damaged younger brother, took $52,000 on 28 and $64,000 with previews.
The Selfish Giant, a gritty drama about two mates, both school drop-outs in Bradford, and their misadventures with a local scrap dealer, scraped up less than $8,000 on eight screens.
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE July 31-Aug 3
|
|
Title |
Week/ Screens |
Box Office |
% +- |
Total
|
|
1 |
Lucy |
1/318 |
$4,660,979 |
NA |
$4,660,979 |
|
2 |
Hercules |
2/441 |
1,473,168 |
-58 |
6,010,168 |
|
3 |
Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie |
2/267 |
955,540 |
-47 |
3,426,046 |
|
4 |
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes |
4/203 |
890,223 |
-50 |
16,972,012 |
|
5 |
Sex Tape |
3/267 |
782,787 |
-46 |
6,009,518 |
|
6 |
Deliver Us From Evil |
2/154 |
537,704 |
-46 |
1,873,121 |
|
7 |
A Most Wanted Man |
1/46 |
307,754 |
-42 |
310,187 |
|
8 |
Jersey Boys |
5/187 |
284,044 |
-46 |
7,175,699 |
|
9 |
How to Train Your Dragon 2 |
7/204 |
228,399 |
-46 |
25,840,830 |
|
10 |
These Final Hours |
1/164 |
206,727 |
NA |
213,983 |
Source: Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia