Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street was first choice by a very wide margin for Australian cinemagoers last weekend.
The lucrative $5.1 million debut ($5.4 million with previews) was no surprise given the five Oscar nominations for the morality tale of New York stockbroker Jordan Belfort, Leonardo DiCaprio’s popularity, mostly glowing reviews and the controversy over the record number of f-words: 506.
That plus the fact that the only other new wide release was the fifth iteration of the found-footage horror franchise, Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, which scared up a creditable $1.4 million.
It was another buoyant trading session as the top 15 titles raked in $16.5 million, just 7% down on the previous weekend. Six titles each earned more than $1 million.
Disney’s animated powerhouse Frozen collected $2.1 million in its fifth frame, propelling its total to $31.6 million.
Fox’s WW2 drama The Book Thief advanced to $8.9 million after earning $1.5 million in its third chapter, easing by 31%.
Disney’s Saving Mr Banks banked $1.4 million in its third weekend, boosting its receipts to $7.9 million.
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit plunged by 53% to $1 million for an 11-day haul of $4 million. Another fast burner is samurai action fantasy 47 Ronin, which dropped by 54% to $817,000 in its second weekend, collecting $3.5 million to date.
Terrific word of mouth keeps paying off for Stephen Frears' Philomena, which fetched $585,000 in its fifth sojourn, topping $8 million.
On the art house circuit, Palace launched The Great Beauty, Paolo Sorrentino's love letter to modern-day Rome, grossing $139,000 in five days on 15 screens, which brings the cume including festivals and outdoor screenings to a bellissimo $512,000.
Also noteworthy: Jonathan Teplitzky’s The Railway Man has amassed $5.6 million after pocketing $328,000 in its fifth campaign.
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE Jan 23-26
|
|
Title |
Week/ Screens |
Box Office |
% +- |
Total
|
|
1 |
The Wolf of Wall Street |
1/325 |
$5,137,351 |
NA |
$5,384,886 |
|
2 |
Frozen |
5/380 |
2,097,639 |
-18 |
31,679,064 |
|
3 |
The Book Thief |
3/254 |
1,496,751 |
-31 |
8,961,572 |
|
4 |
Saving Mr. Banks |
3/272 |
1,409,417 |
-21 |
7,880,672 |
|
5 |
Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones |
1/206 |
1,392,751 |
NA |
1,415,940 |
|
6 |
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit |
2/267 |
1,001,538 |
-53 |
4,025,997 |
|
7 |
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug |
5/296 |
896,674 |
-49 |
36,587,773 |
|
8 |
47 Ronin |
2/276 |
817,771 |
-54 |
3,482,784 |
|
9 |
Free Birds |
3/265 |
774,256 |
-26 |
4,929,712 |
|
10 |
Philomena |
5/164 |
585,998 |
-14 |
8,055,139
|
Source: Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia