Zack Snyder’s latest flick Sucker Punch couldn’t quite make the knockout blow at the Australian box office in its opening weekend.
The action fantasy film, starring our own Emily Browning, was just defeated by Fox 3D animation comedy adventure Rio in the battle for box office heavyweight champion, however it did open on almost half the screens.
The film, described as Alice In Wonderland…with machine guns, had a marginally better opening than his last project Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole, and took in $1.7 million across 247 screens – giving it a healthy screen average of $7005.
Local vendor Animal Logic created a 12-minute (164-shot) dragon fantasy sequence for the film, which involved a fire breathing dragon, a battle between orcs and knights, a chase scene between a B-25 bomber and the dragon, and lots of fire, lava and explosions.
The Warner Bros film, which has had largely negative reviews, tells the story of Baby Doll (Browning), who has been locked up in a mental hospital and with the help of four fellow inmates, fights her way through fantasy battle zones.
Rio, also in its opening weekend, took in $2.3 million Down Under from 459 screens, giving it an average of $4991.
From the makers of Ice Age, the voice cast includes Anne Hathaway (The Devil Wears Prada, Rachel Getting Married, The Dark Knight Rises), Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network, Zombieland), George Lopez (Lopez Tonight) and Jamie Foxx (Ray, Collateral).
New Adam Sandler/Jennifer Aniston film Just Go With It, distributed by Sony, took out third spot with $1.6 million, animated film Hop – which had a massive opening in the US in its first weekend with $US37.5 million – made fourth position with $1.5 million from 254 screens, while Justin Bieber’s Never Say Never took in $1.2 million.
The King's Speech continues its massive run, this time taking in $115,546 in its 16th week across 103 screens.
Griff The Invisible, starring Ryan Kwanten and Maeve Dermody, made $8666 from six screens – 57 per cent down on last weekend ($20,211).
Keep an eye on the IF website for a feature on Animal Logic’s visual effects for Sucker Punch.
Australian films at the local box office in 2011:
|
Film
|
Budget
|
Distributor
|
Opening w/e
|
Box Office
|
|
Sanctum
|
$30m
|
Universal
|
$1,595,021
|
$3,838,154
|
|
Wasted On The Young
|
|
Paramount
|
$52,118
|
$138,724
|
|
Griff The Invisible
|
$2m
|
Paramount/Transmission
|
$66,344
|
$191,281
|
|
The Reef
|
$3.8m
|
Pinnacle Films
|
$58,196
|
$124,764
|
|
A Heartbeat Away
|
$7m
|
Hoyts
|
$44,204
|
$118,65
|
Source: MPDAA, IF