With Sydney's cinemas still shuttered, a snap lockdown in effect in South East Queensland, Victorian and South Australian theatres just reopening, and the Olympics competing for eyeballs, it wasn't going to be smooth sailing for Disney's 'Jungle Cruise'.
With more than half the country's population in lockdown, it followed that the box office would take a tumble, with no title cracking $1 million last weekend.
'Space Jam: A New Legacy' did bumper business during school holiday advance screenings, but its official opening weekend was hampered by cinema closures in the country's two largest markets.
Despite school holidays, last weekend proved relatively quiet at the movies, with cinemas still shut in Sydney and other parts of the country.
Just over a week ago 'F9' revved into cinemas, posting the highest opening weekend since the pandemic began. Many exhibitors were then excited about the further promise of school holidays and two other upcoming major releases in 'The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard' and 'In The Heights'.
But what a difference a week can make, with new outbreaks of the virus impacting cinemas across the country and disrupting the market.
Two new major releases in 'A Quiet Place Part II' and 'Cruella' helped to breathe life back into the box office last weekend, though results were stymied by the closure of cinemas across Victoria.
Warner Bros.' 'Those Who Wish Me Dead' was declared DOA as it opened in the US over the weekend, but Australian audiences took to the neo-Western, with the film topping the box office.
JJ Winlove's 'June Again', starring Noni Hazlehurst, Claudia Karvan and Stephen Curry, resonated with Mother's Day crowds at the box office.