The records smashed by doco 'John Farnham: Finding the Voice' have proven that Australians will still come out in numbers to see local stories on the big screen, and there is significant optimism among exhibitors about the commercial potential of 'Force of Nature: The Dry 2'. However, broadly the year so far has been a very slow one for Australian films at the box office.
We're not even halfway through the year, but 2021 is shaping up to be a record-breaker for Australian films at the box office.
Australian films and feature documentaries have raked in combined theatrical revenues of $49 million through November 29, and with no new releases in December will likely finish the year with a tad more than $50 million.
Due mostly to a quirk in release patterns, Australian films have barely registered at the nation’s cinemas in the past few months.
Tait Brady has spent 35 years in the screen industry in production, distribution, cinema management, publicity and programming, and he says it’s never been so tough for independent films.