'The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes' may not have opened at the heights seen for the rest of the franchise, but it still gave exhibitors a needed boost last weekend.
Sue Maslin explains the reasoning behind the Australian Feature Film Forum, which will host an 'Ask Me Anything' session at AIMC that will see filmmakers, exhibitors and distributors ask tough questions about each other's decision making and business models. Ahead of, IF also shares some 'tough talk' from a range of industry figures.
Finally landing in Australia almost a month behind the US, 'Blue Beetle', Warner Bros.' latest instalment in the DC Extended Universe, had a middling start at the box office and was unable to unseat stablemate 'The Nun II' from the no. 1 position.
Jason Statham shark thriller 'Meg 2: The Trench' may have opened significantly below the 2018 original in North America, but here in Australia, receipts were almost on par. That said, the sequel was no match at all for the continued phenomenon that is 'Barbenheimer'.
Danny and Michael Philippou's debut feature 'Talk to Me' landed at no. 6 at the North American box office, proving to be A24's most successful release since 2018's 'Hereditary'. At home, it opened at no. 4 and is already the third highest grossing Australian film of the year.
By their "very different but equally excellent" powers combined, 'Barbie' and 'Oppenheimer have given Australian cinemas their best weekend since the pandemic began - and for at least one exhibitor, its best weekend ever.
While the weekend was all about the launch 'Mission: Impossible -Dead Reckoning Part One' for most cinemas, Paramount is not publicly releasing figures for the film until after its "official" premiere date on Thursday. Yet most exhibitors report a strong response.
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.