By Sam Dallas
Stuart Beattie blockbuster Tomorrow, When The War Began is third behind Happy Feet and Australia in opening day box office takings.
The muchly anticipated, action-packed film took an impressive $765,830 nation-wide yesterday (342 screens), making it the second-biggest ever non-holiday opening for an Aussie film behind Australia.
With Tomorrow making more than $36,000 from preview sales and almost $80,000 on opening day in New Zealand yesterday, things are looking promising for Beattie – who penned the scripts to Pirates of the Caribbean and Collateral – in his directorial debut.
The $20 million-plus film, based on the novel by John Marsden, tells the tale of a group of teenagers who go on a camping trip, only to return home and find their country has been invaded by an unknown army.
George Miller classic Happy Feet has the highest opening day for an Australian movie when his animated masterpiece raked in more than $2.29 million in 2006, while Baz Luhrmann’s Australia took $1.38 million in 2008.
|
Film
|
Budget
|
Distributor
|
Opening Day
|
Opening Weekend
|
Total
|
|
Happy Feet
|
$100 million
|
Roadshow
|
$2,290,606
|
$6,596,597
|
$31,786,164
|
|
Australia
|
$130 million
|
Fox
|
$1,387,702
|
$6,397,731
|
$37,555,757
|
|
Tomorrow, When The War Began
|
$20 million-plus
|
Paramount
|
$765,830
|
N/A
|
N/A
|