Some 17 Australian films including two documentaries have been released in Australian cinemas this year.
By IF’s reckoning, the cumulative gross is $35.2 million. That may sound respectable but the average gross per title plummets if you exclude Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby, which raked in $28.2 million to rank as the fifth highest Australian grosser of all time.
At this rate, the Australian films have no hope of reaching last year’s tally of $47.9 million, a box office share of 4.3%, given Anne Fontaine’s Adoration (formerly Two Mothers) is getting a limited release next month via eOne Hopscotch after performing poorly in the US and Jonathan Teplitzky’s critically-admired The Railway Man opens on Boxing Day.
In 2012 The Sapphires was No 1 with $14.5 million followed by Happy Feet Two ($8.2 million out of its lifetime gross of $10.7 million), Kath & Kimderella ($6.1 million), A Few Best Men ($5.3 million) and Mental ($4.1 million).
Apart from Gatsby only three local films have cracked the $1 million milestone this year: Goddess (generally regarded as a disappointing result), Return to Nim’s Island and Tim Winton’s The Turning, which has reaped the benefits of an innovative release strategy by Robert Connolly’s CinemaPlus and Madman Entertainment.
For a film shot in Laos, writer-director Kim Mordaunt’s debut feature The Rocket has done tidy business.
Red Obsession has fared admirably for a feature-length documentary and In Bob We Trust has opened impressively on a handful of screens.
Circle of Lies, The 25th Reich, Absolute Deception, 100 Bloody Actres and Patrick had limited theatrical releases.
As IF has noted, on paper at least, 2014 looks far more promising with high-profile titles such as John Curran’s Tracks, Greg Mclean’s Wolf Creek 2, Matt Saville’s Felony, Julius Avery’s Son of a Gun, David Michôd’s The Rover, Kriv Stenders’ Kill Me Three Times, Tony Ayres' currently shooting Cut Snake, Stuart Beattie’s I, Frankenstein and Peter and Michael Spierig’s Predestination.
|
AUSTRALIAN FILMS SCORECARD 2013
|
|||
|
|
Title |
Release Date |
Total |
|
1 |
The Great Gatsby |
May 30 |
$28,277,208
|
|
2 |
Goddess |
March 14 |
1,636,018
|
|
3 |
Return to Nim’s Island |
April 4 |
1,216,961
|
|
4 |
Tim Winton’s The Turning |
September 26 |
1,051,278
|
|
5 |
Drift |
May 2 |
917,261
|
|
6 |
The Rocket |
August 29 |
465,342
|
|
7
|
Red Obsession |
August 15 |
426,110 |
|
8 |
Satellite Boy |
June 20
|
398,034 |
|
9 |
Save Your Legs! |
February 28 |
380,488
|
|
10 |
Mystery Road |
October 17
|
183,820 |
|
11 |
Blinder |
March 7 |
101,027
|
|
12 |
Circle of Lies* |
August 22 |
50,000
|
|
13 |
Absolute Deception * |
August 29 |
30,000
|
|
14 |
The 25th Reich* |
June 21 |
28,200
|
|
15 |
In Bob We Trust |
October 17
|
26,768 |
|
16 |
100 Bloody Acres |
August 1
|
18,355 |
|
17 |
Patrick |
October 17
|
12,705 |
Source: Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia
*Producer’s figure