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Update: Aussie films B.0 scorecard

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