If Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton’s pointed refusal to review Wolf Creek 2 was designed to deter viewers from going to the movie, it’s hard to tell whether or not they succeeded.
The minor media storm whipped up by the At the Movies co-hosts could have had the opposite effect of encouraging some folks who were wavering or undecided to check out Greg Mclean’s gruesome thriller.
However the serial killer saga starring John Jarratt and Ryan Corr plunged by 40% to $1 million last weekend, a standard second-weekend drop, suggesting the Pomeranz/Stratton controversy had zero impact on ticket buyers. So Wolf Creek 2 has raked in $3.2 million in 11 days, compared with the original’s lifetime gross of $6.1 million.
The top title was Non- Stop, an action thriller starring Liam Neeson as an air marshal who gets a text message while en route to London warning someone on the plane will die unless $150 million is paid into a bank account.
The film collected $1.8 million, a solid figure but, pro-rata, nowhere near as impressive as in the US where the Studiocanal production fetched an $US28.8 million.
Peter Berg’s intense Afghan war movie Lone Survivor fell by 40% to $898,000 in its second outing, bringing its earnings to $2.9 million.
After bombing in the US the previous weekend, the McG-directed action thriller 3 Days to Kill was destined to fail here, making $483,000 on 163 screens. The concept of Kevin Costner as an international spy who's determined to mend fences with his estranged wife and daughter while hunting for the world’s most ruthless terrorist just doesn’t seem to fly with audiences.
Takings overall slipped by 3% to $9.5 million last weekend. Japanese animated film The Wind Rises, a fictionalised account of the man who designed the Zero fighters used in WW2, opened with a decent $116,000 at nine screens, and $145,000 including previews.
Gloria, a comedy-drama set in Santiago about a free-spirited divorcee and her whirlwind relationship with a former naval officer, debuted with a skimpy $33,000 at 14 screens; however with festival screenings and previews it has amassed $200,000.
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE Feb 27-March 2
Title Week/ Screens Box Office % +- Total
1 Non-Stop 1/246 $1,869,355 NA $1,869,355
2 Wolf Creek 2 2/218 1,009,865 -40 3,242,765
3 The Wolf of Wall Street 6/228 898,128 -15 21,101,674
4 Lone Survivor 2/230 897,446 -40 2,925,509
5 Last Vegas 4/233 596,913 -26 5,929,187
6 RoboCop 4/194 503,117 -37 6,510,591
7 12 Years a Slave 5/160 495,218 +20 5,100,811
8 3 Days to Kill 1/163 483,428 NA 438,428
9 Are We Officially Dating? 3/161 296,247 -35 2,228,903
10 Dallas Buyers Club 3/76 279,384 +2 1,329,733
Source: Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia