Every week we dissect the good, the bad, and the bombs of the Aussie box office world. No talk of box office would be complete without mention of the US, so we’ll also take a look at what’s hitting big, what’s not, and where our refined Aussie movie palates differ from our blockbuster loving American brethren. Let’s dig in…
Last week, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler laughed it up in Sisters, and Leo DiCaprio got his revenge on in The Revenant. But could either unseat the reigning champ?
AUSTRALIAN BOX OFFICE – JAN 7-10
Source: Urban Cinefile
Lessening Force: The Force Awakens dropped another 45% in it’s 4th weekend, to bring in another $4.9 million and come within a hair of an $80 million total. With three weeks of school holidays left, it’s still possible for it to come within spitting distance of Avatar‘s total ($115.6 million), but it’s going to need to have smaller drops in the coming weeks to reach that milestone I think.
Rev-ing Up The Charts: Coming in close behind, and probably surprising many, was the Leonardo DiCaprio revenge saga The Revenant. Taking in $3.9 million in 2nd place, I would have thought that this would have been much more of a niche movie than it has turned out to be. But what do I know, I just report on these things.
Doing It For Themselves: Tina and Amy seemed to be just the ticket for comedy fans, laughing up a cool $3.2 million in 3rd place. It’s already out-grossed the total sum of their last movie Baby Mama after one weekend, so I guess they’re doing something right!
Over in the U.S, The Revenant stormed into the Top 10, looking to knock Rey and Han out of the top spot, but did Leo take the top spot?
US BOX OFFICE – JAN 8-10
Source: Box Office Mojo
By A Wookie Hair: By a mere $3 million, Rey, Finn and the Force Awakens crew kept their box office crown for a 4th week. With $42.3 million, it’s still putting up crazy good numbers and is now the first movie to pass the $800 million mark at the US box office. It seems astounding to me that it has achieved this much after only 4 weeks in release. It took Titanic and later Avatar months to reach these same levels.
Leo’s Revenge: Posing the first serious challenge to Star Wars since it’s release, and a little out of left field, Leonardo DiCaprio flexed his star-power and muscled in an amazing $39.8 million with The Revenant in 2nd place. This movie has connected with a much larger audience worldwide than you would think, it seems that word of mouth is strong with this one, and I would guess that this is actually taking some of the talkability that Taratino’s The Hateful Eight might have otherwise enjoyed.
Lost In The Woods: Opening in 4th place, and probably benefiting from being the only horror movie in theatres, the spooky Natalie Dormer starring The Forest could only manage a $12.7 million weekend. Recent comparable performances would be The Woman In Black 2 and Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, which opened a little higher ($15 and $18.3 million) on their way to about $30 million total. With less of a brand name than those movies, expect this one to finish with a low $20 million gross. The Forest currently doesn’t have an Australian release.
New to cinemas this week: An embarrassment of riches, as Oscar contenders The Hateful Eight, Carol and The Big Short finally open in Aussie theatres, and Goosebumps and The 5th Wave hope to scare up some big bucks from genre fans.
So there you go folks, any surprises? Everything pan out just as you suspected? Hit us up in the comments and let us know what you’re enjoying at the movies. Also, if there’s anything you’d like to see us cover in the world of box office, speak up and let your opinion be known!