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 (Hot tip – probably not all that much). Let’s dig in…
This weekend Depp and Drew battled Damon for the dollars. But which superstar reigned when the dust settled?
AUSTRALIAN BOX OFFICE – OCT 8-11
Source: Urban Cinefile
Not Jettisoning Yet: The Martian holds onto it’s lofty Number 1 perch this week, holding off a stuttering Black Mass and a fairly strong second week of work from The Intern. The Matt Damon-starrer dropped a scant 25% to $4.5 million, pushing it’s cume to a stratospheric $13.3 million. If Depp can’t dethrone the champ, maybe it’ll be the ghoulish Crimson Peak that does the trick, in the lead up to Halloween.
Black Mood: You can’t help but think that Warner Bros must be a little disappointed with the weekend showing for Black Mass. A marquee star, well-known supporting cast, easy to sell premise, and overall good reviews, this should have been Number 1 with a bullet (pun intended). Instead it backfired a bit, landing in 3rd place behind the second weekend of not only The Martian, but also the DeNiro/Hathaway double-hander, with a $1.1 million total. For shame.
Swing And A Miss: Seems like the need for a Beaches revamp was over thought a bit, as the Toni Collette/Drew Barrymore ode to BFF’s Miss You Already seemed to miss the audience entirely, landing with a whimper in 6th with $580K. Competition for the female demo would have been strong from The Intern, so perhaps getting in front of the comedy’s release may have been a better plan, it’s always better to be the only one in the market. Reviews have been decent however, so we’ll see how this one holds up next week.
Over in the U.S of A, The Martian looked to keep it’s top spot as Pan flew into theatres. Did audiences want to go back to Neverland?
U.S BOX OFFICE – OCT 9-11
Source: Box Office Mojo
Still In Orbit: Similar to it’s Australian weekend, The Martian held tight to it’s top spot, dipping a slim 31% in it’s second weekend to gross $37 million and rocket it’s total past the $100 million mark. It’ll likely get pushed aside next weekend, as Bridge Of Spies aims for the adult drama crowd and Crimson Peak and Goosebumps enter the fray to capitalize early on the Halloween dollars, but Universal has to be happy with how their space odyssey is playing with audiences.
Not Taking Flight: The very expensive (north of $150 million to produce) and much-panned Pan finally took off in US theatres this weekend to the same collective yawn that it was met with by local audiences. Launching to $15.3 million in 3rd place, the Hugh Jackman-starrer will have to work hard to hit $50 million in the US market, let alone become profitable. Hopefully for Warner Bros the worldwide grosses make up some of the difference.
Walk On By: By all notices, The Walk is an expertly crafted picture that should definitely be seen in theatres. Except that someone forgot to tell the audience. Launching last week in limited release (big formats only, like Everest) it only manages an 11th place finish, and this week, although it went up 138%, it only managed to make the 7th spot with $3.7 million. This’ll be a film that will rely on good word of mouth and maybe of couple of early awards and nominations to get noticed I think. Stay tuned.
Up next week, Guillermo Del Toro’s Crimson Peak arrives to creep you out, Tom Hardy twins out in crime drama Legend, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt takes The Walk into theatres.
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 multiplex. 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!