Just over a week after announcing a merger with Seven West Media (SWM), the razor gang has been brought into the newsroom at Southern Cross Austereo (SCA).

Confirming the latest changes, an SCA spokesperson said the company is “evolving the way we gather and prepare news bulletins to better serve audiences across Australia, now and into the future.”

They added that bulletins will continue to be delivered from “provincial and metro hubs” to “strengthen and expand our regional news coverage,” but acknowledged “some roles have been impacted.”

The move raises concern over the network’s ability to meet its regional content obligations under the Australian Communications and Media Authority’s (ACMA) new local content rules – and whether it could fall foul of the regulations that keep its licences intact.

Under the Broadcasting Services (Regional Commercial Radio – Material of Local Significance) Licence Condition 2024, every regional licence area must produce at least 62.5 minutes of original local content each week, roughly the output of one full-time journalist.

Yet, with newsroom staff being made redundant, there are concerns many stations may have to rely on “hubbed” state bulletins with only a few local-sounding stories from Sydney, Melbourne or Adelaide.

“If an audit was done, they wouldn’t be genuine local bulletins,” one source told Mediaweek. “No way could they be meeting 62.5 minutes like that.”

Among those departing is head of broadcast news James Royce, who Mediaweek understands remains “supportive of the company, especially the people.”

Sydney newsroom lead Amy Goggins is expected to step into a new national broadcast role.

The redundancies come as SCA prepares to merge with Seven West Media in a $2 billion deal combining radio, TV and digital assets.

While the merger promises scale and efficiency, SCA’s ability to maintain authentic regional coverage, and comply with ACMA’s strict local content standards, could soon face its biggest test.

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It might just be one of the most expensive social media posts ever made.

Influencer Abbie Chatfield has agreed to pay her former friend Heath Kelley $79,000 after being sued for defamation over a string of Instagram stories that reached hundreds of thousands of followers.

The payout, made by consent, was confirmed Thursday afternoon. Justice Wendy Abraham also ordered Chatfield to cover Mr Kelley’s legal costs “as agreed or assessed.”

It’s the latest development in a very modern kind of dispute – one that started in private DMs and ended up in the Federal Court.

The saga began when Chatfield shared private messages sent by Mr Kelley to her on Instagram earlier this year. In the exchange, Mr Kelley voiced his views on former Greens Party leader Adam Bandt and the Israel–Palestine conflict.

Mr Kelley claimed the posts were defamatory, arguing they suggested he “supports slaughter of children” in Palestine – and that sharing their private messages publicly breached confidentiality.

The legal fallout

The court documents reveal Mr Kelley engaged high-profile defamation lawyer Sue Chrysanthou to represent him.

The case caught widespread attention not just because of Chatfield’s celebrity status – she first rose to fame as The Bachelor Australia’s 2019 runner-up – but because of what it says about the blurred lines between private communication and public exposure in the influencer age.

Chatfield has built her brand on being outspoken and politically progressive – a mix that’s earned her both admiration and backlash. This case, however, has put a legal lens on that authenticity.

A cautionary tale for creators and brands

The ruling lands as a sharp reminder that Instagram stories can have real-world consequences long after they disappear from a feed.

For influencers, journalists, and even brands navigating social media, it’s another signal that the digital grapevine isn’t immune to defamation law.

Private messages aren’t always private. And when an online spat spills into the courtroom, even the most seasoned content creators can find themselves paying for more than just boosted reach.

Because in the attention economy, it turns out virality can cost more than clicks.

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The entries are in, and it’s nearly time for the Mediaweek 100.

The prestigious event returns on Friday 25, October with a broader lens and a renewed focus on the people shaping Australia’s media and marketing ecosystem.

More than just a roll-call of names, this year’s list will capture the diverse mix of executives, innovators, and disruptors whose decisions and influence have defined the industry over the past 12 months.

You can buy individual tickets, a half table or a full table for the three course lunch at the impressive Pearl Ballroom at the Crown Sydney.

BUY YOUR TICKETS

This year, the Mediaweek 100 has evolved into a new format. 

The 100 leaders are celebrated across five themed categories. The Power 20, Growth 20, Innovation 20, Influence 20, and Impact 20, are each ranked from 20 to 1. 

Together, they showcase the talent, leadership, and creativity.

The Media Agency 50 has also evolved. Shaped with input from an independent advisory board, it celebrates the leaders and teams in Australia’s media agencies.

With refreshed criteria focused on innovation, impact and culture – rather than just scale – this list highlights those truly setting benchmarks for excellence.

Are you on the list?

For event enquiries, including questions around tickets, contact Head of Editorial Operations, Sarah Chapman.

Leo Australia has won the top honour at the 2025 Australian Effie Awards, taking out the Grand Effie for its work with Suncorp, in recognition of a campaign that reshaped category conventions and drove strong business results.

The agency’s entry, *From Recovery to Resilience: How Suncorp Rewrote Insurance Rules and Revitalised Its Business*, was praised by judges as “a showcase of effectiveness that all marketers should aspire to”. The work spanned multi-year initiatives including One House to Save Many, Resilience Road, and If Your Home Could Talk.

Leo Australia CEO Clare Pickens commented on the agency’s Grand Effie win last night: “What an incredible night! The Effies hold a special place for us at Leo because we believe our creative work should drive real business impact – and continue to do so over time. Winning the Grand Effie for long-term effectiveness with our Suncorp partners is a tremendous honour. It reflects the talent and dedication of so many across our team. And it speaks directly to our ambition to create ideas that go beyond campaigns – shaping culture, building brands, and delivering lasting value for our clients.”

Six Gold Effies were awarded on the night, alongside 21 Silver, 28 Bronze, and five Special Awards. In total, 24 agencies and 26 clients were recognised for delivering outstanding, measurable effectiveness.

The full list of winners is available online.

BMF and ALDI take top effectiveness titles

BMF was named Effective Agency of the Year, earning one gold and four silver awards for its work with ALDI Australia, and another silver for the Attorney-General’s Department.

ALDI was awarded Effective Advertiser of the Year for BMF’s Christmas campaign, Proving That Going Extra Needn’t Cost Extra. Judges commended the campaign’s strong strategic foundation, consumer insight, and narrative execution.

More Gold winners recognised

Clemenger BBDO picked up two Gold Effies for Lifeblood Blood Supply for Australian Red Cross Lifeblood. Judges said the campaign, which used a media-first approach to turn blood donation into a national news story, was “well-integrated and effective across all metrics, saving up to 28,848 lives”.

VML Australia also claimed two Gold Effies – one for How ADF Careers Drove Effectiveness and Efficiency for Defence Force Recruiting, and another for KitKat Break Chair for Nestlé. Judges highlighted the KitKat campaign as “outstanding, innovative and highly effective” thanks to its strategic thinking and execution.

Special recognition and industry reflection

The Colin Wilson-Brown Award, which honours the Effie Chairman, was presented to Saatchi & Saatchi Australia for Toyota’s The Ultimate Comeback: How a Seasoned Champion Reclaimed the Crown.

Tony Hale, CEO of Advertising Council Australia, said this year’s Effies reflect a shift toward work that delivers beyond the creative: “The Effies have always been about celebrating marketing that truly delivers. This year, we saw an increased number of winners, reflecting a growing focus across the industry on work that moves the needle, challenges conventions, and demonstrates the value of creative impact. Congratulations to all who were recognised for their outstanding achievements.”

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With little to no warning, the marketing team at BBC Australia are opening a Bluey Duck Cake Cafe pop-up at Bondi Junction Westfield in Sydney.

Families will be able to step into Bluey’s world where they will be able to meet Bluey herself and decorate their own Ducking Cupcakes. Tickets are free and available via ballot from Friday morning at the Bluey website.

The theme of the pop-up is inspired by the iconic duck cake featured in The Australian Women’s Weekly ‘Children’s Birthday Cake Book.’ It is featured in a season 2 episode of Bluey, titled ‘Duck Cake,’ in which her sister Bingo wants a duck cake for her birthday.

With the birthday cake book celebrating its own 45th anniversary this year, the timing seemed right to stage the duck cake cafe pop-up. Appearing at the cafe to launch the pop-up will be 80 year-old Agnes Lee, the original Duck Cake creator who invented it back in 1980 while working in the Australian Women’s Weekly test kitchen.

Ahead of the event, BBC Studios’ Bluey marketing lead Madeleine Santos had a chat with Mediaweek about the event and the role it plays in the overall marketing strategy of Bluey in the lead-up towards the 2027 feature film release.

“The germ of the idea was generated on the BBC Studios side through brainstorming with our local brand team, along with our global brand team,” explained Santos. “We have an overarching kind of loose brand theme this year, which is called Let’s Play Chef.”

“It’s all about the food, the cooking, those memories in the kitchen through to the Bluey brand itself. As we sort of talked about it more and more, it came to life even more.”

Connected to the Let’s Play Chef brand theme is Bluey Cookalongs, a live action TV series featuring families making food together based on food featured in the cartoon show. It is streaming now on ABC iView.

The Duck Cake and its status in Australia fits really well with the spirit of families getting together to cook. It represents a multi-generational cultural story where recipes from that cook book play a role in the lore of so many Australian families.

“People watch that episode, and so many people relate to that moment of having the Australian Women’s Weekly cookbook, picking the duck cake,” Santos said before delivering a well executed pun: “We like the layers and the richness of the storytelling. There’s so much rich storytelling that we can pull from.

“We all feel like very proud custodians as well. So we want to imbue those core values and that brand DNA in everything we do through our activations throughout, licencing collaborations, our live events, all the ways that we bring Bluey to life off the screen, as well as on the screen.”

Due to the global success of Bluey, the marketing calendar to promote the brand is full and multi-faceted. A big part of the year-long campaigning to support the show involves activations like this weekend’s pop-up.

“It is about bringing the world of Bluey to life for our fans in kind of innovative and new ways,” Santos said. “We’ve had some great success with previous real-world activations and partnerships in previous years. For example, when we brought Hammer Barn, the fictional hardware store, to life for real life with Bunnings last year and we partnered with them again this year.

“We also brought the Bluey Christmas episode to life a couple of years ago across the Myer Christmas windows. That was a really special moment for the fans as well. Last year, we also rebranded two of Brisbane’s iconic ferries, their CityCats, and created the Bluey and Bingo CityDogs.

“Fans being able to engage with the brand in these tangible ways really deepens that emotional connection that they have with the brand, and it also allows us to really bring to life the storytelling around those activations as well.”

It may surprise anyone with a little person living in their home where Bluey is on the TV still non-stop, but there is currently a Bluey content drought. The show stopped being produced over a year ago, with the final episode airing in April, 2024. There won’t be any original Bluey until the debut of the feature-length movie in August 2027.

More than ever before, the marketing team at the BBC are needed to continue stoking enthusiasm in the Bluey brand.

“In the lead up to the movie, we’re working on a lot of other activities and activations that fans can continue to engage and interact with the Bluey brand on. That’s across marketing experiences and activations like this. It’s across our live events and live entertainment. Also new products and licensing launches as well,” Santos said.
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Kic co-founder Laura Henshaw will step down as CEO of fitness app Kic, with entrepreneur Jane Martino, co-founder of popular mental health app Smiling Mind, set to take on the job.

In a Linkedin post, Henshaw revealed that she and fellow Kic co-founder Steph Smith have been working with Martino, who has served in an advisory capacity.

With over 850,000 app downloads and 55,000 monthly active users across 121 countries, Kic bills itself as a “leading health & wellness app on a mission to change the relationship people have with wellness and themselves.” The ethos of the app is about promoting the benefits of movement for physical and mental health without weight-loss as a focus. It boasts over 1000 workouts, 800 recipes, & 100 meditations and charges users a monthly $29.99 subscription fee (with cheaper quarterly and annual plans available).

Kic began as a recipe e-book published by Henshaw and Smith and has grown into a multi-million dollar business that competes in the growing Australian fitness app market against Sweat, the Chris Hemsworth-backed Centr, 28 by Sam Wood, and Emily Skye FIT. When you’re holding your own against Thor himself, you know you are doing something right.

Henshaw acknowledged that she knew that serving as CEO wouldn’t be permanent and was working to grow the business to a point where a leader could be brought in to take on the running of it.

“As founders, Kic truly does feel like our baby – we’ve put everything over the past 10 years into getting it to where it is today, alongside our incredible team (without whom Kic wouldn’t exist). So, when Steph and I started the conversation about 18 months ago about bringing someone else into the role, we knew it would be quite the task to find the right person,” Henshaw wrote.

“Someone who would continue to champion our amazing community alongside us, whose life’s work felt deeply connected with our mission (as it does for Steph and I), and who could not only work alongside us on our vision but expand it – enabling us to support our community in a bigger and better way than ever before.”

Henshaw spoke highly of Martino and of what she could bring to the business: “We have some huge plans for next year (and, as scary as it feels to say, our biggest plans yet as a business), and having Janey as part of our leadership team and as CEO is so exciting for how much we’ll be able to achieve together.”

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In an effort to compete with new consumer-friendly AI platforms like ChatGPT, Google has been beefing up its own AI functionality within search and this week has delivered AI Mode in Australia.

AI Mode empowers Google users to ask longer and more complex questions. The search giant has said that this functionality is useful for “exploratory tasks like planning a trip, or understanding complex how-tos.” In a Google blog on the local launch, Google offered up the example search: ”I want to understand the different coffee brewing methods. Make a table comparing the differences in taste, ease of use, and the equipment needed.” And to follow it up with: “What’s the best grind size for each method?”

The pitch Google is making to users is that queries can now be done with fewer searches and with direct results that yield more detailed answers.

In the back-end, AI Mode uses a ‘query fan-out technique’, which means it takes your search query and breaks your question into subtopics before issuing a multitude of queries on your behalf.

The story Google are crafting for publishers is quite different to what marketers are being advised.

The Think With Google promotional page trumpeting the launch of AI Mode locally informs publishers that “when people click from search result pages with AI Overviews, these clicks are higher quality for websites, meaning that users are more likely to spend more time on the sites they visit.”

The key term is “when people click.”

Users of AI Mode will find that Google now offers them fewer clickable results with no blue hyperlinks displayed on the page. Functioning far more like ChatGPT’s answers to a search query, the result is Google has moved from serving as a platform that points you in the direction of quality answers to cutting out the middle man and just serving up the answers on the page.

Google cites a survey result from research it conducted with the independent Ipsos which found that “60% of potential lead gen customers who saw an AI Overview in their search results claim it makes the decision-making process faster, easier, and/or less overwhelming.” This shows that, for the moment, users find benefit with the more streamlined delivery of news and information AI Mode can provide. But reduced search traffic to websites is not great for the overall health of the web.

In July, the US think tank Pew Research Centre found that when users were given a quality AI Overview after searching on Google, clicks to the primary source of the information were substantially lower:

Google dispute the claims, with a spokesperson countering: “We consistently direct billions of clicks to websites daily and have not observed significant drops in aggregate web traffic as is being suggested.”

Contradicting these claims is research from SimilarWeb, which shared with Australia’s ABC data that showed global declines in news website traffic

And similar declines reported by Australian news publishers:

Perhaps a more rosey view for marketers

While AI Overviews and the more limiting AI Mode may be problematic for publishers, there remains opportunities for those wishing to market products directly through Google.

The product is yet to launch in Australia, but in the US Google now offers Ads in AI Overviews. They are currently being tested in AI Mode.

Google is actively advising marketers that they will be opening more opportunities for marketers to be displayed on pages with query results “where people are open to discovery and ready to decide.”

In the US where Ads in AI Overviews is available, marketers can access those channels through Google’s Performance Max, which enables performance advertisers to access all of their Google Ads inventory from a single campaign.

Uh, Google…

Efforts by Mediaweek to use the service resulted in a message advising that AI Mode was “not currently available on your device or account.” This is a 2023 Macbook with Chrome installed.

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One of the most influential novels of the last century is making its way to television, as Stan and the BBC release first-look images from Lord of the Flies – the long-awaited adaptation of William Golding’s 1954 classic.

The four-part series comes from BAFTA-winning writer Jack Thorne (Adolescence, The Hack) and director Marc Munden (Help, The Sympathizer). It’s produced by Eleven – the team behind Sex Education and Ten Pound Poms – with Sony Pictures Television handling global distribution.

Shot on location in Malaysia, the series introduces a largely new ensemble cast led by Winston Sawyers as Ralph, Lox Pratt as Jack, David McKenna as Piggy, and Ike Talbut as Simon.

The cast also includes Thomas Connor as Roger, Noah and Cassius Flemming as twins Sam and Eric, Cornelius Brandreth as Maurice, and Tom Page-Turner as Bill, alongside an ensemble of more than 30 young actors portraying the island’s “biguns” and “littluns.”

Staying true to Golding’s vision

At its core, Lord of the Flies follows a group of schoolboys stranded on a deserted island after a plane crash.

With no adults and dwindling order, their attempts at civilisation collapse into chaos and violence – a reflection on human nature, morality, and the loss of innocence.

Thorne’s adaptation marks the story’s first-ever television treatment, staying faithful to Golding’s original 1950s setting on an unnamed Pacific island while digging deeper into its emotional terrain.

Each of the four episodes focuses on one of the novel’s central figures – Ralph, Piggy, Simon, and Jack – offering shifting perspectives on how leadership, fear, and survival play out among the boys.

The production was made in collaboration with Golding’s family, ensuring the series remains anchored in the spirit and complexity of the original text.

Behind the scenes

The project was commissioned by Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama, and marks another significant collaboration between the BBC and Stan following joint successes like Ten Pound Poms.

The series is produced by Callum Devrell-Cameron (Sex Education, Hanna), with executive producers Joel Wilson and Jamie Campbell for Eleven, Jack Thorne for One Shoe Films, Marc Munden, Nawfal Faizullah for the BBC, and Cailah Scobie for Stan.

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The Australian has released its fifth annual edition of The List: Top 100 Innovators, profiling the country’s most forward-thinking individuals and enterprises across a broad range of sectors, including artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, travel, fashion, energy, and infrastructure.

It is available today as a print magazine insert in today’s edition of The Australian and via its website.

The 2025 list reflects a growing national strength in technology and software, highlighting a surge in innovation that places Australian talent alongside global leaders in Silicon Valley. Notably, this year’s edition gives particular emphasis to advancements in AI and digital platforms.

The special issue is supported by advertisers including Omega, Rolex, Deloitte, Porsche, Range Rover, Travel Associates, and TechnologyOne.

Nicholas Gray, Managing Director and Publisher of The Australian, said: The Australian’s annual study of Australia’s top Innovators identifies the most exciting ideas emerging across the country. As part of The List franchise, it is very popular with our audience across both digital and print. It drives an uplift in subscriptions and offers marketers and advertisers a premium environment to engage with this audience.”

The list was curated by Jared Lynch, Technology Editor at The Australian, with input from an advisory panel comprising Robyn Denholm, Chair of Tesla; Scott Farquhar, Co-Founder of Atlassian; Damian Kassabgi, CEO of the Tech Council of Australia; and Michelle Simmons, Founder of Silicon Quantum Computing.

Lynch said the list captures a moment of transformation: “Ever wondered where the next seismic shift will come from or if Australia truly punches above its weight on the global stage? This issue of Top 100 Innovators isn’t just an answer, it’s a defiant roar. It’s a wild ride through the pioneering achievements redefining our world, whether we’re extending our health spans past 100, making cancer non-lethal or planting our flag firmly in the space race.

“The list is a vibrant panorama of an Australia not just adapting to the future, but actively forging it. It’s a future where progress flourishes from the outback to the boardroom, propelled by a potent blend of audacious dreams and quiet contemplation. The future, as seen through the eyes of Australia’s brightest minds, is here, and it’s anything but ordinary.”

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Vodafone has teamed up with creative agency Thinkerbell and Apple to launch the iPhone 17 Pro with a playful new campaign that imagines a world where camera-shy mythical creatures can no longer hide.

The national campaign, led by Vodafone’s Head of Brand and Marketing Lisa Cronin, positions the iPhone 17 Pro’s advanced camera system as both a drawcard for customers and a metaphorical threat to those preferring to stay unseen—like leprechauns, yetis, and other “questionably existent” creatures.

“iPhone 17 Pro helps Australians capture the world in incredible detail,” said Cronin. “This insight became the creative platform for our campaign. It’s playful, but it’s doing some serious work beneath the surface to drive acquisition and showcase Vodafone’s expanded mobile network.”

The campaign features a hero film, teaser spots, and a suite of bespoke social edits. Alongside the camera system, the work also highlights improved features such as durability, battery life and design.

Zander Williment, Head Creative Tinker at Thinkerbell, said the team relished the opportunity: “When your diary includes meeting invites like ‘LEPRECHAUN DISCUSSION,’ you know you’re working on one of the good ones. We’ve enjoyed applying our Measured Magic to the Vodafone and Apple brands.”

The creative was brought to life with production by Scoundrel, postproduction by ARC, and costume design from ScareCrew Studios. Media was handled by Starcom.

The launch marks Vodafone’s largest annual acquisition event, with the brand using the iPhone release to underscore improvements to its mobile network and reinforce its competitive credentials in the telco space.

Vodafone is a subsidiary of TPG Telecom.

Top image: Vodafone iPhone 17 Pro campaign (credit: Thinkerbell)

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Cobram Estate has launched a new integrated campaign, The Fresher The Better, in collaboration with independent creative agency ATime&Place and media partner Half Dome.

The national campaign, which spans TV, out-of-home, online video, digital and social, aims to educate Australians on the link between olive oil freshness and flavour – starting with the simple reminder that olives are fruit.

“Everyone knows fruit is best when it’s fresh, but not everyone thinks of olives as fruit,” said Charles Baylis, Executive Creative Director, ATime&Place. “Freshness is at the heart of everything Cobram Estate does, and it’s what unlocks the taste and health benefits of their extra virgin olive oil.”

Baylis added the creative direction was driven by simplicity: “Our job was simple – show that when it comes to olive oil, the fresher it is, the better it is.”

The campaign marks the first collaboration between Cobram Estate and ATime&Place since the agency’s appointment, and aims to reinforce Cobram Estate’s position as a leader in Australian extra virgin olive oil.

“Cobram Estate has elevated extra virgin olive oil to a world-class product,” said Adrian Mills, Co-founder and CEO, ATime&Place. “This campaign was about cutting through with a clear idea that shows why freshness matters. It’s a strong start to what we hope is a long and impactful partnership.”

Will Harms, Co-founder at Half Dome, said the media agency’s involvement was driven by a shared passion: “Cobram Estate is a powerhouse Aussie brand with a true family spirit – and a shared love of food. This campaign captures that beautifully.”

The launch follows a series of client wins for ATime&Place, which recently added UniSuper, Mountain Goat, Ventia, and Global Prime to its portfolio.

Campaign credits

• Creative agency: ATime&Place
• CEO: Adrian Mills
• CCO: Matt Lawson
• ECD: Charles Baylis
• Senior Creative: Caity Maloney
• Copywriter: Andy Matthews
• Strategy Director: Sally Denniston
• Group Account Director: Daniel Loukidis
• Account Manager: Jaya Abela
• Executive Producer: Marlese Byfield
• Media agency: Half Dome
• Head of Product: Will Harms
• Client Solutions Director: Sydney Church
• Client Solutions Manager: Molly O’Sullivan
• Production company: samIam
• Director: Benito Martin
• Stylist: Jessica Johnson
• DOP: Caleb Graham
• Post production: Carve & Stitch
• Post Producer: Emily Willis
• Sound studio: Squeak E Clean
• Sound Engineer: Paul Le Couteur

Top image: Campaign still from The Fresher The Better

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This week, the top 20 films at the Australian box office grossed $17,847,689, a 10% increase from last weekend’s $14,463,353. The per-screen average was $4,546, up from $4,517 last week. With school holidays and a long weekend in several states, it proved a strong weekend for audiences.

Top five

1.  The Bad Guys 2

The Bad Guys mounted their greatest heist yet: Stealing the weekend from Taylor Swift even in its third week of release.

Universal sat on the release of this film for two months waiting for the school holidays and it has paid off handsomely for the film, dominating the local box office for the past three weeks.

The film pulled in $3,682,207 over the week across 398 screens. Since release, the film has netted $12,796,732.

The movie includes voice stars Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Awkwafina, Craig Robinson, Anthony Ramos, Richard Ayoade, Zazie Beetz, and Alex Borstein, while adding new voice talent including Natasha Lyonne.

Next month Netflix debuts a 6-episode prequel series, The Bad Guys: Breaking In.

Synopsis: Reformed criminals Mr. Wolf, Mr. Snake, Mr. Piranha, Mr. Shark and Ms. Tarantula are trying very hard to be good. However, they soon find themselves hijacked into a high-stakes heist that’s masterminded by a new team of delinquents they never saw coming… the Bad Girls.

2.  Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl

Announced only a few weeks ago, this Taylor Swift promotional fan event film timed with the release of her new album wasn’t well-received by critics who noted that the film was a compilation of material usually just published to YouTube. The Guardian film critic Adrian Horton said that “it barely qualifies as a visual aid to the album, let alone one worthy of note in her vast universe of content.”

Swift’s album, The Life of a Showgirl, broke records with 3.5 million sales in the first week.

The film pulled in $3,253,207 over the week across 396 screens.

Synopsis:Taylor Swift presents a behind the scenes look at the making of her record The Life of a Showgirl.

3.  One Battle After Another

In week two of One Battle After Another, the film dropped to third place on the charts, pulling in $2,130,862 across 325 screens. Since release, the film has netted $5,134,881.

The Leo DiCaprio film from writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson was one of the best reviewed movies of the year at 95% on Rotten Tomatoes and will feature in many best-of 2025 critics lists at the end of the year. And deservedly so – the sequence at the end of the film is especially gripping.

Synopsis: Bob is a washed-up revolutionary who lives in a state of stoned paranoia, surviving off-grid with his spirited and self-reliant daughter, Willa. When his evil nemesis resurfaces and Willa goes missing, the former radical scrambles to find her as both father and daughter battle the consequences of their pasts.

4.  Kangaroo

In its third week of release, Australian family film Kangaroo holds fourth place on the chart, pulling in $1,417,474 across 336 screens. Since release, the film has netted $4,068,203.

Box office was only down 7% on last week, but with more kids on school holidays across Australia than in week one of release, it still doubled the first week’s takings.

While he isn’t the focus of the film, the movie is inspired by the real-life story of Chris “Brolga” Barns and his work at The Kangaroo Sanctuary in Alice Springs, Australia, where he rescues orphaned kangaroo joeys.

Synopsis: A pro surfer teams up with an 11-year-old Indigenous girl to rescue and rehabilitate orphaned kangaroos in a remote community.

5.  Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie

After making the leap from TV to the cinema last week, the movie spin-off from the popular Netflix kids franchise is in week 2 of release. It made $1,354,021 across 300 screens, down 17% from week one. The screen count was lower than rival kids film Kangaroo (336 screens), bringing in a higher average per screen ($4,513 for Gabby vs 4,219 for Kangaroo).

Since release, the film has netted $3,906,074.

Synopsis: When Gabby’s dollhouse, her most prized possession, ends up in the hands of an eccentric cat lady named Vera, she sets off on an adventure through the real world to get the Gabby Cats back together before it’s too late.

Rounding out the top 10 this week:

6. Kantara A Legend: Chapter 1 – $995,771

7. The Conjuring: Last Rites – $779,530 (total gross: $14,430,544)

8. Avatar: The Way of Water (re-release) – $721,728

9. Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale – $657,302 (total gross: $5,996,069)

10. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle – $640,421 (total gross: $9,844,880)

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