This weekend, the top 20 films at the Australian box office grossed $8,091,025, a 35% drop from last weekend’s $12,499,900. The per-screen average was $2,238, down from $3,361 last week. With the final weekend of school holidays, box office took a bit of a hit. This weekend’s Tron: Ares didn’t quite perform as well as last week’s Taylor Swift’s one-week limited release promotional movie (driving $2,897,864 across the weekend), but it did an admirable enough job.
Top five
1. Tron Ares
Making its debut at the top of the charts is the third instalment in the Tron franchise, which began in 1982 with Jeff Bridges in the lead. The new Tron movie inverts the premise of the films – instead of our hero going into a video game, characters from the game step out into real life.
Disney opened this film in multiple international markets with a campaign that focused on the real-world experience of the third film.
For the opening weekend pulled it made $2,226,413 across a massive 529 screen count. Since release, the film has netted $12,796,732.
The movie has a supporting role by Jeff Bridges, the original star of the Tron films, but is led this time by Jared Leto. Other actors in the film include s an ensemble cast including Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith, Hasan Minhaj, Arturo Castro, and Gillian Anderson.
Synopsis:Mankind encounters AI beings for the first time when a highly sophisticated programme, Ares, leaves the digital world for a dangerous mission in the real world.
2. The Bad Buys 2
In week four of release, The Bad Guys 2 has retained its hold on Australian audiences with second place. Across the weekend it made $1,325,155, bringing total box office since release to $14,137,552. That’s a 45% drop on week three, with a reduced screen count of 333.
The Bad Guys 2 was the film of the school holidays, with strong box office across the past three weeks. It didn’t have Taylor Swift to compete with this week, but Tron: Ares surely ate into some of the audience of older kids who might have instead gone to see the animated heist comedy.
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.
3. One Battle After Another
With this third weekend of release, One Battle After Another continues to drive an audience for adult audiences. The Bad Guys 2 has retained its hold on Australian audiences with second place. Across the weekend it made $1,013,228 on 306 screens. Since release, the film has made $6,148,090.
Next week’s release of buzzy indie movie After The Hunt may eat into some of the upscale adult audiences attracted to One Battle After Another, but positive word of mouth continues to drive audiences.
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
Australian family film Kangaroo continues to hold in the top five and saw a lift to the fourth spot for this final school holiday weekend in its run.
In this fourth weekend of release, Kangaroo saw $547,781 across 295 screens. Since release it has made $4,614,595.
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
Based on the Netflix kids show, Gabby continued to drive an audience of enthusiastic girls rubbing their cat ear headwear and dreaming of magical dollhouses. In week three of release, the movie dropped to fifth place. The film earned $526,449 across the weekend on 272 screens. Since release, the movie made $4,433,700.
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. The Travellers – $491,645
7. Kantara A Legend: Chapter 1 – $473,391 (total gross: $1,470,238)
8. The Conjuring: Last Rites – $322,810 (total gross: $14,753,484)
9. Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale – $243,232 (total gross: $6,236,896)
10. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle – $210,426 (total gross: $10,055,249)