by Dov Kornits
Dating a film is serious business. Not, going out on a date with a film, but finding a date to release the film, silly. It really is a fine art. Counterprogramming is an even greater art, but it seems like these days, one film rules them all. Sorry about the mixed metaphor, but this week, we had the release of a Star Wars movie, which took so much money at the box office that it seems to have fully wiped out youth-oriented romcom Finding Emily. In previous weeks, similar things happened with Michael and The Devil Wears Prada 2, which both dominated so much that no other new starters stood a chance, it seems. On the flipside, you have Obsession, which opened against under-performers In the Grey and Mother Mary, and is now flying in week 2 of release. And if you will, another observation – check out the figures for The Richest Woman in The World, which was advertised as the biggest hit at the French Film Festival – almost $600k, TYVM! That’s a pretty tidy sum in the age of film festivals pulling in higher box office than general release for some films, eg. Aussie film Birthright, which must have made a tidy total at the Perth Arts Festival.
AUSTRALIAN FILMS AT THE BOX OFFICE
