by Dov Kornits
Hello 2019, we want the box office back!
Although topping the charts this weekend, and likely to exceed the $4m that 2021’s The Black Phone earnt at the Australian box office, there is a glaring issue at the cinemas – general earnings (and admissions) are down, and they ain’t coming back! Or has the difference just spread between film festivals and films released for very specific audiences (Chinese, Korean, Indian, Vietnamese)?
The post-Covid box office is especially cruel to Australian films, it seems, with the likes of The Travellers, a superior film to 2019’s Palm Beach (also starring Bryan Brown, and which earnt $3m locally) and comparable to Bruce Beresford’s previous film, Ladies in Black (which earnt $9m locally), that will under-perform in a big way, even though supported by the might of Sony Pictures.
Remember how disappointed we all were with the performance of The Babadook at the local box office? Well, this weekend reminds us that it earned around $250k on initial release. Meanwhile, new release Beast of War (sharks, war, how can it miss?) released on about 200% more screens, will earn barely 33%.
AUSTRALIAN FILMS AT THE BOX OFFICE
