Box Office: laughs beat screams all over the world

Despite some horror film reboots the world is enchanted by American comedy sci-fi Free Guy.
Rib cage of man on shirt

This week we had all of two substantial new releases. Sony’s home invasion sequel Don’t Breathe 2 arrived on 103 screens and took $161,000 for the weekend to hold the number four slot. The original film came out on almost the same weekend in 2016 and took $1.38 million, or eight times as much. It ultimately made a modest $5.3 million altogether. Some of that loss may be supercharged by disappointment over the original, but the comparison is still sobering.

One rung down at number 5 supports Candyman, from Universal, also on 203 screens and also a horror film. It took $148,000. It is also a sequel though for a previous generation as the first film made $275,000 on its launch weekend in 1991. [All amounts in 2021 AU$]. Even in those easier times without even Foxtel, we still didn’t much like horror in a cinema.

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David Tiley was the Editor of Screenhub from 2005 until he became Content Lead for Film in 2021 with a special interest in policy. He is a writer in screen media with a long career in educational programs, documentary, and government funding, with a side order in script editing. He values curiosity, humour and objectivity in support of Australian visions and the art of storytelling.