Australian cinemas have been doing it tough, but this last weekend saw box office takings of $24 million, the biggest haul since Barbie and Oppenheimer (Barbenheimer) premiered together and brought in $31.4 million in July 2023.
Three blockbuster films are responsible for the fact that an estimated 1.4 million Australians went to the cinema over the weekend: animated Disney sequel Moana 2, Ridley Scott’s sandals and swords action sequel Gladiator II (now in its third week) and witchy musical adaptation Wicked: Part One (now in week 2).
Moana II had the biggest opening day of all time for a Disney animated film, taking $12.3 million at the Australian box office over the weekend. It’s a hit in the US and internationally too, making it the highest-grossing animation of all time behind The Simpsons (2007) and Shrek 2 (2004).
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Moana II follows on from the 2016 original Polynesian-set musical animation Moana, which was also a big hit.
Showing in 702 Australian cinemas on the weekend, Moana II had a huge screen average box office of $17,631, for a total of $12.3 million. By comparison, Wicked took $6.6 million at the Aussie box office (taking it to a total of $19.9 million in total), and Gladiator II took $2.6 million bringing it to a total of $17.7 million. [Figures via Numero.]
ScreenHub: Gladiator II review: I’m not NOT entertained
Significantly, each of these three films came from successful existing narrative properties and storyworlds, with built in audiences and proven appeal. Such strategies are far from failsafe and it’s a commonplace in the industry that nobody knows anything when it comes to predicting box office.
Still, we say give those young girls, families and theatre kids something to go out for and you might have a winner.
ScreenHub: Wicked review: A spell of new life for a timeless story
This end of year uptick is especially welcome sign for local cinema owners who’ve suffered from a lack of blockbusters in the first half of 2024 due to the US industrial action.
In terms of Australian films’ box office, it’s been a slow year with only four films cracking the $1 million mark so far in 2024: Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga ($10.2m ), Force of Nature: The Dry ($7.3m), Runt ($6m) and The Way, My Way ($1.8m). Hopes will be high that the Australian Robbie Williams biopic, the musical drama Better Man and Kriv Stenders’ The Correspondent bring a strong Boxing Day result.
A couple of other family-friendly American films built from existing properties are on the way in the coming weeks: Mufasa: The Lion King and Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
