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A Few Best Men takes $1.8m on opening weekend

Australian film A Few Best Men has had a strong opening weekend, according to the Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia.

The film, directed by Stephan Elliott (The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert) took over $1.83m across 242 screens, with a screen average of $7,580.

The film placed third overall behind Underworld: Awakening, which took $2.68m across 214 screens for an average of $12,554, also in its first week, and The Descendants, which took $2.37m across 224 screens for a screen average of $10,614.

The film’s first week box office takings beat that of Red Dog, which took $1.78m.

Producer Lawrence Malkin told Encore: “People are hungry for a laugh, It has no pre-tensions, it’s not setting out to make a grand statement. It’s objective is to make you laugh and have a fun time.”

The film stars Xavier Samuel, Rebel Wilson, Olivia Newton-John and Brits Kris Marshall and Kevin Bishop.

Malkin produced both the British and American Death at a Funerals. He said the success of that film in Australia was a big part of making a film here. “We couldn’t be happier with the support from Icon, Screen Australia and Screen NSW.”

Malkin said the film is designed to appeal to more than just young males. “We did a lot of testing here and in the states. A bromance does suggest your audience is 18-35 males and we feel we’ve made a film to appeal to them. But it appeals to over 35 women, 18 year old women – so that’s super exciting. I’d be happy to call it a bromance but I wouldn’t want to limit it, It’s had a surprisingly broad appeal.”

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