Mental takes just over $1m on opening weekend
PJ Hogan-directed Australian film Mental has taken just over $1m at the box office on its opening weekend.
The Universal Pictures-distributed flick took $1.09m, for a screen average of $4074 across 269 screens and placed sixth in the Thursday to Sunday top 20 films, according to the Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia.
The comedy stars Toni Collette and Rebecca Gibney and explores the issue of mental health in everyday people.
In another new release, Liam Neeson thriller Taken 2 opened at number one during the Thursday to Sunday weekend, bringing in $7.648m for distributor Fox and knocking Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted off the top.
The Paramount animation took another $3.146m this weekend, bringing its total box office takings to $21.321m.
In its third week, animated comedy Hotel Transylvania, distributed by Sony Pictures, held its place as the third most watched film for both the Thursday to Sunday weekend and the week prior. The Adam Sandler film has now grossed $9.438m in box office takings.
Local comedy Roadshow’s Kath and Kimderella, now in its fourth week, added another $587,769 for the week ending October 3rd, with total box office earnings of $5.922m.
Other australian films in the box office include Wayne Blair’s The Sapphires and Bait 3D.
The Sapphires averaged $3,444 across 166 screens, adding another $571,671 to the eOne/Hopscotch distributed box office total of $13,582. Bait3D has seen a slight lift, averaging $1,397 across 231 screens, up on last week’s low $825 average over the same amount of screens.
