The Sapphires hits $10m at box office
Australian film The Sapphires has reached $10m at the local box office.
Distributed by Hopscotch Film/Entertainment One, the film reached the milestone in four weeks.
The film, set in the 1960s about an Aboriginal girl group sent to Vietnam to entertain American troops, is the highest grossing film at the Australian box office in 2012.
Its four week cumulative total is almost on par with Red Dog’s four weekend cume of $10.5m, which became last year’s highest grossing film.However, while Red Dog posted $1.9m in its fourth weekend, growing consistently from $1.78m in its opening weekend and $1.8m in its second, as The Sapphires opened on $2.34m and this week dropped to $1.147m.
The film still has a way to go before it reaches Red Dog’s final box office total of $21.467m, which placed it the eighth highest grossing Australian film of all time at the box office.
The Sapphires also must earn another $7m to pass George Miller’s 1982 film The Man From Snowy River before it will enter the Australian all time Top 10.
However, cinema tickets in 2012 are far more expensive than in 1982.
At the recent Australian International Movie Convention, Troy Lum managing director of Hopscotch Films/Entertainment One called on distributors to hold The Sapphires in cinemas throughout the school holidays, which start on the 21 September until 8 October to help its final gross takings.
On the $10m milestone, Lum said today: “The magic $10m target is a mark of broad success in our business. We are so proud that The Sapphires has achieved that and in just 4 weeks. It’s a tremendous achievement for a local film and may it long continue.”
The film will receive a Special Presentation screening at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday with director Wayne Blair and cast members Deborah Mailman, Jessica Mauboy, Miranda Tapsell and Shari Sebbens will all be in attendance.
The film is produced by Goalpost Pictures’ Rosemary Blight and Kylie du Fresne.
The film will see a 2 November release in the UK by Entertainment One and has been picked up for distribution by the influential Weinstein Company in the US.
Great film.
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Not a film I would ever see but good to see a local film doing well and finding an audience.
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“The Sapphires also must earn another $7m to pass George Miller’s 1982 film The Man From Snowy River before it will enter the Australian all time Top 10”. Do earnings get indexed, given the gap from 1982-today?
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It’s annoying when film box office takings are compared without consideration of inflation.
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