Jack, no match for Salt
Nadia Tass’ new film Matching Jack (Twentieth Century Fox) opened at number eight in Australia, but still struggled to match the results expected from a wide release, earning $258,011 on 186 screens (average $1,387).
Last week Fox CEO Marc Wooldridge told Encore that “it’s been a while since we released a local movie – I’m excluding Australia. We have a clear point of view in terms of how to sell Matching Jack and who to sell it to, and we share with the filmmakers a common commercial imperative – which is really important. We’ve had great support from exhibition (185 prints), and the media and the critical response has been very positive. You do need to pedal a little harder with the local movies to get people’s attention, but it has also been very rewarding to create materials and drive a campaign from ground zero. Fingers crossed for the opening.”
The film tells the story of a woman in search of a bone marrow donor for her child, who has been diagnosed with leukemia.
Twentieth Century Fox today declined to comment on the results obtained by Matching Jack.
Australian director Phillip Noyce did find a big audience for his first Hollywood film in more than 10 years, the action thriller Salt (Sony Pictures Releasing)- starring Angelina Jolie. It debuted at number one – with $3.9m from 365 screens (average $10,795) – for a worldwide total of U$216.3m.
These were the top 10 films at Australian cinemas, August 20-22:
|
1 |
Salt |
Sony |
$3,940,438 |
|
2 |
Inception |
Roadshow |
$1,851,646 |
|
3 |
The Expendables |
Roadshow |
$1,686,539 |
|
4 |
Step Up 3D |
Universal |
$1,233,167 |
|
5 |
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World |
Universal |
$630,371 |
|
6 |
The Ghost Writer |
Hoyts |
$331,375 |
|
7 |
Killers |
Roadshow |
$260,464 |
|
8 |
Matching Jack |
Fox |
$258,011 |
|
9 |
Toy Story 3 |
Disney |
$168,340 |
|
10 |
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse |
Hoyts |
$104,908 |
|
1 |
Salt |
Sony |
$3,940,438 |
|
2 |
Inception |
Roadshow |
$1,851,646 |
|
3 |
The Expendables |
Roadshow |
$1,686,539 |
|
4 |
Step Up 3D |
Universal |
$1,233,167 |
|
5 |
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World |
Universal |
$630,371 |
|
6 |
The Ghost Writer |
Hoyts |
$331,375 |
|
7 |
Killers |
Roadshow |
$260,464 |
|
8 |
Matching Jack |
Fox |
$258,011 |
|
9 |
Toy Story 3 |
Disney |
$168,340 |
|
10 |
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse |
Hoyts |
$104,908 |
That is a very poor result for a 185 screen release.
Did Wooldridge really think audiences were going to flock to the cinemas to watch a depressing story about a child with cancer?
Fox Australia should stick with what they are best at – copying the marketing campaigns of their US masters.
I’m sure Matching Jack is a decent film, but wouldn’t it have been better suited for a TV or Cable release?
Having seen the film today, it’s a pity that so few people have chosen to see it. Depressing it’s not. A tear-jerker it is. But then history of film is littered with such stories – ‘Love Story’ with Ryan O’Neal and Ali McGraw is the prime example. Huge box-office even though the story was well-known.
But ultimately the marketing has failed – the usual problem with local films. But even with the budget it has, Fox has created a view (see Dean’s comment) that the film is depressing.