Jumanji: The Next Level soars to the top of the Australian box office, while Cats struggles on debut
The third instalment in the Jumanji franchise and the second in the new iteration starring Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black and Karen Gillan, Jumanji: The Next Level, has leapt straight to the top of the Australian box office in its first weekend of release. It follows the first new film doing the same thing in 2017 with $9.222m for its first weekend.
Taking $13.267m across 647 screens, the film easily beat Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which secured another $8.329m across 1,056 screens, giving the film a running total of $30.9m for its two-week run.
Cats, a star-studded musical based on the broadway production of the same name from Andrew Lloyd Webber, slipped into fourth place for its first weekend, landing behind Frozen 2 which is in its fifth week. Cats managed $1.637m across 337 screens, while Frozen 2 took $2.473m over 381, adding to a running total of $31.288m.
Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit landed in fifth place with $1.492m across 129 screens. The film, based on the book Caging Skies, follows a Hitler Youth member who finds out his mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their home. Waititi portrays Adolf Hitler in the film, as the young boy’s imaginary friend.
Sixth place went to Knives Out which is in its fifth week and took $1.009m across 242 screens for a running total of $10.113m. Hindi-language comedy Good Newwz landed in seventh with $516,189 across 46 screens for its debut weekend. The film tells the story of two families going through the process of in-vitro fertilisation who discover their samples have been mixed up.
The Addams Family held eighth place with $355,785 across 235 screens for its fourth week out, followed by Playing With Fire with $304,370 across 262 screens.
The top 10 was rounded out by IP Man 4: The Finale on $293,624 for its second week of release across 43 screens.
| Title (Distributor) | Weekend B/O | Screens | Total B/O |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jumanji: The Next Level (Sony) | $13,267,290 | 647 | $13,849,396 |
| Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (Disney) | $8,329,342 | 1056 | $30,900,683 |
| Frozen Ii (Disney) | $2,473,805 | 381 | $31,288,200 |
| Cats (Universal) | $1,637,871 | 337 | $1,676,698 |
| Jojo Rabbit (Disney) | $1,492,632 | 129 | $1,723,307 |
| Knives Out (Studiocanal) | $1,009,098 | 242 | $10,800,547 |
| The Addams Family (Universal) | $355,785 | 235 | $4,798,474 |
| Playing With Fire (Paramount) | $304,370 | 262 | $2,791,221 |
| Ip Man 4: The Finale (Cmc Pictures) | $293,624 | 43 | $839,317 |
| The Good Liar (Wb) | $249,422 | 186 | $2,686,184 |
| The Truth (Palace) | $206,470 | 26 | $299,888 |
| Ford V. Ferrari (Disney) | $191,590 | 139 | $10,030,435 |
| Dabangg 3 (Mindblowing Films) | $165,019 | 46 | $869,489 |
| Portrait Of A Lady On Fire (Madman) | $134,173 | 33 | $264,267 |
| Joker (Roadshow) | $115,234 | 35 | $40,527,141 |
| Sorry We Missed You (Icon) | $73,959 | 29 | $180,879 |
| Hustlers (Roadshow) | $66,199 | 8 | $9,353,380 |
| Last Christmas (Universal) | $63,448 | 45 | $10,587,402 |
| Dirty Dancing 30th Anniversary (Indies) | $53,217 | 5 | $265,853 |
| Parasite (Madman) | $41,758 | 11 | $2,069,321 |
