Red Dog: Koko’s big $1.78mil weekend
Red Dog, about a hitchhiking kelpie in 1970s Dampier, WA that unites the male-dominated mining town, has opened around the country with the largest first-weekend takings for an Australian film so far in 2011. Producer Nelson Woss told Encore, “I’m absolutely thrilled Red Dog been given a pat on the head by Australian audiences.”
The film – adapted from the Louis de Bernieres’ novelisation of the myth – posted $1.78 million across 245 screens which placed it fourth at the local box office with an average of $7265 per screen.
However, Woss wants you to take another look. “Against Transformers, Captain America, and Rise of the Apes, our little underdog movie on was second on screen average takings.”
“If you watch Planet of the Apes this weekend, it’s taking will decline,” said Woss. “So will Red Dog‘s, but I guarantee it will decline less than the apes. People are embracing this film. It’s an unusual phenomenom. It did about $180,000 on Thursday, on Friday it bumped up by 66 percent, another 100 percent on Saturday and about the same on Sunday. Now normally they decline on Sunday. That said to me families went on Sunday and had a terrific time watching it together. I went to my local cinema that I went to as a kid, The Windsor Cinema, Nedlands and there was a line out the door – I nearly cried.”
With a reported budget of $8.5 million, the film was produced by Woss and Julie Ryan (Ten Canoes), directed by Kriv Stenders and stars Josh Lucas (Life As We Know It), Luke Ford (Animal Kingdom), Rachael Taylor (Summer Coda) as well as Koko the dog.
“It was a terrific effort for the team and Village Roadshow who went out on a limb and it’s now delivering for them. There were a lot of challenges and we’ve been able to overcome them.”
One challenge was, four weeks before the film was to be released, Woss found out Lucas and Taylor couldn’t tour because of conflicting filming schedules. “Instead,” said Woss, “The dog toured the country; to WA, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Pilbara, did the first premiere in Karratha, Melbourne Film Festival. He was on another red carpet and another press day in Melbourne, on The Today Show and more press in Sydney. The dog did as much publicity as any star and travelled more than Red Dog. He deserved a bone and we gave him one.”
On marketing the film, Woss planned for television, press, outdoor and a more guerrilla approach. “Have you seen our screen test with Koko? We had two aims with that, to prove Kriv had a sense of humour and that we could get peerformance from the dog without CGI.” It’s had over 100,000 hits on YouTube – where it’s evident marketing began back on 28 July, 2009.
“I’ve been to the Casterton dog trials. We’ve sent promotional material to vets around the country. When we toured the film with Koko we did charity screenings for animal shelters that looked after dogs’ best interests. It’s about community spirit, coming together and we wanted to celebrate that. I knew they wanted a movie they could call their own. And Red Dog is it.
“We had a plan a year in advance that we really wanted to get the word out and it started early with the festivals, premiering in Berlin and a number of other countries around the world and we worked closely with our partners. We effectively used our Koko’s Screen Test and when we realised there was real demand we moved the release date from April to August. We listened to and worked closely with Joel Pearlman and Phil Oneile at Roadshow, as no one knows Australian cinema marketing and distribution better, and their plan worked.”
The real Red Dog trailer also screened across every QANTAS flight for two weeks leading up to the release of the movie. This was wall done with an independent mentality. We just picked up the phone and we called QANTAS and said ‘it’s a unique family story about travel to a location you fly to’.”
If “Australian cinema” has become a genre with a audience reach only so far, Woss knew his reach was further. “I always knew there would be a fanatical hardcore group of people who would watch Red Dog and they were called dog-lovers. If we made a good movie they’d come to support us. They may not be the kind of person to go to the movies regularly but they will go and see Red Dog, more than once.”
WE COULDN’T BE PROUDER THAN TO HAVE BEEN APART OF SUCH A TRUELLY INPRIRING STORY & WE LOVE OUR RED DOG SO MUCH WE HAVE OUR OWN …”ROSIE” WE LOVE KOKO
VIV , RAY, LEAR & ROSIE
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I saw Red Dog last night and laughed, cried and sang along to the great soundtrack. We should bring back too tight stubbies (shorts) and tank tops – so that men can be men again!
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I liked RED DOG… I could criticize any number of things but that would be pointless because at the end of the day I walked out happy, which is rare in any film these days. Nice scenery and soundtrack and the climax grabbed the heartstrings. A bit hard on cat lovers maybe… 🙂
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My family and I (all adults) saw this film today and absolutely loved it! Koko is so gorgeous, we want a red dog like him! A beautiful story, some tears and laughter and tears again, and a wonderful film well acted and as to Koko – he’s a star! Thank you for bringing this beautiful film to the screen. We will see it again!
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We’re not dog-people, we’re cat lovers….but oh what a wonderful story! We want to see it again and again.
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We just saw Red Dog this afternoon & are totally smitten with Koko & the entire film & Koko’s co-stars not forgetting the gorgeous scenery! All beautifully done & a rivetting story well told!
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This film was beautiful, its beauty cleansed my soul.
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I took my 90 year old nan to see this movie. Normally she leaves annoyed at the language and erotic scenes. We both left incredibly satisfied. What a lovely story, we both laughed considerably, cried and smiled right throughout this lovely, charming story!
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Have just seen Red Dog – what a nice change to sit and watch a nice pleasant movie like this one. What a smart dog you are Koko. Also to all the actors well done. I plan to see it again before the season finishes.
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Just saw Red Dog.. left me speechless. Well made movie, the story told touched everyone who saw it. It had me hooked on all the while. Time to visit Dampier 🙂
Animals, are a gift and great teachers. “A generous heart”.. indeed
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