Red Dog takes $1.8m in second weekend
Red Dog has taken $1.867m in its second weekend, from Thursday 11 to Sunday 14 August, which is up on their opening weekend. The success makes Red Dog the highest grossing Australian film this year taking $4.5m so far.
Roadshow Films Managing Director Joel Pearlman said: “This fantastic result, up 1% on the first four days, is incredible when you consider Red Dog enjoyed the best opening weekend for an Australian film this year.”
In a previous statement Pearlman said, “We’ve been inundated by people saying how good the movie is – everyone is blown away by it, and they must be telling their friends because more and more people are going along to the cinema to see it.”
“Audiences have thrown their full support behind this quality Australian movie. It is almost unprecedented for box office figures to continually rise like this. When heartfelt Australian stories are told in a joyful and upbeat way, local audiences clearly respond which is a great message for the local production industry.”
Producer Nelson Woss said, “It’s outstanding to watch our little hand-crafted movie become Australia’s best friend at the cinema. Like The Castle, Crocodile Dundee and Babe, Red Dog seems to have captured the Aussie spirit and is proof that spirit can trump big budgets and special effects at the box office.”
On a personal level, I am so pleased to see the success of this film. I think the team have worked really hard to be accessible to the audience and this has helped with the push. I went along to the suburban Classic Elsternwick to see one of the Premieres and they had “Koko” and team along fresh from the major debut at Jam Factory… Its made it real and helped spread the word.. Finally a film the “whole family” can really enjoy – without animation.
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Another cliche Australian feature……Outback setting, Noah Taylor cameo, Pet star ie skippy, Babe, American Lead….all that was missing was Ben Mendelson….Can’t we try something else in this stupid film industry…..No wonder American films do so well
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Haven’t seen the film yet but congratulations to all involved. Whether you like it or not, Geoff, is irrelevant. Australian audiences obviously like it and we filmmaker are, amongst other things, being provided with tax-payer funds to provide entertainment for Australian audiences. ‘Red Dog’ clearly fits the bill in ways that very few Australian films have of late. Congratulations in particular to Kriv Stenders who, through his low budget films, has paid his dues, learnt his craft over a number of years. There is a lesson to be learnt, perhaps, by the film funding bodies!
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It seems the general public want Australian movies to be this kind of this where we get to feel good about the idea that, somewhere deep down inside us, there’s supposedly a gruff, uninhibited raucous beer-drinking ocker waiting to get out and go live in the outback. No doubt people who live in the suburbs and work in offices and factories will be packing cinemas and saying “finally a film about how us Aussies really are!” Depressing really…the idea that we could make anything else seems almost unthinkable…that trailer just reinforces the same old stuff.
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An Australian film that has found a significant audience. No negatives here, only positives.
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Can’t make everyone happy I suppose, but I wish that for ONCE people could just celebrate theh success of an Australian film instead of providing unconstructive criticism. the movie was touching and perfectly executed, and the dog was absolutely gorgeous.
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Not sure why this one film needs to sum the type of films “we” make. Just because it is successful apparently this is the only type of cliched movies we make. Last week I’m sure people were complaining all our films were suburban druggie stories.
Not sure of your logic Adrian. Do you think the same people are packing the cinemas saying “i just need a green ring or a magic wand and I will be super powerful” I think people are watching it because it is entertaining, not to discover “how us Aussies really are”. The Box office speaks for itself.
Great to have a movie I can take along the kids.
BTW – Based on a great book about a dog so hard to not have one in it. Noah Taylor’s last films in Australia were in 2005 and 2001
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It’s fair enough to say that criticising the film is unconstructive. Certainly, I’m not trying to offer any kind of criticism that is intended to help make the film makers do better next time. And clearly the film is a success and that’s great for the makers of the film.
What depresses the complete and utter life out of me is that I cannot relate to the idea of setting out to make this kind of film in any way, shape, or form, it is utterly alien to me, yet the fact of its production and the fact of its success seem to reinforce the apparent fact that this type of film is what the Australian film industry will make and what Australian audiences will respond to. Which leaves me feeling like a man who dreams of selling ice boxes to Eskimos. So that’s my perspective.
The fact the film is well done and popular is wonderful for those involved, those who enjoyed it and those who feel they can relate to the idea of making this type of film.
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Wow, it seems like Aussie filmmakers can’t catch a break! Either the self-appointed cultural film critics are angry that Australian stories aren’t being told, or they are cranky when they are told! Even though I live in a major capital city, my family live and work in a mining town near Dampier. While some say this film taps into an Ocker stereotype, I say congratulations to the filmmakers for showing what life can be like in a dusty mining outreach. Perhaps a little poetic license was used, but so what – this is a fictional piece that should be, and is, entertaining!
“No wonder American films do well” – they do well because they multi-million dollar marketing budgets, not necessarily because their stories are better.
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If the film is a success and audiences are flocking to it..isn’t that alone something to celebrate? Cinema is and always should be a diverse experience for filmmakers and the audience. Kriv Stenders is one of our countries most diverse and innovative filmmakers, having made some extremely provocative and socially conscious films, he’s tried his hand at something more popular and its been a success. All I can say is well done Kriv and well done to the entire team involved. As for Geoff, if its so depressing get off your ass grab a DSLR and get innovative..and maybe chuck your film up on VOD and see how you go..these guys did it (Americans Geoff so you’ll be pleased)..might not have set the world on fire artistically..but it turned a profit..food for thought for all those that see the local cinema landscape as being some kind of bleak arctic winter..I think the days of being utterly focused on a cinematic release are long past..time to embrace new technologies and experiment.
http://www.thewrap.com/movies/.....9?page=0,0
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I agree wholeheartedly, Doug. A diverse film culture and industry requires successes of many different kinds (mainstream, arthouse, experimental, low budget, no budget…etc) and each and every one can and should excite and energize us all.
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Finally an Australian film connects with local audiences!
“Not good enough!” cry the sooky-sooky la-la’s, who must be so traumatized from funding rejections that they just can’t bring themselve to enjoy a rare moment of triumph for our embattled local industry.
Stuff them, I’m off to see “Red Dog”…
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Geoff and Adrian –
the HILARIOUS thing is that the director’s previous films were much closer to the cinematic experience you seem to yearn for (not clichéd, no animals or ockers in sight, depressingly true to our present urban social reality, etc etc) and guess what – nobody went to see them, including you!
I salute Kriv Stenders for giving the Australian film industry a much-needed adrenaline injection. Lord knows the ‘brand’ desperately needs it. This feels like the first film to connect with an audience since ‘Kenny’, and that was a long time ago!
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Oh, I’m sure that’s 100 percent accurate, but I think it’s more tragic than hilarious. This is the thing, no one, certainly not me, is saying the director doesn’t deserve to succeed or that he should not enjoy his success. What I find so depressing is that it seems to reinforce the idea that in order to succeed, a film maker in this country must ultimately conform to “the Australian movie” as a genre in its own right, one which is described above as a film featuring the outback/small town setting/cute animals/ockerish characters etc. I believe we’ve succeeded at doing things in the past which go beyond this remit…Mad Max was an action movie, Croc Dundee was a romantic comedy, Mad Max 2 was science fiction, Pricilla was a musical…I suppose we should be pleased this isn’t another film about funny Aussie criminals…no, I don’t say the director should not succeed, I wish he had been succesful with his previous ventures as well.
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