Star Wars: The Force Awakens smashes Aussie box office records on opening weekend
The much-anticipated seventh film in the Star Wars franchise has demolished box office records taking more than $27m in its first three days.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens managed $27.254m on 941 screens between Thursday and Sunday, the largest ever opening weekend – an average of $28,963 per screen.
Jurrassic World had the previous biggest opening weekend this year with $16.063m in 605 screens.
Fast and Furious 7 is the highest grossing movie of the year at the moment in Australia with takings of $39.9m with Jurassic World in second spot on $38.9m.
The highest grossing film of all time is Avatar which managed $105m locally in 2009.
Unsurprisingly the rest of the weekend’s offerings failed to make a huge impact with Hotel Transylvania 2 the only other film to break the million-dollar mark, taking $1.281m on 290 screens.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 managed $883,164, taking its total earnings to $27.284m, just ahead of Star Wars’ opening weekend.
James Bond film Spectre is the only movie in the charts currently to have taken more money in its run so far with its $654,699 taking it to $32.955m in fourth spot.
| Title (Distributor) | Weekend B/O | Screens | Total B/O |
|---|---|---|---|
| Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Disney) | $27,254,820 | 941 | $27,254,820 |
| Hotel Transylvania 2 (Sony) | $1,281,820 | 290 | $8,777,983 |
| The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 (Roadshow) | $883,164 | 282 | $27,284,820 |
| Spectre (Sony) | $654,699 | 242 | $32,955,178 |
| Creed (Wb) | $476,662 | 201 | $6,094,850 |
| The Dressmaker (Universal) | $332,325 | 180 | $17,811,631 |
| Bajirao Mastani (Eros) | $305,226 | 29 | $305,226 |
| The Good Dinosaur (Disney) | $296,889 | 196 | $581,594 |
| The Night Before (Sony) | $263,064 | 149 | $2,416,842 |
| Mojin: The Lost Legend (Chinalion Film) | $202,679 | 16 | $202,679 |
| In The Heart Of The Sea (Roadshow) | $157,517 | 229 | $2,368,633 |
| Love The Coopers (Eone) | $122,428 | 90 | $1,565,825 |
| Surprise (Magnum) | $109,466 | 10 | $109,466 |
| Truth (Roadshow) | $57,260 | 17 | $257,677 |
| Bridge Of Spies (Fox) | $46,854 | 42 | $7,431,950 |
| Phoenix (Madman) | $33,734 | 11 | $260,019 |
| Inside Men (Dreamwest Pictures) | $29,571 | 10 | $160,145 |
| Secret In Their Eyes (Roadshow) | $26,530 | 27 | $1,565,978 |
| The Martian (Fox) | $22,834 | 29 | $27,314,736 |
| The Lobster (Sony) | $21,309 | 8 | $609,965 |
