The Expendables 2 opens strongly; The Sapphires now just shy of $10m
Over-the-top action film The Expendables 2 has had a strong showing for distributor Roadshow Films in its opening weekend at the Australian box office.
The film took a hefty $10,734 screen average across 276 screens, for a $2.963m total.
Directed by Simon West, the British director is scheduled to helm Australian film Dust and Glory, written by Robert Galinsky and currently in pre-production.
The action film stars a cast of the best of the 1980s and 90s action heroes including Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Dolph Lundgren, Jean Claude Van Damme and Chuck Norris as well as Australian actor Liam Hemsworth.
Also opening this weekend was the twee, teen love story, Moonrise Kingdom, directed by Wes Anderson and distributed by Universal. Taking $394,000 across just 57 screens, the film which opened this year’s Cannes Film Festival averaged a respectable $6,909.
A 3D version of Finding Nemo was also released at the weekend and brought in $403,700 across 189 screens for a $2,136 average.
Australian film The Sapphires, distributed by eOne/Hopscotch has now almost reached the $10m mark since opening, at $9.561m. It bought in $1.147m over the weekend, averaging $4,109 per screen across 279 screens.
As Storm Surfers 3D moves into general release from its tour schedule for distributor Madman Entertainment, the film has taken another $73,000 taking it up to $304,000 to top the limited release schedule.
I Am Eleven has added another $6,492 across five screens bringing the independent documentary to $248,000, as Not Suitable For Children has re-entered the limited release top 20 list for Icon, taking $1,863 across five screens taking the film to 506,000.
