Box Office: Something old, something new…

I suppose there’s comfort in the familiar, because this week at the box office, the top spots from 1 to 5 are unchanged! Each film’s takings are starting to slow, but the order is the same; in its fourth week in release, The Joker showed on 316 screens, as opposed to 443 screens the week before, and added another $2,871,068 to its coffers. That’s 34% less revenue than the weekend before, but at a screen average of $9,086, I can’t imagine anyone is complaining.

Maleficient: Mistress of Evil still has also kept audiences under her spell; the not-wicked-just-misunderstood witch brought in a screen average of $4,669 over 386 screens, closely followed by Zombieland: Doubletap and Hustlers, which showed on 289 screens each. They also continued to perform similarly; the post-apocalyptic pals brought in an average of $4,092, for a weekend taking of $1,182,497, Hustlers managed a total taking of just over $1 million, with a screen average of $3,672.

Ride Like a Girl is still holding onto fifth place, but this champion might be starting to flag; despite an addition of 11 screens this week, the film brought in a total of $554,677 across its 295 screens. Those additional screens might suggest the distributor is holding out hope for a seasonal boost in numbers as the Melbourne Cup rolls around next week; only time will tell. 

But after these seasonal mainstays, we have some new features in the charts; family horror flick Ready or Not featuring Australian Samara Weaving in the lead creeps onto the screens in time for Halloween. The film is about a particularly gruesome game of hide and seek, and the audiences don’t seem that willing to go seek; despite debuting on 225 screens with good reviews, it brought in an average of just $1,741, for a total box office taking of $443,829. Maybe spousal murder games are more niche than predicted? Who would have thought. 

Following the pattern set by Bohemian Rhapsody, Yesterday and Rocketman and of immortalising rockstars in film, Bruce Springsteen tribute Blinded by The Light shone on 57 screens, bringing in a screen average of $3,592.