Australia

Australia’s annual gross box office exceeded A$1bn - around $891m - for the first time, propelled by the increase in 3D screens and rising ticket prices.

Mainstream releases mostly over-performed: Australian audiences enjoy US comedies, such as 17 Again which stood-out backed by an Easter campaign from Roadshow.

Local films also held their heads helped by good budgets. However, Hopscotch’s much-anticipated UK-Australia co-production The Boys Are Back, directed by Scott Hicks on home soil for the first time since Shine, disappointed with just $1.9m (A$2.1m). Clive Owen’s role as a tough-cookie father clearly did not entice the female target audience, looking for a good weep.

Australia: Top 5 Films 2009
Title (origin)DistributorGross
Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince (US-UK)Warner Bros$35.7m
Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen (US)PPI$35.5m
Avatar (US)Fox£34.1m*
The Twilight Saga: New Moon (US)Hoyts Distribution$32.7m*
Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs (US)20th Fox$26.2m
Australia: Local Films 2009
Title (origin)DistributorGross
Mao’s Last Dancer (Aus)Roadshow/Hopscotch$13.3m*
Australia (US-Aus)20th Fox$9.5m**
Knowing (US-Aus)Icon Film Distribution$6.7m
Charlie & Boots (Aus)PPI/Transmission$3.4m
Samson & Delilah (Aus)Transmission/Footprint$2.8m

(For both charts above) *As of Dec 31, still on release. **2009 gross (film released in 2009), Source: MPDAA

Australia: Top 10 DVD Sell-Through 2009
Title Distributor
AustraliaFox
TwilightSony
Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen*Paramount
Twilight*Sony
Harry Potter And The Half-Blood PrinceWarner Bros
The Dark KnightWarner Bros
Mamma Mia! The MovieUniversal
Quantum Of SolaceFox
Madagascar: Escape 2 AfricaParamount
High School Musical 3: Senior YearWalt Disney Studios

*Special editions. Source: GfK Australia

Foreign Releases 2009
Title (origin)DistributorGross
The Boat That Rocked (US-UK-Fr)UPI$5.1m
Transporter 3 (Fr)Icon Film Distribution$2.9m
Coco Before Chanel (Fr)Warner Bros$2.5m
Easy Virtue (UK)Hopscotch$2.5m
Planet 51Hoyts Distribution$2.3m*
The Imaginarium Of Dr Parnassus (Fr-UK-Can)Hoyts Distribution$1.9m
I’ve Loved You So Long (Fr)Palace Films$1.7m*
An Education (UK)PPI/Transmission$1.3m*
Cheri (UK-Fr-Ger)Icon Film Distribution$1m
Summer Hours (Fr)Palace Films$0.9m

*Still on release or opened in 2008 so has grossed more in total. Source: MPDAA