Finding Nemo's extraordinary Australian opening is believed to be the ninth biggest opening weekend ever, although this has yet to be confirmed by distributor BVI. Over the four-day weekend to August 31 it took A$8,038,861 and, despite being on a massive 399 screens, its screen average was A$20,148.

Besides the outstanding reviews and very positive word of mouth, two other key factors really helped it in Australia. BVI took a foot-on-the-accelerator bells-and-whistles publicity and marketing strategy from the outset - they showcased a considerable amount of footage to exhibitors at the Australian Movie Convention over a year ago - and additional mileage was gained from the film's Australian setting.

There has also been enormous publicity about all the Australian voices, including those of Geoffrey Rush and Barry Humphries, but also domestic stars such as the hugely popular talk show host Rove McManus.