New openers had a boost in New Zealand last weekend as Monday (Oct 27) was a public holiday providing an extra day for films to tally figures (the chart covers the normal four-day Thurs-Sun period).

After a strong performance on previews the weekend before, Columbia TriStar's S.W.A.T. recorded a mighty gross of $275,219 (NZ$454,111) over the five-day holiday weekend from 52 screens. This was easily enough to push Calendar Girls off the top spot, where it has been for two weeks. However, the BVI film's screen average continues to stand up very well. In third was UIP's Intolerable Cruelty, taking $145,933 (NZ$240,789) over the extended weekend.

British comedy Two Men Went To War saw a solid limited release on six screens. The film about two army dentists in the Second World War who decide to launch their own invasion of France, claimed $13,057 (NZ$21,544) over the weekend and an additional $3,700 (NZ$6,105) on Monday. John Henderson's film is based on a true story.

Other openers were Essential Films' The Mother and Lost In La Mancha. Total grosses for both films on the chart reflect previous ticket sales at a film festival.