Mao’s Last Dancer breaks box office record

source: urbancinefile.com

Bruce Beresford‘s latest film Mao’s Last Dancer has broken box office records in Australia since its release last week.

The picture claimed an impressive $514,458 on its opening day; the biggest single day gross for an Australian film in 2009.

The grosses increased to $3.32 million over the weekend, positioning it to become the highest grossing Australian film of the year.

The Shane Jacobson–Paul Hogan led Charlie and Boots last week became the (temporary) highest grossing Aussie film of ’09 with an impressive $3.5 million in five weeks.

It overtook sleeper hit Samson and Delilah which had grossed $3.17 million during its 20 week run.

Despite these impressive grosses, none can match the victors of previous years. In 1986, Crocodile Dundee took an astounding $48 million in Australia alone. Babe grossed $37 million in 1995, while The Dish made $18 million in the year 2000. Baz Luhrmann‘s Strictly Ballroom grossed $22 million in 1992, while Moulin Rouge grossed $28 million in 2001. His last film, Australia, claimed more than $30 million at the local box office.

Discuss: Would you say the Australian film industry is in decline, or simply the box office takings?