With the month of March coming to an end last week we are now at the quarter-way mark for the calendar year and Mediaweek is examining the box office results to date for 2020. Although due to the COVID-19 pandemic the first quarter of the year had a slow ending with all movie theatres being shut down due to lockdown measures which will certainly impact the first half of the year and the complete calendar year.
In total the first three months of the year the Australian box office has made $192.67m with the biggest earner being Jumanji: The Next Level which made $45.35m which is 23.5% of the total revenue made so far this year.
For this ranking films that were released in 2019 but the first week of release went into 2020 were counted which is why Jumanji: The Next Level has been counted.
#1 Jumanji: The Next Level $45.35m
The sequel released on Boxing Day made $13.26m in its opening weekend which set up a lengthy eight week run in the top 20 grossing films of the Australian box office. The film easily outdid its predecessor Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle which made $9.22m on its own opening weekend. The film was also successful in comparison to the previous year’s #1 Boxing Day film Aquaman which made $11.26m. Despite being so early in the year there is a good chance this film will stay high in the rankings with it coming third if included in the 2019 rankings.
#2 1917 $23.10m
The film followed up a strong award season performance with an equally impressive run in Australian theatres with the World War I epic being only the second film of 2020 to make over $20m. The film got off to a strong start with a $4.78m opening weekend total which led to a mammoth 11 week run in the top 20 which was only ended by the cinema lockdown.
#3 Bad Boys for Life $19.27m
Bad Boys for Life reinvigorated the Bad Boys franchise with stars Will Smith and Martin Lawrence reprising their roles in the follow up to 2003’s Bad Boys II. The film made $5.74m in its opening weekend and went on to last 10 weeks in the top 20 before the COVID-19 lockdown.
#4 Little Women $15.24
The seventh film adaption of the novel first published in 1868 stars Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh and Eliza Scanlen as the titular little women. The New Year release opened at #4 with $3.33m and never got any higher but a solid performance over the next eight weeks saw the film work its way to a very respectable total.
#5 The Gentlemen $15.15m
The stellar ensemble cast includes Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, Henry Golding, Michelle Dockery, Jeremy Strong, Eddie Marsan, Colin Farrell, and Hugh Grant which saw the New Year release debut at #3 with $3.47m. The film then went on to spend 12 weeks (the longest this year) in the top 20 ending with the lockdown closing theatres.