Australian cinema has bounced back, with local films setting a new record at the box office in this country on the weekend, and achieving their highest share of overall box office since 2001.
Total revenues for Australian movies at the Australian box office in 2015 now stand at $64.09 million, according to figures collected by the Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia. That passes the previous record of $63.4 million set in 2001 (note that these figures are not adjusted for inflation – for the adjusted figures, see table below).
The Australian share of box office is 6.8 per cent, also the highest since 2001, though a long way short of the all-time record of 23.5 per cent, set in 1986, the year in which Crocodile Dundee swept all before it, with a decent supporting turn from Malcolm.
This year's figure is a little more than half a million dollars short of the combined totals of 2013 ($38.5 million) and 2014 ($26.2 million), years when Australian audiences stayed away from Australian movies in droves.
Screen Australia chief Graeme Mason hailed this year's result, and suggested that with Jocelyn Moorhouse's eagerly anticipated The Dressmaker just around the corner, there was more to come.
"My prediction is that we'll reach over $70 million by the end of 2015, setting a new benchmark."
The new record was set over the weekend thanks to the continuing success of family film Oddball, whose box office has now passed $8.12 million, Blinky Bill ($$2.33 million) and Last Cab to Darwin ($7.14 million).
The biggest Australian film of the year by a long shot is George Miller's Mad Max: Fury Road, with receipts of $21.65 million. Next is Russell Crowe's The Water Diviner, which took $10.18 million this year (and a further $5.65 million last year, after its release on Boxing Day).
Damon Gameau's That Sugar Film, with $1.71 million, this year set a new record for box office receipts for an Australian documentary (excluding IMAX films).
Mr Mason hailed the diversity of the films that had drawn Australians back to the cinema this year. "We've seen films about nostalgia and heroism, good-humoured family larks, personal struggles and social conscience," he said. "In a year that's seen a lot of turmoil, Australians have looked for stories that reflect their darker side as well as their care for social issues and their need to laugh."
Richard Harris, head of business and audience at Screen Australia, added that it was especially heartening that the industry was not "over relying on one film to bank your results" this year.
"What is clear to me is that each of these films had real clarity about the audience they were targeting," he said. "I think there will be a lot of lessons learnt by filmmakers about the importance of doing that in the future."
Australian box office high points: dollars and shares
(NOTE: the figure in brackets is adjusted for inflation, as at June 2015, using the Australian Bureau of Statistics consumer price inflation calculator)
1982
$34.5 million ($110.37 million)
Share: 16.4 per cent
Major releases: The Man from Snowy River, Mad Max 2, The Year of Living Dangerously
1986
$44.4 million ($107.5 million)
Share: 23.5 per cent
Major releases: Crocodile Dundee, Malcolm
1988
$39.8 million ($83.56 million)
Share: 17.8 per cent
Major releases: Crocodile Dundee II, The Man From Snowy River II
1994
$46.6 million ($79.76 million)
Share: 9.8 per cent
Major releases: The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Muriel's Wedding, Lightning Jack
2001
$63.4 million ($90.39 million)
Share: 7.8 per cent
Major releases: The Bank, Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles, Lantana, The Man Who Sued God, Moulin Rouge
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