On the weekend when the government announced it would introduce legislation to remove consideration of character references from the sentencing of sex offenders, enough Kiwis went to see Michael to push it back to the top of the box office chart. The film took $651,796 from 105 screens for a gross of $4,671,119.
On 133 screens, and not far behind Michael on its take, The Devil Wears Prada 2 dropped from #1 to #2, taking$552,643 for $4,197,120 so far.
The Sheep Detectives held on to the remaining podium position, playing 117 screens and earning $248,137 to push its total take to $716,367.
New arrival Caterpillar played a fairly modest 60 screens to close its opening weekend at #9, but a disappointing opening weekend take of $50,960, for $85,097 including previews, isn’t a good sign – which is a shame considering how good it is.
Sgt. Haane played 57 screens to place at #14. Its weekend take of $23,256 and total to date of $218,296 are also disappointing.
Billie Eilish – Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour, with James Cameron co-directing and in 3D in selected locations, played 36 screens, earning $22,981 for $179,995.
The local surprise performer is The Time Travellers Guide to Hamilton Gardens, which played on 27 screens, added $17,339 and has now taken $108,140.
Now in its 10th week – and with a lead who’s just been knighted in France – Tenor: My Name is Pati played 36 screens, taking $6,686 for a gross of $1,099,925.
On 26 screens, The Weed Eaters added $4,959 for $43,250.
No Tears on the Field played a single screen, taking $177 to lift its total to $54,793.
Holy Days took $32 from 12 screens, so is highly unlikely to be taking up weekend screening spots next weekend. Its gross is now $581,684.
Openers this week include the latest from the Star Wars universe, The Mandalorian and Grogu, directed by Jon Favreau and featuring Pedro Pascal, continuing in the role he played in The Mandalorian TV series and Temuera Morrison-led The Book of Boba Fett.
As always, our thanks go to Numero for the data driving these reports.
