Friday, May 27, 2011

The Kids @ Singapore Box Office - is it a new record?

4 Mar 2011

There's been some interesting happenings at the Singapore Box Office of late.

Last weekend, I AM NUMBER FOUR was No. 1 spot at the Singapore box office. It grossed US$534,059 (S$679,494) from 34 screens. But if ranked according to per screen average, it comes in at no. 2 with a per screen average of US$15,708 (S$19,986) - this is about US$3.5K behind the no. 1 film.

So what film beat I AM NUMBER FOUR when it come to per screen average?

A 1-print 1-location R21-rated film that failed to even crack the Top 10 called THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT.

It's total Box office takings ranks it at no. 13, but it's per screen average gross was US$19,212 (S$24,444). Compare this with last year's two highest per screen average for a single print release: the documentary BABIES (US$10,404/S$14,045) and the Iranian film SON OF BABYLON (US$10,795/S$13,871).

What makes this achievement even more significant is when you compare against some of last year's top films during their highest per screen average weekends:

CLASH OF THE TITANS - US$29,216/S$40,900
IRON MAN 2 - US$24,304/S$33,301
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS - US$20,042/S$25,972
THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT - US$19,212/S$24,444
INCEPTION - US$17,283/S$23,784

This year, only one other film has a higher per screen average - HOMECOMING with US$20,898 (S$26,638) made during the Chinese New Year weekend [KIDS was released over a non-holiday weekend frame].

Nominated for 4 Oscars, the film received some news coverage when it became the first film to be restricted to a 1-print screening in Singapore, even with a R21 age restriction. A possible comparison - last year's gay-theme drama A SINGLE MAN opened on 2 screens with a per screen average of US$4,719 (S$6,660).

So is this a record of sorts for a single print release? More research will be needed to find out, but KIDS looks very much in a class of its own in terms of commercial success for a single print release.

Source: Box Office Guru

Notes:
[1] Box Office Gross figures are just an estimation.
[2] Conversion to S$ is at the exchange rate of the period of the film's release

No comments:

Post a Comment