The Water Diviner was the highest grossing Australian film of 2014, despite being released only on Boxing Day.
Russell Crowe’s directorial debut made $6.32m in its first week on 299 Australian screens, and $2.7m on its second weekend, according to if.com.au, taking its box office to $8.4m for the all important holiday period – and year.
This put the film well above the next two biggest-grossing Australian films of 2014: The Railway Man (released on Boxing Day 2013) and Wolf Creek 2, which made $5.5m and $4.7m respectively.
The Water Diviner stars Crowe as Joshua Connor, an Australian farmer who travels to Turkey in search of his three sons years after they were reported missing in action, presumed dead, at Gallipoli.
Guardian Australia’s film critic, Luke Buckmaster, called it a “handsome crowd pleaser with a big heart” despite its “broad brush strokes and signposted emotions”.
Although other reviewers were less generous in their critique of Crowe, the film claimed fifth spot in Australian cinemas over the seven-day Christmas period, behind The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, The Imitation Game, Penguins of Madagascar and Big Hero 6.
According to if.com.au’s early estimates, Australian-produced films released or screened in 2014 generated a total of $27m, and the estimated national box office for the year was about $1.07bn, down from $1.09bn in 2013.
Industry insiders blamed the shortfall on the delayed release of several surefire international hits, including the long-awaited Fifty Shades of Grey film.
Australian film is set for a busy 2015. In January, Robert Connolly’s family drama Paper Planes will be released after it was well received on the festival circuit, Nicole Kidman stars in Strangerland, from the debut Australian director Kim Farrant, and Kate Winslet leads Jocelyn Moorhouse’s adapation of The Dressmaker.
