Box Office Report: RoboCop takes down the Wolf.

The remake of 1987’s RoboCop has narrowly won the Australian box office battle over the weekend. Despite its #1 placing, the film has opened to average reviews, and is likely to go down the route of 2012’s Total Recall; another remake that no-one really wanted and therefore did not perform very well. The Wolf of Wall Street continued its successful run, giving mature audiences a deliciously confronting alternative to the more ‘wholesome’ films on offer. The film recently became director Martin Scorsese’s most successful film ever in terms of worldwide takings. Mature-age comedy Last Vegas did well considering the average reviews it has been receiving, but its incredible cast has clearly drawn audiences to see it. Meanwhile, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom did quite well in its opening weekend, but the debut of Labor Daywas less than stellar.

There’s still no stopping Disney’s Frozen. The animated phenomenon is continuing to rake in the cash in Australia, and has recently also enjoyed a strong opening in China. The film has already taken in over $914 million worldwide, and is likely to cross the $1 billion mark when it opens in Japan next month. With the success of Frozen and Tangled, Disney Animation seems to be entering another Renaissance, similar to its phenomenal run in the early 90s.

Next week sees the release of war movie Lone Survivor, Best Picture nominee Nebraska and long-awaited horror sequelWolf Creek 2. Lone Survivor and Nebraska have both received extremely positive reviews abroad and should be quite popular with the young male and art house crowds respectively. Wolf Creek 2 is likely to do extremely well given the success and controversy surrounding the 2005 original. John Jarratt’s Mick Taylor has since become an Aussie horror icon, and it will be interesting to see whether audiences are keen to see him up to his old tricks again. The film, made in South Australia, is rated MA15+ rather than the R18+ rating given to the original, and should therefore have an expanded audience potential over that film.

In the US over the past weekend, the much anticipated new 3D animated film The LEGO Movie was a massive hit at the box office. The film made $69.1 million in its opening weekend, which makes it the second biggest February opening (after The Passion of the Christ in 2004) and one of the biggest non-sequel/prequel animated openings of all time. The success of the film is a huge win for Australia, as it was made by Australian Studio Animal Logic for a relatively low budget of around $60 million. Expect a whole lot more animated films to make their way Down Under after this incredible success. Demand for The LEGO Movie will likely be reaching boiling point by the time the film reaches our shores in April, particularly given the fact that it is sitting at an incredible 95% certified fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

The LEGO Movie opens in Australian cinemas on April 3rd.

All figures from The Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia and Box Office Mojo.