It looks like Fox have another solid franchise on their hands, as new Young Adult adaptation The Maze Runner has opened in first place in Australia over the past weekend with almost $3.6 million, not to mention a first place opening in the US as well. The film is based on James Dashner’s novel, which is the first in a trilogy. Due to the success of the film, Fox has just announced that the sequel, The Scorch Trials, will be released in 2015. The film has received solid reviews, most of which position it as better than most of the recent YA sci-fi adaptations, while still not reaching the heights of The Hunger Games. Decent word of mouth should give the film solid legs over the next few weeks. You can read our review of The Maze Runner here. Last week’s number one film, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, came in at number two over the weekend, taking in an extra $2.3 million. New animated releases Planes: Fire & Rescue and The Boxtrolls came in at number three and four respectively, with the latest Step Up film rounding out the top five.
| # | Film Title | Distributor | Box Office |
| 1 | THE MAZE RUNNER | FOX | $3,577,934 |
| 2 | TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES | PARAMOUNT | $2,296,947 |
| 3 | PLANES: FIRE & RESCUE | WALT DISNEY | $623,031 |
| 4 | THE BOXTROLLS | UNIVERSAL | $578,548 |
| 5 | STEP UP: ALL IN | UNIVERSAL | $459,751 |
| 6 | INTO THE STORM | ROADSHOW | $439,045 |
| 7 | GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY | WALT DISNEY | $428,267 |
| 8 | THE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY | WALT DISNEY | $370,448 |
| 9 | SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR | ICON | $333,842 |
| 10 | THE GIVER | ROADSHOW | $298,921 |
The biggest release this week is The Equalizer, an adaptation of the 1980’s TV series. The film stars Denzel Washington as a former black ops commando who comes out of retirement to protect a young girl (Chloe Grace Moretz) from violent Russian gangsters. The film has been earning some solid early reviews and Denzel is always good value, so you could do worse than check out The Equalizer from Thursday onwards. Also opening this week in a limited release is indie drama The Skeleton Twins, which stars Saturday Night Live alumni Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader as estranged siblings who reconnect after they both escape death on the same day. The film opened to great reviews at various film festivals in the US and is said to give both Wiig and Hader their most impressive dramatic roles so far.
The Equalizer and The Skeleton Twins will be released in Australian cinemas this Thursday September 25.
All figures from The Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia and Box Office Mojo.
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