Dog of a year for box office but wizard works his usual magic

CINEMA box office takings fell last year for the first time since 2005 and Australian films comprised only 3.9 per cent of takings.

CINEMA box office takings fell last year for the first time since 2005 and Australian films comprised only 3.9 per cent of takings, with Red Dog contributing half that amount.

Takings of $1.09 billion last year were down on 2010's record $1.132bn, despite an increased number of 3D films pushing average ticket costs higher.

After tracking well, takings faded in the final months of the year in the absence of any breakout hits and despite the success of another Twilight Saga film and Red Dog.

The family film, set in the north of Western Australia, was the highest-grossing Australian film of the year, taking $21.3m, and the most popular local film since Australia earned $37.5m in 2008-09.

Despite an unusually popular selection of Academy Award contenders -- led by The King's Speech taking $26m and Black Swan $14m -- only three films earned more than $30m last year, compared with six the previous year. Box office takings in 2010 were boosted by the highest-grossing film of all time, Avatar, which earned $75m. Similarly, after five Australian films earned more than $4m in 2010, only one passed that barrier last year.

"It does represent the diversity of the Screen Australia slate," said Fiona Cameron, the federal agency's acting chief executive.

"We have commercial success with Red Dog, critical success with Sleeping Beauty, which premiered in competition at Cannes, cultural success with Mrs Carey's Concert becoming the fourth biggest local documentary ever, and international success with Sanctum earning $108m internationally."

Nevertheless, if Red Dog exceeded commercial expectations, those for a number of Australian releases, including Sanctum ($3.9m), The Cup ($2.7m), Happy Feet Two ($2.4m in its first week of release) and The Eye of the Storm ($1.9m) were not met. Much of the slump can be attributed to poor results for computer-generated animated films. Three of the reliable genre, including Toy Story 3, Up and Shrek Forever After, made the top 10 in 2009 and 2010 but only Disney's Tangled made it last year, earning $22.3m.

One box office record was set last year though. The final Harry Potter film broke records for the highest-grossing weekend ($18.3m) and week ($29.3m) of all time in July. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 ($52,611,276), led the top 10 followed by Transformers: Dark of the Moon ($37,548,440), The Hangover Part II ($32,674,884), The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 1 ($28,093,421), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides ($27,266,850), Bridesmaids ($27,147,018), The King's Speech ($26,831,612), Fast and Furious 5 ($25,326,584), Tangled ($22,230,000) and Red Dog ($21,327,512).

The top five Australian films were Red Dog, Sanctum, Oranges and Sunshine ($3.8m), The Cup and Happy Feet Two ($2.4m by December 31, but now at $9.7m)