Feel-good Australian film The Sapphires has made an impressive debut at the local box office, opening with $2.34 million.
It is the biggest opening weekend by an Australian film this year and even ranks slightly ahead of Happy Feet Two's $2.21 million last December. That film had a far larger budget and screen count, although its performance ultimately proved disappointing for distributor Roadshow.
The Sapphires, set during the Vietnam War when four talented singers from an Aboriginal mission in Victoria were discovered by an unlikely talent scout, was shown across 279 screens, giving it a strong screen average of $8387. Including previews, the film has grossed almost $2.6 million in total. It was the second biggest film over the weekend behind The Dark Knight Rises, which grossed $2.74 million across 501 screens in its fourth weekend.
The Sapphires' opening weekend box office performance is just below Hopscotch's biggest ever local hit, 2009 drama Mao's Last Dancer (which...
It is the biggest opening weekend by an Australian film this year and even ranks slightly ahead of Happy Feet Two's $2.21 million last December. That film had a far larger budget and screen count, although its performance ultimately proved disappointing for distributor Roadshow.
The Sapphires, set during the Vietnam War when four talented singers from an Aboriginal mission in Victoria were discovered by an unlikely talent scout, was shown across 279 screens, giving it a strong screen average of $8387. Including previews, the film has grossed almost $2.6 million in total. It was the second biggest film over the weekend behind The Dark Knight Rises, which grossed $2.74 million across 501 screens in its fourth weekend.
The Sapphires' opening weekend box office performance is just below Hopscotch's biggest ever local hit, 2009 drama Mao's Last Dancer (which...
- 8/13/2012
- by Brendan Swift
- IF.com.au
This article was originally published in If Magazine #132 (June 2010).
Bruce Beresford When I was going to do Driving Miss Daisy, I offered it to Don McAlpine, but he turned it down. And then I offered it to Russell Boyd but he was doing something else. And then I remembered Peter and I thought .Hang on, I like that bloke Peter James. and said .Do you want to come over here and shoot this low-budget film?. And he did. That was the first.
I did enjoy working with him but we never thought it was anything special. In fact, when we finished the film they were planning not to release it.
We had very similar ideas on lighting and he had tremendously good taste . his lighting was always exqusite. Also, the thing I liked about him (and for that matter Don McAlpine) was that he would vary his style to suit the subject matter,...
Bruce Beresford When I was going to do Driving Miss Daisy, I offered it to Don McAlpine, but he turned it down. And then I offered it to Russell Boyd but he was doing something else. And then I remembered Peter and I thought .Hang on, I like that bloke Peter James. and said .Do you want to come over here and shoot this low-budget film?. And he did. That was the first.
I did enjoy working with him but we never thought it was anything special. In fact, when we finished the film they were planning not to release it.
We had very similar ideas on lighting and he had tremendously good taste . his lighting was always exqusite. Also, the thing I liked about him (and for that matter Don McAlpine) was that he would vary his style to suit the subject matter,...
- 7/23/2012
- by Brendan Swift
- IF.com.au
Each week within this column we strive to pair the latest in theatrical releases to worthwhile titles currently available on Netflix Instant Watch. This week we offer alternatives to The Avengers, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel & First Position.
Iron Man, Thor, Black Widow, Captain America, Hawkeye and the Hulk join forces as the Avengers to face an evil unlike the earth has ever seen before. Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, and Jeremy Renner co-star; Joss Whedon directs.
How about giving some lesser-known superheroes their due:
Confessions of a Superhero (2007) This quirky and compelling documentary follows four dreamers whose passion to become professional actors has landed them all on Hollywood Boulevard costumed as Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, and the Incredible Hulk. Matt Ogens directs.
Big Man Japan (2007) This Japanese mockumentary explores the downside to being a superhero. Daisato is a middle-aged, second-rate superhero who not...
Iron Man, Thor, Black Widow, Captain America, Hawkeye and the Hulk join forces as the Avengers to face an evil unlike the earth has ever seen before. Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, and Jeremy Renner co-star; Joss Whedon directs.
How about giving some lesser-known superheroes their due:
Confessions of a Superhero (2007) This quirky and compelling documentary follows four dreamers whose passion to become professional actors has landed them all on Hollywood Boulevard costumed as Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, and the Incredible Hulk. Matt Ogens directs.
Big Man Japan (2007) This Japanese mockumentary explores the downside to being a superhero. Daisato is a middle-aged, second-rate superhero who not...
- 5/3/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
DVD Playhouse June 2011
By
Allen Gardner
Kiss Me Deadly (Criterion) Robert Aldrich’s 1955 reinvention of the film noir detective story is one of cinema’s great genre mash-ups: part hardboiled noir; part cold war paranoid thriller; and part science- fiction. Ralph Meeker plays Mickey Spillane’s fascist detective Mike Hammer as a narcissistic simian thug, a sadist who would rather smash a suspect’s fingers than make love to the bevvy of beautiful dames that cross his path. In fact, the only time you see a smile cross Meeker’s sneering mug is when he’s doling out pain, with a vengeance. When a terrified young woman (Cloris Leachman, film debut) literally crossed Hammer’s path one night, and later turns up dead, he vows to get to the bottom of her brutal demise. One of the most influential films ever made, and perhaps the most-cited film by the architects...
By
Allen Gardner
Kiss Me Deadly (Criterion) Robert Aldrich’s 1955 reinvention of the film noir detective story is one of cinema’s great genre mash-ups: part hardboiled noir; part cold war paranoid thriller; and part science- fiction. Ralph Meeker plays Mickey Spillane’s fascist detective Mike Hammer as a narcissistic simian thug, a sadist who would rather smash a suspect’s fingers than make love to the bevvy of beautiful dames that cross his path. In fact, the only time you see a smile cross Meeker’s sneering mug is when he’s doling out pain, with a vengeance. When a terrified young woman (Cloris Leachman, film debut) literally crossed Hammer’s path one night, and later turns up dead, he vows to get to the bottom of her brutal demise. One of the most influential films ever made, and perhaps the most-cited film by the architects...
- 6/11/2011
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
In 1981, ballet dancer Li Cunxin defected to the United States after a lifetime of training in the People’s Republic of China. Twenty-eight years later, his autobiography was adapted by Bruce Beresford (Driving Miss Daisy) and became one of the highest-grossing Australian films of all time...too bad it wasn’t a better movie.
Mired by stolid direction and unimaginative filmmaking, Mao’s Last Dancer emotionlessly spells out its themes and plots in such a way that even its occasional dips into melodrama fail to evoke the eye-rolls they deserve. Much of the film unfolds in flashback, detailing Li’s childhood in an unnamed village of northeastern China and his adolescent training in Beijing.
Played as a teenager by Australian Ballet dancer Chengwu Guo and an adult by Birmingham Royal Ballet Principal Dancer Chi Cao, Li struggles with a lack of talent and must instead develop his skills through sheer...
Mired by stolid direction and unimaginative filmmaking, Mao’s Last Dancer emotionlessly spells out its themes and plots in such a way that even its occasional dips into melodrama fail to evoke the eye-rolls they deserve. Much of the film unfolds in flashback, detailing Li’s childhood in an unnamed village of northeastern China and his adolescent training in Beijing.
Played as a teenager by Australian Ballet dancer Chengwu Guo and an adult by Birmingham Royal Ballet Principal Dancer Chi Cao, Li struggles with a lack of talent and must instead develop his skills through sheer...
- 5/5/2011
- Shadowlocked
Before the "Step Up" franchise went 3-D, dance shows dominated television and Zoe Saldana was a household name, "Center Stage" was a little movie with only Peter Gallagher's eyebrows as a recognizable feature. That was more than 10 years ago.
Now, of course, movin' and shakin' is becoming a major element of pop culture and Saldana is one of our favorite Hot People Looking Hot. But she's not the only star of that nouveau-cult classic heating up the big screen this summer.
Amanda Schull – yup, Jody Sawyer herself – is starring in "Mao's Last Dancer," a biopic of Chinese dancer Li Cunxin out on DVD this week.
We checked in with the now 32-year-old to find out what she's been up to for the past decade and if she and the erstwhile Eva Rodriguez (Saldana's "Center Stage" character, for the uninitiated) are still pals.
Do people often recognize you or call you Jody Sawyer?...
Now, of course, movin' and shakin' is becoming a major element of pop culture and Saldana is one of our favorite Hot People Looking Hot. But she's not the only star of that nouveau-cult classic heating up the big screen this summer.
Amanda Schull – yup, Jody Sawyer herself – is starring in "Mao's Last Dancer," a biopic of Chinese dancer Li Cunxin out on DVD this week.
We checked in with the now 32-year-old to find out what she's been up to for the past decade and if she and the erstwhile Eva Rodriguez (Saldana's "Center Stage" character, for the uninitiated) are still pals.
Do people often recognize you or call you Jody Sawyer?...
- 3/29/2011
- by Breanne L. Heldman
- NextMovie
Starring: Chi Cao, Amanda Schull, Kyle McLaughlin, Bruce Greenwood
Director: Bruce Beresford
The Scoop: The "Driving Miss Daisy" director tackles the true story of dancer Li Cunxin (Cao), a boy handpicked from a poor village to attend Madame Mao's Beijing Dance Academy and later the Houston Ballet Company. Li quickly learns to love his life in the U.S., appreciating his newfound stardom in the dance world, his personal and creative freedom and the blonde colleague he romances (Schull) before his impending return to China.
Special Features: Making-of featurette
Rated PG, 117 min. | Watch the trailer...
Director: Bruce Beresford
The Scoop: The "Driving Miss Daisy" director tackles the true story of dancer Li Cunxin (Cao), a boy handpicked from a poor village to attend Madame Mao's Beijing Dance Academy and later the Houston Ballet Company. Li quickly learns to love his life in the U.S., appreciating his newfound stardom in the dance world, his personal and creative freedom and the blonde colleague he romances (Schull) before his impending return to China.
Special Features: Making-of featurette
Rated PG, 117 min. | Watch the trailer...
- 3/28/2011
- by NextMovie Staff
- NextMovie
The biggest local film at the box office in 2009 . Mao's Last Dancer . has topped the local DVD sales chart in 2010. The film, which is based on the autobiography of Chinese-Australlian ballet dancer Li Cunxin, was the 20th overall best selling DVD in 2010 according to data from GfK Australia. James Cameron.s Avatar topped the overall list, followed by Twilight: New Moon and Up. Mao.s Last Dancer grossed more than $15.4 million at the Australian box office in 2009 and it now stands as the twelfth most successful local film of all time. A spokeswoman for Roadshow, which distributed the DVD, said it had sold more than 100,000 units including Blu-ray and standard DVD releases. .It was our third highest-selling DVD of 2010 (behind Sex and the...
- 3/10/2011
- by Brendan Swift
- IF.com.au
Mao’s Last Dancer, starring Chi Cao, Bruce Greenwood, Kyle MacLachlan and Shuangbao Wang, will be coming to DVD and Blu-ray on March 29, 2011 from 20th Century Fox. Director Bruce Beresford was noted on USA Network’s Character Approved Blog for his work in bringing the true story of dancer Li Cunxin to life.
Mao’s Last Dancer is a drama based on the autobiography by Li Cunxin. At the age of 11, Li was plucked from a poor Chinese village by Madame Mao’s cultural delegates and taken to Beijing to study ballet. In 1979, during a cultural exchange to Texas, he fell in love with an American woman. Two years later, he managed to defect and went on to perform as a principal dancer for the Houston Ballet and as a principal artist with the Australian Ballet.
Mao’s Last Dancer (Blu-ray)
Mao’s Last Dancer (DVD)...
Mao’s Last Dancer is a drama based on the autobiography by Li Cunxin. At the age of 11, Li was plucked from a poor Chinese village by Madame Mao’s cultural delegates and taken to Beijing to study ballet. In 1979, during a cultural exchange to Texas, he fell in love with an American woman. Two years later, he managed to defect and went on to perform as a principal dancer for the Houston Ballet and as a principal artist with the Australian Ballet.
Mao’s Last Dancer (Blu-ray)
Mao’s Last Dancer (DVD)...
- 1/17/2011
- by Buzzfocus Staff
- BuzzFocus.com
Chicago – In our latest drama edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 35 admit-two passes up for grabs to the advance Chicago screening of the new film “Mao’s Last Dancer”! The film stars Bruce Greenwood from the director of “Driving Miss Daisy”.
“Mao’s Last Dancer” also stars Kyle MacLachlan, Joan Chen, Chi Cao, Amanda Schull, Shuangbao Wang, Aden Young, Madeleine Eastoe and Suzie Steen from director Bruce Beresford and writers Jan Sardi and Cunxin Li.
To win your free pass to the advance Chicago screening of “Mao’s Last Dancer” courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, just answer our question below. That’s it! This screening is on Thursday, Aug. 12, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. in Chicago. Directions to enter this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup and immediately win can be found beneath the graphic below.
The movie poster for “Mao’s Last Dancer” with Bruce Greenwood.
Image credit: Village Roadshow
Here is...
“Mao’s Last Dancer” also stars Kyle MacLachlan, Joan Chen, Chi Cao, Amanda Schull, Shuangbao Wang, Aden Young, Madeleine Eastoe and Suzie Steen from director Bruce Beresford and writers Jan Sardi and Cunxin Li.
To win your free pass to the advance Chicago screening of “Mao’s Last Dancer” courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, just answer our question below. That’s it! This screening is on Thursday, Aug. 12, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. in Chicago. Directions to enter this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup and immediately win can be found beneath the graphic below.
The movie poster for “Mao’s Last Dancer” with Bruce Greenwood.
Image credit: Village Roadshow
Here is...
- 8/11/2010
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
SYDNEY -- Kyle McLachlan and Joan Chen will star in Bruce Beresford's upcoming feature Mao's Last Dancer, set to begin filming in and around Beijing next month, producers said Tuesday.
Beresford is directing from Jan Sardi's adaptation of the best-selling memoir by Li Cunxin. Set during China's Cultural Revolution, it centers on Li, chosen at age 11 to leave his peasant family to train with the Beijing Dance Academy, then run by the wife of Chairman Mao Zedong.
Li defected to the U.S. after becoming one of two cultural exchange students to the West, and spent 16 years with the Houston Ballet. He settled in Melbourne, Australia, after marrying Australian dancer Mary McKendry and becoming a principal dancer with the Australian Ballet.
McLachlan will play Li's attorney, while Chen will play his mother. Also signed for key roles are Bruce Greenwood, Jack Thompson, Aden Young, Amanda Schull and Shungbao Wang. Casting of the actors who will play Li at three stages of his life is yet to be finalized.
Beresford is directing from Jan Sardi's adaptation of the best-selling memoir by Li Cunxin. Set during China's Cultural Revolution, it centers on Li, chosen at age 11 to leave his peasant family to train with the Beijing Dance Academy, then run by the wife of Chairman Mao Zedong.
Li defected to the U.S. after becoming one of two cultural exchange students to the West, and spent 16 years with the Houston Ballet. He settled in Melbourne, Australia, after marrying Australian dancer Mary McKendry and becoming a principal dancer with the Australian Ballet.
McLachlan will play Li's attorney, while Chen will play his mother. Also signed for key roles are Bruce Greenwood, Jack Thompson, Aden Young, Amanda Schull and Shungbao Wang. Casting of the actors who will play Li at three stages of his life is yet to be finalized.
- 2/26/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
SYDNEY -- Kyle McLachlan and Joan Chen will star in Bruce Beresford's upcoming feature "Mao's Last Dancer", set to begin filming in and around Beijing next month, producers said Tuesday.
Beresford is directing from Jan Sardi's adaptation of the best-selling memoir by Li Cunxin. Set during China's Cultural Revolution, it centers on Li, chosen at age 11 to leave his peasant family to train with the Beijing Dance Academy, then run by the wife of Chairman Mao Zedong.
Li defected to the U.S. after becoming one of two cultural exchange students to the West, and spent 16 years with the Houston Ballet. He settled in Melbourne, Australia, after marrying Australian dancer Mary McKendry and becoming a principal dancer with the Australian Ballet.
McLachlan will play Li's attorney, while Chen will play his mother. Also signed for key roles are Bruce Greenwood, Jack Thompson, Aden Young, Amanda Schull and Shungbao Wang. Casting of the actors who will play Li at three stages of his life is yet to be finalized.
Beresford is directing from Jan Sardi's adaptation of the best-selling memoir by Li Cunxin. Set during China's Cultural Revolution, it centers on Li, chosen at age 11 to leave his peasant family to train with the Beijing Dance Academy, then run by the wife of Chairman Mao Zedong.
Li defected to the U.S. after becoming one of two cultural exchange students to the West, and spent 16 years with the Houston Ballet. He settled in Melbourne, Australia, after marrying Australian dancer Mary McKendry and becoming a principal dancer with the Australian Ballet.
McLachlan will play Li's attorney, while Chen will play his mother. Also signed for key roles are Bruce Greenwood, Jack Thompson, Aden Young, Amanda Schull and Shungbao Wang. Casting of the actors who will play Li at three stages of his life is yet to be finalized.
- 2/26/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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