'Iron Man 3' Tops 2013 AU Box Office Records, 'Despicable Me 2' and 'Catching Fire' Battles for Second Place
Tony Stark has once again made his way to the hearts of Aussie moviegoers as ''Iron Man 3'' topped Australia's box office records for the year 2013.
The film based on the Marvel comic of the same name earned more than AU$39 million in the entirety of its nine-week showing in Australian theaters, according to News.com.au. On its opening weekend from April 25-28, Box Office Mojo records that it earned more than AU$14 million and the top spot in the box office charts, where it remained there for another week.
In 2010, the second installment of the film adaptation starring Robert Downey, Jr. was also at the top 10 films in Australia, earning more than AU$22 million during that time.
While "Iron Man 3" enjoys the year-ender top spot, there was a tug-of-war between "Despicable Me 2" and "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire." Box Office Mojo places the minion-filled animated feature at the second place, but News.com.au records a higher gross for the second installment of "The Hunger Games" trilogy which stars Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson.
Meanwhile, the film adaptation of Yan Martel's "Life of Pi" grossed at AU$28.6 million, while Baz Luhrmann's recreation of "The Great Gatsby" earned AU$28.4 million.
The sixth installment of "The Fast and The Furious" franchise got the sixth spot of this year's top grossers, receiving AU$24 million worth of ticket sales. The next installment is slated for release next year, but with the death of lead actor Paul Walker, the film's release is moved to April 2015.
Rounding up the list of this year's top grossers are two animated features and two superhero films. Two of them are from Disney -- "Monsters University" which earned more than AU$21 million and "Thor: The Dark World" which got AU$20 million. The other two includes "The Croods" (AU$23 million) and "Man of Steel" (AU$22 million), all according to both Box Office Mojo and News.com.au.