{"id":456926,"date":"2026-06-02T10:44:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T10:44:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/456926\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T10:44:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T10:44:20","slug":"australian-box-office-posts-biggest-may-results-of-all-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/456926\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian Box Office Posts Biggest May Results of All Time"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Australian box office has scored the biggest results for May in its history.<\/p>\n<p>The month\u2019s box office reached $119 million, surpassing May 2019 by 26% and marking a major milestone for the cinema industry while reinforcing the continued strength of theatrical exhibition.<\/p>\n<p>The record month was driven by a mix of high release volume and diverse content, with strong performances across key audience demographics including families, youth and NEOs.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/au.variety.com\/2026\/film\/news\/australian-box-office-backrooms-may-28-31-37166\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">READ MORE: Australian Box Office: \u2018Backrooms\u2019 Surges Straight to No. 1<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Several major titles\u00a0helped power the result.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/au.variety.com\/2026\/film\/news\/australian-box-office-may-19th-36744\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">\u201cThe Devil Wears Prada 2\u201d<\/a> became the third-biggest comedy of all time, while<a href=\"https:\/\/au.variety.com\/?s=michael\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"> \u201cMichael\u201d<\/a>\u00a0became the third-biggest biopic ever released.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Super Mario Galaxy Movie\u201d\u00a0continued the momentum for gaming IP, becoming the third-biggest video game adaptation of all time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProject Hail Mary\u201d delivered a standout performance as the seventh-biggest sci-fi film ever released, while horror also performed strongly, with \u201cBackrooms\u201d achieving the fourth-biggest opening ever for a horror film.<\/p>\n<p>Love Film &amp; TV?<\/p>\n<p class=\"observer-desc mb-2\"> Get your daily dose of everything happening in music, film and TV in Australia and abroad.<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/spinner.png\" width=\"30\" height=\"30\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\u201cBillie Eilish: Hit Me Hard\u00a0and\u00a0Soft\u201d\u00a0recorded the fifth-biggest documentary opening of all time, reinforcing the growing appetite for eventised non-fiction storytelling in cinema.<\/p>\n<p>Mother\u2019s Day weekend also recorded its <a href=\"https:\/\/au.variety.com\/2026\/film\/box-office\/australian-box-office-scores-biggest-mothers-day-weekend-on-record-36462\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">biggest box office result of all time<\/a>, highlighting cinema\u2019s role in shared cultural moments and seasonal occasions.<\/p>\n<p>Guy Burbidge, Managing Director of\u00a0Val Morgan\u00a0Cinema, said the strength of May came from the breadth of the slate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat May proved is that strong box office performance is built on breadth. This wasn\u2019t a month carried by one film or one audience; it was the diversity of titles driving attendance among all key demographics.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a reminder that Australians love cinema, and that the big screen will always be part of Australian culture and entertainment habits, with an experience they simply can\u2019t get at home.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Burbidge said the outlook for the rest of the year remains strong.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe outlook for the rest of the year is exceptionally strong, with huge IP still to come in\u00a0Toy Story 5,\u00a0Minions &amp; Monsters,\u00a0The Odyssey\u00a0and\u00a0Spider-Man: Brand New Day, alongside unique titles and original content such as\u00a0Digger,\u00a0The Social Reckoning\u00a0and\u00a0Wild Horse Nine, further expanding the depth of the slate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>From <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaweek.com.au\/australian-box-office-sets-all-time-may-record\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Mediaweek<\/a><\/p>\n<p> optional screen readerRead More About:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Australian box office has scored the biggest results for May in its history. The month\u2019s box office&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":456927,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[232258,156,409,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-456926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-australian-box-office","tag-entertainment","tag-movies","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=456926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456926\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/456927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=456926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=456926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=456926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}