James Bond star Daniel Craig has got his way - he wanted to thrash Nicole Kidman and he has.
With the first-day box office figures in for both stars' movies, Craig's latest Bond flick Quantum of Solace has easily beaten Kidman's much-hyped epic Australia.
Australia grossed $1.3 million at the box office on its opening day on Wednesday.
Director Baz Luhrmann's romance starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman collected $1,307,853 in ticket sales nationally according to Nielsen EDI figures published by Screen Australia.
It more than doubled the $575,596 taken on the opening day of Luhrmann's last film, Moulin Rouge! in 2001.
But it fell way short of the $2.03 million racked up on one day by the latest James Bond caper Quantum of Solace when it was released last week.
Film expert Bruce Molloy from Bond University said Luhrmann and distributor Twentieth Century Fox would be disappointed with its performance.
"I would think they would hope to do better - I've never seen a saturation publicity campaign like this, ever,'' Professor Molloy said.
"If Quantum of Solace opened by almost half as much again, that is a concern.''
However, Prof Molloy said Australia would be better judged after its opening weekend, and would probably do well off word of mouth.
Inside Film (IF) Magazine journalist Simon De Bruyn agrees.
"It's just not a first day film in my opinion,'' he said.
"It's a long-burn film and the long burn will go over several weeks at the box office.
"And Australians love word of mouth so they'll want to see what their mates think.''
Twentieth Century Fox was asked to comment but did not return calls.
In an interview with news.com.au last week, Craig was asked whether he wanted his film to thrash his former co-star's.
“God yes. What kind of stupid question is that?," he replied.
However, he did admit he couldn’t wait to see Australia because he was a “big Baz Luhrmann fan”.
Craig worked with Kidman in The Golden Compass and The Invasion.
(Credit: News.com.au)
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