48 Shades's world premeire was held at the Brisbane International Film Festival; where it was a great success, becoming the fastest selling premiere the festival had hosted. It was rated 6th in the top ten feature films screened. The success however was not to last, when the film was ranked 18th at the Box Office in its 1st week.

Release Information

Release date: 31/08/2006
Release details: Wide National Release.
Classification: M
Duration: 96 mins
Genre: Drama
Director: Daniel Lapaine
Lead actor: Richard Wilson
Cast: Robin McLeavy, Michael Booth, Nick Donaldson, Emma Lung, Victoria Thaine
Producer: Rob Marsala
Screenplay: Daniel Lapaine
Music: Adam Lang
Distributor: Buena Vista International
Language: English
Country: Australia

Box Office Information and Production Context

While I havn't been able to locate the amount 48 Shades grossed at the Box Office. I found that 48 Shades was not very successful after its initial screening. It ranked only 18th at the Australian Box Office in its first week. It was up stiff competion in the relm of Australian Films that year.Those films include: Happy Feet which grossed $11,085,606, Kenny with $7,647,447, Jindabyne with $5,284,884, Ten Canoes with $3,271,928 and Kokoda with $3,138,501.

These films cover a wide target auidence, and set themselves apart from the hollywood blockbusters also released in 2006. 'Happy feet', the largest grossing Australian film that year, was a childrens/family film, while it had undertone environmental message it also stared an cast of famous Ammerican actors. 'Kenny' was a comedy that appealed to any auidence that enjoys Australian 'quirky' humor, it is a light and esasy watch compeletly in comparison to 'Kokoda'. 'Kokoda' was a war film that apealed to Australian and foregin auidences alike. 'Jinabyne' and 'Ten Canoes' wern't particularly popular films but delved in Aboriginal culture, an issue that is particuually relevent to all Australians. So by the target auidence alone, these films swamped the market for '48 Shades' guarrenteeing it little auidence outside its native Brisbane.

Another factor to examine is the international cometition. When 48 Shades was released in 2006 it was up against several very expensive blockbusters that had an extreame affect on the market. Casino Royale (2006), Superman Returns (2006), The Da Vinci Code (2006), X-Men; Last Man Standing. (2006), Pirates of the Caribean: Dead Men's Chest. (2006). Its fair to say that a small budget Australian Coming-of--age film is not going to make much money compared to these. So while '48 Shades' had many qality factors, against this competition, it didn't really have a chance.

 

 

Information from Brisbane International Film Festival 2006, Internet Movie Database, Australain Film Commission, River Downloads