Local film Tsotsi has broken box-office records since opening at South African cinemas on Friday.
In its opening weekend, Tsotsi — which has been nominated for an Academy Award — earned R526 676, Ster Kinekor said on Monday.
It said the film earned 250% more than last year’s Oscar nominee Yesterday in its opening weekend.
It also brought in 40% more audiences than the highly acclaimed The Constant Gardener for the three days.
More people watched Tsotsi in the three days than the total number of audience members who watched Max and Mona and The Flyer in the time they were on circuit, Ster Kinekor said.
It said if the trend continues, more people will watch Tsotsi this week than the number who watched Drum in its lifetime.
Ster Kinekor’s Helen Kuun said South African audiences are slowly but surely developing a taste for their own stories.
”It’s a quality film and we always believed it would play well, but it’s extremely encouraging to see that it is crossing over to all audiences and that cinema-goers are not pigeon-holing it.” — Sapa