By Kate Rodger
Three months after its release, Taika Waititi's film Boy continues to break box office records - its success taking many film industry stalwarts completely by surprise.
The film has topped Once Were Warriors, Whale Rider and The World's Fastest Indian to become the most popular local movie ever made.
So what is it about Boy that has captivated local audiences, and does it have the potential to do the same overseas?
Many a blockbusting conqueror has tried and so far failed to wrestle Boy's choke-hold on the box office.
Robin Hood, Ironman, The Prince of Persia, they have all been thrown out of the ring.
Boy is going gangbusters all across the land, and nowhere more so, than Gisborne
Rae Wheeler is a Gisborne icon. Owner of the Odeon cinema for the past half a century, she's never seen anything with the staying power of Boy.
“It’s massive. You get movies for certain people, then you get something like this, that everybody wants to see,” she says.
“I wish we had movies like this all the time.”
A school group from Wairoa College came across especially to see it, maybe they could tell me what Boy's secret is?
“I think everyone can relate to it,” says school student Hannah Martin.
“We get it, I don’t know if anyone outside of New Zealand will get it but we do anyway.”
Hannah makes a good point, could Boy work for a foreigners? As it happens, they tried it – at Cannes.
“[I'm wondering if New Zealand humour is funny for French?] Oh yes...it is funny for French people, unfortunately our cinema is not very funny! That’s why we love that kind of stuff,” says moviegoer Ailise.
Boy is chasing the $9 million mark.
With its budget of between $5 and $6 million, Boy becomes one of those rare local productions - its making a profit.
“Ainsley Cliff and Taika might have thought that, the rest of us are very pleased we've been able to participate in this,” says Graeme Mason, New Zealand Film Commission chief executive.
“It’s gone beyond our wildest dreams and he's still going.”
And with screenings at the Sydney and Melbourne film festivals, more box office records are sure to fall.
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