ByREBECCA BARRY
Award-winning New Zealand feature film Whale Rider turned praise to profit in the United States, taking $135,435 at the box office in its opening weekend.
Its screen average of $15,048 beat Hollywood blockbuster 2 Fast 2 Furious by almost $1000 per screen. However, the street-racing movie sequel, showing on many more screens, grossed US$52.1 million ($90.8 million) in its first three days.
Whale Rider was shown in Los Angeles and New York and will open in a further 15 cities across America by the end of the month.
In New Zealand it has grossed more than $5.5m in 17 weeks and is still in the box office top ten.
Across the Tasman it has made A$4.42 million at the end of its third week of release.
Herald Feature: Whale Rider
Whale Rider's countdown to success
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