One of the first holiday films of the season, romantic comedy Last Christmas, has shot straight to the top of the Australian box office, taking $2.2m across its first weekend and knocking off last week’s winner Terminator: Dark Fate.

Last Christmas stars Emilia Clarke and Henry Golding and was directed by Paul Feig. It was co-written by Bryony Kimmings and Emma Thompson, who also appears in the film. Clarke is a Christmas store employee who falls for Golding after he continuously appears in her life.

Terminator fell into second place with $1.65m – a 51% drop from last week – across 410 screens, adding to a total of $6.12m in Australian takings. The film, which stars the original characters from the first two films in the franchise, has been met with mixed reviews from critics.

ADVERTISEMENT

With a further $1.20m for its sixth week out, Joker held onto third place. It adds to $37.42m in total Australian takings, and was shown across 270 screens. It managed to slip ahead of Doctor Sleep which premiered to just $805,621. The film, based on the book of the same title by Stephen King, picks up years after the ending of The Shining. The novel was written in 1977.

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil came next, adding a further $740,771 to its $7.84m, followed by Chinese drama film Better Days which premiered to $458,998 across 31 screens. Zombieland: Double Tap took $425,056 across 272 screens for its fourth week, adding to $5.42m in total takings for seventh position.

Judy Garland biopic Judy took $329,909 across 155 screens, and Hustlers landed another $328,164 across 210. The two films have been out for four and five weeks respectively.

The top 10 was finished with Ride Like A Girl which managed another $294,184 across 229 screens for its seventh week out. It has taken a total of $10.22m across its run.