Top of the box office

Director Taika Waititi’s second feature Boy has become the top grossing local film ever at the New Zealand box office, passing the $7.5 million-mark and overtaking 25’s The World’s Fastest Indian, according to distributors Transmission Films. The heartfelt coming-of-age comedy set on the rural east coast of New Zealand, Boy tells the tale of Boy, Rocky and their inept wannabe gangster father Alamein. It is inspired by Waititi’s Oscar-nominated short, Two Cars, One Night and his own childhood in Waihau Bay. Boy opened in New Zealand on March 25 and sat in the number one position for five weeks. It was also the fastest number one earner of all time, taking just eight weeks to hit that mark. Waititi, 34, hails from the Raukokore area of the East Coast. Boy The film screen at both the Sydney and Melbourne International Film Festivals, before its commercial release in Australia later in the year.