The Castle (1997 Film) Rob Sitch

Alternative versions

In the US version, there were several minor changes to dialogue. "Rissole" was changed to "meatloaf", "two-stroke" was changed to "diesel", references to the Australian TV show Hey Hey It's Saturday were changed to the more generic Funniest Home Videos (which existed in both markets), and brand names of various cars in the driveway were changed from uniquely Australian cars like the Camira, to ones sold in both countries like the Corolla.[16]

Australian broadcasts for "before-8:30pm screening" has profanity either removed or, where possible, masked by aircraft noises or redubbed when lip movements are not visible. When shown after 8:30pm, all explicit language is intact.

Box office

The Castle previewed on 34 screens in Australia and grossed A$122,256 ranking 14th at the Australian box office for the week.[17] It officially opened on 10 April 1997 on 86 screens and grossed A$1,137,703 for the week, ranking fourth. Its per screen average of A$13,229 was second only just behind the opening of the special edition of The Empire Strikes Back.[18] It became one of the top-10-grossing Australian films of all time with a gross of A$10,326,439 at the box office in Australia,[1] over 13 times its A$750,000 budget.[19]

Paramount Pictures bought distribution rights to the United Kingdom and South Africa, and was also offered North American distribution rights, which it refused to buy. A bidding war for North American rights took place, with Gramercy Pictures, Miramax Films and LIVE Entertainment being the frontrunners and Columbia TriStar also expressing interest in buying the rights.[20] Ultimately, North American rights were bought by Miramax for a rumoured $6 million.[21] The film grossed $877,621 in the United States and Canada.[22]

Critical reception

In Australia, the film received critical acclaim, considered an iconic classic and is frequently listed as one of the greatest Australian films ever made.[23][24] In 2011, Time Out London named it the 25th-greatest comedy film of all time.[25] The film is a text studied in secondary education in Australia.[26]

The Castle received positive reviews from overseas critics. It has an 87% approval rating from review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 39 reviews, with a weighted average of 6.99/10.[27] Roger Ebert gave the film 3 stars out of 4, calling it "one of those comic treasures like The Full Monty and Waking Ned Devine that shows its characters in the full bloom of glorious eccentricity".[28] Elsewhere around the world, especially in non-English-speaking countries not familiar with Australian humor, mores or issues, the film made little impact.

Accolades