Brian Brooks is managing editor of MovieLine.
Newcomers and holdovers came in flat in an unmemorable weekend for Specialty Box Office. The Loneliest Planet bowed solid with a $10,200 average in two locations. Sundance Selects will take the movie starring Gael García Bernal to the top 15 markets in the next two weeks. Rocky Mountain Pictures, the group that brought on this year’s record-breaking doc 2016: Obama’s America, debuted District Of Corruption in three theaters, averaging $7,374 for the weekend’s second-best showing among the titles reporting. Cohen Media Group’s The Other Son debuted in 41 theaters, averaging just
over $3K. Radius’ theatrical debut of Pusher landed with a thud, taking in just over $5K in 14 locations. The TWC multiplatform label stressed that its VOD run is primary, but did not report figures. The distributor’s co-head Tom Quinn said, “It’s done great on VOD. On its face it’s about the genre and its gotten good traction.” Among holdovers, Fox Searchlight’s The Sessions expanded strongly, with a weekend best theater asverage of $11,500. Indomina’s Holy Motors remained in in two theaters but held steady with a average of $7,648.
The Loneliest Planet debuted at IFC Center in NYC and the NuArt in L.A. It also opened via VOD and had a debut at BAM in Brooklyn Friday night. IFC’s Mark Boxer touted the title’s “great start” as the AFI Fest 2011 Grand Jury Prize winner heads out further next week. Rocky Mountain’s District Of Corruption directed by Stephen K. Bannon debuted in single showings in Columbus, OH, The Villages, FL and Houston, TX. Judicial Watch touts the film as a “blockbuster feature documentary” that “lays bare the lawless and unconstitutional” moves by the Obama Administration. The Last Fall opened in one L.A. theater with $6,130, the third-best per-theater-tally of the weekend’s newbies. A spokesperson for the movie said, “Director Mark Cherry and his producers employed a strong on-the-ground grassroots marketing strategy and took to social media to hit up young adults, schools, churches and organizations to fill theater seats in Los Angeles exclusively at the Rave 15 Baldwin Hills Cinema.”
Among holdovers, Holy Motors stayed in two NYC locations, managing an uptick at Film Forum. The film will follow a festival itinerary in its rollout, debuting at events from LA (AFI Fest) to Chicago, followed by theatrical runs. The film received major festival buzz beginning in Cannes in May. Brooklyn Castle by John Sloss’ release label Producers Distribution Agency added six theaters in its second weekend. The title averaged $3,762 vs. its opening $11,061 last week in a pair of NYC showings. Fox Searchlight’s The Sessions moved from 4 to 20 theaters in its second frame, averaging $11,500 for the overall box office’s best per-theater-average. “This is a little better than we expected and we are very encouraged by the overall numbers,” said Searchlight’s Frank Rodriguez. “We will open 13 new markets on November 2nd while expanding in the already opened markets. Word of mouth is starting to build and we are obviously hearing a lot of buzz in regards to the performances of John Hawkes, Helen Hunt and William H. Macy.”
NEW
District Of Corruption (Rocky Mountain Pictures) NEW [3 Theaters] Weekend $22,123, Average $7,374
The Last Fall (Image Entertainment) NEW [1 Theater] Weekend $6,130
The Loneliest Planet (Sundance Selects) NEW [2 Theaters] Weekend $20,400, Average $10,200
Orchestra Of Exiles (First Run Features) NEW [1 Theater] Weekend $7,034, Cume $7034.
The Other Son (Cohen Media Group) NEW [41 Theaters] Weekend $125K, Average $3,048
Pusher (Radius-The Weinstein Company) NEW [14 Theaters] Weekend $5,040, Average $360, Cume $5,040
RETURNING / 2ND WEEKEND
Brooklyn Castle (Producers Distribution Agency) Week 2 [8 Theaters] Weekend $30,093, Average $3,762, Cume $53,965
The Flat (Sundance Selects) Week 2 [9 Theaters] Weekend $42,300, Average $4,700, Cume $75,600
Hating Breitbart (Rocky Mountain Pictures) Week 2 [4 Theaters] Weekend $9,365, Average $2,341, Cume $52,123
Holy Motors (Indomina) Week 2 [2 Theaters] Weekend $15,296, Average $7,648, Cume $56,208
Nobody Walks Week 2 [7 Theaters] Weekend $6,000, Average $1,000, Cume $17K
The Sessions (Fox Searchlight) Week 2 [20 Theaters] Weekend $230K, Average $11,500, Cume $390K
HOLDOVERS / 3RD+WEEKENDS
Middle Of Nowhere (AFFRM/Participant) Week 3 [24 Theaters] Weekend $30,134, Average $1,255, Cume $166,935
Smashed (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 3 [21 Theaters] Weekend $44,436, Average $2,116, Cume $149,949
The House I Live In (Abramorama) Week 4 [12 Theaters] Weekend $25,029, Average $2,085, Cume $110,637
The Paperboy (Millennium Entertainment) Week 4 [76 Theaters] Weekend $102,106, Average $1,344, Cume $551,131
The Revisionaries (Kino Lorber) Week 4 [3 Theaters] Weekend $5K, Average $1,667, Cume $12,500
Wuthering Heights (Oscilloscope Laboratories) Week 4 [12 Theaters] Weekend $10K, Average $833, Cume $62,117
The Other Dream Team (The Film Arcade) Week 5 [14 Theaters] Weekend $3,398, Average $286, Cume $120,256
The Perks Of Being A Wallflower (Summit Entertainment) Week 6 [736 Theaters] Weekend $1.4M, Average $1,902, Cume $11,207,679
Arbitrage (Roadside Attractions/Lionsgate) Week 7 [125 Theaters] Weekend $176K, Average $1,408, Cume $7,349,263
The Master (The Weinstein Company) Week 7 [201 Theaters] Weekend $269K, Average $1,338, Cume $15,219,382
Lawless (The Weinstein Company) Week 9 [96 Theaters] Weekend $29K, Average $302, Cume $37,338,099
Samasara (Oscilloscope Laboratories] Week 10 [67 Theaters] Weekend $ 94,202, Average $1,406, Cume $2,178,675
Searching For Sugar Man (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 14 [114 Theaters] Weekend $159,022, Average $1,395, Cume $2,213,934
The Imposter (Indomina Releasing) Week 16 [16 Theaters] Weekend $23,493, Average $1,468, Cume $816,986
Moonrise Kingdom (Focus Features) Week 23 [15 Theaters] Weekend $8,735, Average $582, Cume $45,507,053
The Intouchables (The Weinstein Company) Week 29 [48 Theaters] Weekend $35K, Average $729, Cume $12,883,039
