Specialty Box Office: NC-17 Import ‘Blue Is The Warmest Color’ Scores Solid Open

After the Palme d’Or, public spats and talk about “that scene,” Cannes Palme d’Or winner Blue Is The Warmest Color opened with solid numbers this weekend in New York and L.A. The feature grossed just over $101K in 4 theaters, for a $25,279 average – easily the highest of the weekend and one of the year’s highest for a foreign-language film.

Sundance Selects said it was “thrilled” by Blue‘s performance and that the drama about two young women who fall in love appealed across genders this weekend. “From the moment it screened in Cannes to its opening engagements here in the United States the film has received enormous publicity and critical acclaim for the film and for the lead actresses’ performances,” said IFC Films/Sundance Selects’ Mark Boxer Sunday. “Now filmgoers in New York and Los Angeles have had the opportunity to see what generated so much excitement and controversy and the turnout was quite impressive in a very crowded marketplace.”

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Blue opened stateside with an NC-17, though NYC’s IFC Center very publicly said it would admit high schoolers to the film. The title also trumped last year’s Best Foreign Language Oscar winner and fellow Palme d’Or winner Amour, which had a $22,755 in 3 locations last December. That film went on to gross over $6.7 million in the U.S.

It is the first weekend since August that there was not an onslaught of new specialties packing theaters, with a more manageable number opening Friday. Cohen Media Group rolled out Costa-Gavras’ Capital in a pair of showings, grossing over $22K with a decent $11,224 average in New York. Cohen will expand it to 30-plus runs next. “This is a classic release, not day and date with VOD,” noted Charles Cohen of Cohen Media Group. “We believe in that for certain films, but we didn’t think that was the way to go here.”

Two docs were among the openers Friday, including awards contender The Square, opening at New York’s Film Forum after bows at the Toronto and New York film festivals. The film by Jehane Noujaim grossed $15,665 this weekend, playing in one 180 seat theater. The Square won Audience Awards at both Sundance and Toronto, will next head to L.A., Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia November 1 as well as Atlanta November 8, San Francisco November 11 and additional markets into December. Fellow doc Spinning Plates bowed in a trio of runs, grossing over $20K for a $6,843 average. The restaurant doc will head to 10 additional runs next weekend.

Fox Searchlight added 104 theaters for its second weekend of likely awards heavyweight 12 Years A Slave. The film grossed $2.1M in 123 theaters, averaging a cool $17K. Last weekend the Steve McQueen-directed film grossed $960K in its initial 19 theaters, averaging over $50K.

“This has been a very good result as the film is playing well in art houses, African American theaters, as well as in mainstream multiplexes,” said Searchlight Sunday. “The markets we are in presently are L.A., NY, Atlanta, Washington DC, Chicago, Toronto, Dallas, Houston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Boston and Detroit. Next week we will add approximately 45 new cities and will increase our theatre count to over 400 locations across North America.”

Also in their second frames, SPC’s Kill Your Darlings added four runs, grossing over $41K for a $5,178 average, while Sundance doc American Promise grossed under $13K, averaging $3,209. SPC’s Austenland crossed the $2 million cume mark in its 11th week, grossing well over $33K this weekend.

NEW

Blue Is The Warmest Color (Sundance Selects) NEW [4 Theaters] Weekend $101,116, Average $25,279
Capital (Cohen Media Group) NEW [2 Theaters] Weekend $22,447, Average $11,224
Spinning Plates (The Film Arcade) NEW [3 Theaters] Weekend $20,528, Average $6,843
The Square (Self distributed – Noujaim Films) NEW [1 Theater] Weekend $15,665

Returning / 2nd Weekend

All Is Lost (Roadside/Lionsgate) Week 2 [81 Theaters] Weekend $517,700, Average $6,380, Cume $655,889
American Promise (Rada Film Group) Week 2 [4 Theaters] Weekend $12,837, Average $3,209, Cume $41,161
12 Years A Slave (Fox Searchlight) Week 2 [123 Theaters] Weekend $2.1M, Average $17K, Cume $3.4M
Kill Your Darlings (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 2 [8 Theaters] Weekend $41,426, Average $5,178, Cume $131,634

Holdovers / 3RD+ Weekends

Broadway Idiot (FilmBuff) Week 3 [1 Theater] Weekend $166, Cume $23,375
Cassadaga (Archstone Distribution) Week 3 [ Theaters] Weekend $, Average $
Escape From Tomorrow (Producers Distribution Agency) Week 3 [11 Theaters] Weekend $13,815, Average $1,256, Cume $139,334
The Inevitable Defeat Of Mister And Pete (Codeblack/Lionsgate) Week 3 [49 Theaters] Weekend $14K, Average $286, Cume $487,626
Ghost Team One (The Film Arcade) Week 3 [ Theaters] Weekend $, Average $
God Loves Uganda (Variance Films) Week 3 [ Theater] Weekend $
Romeo & Juliet (Relativity) Week 3 [ Theaters] Weekend $, Average $, Cume $
A.C.O.D. (The Film Arcade) Week 4 [19 Theaters] Weekend $17,426, Average $917, Cume $157,690
Grace Unplugged (Roadside Attractions/Lionsgate) Week 4 [208 Theaters] Weekend $120,700, Average $572, Cume $2,366,813
Parkland (Exclusive Media) Week 4 [20 Theaters] Weekend $13,934, Average $697, Cume $641,439
Inequality For All (RADiUS-TWC) Week 5 [97 Theaters] Weekend $83,589, Average $862, Cume $937,858
Metallica Through The Never (Picturehouse) Week 5 [22 Theaters] Weekend $50,803, Average $2,309, Cume $3,422,409
After Tiller (Oscilloscope) Week 6 [6 Theaters] Weekend $2,500, Average $417 Cume $56,075
Generation Iron (Vladar) Week 6 [25 Theaters] Weekend $27,215, Average $1,088, Cume $731,162
Mother Of George (Oscilloscope) Week 7 [7 Theaters] Weekend $7K, Average $1K, Cume $137,502
Wadjda (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 7 [87 Theaters] Weekend $132,492, Average $1,523, Cume $994,371
Austenland (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 11 [43 Theaters] Weekend $33,710, Average $784, Cume $2,010,924
You Will Be My Son (Cohen Media Group) Week 11 [8 Theaters] Weekend $6,552, Average $819, Cume $250,824
The Spectacular Now (A24) Week 13 [24 Theaters] Weekend $7,011, Average $92, Cume $6,830,366
Blue Jasmine (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 13 [119 Theaters] Weekend $156,898, Average $1,318, Cume $32,218,246
20 Feet From Stardom (RADiUS-TWC) Week 20 [12 Theaters] Weekend $9,054, Average $754, Cume $4,713,488