‘Love’ Beats ‘Flowers’ In Quiet Halloween Weekend – Specialty Box Office

Some people did make it to theaters this weekend, undistracted by trick-or-treating and the World Series. Alchemy spread a little Love in two theaters, easily taking the weekend’s best theater average, grossing over $30K from two runs. Oscilloscope bowed The Wonders in a single showing taking in $7,500, while Music Box’s Flowers followed with $7K in a single theater. China Lion’s The Witness was the biggest earner among newcomers, taking in $190K in 40 locations. And Oscar hopeful Cartel Land has crossed $1M on VOD.

With a salacious poster involving three tongues,  Love averaged roughly $15K from  two New York theaters for PTA bragging rights among movies reporting Sunday. It was the first title Alchemy picked up out of Cannes earlier this year, in addition to The Lobster and Mia Madre. The company targeted a hipster audience, hosting screenings at the ACE Hotel ahead of its rollout. Love opens next in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston and Philadelphia before heading to the top 20 markets the following week. Love also will become available on digital media next week.

Alice Rohrwacher’s The Wonders won the Jury Grand Prize in Cannes in 2014, but didn’t have its U.S. rollout till this Halloween weekend. The feature did OK in its single NYC engagement considering the nice weather and what seemed like an entire city in costume. Reporting figures Sunday Oscilloscope said: “We feel this a modest but promising start for the Italian arthouse drama, which we’re confident will build both audience and critical acclaim as it continues to platform.” The Wonders will add Boston and Seattle next week with Los Angeles and most of the Top 10 markets slated for Thanksgiving Weekend.

Music Box opened Spain’s entry for Best Foreign Language Film Oscar consideration, also in a single cinema, grossing  $7K at the Paris. The film actually had played a theater in Miami earlier this year, grossing $8K in a week-long engagement that caught Music Box’s attention. “It was under the radar, though it won an award in Palm Springs,” said Music Box’s Ed Arentz. “We weren’t sure if we’d have room in our slate [but] found an opportunity to get another film at the Paris [in New York] and the Royal [in Los Angeles] this fall. Then it became Spain’s official selection, so we felt we had a chance in that race as well.” Flowers will open November 6 in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., before heading to L.A.’s Royal on November 27.

China Lion’s Mandarin-language The Witness (Wo Shi Zeng Ren), opened in 40 theaters, coinciding with the niche distributor’s 5th anniversary. The film, based on a Korean thriller called Blind, grossed $190K, averaging $4,750. “We ended up marketing it more towards [popular singer-actor] Lu Han’s fans who span the globe,” China Lion’s Robert Lundberg said Sunday. The company is still determining how it will expand going into week 2.

Focus Features added 19 theaters for awards contender Suffragette in its second weekend. The Carey Mulligan starrer grossed $155K in 23 locations, averaging $6,739. The feature debuted last weekend in four theaters grossing $77K for a solid $19,250 PTA. Focus will expand Suffragette to 200 cities next weekend.

Broad Green Pictures added 5 runs for I Smile Back‘s second frame. It grossed $9,670 for a comparatively modest $1,381 PTA. And The Orchard jumped Nasty Baby into 16 additional theaters for its second weekend, grossing $62,202 for an average  of $3,455.

Alchemy went into its 8th frame with Meet The Patels. The doc played 59 theaters, grossing $75,102 ($1,273 average). The feature is in the top echelon of the year’s non-fiction titles, which includes Amy ($8.36M), Meru ($2.3M) and He Named Me Malala ($2.13M) and Dior And I ($1.02M).

Another documentary, Cartel Land, crossed $1 million on-demand. In 5 weeks, The Orchard title has cumed $1,080,000. The Oscar-hopeful has cumed over $700K theatrically.

NEW

Flowers (Music Box Films) NEW [1 Theater] Weekend $7K
Heneral Luna (Abramorama) NEW [3 Theaters] Weekend $17,441, Average $5,814
Love (Alchemy) NEW [2 Theaters] Weekend $30,124, Average $15,062
The Witness (China Lion) NEW [40 Theaters] Weekend $190K, Average $4,750
The Wonders (Oscilloscope) NEW [1 Theater] Weekend $7,500

RETURNING/SECOND WEEKEND

Heart Of A Dog (Abramorama) Week 2 [1 Theater] Weekend $9,198, Cume $35,326
Nasty Baby (The Orchard) Week 2 [18 Theaters] Weekend $62,202, Average $3,455, Cume $74,151
Suffragette (Focus Features) Week 2 [23 Theaters] Weekend $155K, Average $6,739, Cume $258,118
I Smile Back (Broad Green Pictures) Week 2 [7 Theaters] Weekend $9,670, Average $1,381, Cume $31,227

HOLDOVERS / THIRD+ WEEKENDS

All Things Must Pass (Gravitas Ventures) Week 3 [10 Theaters] Weekend $15,500, Average $1,550, Cume $80,311
Room (A24) Week 3 [49 Theaters] Weekend $269,500, Average $5,500, Cume $766,702
Truth (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 3 [1,120 Theaters] Weekend $900,914, Average $804, Cume $1,151,491
Goodbye Mr Loser (China Lion) Week 4 [23 Theaters] Weekend $52K, Average $2,260, Cume $1,236,239
Ladrones (Lionsgate/Pantelion) Week 4 [112 Theaters] Weekend $75K, Average $670, Cume $2,951,023
Freeheld (Lionsgate) Week 5 [33 Theaters] Weekend $11K, Average $333, Cume $496,696
Labyrinth Of Lies (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 5 [49 Theaters] Weekend $63,128, Average $1,288, Cume $441,691
Finders Keepers (The Orchard) Week 6 [2 Theaters] Weekend $250, Average $125, Cume $35,555; VOD 4 Week Cume: $90K
Goodnight Mommy (RADiUS) Week 8 [71 Theaters] Weekend $65,100, Average $917, Cume $1,084,226
Meet The Patels (Alchemy) Week 8 [59 Theaters] Weekend $75,102, Average $1,273, Cume $1,435,571
Grandma (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 11 [55 Theaters] Weekend $47,803, Average $869, Cume $6,744,311
Cartel Land (The Orchard) Theatrical Cume $703,113; VOD 5 Week Cume: $1,080,000