’Suspiria’ Opens Big with Year’s Best Average; ‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?’ Solid: Specialty Box Office

Suspiria took in the year’s best per theater average to date with a bow in two theaters over the weekend. The Amazon Studios release grossed an impressive $179,806 in the three-day, averaging a year’s best so far $89,903. Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino had bragging rights to last year’s best PTA opener with Call Me By Your Name at over $103K. It went on to cume $18M. Suspiria was buoyed with support from the cast and the director over the weekend.

“This weekend’s opening was truly exciting, the film played to both horror/genre audiences and arthouse/specialty crowd,” said an Amazon spokesperson Sunday. “The film received a thunderous ovation at the ArcLight Hollywood Dome screen on Saturday, where Luca Guadagnino and the cast appeared for a Q&A. Since previewing a shocking clip at CinemaCon, our online presence and social media engagement has been very robust and the anticipation really paid off this weekend.”

Suspiria will head to about 250 locations next weekend.

Well Go USA bowed Korean director Lee Chang-dong’s mystery-drama Burning in 2 theaters for a $28,650 gross ($14,325 average). The company is offering up the feature for awards consideration.

“It’s a jam-packed awards season this year, and we always knew we wanted to jump in at the beginning of it,” noted Well Go USA’s Dylan Marchetti earlier this week. “This is very much a word-of-mouth movie, so we wanted to be sure it had room to breathe… It’s a little insane that as amazing as South Korean films have been for the last decade, they’ve never even been short-listed for the Academy.”

Doc Free Solo from Nat Geo had a $73,572 PTA in its opening frame. A24’s Eight Grade had a $65,949 PTA in its three-day debut last summer and Jonah Hill’s Mid90s, also from A24, went for a $62,375 average last weekend. With nearly several dozen films under his belt, Frederick Wiseman opened his latest doc, Monrovia, Indiana with an exclusive run at Film Forum in New York. The title has grossed an estimated $6,100 Friday to Sunday. 

A debut at this year’s Venice and Toronto film festivals as well as the recent New York Film Festival, Monrovia, Indiana spotlights the farming community, founded in 1834, with a current population of 1,063. Monrovia, Indiana documents the day-to-day experiences living in the middle American farming town, and emphasizes Monrovia’s community organizations and institutions, religion and daily life.

The title will head to Chicago and Los Angeles along with six cities in Indiana starting November 2. On November 5, it will play a half-dozen one-night-only engagements. Tuckman said the film is confirmed in over 40 theaters around the country so far.

Searchlight moved Can You Ever Forgive Me? by Marielle Heller to 25 locations following its start in five theaters. Friday to Sunday, it took in $380K, averaging a solid $15,200. Can You Ever Forgive Me? opened in five theaters last weekend, grossing $150K ($30K average). It has cumed over $610K.

Hilary Swank starrer What They Had played 21 more runs in its second frame. The Bleecker Street title grossed $57,764 in 25 theaters in the three-day, averaging $2,311, not bad considering it opened to a $4,711 average last weekend in four theaters ($18,845 gross). It has cumed $82,816.

IFC Films jumped Wildlife to 18 theaters in its second weekend, taking in $111,274 for a $6,182 PTA. The feature by Paul Dano grossed just under $105K in its debut in four theaters, averaging $26,147.

Steve Carell and Timothée Chalamet starrer Beautiful Boy widened to  189 theaters in its third frame, grossing just under $593K for a $3,121 per theater average. Last weekend, it played 46 runs grossing $687,940, averaging $8,804. It has cumed over $1.43M.

Free Solo is en route to joining the doc superstars with a five-week cume of over $5.1M. In its fifth outing, the feature grossed $1.06M, averaging $2,695 in 394 theaters. It will likely join the other three 2018 eight-figure grossing docs, RBG, Won’t You Be My Neighbor? and Three Identical Strangers. It will likely join them at the Oscars as well.

Robert Redford’s finale The Old Man & The Gun went over a thousand theaters in its fifth weekend, grossing $1.8M ($1,727 average in 1,042 locations). It has cumed over $7.21M.