‘I Saw The TV Glow’ & ‘Evil Does Not Exist’ Channel Indie Market, ‘Madama Butterfly’ Soars – Specialty Box Office

Jane Schoenbrun’s I Saw Then TV Glow is looking at an estimated $195k+ on 21 screens, a great week-two expansion for the A24 film. The number is driven by a passionate fan base for the gender-bending supernatural thriller that’s been skewing very young, male and heavily LGBTQ+.  Will continue a rollout in coming weeks. It’s not clear where the screen count will max out, but so far so good.

The director of We’re All Going To The World’s Fair was honored with a Breakthrough Artist award at the Coolidge Corner theater in Boston at a sold out screening with cast Justice Smith and Brigette Lundy-Paine, who play queer teens coming of age in the 1990s suburbs, obsessed with a late-night sci-fi television show.

The weekend dominated by Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes wasn’t the easiest for moderate releases.

Openings: Vertical’s Poolman, by and starring Chris Pine, is tracking at a not too bad $131k at 162 theaters (including previews).

Briarcliff Entertainment’s R-rated comedy Not Another Church Movie with Jamie Foxx will see an estimated $360k playing at 1,108 locations.

Force of Nature: The Dry 2 from IFC Films, starring Eric Bana, will grossed $34.5k on 153 screens. The Aussie detective thriller sequel to The Dry opened earlier this year in some territories at is sitting a $5.7 million cume, mostly from Australia.

Standouts: Counter-programming from Fathom Events’ Saturday presentation of MET Opera: Madama Butterfly by Puccini — one of the most popular mainstays of the operatic oeuvre– grossed just shy of $1.1 million at 732 locations

And Omjee Group’s Pollywood Shinda Shinda Ni Papa saw $487k in just 102 theaters, according to Comscore. Directed by Amarpreet G.S. Chhabra and set in Canada and India. Stars Gippy Gewal as Gopi, a Punjabi father facing a culture clash as he attempts to discipline his young son Shinda. Pollywood (vs Bollywood or Tollywood) designates Punjabi-language cinema in India and Pakistan. The handful of Indian films released each weekend – mostly day and date — have a sizable built-in audience when fans feel like turning out.

Holdover: Ethan Hawke-directed Wildcat from Oscilloscope saw $72k on six screens for a cume of $134.4k. Expands to over 100 theaters next week.