Specialty Box Office

Matt Johnson’s film BlackBerry about the rise and fall of the world’s first smartphone passed $1.7 million its second week out with an estimated three-day gross of $525k in 595 theaters. The Canadian number — $250k from 200 theaters — was only a 13% drop from opening weekend. Stateside, the indie crossed $1 million with a
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In a rare weekend with fewer new studio wide releases, IFC Films had a one-two punch at the box office with Matt Johnson’s film BlackBerry grossing $473k nationwide in 450 theaters, for a U.S. per theater average of $1.05k and cracking the top ten on Friday. It will gross an estimated $740k in North America this weekend,
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Indian films are a box office mainstay and one, Jodi, from Rhythm Boyz Entertainment, hit big this weekend Stateside, grossing $734,000 on just 125 screens. In April, the film set a record as the most viewed Punjabi trailer in 24 hours (over 12 million views on YouTube). “This has been happening more and more —
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Sideshow/Janus Films is estimating a $36k gross or $18k per theater average for The Eight Mountains on two NYC screens, the strongest opening weekend to date for the team behind Drive My Car and EO. The Cannes co-Jury Prize-winning film by Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeesch follows the profound friendship over decades of Pietro
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Oscilloscope Laboratories’ Cannes Jury Prize Winner and Independent Spirit international film winner Joyland led New York’s Film Forum to one of its biggest opening weekends for a foreign language film in nearly a decade, taking in north of $21k on one screen, the distributor said. Buoyed by strong reviews and strategic marketing, the film by Saim Sadiq sold out nine showtimes,
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Roadside Attraction’s Moving On grossed an estimated $798k at about 800 theaters, about status quo this weekend for a specialty sector that’s better but still looking to break out.   The audience for the Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin-toplined comedy was, not surprisingly, 63% female and 82% over 35. Some 64% were 50+. It played
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Aniplex and Crunchyroll of America’s Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – To the Swordsmith Village grossed $10.1 million this weekend in 1,780 theaters. That’s a fourth place finish at the domestic box office but still half the opening of Demon Slayer:  Kimetsu No Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train which opened to a smash $21
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The Quiet Girl, an Oscar contender for Best International Feature, opened to a robust $60k on six screens this weekend for a per-theater average of $10k. The film by Colm Bairead presented by SUPER LTD is based on the short story by Claire Keegan of a shy nine-year-old girl in rural Ireland. It led debuts
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EO, the Sideshow/Janus films release told from the point of view of a donkey, is set to pass the $1 million mark in week 14. The Cannes-premiering film by Jerzy Skolimowski, Academy Award nominated for Best International Feature, will gross an estimated $27.6k for the four-day President’s weekend on 37 screens for a cume of just
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Searchlight Pictures’ The Banshees Of Inisherin opened to an estimated $181,000 and a raring per screen average of $45,250, beating Tár’s impressive $40,000. Both opened in four locations and now rank no. 2 and no. 3 for an indie per-theater gross this year after A24’s Everything Everywhere All At Once. That film’s in a class
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Chinonye Chukwu’s Till got off to a solid start at the specialized box office, grossing over $15k per theater from 16 locations in five markets for an estimated weekend gross of $240.9k, possibly more depending on how Sunday plays out. “It’s as much as we could have hoped for,” said Erik Lomis, president of United Artists Releasing. The
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Focus Features’Tár opened in limited release to strong results with $160,000 at four locations in New York and Los Angles for a $40,000 per theater average, one of the best PTAs since Covid and not bad for a 2-hour and 38-minute arthouse film pre-pandemic. Riding strong reviews, the Cate Blanchett-starrer by Todd Field was no. 1 in three
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Sarigama Cinemas’ Ponniyin Selvan: Part One crashed the weekend box office at no. 6, looking at $4+ million on 500 screens for a per theater average of $8,260, the biggest of the top ten. The Tamil-language historical epic being billed as India’s Game of Thrones is based on a Tamil history book series that’s read
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Labor Day weekend saw blockbusters old and new buoyed by cheap tickets, as was a limited openings like Saloum with multiple sold out screenings at two theaters, including every showtime on Saturday. Over 3,000 theaters, including IFC Center and Alamo Drafthouse LA, where the French-Senegalese indie film began a qualifying run, offered $3 tickets for
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Moviegoing is definitely back with viewers flocking to franchise films that 1) continue to roll out in the first sustained barrage of big new titles since Covid, and 2) continue to do huge business as they stick around in theaters. They’re sucking up screens and exacerbating a release-pattern quandary for independent distributors seeking signs that
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The Forgiven with Jessica Chastain opens in 122 theaters this weekend as the flow of indie films continues to build with well-reviewed, festival-pedigreed product including Mr. Malcom’s List and Clara Sola. Meanwhile, producers and most other U.S. businesses are hoping economic storm clouds won’t ding their industry’s nascent revival. “I think we have seen a
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The big screen debut of Marcel The Shell With Shoes On opened at $170K on six screens in New York and LA, the highest PSA of the weekend at $28,267 for the iconic lonely snail voiced by Jenny Slate. The mock documentary about the loveable anthropomorphic mollusk hails from distributor A24, a distributor that manages
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IFC Films opened Official Competition starring Penélope Cruz, Antonio Banderas and Oscar Martínez at four theaters in NYC and LA for an estimated three-day gross of $34,000 and per-theater-averages of $8,500 for the comedy directed by Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat following it U.S. premiere at the Tribeca Festival last week. The film, world premiered
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Sony Picture Classics and Neon fared well in their small releases this week with Nine Days and Ailey respectively, running across 6 total locations in New York, Los Angeles and Irvine – both notching heavy per screen averages with the former leading to its wider release next week. Nine Days hit NYC (Angelika, AMC Lincoln Square)
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Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain kept its spot in the North American top ten for week two in 954 theaters – up by 27 — with an $830,000 estimated gross for the three days, leading the specialty box office. As per Focus Features, that was a total cume of over $3.7 million for the
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Questlove’s Summer of Soul (…Or When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) will hit a cumulative $1.4 million rising to an estimated $1.47 million Monday with a $375,000 second-week gross in 752 theaters. The best performing documentary so far this year “may possibly get to $2 million, that’s our goal,” said Searchlight Pictures head of
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Moviegoers not far removed from the isolating strains of lockdown may find The Loneliest Whale: The Search for 52 strikes a chord. Distributor Bleecker Street and director Joshua Zeman hope so as the doc, a shift from the helmer’s true crime roots (The Sons of Sam: Descent into Darkness, Cropsey), opens in 75 theaters. Digital release
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Summer of Soul (Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) will report a three-day cum of $650K in 752 theaters in North America for a per screen average of $865, distributor Searchlight said of the Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson doc about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. The film, with an A+ CinemaScore, performed best in
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Specialty box office is ready for liftoff. With Los Angeles and New York completely peeling back restrictions on theater capacity for the first weekend, we are starting to see rays of hope illuminate the limited release space. Meet The Blacks 2 blasted expectations last week by posting a $1M+ debut (per screen average of $2,533).
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After debuting at the top of the U.S. specialty box office over Memorial Day weekend, family comedy/drama Dad, I’m Sorry (Bo Gia) has now surpassed the $1M mark, becoming the first Vietnamese-produced title to reach that milestone. Starring, written and co-directed by Tran Thanh, the movie added $116K in its third frame to bring its
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Hidden Empire Film Group’s comedy/horror romp The House Next Door: Meet the Blacks 2 scared up a $1.064M opening weekend (per screen average of $2,533) with writer-director Deon Taylor and his team huddling right now over where and how much to expand the run — but expand it they will. Taylor’s thrilled with the $$
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With more theaters reopening and film-goers slowly returning, life is being resuscitated into the specialty box office. This week we see a faith-based movie premiere banking serious dinero. Witnesses is a film recounting the early days of the Church of Latter-Day Saints and the translation of the Book of Mormon. The movie is directed and
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