‘Calvary’ Prayers Answered At Specialty Box Office As ‘A Most Wanted Man’ Still Wanted In Expansion
Fox Searchlight‘s Calvary handily topped the few other Specialty titles debuting this weekend, though results for the drama — about a priest facing vengeful death threats for the crimes of others — were by no means heavenly. The film starring Brendan Gleeson and Chris O’Dowd and directed by John Michael McDonagh grossed $72K in four theaters for an $18K PTA.
Higher-profile, limited-release holdovers — including Woody Allen‘s Magic In The Moonlight and Lionsgate/Roadside’s A Most Wanted Man – took diverging paths in their second weeks in theaters. Magic is showing that it has some legs, but it’s no Blue Jasmine 2 in terms of box office. Wanted, featuring one of the last performances by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman in a thriller based on a John Le Carre’ novel, spied solid results in its second frame after doubling theaters.
Searchlight noted of Calvary’s weekend bow: “The opening-weekend figures fall right in line with our expectations, especially when compared to John Michael’s last film, also starring Brendan Gleeson, The Guard. Based on the very good reviews — 91 % on Rotten Tomatoes — we expect the film to play well through August as we roll out the film on a limited-platform basis.” The distributor said Calvary had the weekend’s second-highest PTA, behind only Disney’s mammoth debut Guardians Of The Galaxy with a $23K average.
Sony Pictures Classics opened McDonagh’s The Guard in July 2011 in four theaters, grossing $76,834 for a $19,209 PTA in its opening weekend. The comedy-thriller went on to cume over $5.36M domestically. “Based on the reactions from various screenings we have held, we are aware of the film’s great playability and expect that good word of mouth will help to direct audiences to see Calvary,” Searchlight said. Next week, the distributor will add 8 markets and expand in New York and LA for a total of 35 to 40 theaters.
In other openers reporting numbers, Kino Lorber‘s documentary Finding Fela, directed by Oscar-winner Alex Gibney, bowed exclusively at IFC Center and grossed $14K. Kino said the film about the late Nigerian singer-composer-activist Fela Kuti sold out “many showings” over the weekend. It will expand in the next two weeks to Washington, D.C., LA, San Francisco and Boston, with other major markets to follow.
Sundance documentary winner Rich Hill also launched at a single New York location, grossing $9,385. Distributor The Orchard said the film is set for an expansion into the top 50 markets, where advanced sales are already happening with the support of various organizations. “We’re extremely pleased with the fantastic word of mouth and critical acclaim Rich Hill has received so far,” said The Orchard SVP of Film & TV Paul Davidson. “We’re excited to expand the number of engagements over the coming weeks to give audiences the opportunity to experience this engaging film.” Rich Hill will be available via VOD beginning August 5.
SPC added 48 runs for Allen’s Magic In The Moonlight in its second frame, grossing over $770K for an $11,853 theater average. Opening a year after Oscar-winner and box-office heavyweight Blue Jasmine, Magic faces a challenging comparison to its older sibling: Jasmine opened with a $102K PTA in six theaters in 2013, while Magic‘s bow was comparatively a much smaller $25K, even though it opened in 17 theaters.
In its second weekend, Blue Jasmine averaged $37,174 in 50 theaters ($1.858M gross) in the first weekend of August a year ago and even its third-weekend PTA came close to $20K from 119 runs, so Magic will likely not find the box-office mojo of Allen’s previous feature. Still, Magic is already one of only a dozen Specialty films currently in release with a seven-figure cume. It did that in only its second week and still has a way to go in its theatrical run.
Lionsgate/Roadside’s added 368 theaters for thriller Most Wanted Man, slightly over double last week’s 361 theater bow. The Anton Corbijn-directed feature grossed over $3.3M for a solid $4,560 PTA, topping the film’s cume over $7 million. Its PTA dropped 37.6 percent vs. last weekend’s $7,444 average and the distribution duo said its gross went up 73% from Friday to Saturday. It will continue to add locations in the coming weeks.
Open Road maintained 432 runs for The Fluffy Movie, a comedy concert filmed this past spring starring Gabriel Iglesias that opened last week. It grossed just over $530K for a $1,227 average. The feature opened with a $1.31M gross last week, averaging just over $3K. In other second weekend holdovers, Oscilloscope added a run for doc The Kill Team, grossing $2,700 ($1,350 average) while Abramorama’s The Master Builder remained in one location, growing $4,475.
IFC Films’ Boyhood is placing 11th in the box-office chart Sunday morning with a fourth week gross of $2,522,210. The Richard Linklater-directed film averaged $8,110, easily the highest of any of its fellow 3-plus-week holdovers. The distributor added 204 runs, giving it reach into the top 50 markets. IFC said it is “laying strongly in both art houses and commercial houses” and “word of mouth remains very positive as the film’s audience expands.” Next week, Boyhood will expand to around 500 theaters.
The year’s biggest b.o. doc America: Imagine The World Without Her dropped 282 runs in its 6th frame, grossing $375K from 478 locations ($785 average). Notably the feature passed the $14M cume mark, only the 17th non-fiction movie to ever reach the threshold.
NEW
Calvary (Fox Searchlight) NEW [4 Theaters] Weekend $72K, Average $18K
Finding Fela (Kino Lorber Films) NEW [1 Theater] Weekend $14K
Rich Hill (The Orchard) NEW [1 Theater] Weekend $9,385
RETURNING/SECOND WEEKEND
The Fluffy Movie (Open Road) Week 2 [432 Theaters] Weekend $530,026, Average $1,227, Cume $2,370,158
The Kill Team (Oscilloscope) Week 2 [2 Theater] Weekend $2,700, Average $1,350, Cume $6,700
Magic In The Moonlight (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 2 [65 Theaters] Weekend $770,430, Average $11,853, Cume $1,352,766
A Master Builder (Abramorama) Week 2 [1 Theater] Weekend $4,475, Cume $21,829
A Most Wanted Man (Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions) Week 2 [729 Theaters] Weekend $3,324,265, Average $4,560, Cume $7,058,814
HOLDOVERS / THIRD+ WEEKENDS
A Five Star Life (Music Box Films) Week 3 [7 Theaters] Weekend $30K, Average $4,286, Cume $74,708
I Origins (Fox Searchlight) Week 3 [122 Theaters] Weekend $70K, Average $574, Cume $236,120
Persecuted (Millennium Films) Week 3 [32 Theaters] Weekend $22,779, Average $712, Cume $1,547,804
There’s No Place Like Utopia (Rocky Mountain Pictures) Week 3 [5 Theaters] Weekend $3,804, Average $761, Cume $44,868
Wish I Was Here (Focus Features) Week 3 [753 Theaters] Weekend $614K, Average $815, Cume $3,057,966
Boyhood (IFC Films) Week 4 [311 Theaters] Weekend $2,522,210, Average $8,110, Cume $7,565,590
America: Imagine The World Without Her (Lionsgate) Week 6 [478 Theaters] Weekend $375K, Average $785, Cume $14,095,043
Begin Again (The Weinstein Company) Week 6 [727 Theaters] Weekend $696K, Average $957, Cume $13,783,337
Snowpiercer (RADiUS-TWC) Week 6 [100 Theaters] Weekend $109,746, Average $1,097, Cume $4,138,753
Le Chef (Cohen Media Group) Week 7 [18 Theaters] Weekend $23,693, Average $1,872, Cume $308,220
Obvious Child (A24) Week 9 [44 Theaters] Weekend $68,988, Average $1,568, Cume $2,897,422
Supermensch: The Legend Of Shep Gordon (RADiUS-TWC) Week 9 [4 Theaters] Weekend $1,026, Average $257, Cume $210,699
Chef (Open Road Films) Week 13 [350 Theaters] Weekend $680,280, Average $1,944, Cume $28,332,750
Fed Up (RADiUS-TWC) Week 13 [7 Theaters] Weekend $3,256, Average $465, Cume $1,533,195
Ida (Music Box Films) Week 14 [31 Theaters] Weekend $33K, Average $1,065, Cume $3,548,067
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