Specialty Box Office: ‘Marley’, ‘Darling Companion’ Lead Limited Debuts
Magnolia Pictures appears to have another strong documentary on its 2012 slate. The distributor bowed Kevin Macdonald’s documentary Marley at 42 locations Friday 4/20 (a coincidental date?) to impressive numbers theatrically, averaging over $6K per site and a taking a weekend gross of more than a quarter million dollars. Magnolia has also spun box office gold with doc Jiro Dreams Of Sushi, which has had a seven-week run, topping out over $1.5 million. Marley was No. 1 “in all but a handful of complexes and usually by multiples over the next highest film,” Magnolia president Eamonn Bowles told Deadline, “which is great news for expanding in the next couple of weeks. In addition, we were the number six film in all iTunes on Friday, which bodes extremely well for the digital and VOD platforms. This looks to be an extremely profitable film for us.” Marley opened as Screen Gems’ Think Like A Man became North America’s number one movie, averaging $16,377 in 2,015 theaters.
The specialty weekend’s per screen average winner, however, goes to Sony Pictures Classics’ debut of Darling Companion, which averaged $11,574 from four locations. Directed by Lawrence Kasdan, Darling Companion producer Anthony Bregman told Deadline that unlike his previous baby boomer films, this one had to be made as an independent film. In other openers, Sundance Selects’ Goodbye First Love bowed more modestly also at four locations, averaging $5,300, while its sister label IFC Midnight opened The Moth Diaries in two theaters, averaging a sluggish $1,200. Entertainment One’s Jesus Henry Christ launched comparatively stronger, but nevertheless mildly, with an average just over $3K at three locations.
Among second weekend holdovers, Roadside Attractions’ Blue Like Jazz lost 10 theaters, averaging $1,032 at 126 locations (versus $1,963 average last weekend), while Code Black Entertainment’s Woman Thou Art Loosed: On The 7th Day added four theaters, averaging $1,324 compared to last weekend’s debut average of $6,376, a nearly 80% decline per site. Monsieur Lazhar picked up 14 additional theaters in its second weekend, averaging $4,767 versus its debut $6,310 average in 19 theaters. And one month into its release, TWC’s Bully added 105 locations over the weekend (it apparently also had a screening at the White House) grossing $505K with a $1,920 average (last weekend it averaged $3,380 in 158 theaters). The film is right on the heels of Jiro to become 2012′s highest grossing doc.
1. Darling Companion (Sony Pictures Classics) NEW [4 Theaters] Weekend $46K, Average $11,574
2. Goodbye First Love (Sundance Selects) NEW [4 Theaters] Weekend $21K, Average $5,300
3. Jesus Henry Christ (Entertainment One) NEW [3 Theaters] Weekend $9K, Average $3,099
4. Marley (Magnolia Pictures) NEW [42 Theaters] Weekend $260K, Average $6,190
5. The Moth Diaries (IFC Midnight) NEW [2 Theaters] Weekend $2,400, Average $1,200
6. My Way (CJ Entertainment/PMK*BNC Films) NEW [22 Theaters] Weekend $16K, Average $736
7. Blue Like Jazz (Roadside Attractions) Week 2 [126 Theaters] Weekend $130K, Average $1,032, Cume $467K
8. Monsieur Lazhar (Music Box Films) Week 2 [33 Theaters] Weekend $157K, Average $4,767, Current Release Cume $311K
9. Touchback (Anchor Bay) Week 2 [69 Theaters] Weekend $64K, Average $928, Cume $149K
10. Woman Thou Art Loosed: On The 7th Day (Code Black Ent.) Week 2 [106 Theaters] Weekend $140K, Average $1,324, Cume $889K
11. Damsels In Distress (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 3 [46 Theaters] Weekend $122K, Average $2,664, Cume $319K
12. We Have A Pope (Sundance Selects) Week 3 [18 Theaters] Weekend $41K, Average $2,300, Cume $161K
13. Bully (The Weinstein Company) Week 4 [263 Theaters] Weekend $505K, Average $1,920, Cume $1.52M
14. The Deep Blue Sea (Music Box Films) Week 5 [46 Theaters] Weekend $87K, Average $1,889, Cume $764K
15. The Raid: Redemption (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 5 [548 Theaters] Weekend $480K, Average $877, Cume $3.5M
16. Casa De Mi Padre (Lionsgate) Week 6 [58 Theaters] Weekend $38K, Average $664, Cume $5.77M
17. The Kid With A Bike (Sundance Selects) Week 6 [86 Theaters] Weekend $163K, Average $1,900, Cume $954K
18. Footnote (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 7 [93 Theaters] Weekend $190K, Average $2,051, Cume $1.35M
19. Friends With Kids (Roadside Attractions) Week 7 [69 Theaters] Weekend $67K, Average $982, Cume $7M
20. Jiro Dreams Of Sushi (Magnolia Pictures) Week 7 [70 Theaters] Weekend $160K, Average $2,286, Cume $1.54M
21. Salmon Fishing In The Yemen (CBS Films) Week 7 [446 Theaters] Weekend $670K, Average $1,502, Cume $7.05M
22. Undefeated (The Weinstein Company) Week 10 [17 Theaters] Weekend $12K, Average $735, Cume $507K
23. W.E. (The Weinstein Company) Week 12 [15 Theaters] Weekend $10K, Average $700, Cume $564K
24. Coriolanus (The Weinstein Company) Week 14 [14 Theaters] Weekend $12K, Average $857, Cume $687K
25. A Separation (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 17 [59 Theaters] Weekend $57K, Average $965, Cume $6.93M
26. The Iron Lady (The Weinstein Company) Week 17 [102 Theaters] Weekend $71K, Average $696, Cume $29.95M
27. Pina (Sundance Selects) Week 17 [10 Theaters] Weekend $9K, Average $890, Cume $3.47M
28. The Artist (The Weinstein Company) Week 22 [86 Theaters] Weekend $54K, Average $628, Cume $44.1M
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Hot Trailer: Magnolia’s ‘Marley’
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