Brian Brooks is Managing Editor of MovieLine.
Numbers trickling in point to a soft weekend in the specialty arena. Music Box Films bowed in 16 theaters a brave story starring Alan Cumming about a gay couple fighting to retain custody of special needs child they reared. Any Day Now is a brave film and story that earned audience prizes at festivals throughout the year. Unfortunately it did not connect fully with paying audiences in its debut but hopefully its audience will build through word-of-mouth. It averaged only $2,563 per location. On December 21 it will expand to 6 additional markets and Music Box expects 50 by February. Cavu Pictures/Snag Films debuted Let Fury Have The Hour at New York’s Quad Cinema with an estimated $3,200. After the New Year it will expand to San Francisco January 18th and to Los Angeles on the 25th. IFC Films reported Save The Date opened in single cinemas in Los Angeles and New York for an average of $2,000.
Focus Features moved Bill Murray starrer Hyde Park On Hudson into 32 more theaters from its debut last week. The pic averaged a solid $8,261 versus its $20,820 opening average in 4 locations. Focus said it will continue adding markets on the 21st and with more to come in the New Year. Kudos to The Weinstein Company’s Oscar hopeful Silver Linings Playbook. It stayed in 371 theaters in its 5th weekend, averaging $5,617, a minimal drop from $6,032 last weekend. The feature from writer/director David O. Russell had a strong opening in mid-November and has held up fairly well in its steady rollout.
Multiple distributors have not reported numbers: MPI Pictures for opener Yelling to the Sky; TriBeca Film for holdover The Fitzgerald Family Christmas; Cinedigm for holdover In Our Nature, and Strand Releasing for holdover California Solo.
NEW
Any Day Now (Music Box Films) NEW [16 Theaters] Weekend $41K, Average $2,563
Let Fury Have The Hour (Cavu Pictures/Snag Films) [1 Theater] Weekend $3,200
Save The Date (IFC Films) [2 Theaters] Weekend $4K, Average 2K
RETURNING / 2ND WEEKEND
Hyde Park On Hudson (Focus Features) Week 2 [ 36 Theaters] Weekend $297,406, Average $8,261, Cume $409,428
Los Angeles: Skid Row Is My Home Week 2 [1 Theater] Weekend $2,119, Cume $11,172
Only The Young (Oscilloscope Laboratories) Week 2 [2 Theaters] Weekend $1,500, Average $750, Cume $3,528
Tchoupitoulas (Oscilloscope Laboratories) Week 2 [2 Theaters] Weekend $1,700, Average $850, Cume $5,477
HOLDOVERS / 3RD+ WEEKEND
Beware Of Mr. Baker (Independent) Week 3 [1 Theater] Weekend $4,868, Cume $45,706
Hecho En México (Lionsgate) Week 3 [10 Theaters] Weekend $145,290, Average $14,529, Cume $277,080
Killing Them Softly (The Weinstein Company) Week 3 [1,427 Theaters] Weekend $1M, Average $701, Cume $14,132,305
Hitchcock (Fox Searchlight) Week 4 [561 Theaters] Weekend $1,085,000, Average $1,935, Cume $3,050,000
Rust And Bone (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 4 [6 Theaters] Weekend $56,040, Average $9,340, Cume $207,686
Anna Karenina (Focus Features) Week 5 [409 Theaters] Weekend $998,103, Average $2,440, Cume $8,364,965
Silver Linings Playbook (The Weinstein Company) Week 5 [371 Theaters] Weekend $2.084M, Average $5,617, Cume $16,954,049
Burn: One Year On The Frontlines (Area 23a) Week 6 [4 Theater] Weekend $12,760, Average $3,190, Cume $105,137
Chasing Ice (Submarine Deluxe) Week 6 [53 Theaters] Weekend $56,501, Average $1,066, Cume $603,301
The Other Son (Cohen Media Group) Week 8 [39 Theaters] Weekend $49,905, Average $1,280, Cume $1,042,648
Alex Cross (Lionsgate) Week 8 [175 Theaters] Weekend $73K, Average $417, Cume $25,738,980
Brooklyn Castle (Producers Distribution Agency) Week 9 [2 Theaters] Weekend $3,001, Average $1,500.50, Cume $188,335
Holy Motors (Indomina) Week 9 [21 Theaters] Weekend $25,194, Average $1,199, Cume $445,328
The Sessions (Fox Searchlight) Week 9 [151 Theaters] Weekend $148K, Average $980, Cume $5,209,051
The Perks Of Being A Wallflower (Summit Entertainment) Week 13 [125 Theaters] Weekend $78K, Average $624, Cume $16,998,554
Samasara (Oscilloscope Laboratories] Week 17 [10 Theaters] Weekend $9,800, Average $980, Cume $2,583,027
Searching For Sugar Man (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 21 [31 Theaters] Weekend $21,495, Average $693, Cume $2,930,539
Get more from Deadline.com: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter