Brian Brooks is a Deadline contributor.
Holdovers held sway in the specialty arena on an otherwise quiet Oscars weekend. Best Foreign Language contender No starring Gael García Bernal added two theaters in its second weekend, averaging a stellar $13,726. The Chilean entry is expected to Sony Pictures Classics’ competing nominee Amour, however which continues its momentum at the box office (and in the awards department after yesterday’s best foreign feature win at the Independent Spirit Awards). In its 10th weekend, SPC added 22 locations for Amour, averaging $2,489 and bringing its cume to just under $5.25 million. Sundance Selects’ second weekend holdover Like Someone In Love added 6 theaters, averaging $2,542. The film averaged $7,615 at its debut but its second weekend number out-shined Sundance Selects’ Oscar Weekend opener Inescapable, which grossed a paltry $721 in two theaters. Tribeca Film opened a double-billing of Alex Karpovsky’s Rubberneck and Red Flag at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center in New York, grossing $4,150.
Noted a Tribeca Film spokesperson: “The unconventional approach of the double bill of Red Flag and Rubberneck had the films sharing the Bunin’s unconventional amphitheater screening space – with a maximum capacity of 70 seats – which featured a number of sold out evening shows with [director] Alex Karpovsky in attendance…The films are also available on iTunes and all major VOD carriers.”
Arenas’ Bless Me, Ultima had a larger first weekend rollout than is typical for most specialty releases. The film had had a few single-city runs (including El Paso) prior to this weekend which collectively grossed about $500K prior to this weekend’s official opening. The movie has yet to open in New York.
Among other holdovers, SPC’s The Gatekeepers added 15 runs in its fourth weekend, averaging a solid $8,084. And The Weinstein Company’s Quartet is still singing in the box office, adding 23 locations in its seventh frame grossing nearly $1.2 million over the weekend. Its cume is now just over $8.9 million.
UTV Communications has not reported figures for its newcomer Kai Po Che.
NEW
Bless Me, Ultima (Arenas Entertainment) NEW [263 Theaters] Weekend $502,562, Average $1,911
Inescapable (Sundance Selects) NEW [2 Theaters] Weekend $721, Average $361
Rubberneck/Red Flag (Tribeca Film) NEW [1 Theater] Weekend $4,150
RETURNING / 2ND WEEKEND
Like Someone In Love (Sundance Selects) Week 2 [9 Theaters] Weekend $22,876, Average $2,542, Cume $57,010
No (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 2 [6 Theaters] Weekend $82,354, Average $13,726, Cume $194,636
The Power Of Few (Steelyard Pictures) Week 2 [5 Theaters] Weekend $9,350, Average $1,870, Cume $15,551
HOLDOVERS / 3RD+ WEEKENDS
The Gatekeepers (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 4 [19 Theaters] Weekend $153,596, Average $8,084, Cume $400,436
Koch (Zeitgeist Films) Week 4 [9 Theaters] Weekend $22,569, Average $2,508, Cume $169,615
Quartet (The Weinstein Company) Week 7 [356 Theaters] Weekend $1.192M, Average $3,348, Cume $8,911,064
Amour (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 10 [328 Theaters] Weekend $816,468, Average $2,489, Cume $5,247,524
The Impossible (Summit Entertainment/Lionsgate) Week 10 [273 Theaters] Weekend $288K, Average $1,055, Cume $18,051,483
Hyde Park On Hudson (Focus Features) Week 12 [65 Theaters] Weekend $61,811, Average $951, Cume $6,124,896
Anna Karenina (Focus Features) Week 15 [28 Theaters] Weekend $18,524, Average $662, Cume $12,804,834
Chasing Ice (Submarine Deluxe) Week 16 [17 Theaters] Weekend $12,697, Average $747, Cume $1,212,296
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