Theater Averages: Awards Season is Shaping Up

December 6, 2017

The Shape of Water

It was another stellar weekend at the box office, at least as far as the theater average chart was concerned. The Shape of Water earned an average of $83,282 in two theaters. This is the fourth best of the year so far. Call Me by Your Name was right behind with an average of $73,890 in four theaters. This is by far the best result of the year for a holdover, more than doubling Lady Bird’s sophomore stint. However, Lady Bird expanded its theater count during its second weekend of release, while Call Me by Your Name did not. The Disaster Artist was close behind with an average of $63,755 in 19 theaters. You could argue this was the best result of the week, because the film was playing in many more theaters than the two films above it. Wonder Wheel was well back with an average of $28,111 in five theaters. Normally this would be an amazing start, but this week it won’t make an impact and it could fade away by the end of the year. Finally, Darkest Hour was the final film in the $10,000 club earning an average of $27,093 in four theaters during its second weekend of release.

There were a lot of other new limited releases, some of which did well, many of which struggled, and others that bombed. Naples ‘44 and Quest were neck-and-neck with $6,636 and $6,591 over the weekend. However, Naples ‘44 was a Wednesday release and it earned $11,349 over its five-day debut. The Other Side of Hope earned an average $5,165 in three theaters. Titanic earned an average of $5,041 in 87 theaters during its re-release. That’s enough to encourage other theaters to book the movie and other studios to think about other re-releases like this. Shadowman wasn’t too far behind with $4,113 in one theater, while Big Time earned an average of $3,674 in two. The Swindlers earned an average of $3,067 in 27 theaters. That’s not good, but it is a foreign-language film playing in 27 theaters, so this isn’t a bad start either. Brotherhood of the Blades 2 struggled with an average of just $2,648 in two theaters.

There were also two films that Missed the Mendoza Line and they didn’t even come close. The Tribes of Palos Verdes only managed $796 in one theater, while Gold managed an average of just $257 in ten theaters.

This past week also saw milestones reached for a few Per Theater Chart alumni:

  • The Disaster Artist opened with more than $1 million and will very likely hit $2 million on Friday.
  • The Man Who Invented Christmas got to $2 million before the weekend and $3 million over the weekend. However, its theater average is low enough that I’m unsure it will get to $4 million, while $5 million seems out of the question, even with Christmas coming up.
  • Roman J. Israel, Esq. hit $7.5 million before the weekend and it was very close to $10 million by the end of the weekend. However, its theater average is low enough that getting much beyond $10 million will be tricky.
  • Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri topped $10 million early in the weekend and will be at $15 million before this coming weekend. Furthermore, it still has room to grow, plus it is an early Awards Season player.
  • Lady Bird reached $15 million over the weekend. By the end of the weekend, it was in the top 100 on the domestic yearly chart.
Weekend Box Office Results

Filed under: Theater Averages, Titanic, The Tribes of Palos Verdes, The Disaster Artist, Oro, Darkest Hour, The Man Who Invented Christmas, Call Me by Your Name, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Toivon Tuolla Puolen, The Shape of Water, Wonder Wheel, xiu chun dao II: xiu luo zhan chang, Roman J. Israel, Esq., Lady Bird, Quest, Naples ‘44, The Swindlers, Big Time, Shadowman