In a true story set during the height of the Cold War, American chess prodigy Bobby Fischer finds himself caught between two superpowers when he challenges the Soviet Empire.
There are two major reasons conspiring to make this week's list of home market releases terrible. Firstly, Christmas is on Friday. Even if you pre-ordered something on this list now, there's a good chance it won't get to you in time for Christmas. Secondly, the Steam Winter Sale begins on Tuesday. Of the films on this week's short list, The Brain That Wouldn't Die is the "best", for a certain definition of that word. It's a very entertaining bad movie and the Blu-ray even has the MST3K episode as an extra.
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Only two films were in the $10,000 club this weekend. He Named Me Malala led the way with an average of $15,221 in four theaters, which is very strong for a documentary. The film's reviews are only good, but the appeal here is Malala Yousafzai and I don't think moviegoers are too upset that the film is a little shallow. The Martian was close behind with an average of $14,176.
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It is very rare for a limited release to repeat on top of the per theater chart, because if a film does well enough to lead the per theater chart, they tend to expand so much that repeating on top becomes nearly impossible. Sicario expanded from 6 to 59 theaters, but still managed first place with an average of $29,107. At this pace, it will expand semi-wide, at the very least. Lost in Hong Kong was next with an average of $19,916 in 27 theaters. It is already more than halfway to its first major milestone after just one weekend of release. I think more and more Chinese films will get limited releases here. 99 Homes was next with an average of $16,127 in two theaters. This is enough to suggest some potential to expand, especially if it can turn its reviews into Award Season Buzz. The overall box office champ, Hotel Transylvania 2, was next with an average of $12,910. The final film in the $10,000 club was Mississippi Grind with $12,434 in its lone theater. It looks like it will be another success for A24.
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Sicario not only led the weekend on the Per Theater Chart with an average of $66,881 in six theaters. It also had the best per theater average for any film released in 2015, beating out the previous record-holder, Ex Machina, by about $7,500. On a related note, there's already reports of a sequel in the works. Jeremy Scott: The People's Designer was up next with an average of $18,750 in twelve theaters. Finally, there's Everest. This film not only earned a spot in the top five overall, but pulled in an average of $13,251 in over 500 theaters.
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We are getting close to Halloween, which explains the three horror / horror related movies coming out this week. However, while Cooties and the other two films likely won't find an audience, that doesn't mean there are no potential box office hits on this week's list. Both Sicario (Reviews) and Pawn Sacrifice (Reviews) could do well in theaters.
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