Rio and Hour Double-Team the Per Theater Chart

April 19, 2011

The Double Hour earned top spot on the per theater chart with an average of $15,123 in two theaters. The only other film to crack the $10,000 mark was the overall box office leader, Rio, with an average of $10,250.

There were a few new limited releases that did quite well on the per theater chart. The Princess of Montpensier led the way in that regard with an average of $7,819 in three theaters, which suggests some potential to expand. Atlas Shrugged: Part I earned an average of $5,640 in nearly 300 theaters. Normally an average over $5000 represents some potential to expand; however, with a theater count of nearly 300, there's not a lot of places to expand to where the film wouldn't just be competition for another theater already playing the film. This goes double for The Conspirator. That film debuted with an average of $4,963, which is better than expected. Armadillo was not as strong with an opening of $3,958 in one theater, while The Imperialists Are Still Alive opened with $2,832, also in one theater. A Screaming Man made $2,421 in one theater over the weekend and $3,115 since Wednesday. Finally, Dumbstruck made just $981 in its lone theater. I guess ventriloquism is not a popular draw at art house theaters.

This past week also saw milestones reached for a couple Per Theater Charts alumni:

• Born to be Wild 3D hit $1 million just before the weekend and should have no trouble getting to $2 million by this time next week.
• Atlas Shrugged: Part I made more than $1 million during its opening weekend, so it obviously was able to reach that milestone.
• The Conspirator opened with $3 million and at this point it's aiming at $10 million. It might not get there, but that should be its goal.
• Biutiful finally reached the $5 million mark, but that's as far as it will go.
• Win Win also reached the $5 million mark, but it has a shot at $10 million, as it is holding on better than expected.

Filed under: Weekend Estimates, Theater Averages, Rio, Atlas Shrugged: Part 1, Biutiful, The Conspirator, Win Win, La princesse de Montpensier, Born to be Wild 3D, The Imperialists Are Still Alive!, Dumbstruck, La doppia ora, Un homme qui crie, Armadillo