Per Theater Chart: Thor's Lonely on Top

May 10, 2011

Thor was the only film to top the $10,000 mark on the per theater chart with an average of $16,618 in just under 4,000 theaters. Fast Five did come reasonably close to that mark with an average of $8,860, while the best limited release was Cave of Forgotten Dreams with $8,059.

The closest new limited release was Hobo with a Shotgun with an average of $6,023 in two theaters. Given the nature of the film, this is not a bad start, as it is certainly not your typical limited release. Harvest opened better than expected with $5,870. On the other hand, The Beaver was weaker than expected with an average of just $4,890. This isn't a bad start for a limited release; however, given the advanced buzz, expectations were a lot higher. If this film struggles next weekend to maintain this average, its planned expansion will be far less likely. Battle of the Brides was very close behind with an average of $4,722. October was rather weak in its opening with an average of just $3,527 in two theaters while Vito Bonafacci was close behind with $3,027 in its lone theater. There Be Dragons was the widest limited release of the week, but perhaps it opened too wide as its per theater average was a mere $2,724. On the other hand, it was likely that Caterpillar's difficult subject matter prevented it from finding an audience as it earned just $2,109 in one theater.

At least that film avoiding opening below the Mendoza Line, but a few films were not as lucky. I'm Not Jesus Mommy opened with just over $5,000 in three theaters for an average of $1,760. A good cast didn't help Passion Play, as it barely made over $2,000 in two theaters for an average of just $1,028. And Forks Over Knives proved America is not ready to go Vegan as it managed just $2,700 in six theaters for an average of $450.

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

• Dylan Dog: Dead of Night got to $1 million just before the weekend, but that's as far as it will go.
• Born to be Wild 3D hit $4 million early in the weekend and has a good shot at $5 million.
• Atlas Shrugged: Part 1 also got to $4 million and it also has a shot at $5 million, but that's not enough to be considered a success given its production budget and the advanced buzz surrounding the film. On a side note, over the past couple weeks, the producer of this film has gone from saying he's going Galt and is refusing to make Parts II and III to saying he's planing on teaming up with a big studio to make the next installment as a $50 million budget film. Given this film's result, the former seems more likely.

Filed under: Weekend Estimates, Theater Averages, Thor, Atlas Shrugged: Part 1, Fast Five, The Beaver, Dylan Dog: Dead of Night, There Be Dragons, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Born to be Wild 3D, Octubre, Harvest, Forks Over Knives, Passion Play, Hobo with a Shotgun, I'm Not Jesus Mommy, Kyatapira, Vito Bonafacci, Co Dau Dai Chien