New Releases Fail Inspection on the Per Theater Chart

November 2, 2010

Again, there was only one film that reached the $10,000 mark on the per theater chart. Inspector Bellamy opened with an average of $10,318 in two theaters. However, Waste Land came very close with $9,806 in its one theater.

Monsters was the best of the rest of the new limited releases with an average of $6,836 in three theaters. That's not enough to suggest it will expand wide, but it could be enough to suggest it will find an audience on the home market. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest opened with more than $700,000 in 123 theaters for an average of $5,880. It won't do as well as its predecessors, but it is still a fantastically successful franchise for a foreign language import. Wild Targets was right behind with an average of $5,794 in four theaters. Strange Powers opened with an average of $4,620 in two theaters, The Kids Grow Up opened with $4,497 in one and Welcome to the Rileys earned an average of $4,215 in ten. This is probably not enough for it to last in theaters long enough to be noticed by Awards Season voters. Given its earlier buzz, this is disappointing.

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

• If you include its previous run in Canada, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest has earned $1 million at the box office.
• Stone also made it to $1 million, while $2 million shouldn't be too hard to achieve.
• N-Secure did reach $2 million before the weekend, but given its per theater average, it might not make it to $3 million.
• The same can be said for You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger, but it has a slightly better shot at one more milestone.
• Conviction earned more than $1 million over the weekend lifting its total to more than $2 million. However, I expect sharp drop-offs going forward.
• Catfish had surpassed $3 million at the box office, but that's as far as it will go.
• Waiting for Superman reached $4 million before the weekend and it is already more than halfway to $5 million.

Filed under: Weekend Estimates, Theater Averages, Waiting for Superman, Luftslottet som sprängdes, Wild Target, Conviction, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, Welcome to the Rileys, Monsters, Catfish, Stone, N-Secure, Bellamy, Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields, The Kids Grow Up, Waste Land