Lawsuits are great publicity.
Despite all the talk about the movies at the cineplex this weekend, there still was activity at the art house. Amongst new films, “The Queen of Versailles,” the much-talked about (and much-litigated) documentary about the very, very rich getting themselves into trouble, had a very good debut with $54,000 for $18,000 per screen at three locations. “Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai,” did so well in New York’s IFC theater that it was promoted from the small 60 seat theater to a 110 seat one. It did well in LA, too, ending up with a $6,138 per screen average for the two locations. The French film “The Well-Digger’s Daughter” averaged a $4,333 at three locations for an okay debut. LCD Soundsystem’s “Shut Up and Play the Hits” played what was supposed to be a one night only release last Wednesday, but did so well that it added shows Thursday. At 161 theaters, it earned $378K with an average of $2,353; it will likely have another release.
Out of the holdovers, “Beasts of the Southern Wild” and “Trishna” are expanding. “Farewell My Queen” had a good second week, as did “Easy Money,” which stayed in just two theaters.
Here are the numbers, courtesy of Deadline:
30 Beats (Roadside Attractions) NEW [15 Theaters] R
Weekend $8,665, Average $578
Hara-Kiri: Death Of A Samurai 3-D (Tribeca Film) NEW [2 Theaters]
Weekend $12,275, Average $6,138
The Queen Of Versailles (Magnolia) NEW [3 Theaters] PG
Weekend $54K, Average $18K
The Well Digger’s Daughter (Kino Lorber Films) NEW [2 Theaters] NR
Weekend $13K, Average $4,333
Shut Up And Play The Hits (Oscilloscope) Week 1 – July 18/19 [161 Theaters]
Weekdays $378K, Average $2,353
Returning / 2nd Weekend
Farewell My Queen (Cohen Media Group) Week 2 [11 Theaters]
Weekend $96,910, Average $8,810, Cume $201K
2016 Obama’s America (Rocky Mountain Pictures) Week 2 [4 Theaters]
Weekend $33,020K, Average $8,255, Cume $80K
The Obama Effect (AMC) Week 2 [21 Theaters] PG13
Weekend $6K, Average $286, Cume $103K
Easy Money (The Weinstein Company) Week 2 [2 Theaters]
Weekend $15,256, Average $7,628, Cume $52K
Holdovers / 3rd And More Weekends
Runaway Slave (Rocky Mountain Pictures) Week 3 [1 Theater]
Weekend $751, Average $751, Cume $11K
Beasts Of The Southern Wild (Fox Searchlight) Week 4 [129 Theaters]
Weekend $762K , Average $5,905, Cume $2.9M
Take This Waltz (Magnolia Pictures) Week 4 [60 Theaters]
Weekend $125K, Average $2,083, Cume $827K
Neil Young Journeys (Sony Classics) Week 4 [11 Theaters]
Weekend $17,930, Average $1,630, Cume $84K
To Rome With Love (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 5 [552 Theaters] R
Weekend $1.55M, Average $2,812, Cume $11.23M
