Specialty Box Office: Docus ‘Afternoon Of A Faun,’ ‘Kids For Cash’ Bow Solid As Oscar Holdovers Hold Sway
Documentaries ruled the school this weekend in the Specialty Box Office. Kino Lorber Films’ doc Afternoon Of A Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq pirouetted atop the Specialty Box Office among the weekend’s newcomers including fellow docu Kids For Cash and Ben Wheatley’s A Field in England. Afternoon of a Faun, which debuted at the 51st New York Film Festival, returned to the Film Society of Lincoln Center for its theatrical roll out, clearly tapping into an audience familiar with the famous ballerina, affectionately known as Tanny. Kino Lorber booked over $4,800 in pre-sales before its opening at Film Society. The film played the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center and moved later to the bigger Walter Reade Theater. Noted Kino Lorber’s Gary Palmucci Sunday: “With perfect first positioning by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, Afternoon of a Faun certainly blasted off this weekend – we’re all thrilled and getting ready to pirouette into national release in the coming weeks.”
Producer-director Robert May’s SenArt Films teamed with Mark Urman’s Paladin on Kids For Cash, a documentary centered on a scandal that took place in Pennsylvania. The partners kept it local, opening at several locations in and around the Philadelphia area and other cities, tapping into public awareness of the story. The strategy of ducking the usual L.A.-NYC roll out appears to have mostly paid off in its first bow.Kids For Cash grossed $40,800, for a $10,200 PTA. “At the end of February, we’ll take on other major markets,” Urman told Deadline this week. “We’re not sneaking into town to that place that typically plays your usual documentary. It’s a gut punch of a movie and we see no reason to treat it as if it were for the only discerning few.”
Other openers fell comparatively short. Cohen Media Group’s The Last Of The Unjust opened in 8 theaters, grossing $14,509 for a $1,815 average, while Drafthouse Films’ A Field In England opened in 10 locations, grossing just over $5K ($501 average). Drafthouse did note some locations hadn’t reported their weekend grosses, however. And some venues only had one showing of the film. Tribeca Films’ Love & Air Sex opened in one NYC theater, grossing $1,800. The feature is also available on demand. Oscilloscope did not report numbers for the second weekend of its doc 12 O’Clock Boys.
SPC’s Tim’s Vermeer added three runs in its second weekend, taking in a bit over $39K, averaging $5,573. The doc bowed in 4 theaters last week, averaging $14,461. Magnolia added 35 runs for its annual Oscar Nominated Shorts series, grossing $380K ($2,815 average), holding solid vs. its $3,300 PTA in 100 theaters last weekend.
Strand’s French-language erotic thriller Stranger By The Lake maintained momentum in its run, adding 5 locations in its third weekend. It grossed $34,225, averaging $3,111. Last weekend it averaged $5,678 in 6 locations. Fellow foreign-language feature, Gloria from Roadside is also seducing audiences, adding a solid 36 runs in its third frame. It grossed over $250K, averaging $3,857, for a cume of over $555K. Last week it averaged $6,232 in 29 theaters.
Fox Searchlight continues to cash in at the box office with multiple Oscar nominee 12 Years A Slave. It is now the distributor’s seventh highest grossing film ever (and counting). In its 17th outing, 12 Years dropped a sizable 494 theaters, grossing $800K for a $1,180 average, giving it a $47.3M cume. Fellow nominee Philomena also shed theaters, moving down to 504 (a 63 venue drop) in its 12th weekend. The TWC release grossed $809K for a still solid $1,605 average and only a 16% decline from the previous weekend.
Dallas Buyers Club lost 564 runs, grossing $631K in 564 theaters, averaging $1,293. The Focus Features release has cumed $23.7M. Now in its 11th week, Nebraska played 525 runs (350 less than the previous week). It grossed $700K for a $1,333 average ($14.9M cume).
NEW
Afternoon Of A Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq (Kino Lorber Films) [1 Theater] Weekend $16,500, Cume $22,718 (Wednesday opening)
A Field In England (Drafthouse Films) NEW [10 Theaters] Weekend $5,013, Average $501
Kids For Cash (SenArt Films, Paladin) NEW [4 Theaters] Weekend $40,800, Average $10,200
The Last Of The Unjust (Cohen Media Group) NEW [8 Theaters] Weekend $14,509, Average $1,815
Love & Air Sex (Tribeca Film) NEW [1 Theater] Weekend $1,800
Returning / 2nd Weekend
Oscar Nominated Shorts (Magnolia Pictures) Week 2 [135 Theaters] Weekend $380K, Average $2,815, Cume $860,080
Stranger By The Lake (Strand Releasing) Week 2 [11 Theaters] Weekend $34,225, Average $3,111, Cume $142,115
Tim’s Vermeer (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 2 [7 Theaters] Weekend $39,011, Average $5,573, Cume $127,563
Holdovers / 3RD+ Weekends
Gimme Shelter (Roadside Attractions) Week 3 [76 Theaters] Weekend $55,520, Average $731, Cume $1,335,695
Gloria (Roadside Attractions) Week 3 [65 Theaters] Weekend $250,700, Average $3,857, Cume $555,437
Visitors (Cinedigm) Week 3 [7 Theaters] Weekend $7,013, Average $1,002, Cume $30,015
August: Osage County (The Weinstein Company) Week 7 [1,327 Theaters] Weekend $1,511,000, Average $1,139, Cume $34,320,120
The Invisible Woman (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 7 [74 Theaters] Weekend $56,958, Average $770, Cume $981,264
The Past (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 8 [67 Theaters] Weekend $105,348, Average $1,572, Cume $843,475
Personal Tailor (China Lion) Week 8 [ Theaters] Weekend $, Average $, Cume $
Inside Llewyn Davis (CBS Films) Week 10 [129 Theaters] Weekend $158K, Average $1,225, Cume $12,754,634
Philomena (The Weinstein Company) Week 12 [504 Theaters] Weekend $809K, Average $1,605, Cume $28,683,922
The Great Beauty (Janus Films) Week 13 [53 Theaters] Weekend $104,717, Average $1,976, Cume $1,795,331
Nebraska (Paramount Vantage) Week 13 [525 Theaters] Weekend $700K, Average $1,333, Cume $14,940,068
Dallas Buyers Club (Focus Features) Week 15 [488 Theaters] Weekend $631K, Average $1,293, Cume $23,703,486
12 Years A Slave (Fox Searchlight) Week 17 [678 Theaters] Weekend $800K, Average $1,180, Cume $47,331,274
Inequality For All (RADiUS-TWC) Week 20 [20 Theaters] Weekend $310, Average $155, Cume $1,202,895
Cutie And The Boxer (RADiUS-TWC) Week 25 [2 Theaters] Weekend $465, Average $232, Cume $193K
20 Feet From Stardom (RADiUS-TWC) Week 35 [7 Theaters] Weekend $2,900, Average $414, Cume $4,841,970
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