Per Theater Chart: IMAX out of this World

August 15, 2013

IMAX movies have incredible legs and can bounce back in the $10,000 club years and years after their first release. Space Station jumped into first place with an average of $30,602 in one theater. In a World was the best new release with an average of $23,514 in three theaters. It is going to expand and we will have a contest starting on Friday to celebrate. Snake and Mongoose was close behind with $20,254 in its lone theater. Blue Jasmine continues to expand and it is now playing in 119 theaters. However, its average remains very strong at $19,709 and it will undoubtedly continue to expand. The Spectacular Now expanded from 4 to 19 theaters, while its average fell to $14,045. This is still strong enough to suggest further expansion and it should reach its first major milestone shortly. Chennai Express broke records for a Bollywood film playing in 196 theaters, while its per theater average was $11,329. That's an incredible start.

There were not many other new limited releases to report numbers, and all of them struggled. I Give It a Year only managed an average of $2,718 in two theaters, while Prince Avalanche was right behind with $2,621 in fourteen. The latter result is the most surprising result of the week, as the film has a great pedigree, as well as great reviews. Lovelace missed the Mendoza Line with an average of just $1,564; however, it was playing in more than 100 theaters.

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

• Blackfish reached its first major milestone and it should have enough left in the tank to get to its second.
• Chennai Express got off to an amazing start reaching $2 million over the weekend. Normally if a limited release earns a per theater average of more than $10,000 and pulls in $2 million over the weekend, it will reach $10 million in total. However, these films tend to have really short legs, so there's no telling where it will end up.
• Frances Ha just made it to $4 million over the weekend. That's as far as it will go, but that is a great result for a limited release.
• Blue Jasmine has already surpassed $5 million and it will just keep going for the foreseeable future.
• The Way Way Back topped $15 million early in the weekend. It now has more than The Last Exorcism Part II finished with, and that film opened in 2,700 theaters.

Filed under: Weekend Estimates, Theater Averages, Space Station, Lovelace, Frances Ha, Blue Jasmine, The Way Way Back, The Spectacular Now, I Give It a Year, In a World..., Prince Avalanche, Blackfish, Chennai Express, Snake and Mongoose