Inside Doing Its Job on the Per Theater Chart
October 12, 2010
There were three films to top $10,000 on the per theater chart, all of which were new releases. Leading the way was Inside Job, with an average of $19,825 in two theaters. Considering how important the subject is, I'm certainly glad people are seeing it. Nowhere Boy opened in four theaters with an average of $13,187, while Stone was right behind with an average of $12,628 in six theaters.
Only one other new limited release even came relatively close to $10,000, and that was Jim with $7,809 in its one theater. Tamara Drewe wasn't bad with an average of $4,651 in four theaters, but the rest of the new limited releases struggled. It's Kind of a Funny Story earned $2 million over the weekend, but it was also playing in 742 theaters, so its average was just $2,713. I Spit on Your Grave was very close behind with an average of $2,672 in 12 theaters. Both releases have mitigating circumstance regarding their averages. Funny Story was not only playing in far too many theaters, it added far too many theaters far too late, so the marketing campaign wasn't able to expand with its theater count. Meanwhile, Grave is just the wrong genre for limited release. Likewise, As Good As Dead missed then Mendoza Line with $1,494 in one theater, but it comes out on DVD today. Since it is cheaper to buy the DVD than it is for two people to drive to the theater, park the car, buy popcorn and pop, buy two tickets, etc., it comes as no surprise it struggled at the box office. Finally there was GhettoPhysics, which averaged just $1,121 in nine theaters, but it had direct competition with Inside Job.
This past week also saw milestones reached for a few Per Theater Charts alumni:
- C.S.Strowbridge
Filed under: Weekend Estimates, Theater Averages, Nowhere Boy, It's Kind of a Funny Story, Waiting for Superman, Never Let Me Go, Tamara Drewe, Catfish, Stone, Inside Job, I Spit on Your Grave, As Good as Dead, GhettoPhysics: Will the Real Pimps and Ho's Please Stand Up?, Jim