Per Theater Chart: Malala and Mars

October 8, 2015

He Named Me Malala

Only two films were in the $10,000 club this weekend. He Named Me Malala led the way with an average of $15,221 in four theaters, which is very strong for a documentary. The film's reviews are only good, but the appeal here is Malala Yousafzai and I don't think moviegoers are too upset that the film is a little shallow. The Martian was close behind with an average of $14,176.

The rest of the new limited releases had a wide range of results. On the high end, This Changes Everything earned $9,770 in its lone theater. Freeheld earned an average of $7,597 in five theaters, which isn't enough to suggest significant expansion. Labyrinth of Lies was right behind with an average of $7,367 in three theaters. There was a huge drop-off between those films and Talvar, which only managed an average of $2,838 in 51 theaters. Meanwhile, Shout Gladi Gladi was right behind with an average of $2,523 in two. Sadly, this wasn't the end, as there were three films that opened below the Mendoza Line ($2,000), starting with Northern Soul, which earned an average of $679 in ten theaters. Shanghai was even worse with an average of $258 in 103 theaters, while Hell and Back was right behind with an average of $254 in 411.

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

  • Veteran reached $1 million over the weekend. Its legs have been good so far, but it likely won't last long enough to get to $2 million.
  • Lost in Hong Kong fell like a typical niche market release, but that didn't stop it from getting to $1 million over the weekend. It too will likely disappear from theaters before reaching $2 million.
  • Pawn Sacrifice topped $2 million over the weekend, which is better than most limited releases manage, but that's as far as it will go. This is probably not enough to do well during Awards Season. After all, you can't vote for a film you haven't seen.
  • Phoenix hit $3 million over the weekend, but that is as far as it will go.
  • As expected, Learning to Drive also got to $3 million during the weekend. It has a very slim shot at $4 million.
  • Sicario expanded wide this weekend reaching $15 million in the process.
Weekend Box Office Results

Filed under: Theater Averages, Shanghai, Pawn Sacrifice, The Martian, Learning to Drive, Im Labyrinth des Schweigens, Northern Soul, Sicario, He Named Me Malala, Phoenix, Freeheld, Hell & Back, Veteran, Gang jiong, This Changes Everything, Shout Gladi Gladi, Talvar, Malala Yousafzai