Specialty Box Office: Big Weekend For A24 As ‘The Rover’ Opens Solid and ‘Obvious Child’ Expands Well

Here’s a rundown of the specialty box office this weekend, which saw A24 find both the best opener and best holdover with David Michod’s “The Rover” and Gillian Robespierre’s “Obvious Child” both having very strong weekends. Full report below:

The Debuts:

Debut Winner of the Weekend: “The Rover.” A24 saw strong (though not spectacular) numbers from David Michod’s follow-up
to “Animal Kingdom,” “The Rover.” Coming off a Cannes debut last month,
the film stars Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson and takes place in a
lawless Australian outback 10 years after a global economic collapse. The film took in $70,000 from 5 theaters for a $14,000 average — certainly the best among the weekend’s debuts, though how it does as it expands in the coming weeks will be the true test.

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“The film received strong reviews, particularly for Robert Pattinson’s breakthrough performance, and his fans responded as the audience breakdown was close to a 50-50 split between men and women,” A24 said.

Though notably, it’s actually a bit lower than the $23,446 Robert
Pattinson’s last attempt at indie cred — David Cronenberg’s
“Cosmopolis” — averaged last summer. That film ended up not even
grossing $1 million. However, “The Rover” likely has a lot more mass appeal than “Cosmopolis.”

This Weekend’s Debuts:

1. The Rover (A24)
Week: 1
Weekend Gross: $70,000
Theaters: 5
Per-Theater-Average: $14,000
Total Gross: $70,000
Criticwire Average: B

2. Hellion (Sundance Selects)
Week: 1
Weekend Gross: $9,000
Theaters: 1
Per-Theater-Average: $9,000
Total Gross: $9,000
Criticwire Average: B+

3. Ivory Tower (Samuel Goldwyn & Participant)
Week: 1
Weekend Gross: $17,000
Theaters: 2
Per-Theater-Average: $8,500
Total Gross: $17,000
Criticwire Average: B+

4. A Coffee In Berlin (Music Box Films)
Week: 1
Weekend Gross: $4,100
Theaters: 1
Per-Theater-Average: $4,100
Total Gross: $4,100
Criticwire Average: B

5. The Signal (Focus Features)
Week: 1
Weekend Gross: $146,000
Theaters: 120
Per-Theater-Average: $1,217
Total Gross: $146,000
Criticwire Average: C+

Head over to the next page for a rundown of holdover grosses…

The Holdovers:

Holdover Winners of the Weekend: “Obvious Child.” Continuing to make good on its Sundance promise, A24 brought Gillian Robespierre’s “abortion rom com” from 3 to 18 theaters this weekend and saw very promising numbers.  The film grossed $145,458, averaging a strong $8,056 — the highest of any holdover release.

A24 said it “stayed strong in limited expansion and continued to win over audiences and critics alike in six new markets, ranking at the top of most complexes, and with many screenings ending in spontaneous applause.”

“Obvious Child” will expand next weekend.

Notable Milestones:

• “Chef” crossed the $14 million mark — only the second specialty release of 2014 to do so after “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
• “Belle” crossed $8 million, becoming the third highest specialty release of 2014.
• “The Grand Seduction” passed $1 million in weekend two.
• “Ida” hit the $1.5 million mark with the chances of doubling that seeming very strong at this point.

The Holdover Top 10:

1. Obvious Child (A24)
Week: 2
Weekend Gross: $145,458
Theaters: 18 (up from 3)
Per-Theater-Average: $8,056
Total Gross: $263,023
Criticwire Average: B+

2. Korengal (Saboteur Media)
Week: 3
Weekend Gross: $4,515
Theaters: 1 (down from 2)
Per-Theater-Average: $4,515
Total Gross: $23,072
Criticwire Average: C

3. The Grand Seduction (eOne)
Week: 2
Weekend Gross: $276,000
Theaters: 104 (down from 107)
Per-Theater-Average: $2,654
Total Gross: $1,284,000   
Criticwire Average: B

4. Ida (Music Box)
Week: 7
Weekend Gross: $252,000
Theaters: 104 (up from 87)
Per-Theater-Average: $2,423
Total Gross: $1,664,000
Criticwire Average: A

5. Chef (Open Road Films)
Week: 6
Weekend Gross: $2,276,000
Theaters: 1,102 (down from 1,298)
Per-Theater-Average: $2,065
Total Gross: $14,076,000
Criticwire Average: B

6. Supermensch (RADiUS-TWC)
Week: 2
Weekend Gross: $32,200
Theaters: 18 (up from 4)
Per-Theater-Average: $1,789
Total Gross: $63,700
Criticwire Average: B

7. Belle (Fox Searchlight)
Week: 7
Weekend Gross: $510,000
Theaters: 339 (down from 476)
Per-Theater-Average: $1,504
Total Gross: $8,569,000
Criticwire Average: B

8. The Grand Budapest Hotel (Fox Searchlight)
Week: 15
Weekend Gross: $190,000
Theaters: 149 (down from 185)
Per-Theater-Average: $1,275
Total Gross: $58,103,000
Criticwire Average: A-

9. The Lunchbox (Sony Pictures Classics)
Week: 16
Weekend Gross: $33,100
Theaters: 26 (down from 46)
Per-Theater-Average: $1,273
Total Gross: $4,097,200
Criticwire Average: B+

10. The Dance of Reality (ABKCO Films)
Week: 4
Weekend Gross: $11,300
Theaters: 9 (down from 15)
Per-Theater-Average: $1,256
Total Gross: $165,900
Criticwire Average: B+