Specialty Box Office: ‘Cantinflas’ Another Big Hit For Pantelion; ‘Chef’ Ends Summer By Hitting $30 Million (UPDATED)
The 2014 summer indie box office ended off… much like the 2013 summer indie box office did. With a seemingly out-of-nowhere Mexican import from Pantelion and Lionsgate winning over audiences and giving us one of the most impressive limited debuts of the season. A full report (and note that the numbers for “The Last of Robin Hood” were initially reported incorrectly and have since been corrected):
The Debuts:
Debut Winner of the Weekend: “Cantinflas”
Exactly a year after “Instructions Not Included” began its impressive journey to a $44
million gross, proving what the remarkably underserved market for
Spanish language films in America, the same folks behind that film have released “Cantinflas,” a bio-drama about the late (and hugely popular)
Mexican actor. Did lightning strike again? Not quite in the same tall order, but “Cantinflas” definitely impressed this weekend, taking in $2.6 million from 382 theaters to average $6,872 just miss the overall top 10 (despite playing on a fraction of the screens of its competitors).
The story of Mexico’s “greatest and most beloved comedy film star of all time,” “Cantinflas” follows him from “his humble origins on the small stage to the bright lights of Hollywood.”
Pantelion is a partnership between Lionsgate and Videocine, aiming to provide the very underserved market of Hispanic moviegoers with “a steady source of exciting and original films, which include top-rated Latino actors, directors and writers.” Clearly the strategy has been paying off. “Instructions not Included” is the highest-grossing Spanish-language film ever in the U.S., “Pulling Strings” grossed $5.9 million later last year, and “Cantinflas” is poised to at least match that. Though we’ll see next weekend if it has what it takes to go beyond it.
This Weekend’s Debuts: (ranked in order of per-theater-average)
1. The Last of Robin Hood (Samuel Goldwyn)
Week: 1
Weekend Gross: $26,000
Theaters: 2
Per-Theater-Average: $13,000
Total Gross: $26,000
Criticwire Average: B-
2. Cantinflas (Pantelion/Lionshate)
Week: 1
Weekend Gross: $2,625,000
Theaters: 382
Per-Theater-Average: $6,872
Total Gross: $2,625,000
Criticwire Average: D
3. Starred Up (Tribeca)
Week: 1
Weekend Gross: $11,000
Theaters: 2
Per-Theater-Average: $5,500
Total Gross: $11,000
Criticwire Average: A-
4. Life of Crime (Roadside Attractions)
Week: 1
Weekend Gross: $99,500
Theaters: 33
Per-Theater-Average: $3,015
Total Gross: $99,500
Criticwire Average: B-
5. The Notebook (Sony Pictures Classics)
Week: 1
Weekend Gross: $3,154
Theaters: 2
Per-Theater-Average: $1,577
Total Gross: $3,154
Criticwire Average: B
The Holdovers:
Holdover Winners of the Weekend:
“The Trip To Italy.” Back in 2011, IFC Films found very nice numbers from “The Trip,” a
collaboration of Michael Winterbottom, Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. That
film grossed $2 million, making it one of the year’s biggest hits for
the distributor. Three years later, and hot off the major success story
that is “Boyhood,” the distributor is keeping the
good news coming with the film’s sequel, “The Trip To Italy.” With
strong reviews and a considerable fanbase for the original, the film
made its way to a $510,000 in its third weekend, averaging $9,807 (just slightly down from last weekend despite adding 42 theaters). That gave it a very healthy total of $771,000.
“Love Is Strange.” Ira Sachs’ late-in-life gay love story “Love Is Strange” continued to find very strong numbers this weekend. Sony Classics picked up
the film at Sundance after it premiered to glowing reviews, and Sachs
and his cast — which includes John Lithgow, Alfred Molina and Marisa
Tomei — aggressively made the media rounds and the result was a $261,670 weekend gross from 27 theaters (up from 5), averaging $9,704 (the second highest of any film in release). Controversy surrounding the MPAA’s decision to give the film an “R” rating
(despite no sex or violence in the film) perhaps helped raise awareness
as well. Sony Classics will further expand the film next weekend, though its already outgrossed Sachs’ last film — 2012’s “Keep
The Lights On,” which had a final total of $246,112. As of Sunday, “Love” has taken in $424,761.
Notable Milestones:
- “Chef” became only the second 2014 indie — after “The Grand Budapest Hotel” — to gross over $30 million this weekend after a Labor Day weekend expansion gave it another $665K.
- “Boyhood” hit $18 million, impressively seeing its per-theater-average rise week-to-week.
- “Begin Again” also got a holiday push, adding 296 theaters to help push it past the $16 million mark.
- “Magic in the Moonlight” hit $8 million mark in its sixth weekend. Though relative to Woody Allen’s recent releases, its headed for a somewhat disappointing final tally.
- “Calvary” managed to hit the $2 million mark in its fifth weekend.
The Holdover Top 12: (ranked in order of per-theater-average)
1. The Trip To Italy (IFC Films)
Week: 3
Weekend Gross: $510,000
Theaters: 52 (up from 10)
Per-Theater-Average: $9,807
Total Gross: $771,000
Criticwire Average: B+
2. Love Is Strange (Sony Pictures Classics)
Week: 2
Weekend Gross: $261,670
Theaters: 27 (up from 5)
Per-Theater-Average: $9,691
Total Gross: $424,761
Criticwire Average: A-
3. Boyhood (IFC Films)
Week: 8
Weekend Gross: $1,500,000
Theaters: 640 (down from 734)
Per-Theater-Average: $2,344
Total Gross: $18,500,000
Criticwire Average: A
4. Begin Again (The Weinstein Company)
Week: 10
Weekend Gross: $784,000
Theaters: 335 (up from 39)
Per-Theater-Average: $2,340
Total Gross: $16,325,000
Criticwire Average: B
5. Magic In The Moonlight (Sony Pictures Classics)
Week: 6
Weekend Gross: $824,618
Theaters: 438 (down from 787)
Per-Theater-Average: $1,833
Total Gross: $8,014,163
Criticwire Average: B
6. The One I Love (RADiUS-TWC)
Week: 2
Weekend Gross: $87,492
Theaters: 49 (up from 9)
Per-Theater-Average: $1,786
Total Gross: $154,200
Criticwire Average: B+
7. A Most Wanted Man (Roadside Attractions)
Week: 6
Weekend Gross: $585,400
Theaters: 333 (down from 433)
Per-Theater-Average: $1,615
Total Gross: $14,922,081
Criticwire Average: B
8. Calvary (Fox Searchlight)
Week: 5
Weekend Gross: $520,000
Theaters: 322 (up from 240)
Per-Theater-Average: $1,615
Total Gross: $2,323,419
Criticwire Average: B+
9. What If (CBS Films)
Week: 4
Weekend Gross: $300,000
Theaters: 197 (down from 680)
Per-Theater-Average: $1,523
Total Gross: $2,896,000
Criticwire Average: B+
10. Land Ho! (Sony Pictures Classics)
Week: 8
Weekend Gross: $70,543
Theaters: 65 (up from 51)
Per-Theater-Average: $1,085
Total Gross: $462,405
Criticwire Average: B
11. Snowpiercer (RADiUS-TWC)
Week: 10
Weekend Gross: $22,400
Theaters: 21 (down from 28)
Per-Theater-Average: $1,067
Total Gross: $4,468,900
Criticwire Average: A-
12. Chef (Open Road Films)
Week: 17
Weekend Gross: $664,052
Theaters: 757 (up from 105)
Per-Theater-Average: $877
Total Gross: $30,242,141
Criticwire Average: B
Peter Knegt is a contributing editor at Indiewire and our box office columnist. Follow him on Twitter.
