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Specialty Box Office: A24’s ‘Now’ Pretty Spectacular In First Weekend; Woody’s ‘Jasmine’ Even More So In Second

Specialty Box Office: A24's 'Now' Pretty Spectacular In First Weekend; Woody's 'Jasmine' Even More So In Second
Specialty Box Office: A24's 'Now' Pretty Spectacular First Weekend; Woody's 'Jasmine' Even More So Second

Newbie distributor A24 added another likely hit to its freshman year, with high school drama “The Spectacular Now” finding near-“Perks of Being a Wallflower” sized numbers in its limited debut weekend.

The film — which won a special acting prize at Sundance for its young stars Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley — opened in 4 theaters in New York and Los Angeles to sellout crowds, taking in $200,181 over three days for a stellar $50,925 per-theater-average.  Last fall, breakout teen indie hit “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” averaged $57,090 from 4 theaters before turning into a $17 million grossing hit.  And while “Now” was slightly below that initial number, it was well ahead the $42,879 A24’s last release, “The Bling Ring,” averaged in its first weekend out, giving the distributor its best limited debut after “Spring Breakers.”

“Most of this weekends audience was under 35 and word of mouth (both online and offline) was terrific,” A24 said in a statement. “We look forward to continuing to propel that word of mouth as we will look to expand nationwide in August and September.”

In its second weekend, Woody Allen’s “Blue Jasmine” nearly topped “Spectacular” on a much wider 50 theater count. A weekend after “Jasmine” averaged over $100,000 per-theater on a handful of screens, it managed to take in $2,022,074 from 50 houses, a truly spectacular number. Averaging $40,411, Sony Pictures Classics-released “Jasmine” continues to track significantly ahead of Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris,” the biggest hit of his career (and also released by SPC). That film averaged $33,268 from 58 screens in its second weekend (which was notably on Memorial Day) before grossing $56,817,045. If “Jasmine” keeps this up, it could be joining “Paris” atop Allen’s career best box office performances. For now, it’s total stands at $3,008,493.

IFC Films opened Paul Schrader’s much-discussed Lindsay Lohan starrer “The Canyons” on a single screen this weekend (New York’s IFC Center). The result was a so-so $15,200 haul, though it was also released on multiple digital platforms and VOD, where one suspects it could do much better (though the numbers aren’t available yet).

“Paul has made an extraordinary film that he has described as post-theatrical cinema, intended to be discovered by a community of film lovers who live and breathe in the online world. Through our extensive social media outreach including a live Twitter event on opening night with Paul and Bret, marketing efforts which even included Kanye West re-cutting and re-scoring the trailer, and a digital media spend that launched the day the film was available, we believe that the film will do most of its business in the digital realm,” IFC President Jonathan Sehring said.

“The Canyons” was notably made for less than $1 million and was largely financed online through Kickstarter.

Meanwhile, both The Weinstein Company’s “Fruitvale Station”
and Fox Searchlight’s “The Way, Way Back” continued to enjoy success in expanded releases, each continuing past the $10 million mark.

The
Weinsteins sent “Fruitvale” to 1,086 theaters in this its
fourth weekend, up 22 from last weekend’s major expansion. The Ryan Coogler-directed Sundance winner grossed $2,700,000 as it
averaged $2,486 and found a place in the overall top 12. With a total
now standing at $10,951,904, “Fruitvale” should pass $15 million,
and is likely to outgross the $12.7 million that last year’s Sundance
winner, “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” grossed during its theatrical
run.

In its fifth weekend, “The Way, Way Back,” added 115
theaters
to bring its total to 1,001. The coming of age comedy — which Fox
Searchlight nabbed for a pricy $10 million — grossed $2,850,000,
averaging a very respectable $2,847. The film’s total now
stands at $13,672,327, passing its price. It
needs to probably approach the $20 million mark for it to be worth its
cost to Searchlight, which is definitely not out of the question at this
point.

Continue to the next page for a full chart of newbies and holdovers.

The Debuts:

1. The Spectacular Now
Distributor: A24
Weeks in Release: 1
Gross:  $200,181
Theaters: 4
Average: $50,045
Cumulative Total: $200,181

2. The Canyons
Distributor: IFC Films
Weeks in Release: 1
Gross:  $15,200
Theaters: 1
Average: $15,200
Cumulative Total: $15,200

3. The Artist and the Model
Distributor: Cohen Media Group
Weeks in Release: 1
Gross:  $16,937
Theaters: 2
Average: $8,469
Cumulative Total: $16,937

4. Europa Report
Distributor: Magnolia
Weeks in Release: 1
Gross:  $23,000
Theaters: 3
Average: $7,667
Cumulative Total: $23,000

5. Our Children
Distributor: Distrib Films
Weeks in Release: 1
Gross:  $5,500
Theaters: 1
Average: $5,500
Cumulative Total: $5,500

The Holdovers:

1. Blue Jasmine
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Weeks in Release: 2
Gross:  $2,022,074
Theaters: 50
Average: $40,441
Cumulative Total: $3,008,493

2. Blackfish
Distributor: Magnolia
Weeks in Release: 3
Gross:  $270,000
Theaters: 51
Average: $5,294
Cumulative Total: $667,957

3. The Way Way Back
Distributor: Fox Searchlight
Weeks in Release: 5
Gross:  $2,850,000
Theaters: 1,001
Average: $2,847
Cumulative Total: $13,672,327

4. Fruitvale Station
Distributor: The Weinstein Company
Weeks in Release: 4
Gross:  $2,700,000
Theaters: 1,086
Average: $2,486
Cumulative Total: $10,951,904

5. 20 Feet From Stardom
Distributor: RADiUS-TWC
Weeks in Release: 8
Gross:  $301,855
Theaters: 135
Average: $2,236
Cumulative Total: $3,498,184

6. The Attack
Distributor: Cohen Media Group
Weeks in Release: 7
Gross:  $98,153
Theaters: 44
Average: $2,231
Cumulative Total: $1,208,567

7. Unfinished Song
Distributor: The Weinstein Company
Weeks in Release: 7
Gross:  $86,000
Theaters: 68
Average: $1,265
Cumulative Total: $1,407,307

8. Girl Most Likely
Distributor: Roadside Attractions
Weeks in Release: 3
Gross:   $44,280
Theaters: 36
Average: $1,230
Cumulative Total: $1,352,441

9. I’m So Excited
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Weeks in Release: 6
Gross:  $121,515
Theaters: 99
Average: $1,227
Cumulative Total: $1,098,773

10. Only God Forgives
Distributor: RADiUS/TWC
Weeks in Release: 3
Gross:  $53,205
Theaters: 45
Average: $1,182
Cumulative Total: $701,556

11. Mud

Distributor: Roadside Attractions
Weeks in Release: 15
Gross: $62,350
Theaters: 62
Average: $1,006
Cumulative Total: $21,473,583

12. Much Ado About Nothing
Distributor: Roadside Attractions
Weeks in Release: 9
Gross:  $55,670
Theaters: 58
Average: $960
Cumulative Total: $4,100,511

13. Before Midnight
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Weeks in Release: 11
Gross:  $170,000
Theaters: 226
Average: $752
Cumulative Total: $7,825,000

14. Stuck In Love
Distributor: Millennium
Weeks in Release: 5
Gross:  $717
Theaters: 1
Average: $717
Cumulative Total: $73,531

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