‘Belfast’ Bumps Up Indie Box Office With $3,000+ Theater Average

J. Kim Murphy administratorAs is fitting for the days after Thanksgiving, moviegoers are largely turning out for leftovers this weekend.

The arthouse is awash with well reviewed new offerings from Danish animated doc Flee to Paulo Sorrentino’s Hand of God to IFC’s Benedetta heading into awards season and amid a paucity of new wide releases.

Jamie Lang Barcelona-based production-distribution outfit Filmax has picked up international rights to Spanish holiday comedy “Our (Perfect) Xmas Retreat” (“El refugio”) following the film’s successful domestic theatrical release. Premiering in Spain on Nov.

Beloved for her role in Starz television series Outlander, Caitriona Balfe is not a total stranger to the big screen. Her turn opposite Christian Bale in Ford v Ferrari was certainly noticed, but it’s only now, with Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast, that she’s been given the chance to really show off her big screen chops alongside Dame Judi Dench, Ciaran Hinds and Jamie Dornan.

Remember when New York and Los Angeles use to post big figures for the opening of a specialty film at the box office?

Thanksgiving — “Coco” launched at the same time of year with $72 million and “Ralph Breaks the Internet” did as well with $84 million — the result was the best opening for an animated movie during the pandemic.Family films have been especially slow to bounce back, though with kids increasingly getting vaccinated, hopes have been rising that releases such as “Encanto” can lead a rebound.

COVID-addled box office, distributors with top prestige films have been mulling whether to release on several hundred screens or with the traditional four-screen platform strategy. Their decision for Anderson’s latest film was a wise one.With a per screen average of $83,852, “Licorice Pizza” has earned by far the highest average of any release this year, more than triple the $26,889 average that A24’s “C’mon C’mon” earned last weekend from five screens.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterPaul Thomas Anderson’s “Licorice Pizza” has secured the best pandemic-era debut at the independent box office.With speciality offerings like “Licorice Pizza,” the key metric is per-theater-average rather than overall box office tally since its playing in very few locations.

Encanto is on top at the box office!

“Encanto” has opened to roughly half of which fellow Disney films “Moana” ($82 million) and “Ralph Breaks the Internet” ($84.7 million) earned in their Thanksgiving openings, but is notable for being the first animated film this year to release exclusively in theaters. Studios have hedged their bets on family turnout to theaters by releasing animated films like “Paw Patrol: The Movie” and “Space Jam 2” day-and-date.

SUNDAY AM UPDATE, Refresh for more analysis and chart: Without Paramount’s Top Gun: Maverick in the marketplace, the Thanksgiving box office was much lighter than previous holidays, grossing an estimated $141.3M over 5-days, off 46% from 2019’s pre-pandemic holiday.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterDisney has reclaimed its rightful place at the top of Thanksgiving box office charts.

“Encanto” is set to take No. 1, adding $11 million on Friday to bring its 3-day total to $24.3 million and its estimated 5-day opening to $43 million, beating projections for a $35-40 million launch.

J. Kim Murphy administratorWhile this year’s Thanksgiving box office will wind up totaling far less than previous years’ holidays, there were still plenty of viewers to go around between the weekend’s offerings.

In a benchmark that was to be expected, Warner Bros./Legendary’s feature adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune has clocked past $100 million at the domestic box office. This brings the global running total to north of $370M; the ultimate exclamation point here for the Denis Villeneuve directed movie being $400M WW. Dune made $400K on Thanksgiving yesterday sending its domestic total to $100.1M.

After earning $7.5 million on opening day, “Encanto” has added $5.8 million on Thanksgiving Day to bring its total to $13.3 million heading into the weekend. While tracking is difficult at this point, the film appears to be on track to beat pre-release projections of $35-40 million.

Belfast, Kenneth Branaugh’s intensely personal story of one boy’s childhood in tumultuous late 1960s Northern Ireland, earned an estimated $1.8M in 580 locations this weekend for a PTA of $3,111 – a solid showing for a black-and-white film in a specialty market that’s waging what one distribution exec calls an “an inch-by-inch, week-by-week recovery.”

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterMarvel’s comic book epic “Eternals” is once again dominating over domestic box office charts.In its second weekend of release, the superhero adventure has collected a leading $27.5 million from 4,090 North American theaters. Through Sunday, “Eternals” crossed the $100 million mark in the U.S.