‘Drive My Car’ Hits $1M As Indies Get Box Office Bump From Oscar Noms – Specialty Preview

The cast of luminaries that first-time filmmaker Lisa Hurwitz assembles in documentary have one thing in common – extreme adoration for the famed Horn & Hardart eateries, whose soaring ceilings, famed coffee and wholesome vending-machine meals for a nickel dominated the food scene in Philadelphia and NYC through much of last century.

Joe Wright’s Cyrano twirls onto 797 screens, the highest-profile specialty release in weeks (as the market awaits Focus Features The Outfit with Mark Rylance and Sony Pictures Classics Mothering Sunday). But the well reviewed period musical romance from UAR starring Peter Dinklage is landing in a tough place. Industry estimates anticipate a low single digit opening given the inconsistent reception for movie musicals and the fact that its key older demos, especially women, have been the slowest to return to theaters.

Broadway box office was up 15% last week, hitting $21,835,116 as average ticket prices climbed 11% over the previous week to $126.

EXCLUSIVE: Sony’s $106.4M global box office weekend for Uncharted was another reminder to a streaming-obsessed entertainment industry that the tried-and-true business model of theatrical features still works, and that there’s an audience for them.

Neon’s standout romance about a young woman in Oslo churning though career choices and boyfriends passed $1 million this weekend on 265 screens, up from 49. With marketing in high gear and strong word of mouth, the Oscar Best International Feature nominee will continue to expand next week.

As Oscar nominees circulate in theaters, exhibitors are studying where and when to play Best Picture contenders during the long run-up from nominations February 8 through the awards March 27, juggling holdovers and new releases. (See this weekend’s specialty box office offerings below).

Sony will release it’s first movie of 2022, and second Tom Holland title after Spider-Man: No Way Home over the 4-day Presidents Day weekend, Uncharted, in what is expected to be a $70M+ haul worldwide.

Warner Bros/Legendary Pictures’ Dune has hit a new milestone, crossing the $400M mark worldwide. Through Monday, the international box office cume is $292.3M with $107.8M from domestic for a an estimated global haul of $400.1M so far.

Weekend grosses popped higher for Oscar Best Picture nominees led by Licorice Pizza, Belfast and Drive My Car.

Refresh for latest…: Hitting 15 offshore markets ahead of its domestic debut and further overseas expansion next weekend, Sony’s Uncharted mapped out an international box office launch of $21.5M. The Tom Holland/Mark Wahlberg-starrer was No. 1 in each of its openings, taking advantage of school holidays in some markets and, of course, the Spider-Man Holland halo.

Of all the nominees that screened this weekend, the highest grossing one was MGM/United Artists’ “Licorice Pizza,” which grossed $922,500 from 1,977 theaters, its widest release yet. The next best result was Focus Features’ “Belfast” with just $285,000 from 928 theaters, though that film is having much better fortunes in the U.K.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Death on the Nile” collected $12.8 million in its opening weekend. Those ticket sales wouldn’t buy enough Champagne to fill the Nile, but they are sufficient to lead domestic box office charts.The star-studded murder mystery, from Disney and 20th Century Studios, arrived on par with expectations, which had projected a debut in between $11 million to $14 million.

Disney’s Gaitán, who voices the character Pepa Madrigal in the animated film, is also shattering records after her song, «We Don't Talk About Bruno,» reached the top spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 and Global 200 charts. Plus, it’s also become a viral hit on TikTok.«It's crazy! It's absolutely unbelievable. It's surreal, it's magical realism.

Just as President Biden’s top medical adviser Anthony Fauci is declaring that the U.S. is exiting “the full-blown pandemic phase” of Covid, three studios are hoping to lure out adult audiences, largely women who’ve been slow to return to cinemas.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterTwo new movies, Kenneth Branagh’s star-studded murder mystery “Death on the Nile” and Jennifer Lopez’s romantic comedy “Marry Me,” hope to appeal to people who aren’t all that interested in Super Bowl festivities.Football’s biggest weekend has traditionally led to lighter movie theater attendance, though Disney and Universal (the studios behind the box office’s newest offerings) are banking on their films to serve as can’t-miss counterprogramming against Sunday’s big game.“Death on the Nile” looks to have a leg up on the competition; it’s on track to open to $11 million to $14 million from 3,200 theaters. “Marry Me,” which is landing on the streaming service Peacock on the same day as its theatrical release, is estimated to collect at least $10 million from 3,600 venues between Friday and Sunday.

Those theatrical motion picture studios earning Oscar Best Picture nominations today will put their best foot forward at the box office, and increase the cinema footprint of their contenders in an effort to capitalize on their success and raise the pics’ profiles.

Kenneth Branagh received three Oscar nominations today for Belfast – Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Picture – bringing his total to eight nominations. His nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture means Branagh has just broken a record by being nominated for Oscars in seven different categories throughout his career.

After watching his end-of-the-world satire Don’t Look Up notch four Oscar nominations this morning, in the categories of Best Picture, Original Screenplay, Original Score and Editing, writer-director Adam McKay spoke with Deadline about the film’s recognition and its real-world impact, as well as upcoming projects ranging from the HBO series Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, to his HBO Max series The Uninhabitable Earth and his Elizabeth Holmes film Bad Blood for Apple.

As the Oscars wrestle with grabbing a larger millennial audience, the dissing of tentpoles in the Best Picture category continues this year. In addition to AMPAS voters overlooking the sixth highest grossing movie ever at the global box office, Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home ($1.77 billion) for Best Picture, they also snubbed Daniel Craig’s swan song as James Bond in MGM/UAR/Eon’s No Time to Die in that slot as well.

Neon’s racked up a few bests this weekend with a cume of $135,042 at four NY/LA theaters for a popping per screen average of $33,768.