Festival favorites ‘The Holdovers’, ‘Priscilla’ kick off awards season, off to good start in limited release – box office special

Alexander Payne The survivors from Focus Features grossed an estimated $200,000 on six screens in New York and LA for a $33.3K per screen average, a solid limited opening on a lucky specialty weekend that also featured A24s Priscilla by Sofia Coppola started well.

We find ourselves in unusual times with the ongoing actors’ strike. The survivors will benefit from the expansion when the work stoppage ends. Priscilla less so because there is a provisional agreement between SAG and AFTRA – although a rising tide lifts all boats.

SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP are working, with both sides taking “deep action” to end the more than 100-day strike. The guild was waiting for a response from the studios to their latest proposal.

One retailer pointed out that weekend celebrations for Halloween (which falls on a Tuesday) can put a slight dent in weekend special box office, especially on Saturdays.

The survivors, which premiered at Telluride, scored 91% overall positive sentiment and 81% final recommendation from audiences, Focus said (compared to standards of 70% and 55%, respectively), setting it up well for a nationwide expansion next week 60%. Cinemas in the top 20 markets. It scores 96% on Rotten Tomatoes critics. Paul Giamatti plays a grumpy high school teacher who is stuck on campus during Christmas break and cares about people who have nowhere to go.

“As we’ve seen from the fantastic audience response this weekend and throughout the fall festival season, Alexander Payne continues to masterfully tell human stories that connect us, and this film is the sharp, funny and warm embrace moviegoers have been looking for. Bunnell, sales manager at Focus. “This weekend’s performance gives us confidence as we begin to expand the film before the holiday season.”

Breakdown: Fri – $92,000; Sat – $62,000; Sun. – $46,000.

A24 has had another strong start Priscilla, which earned an estimated $132,139 from four screens in New York and LA, for a similar average of $33,000 per screen. The adaptation of Priscilla Presley’s memoirs Me and Elvis with Cailee Spaeny (Best Actress, Venice Film Festival), with Jacob Elordi as Elvis. The film, which sold out four times in New York this weekend, will open in more than 1,000 theaters nationwide on Nov. 3. The film has an RT critics rating of 91%.

Breakdown: Fri – $66.6k; Sat – $37.4K; Sun. $28,000.

Sofia Coppola’s previous films include The seduced opened in four locations in 2017 for $229,000 before wide release. That’s an average of $57,000 per theater — much more common before Corona.

A24 still Thick is the musical on 635 screens ($129,000 weekend, $1.2 million cume) and Stop making sense on 70 screens ($44,000 weekend, $4.8 million cume).

More special openings: Kino Lorber’s Four daughters grossed an estimated $5,398 at the IFC Center in New York. Oscar-winning filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania’s documentary reconstructs the story of Olfa Hamrouni and her four daughters, unraveling a complex family history to examine how the Tunisian’s two eldest daughters became radicalized. The winner of Best Documentary at Cannes is Tunisia’s Oscar entry for Best International Film. It will expand to Los Angeles next week and additional markets on November 10.

Leftovers: Sony Pictures Classics The Persian version by Maryam Keshavarz expects a weekend gross of $77.3K from 30 screens in its second week, up from nine last week, for a gross of $172,216.

Anatomy of a fall of Neon , Justine Triet’s Palm d’Or winner at Cannes, earned $565,000 from 30 screens in Week 3 for an estimated delivery of $968,000.