“Poor Things” Has Rich Weekend With Best Fall, Limited Opening, Top Three For 2023 – Special Box Office

searchlight photos’ Poor stuff by Yorgos Lanthimos averaged $72,000 per screen in its opening weekend in nine theaters in four markets, for an estimated three-day total of $644,000. In a competitive season, it’s the fall’s best limited opening at ten or less screens and is it in the top three of the year.

The big two for 2023 were heavyweights Asteroid city by Focus Features’ Wes Anderson, which earned a PSA of more than $100,000 in six theaters in June; and A24 Beau is scared by Ari Aster, which grossed $80,000 per screen in four locations last spring. Both have had notable activations such as Focus and the takeover of the Landmark Sunset Beau of Imax. For Poor stuffLanthimos and the film’s stars Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe and Ramy Youssef held a sold-out Q&A in New York over the weekend.

In an abundance of wealth this weekend, Waitress The Musical of Bleecker Street will earn an estimated $3.2 million in its opening weekend from 1,214 screens in the US and Canada. More about this. It is no. 8 at the local box office.

Origin by Ava DuVernay and Wim Wenders’ Anselm also had notable debuts. Originby Neon, is now the no. 4 best specialty opening of the year.

Poor stuff, a fantastical feminist tale about a young Victorian woman (Stone) who is literally brought to life by an eccentric scientist (Dafoe), was young, with 70% under 35 polls in four of its opening theaters. The audience was 56% male, 62% white, 17% Hispanic, and 14% East Asian/Pacific Islander, with a 68% Excellent rating and a 75% Strongly Recommended rating. More than half of the audience would recommend others to see it Poor stuff “In theaters immediately,” the distributor said of the recordings.

The surveys – of AMC Lincoln Square 13 (New York), Alamo Brooklyn (New York), AMC Burbank 16 (Los Angeles) and AMC Metreon 16 (San Francisco) – found that ratings and recommendation ratings were well above industry standards and consistently across the board. Age and gender. It’s also freshly certified, with a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes and a Metacritic score of 88.

Also playing Regal Union Square in NYC, AMC Century City and AMC The Grove in LA; the Alamo Drafthouse Mission in San Francisco and the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar Austin. It will expand in current markets and add 17 new cities next week, including Boston, Chicago, Dallas, DC, Portland, Orlando, Toronto, Vancouver, and then move to around 80 markets on December 22nd.

Poor stuff debut in Venice, where it won the top prize – Searchlight’s third Golden Lion win after that The shape of water And Nomad country, both of which won the Oscar for Best Picture. Was named the best film of the year by AFI and the National Board of Review last week.

Back to Waitress: Bleecker’s Tony-nominated Broadway phenomenon hit theaters Thursday. Starring composer and lyricist Sara Bareilles as Jenna Hunterson, a waitress and expert baker trapped in a small town and a loveless marriage. When a baking competition in a nearby province offers her the chance to escape, Jenna struggles to reclaim a long-forgotten part of herself.

Waitress debuted in 2016 and was one of the longest-running shows in recent Broadway history. It returned for a limited engagement to celebrate Broadway’s fall 2021 reopening. The film was recorded during a live performance on stage during this run. It was acquired by Bleecker after it was performed at this year’s Tribeca Festival.

The audience is largely female and performs well in key markets such as New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago and San Francisco. Salt Lake City, along with NYC, is a real highlight because of its Broadway connection. “This is encouraging because we have had tickets on sale for some time and exhibitors have started making efforts to extend show times. There were a lot of sales and the feedback was that this thing really gained momentum,” said Kyle Davis, head of Bleecker. the distribution.

Origin “Neon” earned $117,000 from just two screens with a PSA of $58.5, an excellent debut for Ava DuVernay’s film in the qualifying heats. “This is an incredible result for Origin, which marks the fourth-highest PSA of 2023, but it’s a particularly significant feat given that it’s only a qualifying one-week release. We look forward to the film’s actual theatrical release in January,” said Elissa Federoff, Neon’s sales manager. The opening will take place on January 19.

Sideshow and Janus Films open Wim Wenders’ Anselm in 3D in New York this weekend at the IFC Center and Film at Lincoln Center for an estimated gross of $43.3 and a PSA of $21.65K. This is the second highest average per screen for a non-concert documentary this year wild life ($47,000 on two screens.)

Anselm premiered in Cannes and also screened at Telluride, where Wenders received the Silver Medallion Award. Exclusive engagements in Los Angeles open next weekend before expanding to cities across the country in January. Sideshow’s Jonathan Sehring said the opening was similar Pina’It’s been 12 years. “We look forward to rolling it out slowly over the coming weeks, as we have been doing drive my car And E.O.”

expansion: Eileen starring Anne Hathaway, expanded to 532 screens in week two for a $615,000 weekend cume of $746,000.

In a very lively awards season, specialty films are showing strong appeal in the young demo that distributors and art houses have been chasing since Covid and are beginning to lure back the elusive older audience (The survivors for example) with good acting and storytelling.

A year full of strong special openings: Amazon Studios/MGM Studios and the quirky Emerald Fennell Salt burns A $45,000 PSA seen in seven theaters; Dream scenario And Priscillafrom A24 had both PSAs, or $35.9K on six screens; The survivors $33,000 seen in four cases. (Focus Features’ final film opened before the end of the SAG-AFTRA strike, without Paul Giamatti promoting the film.) A24s Past lives by Celine Song had a PS of $58,000 in four theaters. MGM’s Bottoms opened in ten theaters and averaged $46,000 per theater.

Last year’s phenomenon Everything everywhere at the same timehad a per-screen opening average of $50.1K in 10 theaters.

There is more to come…