It was a busy week on the per theater charts with five films topping $10,000 and another coming awfully close. Leading the way was Oscar bait, Babel with nearly $400,000 in 7 theaters for an average of $55,622, which was four times the next highest earner. That film, The Queen, earned nearly $2 million in 152 for an average of $12,560 during its fifth week of release. Shut Up and Sing was in a virtual tie for second place with an average of $12,526 in its four theaters, while The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D wasn't that far behind with $11,409. The final film to top $10,000 was the overall box office leader, Saw III, which managed an average of $10,613 in its 3,167 theaters.

Just missing the $10,000 club was Climates with $9,665 in its lone theater. From there, there was a steep decline in the freshman films. Next up was Absolute Wilson with $3,440, while Romeo & Juliet: Sealed with a Kiss and Cocaine Cowboys were not far behind with $3,113 and $3,025 respectively. There was another glut of films to finish with between $3,000 and $2,000: The Bridge at $2,595, Conversations with God at $2,349, Cruel World at $2,232, and 20 Centimeters at $2,177. Pulling up there rear was Death of a President with just $1,835 and Color of the Cross with $892.

This past week also saw milestones reached for a few Per Theater Charts alumni:

• Shortbus was just able to reach $1 million over the weekend but it might have enough left in it to get to $2 million.
• Don was able to reach $1 million during the middle of last week and is already more than halfway to $2 million.
• The Last King of Scotland made it to $2 million early midweek and should make it to $3 million before long. However, I don't know if this is enough to give Forest Whitaker the exposure needed for an Oscar nomination.
• Running With Scissors' expansion went much better than expected as it managed $2 million over the weekend and may have already topped $3 million including Monday's box office.
• The Queen continues to shine reaching $5 million early in the weekend and putting $10 million well within its sights.

- C.S.Strowbridge

Date posted: 2006-10-31