The first blockbuster release of the summer, Iron Man, placed first on the Per Theater Chart with an impressive average of $24,877. Second place was a bit of a surprise as cult director Harmony Korine's latest film, Mister Lonely, did better than expected with $16,769 in one theater. Roman de Gare was the only holdover in the $10,000 club as it doubled its theater count, to two, and earned an average of $11,267. Two other new releases, Son of Rambow and Redbelt opened with nearly identical averages of $10,758 and $10,560 respectively. Both have at least a shot at serious expansion over the coming weeks.

None of the rest of the new limited releases even came close to a $10,000 average. Fugitive Pieces led the best of the rest with an average of just $3,407, but that came in 30 theaters, which is too many for a limited release to debut in. XXY was right behind with $3,241 in one theater. The concert film, Il Trittico at Fenice, was next with an average of $2,235 in two theaters, while Kiss Me Deadly died with just $214 in its lone theater.

There was only one milestone this past weekend as The Visitor crossed the $1 million mark. It is already closing in on $2 million and should get there this weekend.

- C.S.Strowbridge

Date posted: 2008-05-06