We have a surprise upset on the per theater chart as My Name is Bruce came out of nowhere to win the race to the top with $16,432 in one theater. I don't know how well it will expand, and its reviews suggest it won't, but no matter what happens theatrically, it should be a big hit on the home market. Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom remained in second place with an average of $14,866 in five theaters. That was a greater than 50% drop-off, which is extremely high for a limited release and suggests limited potential to expand. Likewise, Synecdoche, New York fell harshly this past weekend but still added almost $100,000 in nine theaters for an average of $11,040. One last note, Let the Right One In expanded its theater count to seven and just missed the $10,000 mark with an average of $9,528.

The best of the rest of the new releases was The Matador, which opened with $6,695 in one theater. Just behind was One Day You'll Understand with an average of $6,399 in three theaters. Well back was Run for Your Life with $2,992 in one theater, while Dear Zachary was inches behind with $2,886, also in one theater. Fashion opened with more than $100,000, but it was playing in 40 theaters for an average of just $2,645 while Splinter earned an average of $2,379 in four theaters. The other two new releases failed to reach the Mendoza Line with The Other End of the Line earning $649 and Eden Lake earning $582.

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

• RocknRolla expanded and earned more than $1 million over the weekend, reaching $2 million in total. It will reach more milestones, but it is unlikely that it will expand significantly in the future.
• As expected, Rachel Getting Married made it to $3 million over the weekend, and while it peaked at the box office, topping $4 million is academic at this point.

- C.S.Strowbridge

Date posted: 2008-11-05