Sunshine Cleaning had the best per theater average of any film so far this year, pulling in an outstanding $220,000 in 4 theaters for an average of $54,798. Any doubts about the film's ability to expand wide should be greatly reduced after that. Opening in second place was Tokyo Sonata with an average of $14,173. The re-release of Z was the only other film to top $10,000 with an average of $10,144; however, Fados came close with $9,788.

There were not many other new releases reporting box office figures, and the best of these was Severed Ways with a stronger than expected opening of $7,686 in one theater. Carmen and Geoffrey did respectable business with $5,656, again in one theater while Brothers at War earned an average of $4,735 in seven theaters.

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

• The Wrestler hit the $25 million mark since last week, which is very rare for a limited release. However, I feel it should be a $30 million and going strong if Mickey Rourke had won the Oscar for Best Actor.
• Speaking of Oscar winners, The Reader did top $30 million since last week and is still earning more than $1 million a weekend, which makes $35 million a lot more likely.
• Slumdog Millionaire is starting to shed theaters, but it did get to $130 million over the weekend. It is now the 18th highest grossing film released in 2008, just ahead of Get Smart and just behind Wanted.

- C.S.Strowbridge

Date posted: 2009-03-17