Per Theater Chart: Truth Above Beauty

January 31, 2012

There was only one film to reach the $10,000 mark on the per theater chart this past weekend. An Inconsistant Truth opened with $20,733 in its lone theater, but with still no reviews, its long term chances are still unknown. The phrase, "preaching to the choir" does spring to mind.

The best of the rest of the new limited releases was Albert Nobbs, as the thrice Oscar nominated film earned an average of $2,841 in nearly 250 theaters. It should have no trouble hitting its first major milestone by this time next week, but I doubt it will expand significantly from now on. How Much Does Your Building Weigh Mr. Foster? was right behind with $2,759 over the weekend in one theater for a total opening of $7,058. Declaration of War just avoided the dreaded Mendoza Line with an average of $2,132 in six theaters. Since it was the best new release of the week, this is a disappointing result.

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

• Pina reached $1 million, which is excellent for a documentary, but I don't know how much further it will get.
• Carnage got to $2 million since last week, but I don't think it will reach $3 million.
• On the other hand, A Dangerous Method hit $4 million over the weekend, while $5 million is quite likely.
• Oscar nominations helped The Iron Lady over the $15 million mark and it is half way to $20 million.
• The Artist also benefited from Oscar nominations and also got to $15 million. It too will continue to earn milestones, especially it if becomes this year's big winner.
• The Descendants increased its theater count to above 2000 theaters, which is truly wide. It also got past $55 million over the past weekend and should top $60 million before next weekend. Depending on how many Oscar nominations it can turn into Oscar wins, it could reach $75 million or more.

Filed under: Weekend Estimates, Theater Averages, The Descendants, Albert Nobbs, The Iron Lady, Pina, A Dangerous Method, How Much Does Your Building Weigh Mr. Foster?, Carnage, The Artist, La guerre est déclarée, An Inconsistent Truth