Per Theater Chart: New Releases Are Overshadowed

May 15, 2012

No new releases managed to earn a spot in the $10,000 club on this week's per theater chart. That doesn't mean it was empty, as The Avengers remained potent with an average of $23,696 during its second weekend of release. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel was arguably even more impressive, as it expanded into more than 150 additional theaters, but its per theater average only fell to $15,012. It did well enough to grab eighth place overall, and with this average, it will certainly expand more. On the other hand, the best new release was Dark Shadows with an average of $7,906. This is good, but not great. The best limited release was Girl in Progress. That was was playing in more than 300 theaters and managed an average of $4,298. That's a good start, but I don't think it will expand greatly.

The best of the rest of the new limited releases was Small Beautifully Moving Parts with $3,087 in one theater. I Wish was next with an average of $2,184 in five theaters. At least that film avoided the Mendoza Line, the rest of the new limited releases were not as lucky. God Bless America came very close with an average of $1,951 in 14 theaters. This isn't good, but it did debut Video on Demand, and that almost always costs a film at the box office. Nobody Else but You was close behind with an average of $1,880 in just two theaters while Otter 501 was at $1,815 in three theaters. There was another logjam a little lower down. The Road earned an average of $1,134 in 50 theaters, Tonight You're Mine earned $1,072 in two, and Sleepless Night earned $1,053, also in two. Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview returned to theaters but only managed an average of $200 in 13.

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

  • The Deep Blue Sea just reached $1 million by the end of the weekend, but that's as far as it will go.
  • Monsieur Lazhar also reached $1 million over the weekend, if you only count its run in the United States. Including Canada, it has more than $2.6 million.
  • Girl in Progress opened with more than $1 million, so obviously it got to that milestone over the weekend.
  • Since this time last week, Jiro Dreams of Sushi topped $2 million.
  • The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel got to $1 million just before the weekend and over the weekend topped $2 million and then $3 million. By Monday it reached $4 million and should get to $5 million before long. How far will it go? Too early to tell, but it has already reached some measure of mainstream success.

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Filed under: Weekend Estimates, Theater Averages, The Avengers, Dark Shadows, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, The Deep Blue Sea, Kiseki, Girl in Progress, Jiro Dreams of Sushi, Monsieur Lazhar, Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview, You Instead, God Bless America, Poupoupidou, Nuit Blanche, The Road, Otter 501, Small, Beautifully Moving Parts