Per Theater Chart: Weather Dampens Specialty Releases

August 30, 2011

Normally I disregard weather effects on the box office; after all, even big storms generally only affect a small fraction of the population of the domestic market. However, Irene caused theaters in New York City to be closed for Saturday and Sunday, which had a huge impact on limited releases and none of the new ones reached that $10,000 mark on the per theater chart. Red State did earn that much in its lone theater over the weekend, while the closest any new release came was Higher Ground with an average of $7,165 in three theaters.

The only other new limited releases that came close to the $10,000 mark was Circumstance with an average of $6,188 in seven theaters. Brighton Rock was not as lucky with an average of $2,731 in 12 theaters. The Family Tree missed the Mendoza Line with an average of $1,829 in two theaters. Redemption Road bombed with an average of just $737 in 26 theaters, while Special Treatment was even worse at $678 in its lone theater.

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

  • Another Earth topped $1 million just before the weekend, but that's as far as it will go.
  • Sarah's Key had the best single weekend of its run, and that helped it surpass $3 million in total. Getting to $4 million is practically guaranteed.

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Filed under: Weekend Estimates, Theater Averages, Brighton Rock, Red State, Elle s'appelait Sarah, Circumstance, Another Earth, The Family Tree, Higher Ground, Sans queue ni tete, Redemption Road