Theater Averages: The New Year has a Patriotic Start

January 10, 2017

Patriots Day

The theater average chart was dominated by holdovers, as is the norm this time of year. The top film was Patriots Day with an average of $14,972 in seven theaters. This bodes very well for its wide expansion next weekend. 20th Century Women is becoming a sleeper hit earning an average of $13,047 in ten theaters. This is one of those films that should be earning more Awards Season buzz, but I fear it has slipped between the cracks. Toni Erdmann and Paterson were neck-and-neck with averages of $10,472 and $10,205 respectively.

None of the new limited releases came close to the $10,000 mark. In fact, more of them missed the Mendoza Line than not. The best was German Concentration Camps Factual Survey, which earned $3,000 in its lone theater. However, one could argue Railroad Tigers had a more impressive opening with an average of $2,703 in 43 theaters. None of the rest of the new releases topped the Mendoza Line, Arise from Darkness was the closest with $1,944 in one theater. Accidental Courtesy: Daryl Davis Race and America only managed $1,452 in one theater, while A Different American Dream and The Ardennes had nearly identical openings with $848 and $840 respectively. Both were playing in one theater.

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

  • Elle finally made it to $1 million after more than a month of release. Unless it continues to win awards, this is as far as it will go.
  • A Monster Calls hit $1 million and $2 million over the weekend. However, its theater average is low enough that it will have trouble surpassing more than a couple more milestones.
  • Loving topped $7.5 million before the weekend, which is now something we consider a major milestone. (The gap between $5 million and $10 million always bothered me, so I finally added $6 million and $7.5 million milestones.)
  • Likewise, Jackie surpassed $7.5 million before the weekend and will hit $10 million this coming weekend.
  • Lion also made it to $7.5 million before the weekend and by the time you read this, it will have likely topped $10 million.
  • Dangal hit $10 million before the weekend and while that will be the last milestone it gets to, this is still a fantastic run for a Bollywood film.
  • Hidden Figures expanded wide this past weekend and that helped it get to $25 million.
  • Manchester by the Sea is starting to lose theaters, but it still got to $30 million before the weekend and will likely be at $35 million by the end of this weekend.
  • Fences will start to lose theaters soon, but it already has $40 million at the box office, so its box office run is worth celebrating.
  • La La Land has yet to expand truly wide, but it has already earned more than $50 million, making it the biggest limited release of 2016.
Weekend Box Office Results

Filed under: Theater Averages, A Monster Calls, Lion, Manchester by the Sea, Patriots Day, La La Land, 20th Century Women, Hidden Figures, Loving, Paterson, Elle, Toni Erdmann, Fences, Railroad Tigers, Jackie, Dangal, Accidental Courtesy: Daryl Davis, Race & America, D’Ardennen, Arise from Darkness, A Different American Dream, German Concentration Camps Factual Survey