Theater Counts (Updated): Little Room for New Releases

February 23, 2017

Get Out may be getting good buzz this weekend, but it isn’t getting a huge number of theaters to play in. The horror-drama will open in 2,781 locations, according to Universal’s Thursday report, which is on the cusp of really wide, but well behind the likes of The Lego Batman Movie, which continues in 4,057 theaters, and The Great Wall, which will actually gain a few locations and play in 3,328 movie houses this weekend.

One of the big challenges for films this weekend, of course, is the Oscars on Sunday night, and several nominees are adding a few extra theaters ahead of the show: Lion adds 260 venues, and will play in 1,542 this weekend; La La Land adds 146, to go back up to 1,733; Arrival expands by 114 theaters, to 443; and Fences adds 37, to go to 597.

All of that crowds out two modestly-wide new releases. Rock Dog will open in 2,077 theaters for Lionsgate, and Collide will open in 2,045 for Open Road. Neither figure sounds like a whole-hearted endorsement for the films.

In limited release, Bitter Harvest will open in 127 theaters, while A United Kingdom gains another 100 to play in 145.

Looking ahead to next week, Logan is clearly the movie to look out for, and Fox currently think they’ll get the film into 3,900 movie houses. Keep an eye out for that number to increase when final counts become available this time next week.

Bruce Nash

Filed under: Theater Counts