Writer Still Profitable

March 2, 2010

Ghost Writer remained in first place on the per theater chart with an average of $18,350, which is a strong hold from its opening last week despite expanding its theater count from 4 to 43. Just a hair behind was A Prophet, which opened in second place with an average of $18,197 in 9 theaters. The only other film in the $10,000 club was Art of the Steal with an average of $13,006 in 3 theaters.

There were a number of other new limited releases this week, many of which did quite well at the box office. For instance, The Prodigal Sons opened with $6,102 in one theater. The Yellow Handkerchief and Toe to Toe were neck and neck with $5,328 and $5,205 respectively. Formosa Betrayed was just as close behind with a per theater average of $5,155. Karthik Calling Karthik was well back with $2,566 per theater, but it was playing in 70 theaters, a mitigating circumstance.

One final note on Defendor, which opened last weekend in Canada, but this weekend expanded into the United States. Its per theater average this week was $4,657 in 4 theaters, which is middling. However, of those 4 theaters, 3 are in Canada, where it was playing for its second weekend. Because of this, its "opening" per theater average here was pushed artificially lower. Granted, I don't think it would have made the $10,000 club if it was just playing in the one theater in the United States, but I think it did well enough to support some expansion.

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

• Ghost Writer's expansion helped it reach $1 million at the end of the weekend, while it should be able to reach $2 million next weekend.
• The Last Station got to $3 million over the weekend. This will not be the film's last milestone.
• The Young Victoria has maintained its box office numbers for a long time now, which has helped it reach $10 million during its limited release. Unless it sweeps all three Oscar nominations, this is as far as it will go.
• Crazy Heart reached $25 million over the weekend, barely. Even if Jeff Bridges doesn't win an Oscar this weekend, it should have no trouble getting to $30 million. If he does win, the film will get there faster and will finish its run further.

Filed under: The Last Station, The Young Victoria, The Yellow Handkerchief, Un Prophète, The Ghost Writer, Crazy Heart, Defendor, Formosa Betrayed, Prodigal Sons, The Art of the Steal, Karthik Calling Karthik