Per Theater Chart: Mud Reluctantly Leads the Way

April 30, 2013

While there were two films in the $10,000 club this week, Kon-Tiki and The Reluctant Fundamentalist, one could argue Mud had the best opening on the per theater chart this past weekend. Kon-Tiki earned an average of $11,084 in two theaters, while The Reluctant Fundamentalist earned an average of $10,307 in three. However, Mud earned an average of $6,103 while playing in 363 theaters. It missed the top ten by just $160,000.

There were a few other new limited releases that did well over the weekend. Storm Surfers 3D opened with $7,524 in its lone theater. Midnight's Children opened in the United States for the first time and earned an average of $6,100 in two theaters, which is better than I was expecting. An Oversimplification of Her Beauty was next with an average of $5,028, also in two theaters. At Any Price earned an average of $4,024 in four theaters over the weekend, while it has made $22,287 since Wednesday. Graceland really struggled with an average of $871 in 15 theaters. Arthur Newman was a disaster. The film debuted in 248 theaters, which is way too many, and pulled in $112,788 for an average of just $455. Had it been playing in just 48 theaters and earned that much, it still would have resulted in a disappointing average.

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

• The Lords of Salem got to $1 million over the weekend, but that's as far as it is going to go.
• Trance reached $2 million over the weekend, but getting to $3 million will be nearly impossible.
• Home Run fell apart over the weekend, but that didn't stop it from surpassing $2 million. It will likely stop it from getting to $3 million, on the other hand.
• Filly Brown hit $2 million over the weekend and despite its struggles during its sophomore stint, it has a shot at $3 million.
• The Company You Keep reached $1 million before the weekend and $2 million over the weekend. It won't expand significantly beyond where it is now, but it still has at least one or two more milestones to go.
• Mud opened with just over $2 million. Where it will go from here depends on if it can expand significantly, or if it will fade dramatically next weekend. Regardless, it has at least a couple more milestones ahead of it.
• The Place Beyond the Pines got all the way to $15 million over the weekend, and while its per theater average suggests it will start losing theaters, it should still stick around long enough to get to $20 million.

Filed under: Weekend Estimates, Theater Averages, The Company You Keep, Trance, Midnight's Children, Filly Brown, Mud, At Any Price, Storm Surfers 3D, The Place Beyond the Pines, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, The Lords of Salem, Arthur Newman, An Oversimplification of Her Beauty, Kon-Tiki, Home Run, Graceland