Per Theater Chart: Mastering the Per Theater Chart

September 19, 2012

We had a monster hit on the per theater chart, as The Master earned close to $750,000 in five theaters for an average of $147,262. This is unbelievably strong; however, one does have to take into account the particulars. The Master was released on 70mm and because this is such an unusual event, the tickets were sold at a premium price. The only other film to top the $10,000 mark was Arbitrage, which made just over $2 million in just under 200 theaters for an average of $10,163.

Barfi was the next best new limited release. It earned just over $1 million in 132 theaters for an average of $8,043. That's a fantastic start; however, most similar films tend to collapse the second weekend, so it probably won't stick around very long. 10 Years was right behind with an average of $7,569 in three theaters. Liberal Arts was also strong with an average of $6,859 in four theaters, which is enough to convince more theaters to book it. Expanding significantly will be harder. Slaughter Creek struggled with an average of $3,087. It was playing in 16 theaters, which is somewhat mitigating circumstances. Stolen was just a bomb. Yes, it was playing in 141 theaters, but an average of $1,299 is bad, no matter what. Finally, Snowman's Land earned just $656 in one theater.

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

• Searching for Sugar Man reached $1 million over the weekend. It is off its peak and could start losing theaters this weekend, but is still could reach $2 million before it is done.
• Sleepwalk With Me also made it to $1 million over the weekend and it also has likely peaked at the box office. However, it's chances of getting to $2 million are a lot better.
• Barfi opened with just over $1 million and it would take an epic collapse to not get to $2 million.
• Arbitrage opened with more than $2 million and it has the reviews and the per theater average to suggest a longer than average run.
• 2016: Obama's America got all the way to $30 million; however, it has fallen a lot in the past two weeks, so getting much further will be a lot harder.

Filed under: Weekend Estimates, Theater Averages, 10 Years, Arbitrage, The Master, Searching for Sugar Man, Sleepwalk With Me, Liberal Arts, 2016: Obama’s America, Stolen, Barfi, Snowman’s Land, Slaughter Creek