Brand Rules the Per Theater Chart

May 15, 2007

Brand Upon the Brain! was the top dog on the per theater chart this week, scoring an impressive $46,412 in its one theater over the weekend and $63,837 since Wednesday. In most cases this would be clear evidence that the film was destined for mainstream success. However, given the nature of the movie, it should have a successful tour of art house theaters in major cities, but it will never play in multiplexes. The second place film was Brooklyn Rules with $41,811 an exclusive engagement ahead of this Friday's opening. Paris, je t'aime remained in third place while its average rose to $20,247. The overall number one film, Spider-man 3, earned an average of $13,680, which was more than the four new wide releases combined. Finally, Waitress just maintained a $10,000 average, earning an average of $10,108 in 65 theaters. There is little doubt the film will earn some measure of mainstream success at this point.

On an interesting note, Americanizing Shelley saw its per theater average climb for the second weekend in a row, nearly hitting the $10,000 mark with $9,113. Many people wrote it off after its lowly opening, but that appears to have been a mistake.

Most of the rest of the new releases couldn't connect with an audience, however.

Show Business performed reasonably well with $8,829 in its lone theater. Chalk also performed well with $6,913, while Day Night Day Night and I Don't Want to Sleep Alone were average with $5,457 and $4,377 respectively. The rest of the new releases all bombed, starting with Life in a... Metro with an average of $1,785 in 65 theaters and Looking for an Icon with $1,760 in one. Casting About earned $893 in one theater, which is less than the cost of a single film print. Blind Dating was close behind with an $836 average, but it had a much wider release at 74 theaters. The Hip Hop Project was also one of the wider limited releases of the week, but it struggled even more with an average of just $774. The long delay in getting Home of the Brave into theaters didn't help as it earned just over $25,000 in 44 theaters for an average of $574. Moving further down the list we find Allegro with $505 in one theater. The worst new release of the week was also the widest as The Salon managed just $92,362 in 210 for an average of $440.

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

  • The Year of the Dog reached $1 million midweek, but that's as far as it will go.
  • Black Book made it to $2 million during the weekend and while it has peaked at the box office, it should still manage $3 million before long.

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Filed under: Spider-Man 3, Waitress, Paris, je t'aime, Zwartboek, Year of the Dog, Brooklyn Rules, Chalk, Brand Upon the Brain!, ShowBusiness: The Road to Broadway, Life in a... Metro, The Salon, Americanizing Shelley, Blind Dating, The Hip Hop Project, Home of the Brave, Day Night Day Night, Hei yan quan, Allegro, Casting About, Looking for an Icon