Theater Averages: Portrait has a Fiery Start

December 12, 2019

Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Portrait of a Lady on Fire was the only new release to make an impart on the per theater chart earning an average of $33,672 in two theaters. If we combine this with its early Awards Season success, we can confidently predict a long run in theaters. The only other film in the $10,000 club was 63 Up with an average of $10,313 in two theaters.

There were a lot of other new limited releases to talk about, but none of them did well. The Disappearance of My Mother and Midnight Family earned $3,117 and $3,030 in one theater each. They were the only other new limited releases to not open below the Mendoza Line ($2,000/theater).

Panipat and Little Q had nearly identical averages at $1,692 and $1,652 respectively; however, the two films were playing in vastly different numbers of theaters with the former opening in 175 theaters and the latter just one. En Brazos de un Asesino earned an average of $1,417 in 160 theaters, which turned out to be too many theaters. Likewise, The Whistleblower was playing in far too many theaters, 130 to be exact, earning an average of just $1,158.

There were three limited releases that didn’t even hit $1,000 on the theater average chart, starting with Little Joe with an average of $886 in 12 theaters. Two live performances were next with Les Miserables and The Winters Tale, which earned average of $490 and $374 respectively. These two were more special engagements than limited releases, so it is harder to judge these performances. They aren’t good, but they are not as bad as they initially look. Playmobil wasn’t a limited release, but it deserves a mention here, as it had the worst theater average of the weekend at just $281.

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

  • Waves jumped past $1 million during just its fourth weekend of release. However, its theater average is below $1,000, so it will lose too many theaters too quickly to get to $2 million.
  • Honey Boy did get to $2 million, but its theater average is also below $1,000 so getting to $3 million will be very tough.
  • Dark Waters expanded wide helping it get to $5 million in total.
Weekend Box Office Results

Filed under: Theater Averages, Branagh Theatre Live: The Winter's Tale, PLAYMOBIL, Honey Boy, Waves, Dark Waters, Midnight Family, Portrait de la jeune fille en feu, Xiao Q, Little Joe, En Brazos de un Asesino, Storia di B. — La scomparsa di mia madre, Panipat, 63 Up, Chui Shao Ren, Les Misérables - The Staged Concert