‘Hotel Mumbai’ Best Among New Specialized Releases as ‘Gloria Bell’ Reaches Top 10
“Gloria Bell” shows some traction and enough heft to reach the Top Ten in its third weekend, and “Apollo 11” continues to grow, but overall the top adult-audience specialized titles see mixed results. This weekend’s releases also includes “Hotel Mumbai” which, like last week’s “The Mustang” and “The Aftermath,” will see wide national releases with hopes of some crossover success. The reality is limited openings with openings similar to “Hotel Mumbai” and others usually don’t break out beyond a modest level.
Opening
Related stories
'Us' Opens to a Fantastic $70 Million, Taking Half the Weekend Box Office With It
MPAA 2018 Entertainment Report: Nontheatrical Thrives As Global Box Office Goes Flat
'Hotel Mumbai' Pulled From All New Zealand Theaters Following Terrorist Attacks
Hotel Mumbai (Bleecker Street) – Metacritic: 61; Festivals include: Toronto 2018
$86,492 in 4 theaters; PTA (per theater average): $21,623
This recreation of the 2008 terrorist attack on Mumbai’s most famous hotel got the highest theater placement in New York and Los Angeles. Starring Dev Patel, it received mildly favorable reviews. It is expanding quickly, with a limited initial run in contrast to Bleecker Street’s kidnapping thriller “Beirut” last year, which had 755 theaters initially on its way to $5 million total.
What comes next: The second-week expansion should see a total around what “Beirut” opened to last year.
“Dragged Across Concrete”
Dragged Across Concrete (Lionsgate) – Metacritic: 61; Festivals include: Venice 2018; also available on Video on Demand
$(est.) 50,000 in 34 theaters; PTA: $(est.) 1,471
S. Craig Zahler’s 2017 “Brawl in Cell Block 69” had an impressive theatrical take in its day-and-date theater/home release. His new film, with two veteran cops trying to get back on the force by going underground in the mob world, has Mel Gibson and other veteran action actors. The home stats are not available, but that is where the action should be for this. Meantime, theater play gave this review attention — some positive, but not at the same level as “Brawl.”
What comes next: This should get elevated home attention.
Sunset (Sony Pictures Classics) – Metacritic: 70; Festivals include: Venice, Toronto 2018
$(est.) $15,006 in 3 theaters; PTA: $5,002
Hungarian director Laszlo Nemes’ prior film “Son of Saul” won the Foreign Language Oscar. This 1913 Budapest-set drama didn’t make the final selections this year. It received favorable reviews and top-end theater placement in its initial New York/Los Angeles dates, with the initial results disappointing and below several other recent, better-reviewed subtitled openers.
What comes next: Washington and San Francisco open this Friday, with an expected full big city national play.
Out of Blue (IFC) – Metacritic: 49; Festivals include: Toronto 18; also available on Video on Demand
$17,682 in 35 theaters; PTA: $505
This British-produced crime story features a diverse cast (Patricia Clarkson, Jame Caan, Jacki Weaver, and Toby Jones). It got mostly mixed or lower reviews as a theatrical release, which came alongside its parallel home viewing venues. The theater take is minimal.
What comes next: Its future presence will be VOD.
“The Mustang”
Week Two
The Mustang (Focus)
$228,000 in 38 theaters (+34); PTA: $6,000; Cumulative: $322,000
The better grossing of the two top releases last weekend had the better PTA, as well as the superior Saturday uptick. This Nevada prison-set horse taming story (in English, though French produced) should expect further expansion and some additional interest. The weekend results set it up for wider release ahead.
The Aftermath (Fox Searchlight)
$123,000 in 26 theaters (+21); PTA: $4,731; Cumulative: $203,254
Keira Knightley and Alexander Skarsgard as British citizens in occupied post-War Germany are giving this drama some lift, despite mediocre reviews. The second weekend in still limited release yielded modest results.
Ash Is Purest White (Cohen)
$69,685 in 35 theaters (+28); PTA: $1,991; Cumulative: $133,094
A second-weekend expansion for this Chinese film, with some of the best reviews this year so far, yielded mixed results. The break included prime art houses and some in Chinese-American communities.
The Hummingbird Project (The Orchard)
$78,834 in 41 theaters (+37); PTA: $1,923; Cumulative: $123,949
This Canadian thriller with a top quality-cast (Jesse Eisenberg, Salma Hayek, Alexander Skarsgard) set in the fiber-optics world has seen spotty results, with no clear sense yet that this will warrant a significantly wider run.
“Apollo 11”
Ongoing/expanding (Grosses over $50,000)
Gloria Bell (A24) Week 3
$1,803,000 in 654 theaters (+615); Cumulative: $2,498,000
Julianne Moore stars this scene-for-scene remake of a Chilean film with the same director, which went nationwide this weekend with a decent initial result. How it sustains will be better determined after another weekend, but its Top Ten showing (#7, benefiting from a weak holdover slate) will get it even more attention.
Apollo 11 (Neon) Week 4
$800,000 in 586 theaters (-2); Cumulative: $6,865,000
A very healthy hold for this documentary (down 31 percent in virtually the same theaters). This portends a continued run for what is already a successful release.
Green Book (Universal) Week 19; also available on Video on Demand
$600,000 in 841 theaters (-479); Cumulative: $83,880,000
The Oscar winner has added $14 million since its big night.
Fighting With My Family (MGM) Week 6
$509,274 in 903 theaters (-677); Cumulative: $21,929,000
Though it might not hit $25 million, this British-set wrestling biopic has maximized by its distributor (which has evolved into United Artists, and is the same group releasing Annapurna titles).
Everybody Knows (Focus) Week 7
$122,000 in 143 theaters (-105); Cumulative: $2,553,000
As the top-grossing title in the flurry of post-awards subtitled releases, it could end up around $3 million. That’s an excellent total these days without the extra boost of Oscar attention, with the director (Asghar Farhadi) and actor (Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem) attachments major draws.
Transit (Music Box) Week 4
$113,503 in 72 theaters (+28); Cumulative: $389,210
Christian Petzold’s inventive contemporary (or is it?) political refugee romantic thriller widened further. In a crowded market, it’s still seeing a modest response.
“Woman at War”
Woman at War (Magnolia) Week 4
$(est.) 75,000 in 41 theaters (+12); Cumulative: $(est.) 230,000
From Iceland, this well-reviewed story of an activist’s unconventional defense of the environment and the dilemmas she faces continues to get some response at specialized locations.
The Wedding Guest (IFC) Week 4
$66,427 in 93 theaters (-3); Cumulative: $330,144
Starring Dev Patel, this India-set thriller also like “Hotel Mumbai” also premiered at Toronto 2018.
Arctic (Bleecker Street) Week 8
$52,927 in 71 theaters (-26); Cumulative: $2,254,000
An example of a superior adventure film getting a specialized release, this will max out around $2.5 million.
Birds of Passage (The Orchard)
$52,486 in 85 theaters (-12); Cumulative: $449,415
This is another acclaimed subtitled film at the level of the recent Oscar nominees that isn’t getting the gross it deserves, despite reaching appropriate theaters.
Also noted:
Free Solo (Greenwich)- $48,660 in 42 theaters; Cumulative: $17,439,000
Never Look Away (Sony Pictures Classics) – $45,130 in 144 theaters; Cumulative: $1,077,000
Stan & Ollie (Sony Pictures Classics) – $32,971 in 79 theaters; Cumulative: $5,392,000
Capernaum (Sony Pictures Classics) – $28,244 in theaters; Cumulative: $1,568,000
The Iron Orchard (Santa Rita) – $11,385 in 13 theaters; Cumulative: $197,991
Ruben Brandt, Collector (Sony Pictures Classics) – $10,454 in 43 theaters; Cumulative: $98,420
Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
Sign up for Indiewire's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
