MGM/United Artists’ platform release strategy with Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Licorice Pizza”This weekend was a success! We earned $335,000 on just four screens.
In midst turbulent box office conditions, top-privilege films distributors have been contemplating whether to release on hundreds of screens or with the four-screen platform strategy. Their decision for Anderson’s latest film was a wise one.
A screen average of $83,852 per screen “Licorice Pizza” has earned by far the highest average of any release this year, more than triple the $26,889 average that A24’s “C’mon C’mon”Last weekend, the film was released on five screens. Per Anderson’s vision, the film was released on 70mm at the Regency Village Theatre in Los Angeles as well as at three theaters in New York.
In a time where the specialty market has been trying to get older moviegoers back into theaters, “Licorice Pizza”A large proportion of the audience are young, with 72% being from the 18-35 range. The film has a 92% Rotten Tomatoes score and is expected to be a big presence at Oscar nomination day. Anderson will be considered for the Best Screenplay and Director races.
And this is the kind of limited opening that a major Oscar-contender was expected to get prior to the pandemic, one that even beats the $73,308 average that Anderson’s previous film, “Phantom Thread,”Earned at the end 2017 from its launch on its four-screen platform. However, “Phantom Thread”The slow rollout began in January and was completed across the nation. “Licorice Pizza”Only four theaters will remain until the expansion, which is expected to take place on Christmas Day. There will be a few preview screenings at other locations such as the Music Box in Chicago or the Alamo Drafthouse San Francisco.
Among indie holdovers, Focus Features’ “Belfast”The total number of theaters has increased to 1,178 and the Thanksgiving weekend added $1.3 million, bringing it to $5 million. “C’mon C’mon” expanded to 102 theaters and added $378,067 for a total of $528,755, and Searchlight’s “The French Dispatch”Six weekends of $853,000 added to the total $14.4 million.