Independent and specialty films are continuing to trudge along at the box office this Thanksgiving weekend, as Universal expanded Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans” Nationally, 638 theatres were involved. The total revenue was $3.1 Million over 5 days. A per-theater average of $48,858.
With the Toronto Film Festival Audience Award, strong critical And audience acclaim and the name of one of the most famous filmmakers of all time on the marquee, Universal’s “The Fabelmans” is trying to leg out throughout the holiday season as an alternative to big-name blockbusters like Disney’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and “Avatar: The Way of Water.”
There is growing doubt about the demand for these alternatives since theatres were reopened. WrapPRO noted the failure to bring in box office revenue for “She Said,” the only indie/specialty films that have gained traction at the box office this year have been genre films that offer a different brand of spectacle than their tentpole counterparts such as A24’s “Everything Everywhere All At Once” or, more recently, Searchlight’s “The Menu,” This film has made $18.7 Million in two weekends of wide release.
By contrast, Oscar contenders that tackle serious real-life topics like Searchlight’s “The Banshees of Inisherin,” Focus Features’ “Tár” and United Artists’ “Till” They are not even able to reach $10,000,000 in domestic revenues, which is why it’s unclear what the future holds. “The Fabelmans” You can continue to buck the trend, and enjoy the steady audience turnout that famous films before the pandemic. Universal has not announced whether it will expand the film’s screen count, though it may do so closer to Christmas.
MGM made just $3.6million this weekend. “Bones and All,” a horror romance from Luca Guadagnino starring Timothée Chalamet and Taylor Russell about a pair of cannibals who fall in love and struggle with their deadly need to eat human flesh to stay alive. “Bones and All” Didn’t do much better than “The Fablemans” This is despite the fact that 2,727 theaters have a greater screen count.
“Bones and All” CinemaScore gave the film a B and Rotten Tomatoes scored it 60%. The film’s grisly subject matter, and the struggle facing mature movies are likely to cause it to drop off fast in December.
Neon released the documentary in a limited edition “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” New York: Three theaters grossed $42,532 on average, which is $14,177. Directed by Laura Poitras and winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, the documentary follows the career of art photographer Nan Goldin as well as her activism to expose the Sackler family’s complicity in the opioid overdose crisis, leading protests to demand that major art museums like the Met and the Louvre to return the millions donated by the billionaire family.
Among holdovers, Fathom Events’ limited engagement screening of the Christianity origin story “The Chosen” Over five days, the company added $2.1 Million. Screening the first two episodes of the third season of Angel Studios’ Christian streaming series, Fathom Events is set to break its distributor record set a year ago by the show’s holiday special “Christmas With The Chosen” The total gross revenues from the limited engagement have reached $13 Million.
“The Banshees of Inisherin” It added $457,000 to its six-weekend total, bringing it to $7.8million. “Tár” With $124,000 more this weekend, the total gross revenues have surpassed $5 million.