Specialty Box Office: ‘Speech’ Surpasses ‘Swan’ On Way To $100 Million

Weekend Box Office: February 18th through the 20th

In a relatively quiet weekend for specialty debuts, its holdovers like “The King’s Speech” and “Black Swan” making all the news. Both passed the $100 million mark, but it’s “Speech” that overtook “Swan” on its way to $6.5 million in its 13th weekend. Amidst an overall decline at the box office, Tom Hooper’s drama experienced only a 9.9% decline despite withdrawing from 177 locations. “Swan” on the other hand was down to 656 theaters in its 12th weekend and only managed a $2,020 average as it continued its fall from the top. No one is happier than Darren Aronofsky, however, as “Swan” has still made more money than all his other films combined and garnered the auteur a Best Director nomination from the Academy.

National Geographic is quickly becoming a doc distributor to be reckoned with after releasing “Restrepo” last year—which has since gained an Oscar nomination for its depiction of the deadliest valley in Afghanistan. The Last Lions was released this past weekend in only four locations but made a promising $13,336 average. Dereck Joubert directed the nature documentary about the quickly diminishing population of lions in Africa.

U.S Indie:
“Cedar Rapids” is the big winner amidst a crowd of struggling specialty titles after posting an impressive $8,931 average in its sophomore weekend. The Fox Searchlight release debuted at Sundance this year but has already expanded to 102 locations. Up 200.7% from opening weekend, the comedy is quickly climbing the charts amidst a market filled with dramas.

Sony Pictures Classics’ may or may not have been trying to cash in on the appeal of Searchlight’s quirky comedy (“Rapids”), but “Barney’s Version” tried and failed in its aggressive jump to 281 theaters this past weekend (up from just 58 locations in the week before). “Version” managed a $2,199 average as it flirted with a total gross of $2 million after six weeks on the charts. The Golden Globes garnered some much needed buzz for Paul Giamatti’s performance in the film, but it looks like “Version” will unlikely be expanding much further.

In some relatively good news for “127 Hours,” Danny Boyle’s film is hovering around $17 million total after 16 weeks (with the help of a little Oscar season push). The film won’t do the kind of business that “Slumdog Millionaire” managed to do two years ago, but Fox Searchlight will certainly be happy with the additional $18 million that “Hours” has made overseas.

World Cinema:
Besides “Speech,” “Biutiful” was the only real foreign presence in the specialty market. The Roadside Attractions release withdrew from theaters (like most other specialty holdovers this past weekend) but held on with a $3,248 average and only a 12.1% decline. While “Another Year” and “The Illusionist” saw considerable declines, this foreign language Oscar contender from director Alejandro González Iñárritu has grossed $3 million domestically after only four weeks.

Specialty Box Office Top 5

Box Office Top 10

Next Weekend:
Of Gods and Men, Heartbeats, Drive Angry 3D, The Hall Pass, The Grace Card