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Specialty Box Office: “Biutiful” Opening Weekend
With the Oscars approaching, independent films are making aggressive pushes to capitalize on the added award buzz. Roadside Attractions released Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Biutiful in 57 theaters grossing a respectable $8,088 average. It will most likely expand the film passed the 100 theater mark this coming weekend in preparation for Javier Bardem’s Oscar nomination. “Biutiful” is Iñárritu’s first feature film directorial effort since “Babel” and is the frontrunner in the Academy’s Best Foreign Language category.
Specialty Box Office: “Barney’s Version” Makes Mountains Out Of Globe-hills
While the Golden Globes aren’t exactly known as being the Mecca of critical genius, the Best Actor for a Comedy or Musical Award went to Paul Giamatti for Barney’s Version, beating out Johnny Depp, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Kevin Spacey. “Version” ran for a short awards qualifying run in December but was officially released this past weekend by Sony Pictures Classics.
Specialty Box Office: Ringing In “Another Year” at the Box Office
While box office receipts are down from 2009, the specialty market ended on a high note with two promising releases this past weekend. Another Year, a look into one not-so-golden year of married life, managed to average $20,000 in its limited debut. The Sony Classics release of another British import from writer-director Mike Leigh (“Happy-Go-Lucky”) will look to find an audience for its study of the everyday as it expands to more theaters. One picture that will have no trouble creating buzz is Blue Valentine starring Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams.
Specialty Box Office: ‘Somewhere’ Debuts And Specialty Market Has Merry Christmas
In a Christmas weekend marked by low attendance, specialty debuts like Somewhere and The Illusionist showed strong numbers. “Somewhere,” Sofia Coppola’s drama about a Hollywood actor (Stephen Dorff) attempting to reconnect with his young daughter (Elle Fanning), won the Golden Lion at this year’s Venice Film Festival and has been riding a wave of critical accolades ever since with some bumps along the way for being deemed "too European".
Specialty Box Office: ‘Black Swan’ Tippy Toes Around Studio Pics
In the past few weeks, 3D releases have inundated the studio market. Disney’s Tron: Legacy took in 82% of its $43.6 million gross from 3D showings. But the recent buzz around specialty titles like “Black Swan,” and “The King’s Speech” has delivered quite a compelling argument for the viability of smaller budgets. Even studio pic “The Fighter” is relatively low-budget compared to other studio productions.
