Specialty Box Office: Tiny Furniture Makes Cozy First Week Debut

In a week marked with few specialty newcomers, Tiny Furniture made a strong statement in grossing $22,450 on only one screen. Even though this screen was in New York City, the film’s setting and home to its most diehard fans, IFC should be optimistic after the festival darling’s first numbers. “Furniture” depicts a bleak portrait of post-graduate life for one girl, but this limited release looks anything but bleak if IFC can find a healthy expansion strategy.

Expansion is over for Fox Searchlight’s “Conviction.” While the film grossed $610,000 in its fifth week, Hillary Swank and Sam Rockwell’s awards vehicle does not look to make back its $12.5 million budget domestically after pulling out of 179 theaters from last weekend.

U.S Indie:
“127 Hours” is looking healthier than ever after grossing $453,000 with a promising 71% growth. In a week noted by only one strong new specialty title (“Furniture”), “Hours” continues its successful climb. 22 screens were enough to sustain a healthy $20,591 average in the film’s second week.

In regards to another sophomore outing, “Fair Game” holds on fairly well with a big expansion to 175 screens and $1 million rake. The only thing that doesn’t look promising in the coming weeks for “Game” is meeting high expectations and an ambitious $22 million budget.

Tyler Perry’s “For Colored Girls” had no trouble making back its budget in the film’s first week, but its longevity will soon be called into question. The film grossed $6.7 million in its sophomore effort but declined 65%. With the holiday season approaching, An influx of strong studio contenders will likely drive “Girls” down charts.

World Cinema:
There was only a slight decline, 24%, for “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest” after it grossed $565,000 in its third week. In a week filled with specialty decline, “Girl” dug in to not only expand 16 screens, but maintain a $2,716 average. Look for the film to begin its real decline next week, but Music Box Films should be nothing but proud of the film’s solid performance.

Documentary:
While we wait for Cool It numbers to trickle in, “Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer” fell off the radar, “Inside Job” expanded to 250 screens and grew an impressive 91%. With $1.5 million grossed to date, “Job” looks to surpass its $2 million budget soon. The documentary from Sony Pictures Classics won’t need a bailout this or probably next week.

Studio:
“Megamind” was the overall winner again for the second week in a row. $30 million in its second week sounds good, but $89 million over two weeks sounds even better to Paramount and DreamWorks. The real test will come this week as “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1” looks to steal most of the film’s demographic.

Fox’s “Unstoppable” debuted to decent numbers after earning $23.5 million and coming in at number two. Fellow newcomers “Skyline” and “Morning Glory” performed as expected making $11.6 million and $9.6 million respectively.

“Due Date” held strong at number three, however, with $15.5 million grossed this week. The film will most likely make its $65 million budget back next week after a posting strong numbers domestically.

Specialty Box Office Top 5

Box Office Top 10