Serial killer thriller Strange Darling and poignant comedy Between The Temples had nice debuts as Coraline’s re-release continued to kick this weekend along with a handful of holdovers from Didi to Sing Sing.
Magenta Light Studios’ Strange Darling — where nothing is what it seems when a twisted one-night stand spirals into a serial killer’s vicious murder spree — debuted to $1.14 million at 1,135 theaters, according to Comscore. JT Mollner’s slasher stars Willa Fitzgerald (The Goldfinch, Reacher), Kyle Gallner (Smile, Dinner in America), Ed Begley Jr. (Better Call Saul, A Mighty Wind), and Barbara Hershey (Black Swan, Insidious). Giovanni Ribisi makes his big screen debut a as cinematographer.
Veteran producer Bob Yari (Crash) formed production and distribution outfit Magenta Light Studios earlier this year.
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Sony Pictures Classics’ Between The Temples saw a nice $677.9k opening on 576 screens for the film by Nathan Silver. Jason Schwartzman stars as a cantor losing his voice and maybe his faith whose life upended when his newly retired high school voice teacher, played by Carol Cane, becomes his adult bat mitzvah student. Buzzy at Sundance when it premiered, see Deadline review.
Coraline 15th Anniversary from Fathom Events is projecting a three-day weekend of $5+ million for a cume of $22.5 million on 1,472 screens for the latest rerelease of Henry Selick’s 2009 dark and immensely creative animated film from Laika Studios based on the novella by Neil Gaiman. It’s no. 7 at the domestic box office.
Holdovers: Another SPC Sundance acquisition, Kneecap, a feature about an Irish rap trio, playing themselves, passed the $1 million mark. The film by Rich Peppiatt grossed $27k on 34 screens in week 4.
Sundance award-winner Didi from Focus Features and A24’s Sing Sing continue great rollouts. The Sean Wang film starring Joan Chen sits at an estimated $471k weekend at 435 locations for a cume of $3.6 million in week 5. New York and LA in particular continue to play very well.
Greg Kwedar’s Colman Domingo-starring prison drama, which opened July 19, is at $242k for the weekend on 191 screens for a cume of $1.59 million.
Metrograph’s debut feature Good One by India Donaldson expanded to 31 theaters in 13 markets for a weekend gross of $52.2k in week 3 and a cume of $157.2k. Moving to 22 markets next weekend.
Roadside Attractions’ My Penguin Friend by David Schurmann had a three-day gross of $454k on 877 screens for a cume of $2+ million in week 2.
Quirky Alpine horror Cuckoo from Neon starring Hunter Schafer and Dan Stevens is at $177k on 250 screens for a cume of $6.05 million in week 3. The distributors box office horror smash and highest grossing movie ever domestically, Longlegs with Nicolas Cage, is still brining it in week 7 still at 375. It grossed $321k for a hefty cume of $78.6 million.