Weekend grosses popped higher for Oscar Best Picture nominees led by Licorice Pizza, Belfast and Drive My Car.
Warner Bros. hasn’t reported grosses for Dune but at circa $150K as per industry sources it’s quadruple last weekend on more screens. Licorice Pizza and Belfast also had a big jump in runs so fatter grosses aren’t surprising. Others like West Side Story from Disney/20th are waiting on a big expansion. While total box office dollars for best picture contenders in the long haul to Oscar night won’t be setting any records, this post nom/Super Bowl Sunday/Valentine’s Day frame saw some nice moves.
Licorice Pizza from MGM/UAR went wide for the first time in its run on 1,977 screens, grossing an est. $922K, for a cume to date of $13.9M. That’s a 43% bump for the Paul Thomas Anderson pic from 786 runs last weekend.
Belfast from Focus Features (re)expanded into 928 theaters, up by 538 runs, grossing $285K in week 14. That’s a 42% bump from 390 locations last weekend and brings the Kenneth Branagh film’s domestic cume to $7.9M. Globally, it passed $25M (including $15M in the U.K. in week 4).
Drive My Car from Janus Films and Sideshow grossed an estimated $192,949 on 127 screens for a PSA of $1,519 per screen and new cume of $1.225M. It jumped well over 90% from 115 screens last weekend. The distributors reported sellouts in LA, San Francisco, Austin, Atlanta, and multiple NYC theaters and said many locations that have been playing the film (nominated for Best International Feature as well as Best Picture) for five to eight weeks clocked their best weekend to date. The pic from Japan by Ryusuke Hamaguchi is heading into its main expansion of another 60-75 screens, on Feb. 18.
Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, up for a big expansion Feb. 25, grossed $235K (-43%) in 450 (-350) theaters (Fri.-$71K; Sat.-$121K; Sun. $43K) for a total cume of $37.2M in week 10. The pic goes to Disney+ and HBO Max on March 2.
Dune (WB/Legendary) grossed an estimated $150K as per industry sources on 678 runs (+592) for a total cume of $107.8M in week 17. That would rep a jump of nearly 400%. It’s expected to expand further.
Nightmare Alley from Fox Searchlight took in $85K (down 60%) for a total cume of $11M in week 9. It had a big push pre-nomination adding over 1,100 runs for a black-and-white version of the Guillermo del Toro remake. This weekend, it played 405 theaters (down by 300). It and may add more runs but has likely seen the apex of its theatrical play.
Elsewhere in specialty: Neon’s standout The Worst Person In The World grossed $255,395 on 49 screens in week 2 for a PSA of $5,212 and cume of $451,768. (Fri.-$91,395; Sat.-$105,000; Sun.-$59,000). The Joachim Trier film from Norway, nominated for Best International Feature, grossed $135k at four NY/LA theaters last weekend for a popping per screen average of $33,768.
Sony Pictures Classics’ Parallel Mothers by Pedro Almodovar grossed $163,346 on 221 screens (down from 448), a per screen average of $739 and a cume of $1,56M. Star Penelope Cruz has a Best Actress nomination. SPC’s Compartment No. 6, now in weekend 3, earned $10,433 on 8 screens (last week 6), a per screen average of $1,304 and a cume of $49,903
From Disney, Peter Jackson’s The Beatles: Get Back The Rooftop Concert played select showtimes on 393 IMAX screens worldwide this weekend with a gross of $466K in North America (and $942K from 44 international markets.) The global IMX result reaches $1.8m, including limited screens on January 30, the anniversary of the famed London concert.
Blue Fox Entertainment’s The Wolf and the Lion now in weekend 2 earned $181,261 in 738 locations for a cume in North America through Sunday of $1M+. The PG-rated family film stars Graham Greene, Molly Kunz, Charlie Carrick and is directed by Gilles de Maistre.