Specialty Box Office: ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ Rakes In $46K Per Theater, ‘Amour’ Strong, Newbie ‘56 Up’ Solid

COMMENTS (11)

• Box Office Mojo is reporting that Gangster Squad will be opening this coming Friday on 3000+ screens, A Haunted House on 2200, and Zero Dark Thirty will expand to 2400.

  With that many screens being taken up by new or expanded releases, will underperformer Promised Land lose many of the screens it gained this week, or will it simply have the number of showings reduced?

  Comment by Mark — Sunday January 6, 2013 @ 12:00pm PST  Reply to this post

• Can’t wait to see “Amour”! I’ll just be sure not to bring my parents to it.

  Comment by Ewan — Sunday January 6, 2013 @ 12:16pm PST  Reply to this post

• Will On The Road expand in wide release? Will it go beyond 4 theaters? Why they even released it? I’m sure at least few Kristen Stewart fans wanted to see it. If they don’t plan to release it in at least 600-800 screens then why all that PROMOTION? Kristen Stewart was everywhere. In every red carpet, even magazine interview to PROMOTE On The Road. And then it is released in only 4 Theaters for third week. Did she promoted it in hope to get some awards nominations? I can’t believe she was for real campaigning. Justin Timberlake 2.0. At least Justin was in Social Network that was serious contender for best picture.

  Why Zero Dark Thirty was not released during holidays? It was stupid decision. They could get lots of money. They could have released it in at least 300-500 theaters. People would want to see it.

  Comment by Shy — Sunday January 6, 2013 @ 1:59pm PST  Reply to this post

  • Who needs 300-500 theaters when ZERO DARK THIRTY made nearly $3 million in just 60? A wider release during the holiday week would have gotten lost amidst the HOBBIT/DJANGO/LES MIS blitz; the expansion this coming Friday is perfectly timed to take advantage of both word of mouth and Oscar noms.

    I’m curious about the lack of theaters for ON THE ROAD three weeks in myself. But then, for IFC, theatrical seems to be just a loss leader for VOD and DVD anyway.

    NOT FADE AWAY…ouch!

    Comment by michael — Sunday January 6, 2013 @ 4:30pm PST  Reply to this post

  • Unlike Justin Timberlake, Hedlund and Stewart actually had the studio backing a small, ill-fated campaign for them. Both were mentioned as very, very long shots by several awards analysts (again, don’t think Timberlake was even ever brought up as a long shot by anyone). So that’s not really a fair comparison…That said, I don’t think either Hedlund or Stewart were really “campaigning,” as much as they were taking advantage of the opportunity to have their name associated/schmooze with the more serious crowd instead of being at an MTV event for Tron or Twilight. Also, Stewart gets a disproportionate and ridiculous amount of media coverage, so it probably looked like she was everywhere or that there was a ton of promotion (although there were way too many screenings).

    I do wonder why IFC didn’t do VOD or expand it into more theaters by now, or why they only opened in four theaters (LA/NYC) in the first place. They had to know they were going to get slaughtered opening on that holiday weekend with Zero Dark Thirty, Amour, and all the wide releases, and they gave way too many screenings. IFC should have released it in early December or the first week of January. Plus, the roll out is just ridiculous…You would think they would have that type of film in some of the art house theaters in Seattle, Austin, San Francisco, Berkley, Portland, and New Orleans by the third week. There are plenty of old hippies and hipsters in those areas. Never thought the film would be a money maker, but it seems like IFC just totally dropped the ball.

    Not Fade Away is a huge ouch. Why did they even bother to expand it when it only opened so poorly in the first place? I really think Zero Dark Thirty is going to kill it when it finally opens wide and that Jessica will snag the Best Actress Oscar. That said, I wish Riva had a chance to get in there and win. I am curious as to how Amour will play out and if it will out gross Rust and Bone?

    Comment by Jason — Sunday January 6, 2013 @ 7:17pm PST  Reply to this post

    • IFC certainly did campaign Stewart and Hedlund. There were FYC ads in Variety, albeit amateurish-looking. Moreover, Stewart was the center of the campaign and media coverage. ON THE ROAD’s low numbers will insure the January expansion is very low. NOT FADE AWAY is in the same boat. I can’t understand why Paramount Vantage expanded it over 100. Big loss on both.

      Comment by WD — Monday January 7, 2013 @ 4:21am PST  Reply to this post

    • No, I remember how some critics suggested that Timberlake can be long shot. Early in the awards season they were including him in their list of 7-8 possible pretenders for Best Supporting actor. That’s why Justin himself bought that hype, believed that he can get nomination and was ready to campaign for real.

      And then those awards nominations begin to surface and Timberlake was in none of them and hype died. There were too many other good actors in the race that year. But the day before Oscar nominations were released Rodger Ebert in his analysis wrote something like: “Justin Timberlake might be surprised when he will woke up and will see his name…” So he was considered by some critics, but people who give awards nominations ignored him.

      On the other side Kristen Stewart was never considered as any contender. No critic ever said that she could be nominated or included her in their list of 7-8 possible contenders. The talk and laugh began when Kristen showed up at some Oscar event. There was huge Oscar statue behind her in pictures and people were like: “That is the closest that you can get to Oscar honey”. As ridiculous as it sounds – Kristen seriously believed that she is in the mix for best supporting actress. Because like On The Road is famous book and this is independent movie and she is famous. Like it means something. It wasn’t fool force campaign. But the way she was promoting it, showing up everywhere, there were so many screens of the movie – Kristen hoped she would get some nominations.

      Why all that promotion if movie is released in only 4 theaters for 3 weeks now. It should be at least in some 300-500.

      Comment by Shy — Monday January 7, 2013 @ 5:11am PST  Reply to this post

• So now that Zero Dark Thirty is online, I wonder if Bigelow will blame piracy again when it under-performs in wide release, just like it’s predecessor.

  Comment by NervisRex — Sunday January 6, 2013 @ 2:01pm PST  Reply to this post

  • Well, I guess we’ll see when the final numbers are in. But the hurt locker gross was definitely not helped by it being released online that’s for sure.

    Comment by ElGorcho — Sunday January 6, 2013 @ 11:00pm PST  Reply to this post

• Would be nice if Deadline covered the regular box office this weekend.

  Comment by Ryan Gator — Sunday January 6, 2013 @ 8:49pm PST  Reply to this post

• Looks like it’s a true career twilight for the “Twilight” trio. Yes, it can be argued that the “Snow White” film did well (though I think it was Theron, the Hemsworth brother, & the production design that sold it–no more talk about a sequel, however)and Pattinson’s co-starring stint with Witherspoon recouped its cost (overseas), but the Twihard fans have avoided everything else these kids have been in (even though “On the Road” offered a topless Stewart and “Bel Ami” a bare-bottomed Pattinson). Meanwhile, the only young talent who has talent to burn, Derek Hough, continues to toil as the sole reason to tune in the now otherwise unwatchable “Dancing with the Stars” (Hough made a film 2 years ago that has yet to see the light of a possible release date). I thought Hough was a shoo-in for the “Footloose” remake (can anyone remember the name, much less the face, of the guy who got the lead?) and the now no-longer-mentioned reboot of “Dirty Dancing” (albeit the producer of that project went out of his way to insult Hough, who tested, by announcing it had been postponed due to “casting problems”). Apparently hype, not genuine talent, is the only thing that matters in today’s Hollywood. The fact that “The Impossible”, by far the best movie of the year, expanded to only mediocre results cements my apprehension for the future of the medium. Very sad.

  Comment by Scott MacDonough — Monday January 7, 2013 @ 1:39am PST  Reply to this post