‘Portrait of a Lady On Fire’ Lights Things Up Upon Return, ‘Parasite’ Takes Victory Lap, ‘Downhill’ Off To Slow Start – Specialty Box Office

The indie distributor Neon is becoming the cool, popular kid in Hollywood and on the box office playground since they dominated the Oscars with the multiple Parasite wins. This weekend, the distributor, founded by Tim League and Tom Quinn, saw the return of Portrait of a Lady on Fire in theaters, while Parasite took a victory lap after winning four Oscars, upping its theater count to 2001 for the President’s Day holiday weekend.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire was previously released in New York in Los Angeles at the end of last year for a one-week awards season qualifying run. Céline Sciamma’s French period romantic drama starring Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel opened on 22 screens across six markets, with an estimated $440,907. It is on track for an estimated 4-day weekend cume of $633,310.

This is a strong start for the pic, which had an estimated gross of $67K in its exclusive one-week run, performing well at the Angelika in New York and the Arclight Hollywood. It sits at 98% on Rotten Tomatoes and its debut is one of the best averages of any French film in the US in the last 20 years, behind Amelie and Coco Chanel. The film is also set to expand beyond Amelie’s widest run of 303 theaters.

Now in its 19th week of release, Parasite saw its biggest weekend to date, which is expected, with all the Oscar gold director Bong Joon-ho added to his mantle. It’s cracked the Top 10 at #8, with the biggest post-Oscar bump in the last 10 years. Now on 2,001 screens, Parasite earned an estimated $5,500,500 this weekend and is on track for a 4-day weekend estimate of $6,655,850, which would bring its cume to over $44 million.

Neon’s legal drama Clemency from director Chinonye Chukwu is now in its 8th week, and is looking at a 4-Day cume estimate of $353,232, while the Oscar-nominated docu Honeyland is on its way to a 4-day cume estimate of $802,541. The snowy thriller The Lodge went from 6 to 21 theaters in its second weekend out and added an estimated $126,000 to its box office bank. It is expected to have a 4-day weekend cume of $241,501.

Speaking of snow, Searchlight Pictures debuted Downhill, starring Will Ferrell and Julia Louis Dreyfus, and things were off to a slow start for the Force Majeure remake. The dramedy slogged through the snow with an estimated box office debut of $4,636,595, coming in 10th. It is on track for a 4-day weekend gross of nearly $5.2M and as previously reported, it has unfortunate exits of a D CinemaScore and PostTrak of 1 star, and a 26% definite recommend. With Ferrell and Dreyfus as leads and Oscar-winners Nat Faxon and Jim Rash as directors, the pic was expected to do a lot better.

Greenwich Entertainment’s fashion documentary The Times of Bill Cunningham opened exclusively in New York City to an estimated 3-day gross of $44,475, for a per-theater-average of $22,238 and an estimated 4-day gross of $51,758 for a per-theater-average of $25,879. This marked the best per-theater-average for a new release in 2020, and is the best per-theater average for a documentary since No Safe Spaces last October. Of the two theaters it was released in, the Angelika outperformed Cinema 1, with nearly 11K on Friday and rising to 12.6K on Saturday.

It’s no surprise that Mark Bozek’s debut feature docu narrated by Sarah Jessica Parker is performing well in New York considering the titular subject is a New York institution. The late legendary fashion photographer was also the subject of the 2010 documentary Bill Cunningham: New York directed by Richard Press, which debuted at $33,677 and went on to have a domestic gross of $1.5 million. The Times of Bill Cunningham has already surpassed that debut and looks to pad its box office till when it expands to Los Angeles next weekend, and then the top 50 markets through March.

Back to Oscar victor laps, Jojo Rabbit, which earned writer-director Taika Waititi Best Adapted Screenplay, took $896,678 this weekend and is looking to earn an estimated $1,024,672 for the holiday weekend.

NEW RELEASES

Downhill (Searchlight Pictures) – Week 1 [2301 Theaters] Weekend $4,636,595, Average $2,015, 4-Day Weekend Estimate $5,187,962

First Lady (ArtAffects Entertainment) – Week 1 [80 Theaters] Weekend $55,962, Average $700, 4-Day Weekend Estimate $61,944

I Was At Home, But (The Cinema Guild) – Week 1 [1 Screen] Weekend/Cume $6,115

Love Aaj Kal (Eros International) Week 1 [170 Theaters] Weekend $472,756, Average $2,781, 4-Day Weekend Cume Estimate $524,331

Mafia Inc. (eOne) Week 1 [65 Theaters]  Weekend $295,939, Average $4,553, 4-Day Weekend Estimate $339,584

Ordinary Love (Bleecker Street Media) – Week 1 [3 Theaters] Weekend $24,874, Average $8,291,  4-Day Weekend Estimate $29,999, 4-Day Weekend Average Estimate $9,766

Sufna (White Hill Production) – Week 1 [48 Theaters] Weekend $315,591, Average $6,575, 4-Day Weekend Estimate $371,240

Those Who Remained (Menemsha Films) – Week 1 [3 Theaters] Weekend $11,862, Average $5,931, 4-Day Weekend Estimate $17,862, 4-Day Weekend Average Estimate $8,670

The Times of Bill Cunningham (Greenwich Entertainment) – Week 1 [2 Theaters] Weekend $44,475, Average $22,238, 4-Day Weekend Estimate $51,758, 4-Day Weekend Average Estimate $25,879

World Famous Lover (Independent) – Week 1 [160 Theaters] Weekend $136,248, Average $852, 4-Daya Weekend Estimate $150,654

RETURNING/SECOND WEEKEND

And Then We Danced (Music Box Films) – Week 2 [7 Theaters]  Weekend $22,406, Average $3,201, Cume $42,040.

The Lodge (Neon) – Week 2 [21 Screens] Weekend $126,000, Average $6,000, Cume $226,001, 4-Day Weekend Estimate $141,500, 4-Day Average Estimate $6,738, 4-Day Weekend Cume Estimate $241,501

Malang (Yash Raj Films) – Week 2 [73 Theaters] Weekend/Cume $97,468, Average $1,335, 4-Day Weekend Estimate $112,178, Cume $479,000

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Neon) – Week 2 [22 Screens] Weekend $440,907, Average $20,041, Cume $559,510, 4-Day Weekend Estimate $514,707, 4-Day Average Estimate $23,396, 4-Day Weekend Cume Estimate $633,310

HOLDOVERS/THIRD+ WEEKEND

The Assistant (Bleecker Street) – Week 3 [82 Theaters] Weekend $212,352, Average $2,590, 4-Day Weekend Weekend Estimate $256,384

Clemency (Neon) – Week 8 [15 Screens] Weekend $6,860, Average $457, Cume $351,936, 4-Day Weekend Estimate $8,156, 4-Day Average Estimate $544, 4-Day Cume Estimate $353,232

Created Equal: Clarence Thomas His Own Words (Blue Fox Entertainment) – Week 3 [17 Theaters] Weekend $16,196, Average $953, Cume $200,793

Honeyland (Neon) – Week 20 [7 Screens] Weekend $4,750, Average $679, Cume $801,641, 4-Day Weekend Estimate $5,650, 4-Day Average Estimate $807, 4-Day Cume Estimate $802,541

Jojo Rabbit (Searchlight Pictures) – Week 18 [484 Theaters] Weekend $896,678, Average $1,853, Cume $30,268,000, 4-Day Weekend Estimate $1,024,672, Cume $31,880,000

Pain and Glory (Sony Pictures Classics) – Week 20 [19 Screens] Weekend $18,647, Average $981, Cume $4,547,251

Parasite (Neon) – Week 19 [2001 Screens] Weekend $5,500,500, Average $2,749, Cume $43,188,049, 4-Day Weekend Estimate $6,655,850, 4-Day Average Estimate $3,326, 4-Day Weekend Cume Estimate $44,343,399

The Song of the Names (Sony Pictures Classics) – Week 8 [51 Screens] Weekend $38,842, Average $762, Cume $997,163

The Traitor (Sony Pictures Classics) – Week 3 [29 Screens] Weekend $52,623, Average $1,815, Cume $146,818