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Luca Guadagnino’s Timothée Chalamet-starring, edgy cannibal road trip romance Bones And All pulled in young demos (79% in the 18-34 rage) and women (54%-46% female) for an opening weekend gross of $120k, or $23.9k per screen average in five theaters. That’s respectable and in line with distributor UAR expectations although below recent debuts including Banshees of Inisherin and Tár last month and The Fabelmans last week, where PSAs all cracked $40k.
“I’m hoping over the Thanksgiving period, the audience has an appetite for it,” said UAR president Erik Lomis as Bones And All is set to expands nationwide Wednesday.
The film premiered in Venice, winning Guadagnino the Silver Lion for best director and Taylor Russell the Marcello Mastroianni Award for emerging performer.
Opening per screen averages aren’t apples to apples or necessarily predictors of a film’s appeal or commercial or critical success. They can show a specialty market that’s better but still choppy. Wakanda is sucking up ticket sales and arthouse screens are increasingly crowded.
It’s also sinking in that older demos who were slow to return are actually back, just way pickier. Ticket To Paradise is the latest proof they’ll turn out but for a much narrower band of films than in the past. It’s why A24’s young-skewing elevated horror, for instance, has been a hero at the arthouse. But there can be risk too if an artistic film like Bones And All doesn’t appeal to an older audience. The test will be this coming week when it moves from four screens to around 2,700.
Other notable openings: Sideshow/Janus Films’ release of Jerzy Skolimowski’s EO grossed about $24k on two NYC screens this weekend, for a per-screen average of $12,000. The film, from the point of view of a gray donkey with melancholic eyes and a curious spirit, “is one of the most innovative and exciting films of the year. The response this weekend in New York shows that there is an appetite for daring films on the big screen, and we are looking forward to bringing EO to audiences across the country,” said Sideshow. EO open in Los Angeles on 12/2, beginning a national rollout that will go through February.
A24’s The Inspection grossed an estimated $65.5k on five screens in NY and LA for a $13.5K PTA. Elegance Bratton’s debut narrative feature led by Jeremy Pope and Gabrielle Union will open additional top markets on 30 screens over the Thanksgiving holiday and continue to expand throughout awards season.
Cohen Media Group’s release of Fernando Trueba’s Memories of My Father grossed $5.5k at two locations in NYC and Miami for a PSA of $2.7k. Opens in LA and San Francisco this coming week and will expand throughout December.
Documentary Bad Axe from IFC Film grossed $9,000K in 24 theaters for a PSA of $375.
Holdovers: Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans from Universal grossed $94k in four theaters for a domestic cume of $314k in week two.
Ali Abbasi’s Holy Spider from Utopia grossed $20k+ in expanded release in week four for a cume of $96.7k.
Focus’ Armageddon Time by James Gray took in $51k in 169 theaters for a cume of $1.837M, also in in week four.
Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun from A24 grossed $75k+ in 97 locations for a cume of $689k in weekend five.
Till from UAR grossed $217k on 656 screens in week six for a cume of $8.5 million.
Tár from Focus Features by Todd Field grossed $164K at 205 theaters in week seven for a cume of $4.9 million.
Neon’s Triangle of Sadness by Ruben Östlund took in $170k on 128 screens for a total cume of $3.8 million also in week seven.