Per Theater Chart: Hitching a Ride to the Top

November 27, 2012

It was a particularly busy week on top of the per theater chart with seven films topping the $10,000 mark. Leading the way was Hitchcock with an average of $16,924 in 17 theaters. This is good for a limited release, but not great, and given the competition at this time of year, it needed to be great to survive. Anna Karenina expanded from 16 theaters to 66 earning an average of $13,580. Again, this is good, but not great. Rust and Bone was next with an average of $13,577 in two theaters. If it had sold just one more ticket, it would have earned second place instead of third on this list. Lincoln actually saw its per theater average grow reaching $12,724. It has already expanded truly wide and it should expand at least a little bit more. Likewise, Silver Linings Playbook should also expand more, as its per theater average this week was $11,945; however, it likely won't expand wide. The overall box office leader, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2, was next up with an average of $10,723. The Central Park Five topped $10,000 on the per theater chart, barely, with an average of $10,190 in three theaters. Skyfall was the final film in the $10,000 club with an average of $10,069. It is pretty rare for a film to remain above that mark for three weeks in a row.

The only other new limited releases we have numbers for was Gottfried Helnwein and the Dreaming Child, which only earned $402 in one theater.

This past week also saw milestones reached for a few Per Theater Chart alumni:

• Anna Karenina reached $1 million over the weekend and it is already more than halfway to $2 million.
• Jab Tak Hai Jaan got to $3 million over the weekend, but that's probably as far as it will go. Films aimed at this target demographic tend to have really short legs.
• The Sessions toppped $3 million before the weekend and is very nearly at $4 million. It should have no trouble getting to $5 million, but that is likely the last milestone it will reach.
• Silver Linings Playbook got to $5 million over the weekend and it should have no trouble getting to $10 million, perhaps as early as this time next week. However, while this is great for a limited release, it was expected to open wide, and it likely would have made at least $10 million during opening weekend.

Filed under: Weekend Estimates, Theater Averages, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2, Hitchcock, The Sessions, Skyfall, Anna Karenina, Silver Linings Playbook, De rouille et d’os, Jab Tak Hai Jaan, The Central Park Five, Gottfried Helnwein and the Dreaming Child