March 4, 2018

Specialty Box Office Heads for Cliff After Oscars

The specialty market has thrived this awards season, which will boost Sunday’s winners before diving off a precipitous cliff unless some fresh strong titles arrive to save the day. The problem is that little has opened recently to fill the Oscar void that will be left when award season hits led by “The Shape of Water” –closely followed by “Darkest Hour,” “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” “Lady Bird,” and “I, Tonya” — leave the fray.

Last spring and summer, only arthouse releases “The Big Sick” and “Wind River” reached totals over $30 million.

This week saw one relatively decent opening for Sony Pictures Classics’ Israeli Oscar submission “Foxtrot,” the third of what it hoped to be three Foreign Language nominees. “A Fantastic Woman” and “Loveless,” both expanding, made the final five. “Foxtrot” stands a chance to shine on its own appeal but also with little competition.

Multiple other titles had limited starts in New York and/or Los Angeles, with none reporting grosses which appear in all cases to have come in much below the results for “Foxtrot.”

Opening

Foxtrot (Sony Pictures Classics) – Metacritic: 92; Festivals include: Venice, Telluride, Toronto 2017

$36,786 in 4 theaters; PTA (per theater average): $9,197

This acclaimed Israeli drama had been expected to be one of the Oscar Foreign Language finalists based on strong reviews and elevated festival attention. It had a qualifying run in New York and Los Angeles last December, where it amassed strong reviews. Its return had the disadvantage of less prime media coverage (reviews had run earlier) and, significantly in New York, the loss of the Lincoln Plaza Theater, which would certainly have topped its theaters. Given that context, this is a credible initial gross these days for a subtitled film even if lower than some other recent successful Israeli films.

What comes next: Israeli films usually find a welcoming response in many markets, and the expansion will be helped by the lack of much other recent product of significant potential.

“The Young Karl Marx”

Week Two

The Young Karl Marx (The Orchard)

$17,533 in 12 theaters (+9); PTA: $1,461; Cumulative: $58,277

The multiple market expansion of this retelling of the formative days of the communist theorist showed minor interest after a more encouraging limited opening last week.

“The Shape of Water”

Ongoing/expanding (Grosses over $50,000)

The Shape of Water (Fox Searchlight) Week 14

$1,400,000 in 832 theaters (+111); Cumulative: $57,394,000

Retaking its top-grosser spot this weekend among Best Picture contenders, Guillermo del Toro’s film is heading for substantially above $60 million. That will position it ahead of Searchlight’s two most recent winners (“Birdman” and “12 Years a Slave”). Streaming and other home venues are set for March 13.

Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing Missouri (Fox Searchlight) Week 17; also streaming

$1,230,000 in 770 theaters (+79); Cumulative: $52,000,000

Streaming? What streaming? This Oscar co-front runner continues to add to its impressive totals, with more ahead with expected wins.

Call Me By Your Name (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 15

$919,926 in 914 theaters (+239); Cumulative: $17,046,000

A decent last minute uptick has helped this multi-category contender. It will still end up below the other eight Best Picture nominees, though with less invested in initial expenses as an acquisition. With worldwide rights, the movie so far has added $15 million in foreign gross.

Phantom Thread (Focus) Week 10

$590,000 in 715 theaters (+64); Cumulative: $20,127,000

Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1950s fashion-world drama has benefited from its release alongside its Oscar contention, but still lags below most other contenders.

Darkest Hour (Focus) Week 15; also streaming

$570,000 in 911 theaters (+116); Cumulative: $55,241,000

Joe Wright’s film continues its impressive run despite home viewing competition. Gary Oldman’s expected win should keep this in some theaters for upcoming weeks.

“I, Tonya”

Courtesy of NEON

I, Tonya (Neon) Week 13

$561,061 in 510 theaters (+87); Cumulative: $28,950,000

Neon’s breakout release has grossed more than two of the Best Picture nominees and looks to add to its impressive total after Allison Janney’s expected Supporting Actress win.

Lady Bird (A24) Week 18; also streaming

$532,204 in 710 theaters (+109); Cumulative: $48,285,000

Just on the cusp of a $50 million gross, Greta Gerwig’s break out success could fall just short without a major Oscar win as it thrives on parallel streaming. Whether it hits that mark, this has been an impressive achievement for A24 and all others involved.

2018 Oscar Nominated Shorts (Magnolia) Week 4; also streaming

$400,000 in 271 theaters (+39); Cumulative: $3,267,000

The best performance yet for this popular annual packaging of contending Oscar short films.

“A Fantastic Woman”

A Fantastic Woman (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 5

$150,193 in 89 theaters (+11); Cumulative: $806,746

Chile’s Foreign Language frontrunner with a win would likely outstrip its rival “The Square.” The Swedish entry leads with a gross of just under $1.5 million (in a much earlier release). Last year’s winner “The Salesman” reached $2.4 million, with $1.4 million of that in the till by its fifth weekend heading into the awards.

The Party (Roadside Attactions) Week 3

$140,915 in 92 theaters (+62); Cumulative: $330,479

Sally Potter’s twisty London high-brow dinner party tale has quickly expanded to new product-hungry theaters, with continued spotty results.

Loveless (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 3

$60,583 in 25 theaters (+13); Cumulative: $229,691

Russia’s Oscar contender is still in the early stages of its run. Irrespective of its category’s result it will continue to expand with a total above average for recent subtitled releases.

The Insult (Cohen) Week 8

$55,592 in 47 theaters (-4); Cumulative: $858,795

Lebanon’s Foreign Language nominee has outperformed most recent subtitled releases, with its competitive status giving it a boost. A long shot win would provide the perfect test for translating the box office worth of an Oscar in this category.

Also noted:

Nostalgia (Bleecker Street) – $40,626 in 140 theaters; Cumulative: $84,861

Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool (Sony Pictures Classics) – $30,025 in 53 theaters; Cumulative: $772,557

Faces Places (Cohen) – $21,113 in 20 theaters; Cumulative: $900,903

Source: IndieWire film

March 3, 2018

‘Verónica’ Review Roundup: Netflix’s New Horror Offering Is a Better Surprise Than ‘The Cloverfield Paradox’

What’s this? A horror movie on Netflix worth watching? “Verónica” appears to be just that, as “[REC]” director Paco Plaza’s film has received across-the-board critical praise in addition to six Goya Award nominations (including Best Film) in its native Spain. Currently sitting at 100% “fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes, the film is now streaming.

The Film Stage‘s Jared Mobarak suggests it’s worth your time:

“Having this type of break-neck speed conclusion seems to be a pattern with Plaza (although ‘[REC]’ is my only point of comparison), but who cares if it works? At the end of the day a horror film is successful if it can make your heart pound out of your chest. And for most of ‘Verónica,’ Plaza and Navarro do exactly that.”

Ditto Anton Bitel of SciFiNow:

“The film ultimately favours the paranormal – yet Plaza still slyly insinuates an alternative explanation, rooted in the protagonist’s psychosexual unravelling. This reading is subtly aided by the casting of Ana Torrent as the children’s mother, given that Torrent’s breakout rôle, in Victor Erice’s ‘Spirit of the Beehive’ (1973), was precisely as an impressionable girl coming of age in a confusion of fantasy and reality.”

David Nusair’s Reel Film Reviews write-up is similarly laudatory:

“There’s very little in ‘Verónica’ one hasn’t seen countless times before, and yet the film, for the most part, comes off as an uncommonly superior example of this sort of thing – as Plaza delivers a consistently engaging narrative that only grows more and more compelling as time progresses (ie there’s a real sense of momentum and escalation at work here).”

Cinemanía‘s Andrea G. Bermejo is another fan:

“Regardless of whether or not you believe in spirits, you will believe ‘Veronica’. It brings horror to the known, to what is ours. And it’s very scary.”

Source: IndieWire film

March 3, 2018

The Onion Celebrates the ‘Peach-F—king’ Scene in ‘Call Me by Your Name’ — Watch

The Onion has been especially hilarious this awards season, and its latest video is no exception: an analysis of the best peach-banging scenes in “Call Me by Your Name.” Only one such scene exists in the actual movie, of course, but don’t let that mar your enjoyment.

Presented as an audio commentary recorded by two of the film’s producers, it begins straightforwardly enough before launching into lines like “here his thoughts of desire culminate in one of six scenes where somebody fucks a peach. Up to this point in the film, the peach-fucking scenes have been quite removed, almost distant, but this time we see the camera lingering on these more tactile images.”

Then the second producer chimes in: “This emphasis here on Elio’s fingers is actually a direct callback or variation on the 17-minute peach-fucking tracking shot that opens the movie, so a continuity is created between those scenes in a way that I think is maybe the most meaningful of the film — although Jordan, I know that you prefer…”

“…yeah, the scene where he fucks two peaches. Yeah, I really do.”

It continues in much the same way, with an impressive number of jokes revolving around not only the idea of peach-fucking but actually saying the words peach-fucking. Watch the whole video here and imagine an alternate ending in which “the entire cast fucks peaches together at the wistful, summery teen party.”

Source: IndieWire film