{"id":2511,"date":"2017-11-26T18:30:52","date_gmt":"2017-11-26T18:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/commarts.pleather.us\/2017\/11\/26\/call-me-by-your-name-is-best-opener-of-2017-darkest-hour-launches-well\/"},"modified":"2017-11-26T18:30:52","modified_gmt":"2017-11-26T18:30:52","slug":"call-me-by-your-name-is-best-opener-of-2017-darkest-hour-launches-well","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/m2\/2017\/11\/26\/call-me-by-your-name-is-best-opener-of-2017-darkest-hour-launches-well\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Call Me by Your Name\u2019 Is Best Opener of 2017; \u2018Darkest Hour\u2019 Launches Well"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Two year-end Oscar contenders, &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.indiewire.com\/t\/call-me-by-your-name\/\" id=\"auto-tag_call-me-by-your-name\">Call Me by Your Name<\/a>&#8221; (Sony Pictures Classics) and &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.indiewire.com\/t\/darkest-hour\/\" id=\"auto-tag_darkest-hour\">Darkest Hour<\/a>&#8221; (Focus Features), opened well over the Thanksgiving holiday. &#8220;Call Me by Your Name&#8221; is now the top initial weekend platform grosser of the year, at a level often seen by films that end up as Oscar leaders. While Wednesday opener &#8220;Darkest Hour&#8221; didn&#8217;t perform at the same level, Focus launched the World War drama at a level consistent with its favorable reviews and strong media positioning.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Bombshell: The Heddy Lamarr Story&#8221; (Zeitgeist\/Kino Lorber) enjoyed an excellent initial New York single theater showing, as yet another documentary about creative world figure drew unexpected interest.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"pmc-related-link read-more\">\n\t\t\t<strong class=\"pmc-related-type\">Read More:<\/strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.indiewire.com\/2017\/11\/call-me-by-your-name-screenwriter-james-ivory-sequels-1201899594\/\" title=\"\u2018Call Me by Your Name\u2019 Screenwriter James Ivory Loves the Story Too Much to Think About Sequels\">\u2018Call Me by Your Name\u2019 Screenwriter James Ivory Loves the Story Too Much to Think About Sequels<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>Two robust recent openers, &#8220;Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri&#8221; (Fox Searchlight) and &#8220;Lady Bird&#8221; (A24),\u00a0showed continued strength, pulling crossover interest that positions them both for further expansion and much higher ultimate returns.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Opening<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Call Me by Your Name\u00a0<\/strong>(Sony Pictures Classics) &#8211;\u00a0 Metacritic: 95; Festivals include: Sundance, Berlin, Toronto 2017<\/p>\n<p>$404,874 in 4 theaters; PTA (per theater average): $101,219<\/p>\n<p>Luca Guadagnino&#8217;s acclaimed romantic drama (from a script by director James Ivory) looks to best &#8220;Lady Bird&#8221; as the top platform opener of the year, helped by a holiday Friday and strong results throughout the weekend. It is also a milestone as the best-performing gay romance since &#8220;Brokeback Mountain&#8221; 12 years ago (which performed better during a much stronger period for specialized film).<\/p>\n<p>For Sony Pictures Classics, &#8220;Call Me&#8221; represents a return to form as their best opening since their two smash Woody Allen titles (&#8220;Midnight in Paris&#8221; and &#8220;Blue Jasmine&#8221;) and four times as big as any of their debut weekends over the last two years.<\/p>\n<p>This combined with superb reviews and inevitable awards attention should propel this into a strong position. Weinstein a year ago was able to push the $30,000 three-day PTA opening of &#8220;Lion&#8221; into a well-hyped mainstream $51-million Best Picture nominee. SPC will give &#8220;Call Me&#8221; a more calibrated slow release aimed at paralleling nominations and national exposure closer to the Oscar nominations in January.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>What comes next:<\/strong><\/em> The next cities don&#8217;t open until December 15, with most major markets due by Christmas.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1201899661\" style=\"max-width: 790px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1201899661 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/www.indiewire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/4106_d013_00374_crop1506105595.jpg?w=780\" alt=\"4106_D013_00374_CROP(ctr) Gary Oldman stars as Winston Churchill in director Joe Wright's DARKEST HOUR, a Focus Features release.Credit: Jack English \/ Focus Features\" width=\"780\" height=\"521\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">&#8220;Darkest Hour&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"image-credit\">Jack English<\/p>\n<p><strong>Darkest Hour\u00a0<\/strong>(Focus)\u00a0&#8211;\u00a0 Metacritic: 73; Festivals include: Telluride, Toronto, Hamptons 2017<\/p>\n<p>$176,000 in 4 theaters; PTA: $44,000; Cumulative: $247,000<\/p>\n<p>Joe Wright&#8217;s rendition of a crucial month in world history opened well. The telling of Winston Churchill&#8217;s takeover as Prime Minister just as Britain faced an existential crisis from Hitler is primed as a significant awards contender, particularly for Gary Oldman&#8217;s performance. It opened on Wednesday, taking some gross from the weekend, but in any case this marks a robust initial start.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>What comes next:<\/strong><\/em> The next big city dates come on December 8, with a nationwide release on December 22.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Man Who Invented Christmas\u00a0<\/strong>(Bleecker Street)\u00a0&#8211;\u00a0 Metacritic: 61; Festivals include: Cork 2017<\/p>\n<p>$1,343,000 in 626 theaters; PTA: $2,146; Cumulative: $1,797,000<\/p>\n<p>The second biofilm about an English author creating a classic novel loved by children (after &#8220;Goodbye Christopher Robin&#8221;) had similar mixed results. This biopic about Charles Dickens writing &#8220;A Christmas Carol&#8221; went wider to maximize the holidays and a potentially larger crossover audience, but family films &#8220;Coco&#8221; and &#8220;Wonder&#8221; cut into its potential.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>What comes next:<\/strong> <\/em>This should hold on through some possible holiday dates.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bombshell: The Heddy Lamarr Story <\/strong>(Zeitgeist\/Kino Lorber)\u00a0&#8211;\u00a0 Metacritic: 56; Festivals include: Toronto 2017<\/p>\n<p>$18,742 in 1 theater; PTA: $18,742<\/p>\n<p>This documentary about this legendary brilliant actress scored an outstanding first weekend at New York&#8217;s IFC Center. An upbeat New York Times review (not yet factored into the Metacritic score) boosted this story about the star&#8217;s work as an inventor of early wireless technology.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>What comes next:<\/strong><\/em> Los Angeles opens at the Nuart of Dec. 8, with other dates including calendar bookings starting this Friday.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1201875261\" style=\"max-width: 790px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1201875261 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/www.indiewire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/roman-j-israel-esq.jpg?w=780\" alt=\"Roman J. Israel, Esq\" width=\"780\" height=\"390\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Denzel Washington as &#8220;Roman J. Israel, Esq.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3><strong>Week Two<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Roman J. Israel, Esq.\u00a0<\/strong>(Sony)<\/p>\n<p>$4,515,000 in 1,669 theaters (+4); PTA: $2,705; Cumulative: $6,274,000<\/p>\n<p>This Denzel Washington vehicle about a crusading Los Angeles lawyer made a quick expansion after its five-day platform debut, with an individual theater average rank far below other recent major expansions, well under the initial take for the actor&#8217;s &#8220;Fences&#8221; last year.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1201878885\" style=\"max-width: 790px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1201878885\" src=\"http:\/\/www.indiewire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/breadwinner_a.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"780\" height=\"328\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">&#8220;The Breadwinner&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>The Breadwinner\u00a0<\/strong>(GKids)<\/p>\n<p>$18,064 in 8 theaters (+5); PTA: $2,258; Cumulative: $44,612<\/p>\n<p>Backed by Angelina Jolie, the latest foreign awards-oriented animated release from niche distributor GKids showed a minor response in its second-week expansion to new cities. These numbers don&#8217;t include a strong $11,000 opening via another distributor in Toronto.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1201869377\" style=\"max-width: 790px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1201869377 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/www.indiewire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/three-billboards-outside-ebbing-missouri.jpg?w=780\" alt=\"\" width=\"780\" height=\"390\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Frances McDormand in &#8220;Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3><strong>Ongoing\/expanding\u00a0<\/strong>(Grosses over $50,000)<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri\u00a0<\/strong>(Fox Searchlight) Week 3<\/p>\n<p>$4,400,000 in 614 theaters (+541); Cumulative: $7,624,000<\/p>\n<p>Martin McDonagh&#8217;s unique take on small-town U.S. life continues to show major initial appeal. Its big third week expansion saw good results despite competition from other older-audience films. It&#8217;s one of the top multi-hundred theater specialized results of the year, perfectly timed to maximize its likely awards attention. It will take more weeks to assess its potential crossover appeal (for now &#8220;The Big Sick&#8221; at $42 million is the top performer among specialized wider films), but so far everything has broken right.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1201900443\" style=\"max-width: 1840px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1201900443 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.indiewire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/screen-shot-2017-11-22-at-3-42-22-pm.png\" alt=\"Beanie feldstein lady bird greta gerwig\" width=\"1830\" height=\"1218\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">&#8220;Lady Bird&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"image-credit\">A24<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lady Bird\u00a0<\/strong>(A24) Week 4<\/p>\n<p>$4,042,000 in 791 theaters (+553); Cumulative: $10,703,000<\/p>\n<p>With a major jump in theaters, Greta Gerwig&#8217;s hit comedy doubled its total over the five-day holiday. It&#8217;s sharing specialized\/upscale attention with &#8220;Three Billboards,&#8221; which performed better in fewer theaters this weekend. Both are doing well, with the one-week earlier &#8220;Lady Bird&#8221; bigger so far. Early award nods will help this sustain a lengthy run through the holidays and beyond.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1201884428\" style=\"max-width: 790px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1201884428 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/www.indiewire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/the-florida-project-tfp_domestic_lp_20170823-00_41_21_23_still002_rgb-e1507297714127.jpg?w=780\" alt=\"&quot;The Florida Project&quot;\" width=\"780\" height=\"484\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">&#8220;The Florida Project&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"image-credit\">A24<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Florida Project\u00a0<\/strong>(A24) Week 8<\/p>\n<p>$298,745 in 164 theaters (-53); Cumulative: $4,744,000<\/p>\n<p>The holiday boosted Sean Baker&#8217;s acclaimed independent film with a gross nearly equal to last weekend despite a drop in theaters.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Loving Vincent\u00a0<\/strong>(Good Deed) Week 10<\/p>\n<p>$263,123 in 147 theaters (-65); Cumulative: $5,148,000<\/p>\n<p>The unexpected animated sleeper based on Van Gogh&#8217;s work continues to thrive in its tenth week.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Last Flag Flying\u00a0<\/strong>(Lionsgate) Week 4<\/p>\n<p>$185,000 in 98 theaters (+39); Cumulative: $679,792<\/p>\n<p>Richard Linklater&#8217;s latest via Amazon expanded again, though still not wide, with continued modest results.<\/p>\n<p><strong>My Friend Dahmer\u00a0<\/strong>(FilmRise) Week 4<\/p>\n<p>$155,000 in 75 theaters (no change); Cumulative: $742,113<\/p>\n<p>The gross remained steady for this graphic novel adaptation about the serial killer. That&#8217;s a good sign for this still limited release that could find wider interest, particularly among younger audiences.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Victoria &amp; Abdul\u00a0<\/strong>(Focus) Week 10<\/p>\n<p>$118,000 in 144 theaters (-113); Cumulative: $21,907,000<\/p>\n<p>As Focus puts its spotlight on &#8220;Darkest Hour,&#8221; their earlier British biopic success is winding up its run with a terrific total.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1201892737\" style=\"max-width: 778px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1201892737 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/www.indiewire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/27thesquare1-master768-v2.jpg?w=768\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"432\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">&#8220;The Square&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>The Square\u00a0<\/strong>(Magnolia) Week 5<\/p>\n<p>$(est.) 100,000 in 51 theaters (-12); Cumulative: $(est.) 780,000<\/p>\n<p>The Swedish Cannes Palme D&#8217;Or winner continues to show interest ahead of most recent subtitled releases.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Noviatiate\u00a0<\/strong>(Sony Pictures Classics) Week 5<\/p>\n<p>$76,526 in 118 theaters (+57); Cumulative: $367,707<\/p>\n<p>This Sundance dramatic competition feature hasn&#8217;t clicked with audiences, only attracting a handful of ticket buyers in its expansion.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1201876512\" style=\"max-width: 790px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1201876512 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/www.indiewire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/djhw76hxgaad87i.jpg?w=780\" alt=\"\" width=\"780\" height=\"390\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">&#8220;Jane&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Jane\u00a0<\/strong>(Abramorama\/National Geographic) Week 6<\/p>\n<p>$83,337 in 51 theaters (-33); Cumulative: $1,168,000<\/p>\n<p>This leading Oscar documentary contender continues to do steady business ahead of all but a handful in the genre this year.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Killing of a Sacred Deer\u00a0<\/strong>(A24) Week 6<\/p>\n<p>$65,278 in 59 theaters (-161); Cumulative: $2,111,000<\/p>\n<p>Yorgos Lathimos&#8217; second English language feature will far short of his earlier &#8220;The Lobster,&#8221; which totaled a surprising domestic $9 million.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"pmc-related-link read-more\">\n\t\t\t<strong class=\"pmc-related-type\">Read More:<\/strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.indiewire.com\/2017\/11\/lady-bird-saoirse-ronan-authentic-female-character-1201895349\/\" title=\"\u2018Lady Bird\u2019: Inside Saoirse Ronan and Greta Gerwig\u2019s Skype Sessions and Rehearsals to Create Their Lovably Lost Heroine\">\u2018Lady Bird\u2019: Inside Saoirse Ronan and Greta Gerwig\u2019s Skype Sessions and Rehearsals to Create Their Lovably Lost Heroine<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<h3>Also noted:<\/h3>\n<p><strong>1945\u00a0<\/strong>(Menemsha) &#8211; $30,110 in 5 theaters; Cumulative: $123,822<\/p>\n<p><strong>Thelma\u00a0<\/strong>(The Orchard) &#8211; $20,993 in 12 theaters; Cumulative: $49,136<\/p>\n<p><strong>Faces\/Places\u00a0<\/strong>(Cohen) &#8211; $13,733 in 10 theaters; Cumulative: $494,485<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tom of Finland\u00a0<\/strong>(Kino Lorber) &#8211; $13,300 in 8 theaters; Cumulative: $206,220<\/p>\n<p><strong class=\"pmc-related-type\">Sign Up:<\/strong><a title=\"Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.\" href=\"http:\/\/indiewire.com\/email\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Source: IndieWire film<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two year-end Oscar contenders, &#8220;Call Me by Your Name&#8221; (Sony Pictures Classics) and &#8220;Darkest Hour&#8221; (Focus Features), opened well over the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":245,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[45],"class_list":["post-2511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-careering"],"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paqOTj-Ev","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/m2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/m2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/m2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/m2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/245"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/m2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/m2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2511\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/m2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/m2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/m2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}