Movies of Belfast at drive my car, from The worst person in the world at alley of nightmares saw ticket sales surge after Oscar nominations and as distributors kick into high gear for this weekend and beyond, juggling theater counts and ramping up media campaigns that now have a shiny new imprimatur.
For neon lights The worst person in the world, “TV, digital, radio and print are all kicking into high gear as an academy campaign facing consumers, highlighting the film’s double Oscar nomination, some of the year’s best reviews and strong, buzzing word of mouth,” said head of distribution Elissa Federoff. “It’s always a gamble to open so late in Oscar season, but when it works, it really works.” The Norwegian film nominated for the best international feature film by Joachim Trier in week 2.
New Specialty Releases This Weekend – Johnny Depp-starring Minamata by Samuel Goldwyn The sky is everywhere Apple and A24, Magnolia’s Indemnity and IFC Just catch it among others (details below) — will be vying for space in a crowded arena in the near future.
Among Best Picture nominees, Searchlight’s alley of nightmares jumped 83% from Monday to Tuesday. Belfast of Focus doubled its revenues in one day, just like those of Janus/Sideshow drive my car – which rose another 50% on Wednesday and passed the million dollar mark on Thursday. Neon saw bumps for international feature film nominees The worst person in the world and To flee, which is also up for Best Documentary.
Belfast, which went from $22,000 to $44,000 at 390 theaters jumps to 927 this weekend. “Over the next two weeks, we’re going to have some ups and downs,” said Focus distribution chief Lisa Bunnell. “When The Batman opens [March 4] everyone will lose screens and you’ll go down to your main arthouse theaters. But we’ll try to stick to around 300-500 theaters until the Oscars on March 27.
alley of nightmares is playing in over 400 venues and will be adding more tracks over the next two weeks. Guillermo del Toro’s remake, which hit theaters on December 17, had something of a re-release in late January with over 1,100 prints of a black-and-white version which likely helped push it towards the nomination.
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Nominated for Best Searchlights Documentary soul summer Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Couldn’t Be Televised), out of theaters since late August, reappears in six locations this weekend, including Los Angeles, Manhattan, Marin County and Oakland, and adds 25 next week. Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s film began streaming on Hulu alongside its theatrical release in July. Disney-owned sister company ABC plans to air the documentary in prime time on Sunday, February 20.
Ryusuke Hamaguchidrive my car from Janus Films and Sideshow adds 40 new screens to 127 series. This will expand to another 60-100 theaters next weekend and go from there. “There’s always a barrier to entry with a foreign film, and it’s a three-hour foreign film…but every week it seems that barrier gets smaller and smaller,” a rep said. by Janus/Sideshow. This includes curiosity seekers around a film with less name recognition than other Best Picture nominees.
Distributors are cautiously optimistic that the Covid setback will begin to attract older specialist audiences to theatres. But in the meantime, they lament the Super Bowl Sunday eat in the post-nomination buzz – even drive my car.
“I think the Venn diagram of people choosing between the Super Bowl and a three-hour Japanese movie has more overlap than people realize. But the good news is that we have Friday and Saturday“, said the representative of Janus / Sideshow.
The worst person in the world expands into the top 15 markets with 44 races. It expands to more than 200 screens February 18and wider February 25.
by Danish director Jonas Poer Rasmussen To flee, in its 11th week of theatrical release, holds 66 screens this weekend, while also being available on all VOD and Hulu platforms. “We started earlier with this version and wanted it to be available everywhere and accessible when the nomination vote started,” Neon’s Federoff said.
Across the industry, enhanced campaigns span from Letterboxd and social media, to traditional media, movie chain loyalty programs and working with major exhibitors on special Oscar presentations.
Also, from Netflix, Jane Campion’s Best Picture nominee (and overall Oscars leader with 12 names) The power of the dog expands from 46 to around 200 theaters, the film’s widest domestic release to date. by Adam McKay Don’t look up is on 30 screens, Lin-Manuel Miranda tick, tick… BOOM! on the 25th, at Paolo Sorrentino’s God’s hand and Maggie Gyllenhaal The lost girl both out of 10. Netflix does not bring in revenue.
(The streamer jeen-yuhs: a Kanye trilogyPart I, was in over 1,100 theaters Thursday.)
by Joel Cohen Macbeth’s Tragedy from A24 and Apple, still in an early theatrical release, will play around 70 theaters this weekend. No word on return Coda, released in August. Apple also does not report revenue.
UAR/MGM Licorice Pizza made the biggest jump from 786 to 2,000 races in week 12. West Side Story jumps from 800 to 1,500 strokes. Dunes heads at 500 from 300.
Academy members begin final voting on March 17 and end on March 22. The Oscars are March 27.
As for the new specialty releases this weekend, here we go:
The sky is everywhere by Josephine Decker of Apple and A24, in 25 locations and on Apple TV+. Based on the novel by New York Times bestselling author Jandy Nelson. Nestled among the magical redwoods of Northern California, 17-year-old Lennie Walker, a radiant musical prodigy, struggles with overwhelming grief over the sudden loss of his older sister.
Minamata by Samuel Goldwyn, directed by Andrew Lasker, in 27 theaters. Johnny Depp plays Eugene Smith in a true story of the famed photojournalist on one last mission to Life magazine to travel to Japan and expose decades of corporate misdeeds by a major chemical company. Based on the book by Aileen Mioko Smith and Eugene Smith.
Just catch it of IFC Films in 31 screens. By Josef Kubota Wladyka, EP Darren Aronofsky with nomadland producer Molly Asher. A former boxer launches the fight of her life when she goes in search of her missing sister. With professional boxer Kali Reis, the first Native American fighter to win the International Boxing Association Middleweight Crown.
Indemnity of Magnet Release. Written and directed by Travis Taute. Thriller with Jarrid Geduld, Gail Mabalane and Andre Jacob. A former Cape Town firefighter’s world is rocked when he wakes up next to his wife’s corpse with no memory of what happened and all the evidence points to him as the killer.
here before by Saban Films. By Stacy Gregg with Andrea Riseborough (black mirror) as a distraught mother, haunted by the death of her young daughter, who develops an all-consuming obsession with the neighbor’s daughter whom she believes to be the reincarnation of her child.
Playground cinematic movement. Writer-director Laura Wandel’s feature debut shows the everyday reality of elementary school from a child’s perspective as an obstacle course of degradation and abuse. An extraordinary performance by seven-year-old Maya Vanderbeque in the French entry from Belgium was shortlisted for Best International Feature. Premiere in Cannes. Deadline review here.
Fabian: Going to the Dogs by Kino Lorber. History/drama. Directed by Dominik Graf, written by Dominik Graf and Constantin Lieb. With Tom Schilling, Albrecht Schuch, Saskia Rosendahl
Alioscha Stadelmann. In 1931 Berlin, Jakob Fabian works in the advertising department of a cigarette factory by day and wanders through bars, brothels and artists’ studios with his wealthy and debauched friend Labude by night in this adaptation of the classic novel by Weimar literature by Erich Kästner. Premiere at the Berlin Film Festival.
A week in paradise from Screen Media. Comedy with Malin Akerman, Connie Nielsen, Philip Winchester and Jack Donnelly. Directed by Philippe Martinez. Maggie (Akerman) is a London-based international film star whose world falls apart when her director husband is denounced by paparazzi as having a baby with his new leading wife. Seeking solace and healing, she escapes to the Caribbean to stay at her expat cousin’s charming boutique hotel in Nevis.
