A24‘s The Spectacular Now brought zest to the Specialty Box Office in the dog days of summer, opening with a $50K-plus average in 4 locations.
The film bowed to sell-out crowds and clearly is a hit with audiences in its debut, giving it one of summer’s best opening numbers and trumping the more talked about The Canyons in theaters. That film, which had what amounts to a media blitz for a title almost nobody had even seen, opened at IFC Center,grossing $15,200 theatrically (it also opened on other platforms). The Artist And The Model bowed in two runs, grossing nearly $17K, while Europa Report and Our Children opened to slighter numbers. And Woody Allen‘s Blue Jasmine moved into 50 theaters its second weekend, grossing over $2million and a cool $40K-plus average. Sony Classics noted that that it out-performed box office star Midnight In Paris in its second weekend, even though it was on 8 fewer screens. Also hitting a milestone, Roadside/Lionsgate’s Mud is now atop the 2013 Specialty Box Office pecking order edging out The Place Beyond The Pines which sat atop the Specialty b.o. numbers this year. Both films grossed over $21.4 million in theaters.
A24 kept things understated, only keeping to the facts Sunday when it reported the figures: “Since its Sundance premiere, [The Spectacular Now] has been building momentum and gaining both critical and audience acclaim. Most of this weekend’s audience was under 35 and word of mouth (both online and offline) was terrific. We look forward to continuing to propel that word of mouth as we will look to expand nationwide in August and September.”
