Box Office: “Adam” Leads Box Office Estimates, “Cove and “Thirst” Next

A scene from Max Mayer's "Adam," which opened this weekend in theaters. Photo courtesy Fox Searchlight.

“Adam,” which Fox Searchlight opened on four screens this weekend, earned $66,265 for an average of $16,566, leading the roster of limited release films, according to estimates from Rentrak today. The film, directed by Max Mayer, opened last Wednesday and has earned $94,776 so far. Meanwhile, also from Searchlight, Marc Webb’s “500 Days of Summer” pulled in an estimated $2.75 million in its third weekend in release. The film, the company’s other Sundance acquisition, had a $10,338 average on 266 screens. It has grossed an estimated $6.8 million so far.

“The Cove,” Louie Psihoyos’s documentary, debuted to an estimated $55,500 on four screens this weekend. That gives the Roadside Attractions release an estimated $13,875 per screen. By comparison, Magnolia Pictures’ “Food, Inc”—also being released with the support of Participant Productions—earned $60,513 on three screens (for $20,171 average) when it opened back in mid-June. That film passed the $3 million mark over the weekend.

Roadside co-president Howard Cohen called the launch of “The Cove,” “a good start,” in a statement to indieWIRE today. “Reviews were excellent, and numbers are promising,” he added, “We know from all the Audience Awards that people love the film once they see it,  so we hope to build from here.  We open top 25 markets next weekend.” The company’s Dennis O’Connor said that the opening numbers should give the movie, “the necessary momentum to become one of the breakout docs at the box office this year and its sucess is a credit to the hardwork of the filmakers, the Roadside team and our partners at Participant.”

Among other weekend opener estimates, Park Chan-wook’s “Thirst” from Focus matched the per screen average of “The Cove.” It made $55,173, also on four sceens for an estimated average of $13,793.

Commenting on “Food, Inc.” hitting the $3 million mark, Magnolia’s Eamonn Bowles said that the release has been “a great ride so far.” He added, in the statement to indieWIRE, “And we’ve still got a ways to go. It’s been a difficult road for docs recently, especially social issue ones, so the success of ‘Food, Inc.’ has beem especially gratifying.”

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The Dardenne Brothers’ “Lorna’s Silence” from Sony Pictures Classics earned an estimated $36,219 on six screens for a $6,036 average, “Flame & Citron” from IFC Films earned $13,620 on a pair of screens for an estimated average of $6,810. Meanwhile, IFC’s release of “In The Loop” earned an estimated $308,945 on 35 screens. It’s average was $8,827 and the film will expand to the top 25 markets this weekend. It has earned $589,535, so far. In its sixth weekend in theaters, Kathryn Bigelow’s “The Hurt Locker” is approaching the $7 million mark. The Summit release earned an estimated $1.9 million on 523 screens for an average of $3,654. It has earned an estimated total of $6,757,165 this summer. posted on August 2, 2009 |Share