Oscar Nominee ‘Never Look Away’ Solid in Start; ‘Cold War’ Gets Nom Boost: Specialty Box Office

Sony Classics’ Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, Never Look Away opened to decently strong numbers over the weekend with an exclusive run at the Paris Theater in New York.

Directed by German filmmaker Florian Henckel von Donnersmark – who also did the Oscar-winning Sony Classics title The Lives of Others in 2007 – Never grossed an estimated three-day $26,270. That tally was easily the best of the weekend’s relatively small number of newcomers. 

Greenwich Entertainment bowed docudrama The Invisibles by Claus Räfle in four locations Friday, grossing $27,000 ($6,750 per theater average). The results were buoyed in part by weekend Q&As with the filmmaker and Holocaust survivor Hanni Lévy, who is played by Alice Dwyer in the film.

Kino Lorber Films launched Jean-Luc Godard’s The Image Book, which received an honorary Palme d’Or at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, taking in $15,200 in three locations ($5,066 PTA).

Among holdovers, Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures sci-fi thriller Replicas with Keanu Reeves crossed $4M in its third weekend, though it grossed a slow $42K in 84 theaters Friday to Sunday, averaging $500.

SPC added 641 runs vs. the previous weekend for Stan & Ollie in its fifth weekend in theaters, bringing the title’s total to 725. Starring John C. Reilly and Steve Coogan, the film grossed $1.29M, averaging $1,786.

Bollywood release Simmba from Reliance Entertainment went over $5M in its fifth outing in North America, grossing $44,433 in 30 locations Friday to Sunday, averaging $1,481.

Polish-born filmmaker Pawel Pawlikowski’s Oscar nominated Cold War went well into seven figures following a weekend expansion. The Amazon Studios release grossed $571,650 in 111 theaters in the three-day, averaging a solid $5,150 brining its six week cume to over $26.12M.

And with ten nominations including Best Picture and Best Director, Searchlight’s The Favourite continues to roll on in its tenth weekend in theaters. In over fifteen hundred locations, the film by Yorgos Lanthimos grossed $2.56M ($1,662 PTA) bringing its total to over $26.12M.

NEW RELEASES

The Image Book (Kino Lorber) NEW [3 Theaters] Weekend $15,200, Average $5,066

The Invisibles (Greenwich Entertainment) NEW [4 Theaters] Weekend $27,000, Average $6,750

Never Look Away (Sony Pictures Classics) NEW [1 Theater] Weekend $26,270, Cume $30,806 (includes qualifying run)

HOLDOVERS / THIRD+ WEEKENDS

Perfectos Desconocido (Lionsgate) Week 3 [66 Theaters] Weekend $73,530, Average $1,114, Cume $897,718

Replicas (Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures) Week 3 [84 Theaters] Weekend $42,000, Average $500, Cume $4,000,122

Destroyer (Annapurna Pictures) Week 5 [77 Theaters] Weekend $191,597, Average $2,488, Cume $910,000

On The Basis Of Sex (Focus Features/Participant) Week 5 [1,272 Theaters] Weekend $2,089,000, Average $1,642, Cume $21,063,000

Simmba (Reliance Entertainment) Week 5 [30 Theaters] Weekend $44,433, Average $1,481, Cume $5,073,646

Stan & Ollie (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 5 [725 Theaters] Weekend $1,294,938, Average $1,786, Cume $2,218,006

Cold War (Amazon Studios) Week 6 [111 Theaters] Weekend $571,650, Average $5,150, Cume $1,443,988

Capernaum (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 7 [20 Theaters] Weekend $51,671, Average $2,584, Cume $381,007

If Beale Street Could Talk (Annapurna Pictures) Week 7 [606 Theaters] Weekend $1,261,240, Average $2,081, Cume $12,766,000

Ben Is Back (LD Entertainment/Roadside Attractions/Lionsgate) Week 8 [52 Theaters] Weekend $26,100, Average $501, Cume $3,636,971

Mary Queen of Scots (Focus Features) Week 8 [127 Theaters] Weekend $126,000, Average $989, Cume $16,411,000

The Favourite (Fox Searchlight) Week 10 [1,540 Theaters] Weekend $2,560,000, Average $1,662, Cume $26,127,164

The World Before Your Feet (Greenwich Entertainment) Week 10 [11 Theaters] Weekend $8,795, Average $800, Cume $198,428

Free Solo (National Geographic Documentary Film/Greenwich Entertainment) Week 18 [101 Theaters] Weekend $212,540, Average $2,104, Cume $13,486,139

The Wife (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 24 [105 Theaters] Weekend $120,942, Average $1,152, Cume $8,706,510

BlacKkKlansman (Focus Features) Week 25 [171 Theaters] Weekend $108,000, Average $632, Cume $48,635,000