Neon opened its sixth consecutive Palme d’Or at Cannes It was just an accident by Iranian director Jafar Panahi to a $68,000 weekend on three screens. That’s $115,000 over five days after debuting Wednesday at Film at Lincoln Center and Film Forum in New York, as well as AMC Century City in Los Angeles. The distributor has since been among the biggest winners of the Cannes awards Parasite in 2019, followed by Titanium (2021), Triangle of sadness (2022), Anatomy of a fall (2023) and Anora last year.
Panahi, who has been imprisoned several times in Iran, is in the United States for the first time in two decades for the opening, doing a question-and-answer series. He was banned from traveling abroad for years and had to secretly shoot this darkly comic film, the subject of a candid conversation with Martin Scorsese at the New York Film Festival where It was just an accident projected.
Although each film is unique, requiring a nuanced campaign and release strategy, Neon has mostly opened its Cannes winners in the same time frame and has captioned U.S. releases like Triangle of sadness And Anatomy of a fall a slow rollout, a model it will follow with It was just an accident reviewed recently. Neon also sees Sony Pictures Classics awards opening magnet I’m still here by Walter Salles last year as a nice comparison.
The Cannes prize means something special and quickly creates a target audience. Neon is looking for a snowball effect with strong press and word of mouth as the season picks up. Accident will add some more shooting in Los Angeles and open in San Francisco and a few other markets next week, but it’s keeping a small footprint, trusting awards buzz to help build a long tail for a film that’s not just a Best Picture and Best Director hopeful as well as an international feature.
New independent openings by gross (the number of screens varies considerably): the latest from Angel Studios, Truth and betrayalit was no. 6 this weekend in about 2,100 theaters with $2.7 million for the World War II drama.
Viva opened an animated family adventure Pets on a train in 1,300 locations at $814,000.
The Met: Live in HDBellini’s transmission The Sonnabula grossed an estimated $626,000 from approximately 800 screens for its one-woman Saturday show, ranking No. 9 for the day. Presented by Fathom Entertainment and the Met.
Opening of Prathyangira cinemas Dude in 275 locations for a debut of $600.1K, according to Comscore. Stars Pradeep Ranganathan.
The brain by Mubi opened in 5 theaters to $104,000 for a PTA of $20.8,000. The drama starring Josh O’Connor represents a first step in the career of director Kelly Reichardt.
Ethan Hawke with King me from Sony Pictures Classics grossed $67,000 from five screens.
Damn my son de Cartuna, an Expands to the Alamo Drafthouse Downtown LA next weekend, with a theatrical roadshow opening in a new city each week. Cartuna says it’s booked until early February.
By keeping this film showing in theaters as long as possible, “we’re working to build an audience gradually,” said director Todd Rohal (Uncle Kent 2). “Fortunately, movie theaters like the IFC Center have a history of midnight programming dating back to the Waverly’s heyday and can see the risk-reward benefit of showing a film that is as original as possible. Damn my son!
Reservations: Amazon MGM After the hunt starring Julia Roberts grossed $1.56 million during a Week 2 expansion in 1,238 locations for an estimated $1.77 million.
the IFCs Good boy added $555,000 in Week 3 from 1,020 theaters for a gross of $6.1 million.
Jennifer Lopez with Kiss of the Spider Woman from Roadside Attractions is estimated to gross $181.9K from 740 screens in Week 2 grossing $1.44M.
That of Mary Bronstein If I had legs I’d kick you from A24, starring Rose Byrne, grossed $171.5 from 25 screens in a Week 2 expansion grossing $301.8K.
