UPDATED at 11:15AM PT with more numbers and analysis. Roadside Attractions opened Sally Potter’s black-and-white dramedy The Party in three locations Friday, taking in $36,344 and recording the second-highest per theater average of the weekend.
The feature topped a sizable number of limited-release newcomers this weekend, including three titles rolled out in time for Friday’s Chinese New Year. Warner Bros.’ Detective Chinatown 2 is tracking to be the best of the trio, ahead of Lionsgate’s Monster Hunt 2 and Well Go USA’s Monkey King 3.
The Detective Chinatown sequel will pull in $800K over the four-day President’s Day weekend in 115 theaters, Warners projects. Elsewhere on the specialty scene, Sony Classics opened Loveless, the Russian nominee for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev, in three New York and L.A. sites, taking in $30,950. Cohen Media Group’s French erotic romance Double Lover went comparatively slower, opening with 48 runs and grossing just over $69K from Friday to Sunday for an average of $1,442.
The Party stars Timothy Spall, Kristin Scott Thomas, Patricia Clarkson, Bruno Ganz, Cherry Jones, Emily Mortimer and Cillian Murphy and is set at a house party. Roadside credited positive reviews and strong performances for helping to propel the title.
“We’re very pleased with the opening numbers and some very good reviews, with 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, that have praised both Sally Potter’s cleverness and topicality as well as Patty Clarkson’s hilarious performance,” Roadside co-president Howard Cohen told Deadline. He added that the feature will head to the top 10 markets February 23 and the top 25 markets on the next two weekends after that.
Friday saw the roll-out of three Mandarin-language titles timed for Chinese New Year. Sicheng Chen’s Detective Chinatown 2 averaged $5,887 in its first three days. Lionsgate’s Monster Hunt 2 took in $335K ($4,855 average) Friday to Sunday. Well Go USA did not report numbers on Sunday for Monkey King 3, though one industry estimate had it at $91K in 34 locations in the three-day, which would put it with a $2,676 average.
“We’re thrilled with that result,” said Warner Bros.’ Jeff Goldstein, who added that the studio had actually expected it to land second among the three. DC2 opened with a $154M gross in China. Stateside, Warner Bros. opened the film in specific markets targeted to Chinese-language audiences.
The company said it had customized a campaign to “reach Chinese-speaking millennial moviegoers specifically in the United States,” adding: “We implemented an integrated strategy that incorporated elements of grassroots marketing, influencer engagement and digital. With more than 329,000 Chinese studying in the U.S. being the core demo for the film, we hyper-targeted colleges with high concentrations of students from China. Given their age and the blockbuster status of the first Detective Chinatown in China, it was very likely that this audience was aware of the sequel.”
Sony Classics’ Loveless proved somewhat slower in its debut than the distributor’s other foreign-language nominee, A Fantastic Woman. The Chilean Oscar nominee bowed in five locations at the beginning of this month, grossing $64,241 with a $12,848 average. This weekend, SPC added nine runs for A Fantastic Woman, which grossed $86,419 ($2,980 PTA) in 29 theaters, bringing its three-week cume to $360,620.
“It comes into the marketplace with many accolades,” said SPC co-president Michael Barker of Loveless earlier this week. Along with being a Golden Globe-nominee, Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Loveless won the Grand Jury Prize in Cannes last May. The film is also up for a BAFTA this evening in London.
Other openers included Bleecker Street’s Nostalgia, directed by Mark Pellington, which it estimated at $27,054 from 3 locations over the extended holiday weekend, for a $9,018 average. The company said Sunday it will take the title to 11 markets next Friday, with a national presence for the title set for its fourth weekend of release.
FilmRise’s The Boy Downstairs, meanwhile, is looking up at $6K from one theater in its first three days.
Pantelion/Lionsgate kept its bilingual rom-com La Boda de Valentina in 331 theaters for its second frame. From Friday to Sunday, it is estimated at $515K, averaging $1,556 (-64%) and bringing its cume to $2.056M. In its opener, the title grossed $1.125M, averaging $3,399.
Sony’s India-produced feature Pad Man has cured over $1.32M in its two weeks in North America. The title also maintained its original number of runs. Its three-day estimate is $330K in 152 theaters, averaging $2,171 (-57%). Pad Man launched with a $760K gross last weekend, averaging $5K.
SPC jumped Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool from 39 theaters to 107, marking its second month in theaters. The title starring Annette Bening and Jamie Bell grossed $124,520, averaging $1,164. While that’s not exactly gangbusters, it is down only about 22% from its PTA of $1,497 last weekend in far fewer locations. It has cumed nearly $548K.
Major limited release Oscar heavyweights brought down their theater counts over the holiday weekend ahead of the March 4 awards-season climax, after which a lucky few may still be able to see more trophy bounce.
Focus Features shed over two hundred runs for Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread in its ninth frame. In 355 theaters, the title grossed $680K Friday to Sunday, averaging $1,912. The Oscar-nominee took in $1.19M in 558 locations the weekend prior, averaging $2,136. It has cumed over $17.82M.
Neon/30West’s I, Tonya went from 1,088 runs last weekend to 502 over President’s Day weekend — its 11th frame. The feature is estimated to take in just over $1.08M in the four-day, averaging $2,161 and bringing its cume to $27.18M.
Searchlight nearly halved its theater count for multiple Oscar-nominee The Shape of Water
, which is estimated to take $2.08M over the full holiday weekend, averaging $2,179. Last weekend, the title directed by Guillermo del Toro grossed $3M in 1,780 theaters, averaging $1,685. The film has cumed over $53.66M.
SPC’s Call Me By Your Name also played fewer run, going from 475 the weekend prior to 332. The film took in $519K Friday to Sunday, averaging $1,563, a bit of an uptick from a week ago. Call Me grossed over $683 last weekend, averaging $1,439, and has cumed $14.88M.
Focus Features’ Darkest Hourwent from over a thousand runs last weekend to 602, grossing $895K in the three-day estimate, averaging $1,486. Starring Oscar-nominee Gary Oldman, the title took in $1.59M last weekend, averaging $1,522, and has tallied $53.34M overall to date.
Searchlight shed 493 runs on Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri in its 15th frame. In 780 locations, the feature is estimated at $1.87M Friday to Monday, averaging $2,397 and bringing its cume to $48.33M.
A24’s Lady Bird, still taking in crowds in its fourth month of release, played 407 theaters this weekend, grossing an estimated $747,638 in the four-day, averaging $1,837. The Oscar nominee’s 16-weekend cume is now at $46.39M.
NEW RELEASES
The Boy Downstairs (FilmRise) NEW [1 Theater] Weekend $6,000
Detective Chinatown 2(Warner Bros.) NEW [115 Theaters] Weekend $677,000; 4-day: $800,000, Average $5,887; 4-day: $6,956
Double Lover (Cohen Media Group) NEW [48 Theaters] Weekend $69,176, Average $1,442, Cume $82,071 (Wed. Open)
Loveless(Sony Pictures Classics) NEW [3 Theaters] Weekend $30,950, Average $10,317
Monster Hunt 2(Lionsgate) NEW [69 Theaters] Weekend $335,000; 4-day: 390,000, Average $4,855; 4-day: $5,652
Nostalgia(Bleecker Street) NEW [3 Theaters] Weekend $20,667; 4-day: $27,054, Average $6,889; 4-day: $9,018
The Party (Roadside Attractions) NEW [3 Theaters] Weekend $36,344, Average $12,111
RETURNING/SECOND WEEKEND
La Boda de Valentina (Pantelion/Lionsgate) Week 2 [331 Theaters] Weekend $515,000, Average $1,556, Cume $2,056,094
Pad Man (Sony Pictures Releasing International) Week 2 [152 Theaters] Weekend $330,000, Average $2,171, Cume $1,325,810
HOLDOVERS / THIRD+ WEEKENDS
A Fantastic Woman (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 3 [29 Theaters] Weekend $86,419, Average $2,980, Cume $360,620
Forever My Girl (Roadside Attractions) Week 5 [401 Theaters] Weekend $448,620, Average $1,118, Cume $15,705,287
The Insult (Cohen Media Group) Week 6 [43 Theaters] Weekend $82,449, Average $1,917, Cume $584,339
Film Stars Don’t Die In Liverpool (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 8 [107 Theaters] Weekend $124,520, Average $1,164, Cume $547,974
Phantom Thread(Focus Features) Week 9 [355 Theaters] Weekend $680,000, Average $1,912, Cume $17,822,000
I, Tonya (Neon/30West) Week 11 [502 Theaters] Weekend $877,347; 4-day: $1,084,693, Average $1,748; 4-day: $2,161, Cume $27,188,817
The Shape of Water (Fox Searchlight) Week 12 [957 Theaters] Weekend $1,665,000; 4-day: $2,085,000, Average $1,740; 4-day: $2,179 Cume $53,663,714
Call Me By Your Name (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 13 [332 Theaters] Weekend $519,028, Average $1,563, Cume $14,887,688
Darkest Hour (Focus Features) Week 13 [602 Theaters] Weekend $895,000, Average $1,486, Cume $53,342,000
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri(Fox Searchlight) Week 15 [780 Theaters] Weekend $1,500,000; $1,870,000, Average $1,923; 4-day: $2,397, Cume $48,339,506
1945 (Menemsha Films) Week 16 [7 Theaters] Weekend $33,512; 4-day: $41,754, Average $4,787; 4-day: $5,965, Cume $321,186
Lady Bird (A24) Week 16 [407 Theaters] Weekend $605,728; 4-day: $747,638, Average $1,488; 4-day: $1,837, Cume $46,393,803
Faces Places (Cohen Media Group) Week 20 [9 Theaters] Weekend $10,081, Average $1,120, Cume $842,137
[contf] [contfnew] 
Deadline
[contfnewc] [contfnewc]
