Michael Haneke’s “Amour” cashes in at indie box office

PanARMENIAN.Net - Michael Haneke’s French import “Amour” which last week earned five Oscar nominations including Best Picture, cashed in at the box office this weekend, TheWrap reported.

Sony Pictures Classics expanded “Amour” from three to 15 screens and took in $270,575, a strong $18,038 per-location average.

The plan is to expand "Amour" into 40 theaters next weekend and into around 200 by the end of the month, Sony Pictures Classics told TheWrap.

The inclusion of “Amour” on the Best Picture list was a surprise. A foreign film finalist too, it is one of a handful of non-English-language films ever nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. It’s a unflinching look at old age, and stars Emmanuelle Riva and Jean-Louis Trintignant as a loving Parisian couple whose world is shattered by the wife's serious illness.

The Weinstein Company's "Quartet," Dustin Hoffman’s directing debut starring Maggie Smith, was the only specialty opening of the week. It debuted on two screens and brought in $50,033, or $25,017 per theater in its first outing.

Summit Entertainment expanded its tsunami survival saga "The Impossible" from 572 theaters to 808 and took in $2.5 million. Its overall gross after four weeks in release in the U.S. is $6.8 million, but it has grossed more than $89 million overseas, including $53 million from Spain.