“Austenland” comedy tops Sundance Film Fest openers trio

PanARMENIAN.Net - “Austenland” directed and co-written by Jerusha Hess, had the best debut of the three movies from the Sundance Film Festival that opened at the specialty box office this weekend, TheWrap said.

The Sony Classics film, which stars Keri Russell as a Jane Austen-obsessed woman who heads to a resort celebrating the author, brought in $42,633 for four theaters for a $10,658 average.

That was a little better than IFC Films’ David Lowery’s “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints.” The Western romance, which stars Casey Affeck, Rooney Mara and Ben Foster, rustled up $28,800 from three theaters for a $9,600 per-screen average. Lowery wrote and directed.

The documentary “Cutie and the Boxer” – about the chaotic 40-year marriage of famed boxing painter Ushio Shinohara and his wife, Noriko – brought in $21,093 from three theaters for a $7,031 per-screen average for the Weinstein Company’s specialty label Radius.

Radius received some more good box-office news. Its “20 Feet From Stardom,” an examination of rock backup singers that was released June 14, became the year’s first documentary to cross the $4 million mark.

Woody Allen's “Blue Jasmine” expanded from 119 to 229 theaters in its fourth week and grossed $2.35 million for a very solid $10,303 per-screen average.

The Sony Pictures Classics drama stars Cate Blanchett and features an ensemble cast that includes Alec Baldwin, Andrew Dice Clay, Sally Hawkins, Louis C.K., Tammy Blanchard and Bobby Cannavale.

It could become Allen’s highest-grossing film ever, ahead of 2011’s Best Picture Oscar nominee “Midnight in Paris.” Next week’s nationwide expansion will put its chances of topping it in better perspective.