Ben Stiller’s “While We’re Young” keeps specialty box-office crown

PanARMENIAN.Net - Noah Baumbach’s While We’re Young kept the specialty box-office crown for a second weekend as it expanded into more than two dozen additional theaters. Most of the big crop of specialty films debuting weekend of April 4-5 opened flat, with the exception of Woman in Gold, which netted a decent $2 million from 258 theaters, Deadline reports.

While We’re Young had the year’s highest opening on a per-theater average last weekend, and is showing it’s no one-trick pony. The A24 opener expanded to 30 new theaters and held the spotlight among its limited-release brethren, easily beating several new releases when it comes to averages. The film grossed nearly $493K in 34 theaters, averaging $14,499. Last weekend, the dramedy that Baumbach joked was his “most accessible” also became his biggest PTA opener, grossing over $242K, averaging $60,538.

The film “ranked near or at the top of every complex it played, and has the highest per screen average of any film without the words Fast and Furious in the title,” A24 said in reporting its numbers. “The film played well in art-houses and commercial complexes, landing in the top 15 on only 34 screens.”

Helen Mirren – already playing Queen Elizabeth II on Broadway in The Audience – hit the big screen over the weekend with Woman In Gold, also starring Ryan Reynolds. After an initial Wednesday opening, the TWC release finished the weekend in 258 theaters, grossing just north of $2M, averaging $7,767. That was good enough to land the film at No. 7 in the overall box office in a weekend completely dominated by Furious 7.

“It’s at the high end of what we were hoping to come in at,” said TWC’s president of Theatrical Distribution Erik Lomis. “The exit polls are spectacular [and] in line with (Oscar winners) The King’s Speech and The Artist. Among the over-35 crowd, 96% [rated it] in the top two with an 88% ‘definite recommend. The 50-plus crowd rated it A-plus [as did] females. And males gave it an ‘A.'”

Lomis said TWC will likely expand the film “more rapidly” than initially planned, going to between 800 to 1,000 theaters.

IFC Films’ romantic drama 5 To 7, starring Anton Yelchin, led the pack of new specialty titles in per-theater averages over the weekend. The feature, which also stars Bérénice Marlohe, bowed in two NYC and LA theaters, and grossed $19,600 for a $9,800 average. IFC Films will continue to expand the title throughout April.