Roadside Attractions Ends 2016 On A High With $75 Million In Box Office Revenue

Roadside Attractions had a strong 2016 and ended the year on a high. With films such as Hello! My Name Is Doris, Love & Friendship, and Manchester By The Sea, Roadside Attractions ended the year with an estimated $75,674,506 through December 31 in total box office revenue. The innovative theatrical motion picture releasing company’s previous highest grossing year was 2013 when it took in $44.8 million. One of the most consistently successful independent film distribution companies in the industry, Roadside Attractions hit this year’s box-office results by releasing a diverse slate of distinctive films in partnership with blue-chip players in the “smarthouse” business, including Lionsgate, Amazon Studios, and Miramax.

This week “Manchester By The Sea” became the highest grossing film in the company’s history (replacing MUD). Manchester has been recognized by many critics and awards groups and the film has generated nearly $30 million to date.

Roadside Attractions’ 2016 slate included a strong line-up of award-winners led by Kenneth Lonergan’s “Manchester By The Sea,” starring Casey Affleck; “Hello, My Name is Doris,” directed by Michael Showalter and starring Sally Field; “Southside With You,” produced by and starring Tika Sumpter and was the directorial debut of Richard Tanne; Tom Tykwer’s “A Hologram For The King,” starring Tom Hanks; Whit Stillman’s “Love & Friendship,” starring Kate Beckinsale and Chloe Sevigny; and James Schamus’ “Indignation,” starring Logan Lerman, among others. (See full list of titles and box office to date below).

Co-founded by presidents Howard Cohen and Eric d’Arbeloff, in 2016 Roadside Attractions’ films out-grossed the slates of such well-established specialty divisions as Fox Searchlight, TWC, and Sony Classics.

Among the highlights of the year:

Roadside Attractions earned their highest ever opening weekend per screen average with “Manchester By The Sea,” which took in $64,125 per screen – the fourth highest per theater average of any film released this year.
The film has been nominated for 5 Golden Globe Awards, including Best Drama Motion Picture, along with nominations for Best Actor in a Drama (Casey Affleck), Best Supporting Actress (Michelle Williams), Best Screenplay (Lonergan) and Best Director (Lonergan).

“Hello, My Name is Doris,” the most successful acquisition in the history of the SXSW Film Festival, received the 2016 SXSW Headliner Audience Award and was cited by the National Board of Review as one of the top ten independent films of the year.

Manchester by the Sea
$29,891,296 11/18/16
Hello, My Name is Doris
$14,444,999 3/11/16
Love & Friendship
$14,016,568 5/13/16
Southside with You
$6,304,223 8/26/16
A Hologram for the King
$4,212,494 4/22/16
Indignation $3,401,155 7/29/16
Our Kind of Traitor
$3,153,157 7/1/16
Priceless $1,497,245
10/14/16
Genius $1,361,045
6/10/16
Touched with Fire
$146,487 2/12/16
Chi-Raq $82,150 in 2016
$2,653,032 12/4/15

Upcoming films for 2017 from Roadside Attractions include:

“Bitter Harvest “– Feb 24th – is the epic story of two lovers caught in one of the world’s greatest tragedies. Set between the two World Wars and inspired by actual events, “Bitter Harvest” is the first major dramatic film to convey the untold story of the Holodomor, the genocidal famine engineered by Joseph Stalin that killed millions in Ukraine. Shot on location in Ukraine, “Bitter Harvest” evokes a powerful tale of love, honor, rebellion and survival. The film powerfully captures one of the most horrifying crimes of 20th century Europe, when Ukraine was forced to adjust to the brutal territorial ambitions of the burgeoning Soviet Union, an event that still haunts Europe to this day. Starring Max Irons, Samantha Barks, Barry Pepper and Terrence Stamp.

“The Wall” – March 10th – follows two soldiers pinned down by an Iraqi sniper, with nothing but a crumbling wall between them. Their fight becomes as much a battle of will and wits as it is of lethally accurate marksmanship. Directed by Doug Liman (Mr. & Mrs. Smith, “The Bourne Ultimatum,” “Edge of Tomorrow”), “The Wall” stars Aaron Taylor Johnson (“Nocturnal Animals,” Kick-Ass,” “Savages” “Godzilla,” “Avengers: Age of Ultron”) and WWE star John Cena (“Trainwreck,” “Daddy’s Home”), Written by first-time screenwriter Dwain Worrell, “The Wall,” was produced by Amazon Studios.

“Tommy’s Honour” – March 24th – Love, loyalty, betrayal and redemption drive this true story about golf’s founding father and son, set in 19th century Scotland at the birth of modern golf. “Tommy’s Honour” was the opening night film of Edinburgh Film Festival and stars Peter Mullan. The film was directed by Jason Connery.

Acquired after its World Premiere at the 2016 Telluride Film Festival, “The Wedding Plan” is an Israeli romantic comedy about a woman with an elaborate wedding in the works and no groom in sight. Winner of the 2016 Best Screenplay and Best Actress awards from the Israeli Film Academy, the film was directed by Rama Burshtein, whose previous film, “Fill the Void,” was nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards. “The Wedding Plan” will next screen in January at the 2017 Palm Springs International Film Festival.

“Lady Macbeth” – June 2nd – was acquired out of the Toronto International Film Festival in a bidding war. It played in the San Sebastian and London Film Festivals and will be in Sundance in January in the Spotlight section. Directed by London stage veteran William Oldroyd, is an adaptation of Russian writer Nikolai Leskov’s 1865 novella “Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk.” The film stars Florence Pugh (“The Falling”) as a young 19th century bride sold into marriage to a middle-aged man. “Lady Macbeth” was produced by Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly from a sceenplay by Alice Birch. Please take a moment to look at the trailer that was released this week LADY MACBETH TRAILER

UNTITLED Whitney Houston documentary – TBD 2017 – from Oscar-winning director Kevin MacDonald and Miramax comes Whitney Houston’s life story in a telling authorized and embraced by the legend’s estate. Produced by Simon Chinn, an Oscar winner for “Man on Wire” and “Searching for Sugar Man,” his Lightbox Media partner Jonathan Chinn (“Fantastic Lies,” “American High”) and Lisa Erspamer (“Running From Crazy”), the film includes interviews with those closest to Houston, including Clive Davis, founder and president of Arista Records, who discovered the late singer and actress and is acknowledged for bringing her talent to the world.