As predicted yesterday, Black Swan met and easily exceeded it opening weekend box office estimates to set a new record for Fox Searchlight films in limited release. IndieWire has the hard numbers:
Darren Aronofsky‚Äôs ‚ÄúBlack Swan‚Äù had a massive limited debut this weekend. According to estimates provided by Rentrak earlier today, the film – a psychological thriller about a ballerina (Natalie Portman) competing for the lead role in ‚ÄúSwan Lake‚Äù – grossed a stunning $1,394,265 from just 18 theaters. That made for a $77,459 per-theater-average, which is a new record for distributor Fox Searchlight, topping the likes of ‚ÄúJuno,‚Äù ‚ÄúSlumdog Millionaire,‚Äù ‚ÄúSideways‚Äù and ‚ÄúLittle Miss Sunshine,‚Äù all of which debuted on much fewer screens.
Discussed in the comments earlier, this sets Black Swan as the second-best limited debut of 2010 — right behind The King’s Speech with its $88,000 per screen average. But considering the fact that Black Swan was showing in 8 theaters in New York, Chicago and LA alone, while TKS only opened on 4 screens nationwide, its safe to assume Black Swan would have surpassed The King’s Speech had its venues been as limited to 4.
Contrast with another head-to-head snapshot. Another prominent limited release this week was I Love You Philip Morris (in 6 theaters, 1/3 the number of Black Swan’s screens.)
- Black Swan — $77,000 per screen average
- Philip Morris — $18,000 per screen average
Another comparison: in contrast to Black Swan’s $1.4mil, 127 Hours earned $300,000 its opening weekend in limited release. Even after expanding 22 theaters and then 108 screens, to It took 127 Hours 16 days to earn $1.2mil. Black Swan beat that in 3 days.
As Letterman often says about movies opening in selected cities: “I pray to god your city has been selected.”¬† Black Swan expand to roughly 70 screens next weekend, so check here to see if your city will be among the Chosen Ones on 12/10
- BOSTON
- WASHINGTON, D.C.
- NEW YORK
- PHILADELPHIA/NEW JERSEY
- CHICAGO
- DETROIT
- INDIANAPOLIS
- MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL
- ST. LOUIS
- ATLANTA
- AUSTIN
- HOUSTON
- DENVER
- LOS ANGELES
- PHOENIZ, AX
- SAN DIEGO
- PORTLAND
- SEATTLE/TACOMA
- SAN FRANCISCO