The Place Beyond the Pines an Indie Hit

The Place Beyond the Pines starring Ryan Gosling, Eva Mendes and Bradley Cooper made near $300 thou in just four theaters over the Easter weekend.

The Los Angeles Times’ Nicole Sperling calls director Derek Cianfrance a box office brand with just two films under his belt:

Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper have proven their box-office mettle over the past few years but what about Derek Cianfrance? The indie director, who astonished audiences in 2010 with his debut feature “Blue Valentine” starring Gosling and Michelle Williams, is becoming a box-office brand in his own right.

Despite a mostly muted reaction from the festival crowd, the film is finding an audience due to its good word of mouth.

Cianfrance toiled on the script for ‘Pines’ for five years, writing more than 30 drafts for the film, which runs 140 minutes. He took his actors through a lot of method exercises, requiring Cooper to live with his on-screen wife Rose Byrne in a house for a week as a married couple while Gosling spent six hours a day for two months working with a stuntman to perfect his motorcycle riding skills.