Timothee Chalamet brings younger viewers to Bones and All Box Office

‘The Fabelmans’ (Universal) and ‘Bones and All’ (United Artists), two very different films set to platform runs in New York and Los Angeles, are being broadened this Wednesday after respectable debuts.

Luca Guadagnino’s cannibal love story, starring Timothée Chalamet, opened in five theaters for approximately $120,000 ($23,985 per theater) and, as expected, drew an overwhelming under-35 audience. This hard-to-sell story got the start UA expected.

This is a difficult title to compare, but it does have some overlap with titles in the A24 genre. Most recently, Bodies Bodies Bodies opened in six theaters last August for $226,000 ($38,000 each) with a more conventional horror audience appeal.

This expands to over 2,500 cinemas on Wednesday. Regardless of the results, this will likely find post-theatrical interest.

“The Fable Men”

Merie Weismiller Wallace / Courtesy of Universal Pictures

Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans (Universal) dropped about 40 percent in its first four theaters (all also showing Bones) in its second weekend. Today, distributors rely on these platforms to at least increase awareness ahead of a wider game. This is slowing down than Bones as around 600 upscale theaters were added on Wednesday, suggesting Universal expects long-term word of mouth. The film continues to face difficulties in getting older viewers out of their homes, particularly given the ongoing expectation of PVOD (reinforced by films like Ficus Features’ “TÁR”).

The precedent for this is Universal’s Green Book. Although slightly wider in both early stages, it expanded to 1,063 theaters over Thanksgiving and grossed $7.9 million for the five-day holiday. It went on to Oscar fame, of course, as well as a domestic gross of $85 million.

“The Inspection”

A24

Among the new platform films, two other releases stood out. “The Inspection” (A24), about a gay black man’s experience when he joins the Marines, grossed $65,000 from five locations in New York/Los Angeles. It’s quickly moving to 30 markets this week.

Master director Jerzy Skolimowski’s Cannes-winning EO, starring an enigmatic donkey, grossed a respectable $24,000 at two New York theaters. This film is likely to gain longer-term acclaim (including awards shows) as it slowly comes out, with the next premiere on December 2nd in Los Angeles.

Opening films not yet reported include Love, Charlie: The Rise and Fall of Chef Charlie Trotter (Greenwich) and Bad Axe (IFC, also on VOD).

Once again “The Banshees of Inisherin” (Searchlight) has the greatest success, albeit still well below pre-Covid standards. It added $703,000, now at just under $7.2 million. Assuming it can sustain most of its higher-earning theaters, that could still be over $10 million. Director Martin McDonagh’s “Three Billboard Outside Ebbing, Missouri” had grossed $18 million on its way to $54 million despite an extended hiatus and the merits of the Thanksgiving game.

The films are listed by release week, starting with those that opened this week:

bones and all (United Artists) NEW – Metacritic: 76; Festivals include: Venice, Telluride 2022

$119,916 in 5 theaters; PTA: $23,985

EO (Sideshow/Janus) NEW – Metacritic: 80; Festivals include: Cannes, Toronto, New York 2022

$24,000 in 2 theaters; PTA: $12,000

The inspection (A24) NEW – Metacritical: 75; Festivals include: Toronto, New York 2022

$65,942 in 5 theaters; PTA: $13,188

Only in theatres (Wishing Well/Film Collaborative) NEW – Festivals include: Santa Barbara 2022

$6,092 in theaters; PTA: $6,092

memories of my father (Cohen) NEW – Metacritic: 60; Festivals include: San Sebastián 2020

$5,512 in 2 theaters; PTA: $2,756

The Fabelmans (Universal) Week 2

$94,000 in 4 theaters (unchanged); PTA: $23,500; Cumulative: $314,000

meet me in the bathroom (Utopia) – Week 3

$19,464 in 23 (+3) theaters; Cumulative: $274,204

Armageddon period (Focus) Week 4

$51,000 in 169 (-816) theaters; Cumulative: $1,837,000

Holy Spider (Utopia) Week 4

$20,080 in 12 (+4) theaters; Cumulative: $96,738

The Banshees by Inisherin (Searchlight) Week 5

$703,000 in 812 (-148) theaters; Cumulative: $7,167,000

After sun (A24) Week 5

$75,528 in 97 (+5) theaters; Cumulative: $689,183

Anything that breathes (Submarine Deluxe/Sideshow) Week 5 3

$9,078 in 5 (+2) theaters; Cumulative: $43,467

until (United Artists) Week 6

$217,558 in 656 (-702) theaters; Cumulative: $8,547,000

decision to go (MUBI) Week 5

$(est.) 90,000 in 96 (+20) theaters; Cumulative: $(est.) 1,770,000

TAR (Focus) Week 7; also on PVOD

$164,000 in 205 (-154) theaters; Cumulative: $4,900,000

triangle of sadness (neon) week 7

$170,000 in 128 (-175) theaters; Cumulative: $3,816,000

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