noahs arc jumping the broom Tagged Articles at Cinematical

The Halloween weekend scared up frighteningly weak numbers for bigger studio releases. How did independent films fare?

Winners:
1. My Name is Bruce (Image)
2. Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom (Logo)
3. Religulous (Lionsgate)

Let's hear it for Bruuuuce! (Not, not Springsteen.) Ladies and gentlemen, the fabulous Bruce Campbell debuted at the top of the heap among limited releases, with a per-screen average of $18,800, according to estimates compiled by Box Office Mojo. Opening at one theater in New York, My Name is Bruce features Campbell as both star and director. Campbell's site lists upcoming screenings and appearances by The Man Himself.

Romantic comedy Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom fared well in its second week of release, making an estimated $14,820 per screen, representing a normal drop of 50%. Are there enough loyal fans of the Logo TV series out there to support a wider release? It will expand to Detroit, Houston, San Francisco, Palm Springs, and Ocean, New Jersey on Friday; the official site has complete theater information.

Now in its fifth week, Religulous continues to draw audiences eager to see Bill Maher's take on organized religion. Earning $1,358 per screen, the film has grossed $11,452,000 so far; it recently became the highest-grossing doc of the year and is among the top 10 highest-grossing docs of all time, according to Docsider.

Not Winners / Indie Horror Scorecard:
1. Dear Zachary (Oscilloscope)
2. Splinter (Magnolia)
3. Eden Lake (Third Rail)

Despite our editor-in-chief's highest recommendation, Dear Zachary only made $2,800 at its single engagement. Perhaps word-of-mouth will build? That's still better than highly-regarded horror pic, Splinter, which managed only $2,200 each at four theaters (per Leonard Klady), or well-reviewed Brit thriller Eden Lake, which got dumped by the Weinsteins onto their loss-leader distribution arm Third Rail Releasing and drew just $550 per screen at 10 theaters.

1. Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom (Logo)
2. Synecdoche, New York (Sony Pictures Classics)
3. Let the Right One In (Magnolia)

How on earth did an unheralded, under-the-radar movie from an untested distribution outfit manage to nearly out-earn a much-advertised period flick starring one of the biggest tabloid stars in the world, directed by one of the most respected? Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom, based on the Logo TV series, opened at theaters in New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago, and Washington DC over the weekend and grossed $32,200 per screen, according to estimates compiled by Box Office Mojo. That puts it just behind Clint Eastwood's Changeling, starring Angelina Jolie. The romantic comedy follows four men and their partners as they travel to Martha's Vineyard and deal with relationship travails. The first release by Logo's film distribution unit, indieWIRE says that Noah's Arc "is already 2008's highest grossing narrative gay film overall."

If a romantic comedy starring gay African Americans sounds like an unlikely box office winner, what about a movie with a nearly unpronounceable title featuring Philip Seymour Hoffman as an aging theater director? Not exactly sexy, I suppose, but Synecdoche, New York nonetheless grossed $19,222 per screen at nine theaters in New York and Los Angeles. I don't think anyone expects this to be a huge box office smash, yet that's a good, strong start for Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut, one of the more intriguing films to be released this fall season.