‘Wendy’ Leads Struggling New Releases at Indie Box Office With $30,000 Opening
Benh Zeitlin’s “Wendy” took the lead among indie films struggling to find footing for their limited release openings this weekend, with the grittier take on “Peter Pan” only grossing $30,000 from its four-screen New York/Los Angeles release for a $7,500 average.
It’s a far cry from Zeitlin’s Oscar-nominated “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” which had an opening average of $42,425 in the summer of 2012 and went on to gross $21 million worldwide. Starring Devin France as a girl who follows a reckless boy into a world where time is twisted, “Wendy” premiered at Sundance and received mixed reviews with a 40% Rotten Tomatoes score. It will expand to 10 more cities next weekend.
Sony Pictures Classics’ “Greed” opened this weekend to $28,496 from four screens for an average of $7,124. From the actor-director team of Steve Coogan and Michael Winterbottom, this satire of the fashion world and the ultra-rich has a 59% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
*Also Read:* 'Wendy' Film Review: Benh Zeitlin's Second Film Takes 'Peter Pan' on a Wild Ride
The weakest platform opening was 101 Studios’ “Burden,” which won the audience award at Sundance in 2018. Despite that honor, the film starring Forest Whitaker as a pastor who takes in a reformed former Ku Klux Klan member only received a 50% Rotten Tomatoes score and $20,142 from five screens for a $4,028 average.
The box office was better for holdovers like Focus Features “Emma.,” which expanded to 97 screens this weekend and grossed $1.17 million for a total of $1.47 million. NEON’s “Parasite” is starting to wind down its theatrical run, but still took in $1.5 million this weekend to reach a total of $51.5 million, becoming the fourth non-English film to gross over $50 million in North America. Finally, NEON’s “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” added $730,000 this weekend to bring is total to $2.45 million.
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