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Faring better with critics were three other indie's in limited release. First up is the Spanish horror film The Orphanage, which had great buzz out of Cannes and earned $315k from 19 theatres for a $16.5k average. Spain has submitted this one for the Foreign Language Oscar, with the hope that the presence of producer Guillermo Del Torro will make it this year's Pan's Labyrinth. Paul Thomas Anderson seems to have a taken a left turn from his more whimsical outings like Punch Drunk Love with the decidedly downbeat There Will Be Blood (Manolha Dargis's review is one of the best-written I've read this year). It brought in $298k from just two theatres for a remarkable $149k average. It's hard to imagine Blood being a breakout hit, but those numbers indicate some intense interest in this film. Finally, the animated French film Persepolis, another favorite in the Foreign Film race, opened in seven theatres and earned $142k for a $20k average. A movie like this is a hit if it crosses $5 million in the states, and I think it's poised to do at least that and maybe more.
And that about wraps it up for this week. Check back next week as the Oscar race heats up and Warner Bros. jumps on the Asian horror remake boat two years too late. Hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday. See you next week.
Comments (3)
To preserve marital harmony I went to see The Great Debaters. I was expecting a simplistic feel-good film, but instead found a moving story that captured life in segregated America as I knew it, and showed the true courage required by African Americans to change the course of this country. If you are relatively young and missed living through this time period then you will find this fine film to be an eye opener.
1 of 3 | Posted by tombo | Posted on January 2, 2008 8:03 PM
Sutter,
Until this minute, I had no idea who wrote "Juno" or what he or she looked like. All I know is that is was one of the funniest, best written movies I have seen in quite a while. Get out and see it for yourself already so you can see why people are so enthusiastic about it, instead of theorizing it could be anything except that it's a really good movie!
2 of 3 | Posted by JasonR | Posted on January 3, 2008 7:05 AM
Glad to hear Great Debaters is worth checking out. It's harder to make a film interesting if the story is familiar, but not impossible (Miracle, a terrific film about the U.S. Olympic hockey team beating Russia in the seventies, springs to mind).
Jason,
I really wasn't trying to criticize Cody; hell, I'm happy for any writer that draws publicity. I'm critical of the media for not paying attention to the other very talented writers. Believe me, Juno's on my list and I'm excited to see it.
3 of 3 | Posted by sutterkane | Posted on January 3, 2008 11:26 AM