A24’s The Invite by Olivia Wilde expanded to a limited nationwide footprint of 1,610 locations in week 3 (up from 28 screens) grossing over $5.7 million for a $7.38 million cume and a no. 6 spot at the domestic box office. Wilde stars with Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz and Edward Norton in the comedy that’s Certified Fresh at 96% with critics Rotten Tomatoes, has an 88% audience score and excellent exits. It launched on seven screens June 26 to one of the top per-screen openings of the year.
Solid definite recommend at 69%, 4 1/2 stars and 89% positive.
Angel Studios’ Young Washington (no. 5), Obsession from Focus Features (no. 7) and A24’s Backrooms (no. 10) are other ranked indies this weekend.
Now in week 9, Curry Barker’s Obsession crossed $250 million, making it the fifth highest grossing horror film domestically of all time, as per Focus.
Sony Pictures Classics’ Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass by David Wain, starring Zoey Deutch, debuted to $954k on 1,000 screens.
Holdover Maddie’s Secret from Magnolia Pictures grossed an estimated $150k on 149 screens in week 4 for a $799k cume.
Night Nurse from IFC Films is eyeing an estimated $72k debut on 330 screens.
A pair of Indian films posted nice numbers. Shloka Entertainment’s Telugu romance Lenin by Murali Kishore Abburu opened in 250 theaters to $560k. Shree International’s Bollywood comedy Dhamaal 4 debuted at 387 theaters to a $467k weekend, both as per Rentrak.
Limited openings: Greenwich Entertainment’s Reading Lolita in Tehran opened exclusively at NYC’s Angelika Film Center to an estimated $15k as the top film in the complex for the weekend. The film adaptation of Azar Nafisi’s bestselling memoir stars Goshifteh Farahani with Zar Amir and Mina Kavani. Directed by Eran Riklis from a screenplay by Marjorie David, the Israeli-Italian coproduction represents a unique cultural collaboration with an Israeli filmmaker and Iranian expatriate actors and source material, with Nafisi endorsing the project and participating in the film’s press campaign alongside the filmmaker and cast. The film was shot in Rome, with Cinecittà standing in for Tehran.
Ross McElwee’s Venice-premiering documentary Remake from Music Box Films debuted to $8.5k at Film Forum, landing with a 100% critics’ score on Rotten tomatoes (23 reviews). The distributor has also re-released a restored version of McElwee’s classic Sherman’s March with a projected gross of $9k in week 2 for a $32.9k cume.
“We are thrilled with this opening and proud to bring McElwee’s unique and moving work to theatrical audiences,” Music Box said, noting that Remake is challenging. The film is a “highly personal documentary about a difficult and painful subject (the death of McElwee’s son Adrian from a fentanyl overdose) that also serves as a summation of the filmmaker’s career, revisiting the people and places of his earlier work and reflecting upon the limitations of his methods.” The doc xpands to LA, Chicago and Toronto next weekend.
Jewish summer camp comedy The Floaters from Brainstorm Media also grossed $8.5k on one screen, the Quad in NYC, where it sold out multiple shows. Adds Laemmle Royal and Laemmle Town Center in LA next week then expands throughout July and August. It premiered at Bentonville Film Festival prior to an extensive festival run leading into its theatrical release.
Rerelease The Hole by Tsai Ming-Liang from Big World Pictures opened to $6.8k at Film at Lincoln Center. The 1981 comedy is an end-of-the-world romance set in a crumbling Taipei apartment block.