This weekend's Specialty Box Office has been dominated by 'Danny Collins.'
Of the several openers reporting Sunday, the best per-theater numbers came from Danny Collins, a music-minded pic starring Al Pacino that is the first full-fledged roll-out from Bleecker Street, the distribution company founded by former Focus co-head Andrew Karpen, the Deadline.com reported.
Kino Lorber's 'La Sapienza' bowed in a single location, trailing 'Danny Collins' in per-theater averages, while Amplify's 'Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter' had a decent start bowing in several locations. China Lion's 'Love And Lost (Shi Gu)' opened with two-dozen runs. 'It Follows,' meanwhile, continues to find a following, holding solid in expansion.
'Danny Collins' is the story of an aging rock star whose outlook is transformed after discovering a letter from John Lennon, in five New York and L.A. theaters Friday. The film, which also stars Annette Bening, Jennifer Garner and Christopher Plummer, grossed $73,157, averaging $14,631.
Jack Foley, president of Theatrical Distribution, said that they are pleased with Danny Collins' good weekend business and they expect strong results based on the weekend's results arising for its core adult audience's patronage, which the film has effectively secured this weekend.
Foley touted the film's 79% Friday-to-Saturday increase, noting that the usual trend is 45 - 50 percent as proof the title has legs going forward. Saturday was driven by near-sell-out late matinee and prime evening shows, which is indicative of the adult audience movie-going behavior.
