Bleecker Street’s “The Assistant” — Kitty Green’s drama inspired by the Harvey Weinstein scandal and workplace sexual harassment brought to light by the #MeToo movement – released this weekend to solid results from its four-screen release with $84,702 grossed and a per screen average of $21,176.
Written and directed by Green, “The Assistant” stars Julie Garner as a young college grad who takes her first job as an assistant at a film production company, weathering the microaggressions of her sexist co-workers and cleaning up after the sexual abuse of her boss. The film premiered at Telluride last year and was featured at Sundance this past week, earning an 85% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
Although box office grosses, for the most part, were muted thanks to low turnout on Super Bowl weekend, Oscar-nominated shorts saw an increase from last year. Shorts.TV and Magnolia Pictures rolled out their annual release of the 15 nominated short films, which grossed $1.11 million from screenings of the live action, animated and documentary categories.
Because of the shorter timespan between nominations and Oscar Sunday, the shorts were released on 460 screens, the widest release the annual showcase has ever received on opening weekend since it started 15 years ago. Last year, the opening weekend for the shorts yielded $938,455 from 270 screens.
Meanwhile, Oscar contenders “Parasite” and “Jojo Rabbit” continue to bring in awards enthusiasts, with “Parasite” adding $1.67 million this weekend while “Jojo” adds $1.35 million. “Jojo Rabbit” now has a domestic total of just under $28 million, while “Parasite” has a North American total of $33.4 million.