The indie box office is slowly starting to pick up again, with Roadside Attractions and Saban Films leaving the biggest footprint with Craig W. Macneill’s period thriller “Lizzie.” Released on four screens, the film made just under $50,000 for a solid per screen average of $12,474.
Starring Chloe Sevigny and Kristen Stewart, “Lizzie” tells the story of Lizzie Borden, who was tried for and acquitted of murdering her father and stepmother in 1892. Sevigny plays Lizzie, with Stewart playing the maid with whom she develops a dark friendship. It has a 73 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Below “Lizzie” is a flurry of new releases that struggle to stand out. Among them is A24’s “The Children Act,” which made $20,362 from three screens for a $6,787 per screen average. The film stars Emma Thompson as a London judge who is forced to rule on the case of a 17-year-old who is refusing a blood transfusion that will save his life. Stanley Tucci and “Dunkirk” star Fionn Whitehead also star in the film, which has a 70 percent Rotten Tomatoes score. It can also be seen on DirecTV Cinema.
Less impressive is Sony Pictures Classics’ “American Chaos,” Jim Stern’s documentary about Trump supporters during the 2016 election. Released on 26 screens, the film made $7,963 for a per screen average of $306. Elsewhere, SPC’s “The Wife” expanded to 541 screens and added $1.2 million in its fifth weekend, bringing its total to $3.5 million.