NEON’s “Wild Rose,” a music drama starring Jessie Buckley that opened in New York and Los Angeles on four screens, lead the way in this weekend’s relatively quiet indie box office.
The film opened decently at $56,183 for a per screen average of $14,046, but NEON had paid a hefty sum for the film at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, with reports putting the price at around $4 million. That’s roughly what the distributor paid for their first Oscar-winning release, “I, Tonya,” which had a $66,039 average in its limited release en route to a $53.9 million global run.
Directed by Tom Harper, “Wild Rose” follows an ex-convict and single mother played by Buckley who pursues her dreams of being a country singer despite still being under curfew house arrest. Sophie Okonedo and Julie Walters also star in the film, which has been a hit with critics with a 93% Rotten Tomatoes score.
Also opening on four screens was Magnolia Pictures’ “Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am,” a documentary that premiered at this year’s Sundance.” Directed by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders and sporting a 96% Rotten Tomatoes score, the film earned $44,000 for an average of $11,000.
In its second weekend, Focus’ “The Dead Don’t Die” took in $1.1 million from 690 theaters, giving it a 10-day total of $4.75 million. A24’s “The Last Black Man in San Francisco” took in $413,589 from 72 theaters, bringing its total to $1.34 million after three weekends.
Finally, two music documentaries have or will hit the $1 million mark this weekend. CBS Films’ “Pavarotti” added $409,000 in its third weekend from 135 screens, putting it in position to cross $1 million on Monday with a current total of $992,000. Greenwich Entertainment’s “Echo in the Canyon” added $252,072 from 81 screens in its fifth weekend to bring its total to $1.13 million.