Roadside Attraction’s Moving On grossed an estimated $798k at about 800 theaters, about status quo this weekend for a specialty sector that’s better but still looking to break out.
The audience for the Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin-toplined comedy was, not surprisingly, 63% female and 82% over 35. Some 64% were 50+. It played best on the coasts. Estimated per theater average for the Paul Weitz film that also features Malcolm McDowell and Richard Roundtree is just over $1k.
Fonda and Tomlin play estranged friends who reunite to seek revenge against the husband of their recently deceased best friend. The film had trailer time before 80 For Brady where the duo played alongside Rita Moreno and Sally Field (and Tom Brady). That wide-release opening Paramount pic, now down to 168 screens in week 7, has grossed $39 million.
Roadside Attractions co-president Howard Cohen the called opening number “positive” with word of mouth good and noted that midweek showings are typically strong for this type of film (stronger than for wide releases commercial pics). It will likely add a few screens next weekend.
The theatrical market is being carefully monitored for ongoing signs of post-Covid improvement at the arthouses and with older demos. Moving On grosses echo a similar Roadside opening back in September — The Good House, with Sigourney Weaver and Kevin Kline.
The other significant specialty opening, Focus Features’ Inside with Willem Dafoe, opened in 357 locations to a $470k debut for a PTA of $1.3k. Dafoe is Nemo, an art thief trapped in a New York penthouse after his heist goes askew. Locked inside with nothing but priceless works of art, he must use all his cunning and invention to survive. It’s the directorial debut of Vasilis Katsoupis.
Janus Films opened Louis Garrel’s Cesar-winning comedy The Innocent at the IFC Center to a $11.5k. This weekend, the distributor also featured a 4K restoration of Cauleen Smith’s 1998 landmark indie drama Drylongso at Film at Lincoln Center, including sold-out Q&As with the director-writer, that grossed $5.1k.
“Janus is thrilled that New York audiences came out in force both uptown and downtown this weekend,” the distrib said. “We’re looking forward to bringing both films to audiences around the country in the weeks ahead.”
Music Box opened Rodeo in two locations, the Angelika NYC and Music Box Theatre in Chicago, to a $4.98k debut for a PTA of $2.49k. Expanding to LA, DC, Dallas and other markets 3/24. The French drama by Lola Quivoro premiered at Cannes. Julie Ledrue stars as a young misfit passionate about motorcycles who joins the male-dominated world of dirt bikers and urban rodeos.