Sony Pictures Classics’ John Turturro-starring The Only Living Pickpocket in New York by Noah Segan topped $1.9 million in a major week 2 expansion from six to 1,112 screens. The story of an aging New York pickpocket racing to return a valuable stolen USB drive to a vengeful crime family has an estimated cume of $2.1 million. Rotten Tomatoes’ Certified Fresh at 97% with an 95% audience score, it garnered Turturro a Gotham Award nomination last week and the Golden Eye Award at the Zurich Film Festival in September.
Everest: The Other Side, the National Geographic documentary by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin debuted to $1 million at 515 locations, with Imax grosses ($825k) accounting for the majority of the total bow. The filmmakers, who have been actively marketing the doc, ascended to the top of a 12-story building on the Sunset strip in West Hollywood, CA Friday evening and successfully rappelled down the side.
Peter Berg’s WW2 drama The Mosquito Bowl from Netflix, the streamer’s second film in a new regime of box office reporting (for certain projects), opened to $455k on 349 screens. Stars Nicholas Galitzine, Bill Skarsgard, Raymond Nicholson and Tom Francis as college football stars plucked from the height of their sports careers and into Marine training and the Pacific theater.
Netflix awards magnet La Bola Negra grossed $418k in week 3 for a cume of $1.2 million.
Limited releases: Mubi’s Fatherland by Paweł Pawlikowski starring Hans Zischler and Sandra Hüller grossed $122k at 45 theaters in week 2 for a cume of $250.5k
Neon’s documentary Once Upon A Time In Harlem (100% RT Certified Fresh) grossed $91k in week 3 on 15 screens for a $273k cume. And NAZA, which the distributor recently picked up mid-theatrical run, had a $42k weekend on 80 screens for a $1.9 million cume in week 5.
Greenwich Entertainment’s Juliette Binoche-starring Queen At Sea, the sophomore feature from Ballast writer/director Lance Hammer opened to $10k at the Angelika Film Center in New York City. Winner of the Silver Bear Jury Prize and the Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance, shared by Tom Courtenay and Anna Calder-Marshall, at its Berlin premiere.
New moderate/wide indies: Telugu-language action comedy Aadarsha Kutumbam House No: 47 from Shloka Entertainments opened to $1.1 million at 400 locations.
Roadside Attractions’ Sight & Sound Presents: JOSHUA Live! opened to $758k on 1,230 screens.
Christmas at the Kringles from Briarcliff Entertainment debuted at $675k at 1,825 locations.
Samuel Goldwyn Films’ Liam Neeson-starrer The Mongoose by Mark Vaneslow debuted with $480k at 1,014 locations.
Psychological horror Breeder from Independent Film Company/Shudder launched to an estimated gross of $293k for the 3-day weekend for a cume including preview screenings of $566k on 777 screes.
Wide indie holdovers: A24’s hot Elizabeth Holmes doc You Can See Everything took in over $10 million in its third weekend, passing $63 million.
Laika’s animated Wildwood from Fathom Entertainment is tracking towards a $7-$8 million second weekend on its way to surpassing $25 million.
Black Bear’s Wicker grossed $4.1 million from 2,374 theaters for a cume of $13.3 million. The week two hold (down 28%) is strong as the film broadened its older audience based on critical response and word of mouth and younger audiences continue to recommend the film at higher rates than opening weekend, the distributor said.
Focus Features’ Sense & Sensibility grossed $1.4 million from 1,888 theaters in week 2 for a cume of $16.8 million.