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http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2016/10/24/box-office-moonlight-joins-an-exclusive-club-alongside-disney-toons-and-movie-stars/#34dcfe235ceb
Scott Mendelson , CONTRIBUTOR I cover the film industry.
Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. 'Moonlight' image courtesy of A24 ‘Moonlight’ image courtesy of A24
One of the big stories at the box office this weekend was the eye-popping debut of Barry Jenkins’s Moonlight. The justifiably acclaimed drama, based on Tarell Alvin McCraney’s play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue, traces one young black man’s life as he grows up in Miami and comes to terms with his homosexuality. The picture scored (as of this writing) a whopping $414,740 opening weekend in four theaters, giving the A24 release a $103,675 per-location-average.
That number may go a little up or down when the final figures drop later today, but it’s assuredly the biggest per-theater-average of 2016, besting the $92,835 p.s.a. of Mike Birbiglia’s (also terrific) improv group dramedy Don’t Think Twice in its single-theater debut this past July.
It is the 26th film ever to snag per-location-average of over $100,000. Now inflation plays a role in that, as (for example) Aladdin debuted on two screens in 1992 and earned $98k per screen, a number which would be around $204k p.s.a. in 2016 dollars (thanks, as always, to Box Office Mojo for letting me play in their sandbox). But for the moment, let’s ignore inflation. They didn’t have DVDs, Netflix, streaming, or other Internet-related distractions in the 1990′s, now did they? Let’s take a look at the various films that have pulled off this would-be milestone.
First of all, when the time comes to make comparisons, we’re tossing out Kevin Smith’s Red State. Sorry, Mr. Smith, but your $204,230 gross on a single screen in 2010 was part of a traveling road show type exhibition that was a prelude to the film’s Video On Demand release. It’s a neat idea, but it screws up the comparisons, as it’s not really a “wide” theatrical release, so out it along with its mere $1.1 million theatrical gross.
That gives us 25 movies to work with. What sticks out offhand is how unique Moonlight is in terms of the other movies that have hit this mark. To wit, eight of the top 10 biggest per-screen-averages (and the top seven in a row) are all sneak preview releases of Walt Disney animated films. 12 of the top 30 p.s.a.s are animated films, with only 20th Century Fox’s Anastasia ($120.5k in one theater in 1997) not coming from the Mouse House. ~~~~ When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries. ~~~~ You cannot hate people for their own good.
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