Arthouse Fare Gets a Box Office Boost in an Otherwise Dull October

We saw the summer of the Box Office Recovery dissolve into a rather murky September and October, primarily due to the shortage of superhero fare and other tentpoles to offer. However, with an almost unprecedented success for two key arthouse-style offerings, the specialized theatrical market could well be seeing its own ‘summer’ boom to capitalize on. Blake & Wang P.A entertainment attorney, Brandon Blake, explores in more depth.

2 Key Box Office Wins

Despite the lack of obvious tentpoles, we’ve seen something of a glut of solid theatrical debuts in the past two months for more critically-embraced fare- particularly Focus’ TÁRand Neon’s Triangle of Sadness. Of course, these are far from the only two currently debuting, be it to limited play or a wider audience. Of note, we also have United Artists’ Til, Searchlight’s The Banshees of Inisherin, A24’s Aftersun, MUBI’sDecision to Leave, and another title from Focus, Armageddon Time. 

TÁR, however, has managed to pack in strong results, with $160,000 earned at only 4 locations through NYC and LA. $40,000 per theater was nothing to sneeze at pre-pandemic, and rates as exceptional after it. It also managed to nab the No. 1 spot in three of those locations. Interestingly, while indie and arthouse films have traditionally pulled the best among older audiences, it has managed a solid spread across most demographics except the under-18s, who wouldn’t be expected anyway. This should propel it to the second-highest limited release of the year behind Everything Everywhere All At Once

While not quite meeting the same figures, Triangle of Sadness has performed exceptionally in 2 locations of its 10 in 6 cities, and looks set to continue to rise.

Building the Arthouse Market

Of course, this time of year is no stranger to the classic idea of ‘Award Season bait’. However, let’s be real- the market has shifted. Distributors now tolerate shifting scheduling, we’ve seen the documentary film market almost drop off the radar entirely, and yet we’ve also seen a broad embrace of returning to the cinema post-pandemic. 

Interestingly, this year has also seen films from (admittedly the top) specialized countries gross $350M, a figure that comes incredibly close to the same period in 2019. Roughly two-thirds of that, admittedly, belongs to A24 and Focus. Everything Everywhere All at Once was a surprise success story, and managed a wider-playing circuit that drew in larger than expected audiences. Now, however, we see the arthouse slate power up considerably stronger. 

It is entirely possible at this point that the year-end releases could bust at least the 2022 records already set. Independent cinema may have taken a beating in the pandemic, but most have repositioned themselves to come back strongly if the slates pay off.

In particular, the widening of the arthouse audience to a ‘younger’ demographic, mostly on the back of smart marketing and even view-incentives like reduced ticket prices, as well as longer-than-usual theatrical runs, positions the indie market well to be a cornerstone of continued theatrical recovery. A far cry from the ‘death of the indie picture’ being lamented earlier then this year, and a critical turn for both the Box Office and the indie market going forward.