‘A Real Pain’ Opens to Robust $60,000 Per Theater Average at Specialty Box Office

While the box office was quiet on the wide release front ahead of election day, the specialty market was busy as films like Searchlight’s “A Real Pain” entered in limited release while others like Neon’s “Anora” continued their nationwide rollout.

“A Real Pain,” which stars writer-director Jesse Eisenberg alongside Kieran Culkin, opened in four theaters in New York and Los Angeles and earned $240,000 for a per theater average of $60,000. That is the third highest average for the year behind only the $92,000 for “Anora” and the $75,000 for Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Kinds of Kindness,” which was also a Searchlight release.

“A Real Pain” follows two cousins, one successful but socially awkward and the other an outgoing but mentally troubled slacker, as they travel to Warsaw to see where their Holocaust survivor grandmother grew up. The film received critical acclaim at its Sundance premiere and was purchased by Searchlight for $10 million.

“Anora,” in its third weekend, is continuing a slow rollout as it expanded to just 253 locations in its third weekend. Buoyed by excellent word-of-mouth, the film added $1.9 million for a strong average of $7,500, bringing its total to $3.94 million as it prepares to expand more screens next weekend.

Apple Films is also releasing “Blitz,” the WWII drama from Steve McQueen and starring Saoirse Ronan, in three theaters in New York and Los Angeles this weekend. While Apple is not officially reporting numbers, exhibition sources and industry estimates have the film earning a solid $76,000 for a per theater average of $25,448 as it expands into more select cities next weekend.

In wide release, Focus Features’ “Conclave” stayed in the top 5, earning excellent word-of-mouth that allowed it to drop just 20% from its $6.5 million opening weekend, bringing its domestic total to $15.2 million as it continues its run in 1,796 theaters.

A pair of Hindi-language imports also cracked the top 10: Moviegoers’ “Singham Again” and Shree International’s “Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3,” each grossing just over $2 million.

Finally, the re-release of Toho’s “Godzilla Minus One” on the 70th anniversary of the legendary kaiju’s cinematic debut earned $510,000 from 1,365 theaters. With $57 million, the acclaimed film is the third-highest grossing non-English film in American box office history and the first “Godzilla” film to win an Academy Award, taking the prize for Best Visual Effects. This past week, Toho announced that director Takashi Yamazaki will return to direct the next film in the series.