After two years of box office upheaval and misunderstanding, there’s something refreshing and familiar about the theatrical release of “Tár.”
The acclaimed film, directed by Todd Fields and starring Cate Blanchett as the world-famous bandleader embroiled in a controversy of his own making, grossed a stellar $160,000 at four theaters (two in New York and two in Los Angeles) over the weekend, averaging $40,000 per location. Next weekend, it will (very slightly) expand its theater count to 30 new venues in 10 national markets. This sort of steady, deliberately paced rollout, which relies almost entirely on positive word-of-mouth, is about as traditional as it gets for an arthouse film. Yet for most of the pandemic, it has become obsolete.
“We felt like this movie was going back to pre-COVID releases, where it demanded to have that kind of attention from the New York and Los Angeles openings,” says Lisa Bunnell, president of distribution at Focus Features, which publishes “Tár. She adds, “Not all specialty movies make sense to be done that way. We are all in this testing mode.
Distributors of independent films have been in so-called “testing” mode for some time now. They were forced to shelve the tried-and-true release strategy for specialty films during COVID, in part because the target demographic of older audiences were the most hesitant to return to theaters. Moreover, it hasn’t even been possible to put a new arthouse movie in the traditional quartet of theaters for a while because New York and Los Angeles – the two entertainment hubs that serve as ramps to raise awareness and boost buzz – have been forced to keep theaters closed longer than most other cities.
Even the most arthouse of arthouse films, like Wes Anderson’s 2021 drama “The French Dispatch,” has been forced to open in far more theaters than usual. Meanwhile, niche releases and Oscar favorites such as Cannes Film Festival winner “Titanium” and Pedro Almodóvar’s melodrama “Parallel Mothers” opened in hundreds of locations and quickly expanded to hundreds of locations. others, widening in two to three weeks to footprints that normally take months to achieve. In most cases, accelerating too much, too soon, carried big risks and small rewards.
Since cinemas started to get back on their feet, only one independent has seriously impressed at the box office, and that’s A24’s “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” The multiversal comedy, starring Michelle Yeoh, is the first (and still the only) pandemic arthouse film to cross the $100 million mark at the global box office. To be clear, the majority of auteur films (including “Everything Everywhere All at Once”) don’t need to cross that threshold to be considered a financial success. But even those that were superbly commented on, like “The Worst Person in the World” or director Robert Eggers’ Viking drama “The Northman,” didn’t come close.
So it’s promising that in the same weekend that “Tár” struck a chord in the specialty market, another arthouse film also managed to sell a substantial number of tickets. Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or-winning “Triangle of Sadness,” a bawdy, scatological satire on the ultra-rich, grossed $210,074 from 10 venues, or $21,007 per theater. For “Tár,” its $40,000-per-screen average — which is the key metric for movies playing in some theaters — is easily one of the best of the year. But Neon’s “Triangle of Sadness” also holds one of the best per-screen averages of the pandemic.
Indie films these days require more than just positive reviews to have a chance in theaters. In the case of “Tár”, its early October release date proved beneficial as the film was not overshadowed by a towering mast from a major studio. Movie subscription services, like AMC’s A-list stubs, also seem to be helping boost attendance for smaller movies that people wouldn’t otherwise make to watch on the big screen.
“It’s taking the old,” says Bunnell, pointing to word-of-mouth screenings, “and mixing it with the new,” like smart social media campaigns and loyalty programs with exhibitors. “Theaters are adapting, and we are adapting with them.”
Despite a strong limited-release debut, it’s too early to tell if ‘Tár’, ‘Triangle of Sadness’ and other critical darlings will manage to maintain the momentum as they open in other theaters across the country. . But these box office returns instill a sense of optimism and relief as awards season approaches. And that’s important because festival favorites rely on box office returns to stand out — or stay in — the conversation.
At the box office, the rest of 2022 will be a critical period for potential Oscar contenders like director Martin McDonagh’s black comedy “The Banshees of Inisherin” (October 21), Steven Spielberg’s autobiographical story “The Fabelmans” ( November 11), Sarah Polley’s drama “Women Talking” (December 2) and filmmaker Sam Mendes’ romantic ode to cinema “Empire of Light” (December 9). To succeed in the theatrical sense, these films will need to break through blockbuster hopefuls like Dwayne Johnson’s anti-hero adventure “Black Adam” (October 21), “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (November 11) and “Avatar: The way of the water” (December 16).
“It is difficult to turn a specialized film into a series of big commercial films. You have to be smart about it,” Bunnell says. “That won’t be possible on a weekend when you have ‘Avatar’ opening.”