|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Majestic Numbers for 'The Illusionist'
LOS ANGELES -- When the Yari Film Group expands their film "The Illusionist" to 971 theaters in North America in September, it will be coming off two tremendous weeks at the box office with the film in limited release.
"The Illusionist," written and directed by Neil Burger and starring Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti, and Jessica Biel, opened August 18th on 51 North American screens to a $18,203 per screen average, amongst the highest per screen averages for any film that weekend.
The Arclight in Hollywood alone grossed $54,319 on the opening weekend, the 5th highest single theater gross in the country. Over the entire first week the per screen average remained impressively high at $26,727.
On August 25th, the film expanded to 144 screens and yielded a $12,745 per screen average for the weekend. Coming out of the weekend with a $1,835,240 three day gross and a $3,198,319 cume, the film ranked 14th in the box office despite being on nearly one-tenth of the screens as any film ahead of it. It lead both new releases and holdovers in the exclusive field in terms of the theater average.
To date through the week (including numbers through Wednesday night) the per screen average is $17,191. This is the highest theater average for any film this week. The total cume to date is $3,838,553.
The film has been benefiting from extraordinary word of mouth. Nationwide exit surveys show that 96 percent of Americans polled rate the film either "excellent" or "very good." Furthermore, 88 percent of movie-goers would definitely recommend "The Illusionist" to friends and family.
Critics agree with audiences and have been giving the film spectacular reviews. Entertainment Weekly has deemed "The Illusionist" "The #1 must see movie of the week," while Joel Siegel has said "the movie is magic" for Good Morning America. The New York Times claims the film "rouses your belief in the miraculous" and "teases you until the very end."
USA Today adds "'The Illusionist' casts a bewitching spell! Could not be more different from the big studio summer offerings! This suspenseful and stylish film has a welcome sense of originality. It's a pleasure to see Edward Norton deliver yet another remarkable performance. Proves that a film need not be mindless fluff to qualify as escapist entertainment."
Bob Yari is confident that critical and audience support will continue to carry the film to a successful first weekend in wide expansion.
"We are thrilled to see both the audience reaction and the box office numbers reinforce what we've always known about this fantastic film, and are quite excited to bring the film to many more screens this weekend, introducing it to a huge audience that we know will love it as much as we do."
|
|
|
|
|
