On a Busy Doc Weekend, Results May Vary

After a long stretch early this year where documentary releases were few and far between, fall is proving to be packed with nonfiction and with the first weekend in October perhaps the busiest yet with four high profile films opening in limited release.  Of them, the top performer was Daniel Karslake's FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO, which opened at NYC's Quad Theatre to $9,438.  It expands to at least 12 theatres next weekend.  Next, in per screen averages, was our own KURT COBAIN ABOUT A SON, which averaged $5,374 on two screens in NY and LA (it opens in Seattle next weekend), and Amir Bar-Lev's MY KID COULD PAINT THAT, which garnered an average of $3,286 on eight screens.  Rounding out the four was a disappointing debut for Tony Kaye's abortion doc LAKE OF FIRE, which made just over $2,500 on a single screen at the Film Forum.

The varied results - and the just OK numbers generally - inspired another round of hand-wringing over the state of theatrical documentaries.  I'll discuss this in a later post.

Next week sees the release of the Barbet Schroeder TERROR'S ADVOCATE and Aaron Woolf's KING CORN.

Here's the top 15 docs thus far in 2007 through this past weekend:

1.    SICKO (LionsGate)                                  $24,510,898

2.    NO END IN SIGHT (Magnolia)                   $  1,400,461

3.    ARCTIC TALE (Paramount Vantage)         $    820,534

4.    SHARKWATER (Alliance)                          $    812,735

5.    IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON (THINK)   $    798,989

6.    INTO GREAT SILENCE (Zeitgeist)              $    784,183

7.    THE 11TH HOUR (Warner Independent)    $    707,343

8.    THE KING OF KONG (Picturehouse)           $    648,451

9.    GYPSY CARAVAN (Shadow)                       $    389,838

10.  GOD GREW TIRED OF US (Newmarket)      $    301,447

11.  CRAZY LOVE (Magnolia)                           $    301,027

12.  DEEP WATER (IFC)                                   $    213,952

13.  MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES (Zeitgeist)   $    211,029

14.  AN UNREASONABLE MAN (IFC)                   $    176,647

15.  SHOWBUSINESS (Regent)                           $    151,708

15.  HELVETICA                                              $    155,211

Update: Thursday October 11.  indieWIRE and Rentrak had additional figures that included an updated tally for Gary Hustwit's self-distributed hit HELVETICA.  The latest figures available through them puts HELVETICA at #15 on the year's list of docs, supplanting SHOWBUSINESS.