Doc Box Recap: MAN ON WIRE 7th to Pass 1M, I.O.U.S.A. Has a Huge Day, WATER Has No TROUBLE in Opening Wknds

There has been a bunch of documentary theatrical box office news during the weeks we were in Denver and it's continued over the long Labor Day weekend just concluded.

First off, James Marsh's MAN ON WIRE became the 7th film to surpass the $1 million mark at the North American box office.  In the past three weeks it has more than tripled its take, now standing at more than $1.5 million and settling in at #5 on our chart.  This weekend, the film averaged more than $3K per screen, suggesting the film will have the legs to continue into the fall.

2008 now ties 2003 and 2006 for third in years with most docs to top the symbolic $1 million threshold.  2004 had 11 films, while 2005 had 8.  2007 had just 3, leading to a raft of doc depression articles that most have yet to reject and denounce.

Meanwhile, two other docs made a huge splash on their debuts.  Patrick Creadon's I.O.U.S.A. had an incredible one day take of $573,516 from a series of special event screenings on August 21.  Aside from the opening Friday, Saturday and Sunday of EXPELLED, it's the best one-day take for a doc all year.  Things have calmed down a bit since then as the film grooves into its more traditional theatrical run, but it still jumps onto our box office chart and has the possibility of reaching $1M.

Finally, Carl Deal and Tia Lessin's TROUBLE THE WATER has been a surprising success for Zeitgeist.  It grossed more than $20K during its opening weekend at the IFC Center in NYC and was on eight screens this weekend, grossing more than $6K per for one of the strongest expansions for a doc so far this year.

Here's the box office top 15 of 2008 through this weekend:

1.    U23D (National Geographic)                                           $  9,416,277

2.    EXPELLED: NO INTELLIGENCE ALLOWED (Rocky)    $  7,614,754

3.    SHINE A LIGHT (Paramount Vantage)                           $  5,355,376

4.    YOUNG@HEART (Fox Searchlight)                               $  3,932,018

5.    MAN ON WIRE (Magnolia)                                            $  1,526,761

6.    UP THE YANGTZE (Zeitgeist/KinoSmith)                       $  1,300,253

7.    GONZO (Magnolia)                                                       $  1,148,709

8.    AMERICAN TEEN (Paramount Vantage)                         $    861,817

9.    ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD (THINK)  $    837,767

10.  I.O.U.S.A. (Roadside Attractions)                                  $    706,894

11.   VINCE VAUGHN'S WILD WEST... (Picturehouse)           $    603,894

12.  WHERE IN THE WORLD IS OSAMA... (Weinstein)         $    384,955

13.  THE SINGING REVOLUTION (Abramorama)                   $   330,017

14.  BIGGER, STRONGER, FASTER* (Magnolia)                   $   308,575

15.  TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE (THINKFilm)                          $    274,661

Comments

[Doug B.]

Hey AJ,

Here's a hotlink for the IOUSA site, for your list...

http://www.iousathemovie.com/