While much of this weekend's nonfiction box office attention was focused on the success of Disneynature's EARTH (a film that is continuing to play well into the week), the bigger news is the continued success for nonfiction throughout this week's theatrical numbers.
indieWIRE's iW BOT, which tracks the per screen average of specialty releases, has been noting the ongoing doc streak - for the past six weeks a documentary has led the chart. This week - two films were on top via their strong, single-sceen NYC debuts. Sascha Paladino's THROW DOWN YOUR HEART grossed nearly $12,500 at the IFC Center, while conflicting reports peg Marc H. Simon and Matthew Makar's NURSERY UNIVERSITY at between $11-13K. The latter film screened at the Phoenix Adlabs ImaginAsian Theatre.
There was good news, too, for SPC's release of James Toback's TYSON. The film made more than $85K on 11 screens. It's Sony's second promising doc start in as many weeks. Their documentary about A Chorus Line - EVERY LITTLE STEP - had a strong second weekend, taking in just under $6K per screen.
The weekend's other big doc release, Scott Kennedy's Oscar nominated THE GARDEN, grossed $5K at LA's Nuart, reinforcing the idea that documentary theatrical viability in Los Angeles remains a challenge. Oscilloscope plans to expand to other cities in the coming weeks.
The top indie doc of the year continues to be Matthew Crouch's THE CROSS: THE ARTHUR BLESSITT STORY, which is staying just ahead of VALENTINO: THE LAST EMPEROR. Both films have crossed the half million mark.
For more box office details, check out our list of the year's top 20 films at the box office.
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