Michael Moore's CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY opened yesterday on 4 screens in NY & LA and according to estimates at Box Office Mojo, the film had a strong start in its limited mid-week release. With a per screen average of $9,104, CAPITALISM made far more money on a single screen than any other film yesterday, with the closest being the top film at the box office, CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS, which made $390 per screen.
But those numbers look less exciting when compared to Moore's last two released films, SICKO and FAHRENHEIT 9/11.
FAHRENHEIT - the all-time documentary champ - also opened on a Wednesday, but in two theaters, to a record setting $41,961 average.
SICKO, which opened on Friday on a single New York screen, garnered more than $23K on just that screen. Even on its first Wednesday (its sixth day in release), SICKO made more than $12,000 at that theater.
And while the full story of CAPITALISM won't truly be known until expands to 1000 theaters next Friday, if one is to read the tea leaves just based on Moore's ability to turn out his base in the two major media markets, yesterday's numbers suggest while the film should be a big hit by documentary standards, it could end up as Moore's smallest box office take since BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE. Nothing to sneeze at certainly, but with Moore's critics looking for any reason to declare his films a failure (SICKO, his #2 film ever, was decried as a flop and a disappointment by conservatives), it appears - at least on very early first blush - that box office returns may offer those critics some grist for their mill. (Of course, some critics would declare the film a flop even it doubled SICKO's take.)
Jonas Brothers 3D FTW!
Posted by: TS Apetore | September 24, 2009 at 09:12 PM