The new releases this weekend are indie with Honey, Don’t!, Relay and Eden flanked by Splitsville, Lurker and Pools in limited release and set to to expand in coming weeks. Neon’s Cannes-premiering Splitsville had the highest PSA of the weekend. Utopia’s Pools filled the Music Box’s 700-seat main auditorium on Friday. Lurker from Mubi, the best reviewed opening of the weekend, has had sold out evening screenings and strong word of mouth.
Relationship comedy Splitsville is eyeing a nice $105.6k limited opening at five theaters in New York and LA for a per screen average of $21k. It’s directed by Michael Angelo Covino from a screenplay he co-wrote with Kyle Marvin. The duo behind The Climb (2019) also star with Dakota Johnson and Adria Arjona.
When Ashley (Arjona) asks for a divorce, the good-natured Carey (Marvin) runs to his friends Julie (Johnson) and Paul (Covino), for support. Carey is shocked to find that their secret to happiness is an open marriage — until he crosses the line and throws all of their relationships into chaos.
Covino, Martin and Johnson, who recently starred in biting romcom and indie box office hit Materialists, are producers.
Splitsville is headed for a limited expansion next weekend (Labor Day holiday) and moderate release on 9/5. Covino and Martin challenged the conventional wisdom on comedy’s global reach on Deadline’s recent Comedy Means Business podcast.
Mubi’s latest, Lurker, the directorial debut of The Bear and Beef writer-producer Alex Russell, opened on four screens in NYC and LA to an estimated $64.4k, a $16.1k PSA. Adds Austin, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and additional runs in NYC and LA next week ahead of national expansion 9/5.
The cat-and-mouse Sundance thriller follows a twenty-something retail clerk who encounters a rising pop star and takes the opportunity to edge his way into the in-crowd. Stars Théodore Pellerin (Beau Is Afraid) and Archie Madekwe (Saltburn).
And Sam Hayes’ Chicago-set coming-of-age film and theatrical debut Pools had a bit of a splash at its home court Music Box Theater. Friday night featured a sold-out show at the venue’s 700-seat main auditorium as Hayes debut feature took in $10.9k at the one location.
From Utopia’s Circle Collective label, it stars Odessa A’Zion (Marty Supreme) as a college student who deals with her emotional baggage with a night of pool hopping across lavish estates. This is a hot summer and the film has young audiences waging pool parties across multiple markets with clips going viral ahead of the opening. Expands to NY & LA next weekend, nationwide 9/5.
Pools won the Audience Award at its world premiere at SXSW Sydney in 2024 with an American premiere at TIFF Next Wave. Mason Gooding (Heart Eyes), Ariel Winter (Modern Family), Tyler Alvarez (Never Have I Ever), Michael Vlamis (Crossword), Francesca Noel (Goosebumps) and Suzanne Cryer (Silicon Valley) also star. Hayes is a Chicago native and the film was shot entirely in the area, mainly in Lake Forest.
Among wider releases, Focus Features opened Ethan Coen’s Honey, Don’t! at 1,317 theaters in North America to a three-day estimated weekend gross of $3 million and a no. 7 spot among studio holdovers at the domestic box office. That’s in line with but on the lower end of expectations. It topped Drive-Away Dolls, Coen’s 2024 comedy crime thriller that opened to $2.4 million. Honey, Don’t! is drawing an older audience as Focus expected. It’s playing best in LA and NY with the Alamo Drafthouse theaters grossing more than four times their norm for the film. The audience is 56% female with 69% of moviegoers 25 or older.
The weekend broke down to $1.4 million Friday; $920k on Sat.; and an estimated $630k today.
The film written by Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke stars Margaret Qualley as a small-town private eye working a case of strange deaths at a mysterious church. With Aubrey Plaza, Charlie Day, Billy Eichner, and Chris Evans. Check out Deadline’s Crew Call Podcast for more.
Bleecker Street’s thriller Relay by David Mackenzie starring Riz Ahmed and Lily James rounded out the weekend top ten at 1,483 theaters with a $1.93 million debut. A broker of lucrative payoffs between corrupt corporations and the individuals who threaten them breaks his own rules when a new client seeks his protection to stay alive.
Vertical’s Ron Howard-helmed Eden opened in 664 theaters to $1 million. Based on a shocking true story, a group of disillusioned outsiders (Jude Law, Ana de Armas, Vanessa Kirby, Daniel Brühl and Sydney Sweeney) abandon civilization to settle on a remote, uninhabited island setting off a twisted power struggle. As expected, LA and NY were the top performers — AMC Century City and AMC Lincoln Square, with a shoutout to the Jacob Burns Center in Pleasantville, New York. The film also did well in Chicago, San Francisco, San Antonio, Orlando, Tampa and St. Lous. See Deadline’s breakdown from earlier today of the film’s economics.
A24 opened Chinese animated adventure fantasy Ne Zha 2 in wide rerelease, and dubbed in English for the first time, at 2,228 locations to $1.55 million. The majority of moviegoers this weekend were not the original Asian and Mandarin speaking audiences that came out for the first run and include A24’s core millennials and a broader English-speaking audience.
The North American cume now stands at $22.4 million. That compares with a global $2.2 billion for the film, which is the highest global grossing movie of the year so far. Written and directed by Jiaozi, it was released in theaters across China Jan. 29 kicking off Chinese New Year celebrations. CMC opened a subtitled version Stateside in mid-Feb. — that’s less than six months ago – to a $7.7 million opening weekend.
The new English-language re-release features Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh and includes special engagements in Imax and 3D.
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