Outside of Thor: Ragnarok‘s big blockbuster opening numbers, another little engine broke its own box office records over the weekend, the Saoirse Ronan-starrer Lady Bird. Opening just in four theaters for a limited release, the film made $375,612 this weekend, with a PTA (per theater average) of $93,903. The per-theater-average is currently the best on the year.
These numbers set Lady Bird up as the highest grossing specialty weekend opener this year, beating out The Big Sick and debuting to the best box office since last year’s La La Land. Additionally, the weekend take is the largest of all time for a female directed limited release.
Lady Bird was written and directed by indie darling Greta Gerwig and stars the emerging indie coming-of-age mainstay Saoirse Ronan. The film is an open love letter to Gerwig’s hometown Sacramento and tells a heartwarming mother-daughter tale in the middle of the late teenage emotions, hormones, and rebellion. Laurie Metcalf, Timothée Chalamet, Lucas Hedges, and Beanie Feldstein also star. The film sits at a comfortable 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and also has a 93 on MetaCritic.
Lady Bird opens wide this coming weekend, November 10, and puts its distributor A24 in contention once again for a runaway awards season.