Variety reports that director Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch opened in the domestic box office this past weekend with $1.3 million from only 52 theaters.
Platform releases like The French Dispatch kick off in select theaters rather than in thousands nationwide, thus making the key metric per-theater average instead of overall weekend box office tally. Anderson’s film averaged $25,000 in ticket sales per location, marking the best per-theater average of any film opening during the pandemic. This distinction was previously held by Sony’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage, which averaged $21,300 per theater, and Disney’s Black Widow, which averaged $19,400 per theater.
The French Dispatch racked up $1.3 million between Friday and Sunday, ranking the well-reviewed Anderson pic ninth on domestic box office charts.
Searchlight Pictures’ senior VP and general sales manager Frank Rodriguez said, “The French Dispatch is a jolt of electricity for the specialty box office, delivering record-breaking results in theaters across the country. These figures show that after a year and a half, arthouse and independent theaters have a superhero of their own in Wes Anderson. What has been doubly encouraging is the crossover results in mainstream theaters hungry for Wes’ 10th film as well. We are thrilled that after several delays, moviegoers said it was worth the wait.”
The French Dispatch stars Bill Murray, Timothée Chalamet, Frances McDormand, Benicio del Toro, Tilda Swinton, and Adrien Brody. The quirky comedic drama is expanding quicker than traditional specialty fare will be available in more than 6500 theaters in over 60 markets by next weekend.
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