IndieWire each week exclusively shares a box office chart via Rentrak looking at the top 10 releases in specialized release, presented in full with added commentary.
One of the biggest specialized openings of the year is also a record breaker for distributor Magnolia, and it may have the buzz to clean up at the box office long term. “Maddie’s Secret” from director John Early grossed $58,206 in its opening weekend from its single theater opening at IFC Center in New York, an incredible start for what is already shaping up to be a cult hit.
For Magnolia, it’s one of, if not the highest single-screen opening in the company’s long history, selling out every showing on Friday and Saturday this past weekend — not just ones at which Early himself appeared for a Q&A, but others as well. But it was also the biggest opening for a film at IFC Center in the last two years, beating the record previously held by IFC’s “The Taste of Things” with Juliette Binoche.
Talent like John Wilson, Sarah Sherman, Julio Torres, Ivy Wolk, Theda Hammel, Brace Belden, and Amy Sedaris all were on hand to moderate different Q&As with Early about the film, and Magnolia is taking a similar approach in weekend 2 when it opens in LA, with people like Tim Heidecker and Perfume Genius moderating the West Coast talkbacks with Early.
In fact, “Maddie’s Secret” is embracing a three-pronged, platform rollout, effectively doing a miniature roadshow tour with Early doing as much promotion as he can. That’s key considering the film’s hard-to-classify nature, in which Early, first of all playing a woman, portrays an aspiring food influencer and content creator who is struggling with an eating disorder. The film is definitely a comedy but is tinged with genuine melodrama and pathos, sometimes all at once, making it challenging to market and position. Magnolia and Early have also programmed screenings of films that inspired “Maddie’s Secret,” including some campy ’80s movies of the week, and even developed a silly perfume line also named for the film to give people an idea of what to expect.
But with Early front and center, the film so far is not having any trouble finding its audience. It’s likely the film won’t open wider than 50 to 100 screens at best, even as it eventually expands to 25 different markets. Alamo Drafthouse will also do live streams across 10 different locations with Early as moderated by Hannah Einbinder, and those at time of writing are already nearing capacity.
“Maddie’s Secret” rose to the top of the indie chart just as Magnolia’s other film “Carolina Caroline” fell out of the Top 10. 1-2 Special though had three films in the Top 10, including recurring performers “Silent Friend,” “Time and Water,” and new opener “Rose of Nevada.” That film, which has stars but an unusual way in which it captures dialogue, had a solid opening of $22,726 across three screens.
Three foreign films getting some American play, “Hell Trotter,” “Us in the End,” and “The Crush” also cracked the specialized chart this week. Obscured Pictures’ trans teen comedy “She’s the He” continues to climb the weekly chart, adding four screens and going up 21 percent in its third week. And Greenwich Entertainment’s “Peter Asher: Everywhere Man” about the pop artist and producer to legends like Paul McCartney, Linda Rondstadt, and James Taylor, also debuted with $8,369 on a single screen.
Top 10 Specialized Releases 6/19-6/21 (all figures are domestic results courtesy of Rentrak)
- “Maddie’s Secret” – $58,206
- Distributor: Magnolia
- Week: 1
- Avg/Location: $58,206
- Cumulative: $58,206
- “Hell Trotter” – $46,636
- Distributor: Independent
- Week: 1
- Avg/Location: $818
- Cumulative: 46,636
- “Rose of Nevada” – $22,726
- Distributor: 1-2 Special
- Week: 1
- Avg/Location: $7,575
- Cumulative: $22,726
- “She’s the He” – $9,210
- Distributor: Obscured Pictures
- Week: 3
- Avg/Location: $1,535
- Cumulative: $36,013
- “Peter Asher: Everywhere Man” – $8,369
- Distributor: Greenwich Entertainment
- Week: 1
- Avg/Location: $8,369
- Cumulative: $8,369
- “Time and Water” – $7,983
- Distributor: 1-2 Special
- Week: 4
- Avg/Location: $7,983
- Cumulative: $58,416
- “Tayo sa Wakas” (“Us in the End”) – $6,985
- Distributor: ABS-CBN Film Productions
- Week: 2
- Avg/Location: $64
- Cumulative: $123,546
- “The Crush” – $3,858
- Distributor: Orient Films
- Week: 1
- Avg/Location: $643
- Cumulative: $3,858
- “Silent Friend” – $3,142
- Distributor: 1-2 Special
- Week: 7
- Avg/Location: $349
- Cumulative: $360,389
- “The Currents” – $2,904
- Distributor: Kino Lorber
- Week: 4
- Avg/Location: $726
- Cumulative: $36,513
IndieWire’s criteria for inclusion on the Specialized Chart looks at independent and mini-major distributors with films that at their widest release at any point are below 500 screens, excluding event cinema, re-releases, and major Bollywood or Chinese North American releases.