Celine’s song Past lives from A24 is very much here and now, earning $232K on four screens for over $58K per location, good for Song’s debut as the second-biggest limited opening of the year so far. A24 also had the highest in April with Beau is afraid at $80K per theater in four locations, a testament to helmer Ari Aster’s devoted fan base.
Song’s love story was a Sundance favorite and scored high (96% Rotten Tomatoes Certified Fresh with critics; 92 Metacritic Must-See). The distributor says 18 shows were sold out among the four theaters open through Saturday amid strong exit polls. The film starring Greta Lee and Teo Yoo as childhood friends who reunite will be released in major markets in the coming weeks before a nationwide expansion on June 3.
Event Cinema: Fathom Events’ SUGA / TOUR D August D ‘D-DAY’ in JAPAN: Watch LIVE from the BTS member and global pop icon grossed $1.247 million in 835 countries on Saturday alone for a $1,493 per-theater average and a no. 9th place at the domestic box office. Numbers courtesy of Comscore. The concert was filmed live from the PIA Arena MM in Kanagawa, Japan and brought to cinemas later that day. SUGA released his first solo mixtape, Agust D, in 2016, followed by D-2 in 2020. His most recent solo album, D-DAY, debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200.
BTS, currently on hiatus, has delivered some of the most profitable moments ever in event cinema. In 2022, BTS Permission to Dance on Stage – Seoul: Watch Live from Trafalgar and Hybe broke the global event cinema record with a $6.84 million North American gross and $32.6 million worldwide. BTS: Still to come – a film of the group’s last concert in October opened at no. 5 in North America in February (also with Trafalgar).
Other openings: Kandahar from Open Road/Briarcliff is looking at a projected three-day gross of $765,000 on 1,737 screens, revised by the distributor after the R-rated Gerard Butler starrer took in $310,000 on Saturday, which was slightly better than expected. .
Capelight Pictures Summary: There is no way out – the third installment of the hit South Korean action franchise – earned a projected $200,000 in 41 locations. Directed by Sang-yong Lee. Starring Don Lee, Lee Jun-hyuk and Munetaka Aoki.
Holders: A24 You hurt me Feelings by Nicole Holofcener starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus earned an estimated $769,814 at 912 theaters in its second week, returning to the top ten (at #10). The domestic tally through Sunday is crossing $3 million.
Neon holy place jumped from 215 places to 225 for an estimated gross of $183,000 and a Sunday domestic gross of $337,351.
