Three Standout Films: ‘Faces of Death,’ ‘Exit 8,’ and ‘A Great Awakening’ Shine at the Specialty Box Office
Independent Film Company’s Faces Of Death, Neon’s Exit 8, and Roadside Attractions’ A Great Awakening finished the weekend ranked 6th, 7th, and 8th respectively in the box office standings, marking a positive weekend for specialty films.
Faces of Death, a reimagining of the controversial 1978 horror classic directed by Daniel Goldhaber, earned $1.7 million across 1,600 screens. The film has benefited from a viral marketing campaign and positive word-of-mouth. It follows a young content moderator, played by Barbie Ferreira, who must discern between fiction and real-life violence as she encounters re-enactments of murders akin to those in the original film.
In its opening weekend, Japanese film Exit 8 garnered $1.4 million from 495 screens, achieving notable success for a non-English language release. Based on a popular video game by Kotake Create, it features Yamato Kôchi as a man navigating an endless sterile subway passage.
A Great Awakening, which focuses on the friendship between founding father Benjamin Franklin and Reverend George Whitefield, pulled in $1.27 million in its second week across 1,274 locations, bringing its cumulative total to $4.9 million. The film is produced by Sight & Sound, which has a dedicated faith-based audience.
Vertical’s Hamlet, featuring Riz Ahmed, earned $190,000 over the weekend from 325 screens. Directed by Aneil Karia, this adaptation is set within London’s elite South Asian community and performed well in major coastal markets, particularly in New York City and San Francisco.
In limited release, Steven Soderbergh’s The Christophers debuted to $80,000 on four screens in New York and Los Angeles. The film stars Jessica Gunning and James Corden as siblings who scheme to forge paintings from their reclusive father, played by Ian McKellen.
The documentary Steal This Story, Please! about journalist Amy Goodman opened at the IFC Center in New York, with a strong gross of $33,000 from one screen. It’s expected to expand to LA and San Francisco next week, with Goodman and the filmmakers traveling to support its release.
Additional projects include Music Box Film’s The Stranger, which raised $40,000 on 16 screens, totaling $75,000 in its second week, and the Bollywood action thriller Dhurandhar: The Revenge, which earned $685,000 from 320 locations and has now grossed $27.4 million since its release, maintaining its status as the highest-grossing Indian film in North America.
