Ahead of its wide release next weekend, A24’s “Beau Is Afraid” has been released in four theaters in Los Angeles and New York this weekend and earned the best per-theater average of 2023.
The indie studio reported a weekend total of $320,396 for a per-theater average of $80,099, the second highest theater average posted by any film since theaters reopened two years ago. The only film to earn a higher average was Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Licorice Pizza” with $86,289 on Thanksgiving weekend in 2021.
Directed by “Hereditary” and “Midsommar” filmmaker Ari Aster, “Beau Is Afraid” has received positive reviews from critics with a 76% score on Rotten Tomatoes, but even the most glowing of reviews acknowledge that this film will not be for everybody. The three-hour surrealist horror odyssey stars Joaquin Phoenix as Beau, a man who is humiliated and terrorized every step of the way as he struggles to make it to his abusive mother’s funeral in an increasingly bizarre journey.
But the limited release success of “Beau Is Afraid” shows how Aster has developed a devoted fanbase with his previous two films, both of which stand among A24’s top 10 highest grossing films ever with “Hereditary” grossing $81 million worldwide in 2018 and “Midsommar” grossing $46.7 million in 2019.
Since adding Aster to its roster, A24 has released other cult hit horror films like Alex Garland’s “Men” and Ti West’s slasher duology “X” and “Pearl,” carving out a reputation for bringing a unique brand of challenging and disturbing horror movies to theaters. We will see in the coming weeks how far “Beau Is Afraid” is able to successfully draw horror fans with its long and unrelenting march of existential dread.
Meanwhile, Sony’s anime branch Crunchyroll has released “Suzume,” the new film from “Your Name” director Makoto Shinkai, earning $5 million from 2,170 theaters. It is the widest release ever for a Shinkai film and comes on the back of rave reviews from critics and audiences with a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 5/5 score on PostTrak.
A pair of other releases from indie studios, Bleecker Street’s “Mafia Mamma” and Briarcliff’s “Sweetwater,” did poorly in wide release. “Mafia Mamma,” which is directed by Catherine Hardwicke and stars Toni Collette and Monica Bellucci, opened to just $2 million from 2,002 theaters amidst poor reviews with a 27% Rotten Tomatoes score.
“Sweetwater,” which tells the story of one of the NBA’s first Black players, Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton, has become one of the worst wide releases in box office history with just $350,000 grossed from 1,201 theaters. That is a theater average of just $291, one of the lowest for any film opening on more than 1,000 theaters.
