'Free Solo' Sets Documentary Record at Indie Box Office

This weekend saw The Year of the Documentary strike again with the arrival of National Geographic’s “Free Solo” in the indie box office, and with it, a new per screen average record for docs.

Telling the story of climber Alex Honnold’s quest to climb Yosemite’s El Capitan without any equipment, the thrilling, critically-acclaimed doc earned $300,804 from its four-screen release, earning a per screen average (PSA) of $75,201. That breaks the 12-year PSA record for documentaries held by “An Inconvenient Truth,” which had a starting average of $70,333. It’s also the best PSA of 2018, beating the $63,000 average of A24’s “Eighth Grade.”

Also Read: 'Night School' Is Head of the Box Office Class With $28 Million Opening

On the feature side, Fox Searchlight, which released Best Picture winner “The Shape of Water” last winter, made a return to the indie charts with “The Old Man & the Gun,” which features the final acting performance of Robert Redford. Released on five screens, the film grossed $150,000 for a per screen average of $30,000.

“The Old Man & the Gun” stars Redford in the true story of Forrest Tucker, a 70-year-old man who escaped from California’s San Quentin State Prison and became an urban legend as an elderly thief and fugitive. Casey Affleck stars as the detective tasked with catching Tucker, and Sissy Spacek plays the woman who fell in love with him despite his way of life. Written and directed by “A Ghost Story” filmmaker David Lowery, the film has an 88 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Also Read: 'Colette' and 'The Sisters Brothers' Reignite Indie Box Office

Also opening this weekend was NEON’s “Monsters and Men,” which features “BlacKkKlansman” star John David Washington in a film about the killing of a black man by a police officer told through the eyes of an African-American cop, the bystander who filmed the killing, and a high-schooler who speaks out against the police. Premiering at this year’s Sundance, the film was released on 18 screens and made $130,979 for a per screen average of $7,277.

Among holdovers, Bleecker Street’s “Colette” expanded to 38 screens and earned $418,501 for a per screen average of just over $11,000 and a 10-day total of $638,932. Annapurna’s “The Sisters Brothers” also expanded to 23 screens, earning $244,000 for a PSA of $10,613. Sony Pictures Classics’ “The Wife” crossed $6 million in its seventh weekend with $777,386 from 437 screens, while fellow SPC release “Puzzle” nears its own milestone with $1.97 million after 10 weekends.

'A Star Is Born' vs 'Venom' and 5 More of Fall's 6 Biggest Box Office Showdowns (Photos)

“Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” “Aquaman” and “Mary Poppins Returns” are expected to dominate the box office this fall. But there are other films vying for moviegoers' attention -- ones that are set to debut to some steep competition. Here are six head-to-head box office showdowns to look out for this fall.
MGM/Disney/Paramount/Twentieth Century Fox
Oct. 5: "A Star Is Born" vs. "Venom"

Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga facing off against a superhero entry is going to be an interesting battle -- while the former is an indie with A-list stars atop the bill, the latter is a highly-anticipated comic book character debut from a major studio.
MGM/Sony
Oct. 12: "First Man" vs. "Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween"

Everyone is anticipating Damien Chazelle’s followup to “La La Land,” especially now that film that puts Ryan Gosling in space is generating early buzz. “Goosebumps,” of course, is already an established franchise based on the children’s book series of the same name by R.L. Stine. The first film, which was released in 2015, had a $23 million opening.
DreamWorks/Columbia Pictures Corporation
Nov. 2: "Bohemian Rhapsody" vs. "Nobody’s Fool" vs. "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms"

“Bohemian Rhapsody” is quickly shaping up to be many people’s most anticipated fall movie, as it chronicles the life of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury (played by Rami Malek). The film hit some road bumps when Sacha Baron Cohen, originally cast as Mercury, exited the project. Director Joss Whedon also departed the rocker biopic. Now, it's set to face off against Disney’s big-budget film “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” along with Tyler Perry’s “Nobody’s Fool.”
New Regency/Paramount Players/Disney
Nov. 9: "Overlord" vs. "The Girl in the Spider’s Web" vs. "The Grinch"

“The Girl in the Spider’s Web” is a long-awaited sequel to “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” which starred Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander. That one grossed $232 million at the global box office. Claire Foy is taking over seven years later. But fans love their “Grinch” (2000's "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" earned $345.1 million worldwide) and J.J. Abrams has established a “Cloverfield” fandom as well (although he has said “Overlord” is not part of the “Cloverfield” franchise). "Cloverfield" and "10 Cloverfield Lane" earned $170.8 million and $110.2 million worldwide, respectively.
Paramount/Universal/MGM
Nov. 22: "Creed II" vs. "Ralph Breaks the Internet"

"Creed" came out punching at the box office in 2015, earning $173 million worldwide. So, naturally, the sequel could prove a worthy adversary for "Ralph Breaks the Internet." Its predecessor, "Wreck-It Ralph" grossed $471 million globally, and was nominated for an Oscar.
MGM/Disney
Dec. 21: "Aquaman" vs. "Bumblebee" vs. "Alita: Battle Angel"

“Aquaman” has the backing of extremely devout DC fans, but “Bumblebee” will attract “Transformers” fans, who have brought the whole franchise up to $1.4 billion domestically. Both films are set to make some serious cash. “Alita: Battle Angel” is based on Yukito’s Kishiro’s manga “Battle Angel Alita,” is produced by James Cameron, and has a stellar cast.
Warner Bros./Paramount/Twentieth Century Fox

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Fall Movie Preview 2018: These 15 films have a tough battle to box office glory

“Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” “Aquaman” and “Mary Poppins Returns” are expected to dominate the box office this fall. But there are other films vying for moviegoers' attention -- ones that are set to debut to some steep competition. Here are six head-to-head box office showdowns to look out for this fall.

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'A Star Is Born' vs 'Venom' and 5 More of Fall's 6 Biggest Box Office Showdowns (Photos)

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