'If Beale Street Could Talk' Holds Solidly in Quiet Pre-Christmas Indie Box Office

With five wide releases coming out this weekend, the indie box office was characteristically quiet. The arthouse boom won’t come until Christmas Day, when new films will arrive and films currently in theaters will expand into new markets to take advantage of the seasonal rush.

In the meantime, Annapurna’s “If Beale Street Could Talk” added one more screen for this weekend and performed well in its second frame, grossing $114,902 for a per screen average of $22,980. The film now has a total of $428,000 and will expand to 65 screens on Christmas Day.

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One film that did release this weekend is the Polish film “Cold War,” which earned filmmaker Pawel Pawlikowski the Best Director prize at Cannes this year. Released on three screens by Amazon, the film opened solidly with $55,727 and an average of $18,576. Another foreign film, Sony Pictures Classics’ “Capernaum,” expanded from three to seven screens and grossed $23,513, averaging $3,359 for a total of $62,070.

On the widest end of the awards spectrum were Focus’ “Mary Queen of Scots” and Fox Searchlight’s “The Favourite,” both of which played to just under 800 screens this weekend. “Mary,” after a decent start, has hit its stride, grossing $2.24 million this weekend and placing in the top 10 on the charts in its third weekend. “The Favourite” was just behind it, doing very well in its fifth weekend with $1.9 million to reach a domestic total of $10 million.

Christmas Day will see the limited release of three more arthouse films: Focus’ “On the Basis of Sex,” starring Felicity Jones as Ruth Bader Ginsburg; Annapurna/30WEST’s cop drama “Destroyer” starring Nicole Kidman, and Sony Pictures Classics’ Laurel & Hardy biopic “Stan & Ollie” starring Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly.

Golden Globes' 10 Most Ludicrous Comedy or Musical Picks, From 'Get Out' to 'Green Book' (Photos)

Throughout its history, the Golden Globes have consistently made oddball choices when it comes to determining what films qualify under its Comedy or Musical categories. Here are 10 other instances that raise an eyebrow:
Justin Lubin/Universal
"The Three Musketeers" (1974)

There are a lot of examples of sumptuous, overly colorful period pieces and adventures that flirt with the musical tag, but the funniest thing about the 1973 "Three Musketeers," which was nominated for Best Musical or Comedy, is that Charlton Heston would play a villainous Cardinal.
Twentieth Century Fox
"Ghost" (1990)

We've gotten a lot of mileage out of parodies of that pottery scene, but just because Whoopi Goldberg is in "Ghost" doesn't make it a comedy. It was nominated in the Best Musical or Comedy category and lost to Peter Weir's "Green Card."
Paramount Pictures
"Fargo" (1996)

It isn't easy to pin down one genre for any Coen Brothers movie, especially "Fargo." But the real joke is that "Fargo" ended up losing to "Evita."
Gramercy Pictures
"Vicky Christina Barcelona" (2008)

The Globes would eventually figure out with "Blue Valentine" that there are some times when Woody Allen just prefers to not be funny, so why not this time? It did manage to win in the Musical or Comedy category however.
MGM
"The Tourist" (2010)

How can we invite Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp to the awards ceremony? Let's nominate this romantic action caper with a 20 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and stick it in the Musical or Comedy category!
Columbia Pictures
"RED" (2010)

Yeah, it's an action movie, but we'd find some way to invite Helen Mirren to the awards ceremony if we could too.
Summit Entertainment
"My Week With Marilyn" (2011)

Maybe someone will make a movie worthy of a Golden Globe that celebrates Marilyn Monroe's musical and comedic achievements. But this drama about Monroe's romantic fling in London wasn't it. The Michelle Williams film lost to "The Artist" that year.
The Weinstein Company
"The Martian" (2015)

"In your face, Neil Armstrong!" That line of dialogue is just about all it takes to be considered a comedy it seems. And it won!
Twentieth Century Fox
"Get Out" (2017)

Jordan Peele's "Get Out" is funny in that queasy, racially tense and awkward way -- but make no mistake, it's a horror movie. But it was nominated in the Best Musical or Comedy category and lost to "Lady Bird."
Universal Pictures
"Green Book" (2018)

While some jokes are cracked about how much the lead character eats, the story of a white bouncer hired to drive a closeted Black pianist through the racist South is more of a light-hearted drama than anything else.
Courtesy of TIFF

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The categories for ”My Week With Marilyn“ and ”The Tourist“ also had moviegoers scratching their heads

Throughout its history, the Golden Globes have consistently made oddball choices when it comes to determining what films qualify under its Comedy or Musical categories. Here are 10 other instances that raise an eyebrow:

View In Gallery

Golden Globes' 10 Most Ludicrous Comedy or Musical Picks, From 'Get Out' to 'Green Book' (Photos)

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