‘Lady Bird,’ ‘Last Flag Flying’ Take Flight at Indie Box Office

“Lady Bird” has passed “The Big Sick” for the highest per screen average of the year

lady bird
Merle Wallace/A24

Awards contender season is in full swing at the indie box office, as A24’s “Lady Bird” soared in its four-screen LA/NY opening this weekend with the highest per screen average of the year.

Greta Gerwig’s dramedy sold out shows at all four theaters this weekend, making $375,612 for a whopping $93,903 per screen average, passing the $87,000 PSA scored by “The Big Sick” this summer. Starring Laurie Metcalf and Saoirse Ronan as a struggling nurse and her rebellious daughter, “Lady Bird” has received a 100 percent Rotten Tomatoes rating and is expected to contend at the Oscars next year. The film gets its nationwide release on Thanksgiving weekend and will expand into select cities before then.

Also performing very well in its four-screen release is Amazon/Lionsgate’s “Last Flag Flying,” which made $42,000 from four screens for a $10,500 PSA. Based on the book of the same name by Darryl Ponicsan, the film stars Steve Carell as Larry Shepherd, a Marine veteran whose son is killed in Iraq in 2003 and, with the help of two comrades from his Marine unit (Bryan Cranston and Laurence Fishburne), he seeks to give him a burial in his hometown instead of at Arlington National Cemetery. Ponicsan wrote the script with director Richard Linklater, and the film has a 74 percent RT score.

Opening in wider release is Vertical Entertainment’s “LBJ,” which stars Woody Harrelson as President Lyndon B. Johnson as he takes office following John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963. The film made $330,000 from 659 screens. Among holdovers are Atlas’ “Let There Be Light,” which expanded to 642 theaters and grossed $1.6 million, and Magnolia’s Cannes winner “The Square,” which made $102,000 from 19 locations.

Elsewhere, Fox Searchlight’s “Goodbye Christopher Robin” passed the $1 million mark in its fourth week with $353,000 from 262 screens, while A24’s “The Florida Project” passed the $3 million mark with $663,626 from 189 screens in its fifth weekend. Good Deed’s “Loving Vincent” passed the $3 million mark with $590,195 from 205 screens in its seventh week, and Focus Features’ “Victoria and Abdul” is approaching $20 million with $1.2 million from 796 screens in its seventh week.

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