Wes Anderson’s “Grand Budapest Hotel” box office success continues

PanARMENIAN.Net - The box office is looking grand for Wes Anderson as his latest pic continues to perform well in limited release, Variety said.

Now at 304 theaters, “The Grand Budapest Hotel” has brought in $6.7 million in its third weekend with a per-screen average of around $22,000. That brings the total cume to nearly $13 million in three weekends. The film came in at No. 7 at the box office, and is not taking long to build a big audience.

In its first weekend, “Grand Budapest Hotel” had already broken a record, taking the arthouse crown for the biggest limited live action debut ever. In just four theaters, two in Los Angeles and two in New York, it brought in $800,000, marking a stellar $200,000 average per theater. To take that record, it beat out Paul Thomas Anderson’s “The Master,” which averaged $147,000 per theater in its opening weekend.

The release strategy mirrors that of Anderson’s previous film “Moonrise Kingdom.” It held the record for biggest limited live action debut before “The Master” would take it, averaging $131,000 in four theaters for its opening weekend in 2012. Comparatively, in its third weekend, “Moonrise Kingdom” played to 96 theaters and averaged $16,000 per theater. It would go on to gross $45 million domestically.

Anderson’s most financially successful release remains 2001′s “The Royal Tenenbaums,” which grossed about $12 million after three weekends playing in less than 300 theaters. It would eventually bring in $52 million.

“The Grand Budapest Hotel” stars Ralph Fiennes, Bill Murray and Tilda Swinton, and will expand to more than 800 screens next weekend.