Natalie Portman as Nina Sayers/the Swan Queen
The Los Angeles Times
Company Town
The Business behind the Show
December 5, 2010
'Black Swan' has bravura debut in limited release
"Black Swan" has danced away with what may be the best opening weekend of the year for a movie in a limited number of theaters.
Director Darren Aronofsky's psycho-sexual drama about the world of competitive ballet starring Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis took in nearly $1.4 million from 18 theaters in eight cities, according to an estimate from distributor Fox Searchlight.
Its per-theater average of $77,459 is the second highest for any film this year, behind only last weekend's "The King's Speech." But that British drama opened at only four locations, making the debut of "Black Swan" arguably more impressive.
Its strong performance, despite negative reviews from a few prominent publications including the Los Angeles Times, demonstrates that audiences in big cities such as Los Angeles, New York and Chicago have a strong interest in the picture. Searchlight hopes that will continue as the movie expands nationwide over the next several weeks.
"The King's Speech" also continued to play very well, taking in $325,874 at six theaters on its second weekend.
Strong performances for both movies indicate that audiences are excited for the bounty of low-budget films aiming for awards voters' attention coming out at the end of the year.
Ben Fritz
Personal comment: What great news! Now if the film just has legs!
Now that makes me wonder when it'll open here in the Waterloo/Cedar Falls area. Though, I'm more waiting for "Tron: Legacy" first.
ReplyDeleteHey, on NBC Nightly News tonight, they had a story at the end of the newscast talking about how some actors really get into their roles by either severely gaining or losing weight, and "Black Swan" was included, talking about how Natalie Portman lost 20 pounds to play Nina.
ReplyDelete