Indie currency continues to spread across the land in the first weekend of 2025 and into a busy awards season with the Golden Globe Awards just hours away and Oscar nominations coming up on January 17, dates that have marked the somewhat successful debut of a number of films. Which received critical acclaim. . There's big money here but it's also spread well across a diverse slate of films and from wide releases to limited releases with slow rollouts.
Nosferatu, Completely anonymous and Babygirl Multiply a number. 3, 6 and 7 at the domestic box office. Brutal Tops $1 million. flow Pass Driving my car As Sideshow/Janus Films' highest grosser. Nickel Boys It continues its release and moves to 18 screens. From scratchPalestine, which was shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best International Film, opened with $115,000 in 70 theaters. It sold out several showings at New York City's Quad Cinema and would end up as the theater's third best opening of the past year.
Period horror The cursed one From My Vertical was the highest-grossing new film in the market opening with $801,000 in 732 locations led by Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Phoenix, Houston, Seattle, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Sacramento, San Diego and St. Louis. and Charlotte (North Carolina).
Great rifles in wide release: Robert Eggers Nosferatu From Focus Features saw $13.2 million at 3,132 locations in its second week for a total of $69.4 million; James Mangold's Timothée Chalamet-starring Bob Dylan biopic from Searchlight Pictures topped $41.7 million in its second week, adding $8.1 million on 2,835 screens. And A24 Babygirl Directed by Halina Reijn, starring Nicole Kidman, it grossed $4.5 million in its second week on 2,164 screens for a cume of $16 million, flat compared to last weekend's three days.
A24 decorated Brutal The Brady Corbett film was a hit in limited release over the holiday with a $244,000 weekend on just 8 screens, crossing the $1 million mark. The saga starring Adrien Brody and Guy Pearce, nominated for seven Golden Globe Awards including Best Motion Picture – Drama, will have a limited release in major markets next weekend and will continue to expand throughout awards season.
Orion Pictures/Amazon Awards contender MGM Studios Nickel Boys By RaMell Ross It grossed $151.3k for the three-day weekend from 18 theaters (up 13) for $413k in its fourth week. It will be shown in approximately two dozen theaters next weekend, plus Austin, Nashville, Philadelphia and Atlanta, with a wider break planned for the weekend of January 17 for the film based on Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.
On Saturday, the film was awarded Best Picture by the National Society of Film Critics, as well as Best Cinematography for Jomo Frye's work. It has received awards including Best Picture of the Year by major outlets and received major awards and nominations including AFI's Top Ten Films of the Year, Best Picture and Best Director from AAFCA, Gotham Awards for Best Director and Best Cinematography, and a Golden Globe nomination. Globe for Best Motion Picture, Drama. , and numerous accolades from festivals and critics groups including NYFCC and LAFCA.
Kevin Wilson, head of distribution for MGM/Amazon Studios, said the slow rollout has proven fruitful as younger audiences of cinephiles have begun to find the film with heavy informal polls of 18- to 30-year-olds. Alamo Drafthouse San Francisco was a top play with big numbers in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.
The studio followed a similar release pattern successfully with Chord Jefferson American fantasy last year. “It's the rule of the game for us,” Wilson said. He also sees parallels with Jonathan Glazer's A24 rollout Area of interest. He noted that both were by “unique filmmakers with bold visions”, and that they played well week after week in limited expansion.
Amazon MGM Fire inside It grossed an estimated $1.2 million for the three-day weekend in 2,032 theaters for a cume of $7.129 million to date. 10 at the box office.
Neon Awards Contenders Anura By Sean Baker saw $147,000 on 105 stone in week 12 for $14.37 million; and Real pain From Searchlight Pictures starring Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin also grossed $132,000 in 105 theaters in its 10th week for $7.87 million.
Cheers to Sideshow/Janus Films, a fantastic awards season featuring three films.
In its second weekend, the distributor releases the Italian Oscar-nominated and Golden Globe-nominated film cinnabar It expanded to Los Angeles and Chicago with an estimated gross of $17.3k on three screens and a new cume of $31.7k. Los Angeles was affected by power outages on Saturday. Maura Delpero's 2024 Silver Lion-winning film about the secrets of love and family revealed during World War II will run throughout January and into February.
Animation hero flow by Gints Zilbaludis, a Golden Globe nominee for Best Animated Feature and Latvia's submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature, grossed $216,000 on 127 screens for a total cume of $2.6 million in its seventh week, becoming Sideshow/Janus Film's highest-grossing release of all time. Time, better Driving my car$2.35 million.
Payal Kapadia Everything we imagine as light, It continued its expansion in week 8 and had its biggest weekend to date, grossing an estimated $74.5 thousand on 44 screens for a cume of $752 thousand. The National Society of Film Critics named Kapadia Best Director and the film Best Non-English Language Film (and runner-up for Best Picture). It has now won Best Non-English Language Film from the three major critics groups (NSFC, NYFCC, and LAFCA). Kapadia made history as the first Indian director to be nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Director, with the film also being nominated for Best Film Not in the English Language. Sideshow and Janus push the film up for Best Picture, Director and Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards.
Pedro Almodóvar Next room From Sony Pictures Classics, starring Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore, it reached $48,000 in its third week on 6 screens for $321.4,000.Los Freques From Falling Forward Entertainment it is $29.2k for the weekend on 18 screens with a profit of $144.4k in its third week. He had a good reputation, as did Metrograph Pictures. Santoshwhich was held at the IFC Center in New York City to a 3-day total of $4.8k, which is roughly flat since opening weekend, for a total of $14k. The Sandhya Suri-directed Hindi film has a 100% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes (34 reviews) and was shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best International Film. Laemmle adds Royal in Los Angeles next week.
