Monday, November 17, 2008

"Slumdog Millionaire" hits jackpot in first round

By Carl DiOrio

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - It's been a relatively slack market so far for prestige films with awards-consideration aspirations, but "Slumdog Millionaire" hit the jackpot during the weekend with a gold-plated start to its platform campaign.

Danny Boyle's critically praised comedy-drama about an Indian game-show contestant grossed $350,434 from just 10 theaters in six markets, said distributor Fox Searchlight. That represented a mind-bending $35,043 million per engagement for one of the year's top theater averages to date.

Since opening Wednesday, the film has earned $418,131; it will add 10 cities next weekend as part of a slow roll-out designed to capitalize on word of mouth.

Elsewhere in the specialty market, IFC's French-language Catherine Deneuve starrer "A Christmas Tale" unwrapped a first-weekend gross of $65,408 in five New York theaters and three in Los Angeles. That translated to an encouraging $9,344 per venue as the Yuletide reunion drama prepares to unfold in top 10 markets Friday.

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