Universal, DreamWorks and Imagine Entertainment's PG-
13 rated drama A Beautiful Mind went very wide in its third week, rising six pegs to second place with a noble ESTIMATED $17.03 million at 1,853 theaters (+1,328 theaters; $9,190 per theater). Its cume is approximately $38.2 million.
Directed by Ron Howard, the Brian Grazer production stars Russell Crowe and Ed Harris.
Mind's average per theater was the highest for any film playing in over 1,000 theaters this weekend.
"The strategy is working fabulously," Universal distribution president Nikki Rocco said Sunday morning. "The best selling tool for the film is the film. This entire strategy beginning on Dec. 21 [with the film's platform release] is successful.
"What's most interesting this weekend is the fact that the head-to-heads from the 525 theaters that were open last week are actually up. Friday the head-to-heads were up three percent. For Saturday, they were up 17 percent, according to the EDI tracking. And that's phenomenal. That's something you don't see that often. The per screen average of nearly $9,200 is indicative enough of success, but it's when you look at theaters in markets that had additional runs [start this weekend], to see head-to-heads like that is really phenomenal. By the end of the week, we'll be past $40 million and that's quite a success story."
Focusing on the film's exit polls, Rocco noted, "The exit polls [this weekend] were as strong as they were originally. The only difference in the exit polls--with 95 percent in the Top Two Boxes [excellent and very good] --is that the audience is a bit younger. From the first exit polls, 75 percent of the audience was over the age of 30. It dropped down to 70 percent [this weekend]. So it's a little bit younger--not enough to make a huge difference, but what it tells us is that younger people are beginning to sample it. They're liking what they see because the exit polls are still huge.
"I don't remember the last time I've seen polls this strong and across the country. They're as strong in Dallas as they are in New York. Dallas is 99 percent in the Top Two. It suggests that it not only has life for quite some time to come, but that people really really are liking what they see. They're liking Russell Crowe. They're feeling the talent of Ron Howard. They like the idea of the storytelling. That's what happens--it all comes together."