Indie Films See Plenty of Success Over Bumper Thanksgiving Weekend

 The record-breaking Thanksgiving box office was a win for blockbusters. However, while the shattered records and beefy takings are certainly impressive, let’s not let it overshadow the many success stories we saw from the indie arena as well. Brandon Blake, entertainment attorney Los Angeles at Blake & Wang P.A., shines a spotlight on some Thanksgiving indie success stories.


                                                                          Brandon Blake

A Fantastic Weekend for All

Even with the powerful performances from Moana 2, Wicked, and Gladiator 2, speciality films left their own mark on this past weekend’s box office, with 3 indie movies managing to find a spot in the Top Ten.

 

A24's latest release, Queer, made a strong debut with $188,800 on seven screens over the three-day weekend, netting a promising per-screen average of $27,000. The film premiered earlier this year at the Venice Film Festival.

 

Nor was it alone, with several holdovers proving successful indeed. Focus Features' Conclave, which has already seen spectacular crowd interest, reached an impressive $30.1M total. Meanwhile, Searchlight Pictures' A Real Pain continued to perform well even in its fifth week, dropping only 39% (despite the competitive weekend) and passing $6.1M in total earnings.

An Interesting Synergy

Much of this matches with a promising trend we’re noticing in the industry. Audiences attending blockbusters are increasingly likely to add an indie film to their theatrical experience. However, challenges remain for niche films, particularly regarding screen availability for smaller releases.

The weekend also saw notable performances from several international offerings with wide appeal, including an Iranian drama shot in secret and a Latvian animated feature. Again, these success stories point to a growing audience appetite for diverse, specialized content, even in a market dominated by major studio releases.

As one independent distribution executive noted, "The indie market is still punishing, but we're seeing encouraging signs of audiences expanding their viewing choices." This growth in specialty film attendance, combined with the overall robust box office, suggests we are standing on the brink of a theatrical recovery with room for independent cinema, not just blockbusters and tentpoles.

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