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Director Sean Baker’s Anora is showing incredibly promising signs at the box office, after delivering the year’s best limited debut last week. In its second weekend, the film exceeded expectations once again, grossing nearly $1 million from just 34 theaters. Anora premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, where it ended up winning the festival’s top honor, the prestigious Palme d’Dor. It was picked up for domestic distribution by Neon, which set new benchmarks for itself earlier this year with the horror hit Longlegs.
Anora grossed over $900,000 this weekend, registering a per-theater average of $26,000 — the biggest of any film currently in release, and over twice as much as Venom: The Last Dance's $12,000 PTA. This comes just a week after it broke records with a $91,000 per-theater average in its opening frame, when it debuted in just six theaters. The romantic comedy-drama’s running domestic haul now stands at $1.6 million in just 10 days. Combined with the $689,000 that it has made in overseas territories — mainly Russia — the film’s cumulative global gross stands at $2.3 million. Why Russia, you might ask. That’s probably because Anora is set in the Russian immigrant community of New York, and features several actors of Russian descent.
Mikey Madison is already attracting Oscar buzz for her central performance as the titular character. Mark Eidelstein stars as her husband Vanya, the son of an oligarch. In addition to becoming the first American-produced film since Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life to win the Palme d’Or, Anora opened to universal acclaim, and currently sits at a near-perfect 99% approval rating on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. In his review, Collider’s Chase Hutchinson described it as Baker’s “most searing, shattering work to date.”
Anora is already his second-highest grossing film, behind The Florida Project, which earned around $6 million domestically. Baker broke out with the acclaimed indie gem Tangerine, which he famously filmed using three iPhones. In addition to Cannes, Anora played at the Toronto International Film Festival, the Busan International Film Festival, the New York Film Festival, the BFI London Film Festival, and the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. You can watch the film in theaters, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
Anora follows a young sex worker from Brooklyn who impulsively marries the son of a Russian oligarch, igniting a potential fairy tale. Upon learning of the union, his influential parents travel to New York to annul the marriage, jeopardizing her unexpected chance at a new beginning.
Director Sean Baker
Cast Mikey Madison , Mark Eydelshteyn , Karren Karagulian , Yuriy Borisov , Vache Tovmasyan , Ivy Wolk , Luna Sofía Miranda , Ross Brodar , Lindsey Normington , Darya Ekamasova , Emily Weider , Alena Gurevich , Masha Zhak , Paul Weissman , Charlton Lamar , Aleksey Serebryakov , Ella Rubin , Vincent Radwinsky , Michael Sergio , Brittney Rodriguez , Sophia Carnabuci , Anton Bitter , Zoë Vnak
Character(s) Anora , Ivan , Toros , Igor , Garnick , Crystal , Lulu , Security Guard , Diamond , Galina , Nikki , Clara , Tatiana's Hostess , Nick , Court Security , Nikolay , Vera , Jimmy , Judge , Dawn , Jenny , Tom , Rachel