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Jordan Firstman’s “Club Kid” was the belle of Cannes. Critics raved about Firstman’s feature directorial debut, as well as his sensitive performance as a party promoter turned unlikely dad, and A24 swept in to buy the film for $17 million after a bidding war. But plenty of movies have been embraced at film festivals only to face rejection when they hit the wider world. Would “Club Kid” be another “Dope” or “Begin Again”?
Well, based on a very limited sample size, “Club Kid” seems to be performing just fine, thank you very much. Those raves and A24’s imprimatur of cool are paying off as the film enjoyed the best limited expansion of the year this weekend, grossing $756,060 across 27 screens. That translates into an impressive $28,002 per-screen average. Since opening in six screens on Nov. 6, “Club Kid” has earned nearly $1.5 million. But this very New York story has mostly played in major cities and liberal bastions like the Big Apple, Chicago, Austin, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Will audiences across the country embrace the story of a drug-taking, sex-positive gay man and his adorable 10-year-old accidental son? We’ll find out on Thanksgiving when it goes wide.
In order for “Club Kid” to be a financial success, it will need to more than double the $17 million that A24 shelled out for the rights, because theaters keep half the ticket sales. That could happen if “Club Kid” generates awards buzz and positive word-of-mouth spreads, something that seems plausible given how funny, touching, and life-affirming Firstman’s film is (seriously, audiences have been applauding as the credits roll). Plus, A24 is on a heater this year, releasing hits like “You Can See Everything” and “Backrooms” that have it rivaling the market shares of much larger studios like Warner Bros. and Paramount.
There are certainly a lot of other Oscar hopefuls out there. Searchlight’s “Wild Horse Nine,” which is seen as a near lock for a Best Picture nod, earned $4.6 million domestically in its second weekend. The film about two CIA agents up to no good in Chile has earned $28 million globally. Then there’s “La Bola Negra,” a multigenerational gay epic from Netflix. It’s earned $3.5 million domestically over five weeks in theaters. And “The Only Living Pickpocket in New York,” which is generating Oscar buzz for John Turturro, picked up $322,830 to bring its domestic haul to $4.7 million after four weeks in theaters.
“Wicker,” with its story of a fisherwoman who becomes romantically entangled with a wicker man, may be too weird to generate a much love from Academy voters, but it has done well for its distributor, Black Bear, earning $1.5 million in North America last weekend. Its global total stands at $36.7 million after four weeks of release.
As for “Club Kid,” A24 thinks its trajectory mirrors that of other recent arthouse hits, with ticket sales pacing alongside those of “Moonlight” ($67 million gross) and “Anora” ($59.3 million gross) at this point in its expansion. Exit scores are among the best in the studio’s history and the film is connecting with young audiences as 80% of ticket buyers were under the age of 35. Next weekend will be another test for “Club Kid” as it expands to 200 screens across the top 50 markets. If it keeps drawing crowds, Firstman and A24 will have a lot to celebrate.
English (US) ·