Dhurandhar is making a Bollywood splash, Rose Byrne is back in Tow. Viva Films looks to family audiences with animated The Pout-Pout Fish. And the specialty market is livelier than it’s been in weeks with a half dozen well-reviewed, buzzy festival indies in limited release, from Sergei Loznitsa’s Two Prosecutors to Christian Pezold’s Gothic fairy tale Miroirs No. 3, Petra Volpe’s Late Shift, Cartuna x Dweck’s edgy comedy horro rDead Lover, Sofia Coppola documentary Marc By Sofia, and the official theatrical release of historical epic Palestine ’36.
Moviegoers Entertainment is estimating $3.9 million for Thursday opening plus Wednesday pre-shows for Dhurandhar The Revenge by Aditya Dhar on 987 screens. The sequel to Dhurandhar, which was the highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time in North America at $20 million last year, stars Ranveer Singh as an undercover Indian intelligence agent working to infiltrate Karachi’s criminal syndicates and Pakistani politics.
Wide
Animated The Pout-Pout Fish from Viva Films opens on 1,854 screens. An unlikely duo, Mr. Fish (Nick Offerman) a pouty introvert, and Pip (Nina Oyama), an energetic sea dragon, embark on a daunting quest to find a legendary fish to grant their wish to save their homes. Directed by Ricard Cussó and Rio Harrington. Written by Elie Choufany, Deborah Diesen, Elise Allen, and Dominic Morris based on Diesen’s bestselling children’s book series. Produced for under $10 million, the film is leaning into a grassroots release strategy built around schools, educators and families, including a Barnes & Noble partnership that put tickets in the hands of book buyers.
Moderate
Roadside Attractions is out with Tow, the feature debut of Stephanie Laing on 180 screens. Rose Byrne stars as an unhoused Seattle woman living out of her 1991 Toyota Camry that contained every possession she had in the world. She found her life turned upside down after the car was stolen and then towed and waged an epic year-long battle to get it back. Based on the true story of Amanda Ogle, an EP on the film. Premiered at Tribeca Festival, see Deadline review. Written by Jonathan Keasey and Brant Boivin. With Octavia Spencer, Demi Lovato, Ariana DeBose, Dominic Sessa.
Janus Films’ Two Prosecutors, the latest from renowned Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa (My Joy), opens in limited release exclusively at New York’s Film Forum. In the film adapted from the novel by Soviet writer and political prisoner Georgy Demidov and set in the Soviet Union in 1937, Loznitsa follows the attempts of an idealistic government-appointed prosecutor (Alexander Kuznetsov) to expose the mistreatment of a dissident Bolshevik writer who has been jailed and tortured without evidence of wrongdoing. Premiered at Cannes, Deadline review here. The darkly satiric film expands to LA, SF, and DC next week and nationwide throughout April.
Music Box Films debuts Petra Volpe’s medical drama Late Shift in New York at the Quad Cinema and in Los Angeles at the Laemmle Royal. Stars Leonie Benesch (The Teachers’ Lounge, September 5) as Floria, a nurse arriving at the surgical ward of the Swiss hospital where she works on the overnight shift. With one colleague out sick and no replacement on deck, two nurses and a nervous trainee will have to cover more than two dozen patients. Floria juggles endless tasks, administering medication, updating charts, soothing patients, answering phones, and managing complaints. She fights exhaustion and to maintain her professional demeanor as every second counts, and every interruption could mean the difference between life and death. Premiered at Berlin, see Deadline review.
Cannes-premiering Gothic fairy tale Miroirs No. 3 from 1-2 Special opens in New York at IFC Center and Film at Lincoln Center (which has been doing a retrospective with director Christian Petzold in town for Q&As) and at the Laemmle Royal in L.A. It reunites Petzold and actress Paula Beer, with whom he has previously collaborated on acclaimed films including Transit, Undine and Berlin Grand Jury Prize winner Afire. Beer plays Laura, an aspiring pianist whose life is upended after miraculously surviving a car crash.
Cartuna and Dweck Productions are releasing the first film under their new partnership, Grace Glowicki’s 2025 Sundance- and SXSW-premiering comedy horror Dead Lover, at the IFC Center — with scratch-and-sniff cards that pair with the film screening. Glowicki stars as a lonely gravedigger who stinks of corpses. When she finally meets her dream man (Ben Petrie), their whirlwind affair is cut short when he tragically drowns at sea. Grief-stricken, she goes to morbid lengths to resurrect him through madcap scientific experiments, resulting in unlikely love.
A24 opens Marc by Sofia, an unconventional portrait of Marc Jacobs by Sofia Coppola, at the Angelika and Lincoln Square in New York. In her documentary debut, Coppola aims to captures the genius and singular universe of the iconic American designer and her close friend. Loosely framed around the creation of Jacobs’ 2024 spring ready-to-wear collection, the doc premiered at the Venice Film Festival, Deadline review here.
Watermelon Pictures opens historical epic Palestine ’36 by Annemarie Jacir at the Angelika in NYC with early numbers/tracking indicating a solid $30,000 weekend. In 1936, as the British Empire tightens its grip on Palestine, Yusuf, a young villager, is caught between his rural home and the politically charged streets of Jerusalem. Amidst an anti-colonial revolt, and with Jewish refugees fleeing persecution from Europe, all sides converge in a decisive moment for the entire region. Palestine’s shortlisted Best International Film Oscar selection premiered at TIFF. The distributor held a series of sneak-preview screenings in November in conjunction with the annual International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.
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