Older Demos, Still Elusive, Bless ‘Conclave’ Amid Indie Surge – Specialty Box Office

Four top films this weekend are indies – five including The Substance at no. 11, as the specialty market roars back to life. No. 3 at the domestic box office is a great story, Conclave from Focus Features, the studio behind the Downtown Abbey films. excels at drawing still elusive but key older demos to theaters and broadening out from there as it did most recently with Oscar-winning The Holdovers.

The Vatican thriller by Edward Berger (whose All Quiet On The Western Front took the Best International Feature Oscar in 2023) and starring Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow and Isabella Rossellini opened to a sweet $6.5 million at about 1,750 theaters. The kicker is that some 77% of the audience is over 35 with the biggest chunk (44%) being 55+, a rare feat.

The title refers to the ancient tradition that sees Cardinals from across the globe gather sequestered behind Vatican walls to elect a new Pope when the previous Eminence expires. Action is set between rounds of voting.

The demos recall Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers starring Paul Giamatti (as a cranky prep school Classics professor), Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Dominic Sessa — although it’s hard to compare because Focus gave that a platform release starting in late October. The film had multiple Oscar nominations and Randoph won Best Supporting Actress. The film grossed $20+ million domestic ($45 million worldwide).

Focus achieved a feat post-Covid with older-skewing Leslie Manville-starring Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris, released in July of 2022, which saw $10+ million U.S. and $21 million worldwide.

The 35+ and certainly 55+ audiences have been the hardest to lure back post Covid. Hollywood strikes in 2023 meant fewer films in theaters.

“I feel like the only way that you’re going to get an older audience back into the movies is to give them a steady stream of films that get them interested in going back to the movies again,” said Focus distribution chief Lisa Bunnell.

“So, when we do our slate, one of the things that we think about is how can we be diverse and have films that appeal to all different age groups and all different demos. Because, to us, that’s the most important thing, that we get everybody back to the movies.”

The hope is that like The Holdovers did, younger audiences will ultimately be drawn to Conclave as well given the star power and the entertainment factor. “While, initially, we’re really getting those older folks back into theaters again, I think that eventually, what happens, especially with all of the awards talk for the movie, is that we’ll be able to bring in younger audiences as well.”

That was also the pattern with Mrs. Harris.

Focus is has a rare two in the top ten this week with Morgan Neville’s Piece By Piece at no. 9. The unique Lego-animated biopic of musician and record producer Pharrell Williams had a $720k weekend in week 5 on 1,298 screens for an $8.8 million gross.

The box office in the midst of a major uptick in indie films in part as popular festival names start circulating, even as the reception has been complicated for some big-ticket studio fare.

To that point, a real standout this week is Cannes Palme d’Or-winner Anora from Neon at no. 8 in week 2 with $867k on just 34 screens and a cume of $1.6 million.

A24’s newly wide romance We Live In Time with Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh is no. 5 in week 3 with a $4.8-million weekend and a cume of $11.7 million.

In week 6, Mubi’s release of Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance crossed $14 million with an estimated $605k on 424 screens. The new cume for the Demi Moore-starring horror is $14.5 million.

New moderate release: Vertical’s horror musical Your Monster starring Melissa Barrera, opened to $515k at 651 locations.

New limited release: Adam Elliot’s critically acclaimed claymation Memoir Of A Snail from IFC Films – featuring the voices of Eric Bana, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Sarah Snook, Jacki Weaver and Nick Cave – is looking at an estimated gross of $69k at five theaters. Expands to top markets in limited release next week before a national expansion the week after. The film has been lauded as a masterpiece but is not for kids and contending with an R rating.

Black Box Diaries from MTV Documentary Films will see $7k from the Film Forum in NYC featuring multiple sold out evening shows in a 100-seat theater. Director Shiori Ito’s debut feature premiered at Sundance and has taken home festival prizes across the world, including CPH:DOX, Zurich, and San Francisco Opens in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago next weekend before adding more markets throughout November.

Sundance Special Jury Prize Winning documentary Union about the landmark fight to unionize an Amazon plant, directed by Brett Story and Stephen Maing, will gross $16.2k after adding week-two engagements in Los Angeles, Seattle, Cleveland Chicago and Austin for a total of 7 screens. The awards-contender has a cume of $43.4k.