Box Office Analysis: Where Does Boyhood Go From Here?

An extraordinary movie is out right now in about 107 theaters, a movie called Boyhood. It's an astonishing film, one that everybody should see, but as the amount of theaters suggests, many can't yet. Luckily, it's doing gangbusters so far, including this past weekend where it made $1.7 million at its small amount of locations (which includes a $16,121 per theater average, indicating excellent attendance), so expansion should be coming quickly.

Interestingly though, IFC Films isn't interesting in an immediate expansion. They're taking things slowly, which is quite an interesting tactic to take. These kinds of smaller movies are very delicate in terms of release; sometimes you expand wide too early, other times you go wide just after all the buzz has worn off. Frankly, I'd say going into about 700 theaters this coming weekend might be the perfect time to capitalize on all of the great buzz surrounding it, but I do trust IFC knows what they're doing here.

I can't help but wonder how the film will do in nationwide release. Will it make tons of cash (like The Grand Budapest Hotel) or wind up not doing so hot like Richard Linklaters last drama Before Midnight? It's honestly a crapshoot at this point. IFC hasn't given a movie a wide release in years, but I'm sure they knew from afar this movie was more than good enough to warrant going into as many theaters as possible. What'll be interesting to see is if their inexperience with wide release films will result in a lacking marketing campaign. You don't need to do a Guardians of The Galaxy sized campaign for Boyhood of course, but getting the word out that it's finally playing at your local Cinemark is crucial here.

Speaking of that company, Cinemark actually put it as one of the four artsy movies they'll be playing soon, which actually makes me super happy, since that means one of the biggest theater chains in America has got Boyhood's back. I'm super glad to hear that, as with that kind of push, Boyhood just might be able to get the audience it deserves. I'm really excited to see how the reception to the movie is going forward, as well as seeing if it can reap the financial success it more than deserves.