2007 independent films faring well
Specialty features outpace expectations
But plugging away lower down on the charts has been a handful of specialty pics proving that distribs don't need the fall to make significant launches.
The development comes on the heels of a holiday season filled with specialty films desperately battling it out for attention each weeekend as auds, not in the mood for upscale fare, proved elusive in many cases.
When Fox Searchlight pulled the plug on a plan to release Mira Nair's latest pic "The Namesake" in November, some saw the move as showing lack of confidence in the film.
Conventional wisdom would dictate putting the pic smack-dab into the awards season fray.
But the studio's distribution whiz Steve Gilula saw that the move was necessary amidst the collision of high profile pics clogging the marketplace.
The move has paid off.
Though March isn't known as prime time for high-end film fare, Nair bowed "Namesake" with her biggest per theater average ever, $41,425 from six screens. (That number beat out the $34,273 per screen brought in by Nair's "Monsoon Wedding," which was an indie breakout back in 2002 off just two screens.)
"Namesake" has taken in just over $1 million to date, expanding to 41 locations in its second weekend and jumping 188% in ticket sales.
Pic follows an Indian family caught between cultures and has been crossing over particularly well with diverse crowds in Gotham, Los Angeles and Toronto.
But "Namesake" isn't the only unlikely film outpacing expectations in March.
Samuel Goldwyn and Roadside Attractions' "Amazing Grace," a politically conscious period piece by Michael Apted, has been in the top 10 two weekends out of four frames in its release.
(Last frame, when "300" sailed past $100 million, and three new films entered the top 10, "Grace" dropped one slot into 11th place.)
Pic's biggest dip since hitting the 1,000 screen-plus mark in its third frame has been just 15%.
At $14.5 million, "Grace" is already bigger than any film that Goldwyn/Roadside put out last year.
It seems that the studios aren't the only ones celebrating the rebound of 2007.
