Whedonesque : Comments on 13276 : Waitress makes the top ten box office list.

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May 21 2007

Waitress makes the top ten box office list. In its third weekend, "Waitress" broke into the top ten box office list with $1,135,000 in 116 theaters. That's up from #17 last week and #35 the one before. Considering the juggernauts at the top of the list right now, that's damn impressive. Here's hoping it hangs on...

[ edited by C. A. Bridges on 2007-05-21 18:15 ]

C. A. Bridges | General | 21:14 CET | 27 comments total | tags: critic's darling, pie, nathan, waitress

It's not been announced yet, but it's got distribution in the UK now via Fox. Also Australia. I suspect they will keep expanding the release in the US as it's got good word of mouth.

gossi | May 21, 21:22 CET

As long as they get it near me eventually, I'm good.

C. A. Bridges | May 21, 21:31 CET

Good flick :) Tragedy that the film maker is no longer with us :(

zeitgeist | May 21, 21:42 CET

I saw in the paper that it's opening in my city this coming weekend at two theaters. I hope to see it.

maje | May 21, 21:58 CET

I just checked, it's expanding to over 500 theatres this coming weekend. Not bad for a movie which started on 4 screens under a month ago.

gossi | May 21, 22:02 CET

Yes, it is a terrible tragedy that Adrienne Shelly was killed, but this film is brilliant and a living testament to her skills as a writer, director, and actor. I got to see 'Waitress' yesterday and I totally loved it, it is VERY funny while still be sensitive to many important issues. Nathan did a brilliant job giving layers to a character whose motivations are never explained. I cannot recommend it enough.
Oh, and if you check at the imbd listing of box office earned per screen? You'll notice that 'Waitress' earned way more per screen than Spiderman3 (more than any other movie except Shrek). I hope that that trend continues!

embers | May 21, 22:20 CET

I agree with your comments and review, embers! Plus, if you look at the Per Screen average (and gossi and others have pointed out that's a very important statistic), Waitress was 3rd for the weekend, behind Once (which just opened and is only playing in 2 theaters) and Shrek, which just opened of course. This is VERY big, IMO, b/c last week it was also the 3rd highest per screen, but the 1 and 2 from last week -- Spidey and Paris je t'aime -- have slipped down the list. If I am not mistaken, that is what the movie needs -- to be popular in each new theater and city, so it can keep adding more and more theaters/cities! :-)

billz | May 21, 22:56 CET

That's awesome!

Still no word on when it will play around here...

UnpluggedCrazy | May 21, 23:21 CET

Took my MIL to see it two weekends ago (hey, we get all the movies early in Los Angeles) and she totally loved it. She even liked Captain Tightpants, although she had never heard of him and was chuckling quite a bit at the nickname I used for him.

Sweet movie with a cheerier outlook than one expects. And a great antidote to the seemingly empty calories of the Shrek and Spiderman trequels. But Great Muppety Odin did that movie ever make me want to eat pie. I had to go home and bake - seriously. So, be prepared to want pie after seeing this.

igj | May 22, 00:13 CET

I suspect they will keep expanding the release in the US as it's got good word of mouth.

You're right as according to Box Office Mojo "Distributor Fox Searchlight will roll out the romantic comedy to over 500 locations on Friday."

Derf | May 22, 00:31 CET

On a related note:

I may be the only human on the face of the planet who does not like pie.

Well, except for banana cream with graham cracker crust. But that's it.

UnpluggedCrazy | May 22, 01:01 CET

it's making me crazy that i can't see it ! i'm working 16 hour days and i'd have to drive from hamilton to toronto for it, which is just not possible, given my constant level of exhaustion :( usually everything plays in my city, so hopefully it will get here eventually.

t r a c y | May 22, 02:22 CET

It's finally showing up this weekend in Metro Detroit -- at an art theatre, unfortunately, but hopefully it'll go wider soon. Seems like Waitress might be this summer's My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Let's hope so, anyway! :)

cabri | May 22, 03:40 CET

Saw it today and just *loved* it. It affected me on so many levels, and Nathan was just wonderful. Actually, everyone was. Who knew Andy Griffith was such a fine, nuanced actor!??! Sigh... poor Adrienne. I couldn't tell her how much I loved her film, so I donated to her foundation. It's not fair...

OzLady | May 22, 03:48 CET

The movie was such a treat to watch. Arienne was fantastic and the cast was great. I was a huge fan of Felicity and it was awesome to see Keri Russel show off a wider range than I have seen her in the past. For someone not from the south and over exposed to the stereotypically done accents, I enjoyed how they were done in Waitress. It was super seeing Nathan on the big screen again. I might even bake up some "waitress was great to watch and made be hungry pie."

10%ofnothin | May 22, 04:09 CET

I'm hoping the numbers will go sky-high when they add those Theaters, and I hope at least One of them is in the State of Indiana! It's getting a little frustrating that a film set in MidAmerica is getting hardly any play in MidAmerica.
-Grrr, Arghh, indeed! *winks*

TDBrown | May 22, 04:27 CET

I"m so glad this movie is doing well.

Reddygirl | May 22, 05:20 CET

I saw the movie on Saturday with lots of Browncoats and we loved it. So did all the seniors who saw it with us! They must have heard it was a sweet movie.

Lioness | May 22, 05:30 CET

Waittress is a wonderful sweet movie, and not just a simple chick flick. I hope this movie will make it big, and become a remembered classic. And TDBrown, that is quite annoying lol you have my sympathy, maybe it may open where you are next week, since it will open in 500 new theatres.

kurya | May 22, 05:49 CET

I noticed from the figures that the screen count went up by 50% from the weekend before, yet the dollar intake went up by 75%. That's fabulous!

Ninja MALi | May 22, 05:59 CET

But Great Muppety Odin did that movie ever make me want to eat pie. I had to go home and bake - seriously. So, be prepared to want pie after seeing this.

I saw it two weeks ago. The next day I made 2 pies:

"I Can't Believe I'm Doing This Pie."

"I'm Getting Too Fat Raspberry Chocolate Pie."

Nebula1400 | May 22, 06:21 CET

gossi,

Have you heard anything about the Waitress Production Budget.

Possible troll at imdb.com is saying 9 million. Non-troll thinks 550,000. Boxofficemojo has N/A. It has been reported at Fox Searchlight paid little under 5 million for worldwide distribution rights.

Anonymous1 | May 22, 07:12 CET

Anony, The movie was shot in 28 days with a small, low-budget cast and what appear to be just a few low-budget sets. Based on what the movie looked like alone, I'd be astonished if the production budget was anywhere near $9MM. Not to mention that when FOX Searchlight bought it at Sundance, they paid under $5MM fot it, so that tells you that the production budget had to have been for less than that. After all, why would anyone sell a movie with lots of positive buzz at a loss? I wonder if the $9MM number someone cited was the $4-5MM FOX Searchlight paid for it plus an estimate for marketing and distribution costs.

BrewBunny | May 22, 07:42 CET

so glad that nathan is in a movie with "legs" as they say. it was such a charming movie (not that fake chick flick sweet). i took my mom on mother's day and lucky for me, they had a promo where they actually gave us a sample apple pie (with a few recipes from the movie).

sungafan | May 22, 14:47 CET

Very cool.

smog | May 22, 20:24 CET

BrewBunny,

Nope. Suspected troll was saying production budget 9mil. And then adding marketing and distribution on top of that.

Fox Searchlight paid for Worldwide Distribution rights. Is that the same as bought it. Would Worldwide Distribution rights cover the production budget or would they be unrelated?

Whatever the Production budget. Waitress has made $2,122,601 so far in Box Office up to Sunday. According to BoxOfficeMojo.
So Fox Searchlight is getting a good chunk of their investment back on 116 theaters.

Also I checked over the weekend and Waitress is still in the 4 theaters that it started out in.

500 theaters Friday!

Anonymous1 | May 22, 20:41 CET

$9m? As somebody above says, that's rubbish. Donnie Darko cost $4m, and that was a very technically complex piece (slow motion, special effects yadada). Considering this was a originally a small movie shot without distribution rights, I'd be surprised if the budget was anywhere near a million. The original investers will have already made their money back, and Fox can't fail with a good performing film, a potentially worldwide release and DVDs. I feel sorry for Adrienne's family and friends - every film maker likes to see their film meet a warm reception.

gossi | May 22, 20:47 CET

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