Arthouse Audit: 'Jane Eyre,' 'Win Win' Continue to Impress
Jane Eyre led all limited releases thanks to its theater count advantage, and Win Win showed signs of growth potential. None of the weekend's new entries really stood out, with sports drama The 5th Quarter stumbling out of the gate and controversial drama Miral failing to leverage substantial press coverage.

Jane Eyre finished in 16th place on the overall weekend chart, up 108 percent to $969,993. This gain was mostly attributed to an increase from 26 to 90 theaters, but the movie's per-theater average declined 40 percent to $10,778. The Mia Wasikowska-Michael Fassbender drama continued to outperform similar movies The Duchess and The Young Victoria, which ended their runs with $13.9 million and $11 million, respectively. With $1.9 million so far, Jane Eyre is set to expand to at least 150 locations this coming weekend.

Win Win added 18 theaters for a total of 23 and was up 209 percent to $464,420. That's just a few thousand dollars behind what Jane Eyre did in its second weekend, though that movie started stronger and was playing at three more theaters. The Tom McCarthy drama has tallied $672,336 and will almost certainly experience a significant expansion this weekend, though specifics aren't currently available.

Chart regulars Cedar Rapids and Of Gods and Men continued to move in opposite directions: the Ed Helms comedy was down 22 percent to $407,665, while the French drama was up 13 percent to $332,635. The movies have so far made $6.1 million and $2.1 million, respectively.

The 5th Quarter rounded out the arthouse Top Five with $202,342 at 123 locations. While the movie's per-theater average of $1,645 was poor by almost any standards, it's actually a major improvement over the opening averages of distributor Rocky Mountain Pictures' Billy: The Early Years of Billy Graham ($681), The Ten Commandments (2007) ($577) and Standing Ovation ($551).

Most of the weekend's other new releases fared relatively better than The 5th Quarter. French comedy Potiche debuted to an estimated $85,000 at seven locations for a solid average north of $12,000. Miral grossed $66,244 at four locations for an average of $16,561. That would be considered a strong start for the subject material, though the movie was directed by acclaimed Oscar nominee Julian Schnabel (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) and received loads of free press thanks to its reportedly controversial stance towards the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflicts. While Miral did open higher than last year's Weinstein Company disappointments Nowhere Boy and The Tillman Story, it wasn't a major improvement. With Weinstein rolling out the PG-13 rated version of The King's Speech this Friday and the much-hyped horror sequel Scream 4 on April 15, Miral may have trouble securing additional resources.

Foreign language documentary My Perestroika opened to an impressive $17,680 at one location for a five-day total of $25,084. Animated flick Mia and the Migoo was almost as strong, debuting to $16,975 at one venue. At five theaters, White Irish Drinkers, only mustered $16,836, while Peep World earned just $6,702 at three locations despite a cast that includes Michael C. Hall, Rainn Wilson and Sarah Silverman. Finally, Korkoro and Illegal each opened at one location and grossed $1,224 and $404, respectively.

Last Arthouse Audit

'Jane Eyre' Maintains Momentum

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