Palme d’Or Prestige: ‘Fjord’ Tops Indie Openers, ‘Naza’ Eyes $500k Surge – Specialty Box Office

Neon’s Cannes Palme d’Or-winning drama Fjord starring Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve had a terrific $124k opening on four screens in New York and Los Angeles, as documentary Naza marks a strong week two expansion.

Cristian Mungiu’s Fjord is the director’s second Palme d’Or for Mungiu and the seventh consecutive win for Neon. The film also took the FIPRESCI Award at Cannes and is Romania’s Oscar entry for Best International Feature. It follows a devout Romanian Norwegian couple named Gheorghius who resettle in a village in a distant fjord where they become close to their neighbors, the Halbergs. Their children bond. But when adolescent Elia Gheorghiu shows up at school with bruises, the community questions the traditional education the Gheorghiu yougsters are getting from their parents. Rotten Tomatoes Certified Fresh at 90%.

Naza by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, two of the Oscar winning directors of No Other Land, will top $500k Monday after a week two expansion.

Some exhibitors are including four-day weekend estimates to note Monday, the Columbus Day holiday in the U.S.

After grossing $125k over its first eight days at the IFC Center in New York, the doc broadened to 85 engagements in 30+ markets for an estimated $298k for the 3-day weekend and an estimated $378.2k over the four days, bringing its cume to $504,074.

The film, released independently with the backing of The Guardian and MK2, sees the directors interviewing Israeli soldiers and intelligence officers, whose identities are hidden, on the civilian death toll in Gaza. It will continue to roll out through October.

At 100% certified fresh with critics on Rotten Tomatoes.

Chris Rock’s Misty Green from A24 launched in limited release on six screens in NY and LA to $85.7k for the three-day weekend and $98.7k for the four days. Star Rosalind Eleazar’s portrait of a talented actress fighting for her second act in Hollywood has earned praise since the film’s TIFF premiere alongside a cast including Daniel Kaluuya, Adam Driver, Anna Kendrick and Rock himself. Expand selectively into top markets this weekend.

Bleecker Street is eyeing a circa $70k three-day gross for Alex Gibney’s documentary Musk on four screens for a per theater average of $17.2k. The buzzy Venice-premiering doc has a near four-hour runtime that limits showtimes.

California Schemin’ from Magenta Light Studios directed by James McAvoy opened to an estimated $18.7k at five locations in NY and LA. McAvoy stars with Seamus McLean Ross, Samuel Bottomley, Lucy Halliday and Rebekah Murrell in the story of two Scottish lads from Dundee who conned the music industry by pretending to be an established Californian rap duo.

Julia Loktev’s sweeping documentary My Undesirable Friends Part II – Exile opened exclusively at New York’s Film Forum this weekend. A follow up to Part I released last year, which was short-listed for the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature and won both the NYFCC and LAFCC awards for Best Non-Fictions film, is estimated to gross $7.5k limited by the 6-hour running time and seating capacity (100 seats).

Independently released with the support of Cinetic and mTuckman media, the Venice and Telluride selection next opens Los Angeles on Oct. 16 before rolling out to markets across the country throughout the fall

Holdover If I Go Will They Miss Me is estimated to gross $29.6k on 42 screens for a rising new cume of $980.7k in week 5. The Rich Spirit release stars Danielle Brooks and J Alphonse Nicholson and is directed by Walter Thompson-Hernandez. RT certified fresh at 95%, it will continue to play exclusively in theaters in coming weeks.

Notable: Fathom Entertainment’s release ofGuillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth 20th Anniversary, ranked no. 11 at the domestic box office with an estimated $1.66 million from 1,168 locations.In postwar Spain, a young girl discovers a mysterious labyrinth and a magical world while living under the rule of her brutal stepfather. The 2006 film stars Ivana Baquero, Sergi López, Maribel Verdú and Doug Jones.

Trafalgar Releasing’s concert film Queen Budapest pulled in at no. 16 with an estimated $681k from 312 locations.The concert film captures Queen’s 1986 stadium performance in Budapest during the Magic Tour. Featuring Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon, the restored film is directed by János Zsombolyai.