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Keeping track of all of the independent films that get released every month is exhausting. While the big studios release two or three movies a week, all on at least 1,500 screens, there can be a handful of independent films released on rarely more than a couple hundred screens, and often as few as a couple or even one. Because these flicks get so little attention, following their weekly box-office receipts takes the efforts of someone with a lot of free time… so let’s get started, shall we?

Expanding/Continuing Indies:

The Runaways: The Sundance hit could have made a big splash in the market had it had more of a marketing push and a wider release. Instead, it platformed at 243 theaters and has accumulated only $3.2 million. The film that featured two Twilight stars in Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning stayed under the radar, performing solidly in April with $1.4 million during its second month in theaters, not anywhere close to what many expected on the girl-rock biopic.

Chloe: This sexy thriller has proven to be the indie equivalent of a one-weekend wonder. After opening on 350 theaters to a mediocre $1.28 million its opening week, bad word-of-mouth damned this film to consistent drops in theater count and 40% losses on a week-to-week basis. The film has barely doubled the gross of its opening week, proving that not even a naked Amanda Seyfried can pull in the cash if the reviews are this bad.

The Ghost Writer: The controversy surrounding this film had nothing to do with the film itself, but rather its director, whom you might have heard of if you have ever held a newspaper. It’s not surprising, then, that it has proven to be the biggest arthouse film so far this year. Polanski’s political drama opened in late March on 819 screens, and while it hasn’t been a hit, it’s made consistent cash. It’s been losing screens in April, making only about $4.1 million this month to give it a running total of $14 million as it winds down its theatrical release.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: The adaptation of the international hit novel didn’t get much of a release in America, but really, any cash it made on this side of the ocean is just gravy, as it’s already made more than $80 million in Europe. Still, with $3.9 million, it is thus far the highest-grossing foreign film of 2010, and continues to add screens. Europe’s equivalent of The Bourne Identity made the bulk of its cash in April, about $3 million, hitting a platform of 152 theaters. Hollywood is already drooling over the cash it will make when they Americanize the film, with David Fincher directing and Brad Pitt and Carey Mulligan likely to be starring.





Greenberg: Noah Baumbach’s name has never been equated with bankability, but maybe Focus Features was hoping that having Ben Stiller’s face on the poster would help. To an extent it did, as Baumbach’s latest easily outgrossedMargot at the Wedding, but could never expand to a significant amount of theaters. Greenberg platformed at 186 theaters, and did a solid job of holding onto those theaters, thanks mostly to the name power of Baumbach and Stiller. The film lost 25-40% of its gross on a week-to-week basis, and managed to make around $2.2 million in April, giving it a total of $3.7 million. This is pocket change for Stiller, but a large fortune for co-star Greta Gerwig, the queen of the mumblecore movement whose films don’t crack six figures in theaters.

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