‘No Other Land,’ the Oscar-Nominated Film Distributors Won’t Touch, Strikes Big in New York

Currently, box office is 14 percent ahead of 2024. What’s the key for February continuing that momentum? For now, it’s originality. At $36 million, “Dog Man” (Universal) grossed substantially over expectations, pushing the weekend to $87 million — better than 2024.

The DreamWorks Animation film had the biggest opening of any non-franchise cartoon feature since 2019 (not counting the already established “The Super Mario Bros. Movie”). To be fair: “Dog Man” is a spinoff character that emerged from the “Captain Underpants” universe. However, Dog Man did not make an appearance in the 2017 “Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie” (which has been the only one to date) and Universal marketing didn’t note the connection.

Its initial estimate just edges out “The Wild Robot,” which went on to collect $143 million. “Dog Man” also got an A Cinemascore. At a very thrifty cost of $40 million, it’s a major winner for Universal.

“A Complete Unknown” (Searchlight) and “The Brutalist” (A24) remain in the top 10. However, the most impressive post-Oscar nomination victory goes to “No Other Land,” which still doesn’t have a U.S. distributor willing to risk handling the Palestinian West Bank-set documentary. It opened at New York’s Film Forum to an outstanding $26,100 and will expand to 10 more theaters next week.

The high-profile film was made by an Israeli-Palestinian collective of four director-writers who also serve as producers. It’s been acclaimed since its debut at the 2024 Berlin Film Festival and has won nearly every possible award for best documentary of 2024. The filmmakers, who had to find qualifying theaters on their own, are now working with Michael Tuckman Media open in as many theaters as possible.

‘Companion’©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection

Performance compared to scale also worked for “Companion” (Warner Bros.), at least in terms of production budget. The hybrid comedy/horror/science fiction film cost around $10 million, although marketing more than doubled that investment. It opened at #2, $9.5 million.

More impressive is “One of Them Days” (Sony), #4 in its third weekend, off only 25 percent. With $6 million added, it already is over $34 million, heading for over $50 million domestic theatrical. The female-centered comedy only cost $14 million.

Though last weekend’s #1 “Flight Risk” (Lionsgate) fell to fifth (down 52 percent), it only cost $25 million. Its return (currently $21 million) won’t be as good. But the hope for theaters is a steady supply of non-franchise titles gets audiences to show up; that makes its performance something for studios to notice and replicate.

No weekend in 2025 yet has passed $100 million, similar to the first five last year. But the $87 million total was a third better than 2024.

“Mufasa: The Lion King” (Disney) at #4 was the only non-franchise title in the top 10 (unusual, but not unheard of — it last happened in mid-November). It’s now at $229 million, just $1 million behind #6 “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” (Paramount), which initially opened ahead of Barry Jenkins’ extension of the “Lion King” franchise.

The two leading Best Picture/Best Actor contenders in the top 10 are at different stages of their runs. “A Complete Unknown” (Searchlight), wide from the start, is down to 1,515 theaters and a total of $66.7 million. “The Brutalist” (A24) expanded to 1,612 theaters (up 494) for a little under $1.9 million and $12.1 million so far. The latter was acquired by A24 for $10 million (with a substantial marketing budget), but the film’s relative strength is striking.

Of note is the expansion of “I’m Not Here” (Sony Pictures Classics). In its third week it grossed $547,000, still in only 93 theaters, now over $1 million total. It looks to end up with a very decent total for a foreign-language title.

Of the Chinese New Year openings (a huge weekend across the Pacific this year), “Creation of the Gods: Demon Force” (Well Go USA) repeated its success in the U.S./Canada. It ranked #12, with #1.3 million in only 200 theaters.

‘Love Me’Bleecker Street

Two Sundance 2024 openings won’t best the $9.1 million “Thelma” (Magnolia) grossed among last year’s entries. Steven Soderbergh’s “Presence” (Neon) dropped 60 percent, not quite $6 million so far and not a lot left. “Love Me” (Bleecker Street) with Kristen Stewart opened in 527 theaters for a measly $240,000. Results like these help explain the lackluster market, particularly for theatrical release, at the festival this year.

Top 10

1. Dog Man (Universal) NEW – Cinemascore: A; Metacritic: 72; Est. budget: $40 million

$36,000,000 in 3,885 theaters; PTA (per theater average): $9,266; Cumulative: $36,000,000

2. Companion (WB) NEW – Cinemascore: B+; Metacritic: 64; Est. budget: $10 million

$9,500,000 in 3,285 theaters; PTA: $2,892; Cumulative: $9,500,000

3. Mufasa: The Lion King (Disney) Week 7; Last weekend #2

$6,113,000 (-29%) in 3,180 (-240) theaters; PTA: $1,922; Cumulative: $229,510,000

4. One of Them Days (Sony) Week 3; Last weekend #3

$6,000,000 (-25%) in 2,306 (-369) theaters; PTA: $2,602; Cumulative: $34,450,000

5. Flight Risk (Lionsgate) Week 2; Last weekend #1

$5,600,000 (-52%) in 3,161 (no change) theaters; PTA: $; Cumulative: $20,908,000

6. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (Paramount) Week 7; Last weekend #4; also on PVOD

$3,225,000 (-39%) in 2,665 (-432) theaters; PTA: $1,210; Cumulative: $230,549,000

7. Moana 2 (Disney) Week 10; Last weekend #5; also on PVOD

$2,836,000 (-32%) in 2,200 (-350) theaters; PTA: $1,289; Cumulative: $453,895,000

8. A Complete Unknown (Searchlight) Week 6; Last weekend #8

$2,164,000 (-30%) in 1,515 (-495) theaters; PTA: $1,428; Cumulative: $66,692,000

9. The Brutalist (A24) Week 7; Last weekend #10

$1,866,000 (-30%) in 1,612 (+494) theaters; PTA: $1,157; Cumulative: $12,116,000

10. Den of Thieves 2: Pantera (Lionsgate) Week 4; Last weekend #9; also on PVOD

$1,600,000 (-47%) in 1,471 (-637) theaters; PTA: $1,088; Cumulative: $34,485,000

Other specialized/independent titles

Films (limited, expansions of limited) are listed by week in release, starting with those opened this week; after the first three weeks, only films with grosses over $5,000 are listed. Metacritic scores and initial film festivals recorded when available. After week two, per theater averages only listed for expanding films with under 100 theaters.

OPENING (platform)

No Other Land (no distributor) NEW – Metacritic: 90; Festivals include: Berlin, Telluride, Toronto, New York 2024

$26,100 in theaters; PTA: $26,100

Love Me (Bleecker Street) NEW – Metacritic: 54; Festivals include: Sundance 2024

$204,036 in 527 theaters; PTA: $387

OPENING (wide)

Creation of the Gods: Demon Force (Well Go USA)

$1,300,000 in 200 theaters; PTA: $6,501

Valiant One (Briarcliff) NEW

$725,000 in 1,275 theaters; PTA: $569

HOLDOVERS

Presence (Neon) Week 2

$1,340,000 in 1,739 (-11) theaters; PTA: $771; Cumulative: $5,883,000

Brave the Dark (Angel) Week 2

$769,646 in 1,700 (-530) theaters; PTA: $453; Cumulative: $3,899,000

I’m Still Here (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 3

$547,621 at 93 (+76) theaters; PTA: $5,888; Cumulative: $1,063,000

The Last Showgirl (Roadside Attractions) Week 4

$4,455,236 in 142 (-248) theaters; Cumulative: $4,455,000

Hard Truths (Bleecker Street) Week 4

$35,975 in 53 (-509) theaters; Cumulative: $766,846

Nosferatu (Focus) Week 6; also on PVOD

$800,000 in 983 (-990) theaters; Cumulative: $94,768,000

Babygirl (A24) Week 6; also on PVOD

$330,971 in 308 (-469) theaters; Cumulative: $22,745,000

Vermiglio (Sideshow/Janus) Week 6

$12,400 in 10 (-4) theaters; Cumulative: $152,173

The Room Next Door (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 7

$93,077 in 94 (-241) theaters; Cumulative: $2,225,000

Nickel Boys (MGM Amazon) Week 7

$(est.) 220,000 in 270 (-270) theaters; Cumulative: $(est.) 1,950,000

September 5 (Paramount) Week 7

$320,000 in 398 (+3) theaters; Cumulative: $2,212,000

The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Neon) Week 9 16

$120,000 in 250 (+234) theaters; Cumulative: $632,834

Flow (Janus/Sideshow) Week 10; also on VOD

$120,200 in 161 (-50) theaters; Cumulative: $3,914,000

All We Imagine as Light (Janus/Sideshow) Week 11

$22,200 in 29 (-19) theaters; Cumulative: $1,021,000

Conclave (Focus) Week 14; also on VOD and streaming

$60,000 in 247 (-63) theaters; Cumulative: $32,026,000

A Real Pain (Searchlight) Week 15; also on VOD

$76,000 in 180 (+125) theaters; Cumulative: $8,230,000

Anora (Neon) Week 15; also on VOD

$63,600 in 247 (-60) theaters; Cumulative: $15,205,000