‘The Apprentice’ Fails
The Donald Trump feature is among several Oscar hopefuls opening to sluggish numbers.
The Apprentice, which made its world premiere at the Cannes Film Fest and later played at the Telluride Film Fest, is doing most of its business in liberal cities like New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Chicago.
It boasts mixed to decent reviews, and audiences gave it a B- CinemaScore.
Briarcliff, which acquired the movie at the 11th hour, had only 5 weeks to sell The Apprentice, which launched a Kickstarter campaign to assist in raising money for marketing costs.
Briarcliff chief Tom Ortenberg, who was behind best picture Oscar winner Spotlight, believes The Apprentice will grow steadily and that the opening gross doesn’t seal the film’s fate.
Focus Features also decided on a nationwide release for its critically acclaimed Oscar hopeful Piece by Piece, an animated bibliographical docu about Pharrell Williams. The movie, earning a glowing A CinemaScore, is debuting this weekend in 1,865 theaters and is estimating a sixth-place finish with $3.5 million. That’s not bad for a documentary.
Piece by Piece, made in tandem with LEGO, is in a close race with another awards contender, Jason Reitman’s feature Saturday Night, a love letter to Lorne Michaels’ Saturday Night Live. The film also played at Telluride, which is considered ground zero for launching an Oscar campaign.
From Sony, Saturday Night is expanding wide after playing its first two weekends in select cities such as L.A. and New York. The generally well-reviewed film is estimating a subdued weekend gross of $3.5 million from 2,309 cinemas after earning a B+ CinemaScore.
