‘Priscilla’ and ‘The Holdovers’ Deliver Strong Domestic Box Office Debuts

While the domestic box office was witnessing the utter domination of Universal’s Five Nights at Freddy’s, a couple of awards season hopefuls helmed by acclaimed directors debuted in limited release and posted strong per-screen averages. Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers and Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla opened in less than 10 locations each, and grossed a combined total of nearly $350,000 across the weekend.

Released by Focus Features and starring Paul Giamatti as a school teacher who is given the responsibility of supervising a student over the Christmas holidays, the movie made $200,000 across its first three days of release, from six locations in New York and Los Angeles. This represents a $33,000 per-theater average. By comparison, Priscilla, which has been sold as the antithesis to Baz Luhrmann’s colorful 2022 biopic Elvis, grossed $132,000 from four locations in New York and L.A., for a similar per-screen average of $33,000.

Both movies are being positioned as awards contenders, and premiered at prestigious international festivals. The Holdovers debuted at this year’s Telluride Film Festival in August, and currently sits at a “certified fresh” rating of 96% on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. Collider’s Ross Bonaime called it one of Payne’s best films. Priscilla, on the other hand, premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September, and is being distributed domestically by indie outfit A24. The movie currently sits at a 91% score on Rotten Tomatoes, but earned a mixed review from Collider’s Emma Kiely, who wrote that “Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi’s great performances can’t save this disappointing film.”

Alexander Payne and Sofia Coppola Are Indie Darlings

Based on the complex romance of Elvis Presley and his wife Priscilla, the movie marks a return to theatrical exhibition for Coppola after a gap of five years, and will expand nationwide on November 3. Her last film, On the Rocks, received only a token theatrical release before debuting on Apple TV+ in 2020. Coppola made her feature debut with The Virgin Suicides, and hit the big-time with her 2003 follow-up, Lost in Translation. Payne, on the other hand, hasn’t released a film since the critical and commercial disappointment of his most expensive movie, Downsizing, in 2017. He remains best known for his humanist comedy-dramas About Schmidt, Sideways, Nebraska and The Descendants. The Holdovers will expand into 60 nationwide theaters next week.

The domestic box office this weekend was topped by the horror video game adaptation Five Nights at Freddy’s, which grossed a stupendous $78 million despite poor reviews. The top five also featured holdovers, no pun intended, such as Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour concert film, Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, and the horror reboot The Exorcist: Believer. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.

Priscilla

When teenage Priscilla Beaulieu meets Elvis Presley, the man who is already a meteoric rock-and-roll superstar becomes someone entirely unexpected in private moments: a thrilling crush, an ally in loneliness, a vulnerable best friend.From director Sofia Coppola, Priscilla is released domestically by A24, and stars Cailee Spaeny as the titular character, and Jacob Elordi as the King, Elvis Presley.

Release Date November 3, 2023

Director Sofia Coppola

Cast Jacob Elordi, Cailee Spaeny, Jorja Cadence, Ari Cohen

Rating R

Runtime 113 minutes

Main Genre Drama