‘Paper Tiger’ Sets Record for James Gray, ‘Club Kid’ Expands Strong at Specialty Box Office

The specialty box office stayed busy after a strong start to November with the platform release of Neon’s “Paper Tiger,” the latest film from James Gray which premiered at this year’s Cannes. Released on six screens in New York and Los Angeles, the film grossed $215,000 for a per theater average of $35,835. That’s an improvement over the $11,712 average of Gray’s previous film, “Armageddon Time,” which was released by Focus in the fall of 2022. “Paper Tiger” stars Miles Teller, Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson in a story set in Queens in the 1980s. Teller and Driver play brothers Gary and Irwin Pearl — a former police officer turned local politician and an engineer — whose plan for a lucrative construction project turns sour when they run afoul of the Russian mafia. Johansson plays Irwin’s wife, who not only has to face the threats to her two sons from the mafia but also a shocking medical emergency. “Paper Tiger” has an 85% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Also opening to more modest numbers this weekend is Sony Pictures Classics’ “Bitter Christmas,” the latest film from Spanish legend Pedro Almodovar, making $37,000 from four screens. The tragicomedy starring Bárbara Lennie and Leonardo Sbaraglia was released in Spain in March and screened at Cannes two months later, earning an 85% Rotten Tomatoes score. Meanwhile, A24’s “Club Kid” is riding its critical acclaim to a strong expansion with $756,060 this weekend from 27 screens. Now with a total of $1.45 million, Jordan Firstman’s feature debut earned a $28,000 per theater average as it is set to expand to more cities next weekend. Amazon MGM also expanded Peter Farrelly’s “I Play Rocky” to 29 locations, adding $503,000 for a per theater average of $17,373 and a total of $954,000 ahead of a nationwide expansion Thanksgiving weekend. In wide release, Searchlight expanded “Wild Horse Nine” to 1,075 additional screens, adding $4.6 million in its second weekend to bring its total to $13.3 million. For director Martin McDonagh, that puts his latest film past the $10.5 million domestic run of his 2022 film “The Banshees of Inisherin.” Among other holdovers, Angel’s “Drummer Boy” added $3.5 million in its second weekend, bringing its total to $16.2 million, while Fathom’s documentary “Jimmy” added $850,000 for a $4.1 million two-weekend total. Finally, A24’s “You Can See Everything” stayed in the top 5 for a fifth weekend as it reaches $89 million in domestic grosses.