Arthouse Audit: 'Fair Game' Holds Off '127 Hours'
After more than doubling its theater count, Fair Game had no trouble leading the arthouse scene for the second straight weekend. 127 Hours also expanded, though its chances of becoming a true breakout success are dwindling, while Bollywood movie Guzaarish led a handful of underwhelming new releases.

Fair Game rose to tenth place on the overall weekend chart with $1.46 million at 386 locations. Its per-site average of $3,772 was not encouraging for further expansion, and distributor Summit Entertainment hasn't formally announced any plans to bring the movie in to nationwide release (more than 600 theaters). Through its third weekend, Fair Game has earned $3.73 million.

127 Hours was up 109 percent to $916,533 at 108 locations for a total of $1.9 million. That translated to a per-theater average of $8,486, which was much weaker than Into the Wild, The Wrestler and Slumdog Millionaire at the same point. Into the Wild, which is the closest comparison, ultimately finished with $18.4 million, a total that distributor Fox Searchlight will hope to top when 127 Hours expands across the nation in the next few weeks.

Bollywood drama Guzaarish opened to $488,121 at 108 theaters. Its $4,520 per-theater average was on the low end for Bollywood movies this year.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest dipped 23 percent to $401,819 at 185 venues. In nearly a month in theaters, the conclusion of the Millennium trilogy has earned $3.43 million, and it currently trails predecessor The Girl Who Played with Fire by around $337,000.

After a bold expansion didn't yield tremendous results last weekend, Inside Job retreated from 250 to 185 locations and was off 29 percent to $338,938. Its per-theater average, though, fell just four percent to $1,832. Through its seventh weekend, the documentary has earned $2.14 million.

Elsewhere in the documentary world, Waiting for"Superman" plummeted 49 percent to $109,011 at 118 theaters. While it's clearly on its way out of theaters, Superman's $6.1 million total makes it the year's third highest-grossing documentary behind Oceans ($19.4 million) and Babies ($7.3 million).

Aside from Guzaarish, the arthouse scene saw a handful of other releases, though none made much of a mark. Comedy Today's Special, which stars The Daily Show with Jon Stewart's Aasif Mandvi, grossed a weak $90,639 at 55 locations. British historical drama Made in Dagenham made $37,563 at three theaters. Its per-site average of $12,521 was fine, but far from exciting. Foreign drama White Material also played at three venues and earned $34,613. Documentary William S. Burroughs: A Man Within opened to $6,510 at one location for a five-day total of $10,612, while sci-fi horror movie Heartless tanked with just $2,033 at one venue.

Last Arthouse Audit

'Fair Game' Expands with Modest Results

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