StarJacob Elordiis having the year thatTimothée Chalametcould have had ifDune: Part Twohadn’t been pushed by several months, robbing him of the possibility of having two major movies playing in theaters at the same time, withWonkalined up for December. But that’s exactly what Elordi is experiencing right now; just a few weeks after the strong debut ofPriscilla, his latest film,Saltburn,delivered one of the best limited openings of the year this weekend.
Directed byEmerald Fennell, who won a writing Oscar forPromising Young Womansome years ago,Saltburnis a psychological black comedy thriller that also features last year’s Best Supporting Actor nomineeBarry Keoghanas the parallel lead. Both stars were finally able to promote the movie now that theSAG-AFTRA strikehas ended, and their chemistry no doubt helped fuel more interest in it.Saltburnopened in seven domestic theaters this weekend, where it generated $315,000 for a strong per-theater average of $45,000.
This is among the best per-theater averages of the year so far, in line with the dark comedyBottoms, which debuted in 10 theaters for a PTA of $46,000. A24’sPast LivesandBeau is Afraiddebuted with $58,000 and $80,000 PTAs, respectively, whileWes Anderson’sAsteroid Cityscored a $100,000 PTA from four theaters in June. Less than a month ago,Priscillagenerated $132,000 from just four theatersfor a $33,000 PTA, before expanding nationwide a week later. The film has since generated over $16 million domestically.Promising Young Woman, on the other hand, concluded its domestic run with a little over $6 million in mid-pandemic 2020, but generated significant buzz online on its way to five nods at the Oscars, including Best Picture.
Domestic Gross
SaltburnHas Received Mostly Positive Reviews
Saltburn, which follows a university student who spends the summer with a schoolmate after becoming infatuated with him, premiered at this year’s Telluride Film Festival to generally positive reviews. The film currently sits at a “fresh” 73% approval rating onRotten Tomatoes. Collider’sEmma Kielywrote in herreviewthat the movie doesn’t bring anything new to the recent burst of “Eat the Rich” films, but it’s “still a very fun ride worth taking — one full of excess, dirt, comedy, and bodily fluids.”
Saltburnalso starsRosamund Pike,Richard E. Grant,Alison Oliver, andArchie Madekwe, and has generated $1.3 million from international territories already, for an early global haul of $1.6 million. The film will expand nationwide ahead of the Thanksgiving weekend. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
A student at Oxford University finds himself drawn into the world of a charming and aristocratic classmate, who invites him to his eccentric family’s sprawling estate for a summer never to be forgotten.
