The specialty box office has a new test case for the platform release. Amazon MGM opened Bassam Tariq’s Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, starring Mahershala Ali, in six New York and Los Angeles theatres to an estimated $199,000. That works out to $33,100 per screen, a strong early signal for a prestige title that still has most of its rollout ahead.
Exit polls and audience mix
The film is Certified Fresh at 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. Amazon MGM’s exit polling shows 60% of opening-weekend audiences rated it ‘excellent’ and 80% called it a ‘definite recommend.’ That word of mouth will carry more weight than the raw gross because the distributor is deliberately keeping the film small.
The opening crowd skewed younger and non-white. Some 47% of ticket buyers were 25–34, and 72% identified as non-white, including 41% African American, 18% Hispanic, and 19% Asian. The film follows Ali as a devoutly religious hitman trying to balance work, faith and fatherhood after his wife dies and he must protect his children across Houston.
The American Fiction comp
Amazon MGM’s head of domestic theatrical distribution Kevin Wilson said the best comparison is the studio’s 2023 multi-Oscar winner American Fiction. That film opened to $224,000 and then expanded slowly. “The best thing is other moviegoers telling their friends how good the film is,” Wilson said.
The rollout plan:
- Week 1: six theatres in New York and Los Angeles, $33,100 per screen
- Week 2: 15 locations, including Atlanta, Chicago, Washington D.C. and Austin
- Week 3: top 10 to 12 markets, 30 to 40 screens
- October 16: moderate release in 500 to 800 locations
Both Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother and American Fiction come from Amazon MGM’s Orion Pictures banner, which has become a consistent specialty label under president Alana Mayo with titles such as Nickel Boys, Till, Bottoms and Women Talking.
Why the per-screen number matters
In a platform release, total gross is less important than per-screen average and exit polls. A $33,100 average across six theatres gives Amazon MGM the evidence to ask exhibitors for more screens without spending on a wide marketing push before demand is validated. The risk is that later expansions dilute the average if the film cannot cross over beyond its core cinephile and non-white audience.
Elsewhere in the specialty market, holdovers are showing the same word-of-mouth mechanics. Magnolia’s The History of Concrete expanded from one screen to 50 and grossed an estimated $350,000 for a $511,000 cume. Roadside Attractions’ Buddy added another $717,000 for a cume pushing $26.4 million since late August.
Source: Deadline
