Specialty box office is splitting into two stories this weekend: a documentary that crossed a milestone and a streamer finally showing its theatrical hand.
NAZA passes $1M with Neon now steering
Documentary NAZA crossed $1 million in its fourth weekend, reaching a $1.07 million cume from 73 screens. The Israel-Gaza film, directed by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, two Oscar-winning directors behind No Other Land, took an estimated $74.5k over the weekend.
Producer The Guardian had been self-distributing the title. Neon has now acquired it mid-rollout and will keep adding cities through October and November. The weekend works out to about $1,000 per screen; the key test is whether that average holds as the run expands.
Netflix opens its limited-release numbers
Netflix’s La Bola Negra, a TIFF Audience Award-winner, expanded to nine theaters in its second weekend with an estimated $245k gross and a $650k cume. Deadline identifies it as the first film the streamer is accompanying into theaters with official box office grosses.
That matters because streamer theatrical runs have usually been treated as awards-qualifying or buzz-building windows, with little public data. If Netflix keeps reporting, planners get a benchmark for whether a limited theatrical push converts to demand.
What the wider specialty slate shows
- Event programming lifts results: Sony Pictures Classics’ The Only Living Pickpocket in New York opened in six theaters to $156k; AMC Lincoln Square led with $33k, boosted by Q&As.
- Sellouts signal demand: Mubi’s Fatherland, directed by Paweł Pawlikowski, opened in four theaters to $83.8k, with sold-out shows at all four locations.
- Wide expansions play differently: A24’s You Can See Everything grossed $19.5 million in expansion for a $45.1 million cume; Fathom’s Wildwood debuted at $11.78 million.
The Indian angle
Jailer 2 added $1.16 million in its second weekend from 262 theaters for a $7.2 million North America cume, per Rentrak. The Shloka Entertainments release, directed by Nelson Dilipkumar and starring Rajinikanth and Hrithik Roshan, shows how diaspora-driven titles hold in the mid-level segment.
The takeaway for media planners: judge limited releases by per-theater average, expansion cadence, and event support rather than weekend rank alone.
Source: Deadline
