The movie was first released to only three major cities on December 9, 2005 then expanded to 21 large cities and three small ones.
Releast dates:
Dec 9, 2005: NY/LA/SF
Dec 16, 2005: expands to 21 large cities & 3 small ones
Jan 2006: expands wide
Feb 2006: final expansion
Focus is limiting the first week to five theaters totaling in LA, SF and NYC. On Dec. 16, "Brokeback" will face its real box office test when it opens in 21 more big cities, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Miami, San Diego, Seattle and Washington, D.C. and a trio of smaller markets where the film is expected to be well-received: Austin, Texas; Palm Springs; and Santa Barbara.
The film will be booked into about 60 theaters by its second week. But Focus will stay at that level until Jan. 6, 2006, before expanding to 20 additional markets
By Jan. 13, "Brokeback" will be playing in just over 100 markets.
Brokeback Mountain is following what is called "platform release" where a film first opens in a few theaters (in this case NYC, LA & SF) to build buzz, and then rolls out gradually. The key number to watch in the early weeks is the per-theatre average. Anything above $10,000 is great for an arthouse movie, but to really blast off into the stratosphere, they are looking for $20-30,000. The biggest average ever for an indie pic was Syriana, with $74,900, just two weeks ago. (Which would be almost impossible without a major movie star.)[/color][/size]
