Mark Holdsworth sent this in:
Not sure if you reported on this yet, but last weekend was the first official full release weekend for “The Wrestler”, which increased it’s viewer ship by 120%.
This is pretty impressive as it still is in limited release, only being in 566 theatres, while for example a movie like Paul Blart: Mall Cop was in 3,144 and Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino was in 3,045 theatres.
In remains to be seen if Fox Searchlight will take the release to full exposure such as the above mentioned main stream movies. In any event these are very impressive numbers for “The Wrestler” as it continues to receive tons of media exposure in print and TV.
The Wrestler’s first official Box Office Weekend for Jan 23-25
This Week: 14
Last Week: 19
Title: The Wrestler
Studio: FoxS
Weekend Gross: $3,745,643
% Change: 120.00%
Theater Count: 566
Change: 422
Average: $6,618
Total Gross: $9,557,610
# of Weeks in: 6
In the rumor mill, it appears that in Mickey Rourke’s (Star of The Wrestler and Golden Globe Winner for Best Actor) heart he was genuinely excited to get involved in the WWE’s Wrestlemania extravaganza, so much so that he actually blurted out the proposed challenge during the recent SAG Awards before the WWE could even set up the storyline with WWE’s Chris Jericho on their TV broadcast. That said, after his manager and close friends advised him this may not be the best career move with the Academy Awards on the horizon and the fact if he wants a true second shot at Hollywood, he should stay clear of any events such as this.