Directed by Alexander Payne
Courtesy of Fox Searchlight PicturesAlexander Payne’s awards hopeful The Descendants–starring George Clooney–nabbed $39,864 as it opened in five theaters in Los Angeles and New York on Wednesday in a bid to build word-of-mouth heading into Thanksgiving week.
From Fox Searchlight, the specialty film sported a per location average of $7,973. That’s slightly ahead of the opening day location average of Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar, which grossed $52,645 last Wednesday from seven theaters for an average $7,521.
PHOTOS: ‘The Descendants’ Premiere Red Carpet Arrivals
On Friday, Descendants expands into an additional 29 theaters in 11 more markets. On Nov. 23, in a major push, the comedy-drama will be playing in 400 or more theaters across the country.
Based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings, Descendants also stars Judy Greer, Matthew Lillard and Shailene Woodley.
Descendants tells the story of Matt King (Clooney), the trustee of his family’s ancestral land in Hawaii who tries to reconnect with this two daughters when his wife slips into a coma after a boating accident.
The film was produced by Jim Burke and Jim Taylor.
