NEW YORK – Miramax Films’ comedy CHOCOLAT will tempt a much wider audience this weekend when the comedy jumps from 261 screens to 750 screens. Chocolat will add 43 screens in New York and
53 screens in Los Angeles, more than doubling the screens in both markets.
This expansion should help satisfy the public’s healthy appetite for the
film. Last weekend, the film’s box office take was up 3% nationwide, with no
new screens, for a three-day total of 1.6 million. In the New York area,
where it is playing on 18 screens, CHOCOLAT increased its box-office by 27%
and in Los Angeles, where it is playing on 20 screens, its box-office
increased by 14%. These figures do not take into account the film’s Monday
holiday grosses. If they had been included, the figures would jump by 45% in
New York and 27% in Los Angeles.
CHOCOLAT’S total box-office to date is $9.1 million. “The film is performing beyond our expectations,” says Dennis Rice, Miramax’s president of marketing. “Without adding any additional screens anywhere, it increased significantly in two of the toughest markets in the
world and increased in all other markets as well. The film outperformed
itself from the previous week in virtually most of its playdates. This bodes
well for our January 19 expansion to 750 screens.”
CHOCOLAT stars Juliette Binoche, Judi Dench, Lena Olin, Alfred Molina,
Leslie Caron and Johnny Depp. It is directed by Lasse Hallstrom, produced by
David Brown, Kit Golden, and Leslee Holleran and written by Robert Nelson
Jacobs. CHOCOLAT was nominated for four Golden Globes.
