The new A24 drama Past Lives has smashed a surprising box office record for the weekend. The film, which began its limited theatrical run on June 2, is the directorial debut of playwright Celine Song. It follows childhood friends Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) as they reunite for one week in South Korea after Nora’s family left the country many years prior.
Per Deadline, Past Lives has made a surprising appearance at No. 10 in the domestic box office this weekend, earning $520,000 in just 26 theaters, resulting in a per-theater 3-day average of $20,000. While the weekend’s No. 1 title Transformers: Rise of the Beasts box office has far outgrossed it with a $60.5 million take, Past Lives‘ per-theater average blows the blockbuster tentpole out of the water. Past Lives also beats the per-theater average of this weekend’s second-place film, the smash hit animated sequel Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
Is Past Lives On the Cusp of Being A24’s Next Huge Hit?
A24 is a production and distribution company that has been known for putting out interesting and eclectic features. Some, like last year’s Best Picture winner Everything Everywhere All At Once, become mainstream phenomena and household names. However, quite a few of A24’s titles still fly under the radar.
It remains to be seen how Past Lives will perform as its theatrical run expands. However, this early per-theater average is a very promising result. Its performance is comparing favorably to the per-theater week 2 averages of some of A24’s highest-grossing films, including Moonlight ($23,614), Hereditary ($2,286), Midsommar ($1,354), and even Everything Everywhere All At Once itself ($28,382), which is the highest-grossing A24 film to date.
Past Lives is also doing considerably better than Nicole Holofcener’s You Hurt My Feelings ($832) and Ari Aster’s Beau is Afraid ($2,758), two of A24’s most prominent titles of 2023 so far. A hugely expanded wide release might hurt the new film’s average considerably. However, if it has time to build buzz as it works its way through smaller markets, it might have a slow burn campaign on its way to becoming a bona fide A24 hit.
