City Island Manages to Hit $5 Million in Limited Release
Published on Jun 8th, 2010
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Written by Michael Dance
MichaelDance@TheCinemaSource.com
In a world where the art house cinema always seems to be a few steps away from extinction, independent film success stories give us hope. We just got a press release announcing that City Island, a low-budget comedy we covered extensively here at TheCinemaSource when it came out three months ago, has quietly crossed the $5 million mark:
Anchor Bay Films’ Andy Garcia and Julianna Margulies starrer City Island continues to climb the weekly box office charts after its 12th week of release and is forecasted to pass the $5 million today. Resonating strongly with audiences across the country, positive word of mouth for the modestly budgeted film has branded City Island as a popular alternative to summer’s expensive blockbusters.
The breakout hit cracked the top 20 overall box office for the first time in Week 6, and has remained in the top 20 for 6 weeks, and counting. Experiencing gains each week, City Island took first place for overall box office gross among all limited releases nationwide in its seventh weekend of release, more than tripling its theater count, and generating $733,901 at 269 locations. In week 8, City Island climbed to the top 15 overall box office, garnering $613,064 on 247 screens. … This weekend, City Island will play in 175 theaters in U.S. and 2 theaters in Canada for a total theater count of 177 for Friday.
In the film – prison guard and aspiring actor, Vince Rizzo (Andy Garcia) is asked to reveal his biggest secret during his drama class, which inadvertently sets off a chain of events that turns his mundane suburban life into total chaos. Vince takes great pains covering up his half-truths from his family, but soon it becomes clear that everyone—his hot-tempered wife (Julianna Margulies), college student daughter (Dominik Garcia-Lorido), long-lost ex-con son (Steven Strait), charismatic acting partner (Emily Mortimer) and even his drama coach (Alan Arkin)—all have secrets of their own. Everyone’s furtive deceptions collide with hilarious results.
For more on the film, check out our movie review here, and our interview with Andy Garcia here. We’ve also got an exclusive video interview with Steven Strait, and coverage of the film’s premiere, which you can check out below.
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