Gomorrah Strikes Indie Box Office Gold

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Are we crazy for not liking Gomorrah? Film critic Scott Foundas of LA Weekly would say yes. And now the box office numbers would suggest that he was right. According to the press release that just landed in our inbox:

“IFC Films… proved that crime does indeed pay as its acclaimed mafia drama Gomorrah set a record for the biggest opening weekend ever at the IFC Center in New York City, grossing $32,408, over its first three days, February 13-15, and an estimated $40,408 for the four-day holiday weekend… The previous highest grossing weekend for the IFC Center was $43,337 from January 25-27, 2008 in conjunction with the opening of 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. The previous record holder for the biggest opening for a single film at the IFC Center was Me And You and Everyone We Know, the theater’s inaugural engagement in June 2005.”

Big opening weekends are like the holy grail of independent film, so this is huge news for director Matteo Garrone. We’re more than willing to eat a slice of humble pie (as long as we can douse it with ketchup), but can anyone who has seen this film explain to us why it’s doing so much better than say, Medicine for Melancholy , which is also playing at IFC?