‘Love Is Strange’ is strong at the art-house box office

Titles from this year’s Sundance Film Festival found their audiences this weekend, whether in theaters or on VOD.

“Love Is Strange” opened on five screens to an estimated gross of $126,550, for a strong per-screen average of $25,310. Directed by Ira Sachs, the film stars Alfred Molina and John Lithgow as a longtime couple who find their lives thrown into turmoil when they finally get married.

Another film that premiered at Sundance earlier this year was the unusual rom-com “The One I Love.” Directed by Charlie McDowell and starring Elisabeth Moss and Mark Duplass as a couple struggling to make their marriage work, the film opened on eight screens, with an estimated per-screen average of $6,891. In three weeks on VOD, the film also has brought in $502,387.

“The One I Love” the No. 1 romance and No. 1 sci-fi movie on iTunes over the weekend, highlighting not only the film’s cross-genre sensibility but also the cross-pollination between the promotion of a movie’s theatrical release and its life on other platforms.

In its second week, “The Trip to Italy” with Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon brought in $114,000 on 10 screens, for a per-screen average of $11,400. It has grossed a total of $221,280 so far. The film also became available this week on VOD.

In its fourth week of release, “Calvary,” starring Brendan Gleeson, did well as it expanded to 240 theaters for a gross of $540,000. This brought the film’s cumulative total to $1.6 million.

Richard Linklater’s “Boyhood” continued its strong run at the box office as well. In its seventh week, the film brought in more than $1.8 million at 734 theaters for a new cumulative total of more than $16.5 million.

Follow Mark Olsen on Twitter: @IndieFocus