Indie Box Office: Wim Wenders' Pina opens big

Pina, Wim Wenders' 3D documentary about dancer-choreographer Pina Bausch, opened to an impressive $88,399 at three New York locations over the weekend, leading the specialty market.

The PG-rated movie, distributed by IFC films, had a per-location average of $29,466.

Angelina Jolie's directorial debut, In the Land of Blood and Honey, struggled to attract moviegoers in its first days of release. Jolie wrote, directed and produced the R-rated love story set during the Bosnian war. Distributed by FilmDistrict, it opened at three locations and grossed $27,827 over the four-day holiday weekend -- a per-location average of $9,276.

The film garnered great reviews and important editorial coverage for a recent war that was overlooked by many, Bob Berney, FilmDistrict's president, theatrical distribution, said in a statement. Angelina has made a great directorial debut with this beautiful and brutal film that pulls no punches and features an amazing cast.

In its third week of release, Roman Polanski's R-rated Carnage, from Sony Pictures Classics, expanded from five screens to seven, and grossed $88,216 -- a per-location average of $12,602. The movie has grossed $205,871 so far.

In wider release, Focus Features expanded Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy from 16 locations in its second week to 55 in its third. The R-rated movie, directed by Tomas Alfredson, grossed $1.2 million -- a $22,000 per-location average.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, an adaptation of John le Carre's espionage novel set in Cold War Britain, stars John Hurt, Gary Oldman and Colin Firth.

It's just really satisfying a whole lot of moviegoers, making it the most in-demand specialized release in the marketplace, Jack Foley, Focus's distribution chief, told TheWrap Monday.

The Artist, nominated for six Golden Globes, jumped from 17 locations in its fourth weekend to 167 in its fifth, averaging a solid $8,395 per house. The movie, directed by Michel Hazanavicus, grossed $1.4 million over the long weekend. It now has a total of $2.9 million.

David Glasser, the chief operating officer of the Weinstein Company, which released The Artist, told TheWrap Monday that the company is pursuing a very slow, methodical rollout and allowing audiences to see and enjoy this really beautiful picture.

Like with the Weinstein Co.'s Academy Award-winning The King's Speech, audiences for The Artist are getting younger as the film moves into more theaters.

The Weinstein Co.'s other movie now in release, My Week With Marilyn, had a softer weekend, grossing $888,000 while expanding from 244 to 602 locations in its fifth weekend. Its per-location average was $1,475. The movie, which stars Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe, has grossed $7.3 million so far.

Other holdovers include Shame, Steve McQueen's NC-17 movie starring Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan. Fox Searchlight's film, now in its fourth week of release, dropped by one location, from 51 to 50, and grossed $191,000 over the weekend -- a per-location average of $3,604. It now has grossed $1.6 million.

Sony Pictures Classics' A Dangerous Method, increased from 17 locations to 58, and grossed $292,230 over the weekend -- a per-location average of $5,038. It has taken in $1.1 million since its November 23 release.

Fox Searchlight's other movie, Alexander Payne's The Descendants, dropped from 878 locations to 813 in its sixth week of release, and grossed $3.4 million -- an average of $4,213 per location.

The R-rated movie, which earned George Clooney and director Alexander Payne Golden Globe nominations, has grossed $33.7 million in its six weeks.