411_WIRE \ Industry NewsPublished Nov 2, 2026 1 min read

Wicker Dips Only 28% and Passes $13M for Sundance Buyer Black Bear

By Kinolime Editorial Team // Verified Human Journalist Review

Summary

The $2.5 million Sundance acquisition held firm in its second weekend while expanding to 2,374 theaters.

"Black Bear's Wicker took about $4.1 million in its second weekend, down 28%, while widening from 1,471 to 2,374 theaters, according to The Numbers. Its domestic total reached about $13.3 million after ten days, and it ranked fourth for the Oct. 30 to Nov. 1 frame.

Black Bear, which launched its U.S. distribution arm last year, paid $2.5 million for the film out of Sundance, TheWrap reported, and opened it to an estimated $5.75 million the previous weekend.

Among returning wide releases, only Resident Evil, down 13%, held better. Clayface fell 57%, Street Fighter 63% and You Can See Everything 43% over the same weekend."

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The Kinolime Lens

"A $2.5 million Sundance purchase that crosses $13 million in ten days is the kind of math acquisitions executives dream about and rarely see. It also lands at a moment when festival buyers have spent years treating a theatrical run as a loss leader for streaming. Wicker suggests the old model still works when a film is pitched at a crowd that likes to go out. A 28% drop while adding nearly 900 theaters means the people who saw it are sending friends, which no media buy can fake. Black Bear deserves credit for spending to widen rather than banking the opening. New distributors usually play it safe and quit early.

The lesson for producers selling at festivals is about who is in the room. The large streamers pay more up front, but a hungry theatrical buyer can turn a modest price into a career-making box office line, and that line follows a director into every future meeting. Theaters keep a large share of every ticket, so the distributor's profit is smaller than the headline. The reputational value is not. Every company that passed on this film in Park City will have its grosses on a desk this week."

Source:

The Wrap

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Wicker Dips Only 28% and Passes $13M for Sundance Buyer Black Bear

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