EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE is emerging as another feel-good story at the box office. Made independently by the directing duo of Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, known as the Daniels, the movie tells a truly loony tale about a woman who learns that she must fight off a dangerous force coming from another dimension while simultaneously going through a tax audit on her family’s laundromat business. It’s an original story, unconnected to any pre-existing IP, and developed and released without the backing of a big studio – U.S. distribution is being handled by indie distributor A24.
Conventional wisdom would predict that this film would be a ho-hum affair, with limited distribution. However, it has been a big hit, expanding every week to new locations. Comscore reports that EVERYTHING is now playing at 2,220 screens in North America, up 970 from last week, and has grossed nearly $18M as of 4/17. This success has been a gift for independent art-house theatres that have struggled to find buzz-worthy features.
Bloomberg highlighted the experience of Boston’s Coolidge Corner Theater, where EVERYTHING has been so popular they had to add showings across multiple screens to accommodate demand. The Coolidge’s film booker, Mark Anastasio, said, “The fact that an independent film, like, an original concept film, is doing just as well here as a franchise property like ‘The Batman’ just speaks volumes.” The off-beat, small-budget film earned an astonishing $50,130 per theatre three weeks ago when it was still playing at ten select locations, the highest per theatre average for any picture this year.